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California celebrates 20 years of non-smoking laws

City Editor
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Eating in restaurants and traveling on buses, planes and trains was not always a smoke free experience in California.

California was the first state in the nation to ban smoking on trains, planes, buses, public buildings, workplaces, restaurants and bars, and this month the state celebrates the 20th anniversary of those laws.

“California’s successful tobacco control efforts have worked to change the social norms around the use of tobacco to create an environment in which tobacco is less acceptable,” said Kimberly Belshé, secretary of California’s Health and Human Services Agency.

The effort to combat tobacco consumption also serves to teach others about the risks of tobacco use and how to combat them.

“California’s anti-tobacco effort is exemplary both in terms of what it has accomplished in combating tobacco use and in terms of what it can teach as a model for how to address other public health challenges facing California,” Belshé said.

The state continues to fight for tobacco control, and this year implemented a statewide law prohibiting smoking in a moving or parked car when a minor is present.

“California was the early leader in tobacco control efforts, including being the first state to establish a free, telephone counseling program to help people who are ready to quit using tobacco,” said Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, in a press release. “Today the California Smokers‘ Helpline is receiving a record number of calls, as more and more Californians make the decision to quit.“

It is estimated that the last 20 years of anti-smoking efforts have resulted in more than one million lives saved along with approximately $86 billion dollars in health care costs, according to CDPH data.

Despite the success of California’s anti-smoking laws, some say that there is still work to be done on tobacco control.

“[The anniversary] is for sure a victory that California has shown incredible leadership in terms of tobacco control and setting the example of going smoke free,” said Colleen Stevens, spokesperson for the California Tobacco Control Program. “However, we still have more smokers in California than in any other state.“

There still remain a reported 4 million smokers in the state of California, she said. While tobacco control has seen tremendous success in California, there is still work to be done.

The CTCP uses a portion of the state cigarette tax – 5 cents of each 25 cent cigarette tax – to assist school programs, health departments and the free quitting line, 1-800-NOBUTTS, available to all California citizens, Stevens said.

“Our goal is to have additional successes – we want to make end roads to people who still smoke,” she said. “We know that 70 percent of people who do smoke want to quit.“

The goal of the CTCP is to ultimately provide the necessary resources to help people quit if they want to, she added.

“[California] already has strong secondhand smoke provisions and an environment that promotes quitting smoking,” Stevens said.

 

CAITLIN COBB can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

UC deals with budget constraint as best as possible

Campus Editor
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090416_ca_salary.c

Notes:

 

Headline: UC deals with budget constraint as best as possible

By POOJA DEOPURA

Aggie News Writer

 

Budget constraints have not deterred the University of California from spending a little extra toward keeping the big office properly staffed and satisfied for the future of their students.

University records show that competitive salaries, in addition to other perks, are being offered to UC officials even in this economy.

The UC system must offer these high salaries in order to hold on to the skilled professionals that can manage a major academic institution, said UC spokesperson Paul Schwartz in a Mar. 25 San Francisco Chronicle article.

The recent hiring of new, qualified staff in this economy is “critical to keeping the university running,“ said Schwartz in an interview with The Aggie.

“We need an administrative staff to support the academic mission, but we also need to replace faculty who are leaving for whatever reason in order to keep providing students with the education that they need and keep our research programs going,” he said.

These pay raises have upset the University Professional and Technical Employees Local 9119, the UC’s primary union of 11,000 staff members, according to the SF Chronicle article. On Tuesday, Mar. 24, they called for a hiring freeze of UC officials earning a salary of more than $200,000.

“We are very outraged,” said Tanya Smith, the union’s local president. “We confronted [UC Berkeley] Chancellor Robert Birgeneau today about it.“

“The chancellor responds that [the new appointments, high salaries and bonuses are] an exception, but we have seen too many exceptions. The exceptions are becoming the rule at UC, and we have had enough,” she said.

In January, in response to the tight fiscal times, UC President Mark G. Yudof and the Board of Regents have placed a “broad pay freeze for existing senior management positions as well as on bonuses and incentive pay for employees making over $100,000,” according to a Mar. 18 UC Office of the President meeting. Employees making under the $100,000 mark however can receive bonuses up to $1,000.

The university recently hired a chief financial officer, “at a salary well below the going rate for CFOs, to ensure strong financial management of the university and help lead the search for additional savings. Another employee was promoted to fulfilling two vice presidential positions at the salary of one, saving the university $320,000,” according to a university budget document.

In addition to granting “promotions” without pay increases, the university is aiming to keep the budget in check by looking for efficiencies across their administrative organizations, according to a Mar. 19 UC press release.

“UC campuses are curtailing faculty recruitment, in many cases by 50 percent or more, reducing hiring of non-teaching staff, severely limiting spending on nonessential costs such as travel, consolidating or eliminating programs, and looking for efficiencies across their administrative organizations – while working to minimize cuts to student programs,” wrote Richard C. Blum, the chair of the UC Board of Regents and Yudof, in a Mar. 26 SF Chronicle article responding to the earlier Chronicle article.

Though budget cuts are being made, low-income students are still being taken into consideration.

“We’re fighting to preserve affordability for students,” Blum and Yudof wrote.

“On our recommendation, the UC Board of Regents adopted a program ensuring that grants will cover system-wide fees for students with financial need and household incomes of less than $60,000 per year,” they wrote. “Financially eligible students whose families earn between $60,000 and $100,000 a year will continue to get grant assistance to cover at least half of any student fee increase, as well.“

 

POOJA DEOPURA can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Students call for Middle Eastern category on UC application

Campus Editor
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Some Middle Eastern students no longer want to be considered white.

A student movement to add a Middle Eastern category on the University of California application has begun to pick up steam, as university officials mull over implementing the change.

Students who self-identify as Middle Eastern are typically expected to categorize themselves as white on the UC application, though some choose African, Asian, or other. The ambiguity has motivated some Middle Eastern students to call for a category of their own.

Though the movement began at UCLA, support for a change is growing across the UC system.

“I think that it is a fantastic idea to have more ethnic groups included,” said Shadee Amirkiai, a junior neurobiology, physiology and behavior major in an e-mail interview. “I didn’t like the fact that [UC] could take the time and use the space to include Middle Eastern in parenthesis with the ethnic group “white,” but that they would not set it as a separate ethnicity.“

The student movement has caused UC to consider adding a Middle Eastern category application. While the university agrees that the change would improve the quality of student data, it would also entail costs to modify computer systems at UC and the individual campuses, said UC spokesperson Ricardo Vazquez.

UC will make a decision in the next few months. If the change is adopted, it would likely be implemented for the fall 2010 UC application, Vazquez said.

This is not the first time students have called for UC to expand its ethnic categories on the UC application. In 2007, UC approved adding 23 Asian American Pacific Islander groups to its application after thousands of UC students supported a “Count Me In” campaign. The modification went into effect for the fall 2008 UC application.

UC aims to use the richer Asian American Pacific Islander data to target underrepresented ethnic groups. Similarly, Vazquez said the addition of a Middle Eastern category would allow UC and its campuses to send promotional materials targeted to students who self-identify as such.

“The data would be for analytic purposes. The information might be used to target services, allowing campuses to mail to students who identify as Middle Eastern,” Vazquez said.

The change will have no bearing on the admissions process itself, as Proposition 209, passed by California voters in 1996, bars UC from considering race as a factor on the application.

Steven Baissa, director of UC Davis‘ Cross Cultural Center, said the change would allow the campus to better serve the Middle Eastern community.

“This whole [movement] is about stopping assumptions, combating stereotypes, increasing visibility, and the synergy that comes from celebrating differences,” he said. “Some students don’t feel comfortable identifying with a category they don’t understand.“

Suad Joseph, chair of the UC Davis Middle East/South Asia Studies program, said the practice of identifying people of Middle Eastern descent as white was established in U.S. courts in the early 20th century, when eligibility for citizenship was in question.

Joseph said she supports adding the Middle Eastern category on the UC application because some people do not feel comfortable self-identifying as white and the data could be useful for analyzing the representation of Middle Easterners at UC, she said.

“I think we have social reasons for the Middle East community to feel very strongly as people of color or they identify as a separate ethnic category, and not necessarily people of color or white,” Joseph said.

Joseph said it is impossible to estimate how many Middle Eastern students there are at UC Davis without any data, but she said there could be over 500 Iranian students at UC Davis alone.

The U.S. Census does not have a separate Middle Eastern category, either. Estimates of people who identify as Middle Eastern population range from two million to ten million, Joseph said.

Some students are less enthusiastic about the change. Natasha Longhmanpour, financial coordinator of the Iranian Student Cultural and Aesthetic Organization, said while she does not oppose the change, she has never felt inadequately represented by labeling herself white.

“I don’t personally find it offensive to mark myself as ‘white‘ on applications. If anything, I’d rather not be racially targeted depending on the political tension at that point in time,” she said.

Joseph said the wide range of opinion is precisely why the category should be created.

“There isn’t one view on this issue and that’s a compelling reason to create the category,” she said.

The proposed Middle Eastern ethnic category for the UC application comes at a time when the Middle East/South Asia Studies (MESA) program at UC Davis is rapidly expanding. The MESA minor was added in 2004 and the major in fall 2008.

MESA had two faculty and five courses in 2001, which has expanded to 18 faculty and over 70 courses this year, with over 30 more course additions planned for the next three years, Joseph said. Student support provided the impetus for the expansion, she said.

“The MESA program is an exquisite example of what students can accomplish in the university when they are focused and organized,” Joseph said. “They wanted this program, they worked to make it happen and it happened.“

 

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

Campus Judicial Report

Campus Editor
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Take two

A first-year was referred to SJA for altering an exam and submitting it for re-grading. The TA noticed the discrepancy because the student’s answer did not show enough work to have logically reached the correct solution she had added. The student admitted that she had changed the answer to the question on the MAT16B midterm exam and had then submitted it for re-grading. As a result, she agreed to accept the disciplinary sanctions of deferred separation and 10 hours of community service.

Hiding the evidence

A junior was referred to SJA for stealing from the MU Bookstore. The student opened a package of iPod earbuds, proceeded to stuff the merchandise down his shirt and then hid the empty package under a pile of folders. The student admitted to theft and accepted a $200 civil demand payment from the bookstore in addition to paying $85 for the earbuds. As for disciplinary sanctions, the student agreed to be placed on disciplinary probation until graduation.

 

Friendly Help

A plant biology professor referred a senior to SJA for unauthorized collaboration on a take-home exam. The student lent their notes to a friend to help them complete the short answer portion of the exam, which caused the pair to have strikingly similar answers. The student admitted to the violation and accepted the sanction of disciplinary probation until graduation. Their friend also agreed to a sanction of deferred separation for unauthorized collaboration and copying during an exam.

 

The Campus Judicial Report is compiled by student members of the Campus Judicial Board. Additional information about SJA and the Campus Judicial Board may be found at sja.ucdavis.edu.

The ARC celebrates its 5th year anniversary

Campus Editor
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Some come to play. Some come to watch. Some come to bulk up. Some, not so much.

For whatever reason they come, the Activities and Recreation Center is the one place where anyone and everyone can come to relax from the stresses of school, work… and life.

Since its construction in 2004, the ARC has certainly become the social and recreational hub at UC Davis.

“The ARC has become a key factor influencing our student recruitment and retention efforts,” said Fred Wood, the vice chancellor of Student Affairs.

Attracting more than the 1.1million admissions each year for fitness activities, along with another 1.2million admissions for conferences, commencements, concerts, trade shows and other events, the ARC has become one of the busiest venues on campus, according to a Mar.19 press release.

The ARC is constantly updating its equipment to make sure it has the latest technology, said Coulson Thomas, the assistant director of Campus Recreation, who enjoys playing basketball at the ARC. Currently, television sets are being installed on the second floor of the building.

Thomas believes the facility to be the highlight of UC Davis because “it’s a great looking facility and it serves many different purposes.”

In honor of its fifth anniversary, the ARC will welcome its sixth year with a new logo and special promotions that will be given away, starting this Saturday on Picnic Day.

The 155,850 square foot building features, but is not limited to, indoor basketball, volleyball, badminton, racquetball, handball and squash courts, an indoor running track, a large fitness and weight areas and an indoor climbing wall.

Kristen McMillan, a junior English and French major, comes to the ARC to work out and feel good about herself. Her daily routine involves her running a mile on the track, followed by a workout on the Stairmaster.

“I like how the track is strategically placed so we can watch the boys play basketball,” McMillan said.

The ARC also holds group exercise classes, dance and martial arts studios, student lounges with computer terminals and wireless access points – not to mention the newly added Starbucks, along with the Pro Shop sells UC Davis merchandise.

“A recent study demonstrated that most attrition (12%) takes place during the first two years students are on campus,” Wood said. “The ARC’s proximity to our first-year student housing makes it a primary social hub for new students, providing opportunities for them to bond with their classmates and friends, engage with students of different backgrounds, broaden their social networks and deepen their connection with UC Davis.”

Before the ARC, the first recreational gymnasium at UC Davis was built in 1921 behind West Hall. In 1938, the Hickey Gym was built for athletic events, recreational sports, fitness and IM sports. Then, to accommodate for bigger events, from IM and intercollegiate competitions to graduations to inaugurations, the Recreational Hall (now the Pavilion) was built in 1977.

Finally in 1999, UC Davis students passed the Facilities and Campus Enhancement initiative that helped provide funding for the construction and maintenance of the $46.5million facility.

“In just five years, the ARC has become a true center of social life at UC Davis,” Thomas said. “Students, faculty, staff and alumni visit the ARC for fitness, but also consider it one of the best places on campus to enjoy time with friends. With the opening of Starbucks, the ARC has truly become a major social hub of campus life.”

The ARC is managed by the Department of Campus Recreation.

“It’s become nearly impossible to imagine student life at UC Davis without the ARC,” Wood said.

POOJA DEOPURA can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

X marks the spot

Arts Editor
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At the beginning of April, Hugh Jackman made an online announcement on YouTube of a contest that would get the world premiere of his upcoming movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine in the city with most votes.

Voting continues until Friday. To vote for Davis, go to x-menorigins.com/premiere and put in the 95616 area code.

The winning town will be announced on Monday, and the world premiere is scheduled for Apr. 27. The movie will be released in the theaters everywhere on May 1.

According to a press release from ASUCD Entertainment Council cinema coordinator Golda Criddle, as of Apr. 15, Davis was in the third spot, falling after cities in Arizona and Nebraska.

The world premiere would come with all the bells and whistles of a real Hollywood-style premiere: red carpet, klieg lights and media coverage. It has not yet been decided where the event will take place in Davis, though Criddle speculated a popular theatre downtown such as the Davis Varsity Theatre on Second Street.

“We really want to encourage Davis students to log on and vote for Davis for the world premiere,” said Christie Clemens of publicity and promotions of Terry Hines and Associates.

Terry Hines and Associates contacted all press members in the Bay Area, including Criddle.

“We had a small X at first and one day we saw that it was just huge and decided to keep going,” Criddle said. “The more of us [who vote], the better to ensure that we get it.“

EC started a Facebook event and started announcing it at other EC events.

“It would be cool to see Hugh Jackman. We hope something will come out of this because it would be a really fun event to have at Davis to end the school year,” she said.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be the first chapter of the origins saga.

 

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

Sunshine Cleaning highlights young talent

Arts Editor
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It’s almost too easy to draw comparisons between Sunshine Cleaning and recent entries to the newly minted category of, for lack of an official name, “quirky indie films.” They all have in common a quiet, quaint sense of humor that sets them apart from boisterous big-budget comedies. Sunshine Cleaning, directed by New Zealand-born Christine Jeffs, follows in this vein in its own way.

The fun subgenre has not yet worn out its welcome, since it hasn’t been around long enough to form its own clichés. Though Sunshine Cleaning isn’t breaking any boundaries or challenging the status quo, it has frequent small moments of originality that make it shine.

The film follows sisters Rose and Norah, played with charisma by Amy Adams and Emily Blunt respectively. They both lament their monotonous blue-collar work until they suddenly find themselves without it. They concoct a plan to turn their manual labor skills into a lucrative business of the diplomatically phrased “crime scene cleanup.“

The two women unavoidably become entangled in the lives of their clients, most of which have recently lost a loved one in a violent way. Rose thrives at helping this kind of situation; she is the type of fixer who can’t fix her own life, remaining in a stagnant affair while trying to raise a kid. Norah is less emotionally accessible and more likely to compartmentalize than face troubles, but she finds ways to reach these unexplored caverns with the help of a new friend she meets through the job.

The film manages to deftly bring to the forefront the talents of its two leads. Adams, with her comfortable established pattern of cheerful characters, presents Rose as distinctly both a realist and an optimist. Blunt’s opposing nihilism creates a stark contrast. Together the actresses are more than the sum of their parts. What results is the brightest part of the movie: a believable sister relationship that refrains from stooping to uncomfortable confessions of love, need and mutual dependence. The love is there, but it’s all in the subtleties.

Sunshine Cleaning is playing now at the Varsity Theater on 2nd Street.

 

LAURA KROEGER can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

Fourth Annual Search Party: Davis, Sponsored by the ASUCD Entertainment Council, KDVS 90.3 FM and The California Aggie

Arts Editor
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Student musicians, the spotlights are searching for you! It’s time for the annual campus media sponsored Search Party talent show. Co-sponsored by KDVS 90.3 FM, The California Aggie and the ASUCD Entertainment Council, Search Party gives UC Davis’ budding musicians the opportunity to perform to the campus community. Submissions will be due by 4 p.m. on Apr. 23 to the office of KDVS 90.3 FM, located at 14 Lower Freeborn Hall.

The Search Party will take place in three rounds. First, all submissions will be listened to and judged by a panel of Entertainment Council, KDVS and Aggie staff representatives. Based on this judging, three winners will be announced and be given spreads in MUSE as well as air time on a KDVS show. The third round will be the live component – the finalists will perform at the ASUCD Coffee House in May.

Please join the Facebook event group under the ASUCD Entertainment Council, look to issues of MUSE and listen to KDVS 90.3 for more information on the Search Party event.

 

Rules of entry are as follows:

? Music group must include at least one UC Davis student or alumn.? Paid staff members of campus media groups (KDVS 90.3. FM, The California Aggie and ASUCD Entertainment council) need not apply.? Submit a full recording (EP or full length) to demonstrate the band’s ability to play a full live set at a concert. Indicate on the track listing the first/most appealing song you would like the judges to listen to.? Include a brief paragraph to serve as a mission statement as to why your group should be considered, and a brief biography including information about the genre, band members and so on.? All submissions are due by Apr. 23 at 4 p.m. in the lobby of KDVS, the campus radio station, located at 14 Lower Freeborn in the “Search Party Submissions” box.

 

Contacts:

Thongxy Phansopha, EC Director, tphansopha@ucdavis.edu

Rachel Filipinas, Arts Editor, arts@theaggie.org

Ben Johnson, KDVS General Manager, gm@kdvs.org

 

Visit ec.ucdavis.edu, the Entertainment Council group on facebook.com or theaggie.org for more information.

Films with a feminist edge

Arts Editor
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It’s no secret that filmmakers possess the unique ability to provide lasting memories using vivid images and exciting mediums; films just seem to stay with you.

The fourth annual Davis Feminist Film Festival will showcase a spread of very diverse film styles, voices, viewpoints and talent. The festival kicks off tonight at 8 and will continue tomorrow. It takes place at the Veterans Memorial Center Theatre on 14th and E streets.

With topics like what it means to be a sexy athlete to the question of girls growing up too fast to issues of sexual desire, this year’s festival embodies exactly what it was created to do.

“The goal was to take feminist ethics outside of the classroom and into the community,” festival director Margareta Lelea said in an e-mail. “In the process, we grew to realize that short film and digital media is a powerful way to communicate and inspire. We also found that it is a very accessible form of media making it so that many diverse voices could be brought together.“

Lelea said that she started the festival in 2005 along with another graduate student, Danielle Fodor, to raise money for the international internship program through the Gender and Global Issues Program at UC Davis. The festival has and continues to thrive, now put together by the Consortium for Women and Research and Film Studies.

The festival’s mission statement expressed a devotion to “challenging sexism, racism, homophobia, ableism and classism through film and digital media.“

UC Davis students Denise Nicole Green, a graduate student in the textiles and clothing department, and Sarah Rebolloso McCullough, a graduate student in the cultural studies department, worked together to direct Fifty-Fifty.

The film follows the Sacramento City Rollers and uncovers the logistics of the sport and the real work behind roller derby. Green and Rebolloso described how the film looks at the tension between the fashion and athletic rigor of women’s roller derby, working to negate the notion that outrageous costumes are the only part of the job.

“These are athletes that go to practices everyday and work out, and through their appearance, [they] are really redefining what it means to be a woman athlete,” Green said.

With this film Green and McCullough show audiences 50 percent performance and 50 percent athleticism.

“These are two things that seem to be in tension, but they can actually be complimentary and explore a new definition of what it means to be an athlete and what it means to be feminine,” McCullough said.

Other films in the line-up are short and sweet dealing with universal topics. With images of a solitary red balloon in a field of green, senior English major Randall Wilson paints loneliness and alienation in a positive light in her film If.

“I want the message that you are not alone to be the main conveyance of this film,” Wilson said in an e-mail. “The girl with the red balloon believes there could be no one like her in this world, yet there is hope. There’s hope for all of us, and difference is what makes us beautiful in the end.“

For more information, visit femfilmfest.ucdavis.edu.

 

ELENA BUCKLEY can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

A Living Cinema

Arts Editor
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On Apr. 21, Canadian artist and animator Pierre Hébert will appear in Davis to discuss his work in the fields of animation and live drawing. The event is sponsored by the technocultural studies and film studies departments and will be held in the TCS building (formerly the Art Annex) throughout the day, starting at 11 a.m.

Known for his abstract and progressive methods of animation and live performances, Hébert will discuss the history of animation and the unique technique of film scratching – the method of creating an animated, living image by physically scratching the film itself. The event will also include a demonstration of techniques for live improvisation, film scratching and hand drawn computer animation as well as a lecture on the history of animation. Hébert will perform some of his current work at 7:30 p.m.

His feature film La Plante Humaine will be shown in the TCS building at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday. All of the events are free.

Hébert, a lifelong artist born in 1944, has embraced the growing world of technology throughout his career. As an artist that utilizes technology’s ever-changing nature, Hébert works to balance loose art with technical precision.

His current work involves a concept known as “Living Cinema,” a term he said partially incorporates the live aspect of his performances and his approach to cinema that transcends technological borders.

“My work has always been in a way technologically driven,” Hébert said. “There was always this dichotomy between very crude physical work done by hand and the processing of that work with sophisticated technological tools.“

This somewhat polarized interest is reflected in Hébert’s scratch animation, which was his main focus for over 25 years of his career. The technique was inspired by animator and filmmaker Norman McLaren – one of Hébert’s most substantial influences.

“It seemed to be really something I could connect with very easily,” Hébert said. “It became something that often times I describe as my own voice or my own breath – something to which I could physically relate to with pleasure.“

But new waves of technology present both gifts and problems for anyone in the field. Criticism and changes in the direction of animation began to alienate Hébert, eventually leading him to a wider array of artistic interests including film, scratch animation and live performance art.

“I very quickly understood that I had to follow my own way, and not worry too much about my position in that world of animation,” Hébert said. “I very quickly decided that I was a filmmaker and not an animation filmmaker.“

This period saw an exploration of different interests and closer collaboration with other artists such as technocultural studies professor Bob Ostertag, who specializes in avant-garde sound experimentation and programming. Hébert and Ostertag began working together to infuse sound with visual performance.

But despite the new wave of technology, Hébert doesn’t see his old interests as “traditional.” He views his work as an effort “to maintain the presence of the body actions within technology” – a continued balance between the crude and the precise. This theme still persists in his current work.

“When I was an undergraduate, I remember very well that probably my most meaningful experiences were with visiting artists,” Ostertag said. “I think there’s a way that students can interact with a visiting artist who is sort of just here for a brief period of time. The artist gets very focused and nobody grades anybody – it’s about real curiosity.“

Hébert said that he learns a lot about his own work by observing how students react to it.

“Being in contact with students is something I really enjoy a lot. That has become quite important for me, actually,” he said.

Film studies and women and gender studies director Liz Constable emphasized the importance of the opportunity to learn from Canadian film and digital media cultures.

“Expanding our understanding of the Americas to include the creative cultures of French-speaking Canada is so important,” she said.

For more information about the artist, visit pierrehebert.com.

 

JUSTIN T. HO can be reached at arts@theaggie.org.

 

Variations on a Theme

Arts Editor
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Friday marked my semi-official entrance to the post-graduate adult world: I went to my first “real“ interview.

I prepared as best I could. I researched the company, prepped answers for stock interview questions, bought an appropriately stylish bidnezz-caj outfit, perfected a firm handshake and most importantly, made sure to Google Map directions to the office.

Three-and-a-half days later, I arrived at the office well-rested, well-fed and confident. Introductions were made, explanations were given and thoughtful inquiries were asked.

Then came the kicker: “Do you have a Twitter? What about a blog?”

Twitter – that condensed version of a Facebook update, a feature I already find annoying? And blog? Does an abandoned Xanga circa 2004 count? No? How about a Livejournal I forgot the password to?

Needless to say, I had neither. I couldn’t think of anything else to do but give interviewer my winningest smile, make some lame joke about my dad having a Twitter and tell her that I had a Facebook. Eep.

I’m of the ol‘ journalistic belief that blogs will never have the same integrity of a publication because it lacks accountability. Blogs don’t require sources, and bloggers don’t have to go through the various levels of editing that reporters do.

Still, the blog does have its place.

Think of blogs as an extra-curricular activity that give writers an extra edge. The extent of your writing shouldn’t just amount to an article or two a week. It shows that they have some interest in writing outside of story assignments. Besides, how else can you show off your knowledge of hardcore bands from Canada when you’re stuck doing police blots at your local newspaper?

Blogs are also a useful marketing tool – you can use them to network and promote your skills over the interwebs. They can reflect upon interests that may not come across during a reporter’s editing session. It can pique the interest of a potential employer. A generic cover letter and one-page resume can only convey so much personality, after all.

If that’s not a convincing argument, consider this: even the rich and famous – people whose resumes don’t depend on things like strong writing skills or proficient knowledge of Microsoft Office applications – have blogs.

Kanye’s got one, and people loved it before they found out about Yeezy ghost bloggers to write his posts. When he’s not being a douche, John Mayer’s blog has proven that he can be pretty funny. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (aka my celebrity husband) regularly posts updates on his website. Pam – I mean, Jenna Fischer from “The Office” – has one. And did you know Alyssa Milano blogs for the Dodgers? Being a fan of neither, I sure didn’t!

And as senseless as I find Twitter, signing up for these things shows that you can keep up with the quick-changing trends of the Internet. A company who needs you to network or promote off of a website probably won’t be impressed that you’re still using comparatively archaic sites like Friendster.

Despite the hours I’ve spent scouring the Internet or constantly checking my e-mail, for productivity’s sake I’ve always tried to keep my actual online involvement to a minimum – I hardly use AIM, I’ve never Skype’d and I’m a relative prude in a world of Facebook whores.

But with the current swing of the industry, now it looks like I have another reason to put off reading for my classes. Funny how that works.

 

Procrastinating musicians, it’s your lucky day! The deadline to submit a demo for Search Party has been extended until Apr. 23. For more information, look to the info to the immediate right of this column or contact RACHEL FILIPINAS at rmfilipinas@ucdavis.edu.

 

C.D. Review: Garrett Pierce

Arts Editor
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Garrett Pierce

All Masks

Crossbill Records

 

Rating: 4

 

If you’ve found yourself in a music slump lately, singer/songwriter Garrett Pierce is just the man to get you out.

His new album All Masks was released on Apr. 14 and features an eclectic track list with sounds ranging from blues to country. Pierce will perform tonight at 8 at Luigi’s Fun Garden in Sacramento. He will also be performing at Armadillo Records on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sophia’s Thai Kitchen on Apr. 24 at 10 p.m.

Pierce has been noted as saying that the album was inspired in part by mythology and performances using masks, and the lyrics help bring this to light. The storytelling approach to music that All Masks has is what makes this album enticing as it takes the listener along on each track.

In partnership with the unusual lyrics, Pierce’s vocal range makes each song sound a little different – at times peaceful and melodic and other times bringing a harder edge unexpected to the folk genre.

“Tonight” is my personal favorite on this album, as it reminds me of a reinvented oldie love song with a steady electric guitar chord, brass drums and an accordion to boot. A bluesy touch gives a new spin to what could be an ordinary love song.

“Mud Under My Feet” tells an unexpected love story with sweet, soulful lyrics and a two-part harmony. Sweeping strings and the twang of a brass guitar can also be heard on this track, giving it a bold sound.

“Running From the Face” is one of the more upbeat songs on the album, as a bluesy guitar and a fiddle add a lot of energy. Pierce’s lyrics are catchy and thought-provoking as he sings lines like “Reality is only what you make for yourself/ reality is only she keeps whisperin‘/ reality is only what she makes for herself/ reality has kept the gods all laughin‘.”

All Masks is a departure from Pierce’s last album, Like a Moth, which featured mostly mellow folk songs. It takes Pierce’s music to a different level, experimenting with different sounds and genres, making this an interesting album to listen to from start to finish.

 

Give these tracks a listen: “Tonight,” “Mud Under My Feet,” “Running From the Face“

For fans of: Jackie Green, Ray LaMontagne

 

– Julia McCandless

Artsweek

Arts Editor
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MUSIC

Sholi, Odawas, Garrett Pierce

Today, 8 p.m., $6

Luigi’s Fun Garden in Sacramento

It’s a trifecta of excellent artists at tonight’s show, which is presented by Cool As Folk. And there’s a little something for everyone – a bit of catchy art-rock from Sholi, a touch of ethereal minimalist psychedelic from Berkeley duo Odawas and some quality folk from Garrett Pierce. For a preview of Pierce’s newest album All Masks, check out page 4!

Simple Creation, Cesura, Absolute Zero, Bloodshot Pizza, Bad Rocket

Today, 8 p.m., $10

The Boardwalk in Orangevale

So you can’t judge a book by its cover, but does that apply to bands? Originally known as Leather Pizza, the boys behind Bloodshot Pizza decided that blood was more metal than leather. Maybe so, but I think that they might need to rethink their priorities if they thought the word “pizza” was hardcore.

Sholi, What’s Up, Odawas, Buildings Breeding

Friday, 4:30 p.m., free

Delta of Venus

Before you start pre-partying for that party the night before the all-day rager that is Picnic Day, take a little break with this free outdoor show. All the bands on the line-up are celebrating their new releases.

KDVS Picnic Day Stage: State Cap, Paper Scissors Rock, PETS, Sholi, Mucky the Ducky

Saturday, noon to 5 p.m., free

Hunt Hall

Be sure to take some time out while you’re stumbling around campus incoherently to see any of these great bands. Straight from the hardcore streets of the dirty 530 is band Paper Scissors Rock, whose synths bring a little crunch to their catchy pop rock.

Davis Dance Revolution 2009

Saturday, 7:30 p.m., $12 presale and $15 at the door for general admission, $10 presale and $12 at the door with a student ID

Freeborn Hall

This DDR brings a stock of dancers not of the typical, arcade-playing fare, showcasing traditional and modern dances. This year’s event includes performances from Na Keiko ‘O Hawaii, MK Modern and the UC Davis Chinese Dance and Arts Club.

Afroman, Tre Mak, Smoke, Nifty, H. Letham

Saturday, 8 p.m., $15 in advance, $18 day of show

The Boardwalk in Orangevale

Don’t be surprised if you smell a certain skunk-like stench or find yourself surrounded by bleary-eyed showgoers – after all, this is a man whose biggest hit is a song called “Because I Got High.” And hey, maybe after the show we can go the park after dark or sing them dirty rap songs.

The Devil Wears Prada, A Day to Remember, Sky Eats Airplane, Emarosa

Sunday, 6:30 p.m., $16.50 in advance, $18 day of show

The Boardwalk in Orangevale

Sure, I could make fun of the Myspace-Hot Topic-emo-scene nature of an event like this, but that would be too easy … or would it? I suggest you find out for yourself, dear reader.

Katharina Ullman, Lacey Macri, Osabear, Olive Drive

Sunday, 8 p.m., free, 21 Sophia’s Thai Kitchen

Allergies aren’t the only thing to come with spring – it also marks the beginning of the music season at Sophia’s! Expect a lot of acoustic goodness with this unofficial kick off of the Sophia’s season, which brings some of the best and brightest of the local music scene. Underage beebs, one solution, two words: Balcony B.

Bloc Party, Menomena

Tuesday, 8 p.m., $29.90 Freeborn Hall

Okay, Bloc Party’s cool and British and all, but I tire easily and can only shuffle awkwardly along to the beat for so long. And personally, I’m more excited for Menomena, a Portland-based band who never fails to get my spine tinglin‘ with their pulsating bassline and awesome vocals. Tapes n‘ Tapes or TV on the Radio fans, get on it.

AT THE MOVIES

Davis Feminist Film Festival

Today and Friday, 7 p.m., $18 general admission, $12 with a student ID

Veteran’s Memorial Theatre at 14th Street

In its fourth year, the festival uses film and other forms of digital media to challenge issues like sexism, racism and homophobia. For more information, check out “Films with a feminist edge.“

THEATRE / MONDAVI

Main Stage Dance/Theatre Festival

Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.

Main Theatre, Wright Hall

Elements of dance and theater are combined for this annual festival, which will showcase six separate works from undergraduate students and MFA candidates. To purchase tickets, visit theatredance.ucdavis.edu.

 

RACHEL FILIPINAS can be arts@theaggie.org.

5 Questions with Yiyun Li

Arts Editor
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Editor’s Note: This week’s “Five Questions” is with author and UC Davis English professor Yiyun Li, whose first novel The Vagrants was released in February.

 

1. What series of events (past and/or present) inspired you to write The Vagrants?

The novel was loosely based on two executions – both young women executed for political reasons – in late 1978 or early 1979 in a provincial city in China. After the first execution, the community began a protest on the executed woman’s behalf, which led to the second execution of one of the organizers of the protest.

 

2. How (if at all) have you weaved your personal experiences into the novel?

I don’t think I am an autobiographical author – my fiction reflects very little of my personal experience. However, I would quote my literary hero William Trevor on this: “All fiction has its autobiographical roots in the sense that as a person you are your characters‘ litmus paper, their single link to reality. They taste what you taste, they hear what you hear. The blue they see is your blue, the pain they experience is your pain, their physical pleasure is what you know yourself. And the workings of memory you cull from yourself too.” I don’t think I can say it better than Mr. Trevor, but if I try, I would say this: I think it is true that when I write, my memories (and memories of other people I know) become the characters‘ memories, but I am not any one of those characters, nor are any of the real people in my life from whom I have borrowed memories.

 

3. What are some of the most important political and social issues that occurred during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and how do you think they have transcended through time?

This is a very big question and I don’t think I can answer it without doing a huge amount of research and then writing a long paper. But one topic that fascinates me as a writer, which I think not only applies to Cultural Revolution or China but to many countries in many historical periods, is “bystanders‘ sin,” which I borrowed from Samantha Power and her marvelous book on genocides (A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide).

 

In other words, I am interested in how people who are on the edge of a society or a community contribute, in the end, as much to history as those who are at the center of actions.

 

4. Can you briefly describe your creative writing process?

I look for interesting and fascinating situations from life (from newspapers, or stories people tell me, or lines I pick up by eavesdropping). Once I decide on a situation, I would make up characters and put them into those situations, and let them live a little, follow them around a little and then write their stories.

 

5. Autobots or Decepticons?

The fact that I had to Google both of these terms means that I have no idea which one to choose!

 

– Simone Wahng

Baseball preview

Sports Editor
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090415_sp_baseballprev.c

 

Headline: Baseball preview

 

Teams: UC Davis vs. California

Records: Aggies, 6-23; Golden Bears, 15-18

Where: Dobbins Stadium

When: Today at 2:30 p.m.

Who to watch: Ty Kelly knocked in the winning run in UC Davis‘ 9-8 win over UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.

The third baseman has been productive so far this season, but hasn’t quite met the expectations placed on him prior to the start of the year. He was selected to the preseason Brooks Wallace Player of the Year watch list.

The junior transfer from Loyola Marymount has a .302 batting average and 16 RBI. He led the Big West Conference last season with a .397 batting average.

Did you know? The Aggies are 1-3 this season against Pacific-10 Conference opponents. UC Davis lost two of three at UCLA to start the season in late February and then fell 5-2 to Stanford at home on Mar. 25.

Preview: Cal comes into today’s game at Dobbins Stadium two days removed from losing to archrival Stanford.

The Golden Bears and Aggies have both had their share pitching struggles this season, entering with staff earned run averages of 5.91 and 6.76, respectively.

Cal comes in with an advantage at the plate, though. It’s hitting .296 while the Aggies are batting .259. The Golden Bears average 6.27 runs per game as opposed to UC Davis‘ 3.93.

The Aggies, though, are the hotter of the two teams, coming off their first Big West win of the year. The Golden Bears, meanwhile, are on an eight-game slide that UC Davis hopes to push to nine this afternoon.

 

– John S. Heller

 

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