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Gloria Steinem cancels appearance at UC Davis

Campus Editor
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Gloria Steinem, the renowned feminist and political activist, has cancelled her scheduled speaking engagement at UC Davis.

Steinem, who decided to bow out of her appearance to express support for UC service workers, was scheduled to speak at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 16.

The university first received notice that Steinem was reconsidering her agreement to speak on Dec. 16, said Dave Webb, Manager of Speaker Programming at the Mondavi Center. The Mondavi Center office encouraged Steinem to honor her agreement and told her that she could use the podium to express her concerns for the workers, but she cancelled her appearance on Dec. 19, Webb said.

“It’s disappointing because she’s such an interesting speaker,” said Camille Staccavento, director of marketing for the Mondavi Center. “She was pretty well sold so it is certainly a distinct disappointment in terms of dollars.“

All tickets will be automatically refunded by Jan. 12, Spaccavento said.

Steinem is not the first notable speaker to cancel an appearance due to the prolonged UC worker negotiations. Former California Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and former President Bill Clinton each cancelled a commencement speech at UC Davis and UCLA last spring, respectively.

Lakesha Harrison, President of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, which represents UC service workers, said AFSCME asked Steinem to cancel her appearance because accepting an invitation from UC gives the university undeserved credibility.

“When someone like Gloria Steinem cancels, it’s a powerful statement,” Harrison said. “If [prominent speakers] come on campus, you’re saying it’s okay to treat workers like crap.“

The university has been negotiating with the union for over a year, but the two sides have yet to come to a compromise on wage increases.

UC has proposed 1.5 percent across-the-board increases and a $13 per hour minimum wage by the end of the new contract. The union contends that some workers make “poverty wages” as low as $10 per hour. AFSCME is asking for six to eight percent across-the-board wage increases and a minimum wage of $15 per hour toward the beginning of the contract, according to a letter from California Labor Federation Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski, the appointed mediator of the negotiations.

Pulalski recommended a $14.50 per hour minimum wage by the end of the four-year contract and across-the-board wage increases ranging from three to five percent. UC has not yet agreed to the mediator’s recommendations, indicating that the union would have to make further compromises.

Paul Schwartz, a UC spokesperson, said that state funding is the university’s single largest source of salary funding for campus-based employee groups, which include service workers. As a result, the poor economy and state budget crisis have impacted UC’s ability to meet wage demands, he said.

Even so, the university is offering more than $26.5 million in wage increases and has tripled its offer for wage increases in the first year of the contract from three million to about 12 million, Schwartz said.

“We’ve made numerous compromises to our offers, and we continue to be open to using a mediator to help us reach an agreement, but an agreement requires compromise from both sides, not just the university,” Schwartz said in an e-mail.

Though no deal appears to be imminent, Harrison said the union is eager to return to the bargaining table.

“We’re very ready and determined to meet with UC,” she said.

 

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

Correction

Campus Editor
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In the Dec. 5 issue of The California Aggie, the article “Grad students feel effects of struggling health insurance industry” incorrectly stated that Jeffrey Gibeling will become the president of the Council of Graduate Students, when he will in fact become the chair. The Aggie regrets the error.

Wrestling team impresses against nation’s best

Sports Editor
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After the Aggies upset No. 10 Northwestern at home, they took to the mat in two big national tournaments in Las Vegas and Reno over the winter break. They also hosted conference rival Portland State at home.

The Aggies had an impressive showing at the Las Vegas Invite, finishing 20th out of 44 with Orozco placing fifth in his class. A week later the Aggies hosted Portland State at Hickey Gym, winning in convincing manner, 28-15.

UC Davis then headed back to Nevada for the Reno Tournament of Champions, where they placed ninth out of 30 and had three wrestlers place.

 

Dec. 5 and 6 – Las Vegas Invite

In a tournament that included nine-nationally ranked teams and six Pac-10 teams, senior Marcos Orozco led UC Davis to a solid 20th place showing.

Orozco led the Aggies with a career-best place finish of fifth in the 125-pound weight class. Senior Tyler Bernacchi and redshirt freshman Joey Wilson joined Orozco in the second day of the tournament, with Bernacchi falling just one win short of placing in the tournament for the second straight year.

UC Davis coach Lennie Zalesky was proud of the all-around team performance, as well as the strong individual showings.

“I think we were about six points off our highest scoring performance,” Zalesky said. “That shows a good all-around effort by our team. We had seven guys win matches and three guys one away from placing.”

Zalesky also believes there is still much room for improvement.

“We’re still not bringing our best efforts,” he said. “We need to work on some technical stuff. Mostly we need to work on hitting our moves and doing the things we do best.”

 

Dec. 16 – Portland State, 28-15

UC Davis may have knocked off Portland State 31-9 last year, but that doesn’t mean the Aggies were overlooking the Vikings.

“I think Portland State has brought in some young talent and should be improved,” Zalesky said.

The Aggies proved that the Vikings still have a lot of improving to do by trouncing them at home, 28-15.

UC Davis dominated Portland State with five major decisions and a technical fall by sophomore Barrett Abel, which helped the Aggies improve to 1-1 in conference duals and 3-1 overall.

Brandon Low and Nexi Delgado both earned major decisions to start off the match to give the Aggies momentum. Abel’s technical fall then gave UC Davis a 13-0 advantage as the Aggies coasted to victory.

Abe Otrambo, Ricky Alcala and Orozco closed out the dual as each earned major decisions over their opponents and the Aggies picked up their first conference win of the year.

 

Dec. 18 – Reno Tournament of Champions

Just two days after their home victory over Portland State, the Aggies traveled to Reno for the Tournament of Champions, which claims to be the “Toughest Tournament in the USA.“

UC Davis had three wrestlers place in the tournament and finished ninth against some of the best teams in the country including, No. 13 Oklahoma State and nine Pac-10 schools.

Orozco, Abel and Alcala were the three Aggies to place and led UC Davis to a strong team showing amongst national powerhouses.

“The most we’ve ever placed there was three and we matched that this time around,” Zalesky said. “We had a few other guys who were very close from placing and just fell short.“

Zalesky was also very impressed with his team’s overall performance at the tournament and on the year.

“What it really showed us was that we can compete with the top-10 teams,” he said. “The fact that we weren’t seeded in any but one of the brackets also shows that we can battle. Overall, I feel like we had a good start to the first half of the season.“

UC Davis then traveled to Stillwater, Okla. to take on No. 13 Oklahoma State yesterday. For a full recap, see Tuesday’s Aggie.

 

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

Women’s basketball closes December on a 5-game skid

Sports Editor
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After playing one of its best games of the season in a 73-59 loss at home against Arizona State on Dec. 3, UC Davis began its winter break with five straight road games.

“Against Arizona State, we had one of our best performances of the year,“ said head coach Sandy Simpson. “We played even with them and in some parts even outplayed them.“

The Aggies looked to take this momentum on their five-game road swing.

UC Davis did that against their first opponent in Saint Mary’s, but key injuries and a lack of experience had the Aggies wishing for the New Year after losing their next five.

 

Dec. 6 – UC Davis 85, Saint Mary’s 69

UC Davis looked to start its road trip off with a bang as they headed to play the Gaels before finals week.

The Aggies started sluggish but picked up the pace toward the end of the first half and ran away with the game in the second period of play.

“We got down early, getting behind by as much as 15 points,“ Simpson said, “but we came back and had a 23-point lead at one point.“

Sophomore Paige Mintun was one of four Aggies in double figures with 18 points.

UC Davis was also able to keep the turnovers at a relative minimum, only turning the ball over 13 times, far less than their season average of 20.

“I was happy with that performance,” Simpson said. “We took good care of the ball, shot well and played smooth offensively. We were struggling but in the second half we turned it around to play well.“

 

Dec. 13 – Sacramento State 53, UC Davis 45

As the saying goes, in rivalry games you can throw everything out the window.

With only one win entering the contest, the Hornets upset the Aggies in the women’s basketball installment of the Causeway Classic.

“We had a lackluster performance and are capable of playing at a much higher level,” Simpson said.

The Hornets were aided by junior Charday Hunt, who had a game-high 19 points.

Freshman Lauren Juric recorded a double-double for UC Davis, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds, but it was not enough to overcome the sting of the Hornets. The Aggies shot just 33 percent from the field.

“[Sacramento State] is a team that didn’t have a great record,” Simpson said. “We were probably favored and we should have played better. We were flat offensively and defensively and our veterans committed 18 turnovers between them.“

 

Dec. 17 – No. 22 South Dakota State 59, UC Davis 47

When junior Haylee Donaghe went down with a knee injury less than eight minutes into the game, the Aggies‘ chances of upsetting the nationally-ranked Jackrabbits went down with her.

Up 12-6 at that point, UC Davis was only able to extend their lead to eight points before the Jackrabbits went on a 19-4 run to the end the half.

“On a team with three or four veterans she was missed, but I am happy with our effort,” Simpson said. “We played fairly well defensively.“

Mintun led the Aggies with a game-high 14 points and came up one board shy of a double-double.

Sophomore Kristin Rotert led the Jackrabbits with 11 points.

The difference in the game was South Dakota State’s nine three-point field goals compared to only two from UC Davis.

 

Dec. 20 – Creighton 61, UC Davis 58

For the first time this season, the Aggies played a game that was decided on the last shot.

It did not go the Aggies‘ way.

UC Davis did everything it had to do to keep pace with fellow 2007 Women’s National Invitational Tournament invitee, but could not hit the last shot to send the game into overtime.

Mintun scored a team-high 24 points on 9-for-18 shooting from the floor. She also grabbed seven rebounds and had three steals.

Freshman Cortney French also chipped in with 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting.

“Cortney French had her best performance of the year off the bench and [Kasey] Riecks and Mintun played well,“ Simpson said.

This was not enough, however, to overcome a game-high 26 points and 13 rebounds from junior Megan Neuvirth.

The Aggies dropped to 4-5 overall and 1-2 in games in which Donaghe has either left early or missed a game due to injury.

 

Dec. 28 – No. 8 Stanford 84, UC Davis 49

For the first time all season, UC Davis could only suit up eight players due to injury.

The timing could have been better.

Playing against a national title contender, the Aggies fell to Stanford on the road at Maples Pavilion, 84-49.

“The score is not indicative of how we played,” Simpson said. “I thought we did some good things in that game. [Stanford] is one of the top-5 teams in the country. We only had eight in uniform and once [Lisa] Peterson got hurt, we only had seven.“

Senior Genevieve Costello hit five three-pointers for UC Davis to help the Aggies to 46 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

However, a lack of depth and the physicality of Stanford proved to be too much for UC Davis in the second half.

 

Tuesday – Seattle 65, UC Davis 59

For the second consecutive game, UC Davis was only able to put eight players in uniform.

It caused them trouble again.

The Aggies and Redhawks traded baskets during the first 30 minutes of play, resulting in six lead changes and two ties.

However, with 9:56 remaining, a three-pointer from senior Chelsie Morrison, who had a game-high 16 points, put Seattle up by two – a lead that it wouldn’t relinquish.

“We tend to play up and down to the talent level [of our opponent],” Simpson said. “[Seattle] played well defensively. We thought we could pick it up during the game but we didn’t. We have played better than that in many games this season.“

After going 2-6 in December, the Aggies will have to pick up the pace as Big West Conference play begins.

Simpson isn’t worried about the record, however, as last year’s team bounced back from a 1-7 December showing to take second in the Big West.

“Last year after Christmas we returned from a Midwest road trip in which we played horribly,” Simpson said, “but bounced back. The team showed resiliency to come back and had a pretty good season.“

Simpson believes this year’s squad team can do the same, but acknowledges that with such a young team, it will take some time.

“[Sunday] is a new season,” Simpson said. “It’s league play. If we win Sunday, we are 1-0. We have to play well and start feeling good about ourselves.“

UC Davis began league play Sunday against Cal State Northridge. For a full recap, see Tuesday’s Aggie.

 

MAX ROSENBLUM can be reached at sports@theaggie.org

Aggies’ Goals unknown leading into conference action

Sports Editor
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The conversational exchange has become an unofficial preseason tradition.

Before every year, UC Davis men’s basketball head coach Gary Stewart is asked by the media what his team’s goals are for the upcoming season.

And every time, Stewart gives a polite answer that carries the same underlying message:

Don’t worry about it.

Team goals are created by the team for the team, and that’s where he likes to keep them – inside the team.

So after the Aggies ended their nonconference schedule having won three of their last five games – the last of which was their largest victory of the season – and as the team prepared for its Big West Conference opener, the question again came up.

Again, Stewart played it close to the chest.

“Yeah, I’m going to have to go with the company line on that one,” Stewart said. “We do have goals. We have goals in relation to what we want to accomplish offensively, we have goals in relationship to offense and we have goals for our outcome.

“We talk diligently to the group about our expectations and how to get there, but I’m not sure that we need to go further into them.“

Not every goal may be known, but there is one sure to be near or at the top of the list:

This year, UC Davis wants to establish its place among the upper-echelon teams of the conference.

This week, the team will have its first chance.

Beginning today at 7:05 p.m. at Cal State Northridge, UC Davis opens Big West play with three conference games in six days. The Aggies follow tonight’s contest with home games against UC Riverside on Thursday and Long Beach State on Saturday.

UC Davis has spent months preparing for the conference part of its schedule, and this winter break was no different. The Aggies (5-8) played four games total, traveling to South Carolina to face The Citadel and Presbyterian before returning to The Pavilion to host Loyola and Dartmouth.

UC Davis, coming off of an 87-86 win over Cal State Bakersfield before finals week, opened by hitting 64.2 percent of its shots and holding The Citadel to 40.7 percent shooting for a 79-61 win. The Dec. 15 victory was the season’s first on the road.

Two days later, the Aggies came out flat and fell 82-69 to Presbyterian, which won its 14th straight home game.

“The way those games were structured, it was the same situation that we face in conference where we play a game, have a day in between and then play a game,” Stewart said. “We wanted to go through that to make sure we had an understanding of how their bodies felt after the first game, how to prepare for the travel and all that kind of stuff. That was the overall premise with which we constructed the road trip.“

Four days later on Dec. 21, the Aggies dropped a 95-89 shootout to Loyola. The Greyhounds (4-7) put up 51 in the second half, which may have been a blessing in disguise.

The loss served as an eye opener to the team of the defensive strides needed to be made before the Big West season.

“On defense, you want to disrupt their spacing. You want to do something that offsets their timing,” Stewart said. “We didn’t do that. We didn’t do that at all. They got into a very comfortable flow. We didn’t offer any resistance. We didn‘t take anything away.“

The Aggies then had a nine-day layoff before returning to action against Dartmouth. Stewart said he spent the time in between reviewing “hours and hours and hours” of film, and practice time was spent drilling defense.

The team didn’t have to wait long for a result.

On Tuesday, UC Davis scored 31 points off 27 Dartmouth turnovers and held the Big Green (2-9) to 27.5 percent shooting for a 72-41 blowout win.

“The way the schedule has played out, we haven’t had the practice time that we would have liked to have had,” Stewart said. “It’s nice to get that run from the Loyola game to the Dartmouth game where you can have all those hours of practice time without a game.“

Stewart, in his sixth year at UC Davis, said he’s never had a team this healthy heading into a conference play since he’s been here.

With the ball rolling from the Dartmouth win, the Aggies appear to have everything going their way as they look to accomplish their team goals, whatever those may be.

 

MICHAEL GEHLKEN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org

Winter break games

Dec. 6: UC Davis 87, Cal State Bakersfield 86

Dec. 15: UC Davis 79, The Citadel 61

Dec. 17: Presbyterian 82, UC Davis 69

Dec. 21: Loyola 95, UC Davis 89

Tuesday: UC Davis 72, Dartmouth 41

Getting defensive

Sports Editor
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Gary Stewart had seen enough.

After the UC Davis men’s basketball coach saw the Aggies give up a season-high 95 points in a loss to Loyola on Dec. 21, Stewart had a message for his team: You’re not going to win games at the Division I level by trading baskets.

“It’s no secret we didn’t play as well as we should have on the defensive end for the past month,” Stewart said.

In its four days of practice following a quick Christmas break, UC Davis‘ focus became giving its defense a makeover. Taking charges, extra sprints – if there was a chance it’d keep their opponents from scoring, the Aggies were doing it.

“It was pretty intense,” said senior guard Vince Oliver.

It worked.

The much-improved UC Davis defense was on display its next time out, giving Dartmouth fits all night en route to a 72-41 win on Tuesday.

“We locked up for the whole game,” Oliver said. “We’ve had some games where we’ve done it for a half, but we put it together tonight. We’ve shown we can do it, so we’ve got to bring it every night.“

The Aggies held the Big Green to a lowly 27.5 percent field goal rate while forcing 27 turnovers, good for season bests in both categories.

“The past four or five games, people have been scoring 80 and 90 points on us,“ said sophomore guard Mark Payne. “That’s not the way we want to play. That was our main focus all week. Now, we know we’re capable of holding teams to 40 and 50 points.“

The win snaps a brief two-game losing skid, giving the Aggies some momentum heading into Big West Conference competition.

UC Davis opens league play at Cal State Northridge tonight at 7:05 p.m. The Matadors (4-8, 1-1) were voted the conference’s preseason favorites.

“[Beating Dartmouth] was big for us,” Payne said. “We didn’t want to go into league with a losing streak. …We’re confident. We’re ready to go.“

Don’t let the Aggies 5-8 record fool you – they should be confident.

UC Davis dropped its first two contests of the season in Ames, Iowa at the World Vision Basketball Classic against a pair of tough opponents in Iowa State (10-4) and Wisconsin-Milwaukee (an NCAA Tournament frequenter) by a combined nine points.

The Aggies then headed to the Southeast to face Arkansas (yes, that Arkansas – the one that’s 11-1 and beat No. 4 Oklahoma), forcing the Razorbacks to work for their 68-59 win.

“We let those first two games slip away at the beginning of the year,” Payne said. “We could have won four more games. Our record really doesn’t show how good we are.“

“We’ve done some good things,” Oliver said, “but there’s still some things we’ve got to work on like rebounding and continuing to play good defense.“

Stewart said his team would continue getting better, and that moving David Carter into the starting lineup and fellow senior Kyle Brucculeri to the sixth man slot could be the start of that.

“The past few games, we’ve been struggling with balance,” Stewart said. “We’ve gone to our bench and haven’t had the energy or the commitment by the second unit. …We felt like Kyle would help us in that area.“

The lineup change was in effect against Dartmouth, and Stewart liked what he saw.

“I thought we were better both ways,” Stewart said. “Our starting lineup was excellent and when we went to our bench, we were able to sustain that energy and continue with a great effort.“

Expect more of the same from the Aggies moving forward as they play out their conference schedule.

“For me and the other seniors, this is it,” Oliver said. “These are the last games of our college careers. It’s all on the line now.“

 

ADAM LOBERSTEIN is pretending he’s on the semester system so he doesn’t have to go to class for the next couple weeks. He can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Aggie Digest

Sports Editor
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Baseball

UC Davis junior Ty Kelly has been named to the Preseason All-Ping Baseball Team. Kelly, a native of Tracy, Calif., received third-team accolades as a third baseman and was one of just five third basemen to be named to the teams.

This marks the second preseason honor for Kelly, who was also named to the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Preseason Watch List along with teammate Ryan Scoma.

Kelly received his Ping accolades following an impressive sophomore season in which he put up the second-best single season batting average in UC Davis history (.397) while finishing among team leaders in hits (94), doubles (17), home runs (4), RBI’s (39) and total bases (125).

His batting average also gave him the Big West Conference batting title while his hits ranked second.

The Aggie baseball team begins its season on Feb. 20 with a three-game series at UCLA.

 

Big West Academic All-Conference

A contingent of 15 UC Davis student-athletes from five teams earned 2008 Big West Fall Academic All-Conference honors.

To be eligible for All-Academic honors, a student-athlete must hold a 3.2 cumulative grade point average, complete one full academic year at the member institution prior to the season (i.e. sophomore academic standing) and compete in at least 50 percent of his or her team’s contests.

In all, 122 student-athletes from nine member institutions were honored in the conference’s five fall sports: women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country; and men’s and women’s soccer.

UC Davis men’s cross country had six of the 17 total honorees in that sport. Alphabetically, the Aggie winners are David Buscho, K.C. Cody, Chris Harland-Dunaway, Scott Himmelberger, Tyler Rattray and Calvin Thigpen.

The Aggies had three of the 19 honorees in volleyball, namely Julie King, Carson Lowden and Avreeta Singh.

UC Davis‘ Gabina Bohlman and Sarah Peters found their names among the 37 All-Academic winners in women’s soccer, while seniors Dan Campbell and Dylan Curtis represented the Aggies among the 14 men’s soccer honorees.

Kaitlin Gregg and Alison Stoakley made the 35-person women’s country honor roll.

 

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

DAILY CALENDAR

Features Editor
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TODAY

Project Compost

6 p.m.

Project Compost Office, MU Basement

Learn about radical composting on campus and how to get involved.

 

Spellbound screening

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center

Watch this Alfred Hitchcock movie, with stars Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman. The black and white film has scenes staged by the famous painter Salvador Dali.

 

WEDNESDAY

How to actually actualize your New Years resolution

5 to 6 p.m.

ARC Meeting Room 3

Learn how you can clarify and implement healthy resolutions and then learn how to stick to them!

 

Political history of development in Southern California

5:10 to 6:30 p.m.

1150 Hart

Stephanie Pincetl, a UCLA professor, will speak in a lecture that is part of the History of California’s Landscapes series.

 

Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous

7 to 8:30 p.m.

United Methodist Church, 1620 Anderson Road

This program is for individuals recovering from eating addictions, bulimia and under-eating based on the 12-step program from Alcoholics Anonymous. For more information, go to foodaddicts.org.

 

THURSDAY

An evening with Cree Edwards

6 to 8 p.m.

174 AOB IV

Edwards, the Chairman and CEO of eMeter corporation, will speak as a part of the UC Davis Sustainable Enterprise Speaker Series.

 

 

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. 

 

Club Hoppin’: National Society of Collegiate Scholars

Features Editor
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To some, honor societies may seem like exclusive clubs for reclusive bookworms.

Members of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) may be bookworms, but they’re anything but reclusive.

NSCS draws its members from the ranks of those freshman and sophomores who have achieved above a 3.4 grade point average. Instead of comparing grades, members spend their time striving to fulfill the three pillars of NSCS: scholarship, leadership, and service.

NSCS‘ places tremendous importance on community service. Members are encouraged to attend one or two meetings a month, where student officers offer free pizza and describe the coming weeks‘ activities, which regularly include community service events as well as social events.

The club focuses on a major community service event each month, providing a battalion of motivated volunteers for a variety of causes and organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity.

“Habitat for Humanity was building a few houses in Woodland, and we volunteered to help. We helped paint the entire house-it took the whole day. At the end, we got to talk to the family moving in…it was a fun experience and very rewarding,” said Sean Pan, a junior managerial economics major and current vice president.

A regular event recently has also been NSCS‘ work with the Davis Tree Project, which aims to plant trees throughout the city of Davis. Other causes include Christmas toy drives, volunteer work with Davis Community Meals and the Sacramento Food Bank, and Relay for Life.

Through their Planning for College Success Program, NSCS sends two to three student volunteers most days of the week to tutor at Davis Elementary School, Holmes Middle School and Davis High School.

“It’s really great working with kids [and] for students like us to get to be teachers,” said Hasmik Minasyan, a senior neurobiology, physiology, and behavior (NPB) major and president. “And when I applied for a job at the Learning Skills Center, [the experience] really helped me…I could apply what I learned to broader things.“

Members get as much as they give through service, and their experiences have provided them with opportunities for growth as well as an incentive to continue.

“A lot of times, community service is seen as a waste of time, especially for college students with finals and midterms,” Pan said. “But it’s a way to give back to the community, a way to learn new things, and a way to learn about the people around you. In the end, it makes [for] more colorful people.“

And with 233 chapters in all fifty states, NSCS gives its members plenty of opportunities. Its national headquarters regularly sends thousands of students throughout the country e-mails regarding scholarships, internships, and other academic or career opportunities, many of which are exclusively for NSCS members. The organization also holds a national convention in a different state each year.

“NSCS is known as an organization for outstanding college students, and businesses come [to the convention] to recruit members. It’s a great opportunity to travel and meet different organizations,” Minasyan said.

Social events also serve an important function in helping members‘ achievement. Held approximately once a month, usually at Steve’s Pizza or Woodstock’s, social events are aimed at helping diverse members get to know each other.

“It’s a great chance to network. Students can share information about what teachers to take, what internships to apply for-we learn from each other,” said Brittney Ciszek, a sophomore and current social chair.

Better relationships between members help individuals help each other, and veteran members have also found that social events have boosted attendance at meetings and activities.

“It’s an eclectic group of students, and the diversity, especially, has been really great for me,” said Leah Kellgren, a junior political science major and co-vice president of community service. “Seeing all these different majors and interests coming together and being able to work together for a common goal is amazing.“

Students who would like to find out more about Davis NSCS are encouraged to attend meetings and inquire about community service and social events. More information can be found at www.ucdnscs.org. To learn more about the entire NSCS organization, please visit www.nscs.org.

 

ANDRE LEE can be reached at features@theaggie.org

 

Hail to the Chief

Opinion
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Social networking website Facebook has come under fire recently for removing pictures from some members‘ profiles. The pictures? They show women breastfeeding. This has led to not only the obligatory anti-Facebook policy Facebook groups, but women protesting outside of Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., the New York Times reports.

The women affected by this policy argue that the pictures are not obscene and Facebook shouldn’t flag them for being offensive.

Facebook argues that obscenity aside, the pictures are in violation of their nudity policy and have to come down.

You know what? Facebook is absolutely right.

One of the hardest things for media entities to manage is appropriate censorship. The bothersome aspect of absolute rules is that they are absolute; there‘s no room for negotiation.

It’s certainly unfortunate that these pictures are being flagged; I agree with the protesters that they aren’t harming anyone. I’ve never heard anyone complain that pictures of breastfeeding are offensive (though I‘m sure such people exist).

Be that as it may, degrees of nudity and whether they are “okay” or not for public consumption is purely subjective. No party would be completely happy if Facebook created a special department of people whose job it was to sift through pictures and decide which were offensive and which weren’t; some would slip through the cracks and there would be problems.

What is a realistic solution (and what’s actually happening) is to have a strict policy regarding nudity. Any picture that violates the policy is flagged. Facebook even has specific guidelines on what makes nudity in pictures “offensive.“

Spokesperson Barry Schnitt, quoted in The Jakarta Post, said that photos with exposed nipple or areola are considered obscene (and noted that this terminology still allows for many pictures showing breastfeeding).

Absolute rules like this might be frustrating, but they‘re better than the alternative.

Another complaint from the protesting mothers is that Facebook is unfairly targeting women with these rules (men can have pictures showing their nipples). This complaint really goes beyond Facebook and is more a complaint about what’s acceptable in our society; this certainly isn’t a complaint I’ve heard before and it doesn’t seem reasonable to suddenly hold a website accountable for it.

All of these arguments aside, the fact is that Facebook is a private entity and has the right to do whatever it wants with its website, which means flagging whatever it damn well pleases.

This incident should make people realize how hard it is for media outlets to censor material in a consistent, inoffensive manner. Even when they do, there are still problems (Janet Jackson‘s Nipplegate comes to mind).

All this by way of saying that the public should consider all sides of an equation before getting in a huff. Media outlets are generally doing the best they can to not censor folks; they want their customers to be as happy as possible, which means getting in their face as little as possible.

 

RICHARD PROCTER hopes everyone had a nice holiday break! Send him happy thoughts at rhprocter@ucdavis.edu

The Cap and Gown List

Opinion
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Before I begin, let me first say “happy winter quarter!” and recommend hot chocolate, peppermint tea, and a fantastic product called the “Slanket“ to keep you warm this winter season (it‘s a blanket with sleeves…look it up now, thank me later).

Now back to it.

For me, it is time for a revolutionary idea, so here it is: I hereby resolve not to make New Year‘s Resolutions. I will no longer start the year making a promise I know I am not going to keep. It‘s like taking out a full-page ad in the local paper to announce to the world that I‘m full of crap. Having said that, I think it‘s wonderful to use the New Year as a catalyst to look within ourselves, and acknowledge our flaws. Retrospection and change are both essential to living a content life.

The January issue of every magazine includes a section dedicated to the almighty New Year‘s Resolution. People resolve to lose weight, work out, spend less money, earn more money, assert themselves more, stress less, call their moms more often (ok that one was just my mom‘s voice in my head). The suggested resolutions run the gamut from inconsequential to monumental.

Suddenly, the moment the ball drops on New Year‘s Eve, the promises begin. Those carefully fashioned vows designed to ensure we are happier, healthier, more productive and more organized in the next twelve months than we were before.

Some say that the changing of the calendar is the perfect opportunity to correct the things they don‘t like about themselves, to change the circumstances of their lives, to take the metaphorical “out with the old, and in with the new“ and make it real.

I have never totally bought into the New Year‘s resolution concept. The cynical part of me is certain the whole idea was created by some health club marketing director. It certainly turned out to be a sure-fire way to get new members to sign up and pay their fees in January, knowing full well most of them will disappear from the gym‘s sign up sheets by mid February.

But I am not totally immune. In the past, when asked by friends and family about my resolutions, I‘ve regurgitated generalizations about life, health and organizational skills. I started writing in a diary one year, the next I was going to make a personal filing system, and one year I bought a new pair of walking shoes promising to use them once a day. I never opened the diary again, never filed anything in my custom made system, and I could still sell the walking shoes on ebay and label them “worn once“.

When I make a resolution, knowing in my heart of hearts it will not be fulfilled, I am reminded of the of old saying ” I can‘t hear what you are saying because what you are is too loud“. What does it say about me that I am willing to bow to peer pressure and make a vow, fully understanding no one expects me to make good on it?

But let‘s be honest. I‘m not going to eat more carrots or finish all my essays 3 days before they are due, and I am not going to read ‘The Classics‘ instead of watching the Bones marathon.

Making resolutions hasn‘t helped me change any of the things about myself that I would like to change. So, I choose not to make them anymore, and rather take each situation throughout the year as it comes.

While trying to flesh out the idea for this column, I asked a couple of friends if they had made any New Years Resolutions. One said “Of course, I feel like I should, but usually I forget about them before long.“ The other said “Never. I don‘t see the point“ I relate to the first response, but I admire the second.

So, I am done with the dreaded NYR.

I will try and make my life about actions as well as words. Saying what I mean is a good thing (and my dream future does depend on writing what I think and believe), but I need actions to back it all up. If I‘m going to talk the talk, I need to walk the walk, and no promise I make to myself one day a year will ever make that happen.

Glad I got that … resolved.

 

EMILY KAPLAN has a strange passion for fresh notebooks, pens and post-it pads. She wants to know what you like best about school starting again, so e-mail her at eckaplan@ucdavis.edu.

 

Citizens’ group wants Target project to wait

City Editor
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As construction workers prepare to pour the foundation for a new Target store in Davis, a citizens oversight group is sounding the alarm about a recent discovery of a hazardous substance nearby.

Recent groundwater samples from an area 100 feet east of the planned location for the Target building revealed the presence of trichloropropane (TCP), a synthetic chemical that the U.S. government considers a hazardous substance.

The samples were taken on the Target property, which sits directly east of an EPA Superfund cleanup site on Second Street in East Davis. The Superfund site was established after the Frontier Fertilizer company illegally dumped pesticides and other chemicals during the 1980s, contaminating soil and groundwater in the area.

Pamela Nieberg, president of the Frontier Fertilizer Superfund Oversight Group, sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency requesting more investigation into the discovery. The samples came from outside the Superfund site, where TCP has already been detected. The oversight group is concerned that the chemical could be coming from a different source, or that the contamination is spreading in an unexpected way that could harm Target employees or nearby residents.

“It is an issue of determining the extent and probable source of the TCP contamination, possible health impacts in the neighborhood and how to remediate if necessary,” Nieberg said.

The oversight group is calling for further groundwater sampling before the foundation is laid for the Target building.

“Once the slab is poured, that sampling will be difficult if not impossible,” she said.

EPA officials said they did not believe the discovery was enough to stop the Target project from moving forward.

“While it is our intention to further investigate the TCP found in this area, we believe that this additional investigation can occur either before or after the Target store is constructed,” said EPA project manager Bonnie Arthur.

TCP is a synthetic chemical that is typically used in the manufacture of other chemicals, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services. In high doses, TCP exposure causes eye and throat irritation in humans. Other research has shown that extremely high TCP exposure in mice and rabbits caused damage to internal organs, but these results have not been reproduced in humans. It is not classified as a cancer-causing substance.

In a letter to the oversight group, Arthur noted that TCP has only been found in two of 40 groundwater sample locations on the Target property, neither of which were at the location of the building itself. Over ten years of sampling have shown that there is not enough of the chemical present to be considered a health risk to the community, she said.

The EPA is requiring Target to install a vapor barrier beneath the building to prevent any chemical vapors from entering the building through the foundation. Target has also built new monitoring wells to make up for wells that are being displaced by the new development.

A Target representative told the Davis Enterprise that it expects the new wells to be able to detect the contamination’s movement, noting that there are more wells now than there were before.

Construction on the foundation of the building is slated to begin this month, and Target expects the store to open in October.

 

JEREMY OGUL can be reached at city@theaggie.org. 

Downtown Hunt-Boyer mansion to see redevelopment

City Editor
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The reuse of the Hunt-Boyer mansion downtown has become a topic of much discussion among the Davis City Council and local groups.

The Hunt-Boyer mansion is located on the corner of Second and E Streets and is currently used as office space for city staff, but the city wants to put it to better use. City staff are currently working on an analysis of the building and its potential uses.

“We looked at several reuse options – one was retail and we quickly excluded that,” said deputy city manager Ken Hiatt at the council’s Dec. 9 meeting. “[The mansion] is set back from the street and does not have good retail windows.“

After ruling out using the mansion as retail space, the staff began to examine other options.

“We looked at specifically restaurants and the concept of a visitor’s information center,” he said. “Both a restaurant and a visitor’s center are viable reuse options.“

However, in order to use the Hunt-Boyer mansion as a restaurant, several updates would need to be made to the interior of the building, which would cost the city much more, said Anne Brunette, the city’s property management coordinator.

“It would cost between $750,000 and $1 million to do the improving,” she added. “The other reuse option is a community events and information center.“

The building is ideal to house a community events and visitor’s information center because it is at a main intersection in downtown, Brunette said.

“[The mansion] is in an area that sees a lot of pedestrians along that route,” she added.

The one thing [Davis city staff] has noticed over the years is that the public is not always aware of which entity or organization is putting on specific events in and around downtown, Brunette said.

“Expected activities in the building would be to provide information about events, attractions and lodging in the community, maps for the community and campus, and a calendar of events,” Brunette added.

The visitor’s center would also have office space available for individual groups, she said. Staff members from UC Davis, the Davis Downtown Business Association, Farmer’s Market and Yolo County Visitors Bureau would hold offices here.

Ultimately, city staff recommended the events and visitor’s information center because it would be the most feasible and smallest fiscal impact on the city, she said.

While several councilmembers agreed with the resolution presented by the feasibility study, others had alternate opinions of how the Hunt-Boyer mansion should be reused.

Councilmember Sue Greenwald said she did not think the visitors‘ center was appropriate for the location and suggested a restaurant would be a better use. Lamar Heystek suggested the idea of a hotel or bed-and-breakfast establishment.

Mayor Ruth Asmundson said she believes that researching this location as a visitor’s center is the most feasible option at this point.

“I’m in favor of having the different [local] groups move in there with the least cost – for the redevelopment agency,” Asmundson said.

Making the mansion into a visitor’s center might make it easier to change the contract if city officials or the city council come up with a better use for the building in coming years, she added.

For now, city staff will move ahead with their research and planning to redevelop the Hunt-Boyer mansion into a visitor’s information center. However, the staff and city council will keep other options in mind as the project moves forward.

More information on the study is available on the city’s website at cityofdavis.org.

 

CAITLIN COBB can be reached at city@theaggie.org

Try Before You Buy Week comes to the ARC

Campus Editor
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The New Year is here again and the Activities and Recreation Center is encouraging students to stick to their exercise resolutions with free access to all facilities during Try Before You Buy week.

Try Before You Buy, which occurs at the beginning of every quarter, runs from Jan. 2-11. During this time, all students, faculty, staff, alumni and student affiliates are granted free access to all resources in the ARC. For students who already have memberships, this means an opportunity to attend group fitness and instructional classes before purchasing passes.

“Try Before You Buy lets UCD students experience the wide variety of fun, challenging, kick-butt group exercise classes the ARC has to offer,” said Leslie Vest, a recent UC Davis graduate and group fitness instructor. “There is something for everyone, including cycling, toning, step, kickboxing, yoga and Pilates…the ARC has it all.“

In addition, students can also check out a variety of dance classes in anything ranging from ballet to belly dancing, as well as judo and Hapkido martial arts.

Regular attendees of the ARC classes say the fun environment and camaraderie of group exercise keeps them more motivated than working out individually.

“I like the group exercise classes because you can work out with other people,” said Lindsay Hoffman, a senior genetics major. “Also, I am never as creative when I work out on my own…the classes keep you interested.“

Other members say they like having the presence of an instructor who pushes them.

“Group exercise is almost like having a personal trainer because you have [an instructor] watching you and giving you tips,” said UC Davis staff member Sharon Boylan, who has been attending classes for two years. “Working out on the machines can get boring really fast but the classes keep me motivated.“

For many students who already make exercise a part of their routine, Try Before You Buy gives them the opportunity to change things up and try something new.

“I have used the ARC and taken yoga classes here since I was a freshman,” Hoffman said, “This quarter, I plan to try out kickboxing, which is something totally different for me.“

For those who are newer to group exercise, following a few simple tips will make the process much smoother, Vest said.

“Try Before You Buy is the busiest time of the year for group exercise, so make sure you come early to grab a spot,” she said. “Classes do fill up, so be at least 10-15 minutes early. Also make sure to bring a towel, water and a comfortable pair of sneakers.“

Students can check out the winter fitness classes in the ARC recreation guide. Group exercise passes can be purchased at the Fitness and Wellness Center and are $45 for the quarter. Passes can also be purchased on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

 

ERICA LEE can be reached at campus@theaggie.org

 

 

UC Davis student dies in Christmas Day skiing accident

Campus Editor
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On Christmas morning, 21-year-old UC Davis senior Randy Davis left girlfriend Kelsey Hudson’s house for a skiing session on the fresh snow of Squaw Valley.

Following his first run of the morning, at approximately 11:15 a.m., an avalanche claimed the life of this passionate competitive freestyle skier.

Davis, a native of Tahoe City, spent Christmas Eve with the Hudson family because it was snowing heavily and he wanted to get the first chair in the morning.

Davis woke up at 7:30 a.m. the next day while Hudson, a UC Berkeley sophomore, was still sleeping. As he left, he told Hudson he loved her and would be back by 11 a.m. When he didn’t come home, the Hudson family put Christmas on hold until last Monday.

“He was a lot more than my boyfriend,” Hudson said. “[My family] basically adopted him. He was here almost every single night, even when I wasn’t home.“

A ski patroller and search dog located his body under the avalanche, several yards from where he was last seen. Davis died of trauma due to the impact of running into a tree and avalanche debris. No one witnessed the accident that occurred on the steep terrain of Poulsen’s Gully.

The Squaw Valley Ski Patrol responded to a call from Davis‘ friend, who reported him missing. The patrol began search and rescue operations using dogs, beacons, probes and Recco, an electronic tracking device, said Squaw Valley USA spokesperson Savannah Cowley in an e-mail interview.

A reported 22 inches of snow fell the night before Davis‘ accident and continued throughout Christmas Day. Earlier that day, ski patrol conducted avalanche control procedures in the area. The last inbounds avalanche fatality at the resort occurred in 1963.

Davis was born in Avalon on Catalina Island. His family moved to Squaw Valley when he was two years old and now lives in Tahoe City.

“He learned how to ski as he learned how to walk,” said his mother Nanci Davis.

Davis was a longtime Squaw Valley pass holder and a coach for the Squaw Valley Freestyle Team. He wanted to go to the Olympics in aerial skiing and used to take winter quarters off from Davis to compete.

Davis, a graduate of North Tahoe High School, had recently declared an exercise biology major and talked about going into medicine, physical therapy or sports training. His mother also encouraged him to look into education because he was good with kids of all ages. He played intramural flag football, enjoyed mountain and road biking and worked as an astronomy teacher’s assistant. Davis was also learning to play the guitar and Hudson’s mother was teaching him how to cook.

“[Randy] wasn’t a follower,” said his mother Nanci. “He was never affected by peer pressure. He was always of his own mind, always very playful and a prankster, he loved practical jokes. He was very easygoing and nothing fazed him. It was tough to make him angry.“

Cassidy Iverson, sophomore human development major and friend of Davis‘, said he was very close to his family, especially to his sister Jessica.

“They were like best friends and he loved his family a lot,” Iverson said. “Around his friends he was just so optimistic and it rubbed off on everyone.“

His sister Jessica, a third-year law student at UC Davis King Hall School of Law, said Randy was a very caring and easygoing person.

“He donated blood all the time on campus in blood drives,” she said. “He and I went together one time, and the woman did it wrong, and blood starting squirting all over the room. He was the most relaxed person there and everyone was flipping out. But he was very calm and collected and wasn’t fazed about anything.“

A memorial service was held on Saturday at Olympic Village Lodge at Squaw Valley. The Randy C. Davis Memorial Fund, a division of Charitysmith, was created to give annual awards to local Tahoe and Truckee skiers to fund summer training camps.

 

POOJA KUMAR can be reached at city@theaggie.org

 

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