This holiday season Delta Chi fraternity is hosting its second Toys for Tots charity drive in partnership with the Coffee House.

Toys for Tots is a charity event in which people donate old and new toys during the holiday season, which are given to children throughout the community facing economic difficulties.

“For most families, Christmas is a very important time of the year to get together, and of course for kids, the presents are a big deal,” said Tanner Bixler, a member of the Delta Chi fraternity. “We want to make sure underprivileged children have a great Christmas, by donating a toy.”

Delta Chi will not hand out the toys themselves, but will give them to the U.S. Marine Corps, which distributes them in order to respect the privacy of the families.

The fundraiser began Nov. 10, and will continue until Dec. 5. Donations can be dropped off by the piano in the Coho.

For every toy a person donates, they will receive a raffle ticket for a drawing on Dec. 5 to win Coho gift certificates.

“We are not looking for expensive toys, just something small for children ages 3 to 12,” said Cecilia Landholt, the Coho special events intern.

Adam Silva, the philanthropy chair to Delta Chi, said he recognized this as a great opportunity to help local kids. Delta Chi is also working with the Yolo County and Woodland branches of Toys for Tots.

“We want to make the holidays special for as many kids as possible,” Silva said.

The Coho also aims to host special events throughout the school year, and have already featured one in which they celebrated their 40th anniversary. For the holidays, the Coho chose to have their first special holiday fundraiser, Landholt said.

“A holiday fundraiser would be good for the Coho, since they haven’t done fundraisers before,” Landholt said.

Delta Chi will also host a toy drive night on Dec. 2 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the fraternity house, located at 320 Parkway Circle. Attendees will be treated to cider as well as a visit from Santa.

“If you do not have the opportunity to drop off a toy at the Coho, this is a great place to meet other Greek organizations,” Bixler said.

CORY BULLIS can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

Since the start of the fall quarter, a 17 member board of directors has been meeting weekly and holding office hours in preparation for the 95th annual Picnic Day celebration, scheduled for Apr. 18, 2009.

In consideration of UC Davis’ centennial celebration, the theme for the upcoming event will be Reflections: 100 Years of Aggie Legacy.

“We’re taking time this year at Picnic Day to look at where UCD came from, and also to where it is going” said Steven D. Lee, Publicity manager for Picnic Day.

A notable change in this year’s celebration will be the inclusion of student marshals in the Picnic Day Parade. The parade will feature three to four marshals, selected from current and former UC Davis students.

“The parade marshals are very important, they are people we would like to honor, and this year, because of the centennial, we would really like to honor the students,” said Christine Pham, a senior economics major and chair of the planning committee.

Nominations for the position are being accepted until Dec. 3 and can be submitted to Picnic Day vice chair Monica Lindholm. The selections will be decided by a subcommittee and are expected to be announced during the first week of winter quarter.

“What we’re really trying to find [for nominations] are outstanding students who have made an impact [and] represent what UCD is all about,” Lee said.

In addition to their role of leading the parade, the marshals will also be asked to showcase a talent during the day.

Notable past examples include “Butterscotch,” Davis resident and finalist on reality T.V. show “America’s Got Talent,” who served as a marshal in the parade last year.

Other changes to this year’s event are still in the planning, but staples of the event, like the 36 year-old Doxie Derby, cow milking and the magic show will still be the major attractions of the day.

The official schedule will be released in the early spring.

Last year approximately 80,000 to 100,000 people attended Picnic Day, said Pham, who served as business director for Picnic Day 2008 and is now in her third year of involvement with the event.

“I expect that because it’s the centennial and Picnic Day is one of our premier events that we will have an even greater turnout then last year,” Pham said. “I’m also expecting greater involvement from the campus.”

The picnic day tradition began in 1909. The event has been cancelled four times in its history, in 1924 because of an out break of hoof-and-mouth disease, in 1938 because of the delayed construction of a gymnasium, and during World War II from 1942-1944 when the campus was under the direction of the Army Signal Corps, according to the event’s website.

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

The Mercer Veterinary Clinic will continue its 13-year long tradition of making holiday gift baskets for pets of the homeless this December.

“These baskets help make the holidays a little brighter for these special animals and their loving owners,” said Eileen Samitz, the holiday pet basket coordinator. “These animals are not only pets, but they are warmth, comfort and sometimes protection, and often they are the only family that these less fortunate folks have.”

The Mercer Clinic is a nonprofit organization operated by faculty, resident and student volunteers from UC Davis’s Veterinary School and relies on donations from the public and different companies for its continuing services.

On the second Saturday of every month, the Mercer clinic also provides free medical care for pets of the homeless. The second Saturday of December is an especially joyful visit for these pets, as they receive special present from the staff, the “Santas,” and the students, the “elves.”

“The gift boxes are the frosting on the cake,” said Laurel Gershwin, a UCD professor in Veterinary Medicine who regularly volunteers for the clinic.

Mercer volunteers stuff food, treats, leashes, care items and an assortment of toys in empty boxes covered with holiday wrapping paper each year. The holiday baskets are brought to the Mercer Pet Clinic in Sacramento where an expected 80 wagging tails and 50 felines are waiting patiently to get their free monthly checkup.

“We give them routine healthy animal treatment and provide up to date on vaccinations and medicine,” Gershwin said.

The holiday basket program was started in 1995 by staff of the Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital and operates within the Mercer clinic.

“There wouldn’t be people to give out the boxes if there is no clinic,” Gershwin said.

In the first year, 25 baskets were produced for the event. The number of baskets increased rapidly in the following years, eventually reaching 130 last year. This year’s goal for the event is to produce 130 again, Samitz said.

“No recipients are selected,” she said. “All will receive a basket, thus there is a need for at least 130 baskets.”

The cost for these 130 baskets is estimated to be around $2,500, which covers the cost to continue the program each year. The money comes entirely from donations and fundraising, Samitz said.

Among the past recipients is Ruby, a homeless Sacramento woman, and her lab-mix Beethoven, who Ruby refers to as her “son.”

Beethoven serves as Ruby’s protector and guards her from danger, while keeping her warm in the cold evenings, she said. Ruby told the volunteers of Beethoven’s heroic act when he awakened her after her sleeve caught on fire because she slept too close to the flames, saving her from what would have been a deadly situation.

Beethoven, too, is indebted to Ruby. She saved the puppy from drowning in a gunnysack after he was thrown into the Sacramento River. They have been inseparable ever since.

“Ruby’s smiling face and Beethoven’s wagging tail while she opened up his gifts from Santa was heartwarming to all of us,” said the Mercer volunteers in letter on the organization’s website.

This represents what Mercer is about, Samitz said, which is providing free care and a little joy for families like Ruby and Beethoven, not just for the holidays, but throughout the year.

“Just seeing how important these animals are to them and the good care that they give to their companion. It makes you feel that it is all worth it,” said Samantha Klau, a UCD Veterinary student volunteer.

Nicole Ho, also a UCD Veterinary student volunteer, said that Mercer provides these people with a service that they usually cannot afford.

“It provides them a way to help their companion, or in some cases the only family that these people have,” Ho said.

This will be the first year that a lightweight cleanable brush, which should last the entire year, is provided in each basket, Samitz said. Samitz has been searching for this type of product for five years.

Also it will be the first time that the canine companions will get a tug toy and the felines will get a cat teaser in their gift baskets. These items are important since they promote human and pet interactions, Samitz said.

“The Holiday Pet event and the Mercer Clinic mean so much to the homeless folks with pets,” Samitz said. “We feel that these special pets deserve to have a happy holiday as well. We rely on the generosity of the public to continue since the holiday event and the Mercer Clinic could not exist without the help of these donations.”

For more information about the holiday baskets for pets of the homeless or to donate to the cause, visit vetmed.ucdavis.edu/clubs/mercer/donation_holiday.html.

MINH PHAM can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

As part of the Distinguished Speakers Series, former Senator George Mitchell spoke about his time in the Senate, his investigation into steroid use in baseball and the threats the world faces at the Mondavi Center Wednesday night.

“There isn’t a man, woman, or child that doesn’t trust George Mitchell,” said Don Roth, Executive Director of the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, in his introduction of the former senator.

Mitchell was the U.S. Senate Majority Leader for six years before his retirement in 1995, the main investigator in the steroids scandal in Major League Baseball, as well as the successful mediator between Catholics and Presbyterians in Northern Ireland for which he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

After serving in the Senate, Mitchell went back to practicing private law and currently is the chair of the global board of the international law firm DLA Piper and serves as the chancellor of The Queen’s University in Northern Ireland.

“I will not be talking about my years in the Senate,” Senator Mitchell said. “I don’t want to make a false impression that I didn’t love the Senate – I did – but there’s just so many other to topics to cover.”

Senator Mitchell began his political career as a federal judge in Maine. In 1980, when Senator Edmund S. Muskie left the Senate to become Secretary of State, the Governor of Maine appointed him as his successor. Senator Mitchell recalled that night for the audience.

“On that Sunday, I went to bed wondering ‘what was the governor going to do’ and at 11 that night, I got a call and it was the governor,” Mitchell said. “He told me he wanted me to come down to the State Capitol so he could announce that I was to be the Senator. I said I needed time to think about it and asked how long do I have. He said one hour.”

Senator Mitchell did not want to join the Senate without first talking to his family and receiving their input. He decided to call his brothers, who, as he explained, used to be the jocks while Senator Mitchell was remembered as ‘Johnny Mitchell’s kid brother who isn’t any good’ in the small town they grew up in.

“I called my brothers and told them the governor called – what do you think about that?” he said. “Their responses were predictably negative – my brother Johnny said ‘everyone knows you are a born loser, no one can understand how you came to become a federal judge and you couldn’t possibly win a statewide election.”

After uproarious laughter, Senator Mitchell finished his story by explaining that he called the Governor right after his brothers’ phone calls.

“I said [to the Governor], ‘Governor, I don’t need an hour. I received all the reassurance that I need,” he said.

Senator Mitchell shifted his lecture to discuss baseball and his approval of MLB’s actions during the investigation.

“The Major League Baseball and the commissioner have not been recognized for the courage for [asking for] an outside investigation,” he said.

Instead of having its own organization conduct the investigation, the MLB specifically asked Senator Mitchell to look into the problem and report whatever and however he wanted. His findings became the Mitchell Report, which claims to have evidence against 89 players for steroid or prohibited substance use.

Senator Mitchell said the press seemed to overlook a key issue during the scandal that lay outside the realm of the professionals – 2 to 6 percent of high school aged Americans use steroids.

“It’s one thing for a fully adult male or female to use drugs, [but] it’s a completely another for teenagers,” he said.

He then spoke about global issues, outlining six dangers in the world today and the need for the United States to be the forerunner in solving those problems.

Senator Mitchell warned that the proliferation of nuclear and biological weapons is a threat to everyone. He said currently nine countries have nuclear capabilities, with Iran aiming to be the tenth.

He also spoke extensively on terrorism and the increase of terrorist groups that are less centrally controlled. Some terrorist groups are political and open conversation can be had to lessen violence but others are not.

“There is no such thing as a war on terrorism because terror is a tactic, not an enemy,” he said. “We need more effective counterterrorist program [because] the military is not enough.”

Mitchell also commented on the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and rising hostility towards Americans around the world.

“Our power is the greatest it has ever been, but lowest in [world] standing [that] it has ever been,” he said. “The U.S. was a great nation before it was a great military and economy power.”

Lastly, Senator Mitchell said the international competition for energy independence and climate change are also worldwide threats.

“We don’t like knowledge [about climate change] but we need political power to do what’s necessary,” Mitchell said.

After the Senate, Senator Mitchell went to Belfast, Ireland in hopes of lessening the violence between the two religions. The economy’s recession had increased the amount of violence between the two religious groups and he hoped to make successful leaps to peace in the region.

“People need income and meaning to their life,” Senator Mitchell said. “People need hope.”

During the question and answer portion of the night, Senator Mitchell explained that his greatest accomplishment was not the peace keeping in Ireland, but his scholarship foundation. Every year, his foundation awards one scholarship to every high school in Maine for either a two-year or four-year college. His parents could not afford to receive an education and he sees it as most rewarding to allow teenagers to achieve that goal.

Senator Mitchell ended the night with a story about when he was a federal judge. As one of his duties, he conducted naturalization ceremonies for non-native Americans to become official citizens. It was very emotional for him as he was the son of immigrants and afterwards would always talk to each of them individually about their lives and why they were here.

“One man told me, ‘Here in America, everybody has a chance,'” he said.

NICK MARKWITH can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.