The transformation has already begun, UC Davis transportation expert Dan Sperling told Prime Minister Gordon Brown and a conference of international transportation professionals in London late October.

Sperling, director of the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies, gave the keynote address at a two-day conference commissioned by Prime Minister Brown to explore the challenge of bringing electric vehicles to market. The speech, titled “Toward kinder, gentler cars,“ outlined Sperling‘s predictions and visions for a post-petroleum transportation system.

“I made the argument that the auto and energy industries need to be transformed, and that major shifts are needed in the structure of our cities and our transport system, if we are to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and oil use,“ Sperling said.

The transformation can already be seen on the road in gasoline-electric hybrid cars and will continue to progress with the implementation of plug-in electric hybrids, all-electric cars and fuel-cell vehicles, he said.

Future fuels will eventually be a mix of electricity and hydrogen, he said.

“All will emerge as important replacements for petroleum,“ Sperling said. “What is not known, nor knowable, is how, when and where these fuels will succeed. Some fuels will likely dominate in some regions, while others will dominate elsewhere.“

Sperling sees battery electric vehicles as thriving in large cities and heavily polluted regions while plug-in hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles could potentially replace the traditional internal combustion engine on a larger level.

Currently the largest obstacle to bringing plug-in hybrids to market is the expensive battery technology, Sperling said. A plug-in hybrid is essentially a traditional hybrid car with a larger battery pack and can be powered for 40 or so miles using only electricity. After the charge runs out, the car operates as a traditional hybrid until the driver recharges the battery.

While new lithium ion battery technology has made impressive progress technologically, they are simply too expensive, Sperling said. A plug-in hybrid‘s lithium ion battery pack, for example, would currently cost approximately $15,000, although that price could eventually drop.

Sperling also spoke about the role of government and cited what he calls “The California Model“ as an example of what tackling climate change can do for alternative transportation. The state‘s effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions via Assembly Bill 32 – which requires emissions to be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020 – led the way for Governor Schwarzenegger‘s 2007 executive order establishing the Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

“California‘s Low Carbon Fuel Standard is the key policy for orchestrating the transition to alternative fuels,“ Sperling said. “It provides a flexible performance standard to industry.“

The standard is designed to steadily increase over time, first by making a 10 percent reduction in the carbon content of California‘s transportation fuels by 2020.

“The beauty of [the Low Carbon Fuel Standard] is that industry decides how best to reduce carbon, and makes investment decisions accordingly,“ Sperling said. “It provides a durable permanent framework that sets clear requirements for industry.“

Sperling founded the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis in 1991 – an interdisciplinary research, education and outreach program with 50 affiliated faculty members and 100 graduate students.

“ITS is an impartial, cutting edge research group looking at a number of possible new technologies that we‘re going to need to deal with climate change, air pollution and our oil supply,“ said Joan Ogden, professor of environmental science and policy and director of ITS‘ Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways Program. “We‘re not a profit making organization, so we‘re really doing, in some sense, public interest engineering and policy analysis.“

Ogden, who joined ITS five years ago after working at Princeton University, emphasized both the organization and Sperling‘s international standing.

“It‘s a very exciting, dynamic group,“ she said. “It really has international stature and Sperling is a very well-known expert in fuels.“

ITS receives funding from a variety of both public and private sources, Ogden said.

“A lot comes from the government, including the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, the California Air Resources Board as well as the auto, energy and utilities industries,“ she said.

In addition to technical research into hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, electric vehicles and energy pathways, ITS conducts policy analysis on how consumers interact with vehicles and transportation.

“There is a lot of interest in addressing these problems but policy makers often don‘t have all the information … a group like ITS can answer questions,“ Ogden said.

ALYSOUN BONDE can be reached at adbonde@ucdavis.edu.

Ever wondered what happens with $10.7 million in grants and student fees each year? Ask ASUCD.

Thursday at noon in the Coffee House, nine aspiring ASUCD senators will be placed in the hot seat to assert their stance on issues such as how to prioritize ASUCD’s hefty operational budget, what senators can do to improve student life and what role UC Davis should play in the community at large.

The debate, co-sponsored by the ASUCD Elections Committee and The California Aggie, is designed to better inform student voters of the their senate candidate’s positions, as well as review the major issues currently facing the campus community.

“These debates are the one time that [potential senators] are challenged to really say what they mean, what they want and how they’re going to get things accomplished,“ said Molly Fluet, ASUCD vice president. “Senators have a huge effect – they can basically vote down a budget that the executive office makes, and [students] don’t realize that those are the people they’re voting for.“

In the past, Senate debates have earned a reputation for resembling large partisan cheering rallies instead of open, issue-based discussions. This year, organizers of the event have made major changes to ensure a more relevant, balanced and critical debate.

“In the past the debates have attracted the core supporters of the slates and candidates, and a lot of people get blocked out,” said Adam Thongsavat, ASUCD Election Committee chair, who will be moderating the event. “[This year] we want everyone who is interested to come out, including the core supporters – but we’re really trying to broaden our audience.“

In addition to attracting a more varied group of student supporters, the Elections Committee has chosen to extend the length of the event to better give candidates the chance to speak their mind.

“In the past, we’ve only had about 45 minutes for around 20 candidates to speak,” said Andrew Bianchi, a current senator and active member of ASUCD for over three years. “This time there’s nine, and we have an hour and 20 minutes, so we’ll be able to hear a lot more from the candidates.“

The debate itself will be structured into three parts: a question-and-answer period between the panelists and the candidates, a mysterious middle portion which will be revealed at the event itself, and a final student-to-candidate question-and-answer period, where chosen students will be awarded with free ASUCD T-shirts.

As a co-sponsor of the event, ASUCD has chosen The Aggie‘s editor-in-chief Richard Procter as one of three panelists to address questions for the candidates. Procter will collaborate with The Aggie campus editor Alysoun Bonde and Elections Committee events coordinator Raj Kumar to create challenging and pertinent questions to keep the senate candidates on their toes.

“We want their answers to be very honest, very direct and not so formulated,” Thongsavat said. “All of [the candidates] are relatively new to ASUCD, so it’ll be interesting to see where they stand on different issues.“

The official ASUCD General Election will take place from Nov. 12 to 14, and UC Davis students can vote online at elections.ucdavis.edu.

MICELLE IMMEL can be reached at adbonde@ucdavis.edu.

Providing false information

A student was referred to Student Judicial Affairs for claiming he had medical reasons for why he failed to turn in a written assignment on time. After some discussion with a Judicial Officer, the student admitted to providing false information for the purpose of getting an extension on the assignment. Because providing false information is a violation of the Code of Academic conduct, the student agreed to a Disciplinary Probation until fall quarter 2009. Due to the personal circumstances of the student’s situation, the student also agreed to seek professional psychological counseling for stress management from UC Davis Counseling and Psychological Services.

Use of unauthorized material

A student violated the Code of Academic Conduct when she decided to use a table from her textbook during an exam. The professor had allowed students to use the appendices from the book, but specified clearly in writing that only the appendices were to be used. The student admitted she did not pay close attention to the professor’s directions and had thought using the tables were allowed. Since University Policy prohibits any use of unauthorized materials during an exam, even if the intent is not dishonest, the student agreed to a censure.

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.

To relieve financial stress for UC Davis students, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef spoke about the economy and its effects on higher education at the Memorial Union on Monday.

Chancellor Vanderhoef – along with interim director of financial aid Kathryn Maloney and Dr. Dorje M. Jennette of Counseling and Psychological Services – answered students‘ financial aid questions and dispelled budget rumors.

“Students will not see the Shields Library shut down and courses will not be cut,” Vanderhoef said. “[Students‘] lives should not change drastically.“

Vanderhoef explained that the administration and the regents are doing all that they can to avoid an economic impact on students. There will be a 3 percent cut on library funds and a 9 percent cut in administration funds. Vanderhoef stated that there will be an increase in student fees to account for rising inflation and the cost of health care and insurance.

“To some extent, we will start to distribute costs to users,” Vanderhoef said. “For example, the ARC could charge a fee for playing racquetball, therefore that [cost] only affects racquetball players.“

“I am hoping that Governor [Arnold] Schwarzenegger will recall the legislature and that they will agree to spare higher education from drastic cuts,” Vanderhoef said. “We’ve dealt with economic crises before – it won’t be easy, but we’ll figure it out.“

Maloney offered money management tips for students who were worried about the economic crisis.

“Spend within your means, don’t spend more than what you have,“ Maloney said. “It’s simple in theory, but it’s hard to do.“

“Get roommates to help with the cost of rent, go to the ARC instead of a private gym, create a budget and resist peer pressure,” she said.

The financial aid website will soon be offering a financial information site called “Cash Course” with information about avoiding identity theft and managing your money. Cash Course is already offered at UC Irvine and UC Merced. Financial aid counselors are also available to help in Dutton Hall during normal business hours.

Dr. Jennette from CAPS spoke about the stress that can come from worrying about finances.

“According to a study done in 2007 by the American Psychological Association, 75 percent of people in the United States rank work and finances as the greatest stressors in their lives,” he said.

For students who are stressed about finances, Jennette suggested several healthy strategies to confront stressors.

“Identify areas of personal control, don’t get carried away with panic, try and stay focused,” he said. “Confront financial stress by making a plan and putting it down on paper.“

“Avoid unhealthy reactions to stress such as smoking, drinking and gambling,” Jennette said. “Mostly, choose healthy responses … and look for the silver lining.“

For more information on how to manage stress, visit CAPS or go to caps.ucdavis.edu/relax for tips on guided relaxation.

After the presenters finished, students had the opportunity to talk about their concerns and have their questions answered by the chancellor.

Molly Sundstrom, student assistant to the chancellor and senior political science and English major, praised the event and observed that most of the attendees were ASUCD-affiliated students.

“The chancellor is right there, answering students‘ questions,” Sundstrom said. “Like Chancellor Vanderhoef said, we’ve been through an economic crisis before as a community and as a country. We will get through it again.“

MEGAN ELLIS can be reached at adbonde@ucdavis.edu.