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Editorial: Test materials vending machine

Opinion

Opinion

October 28, 2008

College is a time to mature. A chance to take on additional responsibilities. An opportunity to become independent.

Don’t worry if that doesn’t sound appealing to you.

ASUCD senator Chris Dietrich and the UC Davis Bookstore are here to hold your hand and look both ways for you before you cross the street.

With Dietrich leading the way, the UC Davis Bookstore installed a $5,000 vending machine in the basement of Olson Hall that sells bluebooks and Scantrons.

Saying that spending $5,000 on a paper dispenser wasn’t a wise decision would be an understatement.

Students who attend a university such as UC Davis are to be held to a certain standard. In order to be in position to purchase a blue book or Scantron for examination purposes, an individual should visit any of the university’s other testing material distribution outlets prior to examination. Additionally, students should have read their syllabi well in advance of the day of the test.

Five thousand dollars is a high price to pay for a slight convenience.

Prior to the installation of the machine, the university already had three accessible locations in which a student could purchase testing materials: the bookstore, the Corral and the Silo Bookstore.

Some of these locations are open for times that even exceed normal business hours.

Students who fail to obtain proper testing materials at one of these three locations within this generous timeframe – with previous knowledge of their examination dates – haven’t taken the most basic step to prepare for an exam.

If a student goes to class on an examination day in need of a Scantron or blue book, he or she can look to a classmate for assistance. Many students even bring extra testing materials to help forgetful classmates.

Still, if the bookstore was looking for another way to help students buy testing materials, it could have started selling them at the bakery in the ASUCD Coffee House instead.

The bakery is open for significantly longer than any other location in which testing materials could be purchased and wouldn’t have required spending thousands on a machine to handle transactions.

Bookstore administrators, however, expect the machine’s sales to offset these initial costs.

Still, there must be a wiser way to invest $5,000.

Editorial: Prop 4

Opinion

Opinion

October 28, 2008

For the third time in four years, abortion is back on the California ballot.

Under Proposition 4, physicians would be required to notify the parents of a minor seeking an abortion 48 hours prior to the procedure.

Supporters say the purpose of Prop 4 is to provide minors with an adult family member to turn to for guidance.

The intention behind the legislation is understandable: Parents naturally feel the right to be involved in their children’s lives, especially concerning significant issues such as unplanned pregnancies. However, this is no way to legislate family communication.

If the teenager chooses not to notify her parents, she has two other options: an alternative family member notification, where she is allowed to tell another adult other than her parent, or she can request to obtain a court order waiving notice.

These alternatives are not realistic solutions. If the teenager wants to notify an alternate adult, the clinic has to file an abuse report on the minor’s parents, which will result in an investigation from Child Protective Services.

A judicial bypass is equally unfeasible: The minor must acquire a legal representative, appear in court and make her case before a judge. All this is hard for a minor, ostensibly in school all day, to accomplish without arousing the attention of her parents. Moreover, this entire process must take place on an accelerated timetable.

Those in favor of Prop 4 have argued that parental notification laws in other states have lowered abortion rates in those states. Though instate abortion rates have decreased, minors may investigate options both out of state and out of the country, such as Mexico.

Two ballot measures concerning parental notification of abortion have already failed in the past four years. In addition, most major California medical organizations are in opposition to Prop 4, including the California Medical Association, the California Nurses Association, the California Association of Family Physicians and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Some opponents of Prop 4 see it as an attack on Roe v. Wade and abortion rights. If the main concern is unwanted pregnancies, sex education curriculum – and not necessarily abortion – should be re-examined.

Voter registration jumps in final weeks

City News

City Editor

October 28, 2008

For the past several weeks, students at UC Davis have complained about being asked if they‘re registered to vote three times a day. But there was a purpose to all those persistent democracy enthusiasts, and their ceaseless efforts have paid off.

“September and October have been huge registration months for us,“ said Freddie Oakley, Yolo County clerk-recorder. “We haven‘t had an increase [in voter registration] this large in five or 10 years.“

“Five weeks ago we were at 92,000 [registered voters] right now we‘re at 102,000,“ she said. “We usually run at 90,000.“

Oakley said the jump in voter registration was due, in part, to the massive voter registration drives on the UC Davis campus.

Davis College Democrats teamed up with Students for Barack Obama to put on the largest of these on-campus voter registration drives.

In total the two groups registered 4,000 voters.

The majority of those registered were students, but not all of them, said DCD president Don Gibson.

“We did get quite a few members of the UC Davis staff and people visiting UC Davis,“ he said.

Many of those registered by Davis College Democrats and Students for Barack Obama were not Democrats or Barack Obama supporters, Gibson said. About 55 percent of those registered indicated they were Democrats.

Both groups are part of Yolo United, a coalition of local Democratic groups organized by the Yolo County Democratic Party.

Other members of Yolo United focused on registering voters in the community.

“People went in front of stores, especially in areas where there would be a higher concentration of underserved voters,“ said Claire Slotton, executive director of Yolo United.

They concentrated their efforts on registering eligible voters from lower-income and lower-education backgrounds, and people who have recently become citizens.

All in all, the groups of Yolo United registered about 9,000 voters in Yolo County. Of these, just over 6,000 indicated they were Democrats.

CalPIRG, a non-partisan public interest group, was the other major force behind on-campus voter registration.

The group registered 2,101 voters, doubling their numbers from previous registration drives by the group, said campus organizer Margaret Howe.

Howe stressed the importance of registering students in particular.

“In recent decades, students haven‘t been paid attention to by politicians,“ she said. “We want to make sure students turn out in record numbers this year so that politicians pay attention to us and issues we care about.“

All voters registered in Yolo County can participate in early voting all this week at the old post office in Memorial Union from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“If you‘re a first time voter, it‘s especially convenient to go to the early voting because it gives you time to figure out the process without the pressure of people waiting behind you,“ Oakley said.

Regular voting takes place at locations across Davis on Nov. 4. Voters can look up the polling place for their precinct at yoloelections.org.

JON GJERDE can be reached at city@californiaaggie.com.

POLICE BRIEFS

City News

City Editor

October 28, 2008

THURSDAY

Obviously not a marketing major

An individual was asking people on F Street if they wanted to buy marijuana. The individual was subsequently arrested for possession with intent to sell.

Spare the rod, spoil the child

An individual witnessed someone slap a 9-year-old boy on Cowell Boulevard.

What is it with men throwing things?

An angry male was throwing things at a door on F Street.

No rear entry, thanks

People were trying to access a party through someone else’s backyard on Anderson Road.

FRIDAY

Wood is just so irresistible

An individual on Oak Avenue had a pile of wood delivered, only to find it stolen a short time later.

Let’s, like, break some shit, bro!

Subjects on B Street were outside partying and breaking bottles in the street.

Sounds shady… (get it?)

Subjects were dealing drugs in the park on Chestnut Lane.

SATURDAY

Poultry-palooza!

Seven or eight chickens and roosters were running in the street near Fifth and F streets.

Good luck getting the train to stop, buddy

An individual was seen hitchhiking in the middle of the railroad tracks near East Eighth Street.

Is it in you?

Two subjects threw a Gatorade bottle at an individual’s car on Richards Boulevard.

And they were missing teeth

An individual on Hanover Drive was approached by various subjects trying to sell him meth.

JEREMY OGUL thinks tweekers are funny. This segment is based on the Davis Police Department crime log, available online at cityofdavis.org/police/log. POLICE BRIEFS appear Tuesdays and Fridays.

Measure N would approve a Davis city charter

City News

City Editor

October 28, 2008

It’s not the hottest topic on the ballot, but it could have serious implications for local government.

If passed, Measure N would change the city of Davis from a general law city to a charter city.

The charter under consideration is a broad charter that comes as the result of several years‘ discussion by various task forces and subcommittees of the Davis City Council.

Most recently, councilmembers Lamar Heystek and Stephen Souza have endorsed a broad charter that would give more local control to the city council, allowing them to govern municipal affairs more directly.

“Measure N is not about specific issues, but whether or not the governor has a say,“ Heystek said at a debate on Thursday. “It offers options to address issues for the community … and confers local control to citizens.“

Measure N would not directly change local tax policy, a decision that would ultimately remain with Davis citizens, he said.

It would, however, give the City Council the ability to make other governmental changes, like instituting choice voting.

Opponents, such as Davis resident and business owner Don Shor, believe Measure N would give the City Council too much unchecked power.

“Many of us are not against becoming a charter city,” he said. “One of the biggest problems is that voters don’t have enough information, and this is a big change.“

Some of the many changes city council may make under the proposed charter include levying a property sale tax, expanding the size of city council, deciding how or when to enact ordinances, not requiring competitive bidding for projects and instituting choice voting for city council members via majority vote, Shor said.

“It’s only a power grab if the City Council wants it to be,” he said. “What you have to decide is whether you want to give that power to the council 10 to 12 years from now.“

In California, 25 percent of cities, or 112 out of 480, have adopted city charters, and while none reverted to general law status, there exists a continual debate about how broad or specific a charter should be to effectively govern a city.

Berkeley has a very limited charter and has altered the charter in every election since its adoption in 1909, Shor said.

Ultimately, Measure N gives no more power to the voter and does not identify any specific proposals that the charter will address, he added.

“I think we can do better,” he said.

Also opposing Measure N is City Councilmember Don Saylor, who recently released a letter to community members recommending a “No” vote on the measure due to its lack of any particular action or purpose.

“Each of the 112 current city charters contain specific provisions related to problems that jurisdiction wanted to address,” Saylor said. “The charter proposed by Measure N, however, does not contain any specific substantive provision … [and] would also permit any number of future amendments to the city charter to be implemented by ordinance or by vote of the electorate.“

Saylor said the only source of potential benefits from Measure N is what the measure’s proponents have been saying, none of which is outlined in the actual measure. Proposed benefits include the ability to implement choice voting, establish an assessment district to finance the installation of solar panels, establish a property transfer tax not permitted by state law, and reinforce existing city land use planning controls, he said.

Additionally, the value of becoming a charter city has diminished over time, he said.

“Substantive differences between the authorities and operations of general law cities and charter cities have narrowed, making it less necessary for cities to establish charters to achieve effective, efficient and responsive local governments,” Saylor said. “As a result, very few cities have converted from general law to charter city status in recent years.“

For more information on Davis‘ proposed charter and California charter cities in general, visit homerulefordavis.org and cacities.org.

AARON BRUNER can be reached at city@californiaaggie.com.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Campus News

Campus Editor

October 28, 2008

Plan ahead for parking

Transportation and Parking Services announced Monday that parking spaces in the North Entry Parking Structure would be limited starting this week due to a construction project.

Approximately 50 to 70 parking spaces will be unavailable every day, beginning today, according to a TAPS press release. The parking impacts will last until Nov. 28. Signs will be posted to alert drivers about which level will be impacted each day.

The cause of the parking limitations is the installation of a new energy-efficient lighting system that will use occupancy sensors to control light output. When no activity is detected the lights will operate at 50 percent capacity; otherwise they will operate at 100 percent.

TAPS officials say the lighting project is intended to meet campus sustainability goals by saving energy and maintenance costs and reducing the carbon footprint of the campus. They estimate the new system will result in $120,000 per year in energy savings.XXX

UCD faces $5 million midyear budget cut

Campus News

Campus Editor

October 28, 2008

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s call for a $190 million budget cut across all state agencies has left the UC system with $33.1 million in midyear budget slashing to do.

“We haven’t gotten the definite letter from the Office of the President yet, but we’re predicting our share will be $5 million,” said Barbara Horwitz, interim provost and executive vice chancellor.

UCD generally gets 15 percent of the UC’s cuts – the same as the campus‘ share of what the UC system receives from the state general fund, said Kelly Ratliff, associate vice chancellor in the Office of Resource Management and Planning.

The estimated $5 million cut will be met by an assessment or belt tightening, in the campus‘ self-supporting units – mostly administrative units where goods and services are sold outside the university.

“This includes the MU, Student Housing, TAPS, Reprographics – anything that brings in money and pays their own expenses – units that can run without an appropriation from the state general fund,” Ratliff said.

Academic units are not targeted by the assessment, Horwitz said. While they may be affected indirectly due to the decrease in self-supporting units they rely on, they need not fear cuts.

Horwitz said the issue arose because the UC’s state funding remained the same – meaning it remained unbalanced and didn’t allow for the increased cost of existing services and growing student enrollment.

“We knew we’d have to cut more than the original $28 million shortfall because the budget wasn’t totally balanced and left our savings to be identified later,” she said.

Ratliff explained this was predicted as far back as May, when Vice Chancellor of Resource and Management Planning John Meyer issued a letter hinting it might be necessary to implement this kind of cut and asking the effected units to identify potential consequences. Since then enough funds were identified to balance the original $28 million shortfall from the budget, without having to make a decision on the self-supporting units, Ratliff said.

“But once the Office of Resource Management and Planning was notified the mid-year cut would be as great as $5 million, running an assessment on self-supporting units became the solution,” Ratliff said.

The Office of Resource Management Planning will review the bookkeeping of the self-sustaining units to make sure they’re operating as efficiently as possible either quarterly or biannually.

“Most people were planning on it and knew it would happen – so the news didn’t affect people’s preparation – it just confirmed the assessment’s implementation,” Ratliff said.

Horwitz said she is confidant the campus has the $5 million covered through the assessment, but said more creativity will be needed in the future. This is one of the reasons why students, faculty and staff were invited to propose ideas in an online budget forum on SmartSite last spring and summer, in which more than 300 ideas were submitted.

“We’ve assigned a group to look at the community’s solutions and group them into what we can implement right away and those that would need to be done later after some modification,” Horwitz said. “We try to work short- and long-term – and this $5 million is far from the end of the story.“

MIKE DORSEY can be reached at campus@californiaaggie.com

University of California partners with Google to share digitized books

Campus News

Campus Editor

October 28, 2008

Since Oct. 13, the nation’s largest research libraries‘ digital collections have been available to students and faculty with just the click of a mouse.

The HathiTrust effort is a shared digital repository that includes the libraries of the 10 UC campuses, the University of Michigan, Indiana University and other major research libraries reaching a total of 23 university collections scanned by Google.

“What we are doing together is sharing our digital books and managing them collectively,“ said Laine Farley, interim executive director of the California Digital Library. “We are committed to preserving those digital copies. What if Google goes out of business, or say something happened to those physical copies? We will still have copies of those digital books.“

The California Digital Library, which provides UC libraries with digital services, will be working with the HathiTrust – a shared digital repository– in order to guarantee the preservation of materials.

“At CDL we have a lot of expertise in preservation,” said Patricia Cruse, director of the Digital Preservation program. “Our goal is to protect the improved access to intellectual capital of the university that we have collected through the years.“

In order to preserve intellectual property rights of the digital collections‘ authors, copyrighted books will not have full text versions available. Only books and materials part of the public domain are included in full.

Already 2.2 million volumes of books are available through the HathiTrust and 10 million volumes total will soon be coming from the UC storage facility.

The system will work like the current UC inter-library loan program that ships books between UC campuses upon request – only digitally. The repository under HathiTrust will also share other major research libraries across the nation in addition to the 10 UCs.

Gail Yokote, associate university librarian for Science and Technology at UCD, said this is a collaborative effort to make the research process easier.

“Ideally what this effort will do is coordinate our efforts, then faculty and students will be able to take advantage of what libraries are doing in their infrastructure so that the process will be seamless,” Yokote said.

Additional benefits of having research materials online is that one can search an entire book for keywords, making it easier to find specific research, Farley said.

UC books in the Hathitrust collection come from UC’s Northern Regional Library Facility, which stores various UC materials including UCD’s digital collections.

Yokote said that there are a number of lessons to be learned with the collective digitization process.

“Each effort will give us lessons on what works and what doesn’t,” she said. “It’s important to come up with strategies that will work for our faculty, staff and students through a number of projects and experiments.“

ANGELA RUGGIERO can be reached at campus@californiaaggie.com.

UC Davis bee keeper develops ‘nicer’ bees

Campus News

Campus Editor

October 28, 2008

By combining the old world with the new world, UC Davis bee breeder and geneticist Sue Cobey has developed an enhanced line of honeybees to combat the troubles of the bee industry.

Cobey crossed her “New World Carnolians” with “Old World German Carnica” semen in order to create a more genetically diverse line of bees that can better resist disease and pests. By combining both of these breeds, the new bees are highly hygienic and have a very gentle temperament, Cobey said.

Being hygienic is crucial in a beehive in order to detect and prevent parasitic mites from attaching to bees. Left unchecked, these mites can completely wipe out a honeybee colony.

“Hygiene is correlated with the ability to detect and remove infested brood … so if the bees smell that there is a problem, they can reduce the level of infestation,” Cobey said,

Honeybees are very social creatures that have different classes in the beehive, from guards and workers to the queen. If a foreign entity such as a human approaches the hive, the guard bees will attack it, even if it is a few yards away.

“If the bees are gentle, someone could easily be able to walk within feet without being attacked,” said Gene Brandi, a beekeeper and the owner of Gene Brandi Apiaries in Los Banos, California.

This is not the first bee stock that Cobey has bred. In the early 1980s, she genetically produced the “New World Carnolians,” which were developed primarily for honey production.

“The New World Carnolians have good production, good temperament, and good wintering,” Cobey said.

Beehives have a natural cycle to their life. During the fall, as flowers are still producing pollen and nectar, beehives can have up to 80,000 members. However, as winter approaches, flowers stop producing pollen and nectar and the beehive “winters” or reduces the number of bees by slowing reproduction.

“During the summer, a beehive can have around 40,000 bees in it but during the winter, there could be only 20,000,“ Brandi said.

Faster reproduction instigates once almond trees are ready to be pollinated around mid February and their numbers rise back to 40,000.

Contrary to common belief, honeybees are not native in the United States. They were brought over by settlers in the late 1800s from Europe and Asia. Because of this, it is essential to have a diverse genetic gene pool in the United States in order to protect the bee population.

“There have been several studies showing that genetic diversity is a really critical element to resistance to pests and diseases and production in general,” Cobey said. “We have lost an incredible amount of diversity in the U.S. gene pool because of parasitic mites and CCD.“

Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, is a phenomenon in which adult honeybees leave their hives for no apparent reason. Among the possible causes is bee stress, malnutrition and possibly cell phone usage. Without honeybees to pollinate, the entire agriculture system and plants in general would die. Honeybees are so vital that their monetary value in the United States is estimated at about $15 billion annually. Honeybees provide nearly 80 percent of all crop pollination, according to the Nature Conservatory in Indiana’s website.

NICK MARKWITH can be reached at campus@californiaagie.com.

Long Beach State takes care of UC Davis in 3 sets

Sports

Sports Editor

October 27, 2008

Long Beach State’s 1988 national championship-winning women’s volleyball team – a team that featured two-time Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor – was honored in front of 1,694 fans at the Walter Pyramid on Friday night.

When the current squad took the court, they played like a dream team, as the 49ers (17-4, 6-2) knocked off the Aggies (10-12, 2-7) in three sets 25-15, 25-17, 25-15.

“The night honored the ‘Dream Team’ of Long Beach,” said head coach Jamie Holmes. Their team was the first to go undefeated and not only had Misty May on their squad, but a couple other girls that played for the indoor Olympic team.

“Player for player, they’re better than us. And we just didn’t have an answer for their athleticism.”

The 49ers hit .382 with five aces behind the serving line on the night, while the Aggies managed a .085 hitting percentage with eight serving errors.

“Our attackers weren’t being smart and the setters weren’t putting us in a position to be successful,” Holmes said. “We were just too predictable.”

A pair of kills from senior Renee Ibekwe at the start of the match propelled the Aggies to an early 2-0 lead – their only lead of the game. Long Beach came back with an answer in the form of outside hitter Quincey Verdin, who slammed down seven of her team-leading 13 kills for the match, leading the 49ers to victory.

In the second set, UC Davis hung tough with the 49ers, forcing four early errors to tie the score at six. Seven straight points later, the 49ers had opened up a 13-6 lead thanks to three of the Aggies 13 attack errors on the night.

Freshman outside hitter Caitlin Ledoux recorded the final three 49ers points to give Long Beach State the edge in the second set – only one game away from completing the sweep.

And for the ninth time this season, the 49ers did just that.

Long Beach State hit .524 with 12 kills and only one error in the third set to put a fork in the Aggies.

Ibekwe stayed consistent for UC Davis in the third set, recording three more kills to add to her previous total of six.

UC Davis will look to rebound when it hosts UC Santa Barbara (9-11, 5-4,) and Cal Poly (13-7, 8-1) at the Pavilion on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, respectively.

“As always, I want us to be much better at ball handling,” Holmes said. “We have to run an unpredictable offense. That’s the only way I see this team being successful.”

MATT MILLER can be reached at sports@californiaaggie.com.

Women’s golf preview

Sports

Sports Editor

October 27, 2008

Event: Las Vegas Intercollegiate Showdown

Host: University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Where: Boulder Creek Golf Club – Boulder City, Nev.

When: Today, tomorrow and Wednesday; all day

Who to watch: Sophomore Alice Kim is rolling. The Walnut, Calif. native has been UC Davis‘ top finisher in each of its fall tournaments.

Kim’s best showing came at the Heather Farr Memorial Invitational (Sept. 29 to 30). She carded school-record 67 in the second round before closing things out with a 68 to earn second-place honors.

She has four top-12 finishes in as many chances this fall.

Did you know? The Aggies are about to go on a hiatus of sorts.

Upon conclusion of their three-day stay in Nevada, the team will enter its off-season winter program before resuming play on Feb. 2 at the San Diego State Invitational.

The invitational will be UC Davis‘ first tournament in California for the 2008-2009 campaign. It competed in New Mexico and Colorado twice before heading to Nevada.

Preview: UC Davis will look to its balanced attack in hopes of leaving the Las Vegas Intercollegiate Showdown with success.

Kim, senior Bryana Gregory and sophomore Chelsea Stelzmiller all finished in the top 15 in the team’s last tournament, leading UC Davis to a sixth-place finish in a 17-team field at the Price’s Give ‘Em Five Invitational in Las Cruces, N.M. on Oct. 15.

They finished seventh, 12th and 15th, respectively.

The Aggies hope to bring the same balance to Boulder City, Nev. starting today.

The tournament’s 18-team field features seven teams ranked in the top 50, including three top-20 teams: No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 16 Louisville and No. 18 Pepperdine. Host UNLV comes in at No. 48.

The Aggies could be looking at a top-50 ranking of their own with a solid showing, as they enter at No. 56.

–Adam Loberstein

Aggies sweep Banana Slugs

Sports

Sports Editor

October 27, 2008

UC Davis‘ men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams arrived at the UC Santa Cruz campus on Saturday afternoon with expectations of swimming well. The teams did just that, beating the host Banana Slugs handily.

The women’s team picked up a 179-81 win, while the men left with a 180-127 victory. The dual between the Aggies and the Slugs was the first time the schools faced off one-on-one in the past five seasons.

The women made their presence felt at Fieldhouse Swimming Pool, winning the first nine events of the day. The team then went on to exhibition the next three events, finishing the day winning 11 of 12.

“It was really nice to win,” junior Heidi Kucera said. “It seemed that there was a vibe of positive competitiveness between the two schools.”

Kucera was just one of several multiple event winners, winning the 200-yard breaststroke (2:23.37), the 200 freestyle (1:55.77) and was a member of the 200 medley relay team.

“The Slugs were really positive towards everyone, which was good because it took some of the pressure off,” said junior transfer Jen Cadmus. “There was good chemistry within our team.”

Cadmus won both the 100 and 200 fly, posting a 59:35 and 2:14.02, respectively.

Overall, nine women picked up individual wins, including senior captain Mary Struempf, who won the 100 breast (1:07.50)

She was also a member of the 200 medley relay (1:48.58).

Others winners included freshmen Kayleigh Foley in the 50 freestyle (24.49) and Jenah Dawson in the 200 individual medley (2:13.44).

Men’s head coach Pete Motekaitis said the team needs to practice hard and race hard to make the travel team, giving the team motivation to race well.

The men’s team also won its first nine events and then swam exhibition for the final three events.

Looking strong, freshmen Kevin Parizi and Alex Daneke added to the point tally winning the 100 backstroke (54.58) the 200 back (1:55.53), respectively.

Sophomores Matt Herman and Adam Borchard also contributed, each winning the 1,000 and 500 free. The men also had three swimmers win multiple events; sophomore Kyle Anderson beat the field in both the 200 and 100 breast, while redshirt juniors Scott Weltz and BJ Scoggan won two events each.

The dual was the first for Scoggan in an Aggies uniform. A transfer from California, Scoggan handily claimed the top spot in the men’s 200 free (1:47.95) and the 200 individual medley (1:59.28).

Still fresh off training for the U.S. Olympic trials, Scott Weltz just out-touched his teammates for wins in the 200 fly (1:51.69) and 100 fly (50.98).

“I’m excited to see how well we’ll end up swimming this season,” Kucera said. “We’re all – both men and women – swimming so well so early on already.“

The sentiment appears to be shared amongst both squads, as both teams have several athletes with the NCAA Championships in mind.

The divers made their season premiere at the dual. Senior Michael Androus was the top Aggie in the 1M dive, while sophomore Paul Navo tackled the low board. They finished third and second, respectively.

The Aggie women will face Nevada and Washington State next weekend in Reno, Nev.

ANDREA GUTIERREZ can be reached at sports@californiaaggie.com.

UC Davis battles UC Irvine to 1-1 tie

Sports

Sports Editor

October 27, 2008

The past seven times No. 8 UC Davis and No. 20 UC Irvine have gotten together on the soccer field, the game has either ended in a tie or a one-goal differential.

Saturday was no different.

In a game that UC Irvine needed badly to stay in the top half of the Big West Conference standings, the teams battled hard to their second 1-1 tie of the season at Aggie Soccer Stadium.

“I think both teams are pretty good teams,” said head coach Dwayne Shaffer. “They had to win the game and we knew that.“

The Anteaters opened up the scoring when sophomore forward Spencer Thompson booted in a pass from in front of the goal courtesy of senior midfielder Matt Murphy in the 17th minute.

For the fourth consecutive game, the Aggies went into the half trailing – a problem they do not take so lightly.

“It’s definitely an issue that we need to start dealing with,” said senior midfielder Dylan Curtis. “Coming from behind is something that is much easier to do at home when you have your fans behind you.“

The Aggies promptly dealt with the matter.

Less than five minutes into the second half, Curtis left-footed the ball into the left corner of the net from 15 yards out to even the score.

“Originally the play was drawn up to cross it in,” Curtis said. “When I was over there setting the ball up, I looked up at [sophomore midfielder Julian Godinez] and asked him if there was anybody near him. He said no, so I told him to just toe it out to me. They just weren’t expecting it and I was able to put a good strike on the ball. The goalie couldn’t see the ball and it went in through traffic.“

“There is no design on that play,” Shaffer said. “The guys have the freedom to make a decision on what they want to do. Sometimes we rip it into the mixer and sometimes we go short and try to score. Dylan was fortunate right there. They gave him a wide open lane, he beat the guy off the dribble and then he just placed it perfectly in the far corner.“

Neither team was able to score again in a match that resulted in 48 fouls and four yellow cards.

“It’s a physical game when we play Irvine,” Curtis said. “It is a good rivalry. Nothing was too cheap and I was happy with the play today.“

The Aggies are content with the tie for now, as they will remain at the top of the Big West standings with 15 points. However, Shaffer still believes that UC Davis is a superior squad to UC Irvine.

“We gave [UC Irvine] life again,“ Shaffer said. “We made them better than they really are and then we fought back. I thought we were a lot better than that team.“

“Irvine is a good team,” said senior midfielder Sule Anibaba. “They play hard and they are very physical.… That’s how we play, too. We play physical and try to out-hustle you. We were hoping for a win. A tie is not bad. We are still leading the Big West.“

Even with the tie, Shaffer is excited with the direction in which his team is headed.

“With two games left I am pretty comfortable with our position right now,” Shaffer said. “We are 4-1-3 in the conference, one of the toughest in the country. There are basically four teams in the conference right now that are top-25 teams, so every game is just an absolute battle.

“My guys are battling like crazy and I think we are playing great soccer. I thought we had some great chances to score the game winner and I am happy with my team.“

The Aggies will now shift their focus to a Nov. 2 match-up with Cal Poly at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, which held over 11,000 people in a recent contest with UC Santa Barbara.

“In an environment like that our team just eats it up,” Curtis said. “We enjoy it. We go out there – it’s a blast. To have people heckling you and yelling at you is the environment of soccer.“

“Last time we went down there, the fans were very rude,” Anibaba said. “They call you names. They will try to get on your nerves but you just can’t listen. You can’t take it personal. You have to ask yourself, ‘Are you going to fold or step up?'”

MAX ROSENBLUM can be reached at sports@californiaaggie.com.

Football: Aggies defense takes fight out of Sioux

Sports

Sports Editor

October 27, 2008

Ismael Bamba streaked 50 yards downfield for one North Dakota touchdown. Josh Murray took a pitch 46 yards to set up another.

By halftime, it looked like yet another shootout was on tap for a homestand that had already seen its share of high-octane offense.

Clearly, the UC Davis defense had other plans.

The Aggies came out of the break with arguably their best defensive effort of the season, holding the Fighting Sioux to 120 yards of second-half offense for a 34-21 Great West Conference win Saturday night at Aggie Stadium.

Fifty-eight of North Dakota’s 120 yards came on a touchdown drive put together in garbage time of an otherwise dominant half highlighted by four UC Davis sacks, an interception and negative 27 rushing yards allowed.

“I really thought North Dakota’s offense was as good as any offense we’ve seen all year,” said Aggies head coach Bob Biggs. “They’re well-coached, well-coordinated. They do a lot of stuff that can confuse defenses.… That’s why I think the effort is even more impressive – because it was against a good offense.“

Entering the game, North Dakota (5-2, 0-1) averaged 438.0 yards of total offense per game, but UC Davis held it to only 245 yards.

Defensive pressure had Fighting Sioux quarterback Danny Freund struggling to find comfort in the pocket. After completing his first pass to Bamba for a 50-yard touchdown, the senior was held to 20-of-29 passing for 127 yards and a pick the rest of the night.

“We adjusted, came back and went after them,” said defensive tackle John Faletoese, who had a sack and a blocked field goal in the third quarter. “We played everything real well, mixed up the blitzes, got some pressure and had the quarterback scrambling around making some bad throws. I was pretty happy with our defensive play.“

The Aggies offense was nothing to scoff at, either.

Greg Denham had his second straight 300-yard game, going 31-of-41 for 320 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Both strikes came in the first quarter, one to Bakari Grant from four yards out and the second to Brandon Rice on an 11-yard connection.

Making his second straight start at running back, Corbin Cutshaw led all players with 128 total yards (81 receiving). Tight end Dean Rogers had six carries for 15 yards and a pair of one-yard touchdowns.

“It was a complete effort,” Biggs said. “Sometimes you feel really good about a win, and sometimes you feel just good about it. I feel really good about this one because I think that was a quality football team.“

The win was UC Davis‘ fourth straight, improving the team to 5-4 (2-0) heading into a bye. The Aggies return to action on Nov. 8 for Senior Day against Sacramento State.

“We got a bye now, so we can really focus for [Sac State],” Faletoese said. “We’re just getting better and better, and I don’t see that letting up.“

MICHAEL GEHLKEN can be reached at sports@californiaaggie.com.

Playoffs have begun

Sports

Sports Editor

October 27, 2008

Dwayne Shaffer keeps it simple.

In a season of countless accomplishments, UC Davis‘ men’s soccer coach continues narrowing things to a single goal: The Aggies need to finish among the Big West Conference’s top four teams to qualify for the league tournament.

With two regular season games to go, that tournament has already begun.

The first-place Aggies find themselves halfway through a four-game set in which they face the rest of the Big West’s top five teams.

“That’s kind of what I told the guys,” Shaffer said. “It’s down to a four-game sequence for us.“

No. 8 UC Davis (15 points) began the set Wednesday with a come-from-behind win over Cal State Northridge (nine points), which was previously unbeaten in Big West play. The Aggies overcame another deficit to battle No. 20 UC Irvine (seven points) to a draw on Saturday.

“We’re unbeaten in that four-game season, so that’s great,” Shaffer joked. “We have the most points in the conference, so everybody’s chasing us right now.“

Things won’t get any easier for UC Davis.

Odds are it’s about to get tougher.

The Aggies travel to Cal Poly on Sunday before hosting No. 16 UC Santa Barbara to close out the regular season on Nov. 8. The Mustangs and Gauchos sit in third (11 points) and second place (13 points), respectively.

UC Davis wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Playing the top four teams in our conference in our last four games – I mean, that’s very exciting,” said senior midfielder Sule Anibaba. “It’s like playoffs before playoffs. That’s really helpful because you go into playoffs playing hard. Every game matters.“

UC Davis‘ next test came at Cal Poly, where a crowd of 11,075 packed Alex G. Spanos Stadium to watch the Mustangs fall to the Gauchos on Oct. 17.

For the Aggies to leave San Luis Obispo with a victory, they’ll have to do what UCSB did: score first.

This has been a problem for UC Davis as of late. Used to playing with the lead, the Aggies found themselves battling from behind against fourth- and fifth-place Cal State Northridge and UC Irvine.

They were able to turn those deficits into points, but would need some luck to do the same against Cal Poly and UCSB.

“It’s definitely an issue that we need to start dealing with,” said senior captain Dylan Curtis.

The Aggies (12-2-3, 4-1-3) have shown they can overcome adversity.

UC Davis entered its regular-season-ending, four-game set coming off a lackluster week by its standards. It tied a sixth-place Cal State Fullerton team it should have beaten before losing to last-place UC Riverside to snap an 11-game unbeaten streak on Oct. 17.

“To be honest with you, I just think [that week] was an accumulation of everything we’ve went through the entire season,” Shaffer said. “We were on such an emotional high with the unbeaten streak. Every season, you’re kind of going to have a little bit of a lull.“

“We had one bad week,” said senior forward Quincy Amarikwa, “but that wasn’t going to foretell the rest of our season. We can bounce back from adversity. It’s good for our team to get a taste of being on the ropes. To overcome that – that’s the character we need to have.”

The Aggies will find themselves on the ropes again. Given the team’s remaining schedule, that’s to be expected.

They’re ready for it.

“I think we’re in a good position,” Amarikwa said. “We’re doing what we need to do to win. All we want to do is keep our momentum going.“

UC Davis‘ challenge is to keep it going against its top threats to a Big West championship.

That objective may sway slightly from Shaffer’s present plan to remain in the conference’s top four, but winning a league title – and qualifying for another NCAA Tournament – becomes the next goal.

“We’re trying to win the conference,” Anibaba said. “If we win the conference, we get a good seed going into the NCAA Tournament. Home field advantage, first round off – all of it. We want that banner saying, ‘UC Davis won the Big West.‘”

ADAM LOBERSTEIN is still voting for Dylan Curtis to win the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award at soccer.seniorclassaward.com and by texting S3 to 839863. You should do the same. He can be reached at sports@californiaaggie.com.

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