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CD Review: Fragile Future

Arts Editor
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Hawthorne Heights

Fragile Future

Released: Aug. 5, 2008

Victory Records

 

Rating: 1

 

It’s been seven years since Hawthorne Heights officially formed. Fragile Future, released last Tuesday, is only their third album.

What’s taken them so long? Was it their dispute with their record label, world touring, or maybe the death of vocalist/guitarist Casey Calvert in late 2007?

No. It shouldn’t have taken the band seven years to release three 11- and 12-track carbon copies of every other album in their genre. Fragile Future could just as well be a new album from Dashboard Confessional, Something Corporate, Yellowcard, Taking Back Sunday or New Found Glory, not to mention the thousands of other “underground” bands that sound exactly like the aforementioned, minus production quality.

There’s nothing new about Fragile Future, just like there’s nothing new about poppy hardcore emo, or whatever the official genre title is – no matter how much you argue about the genre differences between Hawthorne Heights and New Found Glory, they really are the same. There’s not much out there that can save the genre if you’re looking for creativity and originality, or even talent for that matter.

But really, what’s the real motive behind their songwriting process? Do they really think they’re coming up with something new each time they cut and paste the same chord progressions and broken-heart lyrics into every song they put out?

Or are they banking on their oblivious fans and supporters to fuel their paychecks? If so, it’s worked so well that they almost deserve it, and they sure won’t stop any time soon.

Listening to this album is like listening to the buzz of a light bulb for 40 minutes straight. Luckily, each song averages only at around three and a half minutes – perfect for soccer club road trips or for anyone with the attention span of an 8-year-old in a statistics class.

It seems like the whole whining thing has lost some of its popularity with the rise of bands like Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco, whose horse-neighing vocals have established a new brand of suck in the pop scene. Even so, Calvert’s death left the band screamer-less, with only lead whiner JT Woodruff at the forefront. “Desperation,” by far the most annoying and whiny track on the album, possibly mourns for Calvert’s screaming the most.

The album is at its musical best during the Death Cab for Cutie-styled intros to “Disaster” and “Corps of Corpses,” which last less than a minute before the ever-predictable ejaculatory release of guitars and whining. Then, it’s the same crap over and over again.

Keep lapping it up, there’s plenty left.

 

-Justin T. Ho

 

Give these tracks a listen:

“Desperation“

“Rescue Me“

 

For fans of:

Hot Topic

The Notebook

Love, sex and pop music in bare

Arts Editor
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Some may say that the local theater scene has been slow to catch up to those of other Californian cosmopolitan cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco.

But Sacramento-based theatre company Artistic Differences is trying to include the state capital as yet another destination for provocative theatre production in California with its performance of bare, a musical chronicling two teenage boys struggling with their sexuality while in a Catholic boarding school.

“Sacramento theatre has been asleep for a long time,“ said Kevin Caravalho, director of the production. “It felt like Sacramento couldn‘t go forward with more thought-provoking [performances]. We said, ‘Let‘s make a show that raises questions,‘ and now we have had critical success. We have sold out [shows] and people are on the waiting list.“

Artistic Differences debuted bare on July 31 at The Space at 2509 R St. in Sacramento. Tickets are $18 for general admission and $15 for students. With nightly sold-out performances, audiences have packed The Space and embraced the theatre company for its willingness to perform risky but entertaining musicals, such as bare.

bare was the brainchild of Jon Harmere Jr. and Damon Intrabartolo. Harmere provided the lyrics while Intrabartolo composed the music. Before coming to Sacramento, bare premiered in October 2000 at the Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles. In 2004, the musical also made its way to New York.

Originally titled bare: a pop opera, the Sacramento cast believes that it honestly portrays the raw sexuality that dogs the protagonists Jason and Peter. bare eschews the faux high school life portrayed in “90210” or “The Hills.” Instead, it tries to challenge audiences as it delves into the consequences of Jason and Peter forming a relationship that goes against the dogma of society.

“What makes bare unique is that it doesn‘t pull any punches,“ said Ian Cullity, who plays Jason. “The musical just lets everything hang. It‘s called bare because it has a raw attitude.“

Because the characters portray teen angst, Caravalho had to rely on a very young cast. He was initially unnerved because he was uncertain if he could get his young actors to get into character and express the emotions that are called upon by bare. After casting the characters, Caravalho allotted a grace period of several weeks for his actors to summon the intensity required by the plot, and his actors easily took on their parts.

“When you are a younger [actor], you have more walls,“ Caravalho said. “Right off the bat, these kids were so in love with the show. They were willing to go on the journey.“

Caravalho cast UC Davis senior communication major Joshua Robertson to interpret the character Matt, a nemesis of Jason. Robertson, who is also in the campus improv group Birdstrike Theatre, found it easy to get into character for bare because of how much it paralleled aspects of his high school life.

“I went through this as some friends came out,“ Robertson said. “This [musical] is so much about life and identifying with one of the characters or even a piece of each character, because we are all scared to show who we are. The entire cast wanted to reveal each character.“

The production of bare will play at The Space on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays until Aug. 30. The Space is located at 2509 R St. in Sacramento. Tickets are available at artisticdifferences.net or call (916) 708-3449.

 

JACKSON YAN can be reached at arts@californiaaggie.com.

Jason Mraz pre-sale tickets offered

Arts Editor
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Jason Mraz is coming to campus, and pre-sale tickets are being sold today starting at 10 a.m.

Mraz is currently on tour promoting his latest May release, “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things,” and will perform at Freeborn Hall on Nov. 3. Vocalist Lisa Hannigan, known for her work with Damien Rice, will open for Mraz.

The event is sponsored by the Entertainment Council and promoted by Another Planet Entertainment.

As advertised, only 100 of the 200 pre-sale tickets will be sold today at $20 each. For students who miss today’s opportunity to purchase pre-sale tickets, the remainder will be sold at the discounted price on the first day of school.

Moreover, students are permitted to buy one extra ticket for another UC Davis student, provided they have both student IDs.

Regular ticket sales will begin Saturday, at $35 each.

The decision to split the pre-sale was aimed at giving students an early shot at the discounted tickets while providing incoming first-years and students not enrolled in courses over the summer an equal chance to buy tickets later in the fall.

“It’s the summer, so there’s really not too many people here,” said Thongxy Phansopha, director of the EC. “Then again, the students that are here are pretty psyched about getting pre-sale tickets that are $15 off.”

Publicity for the pre-sale has so far been relatively minimal, relying on word of mouth and the EC’s Facebook group. Nonetheless, Phansopha anticipates a large and early showing for the pre-sale.

“I think the tickets will sell pretty fast within the day, just because [there are] only 100 tickets,” Phansopha said. “If [there are] 50 students buying two tickets each, then it’s done.”

“I’m planning on getting to the pre-sale around 6 a.m.,” said Ashlee Mitchell, a sophomore human development and psychology major. “Crazy, I know.”

Despite the limited number of discounted tickets, Mraz is sure to draw a large crowd in November.

“He has a really smooth voice and his melodies are comforting,” Mitchell said. “I’m a big fan of acoustic music, and his stuff is a great mix between alternative and acoustic. Also, his lyrics are creative and unique.”

“I’m so excited for him to come to UCD,” said incoming first-year and biological sciences major Camille Martinez in an e-mail interview. “I’m stoked that in my first year at Davis, Jason Mraz will be playing. This is epic stuff.”

Both pre-sales are only available for UC Davis students, so be sure to bring your ID. All sales are cash only. For more information, go to the Freeborn ticket office, tickets.com, or visit the Facebook event page.

 

JUSTIN T. HO can be reached at arts@californiaaggie.com.

UCD researchers to assess potential of large-scale carbon farming in delta

Campus Editor
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UC Davis will partner with state, federal and private agencies to study carbon capture farming in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, in an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The collaboration is enabled by a three-year $12.3 million grant awarded by the state Department of Water Resources to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Carbon-capture farming involves restoring wetland plants on delta islands to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide and rebuild the soil base, according to the USGS. The peat soils have decomposed to the point that many delta islands have subsided 20 feet or more below sea level. The ongoing elevation loss, which is accelerated by farming, will put more pressure on the levee systems that not only protect the islands from flooding, but also channel fresh water to two-thirds of California’s population.

Growing wetland plants on subsiding delta islands is a possible solution to these threatening problems. A USGS pilot project using two 7-acre test plots on Twitchell Island showed that more than 10 inches of elevation were regained from 1997-2005 through processes that add natural organic matter from wetland plants back into the soil.

“The potential [for carbon capture farming] is tremendous, but we don’t know what the effects of it will be on a large scale,” said Jim Nickles, public affairs officer for the USGS.

UC Davis soil experts will measure the potential negative side effects of the carbon-capture process.

“Wetlands are good at producing methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide as far as warming the atmosphere,” said William Horwath, a principal investigator on the grant and vice chair of the department of land, air, and water resources. “We are wondering if these wetlands capture more carbon than they emit in greenhouse gases. The win-win situation is that they can.”

USGS project director Roger Fujii emphasized a need to study effects of carbon capture farming on the output of metabolic byproducts from delta soil microbes. These include the greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide, as well as methylmercury, a compound linked to adverse fetal development that can accumulate to toxic levels as it passes along the aquatic food chain to humans.

Horwath added that re-growing wetlands will increase the amount of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in delta water – another potential health concern if a levee breach mixes this compound into the fresh water supply – where it can combine with disinfection chemicals to produce carcinogenic compounds that end up in drinking water.

He and his colleagues will employ carbon isotope tracing methods to determine whether DOC and methane production on carbon-farmed wetlands stems from existing sediments or from newly established plants. The studies could offer insights to appropriate land management techniques for mitigating harmful carbon emissions, such as controlled flooding.

“This consortium [of research efforts] will provide opportunities for graduate students and undergraduates,” said Horwath. “We still don’t have enough students in natural resource sciences today to tackle all these problems in the future.”

Plans are under way to establish up to 400 acres of new wetlands for study in the spring of 2009.

 

ELAINE HSIA can be reached at campus@californiaaggie.com.

To tree or not to tree

Opinion
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Some of you may already be aware of the tree-sitting protestors at UC Berkeley that are currently preventing the construction of a new athletic facility (and if you weren’t, you certainly are now). I’m here to tell you that this protest is ridiculous.

The proposed athletic facility, which would house state-of-the-art equipment for the football team and over a dozen other varsity sports, was approved Dec. 5, 2006. How far along is construction? Well, it hasn’t started yet. Not even a little bit. Because the site the university has chosen for the facility would require the removal of part of a grove of trees.

This prompted some local protestors to take up residence in the trees, where they’ve remained for the past 19 months. They’ve made it clear that they aren’t leaving until the university signs some kind of agreement saying they won’t harm the trees.

The problem here is that it’s never going to happen. The university has had the upper hand in this dispute from the beginning, and there’s no way they would relinquish it now. They have no reason to (and just think of how much face it would lose if it got beaten by a group of tree sitters). What’s more, the university is completely correct in its stance.

The trees that will be removed are not ancient trees. This is not a copse of vegetation that rubbed elbows (claws?) with the dinosaurs. These are oaks and redwoods the university itself planted many years ago. They planted them, they should have the right to remove them if they see fit. If there’s a plant on my property that I don’t want anymore, I have the right to remove it; why should it be any different for the university?

Even if one made the argument that, as a public university, UC Berkeley should get such an action approved by its students and faculty because, well, everybody likes trees, the argument would still fall to earth (with a resounding “Timberrrr!”) in light of the offering the university has made. Dan Mogulof, spokesperson for UC Berkeley, has been quoted as saying that the university will replace each of the removed trees with three new ones (obviously at a different location). Three!

The grove in question has approximately 80 trees in it. Of those, 44 are supposed to be removed to make way for the athletic facility. Forty-four multiplied by three is 132. I’m not great at math, but I’m pretty sure that 132 is more than 80.

The protestors should stop now! It’s been a success! The university has pledged to end up with 52 more trees than it started with!

It’s not like accommodations in tree groves are rife with luxury, anyway. The university is providing the protestors with just enough food (1,800 calorie energy bars) and water to survive. There have reportedly been at least two arboreal related injuries as a result of the protest.

Another aspect of the protest that irks me is that so few people are being inconsiderate of a great many. As of July 15, there are only three protestors left sitting in the trees. Meanwhile, 13 varsity sports teams wait for their new training facility. I would also like to point out that the University of Berkeley is a public institution; the UC system gets its money from the state budget.

UC attorney Charles Olson recently estimated that the cost of the project has grown, due to the protest, by $11 million.

I’ll give you one guess as to who’s gonna get stuck with that bill in the end.

Moreover, around 20 sympathizers have taken up residence on a street median close to the grove. The university has requested the city’s help in removing the sympathizers, pointing out that due to their presence on the street there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of jaywalking and sanitation concerns, as well as slowing traffic considerably.

All of those sound like reasonable complaints to me. If the protestors really wanted to do some good, they would climb down from their perch and make way for progress.

Progress, in this case, means stopping the financial bleeding before it gets worse, getting some college athletes their new facility and ending a headache for school administrators who should be focusing on education.

And more trees. Which is the whole point, right?

 

RICHARD PROCTER got one request on what to write a column about, and would consequently like to hear your views on student government at UC Davis. E-mail him your thoughts on the subject to rhprocter@ucdavis.edu.

Daily Calendar

Features Editor
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FRIDAY

Friends of the Davis Public Library book sale

Noon to 7 p.m.

Davis Public Library, 314 East 14th St.

Books will be sold for between 25 cents and $2, and DVDs, CDs and tapes will cost $1. The library has received a number of World War II, art and opera book donations, so look for these at the sale! The sale will also occur from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.

 

MONDAY

West Yolo Democratic Club dinner

6 to 8:30 p.m.

Palms Playhouse, 13 Main St., Winters

The free campaign kickoff dinner, entitled “Food for Thought for Rural Families” includes a spaghetti dinner. There will also be live music by the Yolo Freedom Singers. Many candidates and dignitaries will be at the event to both speak and mingle with attendees. Art Torres, the Chair of the California Democratic Party, will attend. To RSVP, call 795-4220 with the number of people in your party.

 

WEDNESDAY

Davis Farmers Market

4:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Central Park

Buy local produce and more at the farmers market. For more information, visit www.davisfarmersmarket.org.

 

To receive placement in the AGGIE DAILY CALENDAR, e-mail dailycal@californiaaggie.com 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.

UCD researchers invent “smart” contact lens

Features Editor
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Courtesy

There may be something stealing your vision. But no matter how hard you look, you won’t be able to find the culprit. These vision thieves take your sight without any signs that are visible to the naked eye.

With the new “smart” contact lens you may be able to detect signs of glaucoma, a disease that causes blindness, in the comfort of your very own home. Traditionally, glaucoma has only been detectable by eye doctors.

UC Davis biomechanical engineers have developed a new device called the “smart” contact lens to measure pressure within the eye. High eye pressure can be a sign of glaucoma.

According the World Health Organization, glaucoma is the second-leading cause of blindness in the world.

Everyone is at risk for glaucoma, from babies to senior citizens, said Hailin Cong, researcher and post-doctoral scholar of the biomechanical engineering department.

“Estimates put the total number of suspected cases of glaucoma at around 65 million worldwide and more than 10 percent of them are bilaterally blind,” Cong said in an e-mail interview. Bilateral blindness means loss of vision in both eyes.

In the United States alone, over 3 million people have glaucoma and this number is expected to increase by 50 percent by 2020, due to the aging population, he said.

The way the “smart” contact lens works is by measuring stress on the corneal surface and the fluid pressure within the eye, Cong said.

“The eye always has a certain pressure, which is why the eyeball is a sphere,” he said. “In glaucoma patients, that pressure rises and changes the shape of the eye, which would deform the contact lens sensor.”

The sensors in the “smart” contact lens work similarly to those in an iPhone that detect any pressure exerted against them, said Tingrui Pan, principle investigator of the research project.

“When you press the iPhone display, it senses your fingers,” Pan said. “The sensors in the ‘smart’ contact lens are extremely sensitive and can read any mechanical force on it electronically.”

These lenses will be the next generation of glaucoma diagnostic system, Cong said.

“It not only can be used in hospitals to diagnose and check glaucoma through the much more expensive professional physician interface,” he said, “but also can be used at home to monitor glaucoma and ocular hypertension through a wireless personal computer interface.”

The measurement usually takes 10 to 15 minutes.

The lens has already been tested in a human eye for 20 minutes without noticeable irritation, Cong said.

The type of silicone used in commercial contact lenses, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), is exactly the same as that used for the “smart” contact lens, he said.

The silver particles placed on the contact lens work as conductive wires and doubles as antimicrobial agents.

“The silver particles in PDMS matrix greatly decrease the amount of bacteria adhered to the surface and thus improve the antibacterial property of the contact lens,” Cong said.

The “smart” contact lens is an advancement compared to current methods in that it is non-invasive and the measured pressure signal is also real-time with less errors and limitations, he said.

But while it is able to detect signs of glaucoma, it cannot simultaneously provide treatment.

In the future, the researchers’ goal is to integrate the contact lens with the glaucoma diagnostic sensor and treatment device together, Cong said. They also hope to use nanotechnology to make transparent conductive circuits so that the contact lens will have transparent sensors on it.

This advanced type of lens will look like a common contact lens, but will integrate even more functionality for monitoring and treatment of different eye diseases, he said.

“Using the biomechanical analysis based on real-time non-invasive imaging techniques,” Cong said, “glaucoma pathology can be understood better.”

While measuring eye pressure is important, the precise relationship between eye pressure and glaucoma is not known, said Annie Baik, clinical glaucoma fellow at Department of Ophthalmology at the UC Davis Medical Center.

There are people with high eye pressure who don’t have glaucoma, Baik said.

“And there are some people who have glaucoma and may have what is considered normal or low eye pressure,” she said.

To test for other signs of glaucoma, people can visit their optometrists or ophthalmologists for a clinical examination.

“In the office, we’re looking at the eye itself and looking at the optic nerve for characteristic changes that are consistent with glaucoma,” Baik said.

The “smart” contact lens is no substitute for corrective lenses however.

“The “smart” contact lens is not going to correct your vision,” Pan said.

There is usually no pain associated with glaucoma and significant vision may be lost by the time anything is noticed, Cong said. Experts estimate that half of the people affected by glaucoma may not know they have it.

“So the best way to protect our sight from glaucoma is to get tested frequently,” he said. “The earlier we detect it and treat it, the less chance it will cause blindness.”

THUY TRAN can be reached at features@californiaaggie.com.

Democrats in county unite to win in November

City Editor
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Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series on the major party organizations in Yolo County. The second part, featuring Republican organizers, will appear next Thursday.

 

With a competitive election on the horizon that could result in the first Democratic president in eight years, Democrats in Yolo County are banding together and gearing up for the local campaign.

Yolo United, a coalition of various Democratic groups throughout the county, is bringing together various groups with the idea that there is strength in numbers.

Members of Yolo United come from the Yolo County Democratic Central Committee, Davis College Democrats, Yolo for Obama, Students for Barack Obama and the Davis Democratic Club.

The goals of Yolo United include winning the presidential campaign and supporting the California Democratic Party platform, said member Ryan Loney, who is also the northern California regional director for Students for Barack Obama.

Yolo United is also opposing Proposition 8 – a constitutional amendment to eliminate gay marriage rights in California – and supporting Proposition 1, the high-speed rail bond.

“We want to get out the vote,” he said. “We’re trying to knock on every door in Davis.”

The Davis headquarters will open soon on Hanover Drive. The tentative date of the opening is Aug (Aug. br) 17, but it needs to be voted on and approved in an upcoming meeting, said organizer Betty Woo.

“We’re almost ready”, (ready,” br) said Woo. “We really want UC Davis students to feel welcome to come and help and get involved. We’re still setting up [the headquarters] so they can come and help us with that.”

The Davis headquarters will be used as a home base for neighborhood canvassing, a place for people with questions to call or visit, and as a phone banking location. Volunteers will call registered voters and encourage them to use their votes.

“We have a database of all registered voters in Davis and we will be calling all of them,” Loney said.

Members aren’t waiting for headquarters to open before getting started, though. Groups of volunteers have already made phone calls from their cell phones, averaging roughly 1,000 calls a week, Loney said.

During the coming months volunteers will be calling voters in states that are not overwhelmingly polling for one candidate over the other, creating an opportunity for either party to win the state in the presidential election.

“We’ve been doing a lot of out-of-state calls to the swing states and battleground states [and districts],” said Loney. “Places like New Mexico, Ohio, and Texas.”

The new headquarters in Davis and Woodland have been set up for Wi-Fi and are registered for Skype (an online phone service) which will allow volunteers to bring their laptops and use them to make calls to voters.

The group’s Woodland headquarters will open with a kickoff bash Friday, a date chosen for its uniqueness, said Woodland headquarters chair Leslie Marcus.

“We associate the number eight with prosperity,” Marcus said. “Getting a good candidate elected will help America be more prosperous compared to what we’ve seen for the past eight years. I like to call it the ‘Opening ceremonies of the Olympic Election.'”

The Students for Obama group will be tabling at the Memorial Union from the first day of school until Oct. 20, the last day for anyone to register to vote, Loney said.

“Davis has almost 6,000 students coming in and we’re only going to have three weeks to get them registered,” he said.

For more information about the opening of the Davis headquarters and other scheduled events, visit yolounited.com.

 

ALI EDNEY can be reached at city@californiaaggie.com.

Correction

City Editor
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The July 31 article “Council considers ban on wood burning fireplaces” misstated the motion passed by the city council. The motion that passed unanimously was a motion to instruct the Natural Resources Commission to write a wood burning ordinance based on the commission’s recommendations, but without a permit system and with more criteria than just wind speed. The motion also instructed the commission and city staff to add a strong public education component to the wood burning regulation program. The motion did not respond to city staff recommendations regarding voluntary reductions in wood burning. The Aggie regrets the error.

Council argues over water projects

City Editor
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If you think your utility bills are high, just look at what the city of Davis may have to pay.

The city is facing a legal requirement to upgrade its wastewater treatment system, a considerably complex undertaking. That issue is compounded by the fact that the city wants to upgrade its water supply system. Successfully completing those two projects will cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars.

At last week’s city council meeting, Councilmember Sue Greenwald raised the issue of the potentially devastating impact such a large investment could have.

“We’re headed toward a fiscal train wreck,” she said at the meeting.

The council was receiving a report on the Davis-Woodland Water Supply project, which will provide surface water from the Sacramento River for Davis, Woodland and UC Davis. Those areas currently depend on groundwater drawn from wells.

Staff reports estimate that the surface water project will cost $160 million. The cost of the wastewater treatment plant is estimated at $206 million.

Sparks flew when Mayor Ruth Asmundson claimed that Greenwald was debating with the expert who presented the report instead of simply asking questions.

“What you’re doing, Sue, is debating,” Asmundson said. “We need to look at the report.”

Greenwald and Asmundson struggled to talk over each other, with Greenwald trying to defend her line of reasoning and Asmundson telling her she was out of order.

“Ruth, when we’re talking about a half billion dollar project you have to let us question the experts,” Greenwald said forcefully.

Asmundson obstinately repeated that Greenwald was out of order and that her time to question was over. Greenwald continued talking.

“I think that I’m doing what I have to do to protect the citizens of Davis and to ask the right questions, ask the hard questions,” Greenwald said. “That’s what I was elected to do.”

At that point, Asmundson abruptly called an unplanned five-minute recess and walked away from the dais with Councilmember Don Saylor.

For Greenwald, the critical question is whether the city should revamp its water supply immediately, or wait until after the wastewater treatment plant upgrade is complete.

Experts say the city should act now.

“If you look around the state, numerous water agencies are running really short of water supplies,” said Harvey Collins, chair of the independent panel that reviewed the Davis-Woodland Water Supply project. “Summer water is going to be very hard to get in the future.”

Collins said the city could hurt itself by waiting, because construction costs increase faster than the rate of inflation. He also said the hydro-geologists on the panel agreed that there’s no guarantee that groundwater quality will remain at current levels.

Collins also said the surface water project was better than the other alternatives, such as treating groundwater, because the surface water project would result in the lowest emissions of any alternative.

Nonetheless, Greenwald wants the city to wait. She says if the surface water project is postponed for 25 to 30 years, residents would not have to bear such high water costs, because the city’s debt would be spread out over a greater period of time.

Since the item was informational, no action was required and the council did not make any decisions.

 

Jeremy Ogul can be reached at city@californiaaggie.com.

Unitrans announces changes to K, W and P/Q lines

Campus Editor
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Unitrans is making changes to several of its routes for the upcoming year. The adjustments went into effect Monday and will continue throughout the school year.

While the majority of Unitrans routes will remain the same for the upcoming year, changes have been made to the K, W and P/Q lines, said Anthony Palmere, assistant general manager of administration for Unitrans.

“A portion of the K and P/Q lines are being swapped, so that the P/Q will run on Arlington [Boulevard] and the K will run on Humboldt [Avenue] and Arthur [Street],” Palmere said in an e-mail interview. “The W line will be changed to run the loop at the east end of the line in the opposite direction, via Cowell [Boulevard] to Lillard [Drive] and Drummond [Avenue] then back to Cowell [Boulevard].”

The changes are an attempt to improve the on-time reliability of bus lines, particularly the P/Q lines, which have experienced problems with this in the past.

“[Unitrans] buses are usually pretty good about getting to stops on time, but I have noticed the P and Q lines are usually at least 5 to 7 minutes late,” said Josephine Trinh, a junior English major who says she normally rides the P/Q lines to go to the city library. “It isn’t a big delay, but it is annoying, especially if you need to get to somewhere like class.”

Unitrans hopes the new efforts to streamline the P/Q route will change this.

“The P/Q lines are very long lines which have poor on-time performance and often run late,” Palmere said. “With the P/Q now running on the more direct route via Arlington [Boulevard], its on-time performance should improve. The changes are aimed at bringing every line to achieve an on-time performance of at least 90 percent.”

In addition to the bus line changes for the upcoming year, the construction of the new Silo bus terminal will change the campus departure locations for certain lines.

The A, L, C and D lines, all of which arrive and depart from either the Shields terminal or the Art Building will now begin and end at the new Silo terminal, according to a report released by Unitrans for the 2008-2009 year. The A and L lines will continue to provide service to the Shields terminal and Art Building stops, but the C and D will not. In addition, the Life Sciences Addition stop on Hutchison Drive will be discontinued.

Unitrans also plans on initiating the use of a J express line, which would run along or down Hutchison Drive to Highway 113, then continue on to Covell Boulevard and Sycamore. It would run in the afternoon during peak times in order to alleviate overcrowding issues.

Palmere said there were also plans for a “U-DASH” bus earlier this year that would provide direct service from campus to downtown during lunch hours. However, despite strong support from staff and students, it failed to materialize due to funding issues. It may be up and running as early as next summer, he said.

 

ERICA LEE can be reached at campus@californiaaggie.com.

UC Davis program allows high school students to study biotechnology

Campus Editor
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Imagine learning how to navigate a virtual lab to splice a gene and extract DNA, then putting these newly acquired skills to real life use in a high school classroom equipped with top-notch lab equipment.

Thanks to the UC Davis Partnership for Plant Genomics program and Biotechnology Kit Loan Program, high school students throughout the nation are able to use game-based software to acquire biotechnology skills. Students in the greater Sacramento area are able to put these skills to use with equipment on loan from UC Davis.

“The Loan Program enables schools to offer temporary laboratory curricula [even if they] cannot afford it,” said David Gilchrist, UC Davis plant pathology professor and director of partnership for plant genomics education. “Equipment can run between $18,000 to $20,000.”

Biotechnology Kits are available for loan for two-week periods to schools in the Sacramento area stretching from Marysville to Vacaville. Training programs are available to teachers in the summer, and depending on subject, vary in length from a week for national conferences to three days for basic training to one to three days for lab kit training.

An integral part of the program is offering continual help to the teachers, said Barbara Soots, the Education Coordinator for the Partnership for Pant Genomics Education and one of the training program teachers who also developed the game-based software.

“It is important not to just train the teachers once, but to offer consistent contact and ongoing support to the teachers,” she said. “They need to come back every summer to be retrained.”

Technology is an important tool in ensuring that changes to the program are available to a widespread audience. Updates can be easily made online, and are available for download online for free once a teacher is registered in the program.

The software program takes about 45 minutes to complete and offers pre- and post-tests. The first software was a virtual DNA fingerprinting lab and the newest software completed this summer offers a six-episode virtual plant biotechnology and genomics lab where students can extract DNA and make a genetically modified plant.

Since its inception in 1996, the software has reached 5,000 registered school sites and the Kit Loan Program serves 50 teachers in 31 schools reaching over 30,000 students.

Kevin Scully teaches biotechnology lab and biomanufacturing at Rodriguez High School in Fairfield, and has been in the UC Davis Kit Loan Program for several years.

“This is a very effective program, bringing equipment teachers just don’t have access to,” he said. “Part of the deal with educating students is to get them engaged and excited, and biotechnology can really do that. Their attitude changes when you give them a pipette.”

The program was first conceived in 1992 when the National Science Foundation presented a $10 million research grant to the UC Davis Science and Technology Center for 10 years. A group of experts and educators including Gilchrist was mandated to come up with an outreach program for minorities that was distinct from anything else UC Davis had done.

“Biotechnology came out in 1981 with much controversy,” Gilchrist said. “We thought this was the best opportunity in bringing this type of education in high schools to interest students [in biotechnology] as a career and make students better informed as voters of tomorrow.”

With video games rapidly increasing in popularity among youth, it was clear that an interactive learning environment was the best way to combine education with interest, Gilchrist said.

“This allows the students to see the link between work they see and conceptualize as science in the real world and what they actually experience in the classroom; that is a positive step to bridge that gap which can’t be understated,” Scully said.

The program is funded by the National Science Foundation, the Genentech Foundation for Biotechnological Sciences, the UC Davis Office of Research and the UC Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. Currently, the program is seeking more funding as other financial sources are ending.

Michele Parisi, media consultant for Genentech Foundation, has been working with UC Davis to increase visibility of the program and seek financial support.

“There are so many benefits of this program: it provides tremendous community service,” she said. “It is a terrific example of how a world class academic institution has transferred all this expertise and knowledge and made it relevant and valuable to the community.”

 

WENDY WANG can be reached at campus@californiaaggie.com.

Film Review: Pineapple Express

Arts Editor
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0

Pineapple Express

Columbia Pictures

Rating: 3

 

Perhaps appropriate for a movie filled with stoners, Pineapple Express starts off doing one thing, goes to do something else, but forgets what, exactly, that other thing was along the way.

The movie stars Seth Rogan as Dale Denton, a 25-year-old process server who gets his kicks by dressing up in elaborate disguises to get people to take their subpoenas from him. Co-star James Franco plays Saul Silver, an easygoing drug dealer who spends his time between drug deals getting high off his own product and taking care of his grandmother.

The early scenes with Rogan and Franco are probably the movie’s best, with Rogan playing straight man to Franco’s irreverent stoner. Franco gets the majority of the good lines, probably karma for having to play Harry Osborn in the Spiderman movies. The first part of the movie introduces the main characters and Pineapple Express, a special brand of weed that lends the film its name.

The plot moves along fairly quickly. It starts off with Dale witnessing Ted Jones, a drug kingpin played by Gary Cole (whom many will remember as Bill Lumbergh from Office Space), whack a rival. Dale freaks out and flees to the only place he can think of (Saul’s apartment), but not before leaving an incriminating joint chock-full of Pineapple Express at the scene of the crime.

Dale explains to Saul (who isn’t really much of a help) what’s just happened, then realizes that he’s left the easily traceable joint behind, which leads to a frantic exodus from the apartment and subsequent stoned shenanigans in the woods.

This is really the high point (you see what I did there?) of the movie. Soon after this, it starts to try a little too hard. Hot on the main character’s trails are two hit men, one of whom is played by Craig Robinson (Darryl from The Office), who turns in a great performance in a minor part.

The hit men, while amusing when they show up, also serve as posterchildren for some of what’s wrong with the movie. It starts off as a stoner comedy, then attempts to morph into a stoner buddy movie, then goes for the hat trick by trying to become a stoner action movie.

Any movie that can be reasonably connected with the phrase “stoner action movie” has something inherently misguided at its core. The room-pleasers that Franco throws around (“Wasting this joint would be like … killing a unicorn.”) are in stark contrast to drug cronies getting their feet blown off and Dale having his own Evander Holyfield moment.

Having such a confused film is perhaps not unexpected when considering that it tries to combine the efforts of director David Gordon Greene, previously responsible for more artistic films such as Undertow, and producer Judd Apatow (who brought you all those extra-quotable Will Ferrell movies).

Some storylines are introduced and then just abandoned: Dale has a relationship with a girl in high school, the fate of which, at the end of the movie, is unresolved. Meanwhile, others are forced on the audience clumsily (e.g. Ted Jones’ drug war with “the Asians”).

Overall, the movie is entertaining from start to finish, although it could have been much better if it chose one thing and did it well. Dude.

-Richard Procter

ARTSWEEK

Arts Editor
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0

MUSIC

Joyful Sounds, Kill City

Today, 7 p.m.

R5 Records in Sacramento

So their definition of joy may differ from mine, but that certainly doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate the musical endeavors of San Diego hardcore band Joyful Sounds. What I’m even more appreciative of, though, is the fact that both bands are signed onto a label called Brain Constipation Records.

 

Oaxacan, Night Nurse, Wave & Particle

Today, 8 p.m., $5

Luigi’s Fun Garden in Sacramento

Oakland trio Oaxacan explore in the ever-innovative genre of experimental music, creating a haunting and minimalist composition of droning guitars, female pitches and electronic swells.

 

Woody Pines and the Lonesome Two, Patrick Ferris

Today, 10 p.m., $3-5, 21

Sophia’s Thai Kitchen

Lo-fi meets deep rootsy blues with North Carolina band Woody Pines and the Lonesome Two. The result of this joining? A toe-tapping take on Southern music with hints of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie.

 

Hans Solos: A Hip-Hop Showcase of Solo MCs

Friday, 8 p.m., $5

Javalounge in Sacramento

With so many hip-hop acts using shows as an excuse to bring their boys onstage (i.e. Fiddy and G-Unit, Fat Joe and Terror Squad), it’s nice to see a change. Also, anything that warrants a Star Wars reference is a thumbs-up in my book. This hip-hop exhibition features Poor from Sacramento-based rap group Tribe of Levi and Peck the Town Crier.

 

Aroarah, Fat Bulldog 50, Deconstruct, Emerald City, Bone-Bag

Friday, 8 p.m.

The Boardwalk in Orangevale

Sacramento rock group Aroarah is composed of four ladies whose sassy fashion sense serves as an appropriate accompaniment to their equally sassy sound. The group will also take the Earnie Ball stage at the Sleep Train Amphitheatre for the Vans Warped Tour in Marysville.

 

The West Nile Ramblers, Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers

Friday, 10 p.m., $3-5, 21

Sophia’s Thai Kitchen

As a female singer-songwriter, Oklahoma-based Samantha Crain is bound to draw many a comparison to other ladies in the world of folk and indie rock. A bit more rootsy than Joanna Newsom, far less cutesy than Kimya Dawson and with a voice that calls to mind Feist, Crain proves that she can hold her own.

 

SecondShot, Van Hammersly, Leopold and his Fiction

Friday, 10 p.m., $3-5, 21

The G St. Pub

Pop-punkers SecondShot will give one last performance in the area before they head off to tour in Japan. If you like acts like Thrice and The Ataris, or if you’re just 21 and bored, don’t miss your last chance to see them.

 

OK Ikumi, JP Haynie, All on Seven

Saturday, 8 p.m., $5

Old Firehouse

OK Ikumi will be sure to charm your pants off with their slightly somber but still super cute electro-pop diddies. Led by Karl Jorgensen, the Utah group’s keyboard driven synths recall that of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.

 

The B Foundation, Ballyhoo!, Arden Park Roots, Nine Hours North, Natural Roots

Saturday, 8 p.m., $12 in advance

The Boardwalk in Orangevale

From the realm of reggae-influenced rock bands a la Pepper or Sublime is The B Foundation. Along with Maryland-based band Ballyhoo!, The B Foundation are headlining the Surf Roots Summer Tour 2008.

 

Jake Mann, The Spires, The Dazzling Strangers

Saturday, 10 p.m., $3-5, 21

Sophia’s Thai Kitchen

The name of Jake Mann should sound familiar to all you Davis showgoers – he started out in prolific fuzz-pop band The Zim-Zims! With a voice that channels Elvis Costello, Mann’s lo-fi material should appeal to fans of Pavement, The Velvet Underground and Elliot Smith.

 

Buildings Breeding, Spider Friends

Sunday, 8 p.m.

Old Firehouse

OK, so maybe a night out on campus might not seem like the ideal ending before school starts up again, but don’t be fooled. Round out your weekend with these two charming bands.

 

Jay Baker, Boyfriendz, The English Singles

Sunday, 8 p.m., $5

Javalounge in Sacramento

Sacramento group Boyfriendz is rooted in rock through and through, taking a page from classic acts like The Smiths, Nirvana and R.E.M.

 

AT THE MOVIES

Brideshead Revisited

Opens tomorrow at Varsity Theatre on Second Street

Adapted from the best-selling book by Evelyn Waugh, this film explores the Flyte family, the aristocratic owners of the Brideshead estate.

 

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

Opens tomorrow at Regal Davis Holiday 6 on F Street

Sometimes the mood to see a chick flick arises. Hey, maybe you can even make it one of those ladies night outs. Hair braiding, pillow fights and girlish giggling are strictly optional.

 

Pineapple Express

Now playing at Regal Davis Stadium 5 on G Street

Judd Apatow is at it again in this film that stars “Freaks and Geeks” alumni James Franco and Seth Rogan as two stoners on the run from the law. See page __ for a review.

 

ART / THEATER

Heart-Felt: The Art and Stories of Jan Schubert & Terry Busse

Now open at the Tsao Gallery

In addition to hand-stitched creations from the artists, the gallery will also showcase artwork made by students at the Davis Waldorf School.

 

Bare

Now through Aug. 30, $15 for students and $18 for general admission

The Space at 25th and R streets in Sacramento

With runs in Los Angeles and off-Broadway, this musical focuses on two high schoolers struggling with life at a private Catholic boarding school.

 

RACHEL FILIPINAS can be reached at arts@californiaaggie.com.

 

Editor’s picks

OK Ikumi, JP Haynie, All on Seven

Saturday, 8 p.m., $5

Old Firehouse

 

Jake Mann, The Spires, The Dazzling Strangers

Saturday, 10 p.m., $3-5, 21

Sophia’s Thai Kitchen

POLICE BRIEFS

City Editor
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0

SATURDAY

 

This Bud‘s for you

An individual was kicking full cans of beer at a seated person on C Street.

 

Oh, don’t mind that…

An individual called police, stating that there was no emergency while screams from another subject were heard in the background.

 

Bush baby

An extremely intoxicated male was lying in the bushes near the fountain on West Covell Boulevard.

 

Bomb threat

A subject was arrested for stealing Jagermeister on Cowell Boulevard.

 

American Idol reject

An individual called police to report a resident on Alvarado Avenue playing music and singing along poorly.

 

FRIDAY

 

No report provided.

 

THURSDAY

 

No guarantees

An irate resident called 911 to report police who were inside her residence without a “warranty.“

 

Nap time

A napping individual was seen slumped over a steering wheel for over an hour on East Eighth Street.

 

Balloon bonanza

A string of balloons from a car dealership on Second Street was seen hovering dangerously low over Interstate 80.

 

WEDNESDAY

 

Taking the welcome mat literally

An intoxicated individual was seen lying down in front of the door of an apartment on Olive Drive.

 

The odd couple

Two subjects were seen in the area of Mace Boulevard and Second Street. One was taking photos and one had what looked like a rifle, both were described as middle-aged.

 

POLICE BRIEFS are compiled by JEREMY OGUL from the public logs of the Davis Police Department and represent the official version of what happened. The crime blotter can be viewed online at cityofdavis.org/police/log/. This segment appears on Mondays during the summer. 

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