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UC Davis horses can graduate, too

Features

Features Editor

June 5, 2008

UC Davis seniors have used the last few months to prepare for their graduation day. Likewise, UC Davis horses have spent the last six months training for their own “graduation.“

The 16th annual UC Davis Horse Barn Production Sale will take place June 21. The event will take place at the UCD Horse Barn Arena at 3 p.m.

On sale this year will be two weanlings (horses that have just been weaned), five yearlings (horses between the age of one and two) and five adult horses. There will also be three yearling mules and one two-year-old mule available for auction.

Student interns – also known as foul managers – at the UCD Animal Science Horse Barn spend their winter and spring quarters readying the horses for auction, working a minimum of 15 hours a week.

“It’s an amazing experience because the barn is left in large part to the management of us interns,” said Sandy Knowles, a 2007 animal biology alumnus. “There’s a lot of responsibility, and it really forces you to be independent and take the initiative, otherwise horses can get hurt or babies can get sick.“

Knowles said the managers essentially teach fundamental skills to the horses.

“In as little as two quarters, these horses learn basic ground manners, and can stand to be clipped, shod, bathed, trailer loaded, round penned and lounged,” said Jamie Deuel, a second-year foul manager. “Plus, these animals are used to being around loud noises and working with a bunch of people.“

This event not only allows interns a chance to showcase their hard work and dedication spent with the horses but also helps raise money to run the barn.

The UC Horse Barn is expected to function without funding from the university. This includes medical care, food, bedding and maintaining facilities for the animals.

“We must operate on the funds received from selling our foals and breeding services,” said Nicole Webster, the Equine Facilities Supervisor. “The main function of this facility is to provide educational opportunities focusing in equine husbandry.“

Last year, total profits of $22,515 were raised, according to animalscience.ucdavis.edu. In 2006, the average price of a horse was $1,830, and in 2007 it was $1,216, according to the website.

Horses get auctioned off to breeders, riders and families who will use the horses in the industry. After spending two quarters preparing horses to be auctioned off, Knowles actually purchased one of the yearlings, Cleo, which she trained herself.

“The barn really helped cement my interest in equine veterinary science, particularly neonatal care, which I absolutely love,” Knowles said.

The program is mutually beneficial for the horses and the students. The horses learn their basics and get auctioned off to good homes – graduating on to a new life. The students have the opportunity to work on a hands-on project, in which the physical result of their hard work is evident.

This year’s production sale expects 100 to 150 attendees. The sale preview begins at 3 p.m., which will be followed by demonstrations at 4 p.m. and a barbeque at 5 p.m. The actual sale begins at 6 p.m.

For more information, go to animalscience.ucdavis.edu/horsebarn/productionsale.

JUNE QUAN can be reached at features@californiaaggie.com.

Diverse array of speakers to send graduates off

Features

Features Editor

June 5, 2008

This is only the beginning, graduates, and you have an outstanding lineup of commencement speakers to remind you of that. Each school’s unique selection of speakers plans to send students out into the world with resounding messages of perseverance, ingenuity and change.

Below is a sample of the speakers attending the ceremonies and a peek at what they will be addressing during their speeches.

School of Law

The School of Law welcomed Gavin Newsom, Mayor of San Francisco, who delivered a speech in response to the recent legislation on gay marriage. The ceremony was on May 17 in the ARC Pavilion.

Newsom is one of the California’s major advocates of gay marriage. In 2007, he allowed over 4,000 same-sex couples to wed in San Francisco, against the advice of many fellow Democrats.

The speech centered around a question Newsom asked himself early in his term as mayor: “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” He applied the question to his frustrations toward the discrimination he saw in California.

“It’s about human beings that want nothing more than what we have. Whatever it is to advance the principals of law, remember the human beings behind those case studies,” he said in the speech. “Remember what you’re fighting for.“

College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

This year’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences commencement ceremony will celebrate majors from animal sciences to textiles who have academically succeeded in their years at UC Davis.

This year’s keynote speaker will be Craig McNamara, a sustainable agriculture farmer from Winters.

McNamara teaches land stewardship to high school students through the Center for Land-Based Learning. He practices sustainable agriculture on his family-owned farm, Sierra Orchards. McNamara will be addressing seniors June 15 in the ARC Pavilion.

College of Biological Sciences

Danielle Mandikian, a senior biochemistry and molecular biology major, will address her peers June 13 in the ARC Pavilion.

The daughter of a Lebanese immigrant, Mandikian transferred to UC Davis from a community college two years ago. She worked as an intern at UC Davis‘ Kaplan lab, NASA and the National Institute for Health.

“The main point [in my speech] is that there are so many different programs that UC Davis has to offer, and the thing that makes [UC Davis] so unique is that there is such a good sense of community,” Mandikian said. “[Seniors] have skills that make them capable not to just do their jobs, but to carry their sense of community somewhere else.“

School of Education Ceremony

Fabian Núñez, state representative and speaker emeritus for the California State Assembly, will speak at the School of Education’s commencement ceremony June 11 at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.

A San Diego native, Núñez lived in Tijuana for eight years and is one of 12 children born to immigrant parents.

One of his main objectives as speaker emeritus for the state assembly is to protect research institutions such as UC Davis, according to his biography.

College of Engineering

The College of Engineering will present Kenny Marina on June 13 in the ARC Pavilion.

Marina is a senior electrical engineering major, outgoing president of Engineering Joint Council and president of the student branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Marina was born and raised in Indonesia. He lived in Indonesia until 1999, when he then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. In preparation for his speech, he listened to Stephen Colbert’s commencement speech to Knox College.

“I hope they have fun with my speech,” Marina said. “This is one of those days they’ll want to remember for the rest of their lives.“

Graduate studies

Ecologist Booker Holton will honor graduate degree recipients June 12 in the ARC Pavilion.

Holton was born and raised in Connecticut and came to UC Davis in 1972 to receive his Ph.D. in ecology – a program he said was at the forefront of the environmental movement in the 1970s. Since then, he has worked in various executive positions in environmental resource management companies.

Holton plans to discuss the importance of both receiving and offering mentorship. Also, he hopes to communicate the passion involved in making a difference during this particularly critical era of environmentalism.

“We have to try to evoke critical thinking before we make decisions,” Holton said. “We have to implement compassion and passion. Things have to change. It’s not evolution it’s revolution.“

College of Letters and Sciences

The College of Letters and Sciences will hold two different ceremonies with a respective speaker for each.

The June 14 morning ceremony in the ARC Pavilion will include a speech by Christina Chin, a senior communication major.

Chin grew up in various countries around the world, but attended high school and college in Davis. She participated in ASUCD and The California Aggie, and now works as corporate affairs officer at Intel.

“The main point is that a lot of us fear failure. I challenge people to listen to their inner voice,” Chin said. “It’s never too late to do what you love.“

Jeffery Lee will be speaking in the afternoon. Lee is an English, classical languages and literature and linguistics triple major with a minor in religious studies. His myriad of majors provided him with the inspiration for his speech, which addresses the challenge of “doing what makes you happy now.“

A Santa Barbara native, Lee is the president of the Classical Studies Association, and is also part of the division of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies (HArCS) dean’s student advisory board.

“From my experience, the things that will make you end up happy end up being the things that make you happy now,” Lee said.

LAUREN STEUSSY can be reached at features@californiaagie.com.

Life after college: Welcome to the real world

Features

Features Editor

June 5, 2008

The diplomas are handed out, the graduation caps are tossed into the air and pictures are taken with everyone, everywhere. After all the tears, cheers and celebration, that’s when it hits you: What now?

For those not entering graduate school, the next step after graduation is to enter the working world.

“It’s one of life’s most difficult transitions,” said Marcie Kirk Holland, “leaving the unstructured world of college, [where] there still is a lot more flexibility than once you go into the world of work, where it tends to be a 40-hour work week and set vacations.“

While this might sound daunting, graduating seniors Sophie Taylor and Matt Houser are optimistic about what lies ahead.

Houser, a communication and film studies double major, has applied for and received several internship opportunities in the field of public relations. He is currently looking into a public relations firm in San Francisco and is excited to be joining the workforce straight out of college.

“It’ll be different, but I can get used to it,” Houser said. “I’m hoping it will be a good transition.“

He opted to postpone graduate school because of the expenses and to get a better sense of what he wants career-wise in the future. For Houser, this step is necessary.

“This way, I can see if [public relations] is something I want to do and besides, a lot of grad schools want people to have some job experience.“

Taylor is also counting down the days until graduation. Although she will be receiving a degree in German, she dreams of a career in graphic design for a fashion company.

“I’ve always looked forward to working, and my field is a fun one, though sometimes very stressful,” Taylor said. “I’ve had a few graphics jobs on campus, and I have freelance clients in six U.S. states and three other countries, so I feel very prepared.“

While visiting family in Germany a month ago, Taylor managed to score an interview at Puma headquarters for an apparel graphics internship.

“Doing graphics for Puma is my dream job, so I was thrilled that they thought I was qualified,” Taylor said.

She finds out sometime next week if she gets the job or not. If not, she plans to move to Germany or Toronto to pursue two design studios that have expressed interest in her.

Although Holland, project manager of the UC Davis Internship & Career Center, encourages students to go for the jobs they desire, she warns that it’s not always as easy as people would like it to be.

“Don’t give up on your dreams, but be aware that there will possibly be many small steps towards attaining them,” Holland said

Change of plans

Deanna Tuxhorn, who graduated from UC Davis with a degree in international relations in 2007, found it difficult at first to find a job that suited her interests. She feels that many new graduates tend to encounter a similar problem.

“I think some students are too narrow-minded – even I was at first,” said Tuxhorn in an e-mail interview. “They have their heart set on a certain position, but the truth is there are so many incredible positions that you find out about after you get into the workforce.“

She was offered several positions before graduation, but none of them really appealed to her.

“They just didn’t feel right,” she explained. “I ended up taking a part time job at the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce and was able to work my way into a full-time position.“

“By the time people graduate, sometimes there idea of a dream job is no longer the same as what their major is,” Holland said. “There’s not always a connection between a major and a career.“

Holland emphasizes that while it’s a good idea to have a plan after graduation, it is necessary to keep an open mind to change.

“Be able to take advantage of those serendipitous moments that will present themselves to you that will make for a rich and fulfilling life,” Holland said. “What we’re really talking about is career life planning.“

For the most part, Holland said that students shouldn’t worry about having the “right” major. She explains that the curriculum at UC Davis teaches students transferable skills that can be applied across many disciplines.

“Most of the time, people have developed a set of skills while they’re in school,“ Holland said. “You’ve generally learned how to write, how to do research, had some kind of a course related to statistics…. You learn how to make and form an argument and build evidence that supports [it].“

The economy

In the first three months of 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has recorded 240,000 job losses. As of April 2008, the unemployment rate has increased to 5 percent. The numbers could be much worse, yet the economic downturn is causing a ripple of fear to move throughout the U.S.

“Anytime the unemployment rate is higher, it affects everyone looking for a job,” Holland said. “So that will certainly be a factor, but it doesn’t mean that new [graduates] will necessarily have a harder time than anybody else.“

According to the Bureau of labor statistics, employment has continued to decline in construction, manufacturing and retail trade, while employment increased in health care, professional and technical services and food services.

“With that said, if people are prepared to articulate what it is they have to offer to an organization, … their chances of being the ones selected for that opportunity go up dramatically,” Holland said. “And that’s what [the Internship & Career Center] is here to do. To help people be able to do that.“

The ICC aims to guide students into their chosen careers. They offer career source manuals, online mock interviews and different workshops that help students become competitive applicants. For more information, go to the ICC’s website at iccweb.ucdavis.edu.

“We have lots of services and we would like for students to come see us before they graduate,” said Holland. “We want to help that be an easy transition.“

APPLE LOVELESS can be reached at features@californiaaggie.com.XXX

A novel life and a passion for writing

Arts & Culture

Arts Editor

June 5, 2008

Two years ago, Gabrielle Myers quit her day job as a chef and dog-eared this chapter in her novel life for the pursuit of writing. She decided to invest two years in her passion for hemming poetry and enrolled in the UC Davis master’s program in creative writing.

“I wanted to work on writing,” said Myers, who will graduate from the program this spring. “I had a breaking point, and I asked myself, ‘What’s the most important part of my life?‘ Poetry, it is the most important part. So I took a jump.“

This year, approximately 100 hopeful candidates also took a dive into their passion and applied for the master’s program in creative writing at UC Davis. This fall, the faculty of the creative writing department reviewed the applicants and chose eight fiction writers and six poets – including current UC Davis undergraduates, Brian Ang and Emily Hughes.

“This is a good program to improve in,” said Ang, the winning poet in this year’s Pamela Maus contest for creative writing at UC Davis. “I have people I admire. I don’t think about my goals beyond getting better. I am going to make the most of my two years.“

Graduate students will work through two years and 36 units. They begin the program by choosing an emphasis in either fiction or poetry, the latter of which will be Hughes‘ track.

“Whenever I write fiction, they become poems,” Hughes said. “There is some fiction in my poems but I don’t know why.“

The graduate students take four workshops – three in their chosen field of study and one outside their genre. Pam Houston, who has sold over 400,000 copies of her book Cowboys are My Weakness, directs the creative writing program. She mandated this requirement to get her students to incorporate the two separate genres in their writing.

“I believe reading and writing poetry is good for the fiction writer,” Houston said. “They will think about form, word tones, rhythm and cadence. Otherwise, fiction writers would only think about plot and character in their stories. I hope it works the other way around [for the poets].“

The graduate students work extensively with the faculty staff. With only 14 enrollees heading into the program, class sizes are small, affording more attention to each student. Hughes said the close relationships that she developed as an undergraduate at UC Davis with poet and English professor Joe Wenderoth factored in her decision to stay at the university.

“He has an interesting personality,” Hughes said. “Joe told me to write what I’m afraid to write.“

During the first year, students take workshops and seminars where they will experiment with different techniques in search of discovering their style of storytelling.

“The first year is a year of experimenting – playing and finding a voice,” Houston said.

Many of the students already are accomplished writers and know the direction of their thesis. However, English professor Alan Williamson felt that there are times when some students do need a compass to navigate towards their voice.

“All the poems are discussed in the class [workshops],“ Williamson said. “I try not to chime in, but I will steer people to read poets that they are trying to do or aspiring to be. I try to respond when there is a natural inclination.“

English professor and poet Joshua Clover emphasized that the program is intended to give the students a focused environment for writing. The two years in the program are important for the writer to hone their craft, he said.

“They‘ll periodically feel busy, but compared to the next 50 years, they’ll have an unparalleled permission to pursue their writing without at the same time worrying about how to pay the rent,” Clover said in an e-mail interview. “So my feeling is that students should take the opportunity to generate as much interesting writing as they can in these two years.“

By the end of the first year, students begin to work on their thesis. Poets continue to tell their stories in stanza and lines while organizing and compiling their work, while fiction writers will draft a book-length manuscript.

“They take the workshops in their first year and get a lot of feedback to hone their writing,” Houston said. “They also take additional workshops to set [artificial] deadlines for themselves.“

The workshops are also intended for graduate students to receive critiques and support from her fellow creative writers. Myers said the community of peers helped her to improve on her writing.

“I was influenced by the writing workshop,” Myers said. “In the workshop, I am approaching the craft in a community. The community was important. It made it more exciting. I improved quicker and swifter studying [at Davis].“

As they prepare to graduate and finish their last year in the master’s program, the graduate students will submit their thesis to a panel of faculty members and present their body of work. Though it may be stressful, Houston said it is more of a celebration of the graduate student’s efforts.

Houston said that she has been working to see if a third year could be added. The extra year could allow students like Myers to finish what they started, she said.

“The second year is buckling down and writing the thesis,” Houston said. “It is just a start of a book. The third year could be for publishing.“

Myers will not have the time to wait for the program to implement the third year as her graduation looms. With two years dedicated to writing, she is not going back to the culinary world. Instead, she already has plans to add another chapter to her writing.

“My next journey is a MFA in poetry at St. Mary’s College [this fall],“ she said.

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

Quotes of the year

Features

Features Editor

June 5, 2008

“We came out and spanked them. We made them look so horrible – we outplayed them. It just shows that if we give 100 percent and stay focused, things will go our way.” – Men’s soccer co-captain Sule Anibaba after his team beat IPFW and Oakland 6-0 and 4-2, respectively, at the Oregon State Diadora Classic.

“We never got a chance to play the game. My team was ready. They were excited, they were prepared – we were ready to play the game, and unfortunately, there was no game to play. And Santa Barbara can walk away and say, ‘We kicked the crap out of Davis,‘ and you know what, they did. They literally and physically demolished us, and the referee did nothing. His job is to protect the players, and he didn’t do it.” – Men’s soccer head coach Dwayne Shaffer after his team fell to UCSB at home on Sept. 29, 4-0.

“It’s not the first time that the pirate ships have rolled up to our doors trying to take booty from us, and it won‘t be the last time,” – Councilmember Stephen Souza on how the state legislature sometimes tries to take tax revenue from cities to balance the state budget.

“It was like there were two of him out there – he was everywhere” – Men’s basketball’s Vince Oliver on redshirt freshman guard Mark Payne‘s triple-double performance in the Aggies‘ Causeway Cup-clinching win over Sacramento State at the Pavilion on Mar. 1.

“Everything goes better with bacon.“ – Davis resident Scott Miltonberger on why he attended the “Pig Out” celebration at Farmers Market on Mar. 1.

“We’ve always been the underdog, and now we are the dog.“ – Women’s basketball’s Jessica Campbell on her team’s 5-0 start.

“Our goal was to present a venue that people wanted to go to, and the poets that came improved it. It’s an alternative to going to a night club. People want to be social, but they don’t want to go to a meat market – which is what a nightclub is.“ – Khiry Malik Moore, host and coordinator of the Mahogany Urban Poetry Series in Sacramento.

“Notice my steering column, I took out the airbag. I’m very comfortable with my car.“ – Alex Kang, founding member and president of the Davis Motorsports Club, as he flies down Interstate 80 at 80 mph.

“What a ride! I am just so proud of them. We’re a Cinderella!” – Women’s golf head coach Kathy DeYoung after her team qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

“I had a long drive when I moved, and my cat is like my baby. Are you going to put your baby in a cage? I know he’ll just sit on my lap.” – Davis resident and Petco customer Sonia Huston.

“According to a footnote in a Greek play I was reading for class, if was societal custom for a woman to throw fruit at a man she was interested in. At the grocery store yesterday, a girl dropped an apple in my direction. I got the message, babe.“– Jon Gold, California Aggie weatherman.

“[It’s] a big, fat, eclectic boner.” – Saraswathi Subbaraman, speaking in reference to her band, Mistlefinger.

“As a proven academic fraud and imposter, what basis can you claim in coming to a public university, which is funded by the government, which from your speeches and writing you so clearly despise?” – Pete Markevich, junior political science major, speaking to Ward Churchill.

“I mean, honestly, he shouldn‘t have had [the chemicals], but his intentions weren‘t to harm anyone.“ – Sam Shackelford, first-year aeronautical science and engineering major, on Mark Woods, the student charged with possession of explosives in the residence halls.

“A lot of the safety enhancement lies in preventing contamination in the first place, out in the field or anywhere in the farm-to-fork continuum.“ – Jim Gorny, on illness prevention.

Police Briefcase:

Glazed and reckless

A tan mustang was seen doing donuts at the intersection of Anderson Road and Oriole Avenue. (Oct. 16)

The ’90s called and they want their solicitors back

There were reportedly five male subjects on rollerblades soliciting on C Street. (Oct. 16)

I guess someone really didn’t like dog slobber

An individual on Sycamore Lane said they found a tongue in their neighbor‘s front yard, which they believed to be a dog tongue. (Feb. 5)

Probably looking for its tongue

An individual reported that a dog was running around in the street at the intersection of L Street and Covell Place. (Feb. 5)

“I’m a little bathroom, can I use your drunk please?”

An intoxicated looking individual was seen on the porch ringing the doorbell on Tallow Place. (Feb. 19)

His friend is as big as a house, apparently

An individual who looked intoxicated was heard yelling “Randy?” at a residence on Eucalyptus Street. (Feb. 19)

Well, what did you think would happen?

Individual reported a customer let his 4-year-old son urinate on the ground outside the business when the reporting party told him they did not have public restrooms on Research Park Drive. (Feb. 29)

Rocky’s slowing down

Subject was seen sitting on a bench, bloody and not responding on Olive Drive. (Mar. 4)

Brings whole new meaning to hit and run

Male passenger inside vehicle was seen hitting other passengers on E Street. (Mar. 11)

XXX

The MFA ‘Six’

Arts & Culture

Arts Editor

June 5, 2008

For these students of the UC Davis Department of Art Masters of Fine Arts graduate program, art is more than just a hobby. Two years of work in the studio has led up to six graduating students’ final thesis projects, which are currently on display in “Six,” the annual MFA Exhibition.

Showing in “Six” are graduating students Mary Alison Lucas, Irman Arcibal, Chau Huynh, LissaIvy Tiegel, Caroline Cloak and Nickolas Mohanna. The exhibition can be seen at the Nelson Gallery in the Art building and at the Memorial Union Art Gallery, located on the second floor of the MU. For more information, go to dotgarden.com/ucd2008mfa.

The two-year program emphasizes an interdisciplinary and independent approach to art. Method and material were under no restriction, and this creative autonomy allowed for a diverse range of pieces that will be showcased at the exhibit.

“I think the art world is full of tremendous possibilities,” said Arcibal, whose piece for the exhibit is a series of paper works. “There are people working in so many different ways, coming from so many different backgrounds. It is definitely an intriguing time to be an artist.”

Photography was the medium of choice for Pratt Institute alumna Tiegel, who will be showing a series of instructional photographs. For the series, she asked friends and family to send her a request of an instruction that she could translate into an image. Nelson Gallery director Renny Pritikin described these requesters as “collaborative instigators” in Tiegel’s artist profile. No request could be too intangible, Tiegel said. This lack of specific guidelines led to submissions such as “how to point to the future,” “how to keep cool before surgery” and “how to suspend desire.”

“I was looking for something that wasn’t super literal,” Tiegel said. “It was more so getting into the psychological space of the instructions, not so much intellectually.”

There was a similar approach of conceptual thinking with California College of Arts alum Lucas. Her ceramic pieces resemble dense bodies of sea anemones, which Lucas viewed as abstractions from nature.

“There’s an ambiguity for the viewer to come to their conclusions,” Lucas said. “I don’t like to lead the viewer – I like that the audience can have [its] own sort of emotional reaction and interpretation. It’s not a one-glance reaction.”

Though most of the artists in “Six” entered the MFA graduate program with an academic background in the arts, it was not a requirement for the program. Arcibal graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in biological sciences, and his background in science has had an influence on his approach to art. His final project consists of a series of paper works that he described as possessing a Rorschach-test quality.

“In the last couple of years, I have begun to embrace some of the more scientific or pseudoscientific ways that my mind works,” Arcibal said in an e-mail interview. “I am very influenced by process based artists like Sol Lewitt, as well as artists who work with randomness and chance operations like [music composer] John Cage.”

Other artists drew inspiration from their personal history. For Huynh, her life experiences as a Vietnamese-American proved to be a large factor in her work. Her arrangement of red and yellow canvas paintings was influenced by her upbringing in a communist household.

“I was trained to be an artist by my mom, who is also an artist back in Vietnam,” Huynh said in an e-mail interview. “[I was also inspired] from my background as being raised as communist and now married to a man who comes from an anti-communist family.”

Also on display in “Six” is a multimedia installation from Mohanna, who said that the opportunity to work in the studio as the students have done so far is rare outside of a graduate program.

Arcibal shared a similar sentiment and said that he didn’t think any other place could have been a better fit for his career in art.

“I’ve been working steadily for months now,” Arcibal said. “I give a lot of credit to our program for that. It is designed in such a way that the only real focus is for you to explore your own practice and make art.”

Cloak, who constructed an architectural installation in the Nelson gallery as part of her final project, summed up her graduate student experience as “hectic.”

“My experience at [Davis] has been very different than my experience at any of the institutions I attended during my undergraduate career,” Cloak said in an e-mail interview. “But the space and time to focus on my work alongside an intimate number of brilliant colleagues has been immeasurably beneficial to my art practice.”

A future in art – whether it is establishing a career in teaching, continuing work in the studio or showing in more galleries – is in store for the six artists after graduation.

“You can only rely on yourself in this field,” Lucas said. “There’s no book or expert that can tell you what to do – [art] is such a personal, self-motivated experience.”

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

Coach of the year: Kathy DeYoung

Sports

Sports Editor

June 5, 2008

All good things must come to an end.

After 30 years of coaching, Kathy DeYoung is ready to hang up her whistle and clipboard.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet, but it’s been a great experience,” DeYoung said. “I’m going to miss coaching.”

UC Davis will certainly miss DeYoung, who has coached three sports at UC Davis: volleyball, softball and women’s golf.

After coaching the volleyball and softball teams, DeYoung transitioned to golf in 2006, where she would create the program from scratch.

In just the program’s third season, the women’s golf team has already arrived on the national scene. The Aggies stunned their competition, earning a birth to their first-ever regional tournament, tabbing a bid to the NCAA Championships in the process.

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” DeYoung said. “This team has just been wonderful.”

In its first year of Division I eligibility, the program earned a 21st-place finish at the championships.

Following the end of this season, DeYoung stepped down to make way for the new coach, Anne Walker, formally the associate head coach at California.

“The program is in good shape,” DeYoung said. “I think she will just take it up and up, and it will be fun to watch.”

Prior to starting the women’s golf program, DeYoung coached the volleyball team for 10 years and then the softball team for 26 years. The volleyball program had a 168-97 record under her leadership.

Next, DeYoung led the softball team to an impressive 777-402-2 overall record. The team earned eight conference championships, 13 NCAA postseason berths, four third-place finishes at the NCAA Championships and a historic NCAA Championship title in 2003 during DeYoung’s tenure. Following the championship season, DeYoung was named Division II Coach of the Year.

-Matt Miller

Female Athlete of the Year: Christi Raycraft

Sports

Sports Editor

June 5, 2008

They were the two biggest games of the year and possibly in program history.

The conference title was four quarters away, and the Aggies leading scorer and star player had only been heard from once all tournament.

But the silence was broken with thunder.

Senior Christi Raycraft was not going to be denied another Western Water Polo Association title. She scored three times in what was their biggest game of the year up to that point.

Two weeks later in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the Davis native rose again on the biggest stage in all of college sports. The senior netted another hat trick and boosted the Aggies over San Diego State and into the national final four for the first time in program history.

“I can’t think of a single athlete that has more guts and determination than Christi,” said teammate and co-captain Jessica Soza. “You always know she is going to make it happen, and let’s just say I am glad she was on my side.”

The captain made it happen on offense all season long. Playing as both an attacker and a center, she led the Aggies with 53 goals and a school-record 86 ejections drawn. She also made contributions on the defense end, leading the team with 22 field blocks.

Raycraft led the squad to the most successful season in Aggie history, getting 27 wins while placing fourth in the nation.

“She is a leader both in and out of the pool,” said senior teammate Laura Uribe. “She might not be the biggest or strongest outside of the water, but if you have seen her play, you will know that her heart is bigger than anyone’s.”

In the 17 games that UC Davis played against ranked opponents this season, Raycraft scored 30 times, including two-game winners.

The super senior was the first Aggie ever to be named to the all-NCAA Tournament first team. She also rounded up WWPA first-team honors for her play throughout the year.

–Sammy Brasch

Male Athlete of the Year: Mike McGee

Sports

Sports Editor

June 5, 2008

Early in the season, men’s water polo head coach Steve Doten was quick to express where his team’s strengths would lie in 2007.

“We depend on a lot of older guys in our program,” head coach Steve Doten said. “We have a lot of experience this year, and I think that’s showing in these conference games.”

That experience shined brightest between the pipes.

Senior goalkeeper Mike McGee’s efforts were at the core of UC Davis men’s water polo’s greatest season in history – a season in which the Aggies tabbed a school-record 22 victories, going 14-0 in Western Water Polo Association regular season play.

The Aggies reached the WWPA Championship game for the first time this season, thanks greatly to McGee. The keeper had 11 saves en route to a 13-6 win over Air Force. UC Davis then fell to Loyola Marymount in the final, 7-6.

“Mike’s the star,” Doten said. “He leads the whole defensive effort. When Mike McGee looks good, it makes us look good.”

If the team looked good, then McGee looked great.

A product of Sir Francis Drake High School in San Anselmo, Calif., McGee totaled 282 saves this season, putting his career saves total over 1,000 – just the second Aggie to reach the plateau.

For his efforts, McGee was named first-team All-WWPA and the conference’s player of the year. The 6-foot-6, 215-pounder was also named co-recipient of the Colby E. “Babe” Slater Award, given to UC Davis’ top male athlete of the year.

McGee excelled in the classroom, as well. He received an “outstanding” all-academic award from the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches, meaning the organizational studies major’s GPA was above 3.71.

“To be going out with a team like this in a situation like this is great,” McGee said. “Being undefeated in the conference, breaking the record for wins in a season – it’s just so many things accumulating to an incredible senior year.”

The ultimate

Opinion

Opinion

June 5, 2008

When I finally abandoned my dream of becoming a history professor a year-and-a-half ago, I decided my last column would be a proud declaration of my immediate intention to join the Army. It seemed a fitting conclusion to several of the themes of my 62 columns – the greatness of America, the need for a confident foreign policy, the personal and societal benefits of discipline, accountability and a work ethic.

Then I met Allison. Within a few months, my post-graduation plans became significantly more domestic. I am disappointed that I am not able to write that farewell column, but some things are best done when single. It makes me wonder if the military‘s greatest competitor for the hearts of young men is young women.

I guess now I could write a farewell column based on other themes I continually addressed – the advantages of the inherent differences between men and women, the importance of family, the supremacy of love. But I think the evidence for that column is not your business.

So I conceived of another ending, one that takes two columns to complete. If last I recounted how stressful it was to have this column, and how much I hated politics and its effects on my life at UC Davis, then why did I continue with it? What was my purpose?

I remember once a while ago when someone in a senior position at The Aggie – whom I respected very much – talked briefly about my column. She said something like that she never votes Republican but found herself generally agreeing with me, and that others think that too.

With the bigger topics I hit more recently I imagine she would more often disagree. But her opinion reinforced a hope that I had had almost since the beginning. If I wrote carefully enough, explained clearly enough, I could get a lot of people to see my way of thinking. I am not so naive as to think most people at UC Davis will share it. But I would like them to understand it.

On our campus there is a prescribed way of thinking. A majority of students and officials, and the vast majority of professors, all buy into it. In the first two academic years I wrote for The Aggie, I never had the support of another conservative columnist. This year was the same, while I was up against four other liberal commentators. Entrenched ideologies and the numbers did not point to a simple victory for me.

So I worked in other ways. When I criticized the excessive distribution of condoms on campus, some of those in charge of the policy wrote back in an editorial appearing in The Aggie. If they actually emphasized the choice of having sex or not the way they did in that response, I would not have written the piece in the first place. A small win, but a win nonetheless.

When I knew that an idealistic young audience would already be insistent on helping the poor or ending racism, I tried to point out the best ways to do so, even if they don‘t make us feel as good at first. I wish more people in politics developed common ground like that rather than destroyed it.

All told, I wrote because I am an optimist. I wrote because I believe that there‘s usually a right way of going about things and thinking about things, and if I mean well and write well, with honesty and humor, I can make a difference. I wrote because I hope the better philosophies and ideologies will win out in the end, and it is my obligation to impart my bit of wisdom to who will give me a moment to read it.

I love my college and my country. I firmly believe that even if we are not all capable of genius, we are capable of wisdom, and this wisdom is gathered over the course of our lives from the thousands of voices we encounter.

All we have to do is listen and contemplate. And that‘s a cause for optimism.

Take your last chance to have ROB OLSON hear your voice before his account rwolson@ucdavis.edu is forfeit next week.

Letter to the editor

Opinion

Opinion

June 5, 2008

Title: Election coverage

Students often neglect to realize how much of an impact the ASUCD has on their everyday lives. ASUCD funds Unitrans, the Coffee House, the Bike Barn, programming events for students and more. However, this past winter election showed that low media coverage may be correlated with low voter turnout.

The California Aggie‘s city council endorsements (6/3) were much more thorough than the Winter ASUCD endorsements provided by the Aggie. In winter, only the names of the candidates were printed; without any description of their past experience or future ideas, students were unable to look to the Aggie for consultation. While I appreciate that The California Aggie explained in depth reasons for why they chose their City Council endorsements, I can only hope that this pattern will continue into next fall‘s ASUCD election.

Rebecca Schwartz

ASUCD senator

In eternal memory

Opinion

Opinion

June 5, 2008

There is something profoundly human about a dramatic sporting loss, particularly when it befalls a team on the brink of victory that you wholeheartedly support. After an initial shock, a secretive wish that you are merely having a horrible dream follows, begging to be awakened to reality. But you wait, and keep waiting. The waiting never ends. The nightmare persists.

And slowly, it finally dawns on you that you can’t change the past. With recognition comes numbness, a sense of simultaneous denial and acceptance. The feeling is not how real the loss appears, but how surreal it feels.

But let us look at an actual event. The date: May 21, 2008. The location: the Luzhniki Stadium. The characters: an incredibly successful manager against another criticized for his perceived dourness, and the backdrop pitting opposing owners from America and Russia, a specter of the Cold War. The event, meanwhile, was the biggest match of all club competitions: the final of the Champions League – the ultimate soccer tournament. The match was monumental, not only in the magnitude of the occasion, but also for the stature of the clubs: Manchester United FC and Chelsea FC.

A club, in many ways, is only a club; it truly becomes an institution through its people. For the players, this was the very stage where careers are defined, the very realm in which legends are born. It is the ultimate date with destiny.

Great matches are often the function of context and of talent. And so an astonishing match it proved to be – two goals, an absorbing intensity, goalpost rebounds, extra-time, a sending-off, penalty misses, sobs of despair, tears of joy, sorrow, triumph.

In the end, Manchester won. But it is more accurate to say that Chelsea lost it. For the Chelsea players and fans, their dramatic loss was compounded when their talisman and captain – John Terry – fluffed the winning penalty.

Loss is a self-absorbing moment punctuated by abrupt spasms of hopelessness. Upon defeat, a fleeting, transient evocation of withdrawal occurs. We have suffered. Nobody wants to experience the feeling of the loser; a loss places our ability in question, scars our pride. Our talents have been disproved, and we bear collective shame.

But in the midst of it all, the match reminded us something very redeeming about sport.

For sportspeople, sporting excellence is the exercise of a deliberate practice. It is about the meticulous preparation, the pattern that has been perfected on the training ground. After much effort, this training internalizes into an instinct, players preparing to perform when it really matters.

And during the match, against the constraints the moment imposes, players battle through improvisation. It is about mastering their fears, transforming the chorus of support into strength. With all these endeavors, they perform with simplicity what for us often appears phenomenal.

Meanwhile, for the fan, a soccer match in itself is not an attraction. Instead, it is the moments when the team has defeated overwhelming odds, the time when the players‘ unyielding spirit defied reality. To these moments, we attach a special significance, etching within our minds the feelings they provoked. For their passion, we stand together in affirming applause, our minds united in a common purpose. At this moment, we are one.

Ultimately, it is about the human connection that we make with the players. We attain a sense of belonging, unhindered by criticisms, a rock against the injustices the world commits upon us.

And we often desire to relive this moment. We repeat the same story at dinner tables, beaming proudly as we recollect that swift, graceful acceleration. Delightfully, we sometimes imitate a favorite move, because in the imperfection of our own skills, we remember the relationship. Our lives have been visited, touched by the knowledge that such a moment is possible. We are transported to another time when impossible is nothing.

In retrospect, there is no doubt what I wish had happened. But for all the disappointments the loss created, Chelsea’s close date with destiny will remain in eternal memory. The wish lives on. The hope strives. They will last.

ZACH HAN thanks all of you for the e-mails throughout the year! Just as Chelsea remains in memory, you will be too, but nudge him one final time at zklhan@ucdavis.edu.

Guest opinion

Opinion

Opinion

June 5, 2008

By MICHAEL SIMINITUS

R4 Recycling Coordinator

UC Davis and the UC system, like San Francisco and dozens of other communities across California, including L.A., Fresno, Oakland, Santa Cruz, Berkeley, Palo Alto and Marin County have adopted the goal of Zero Waste. With this objective in mind, these communities are prioritizing new and innovative waste prevention and recycling programs. But what does Zero Waste mean? How can we achieve Zero Waste?

Zero Waste is a direction we’re heading, a policy path, and there are a number of policies in place that are taking us toward that goal. For example, we have learned that compostable organics make up over 45 percent of what is disposed of in California landfills. When organics (food) are land-filled, they produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Realizing composting is a high recycling priority and a global warming gas reduction priority, R4 recycling began going after this material to recycle into soil and cool the planet. Over the last year, R4 Zero Waste has grown to meet this challenge and has implemented a new organics collection system to meet our goal of reaching a 75 percent recycling rate by 2012 and Zero Waste by 2020. This is just one example of UC Davis finding solutions and moving toward Zero Waste.

Over the last year, the Zero Waste program pioneered the Zero Waste Stadium project where they achieved a 95 percent recycling rate at the last Aggie football game; R4 implemented post-consumer composting at all the campus dining facilities; piloted a Zero Waste Coffee House, Picnic Day Quad and coordinated and serviced hundreds of other Zero Waste events, big and small. R4 employees work with event planners daily to prevent waste at events, as well as set up the collection stations, removing trash cans and taking away the recyclable materials after the event. This year, yellow recycling carts were purchased for compost collections to capture even more compostable discards, and they were distributed to event facilities that now provide Zero Waste event services. Looking forward, we are on pace to more than double food scrap collection over 2007.

In 2007, our campus recycling rate reached 60 percent, the highest at any UC and according to the EPA’s WARM model, reduced our campus Green House Gas Emissions by 5,045 metric tons of CO2. If we look at energy use savings, recycling saved 46,594 million BTUs, equivalent to 682 passenger cars removed from the roadway each year.

The budget is tight this year, but our growing Zero Waste Program needs funding to continue reducing our campus impact. The program is making great strides toward sustainability and is capable of meeting our future goals. Our university and planet benefit from investing in recycling – R4 has net the campus over $250,000 in avoided landfill costs and recycling revenue last year. Funding the programs that support Zero Waste goals help save both money and the planet.

The seventh deadly sin

Opinion

Opinion

June 5, 2008

I’ve written a lot of columns this year – 27, actually, including this one – and I’m proud of every damn one of ’em. Very proud. I’m proud of them because, let’s be honest, they were pretty damn good.

But as proud as I am about the super amazing columns I did write this year, I’m actually most proud of the columns I didn’t write. I was told a long time ago by people far wiser than I am that “discretion is the better part of valor.” I didn’t understand it then, but I’m beginning to understand it now. Sort of.

You see, I’m very proud of the fact that I didn’t write that column I’d been meaning to about creationism. About how totally intellectually bankrupt any form of creationism really is. About how whether you call it new earth creationism, old earth creationism, intelligent design or pastafariansim, it’s still the same, tired, ignorant-ass shit that’s been recycled and repainted over and over and over again ever since Copernicus noticed the sun didn’t revolve around the Earth.

I never did the one about how everyone should have a mandatory HIV test before leaving high school, and the results made public. About how obese people should be barred from eating at fast food restaurants. About how voting should be a privilege earned by service and education, not a right bestowed upon people simply for being born here. And I never wrote the column about how Rob Olson and I are actually very good friends, teammates on the track team here actually, and how we collaborated on all the smack talking we’ve been doing this year.

I didn’t write the column about the girl named Ashley, who was born with physical and mental impairments which have rendered her permanently with the cognitive ability and bodily control of a 3- to 6-month-old child. I didn’t write about how Ashley’s parents had her uterus and ovaries removed, her appendix and breast buds taken out and her growth plates fused. Or about how a lot of people think the parents did this just to make things easier on them and ignored what would be “humane” and “best for Ashley.”

I didn’t include anything about how these people miss the point entirely, and that we need to admit the obvious: Ashley, while genetically human, is not a person. She is no more a person, capable of self-awareness and conscious thought, than your lovable pet dog. I didn’t include how her parents have defended their actions by saying, “Ashley has no need for developed breasts since she will not breast feed,” but by that logic, she has no need to be alive since she will never do anything. She doesn’t even have the potential for personhood that so many pro-lifers appeal to. I didn’t ask the question, “At this point, should we be considering what is ‘humane’ for Ashley, or should we instead focus on how we can use the resources wasted on keeping her metabolically alive in a more productive manner?”

I’m also proud that I passed on the column about illegal immigration. About how illegal immigrants and their offspring stress America’s infrastructure, especially in health and education, at its citizens’ expense. About how we should check people’s legal residency when they apply for a job and fine the balls off anyone who employs illegal immigrants. About how if someone is arrested, their status should also be checked and a one-way ticket provided to those who shouldn’t be here.

I left out the part about how despite all the problems with illegal immigration, I’m exceedingly aware that the Republicans are using the issue to exploit racism and xenophobia in the aftermath of 9/11, their political cash crop and to distract working class Americans from the true crimes being committed against them by corporations. So while poor people complain about the immigrants taking their jobs, crowding their hospitals and tanking their schools, they should really be complaining about the corporate and government destruction of unions, free trade agreements, manufacturing and technology firms off-shoring to India and China, the insurance industry colluding with Republicans to ransom their health and those same Republicans gutting education budgets.

I didn’t write those columns. And I’m proud of that. Because if I had, I would have likely gotten myself fired.

Although, I would probably be proud of that, too.

K.C. CODY said he’d be called a fascist in his first column of the year. He hasn’t yet. Buck the trend at kccody@ucdavis.edu

Daily Calendar

Features

Features Editor

June 5, 2008

TODAY

Fitness & Wellness Center

Noon to 2 p.m.

The ARC, past lobby entrance

Get a free five minute massage, a great way to relax before finals!

Student Chamber Ensembles

12:05 p.m.

115 Music

Small student ensembles will perform chamber music at these free concerts.

Math Café

6 to 8 p.m.

Scholar’s Center Study Room, Surge IV

Get a good serving of mathematics at this weekly tutoring session with the Women’s Resources and Research Center. Women and men are both welcome.

UC Davis Symphony Orchestra

7 to 8:30 p.m.

Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

Come to this free event, with D. Kern Holoman conducting!

FRIDAY

Galois Group fundraiser

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2112 Mathematical Sciences

Math graduate students will tutor those in Math 12, Math 16ABC, Math 17ABC and Math 21ABCD for a $10 donation. You may leave and come back once you have donated.

SATURDAY

3-D Diverse Dance Dimensions

8 p.m.

Main Theatre, Wright Hall

This spring showcase will include the Liquid Hotplates, Birdstrike and the Na Keiki ‘O Hawai‘I club.

MONDAY

TAPS summer bike storage

7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Transportation and Parking Services building

Come drop off your bike for summer storage between June 9 and June 13. There is an $8 fee, and a current bike license is required. Call 752-2453 with questions.

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. XXX

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