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Athletes of the Quarter:Christi Raycraft and Jake Jefferies

Sports

Sports Editor

June 2, 2008

Christi Raycraft

Jamey Wright remembers it like it was yesterday.

Christi Raycraft was about 12 years old, and she was in a pool playing basketball with a group of boys.

“She got the ball, and all these guys were trying to grab it from her, and she was clutching the ball like Shaquille O’Neal,” Wright said. “She starts throwing elbows back and forth, and suddenly you see this 12-year-old turn into this demon. I went up to her and I said, ‘I have a sport for you.'”

The sport was water polo, and the rest is history.

Raycraft would go on to star at UC Davis for Wright, the women’s head coach, and she would have a senior year for the record books.

The Davis native paced the team this season with 53 goals and a school-record 86 ejections drawn while tallying 42 steals. She led the team to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division I Championships, earning first-team all-tournament accolades in the process.

“This was the most successful season we’ve had as a program at the varsity level, and she was the best player, so you could make a pretty good case that she may be the best all-around player that we’ve had,” Wright said. “She does pretty much everything you need her to do, and that’s the sign of a great player.”

Raycraft netted six hat tricks on the season, two of which came in the biggest games of the year: the Western Water Polo Association title game against Loyola Marymount and the first round of the NCAA Championships against San Diego State.

Along with leading the Aggies on offense, she also helped set the tone on defense, tallying a team-high 22 field blocks for the year

-Michael Gehlken

Jake Jefferies

    The list of accolades for senior Aggies backstop Jake Jefferies reads just as diverse as his immense skill set: Big West Conference Co-Player of the Year, Louisville Slugger All-American, semifinalist for the Johnny Bench and Golden Spikes Awards and co-recipient of the athletic department’s Colby E. “Babe” Slater Award for male athlete of the year.
    “Just add it to the list,” said head coach Rex Peters of the California Aggie honor. “He’s had a great year. When we recruited him to Davis, we thought he had the skills and ability to be a great player, but he’s surpassed that.”
    In addition to his personal accomplishments this season, Jefferies also led the Aggies to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament in the program’s first year of D-I postseason eligibility.
    “What he’s done for us this season is tremendous,” Peters said. “He just had a breakthrough year.”
    A product of Buhach Colony High School in Merced, Jefferies’ numbers speak for themselves. In addition to handling a pitching staff that ranked third in the Big West in both ERA and fewest walks allowed, Jefferies compiled a .396/.540/.453 vital line with a league-best 93 hits and team-high 54 RBI. The catcher also threw out nearly 40 percent of would-be base stealers.
    “It’s not only his offensive numbers — look at the position he’s playing,” Peters said. “It’s a demanding defensive position where it’s difficult enough just to be good defensively. But for him to put up those offensive numbers on top of that is really impressive.”
—Ray Lin

Graduation

Opinion

Opinion

June 2, 2008

Can you believe that you’re almost done, Class of 2008? After four (or five) years, you’ll finally be a college graduate! I would say congratulations, but you’ve got a few finals left, and I don’t want to jinx it. I know you’re worried about failing that French 3 class you put off taking until your very last quarter. You’ll be fine. Unless you fail, which you’re pretty sure you’re going to do. Seriously, don’t worry. That’s why they invented summer sessions.

Unlike a lot of you, I don’t have to worry about falling short right before the grueling, arduous end. I graduated back in March. Planning ahead and taking too many units per quarter can be a good thing in the long run. While the rest of you are cramming and trying to remember the difference between past participle and present progressive, I don’t have to do anything except to worry about how unemployable I am.

But now is not the time to think of impending careers (especially those of you who are going straight to grad school and putting off work for as long as possible). Let’s focus a bit on the actual graduation ceremony.

I’m not entirely sure how the college graduation ceremony works. I never attended any of my older friends’ graduations in years past. I knew they would be super boring. I have, however, participated in three non-collegiate graduations in my life.

Kindergarten: I don’t really remember much of this. 1992 was a long time ago, after all. I do remember that this ceremony ended my time at the private Christian school. “Too much Jesus, not enough math,” my parents said. I’ve been in public school ever since.

Eighth grade: My class wanted to walk to one of the most moving anthems of 2000, the Dr. Dre and Eminem classic, “Forgot about Dre.” The parent organizing committee ignored our wishes and chose the song with the least amount of street cred, “Graduation (Friends Forever)” by Vitamin C.

High school: The ceremony was outside and windy, and I had to face the sun so I almost went blind. Although I really didn’t want to walk, my parents said I had to. As some sort of consolation prize, they said that when I graduated from college, I wouldn’t have to walk if I didn’t want to, because college was different. When I brought this up a few months ago, my parents claimed, “We never said that!”

I’m hoping that graduating from college is a better experience than my past graduations. I know one thing that would make the letters and science graduation truly awesome: San Francisco’s ultra-dreamy mayor, Gavin Newsom, as the commencement speaker. Apparently the law school grads are getting him. At least some people are guaranteed a good graduation. I still don’t know who the L&S speaker is going to be.

I guess it doesn’t matter. I don’t even think graduation is about commemorating our academic accomplishments anymore. Maybe it was back in the good old days, but now it’s more about UC Davis banking off of you one last time.

Unless you join the alumni association, or you decide to get your master’s and/or Ph.D., or you pop out a few kids, wait 18 years and send them to the old alma mater, UC Davis is not making any more money. I’m pretty sure they only have graduation ceremonies to sell more UC Davis merchandise.

Now that I think of it, establishing a college is a pretty good way to make a living. I’d just need to put the name of my college on a bunch of merchandise. Think of the sweatshirt sales! The license plate frames, key chains, all of that crap!

The college that I am establishing right this very second is now accepting applications. Tell your younger brothers and sisters to apply. I don’t have a location yet, but if people are willing to go to UC Merced, I’m sure that people are willing to go to lectures in my backyard.

Maybe I have gotten something out of my college education.

Send your good-byes (or au revoirs, as they say in French 3) to RACHEL SKYTT at rachelskytt@gmail.com.

Afterword

Opinion

Opinion

June 2, 2008

It was fun at first. The acceptance letter in the mail. The photo shoot. The congratulatory wine and cheese basket. The cashmere jacket with COLUMNIST spelled out in gemstones. All very flattering, considering how expensive the stuff was, especially the jacket.

“Are these real rubies?” I asked my editor at the introductory columnist seminar.

“You bet your ass,” Eddie said.

The seminar was in the Columnist Lounge underneath the Memorial Union, all the incoming columnists looking spiffy in their new jackets and sprawled out in alligator skin armchairs. A fireplace kept the place toasty while a waiter served out cognac in goblets.

“But I’m not 21 yet,” I said.

“Get used to the flavor,” Eddie said. “That’s Henri IV Dudognon Heritage Cognac, the most expensive bottle in the world. You’re a columnist now. The normal rules don’t apply.”

How right he was: After my first column came out, life never quite recovered. I had to change my e-mail address, for one thing. Within 10 minutes of my first publication, the old account was beyond capacity. Most were of the standard, “I liked your column” variety. But there were others, more along the lines of, “Let’s meet up in a dark place,” which were worrisome. Eddie hired me a personal secretary after that, and as he left the office he said, “It’s only going to get worse.”

I got home that day to several tents pitched before my triplex. A hostile-looking girl watched me work the doorknob, and being the timid boy I am, I hastily retreated inside, thinking she’d be gone by nightfall. The next morning, as I ate cereal at the dining table, her breasts were pressed to the kitchen window. She had written something across them, but I was trying my best not to stare. I left for school by the backdoor, as I would for the next few months

Not that I didn’t like the attention. Who wouldn’t? I was getting straight A’s, no matter what crap I turned in, or if I turned in any crap at all. The cashiers at the Coho gave me my food for free, pretending to swipe my card before whispering, “I love your columns. The burrito’s on me.”

Those were the golden times, in a way, until one day my secretary left a message on my desk which said, “The public wants funny columns.” This was toward the end of winter quarter. There had been another columnist seminar, where our writing coach had said, “If you can write funny, write funny.” I wasn’t writing funny, but some people were laughing over my columns anyway, and my secretary’s message worried me.

By then there was a medium-sized encampment based around my doorstep, complete with fire pit and totem pole. I had gotten used to breasts filling every window, including the bathroom’s, and even during the night I could hear them, scraping their nipples against the glass. My triplex remained depressingly dark during the day, due to perpetual breast eclipse.

I wrote serious columns after that, non-funnies, because I wanted my readers to think more than I wanted them to laugh. The torrent of e-mails slowed to a trickle, and soon Eddie dismissed my secretary, who had taken to playing Scrabulous in her newfound free time. I stopped wearing my gemstone jacket, and I started paying for my burritos. For the first time in months, I entered my house through the front door, into light-filled rooms.

Despite my dying fame, I had never been happier. The few e-mails I received for my serious columns were from interesting people who didn’t mind being sad if it meant they were learning something. So when Eddie called me into the Columnist Lounge this last weekend, I was smiling.

We were alone, our legs hooked over alligator skin.

“We’ll triple your pay,” Eddie said.

“Money’s not the issue,” I said.

“You’ll have to return the jacket.”

“That isn’t why I signed on,” I said.

“Then why sign in the first place?”

I swirled my cognac, staring into the fireplace.

“To write out a few of my thoughts,” I said. “To try this thing out. And I’ve done that.”

“I can’t convince you to stay?”

“Afraid not.”

Eddie stood up then, holding out his hand.

“Get over here,” I said.

We embraced, and I let my enormous hands fall to his buttocks, to cup those supple cheeks.

“Tell my readers I love them,” I said.

“Tell them yourself,” he said.

And so I will. To you, generous reader, I address the following: Keep thinking. Keep reading. With you, I am desperately in love.

This is me, riding into that sunset.

KOJI FRAHM will not return. Fling farewells and good-riddances at kcfrahm@ucdavis.edu.

Daily Calendar

Features

Features Editor

June 2, 2008

TODAY

Math Café

5 to 7 p.m.

104 North Hall

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.

Project Compost meeting

6 p.m.

The Quad

All are welcome to this volunteer meeting! Free food!

Tzu Ching Collegiate Association meeting

6 p.m.

ARC Meeting Room 1

Learn how you can help your community at this service club’s meeting.

TUESDAY

Elections

7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Local precincts

Don’t forget to vote in Tuesday’s election. The ballot will include state primaries and Davis City Council voting.

WEDNESDAY

Farmers Market

11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

East Quad

Get fresh fruits, veggies and snacks at this convenient farmers market.

THURSDAY

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.

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.

Yolobus increases service to Sacramento during I-5 closure

City News

City Editor

June 2, 2008

Yolo County began offering added service on Yolobus today as part of an effort to ease congestion during this summer’s intermittent Interstate 5 closures for Caltrans repairs.

Yolobus has added four express buses to route 43 from the Memorial Union to downtown Sacramento for the duration of the project, expected to last until July 15. They have also added buses to routes between Woodland and Sacramento, stopping at Sacramento International Airport.

County officials are encouraging riders to catch earlier buses than usual because they are expecting delays anywhere from five minutes to an hour.

The Yolo County Transportation District, tasked with organizing the county’s travel alternatives, purchased 7,200 Amtrak tickets for rides between Davis and Sacramento during weekday peak hours. It is selling the tickets at a discounted rate of $2 per ticket. They can be purchased in sheets of 10 for $20 at the Farmers Market or at the train station.

“I need to stress that these are for everyone except existing train riders,” said Terry Bassett, executive director of YCTD. “We’re trying to add new riders, not subsidize existing train riders.”

YCTD has been planning these temporary changes since Caltrans announced the dates of the long anticipated project last fall. The repairs are taking place on I-5 between the Capitol City Freeway/U.S. Highway 50 interchange to Richards Boulevard in Sacramento. Caltrans’ plan was originally to do the needed repairs more gradually by closing one lane at time but decided to go with an unprecedented compact schedule that alternates between closing all northbound lanes and all southbound lanes on a weekly basis.

“The idea was it would take only 42 days instead of five to six months,” Bassett said. “A lot of pain over a shorter period of time.”

Northbound I-5 traffic will be diverted through West Sacramento to Interstate 80 during the northbound closures taking place May 30 through June 8, and then again from June 27 through July 2. Southbound traffic will be redirected along the same route during closures from June 14 through June 22 and again July 9 through July 14. Trucks are required to take a longer detour along Highway 113 to I-80 to allow space for more passenger cars on the other route, according to the project’s website.

“We’re expecting a huge impact on traffic flow,” Bassett said. “Whether it’s a northbound or southbound shutdown, it’s going to impact all directions because people are going to be diverted all over the place.”

The repairs are being conducted on a section of I-5 built in 1968 referred to as the “boat section” because it is below water level and had to be drained during its original construction. Without pumps, the area would flood during rainstorms.

“In 40 years, we’ve only had one failure when there was unprecedented rainfall,” said Rochelle Jenkins, Caltrans spokesperson. “But over the years, silt has undermined the system so the time has come to tear the roadway up. Water is a roadway’s worst enemy, and right now water is seeping through.”

The $27 million project will replace the drainage system and repave the road as well as update the pump monitoring system.

Caltrans is urging commuters to carpool, telecommute, rideshare, avoid commuting during peak hours and to even take their summer vacations during the construction.

“The project will displace the 190,000 cars per day that use the boat section,” Jenkins said. “People who don’t commute on I-5 and think they won’t be affected actually will be. Those cars have to go somewhere else.”

Caltrans agreed to give Yolo County $118,000 to cover overtime pay for employees and added services. The county initially requested $245,000 but was denied. If the expenses should exceed the allotted $118,000, Caltrans has agreed to renegotiate the grant.

“It’s going to be a very interesting test because nobody – not even Caltrans – knows how people are going to modify their travel patterns,” Bassett said.

More information, daily updates and live traffic cameras can be accessed at fixi5.com.

ALYSOUN BONDE can be reached at city@californiaaggie.com.

Davis schools rank as ‘high performing,’ state finds

City News

City Editor

June 2, 2008

Davis students once again scored one of the highest test scores in the region in the 2007 Base Academic Performance Index, according to the state Department of Education. All the schools in the Davis district scored above 800 this year, placing them under the “high performing schools” category.

The districtwide API score for Davis 868. Out of the 14 scores released in Davis, nine improved their scores. Davis High School saw the greatest improvement with a 25-point increase. The largest decrease was 11 points at Fairfield Elementary.

“I think the schools continue to show improvement because the staff is providing quality instruction,” said Clark Bryant, director of curriculum and instruction for the Davis Joint Unified School District. “The staff is providing quality instruction, and we evaluate the scores every fall and identify [where] improvements can be made and focus our resources on those.”

The continuous support from the community may be one of the reasons why the students scored so well, Bryant said.

“We have a great support from the parent community, and it helps the schools become more supportive academically,” he said.

Davis High School has worked over the past year to improve its scores, which have fluctuated in the past, said DHS Principal Mike Cawley.

“We’re getting more students to become more aware about how the test scores are important and by trying harder,” Cawley said. “We’re emphasizing the importance of the scores by closing the achievement gap. We had some extra reading classes, and we tried to improve instructions in classes.”

The achievement gap may actually be the biggest challenge for DHS, said Kathy Magrino, co-president of the school’s PTA.

“[One of the challenges] that I see as most intense at DHS is the achievement gap,” she said. “DHS has such a large group of very high performing students that the student group, which in other schools would be high performing, are in the 50th percentile at DHS. And our struggling students have an even greater gap than high schools that are lower performing. These students cannot be left behind and pose unique challenges for our school.”

Despite the budget cuts, the teachers still make their best effort to provide the best education, Magrino said.

“I am always very happy when the school improves in any area every year, but this year it is even more special, because many of our teachers provided an excellent academic program as well as extra and co-curricular programs with pink slips in their pockets,” she said. “This shows the professional dedication the DHS teachers have.”

Although a school of only four years, Leonardo da Vinci High School scores increased by 10 points. Unlike other schools, Leonardo da Vinci employs project-base learning, said Principal Matt Best.

“For example, if [the students] learned about World War I, they create a WWI museum in which they recreated documents and open it up to the public, and students had to answer questions about their exhibits,” he said. “This context allows students to really understand what they’re learning. Every project has something like a panel or create a documentary.”

The project-based programs may be one of the reasons why students at Leonardo da Vinci improved.

“Many schools focus on the standardize tests and don’t make [education] as exciting for the students,” Best said. “We feel very good about our test scores because they are learning the context standards and all these other skills [from the projects]. We have lots of other values that we perpetuate through the projects, like critical thinking and problem solving skills.”

JANET HUNG can be reached at city@californiaaggie.com.

Nakedness celebrated at UCD

Campus News

Campus Editor

June 2, 2008

The sky was clear, but 11.5 mph winds at 68-degree temperatures combined to create unfavorable conditions for aspiring underwear runners.

The second annual UC Davis Undie Run occurred Friday at approximately 8:30 p.m., though the turn out was lower than expected.

Despite boasting 880 members on the Facebook group and a turnout of over 150 people last year, less than 60 people came out this year.

“Maybe it was the weather, or bad timing, or a bad day of the week,” said Michael Veliz, first-year music major and one of the event organizers. “I’m real disappointed in the turnout, but everybody who did come out had fun, and that’s the point.”

But although turnout was low, the die-hards still showed up.

“If there was a tornado, we’d be here,” said Allie Sheets, a first-year psychology major. “It’s like a mini Davis adventure.”

Some would have run in even more extreme weather conditions.

“I wish it was raining,” said Melissa Randel, a senior biotechnology major. “Wetter is always better.”

Despite low attendance, participants remained enthusiastic about the event.

“This is the most naked that Davis is going to see me,” said Jessica Li, a first-year human development and women’s studies major.

“I feel accomplished,” said Roth Wiedrick, first-year electrical engineering major. “This is a good break from finals and an opportunity to blow off some steam and get some exercise. I love the college life.”

The run was approximately 1 mile long. Runners went down First Street, turning north on B Street to Russell Boulevard, and running to the encouraging shouts of patrons of local businesses.

“I thought we got a lot of good support from the community,” Li said. “The people at Delta of Venus were yelling at us, and the people at Ciocolat.”

From Russell Boulevard, the runners turned south on Howard Way, past the bus station and around the Memorial Union to finish on the Quad where the Vietnamese Cultural Show was taking place.

“[It’s] not something you see every day,” said Khou Nguyen, senior managerial economics major, at the Vietnamese cultural show. “I think it definitely adds to the diversity of the campus lifestyle.”

Davis police monitored the event to ensure the safety of the runners and to deter nudity.

“I like the police presence better because it eliminates the risk of getting arrested or hit by a car,” said Emily Lehman, a sophomore American studies major.

This year’s smaller turnout did not hinder Veliz’s determination to ingrain the Undie Run into Davis culture.

“I’m definitely not giving up on the run,” Veliz said. “We’re going to be there next year whether 25 people show up or 150 people show up.”

In order to increase attendance, advertising efforts will be extended beyond Facebook, and the possibility of flyers, poster boards and writing on chalkboards in classrooms were discussed, Veliz said.

Veliz was the architect of UCD’s first Undie Run in 2007 and said that beside his involvement in a fraternity, the Undie Run is the main way that he connects with the campus.

“Ideally, we want to get [the run] to the point where we don’t have to organize it or advertise for it,” Veliz said. “We want it to be a thing where people just show up this time of year because it’s understood that on this day, [UC Davis students] run in our underwear.”

Participants were enthusiastic about participating in the run again in the future, and plans are already under way for the 2009 Undie Run.

CHARLES HINRIKSSON can be reached at features@californiaaggie.com.

Davis schools raise over $1.7 million

City News

City Editor

June 2, 2008

When Mohini Jain heard about drastic cuts facing the Davis Joint Unified School District, she couldn’t think of a better reason to help the community. The recently retired Davis High School teacher and community member of 20 years donated $100,000 to the Davis Schools Foundation.

“Education means a lot to me,” Jain said. “I could see that the cutbacks would compromise the quality of education.”

Jain, whose three children attended Davis schools, said the community should be part of the effort to maintain education. She gave such a large donation because she knew it would spark other donations – which it did.

“I told the Foundation, ‘I am confident in the community in Davis,'” she said.

Jain was one of the hundreds of community members who donated to the foundation’s Dollar a Day fundraising campaign, which raised $1.77 million, said foundation president Janet Berry. Music, science programs and librarians were saved through fundraising, she said.

The Davis Schools Foundation is a dedicated group of 15 Davis parents who saw the need to reinstate teaching positions and programs and reduce class size, said Ginni Davis, associate superintendent for the Davis Joint Unified School District.

Despite the success of the fundraising campaign, DJUSD and many other California school districts are still in a fiscal crisis. There is declining student enrollment, and the district is spending more than it is taking in.

“Other districts have not been as fortunate as DJUSD. Cuts have been much more draconian than ours,” Davis said. “Because of the Davis Schools Foundation for one year we can keep programs that we would’ve had to cut. But there’s still tremendous concern for the following years.”

Linda Legnitto, associate superintendent of administrative services at the Yolo County Office of Education, said because of the Foundation, DJUSD has enough money to get through one year without making significant cuts. But it will need ongoing revenue for subsequent years since it is a state requirement to report and file with the office of education with a multi-year projection.

“How much money schools get is based on a guess of how many kids are going to attend in the next three years, and you really don’t know,” Legnitto said.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2008-2009 January budget proposal was revised May 14. The revisions restore $1 million to Davis schools, which is an improvement, but DJUSD is left short by $3 million, Legnitto said.

Berry said the May revision combined with the fundraising efforts to create a more positive budget outlook.

“Luckily, with the May revise numbers we will be able to bring back 25.4 teachers and a variety of programs,” Berry said.

The Davis Schools Foundation will continue fundraising and stick around for the years following the 2008-2009 schools year, she said.

SASHA LEKACH can be reached at city@californiaaggie.com.

UC experts to discuss responses to rising gas prices

Campus News

Campus Editor

June 2, 2008

As gas prices continue to increase well above $4 per gallon, experts are gathering at UC Davis to explore possible ways to address the issues of gas and oil production. The UC Oil Forum is hosting a seminar open to the public today at 7 p.m. in 66 Roessler.

Oil is fairly plentiful but expensive to produce, and the United States is nearly at the national capacity for meeting demand right now, said David Osleger, UCD geology professor affiliated with the UC Oil Forum.

“There’s a lot of oil available, but the likelihood is we’re going to hit a peak in the next decade or so,” he said. “Then oil becomes more and more expensive to find, and gas becomes more rare and expensive.”

Costs are certainly going to rise, Osleger said.

About two-thirds of oil is found in the Middle East, and the largest reserves are in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran and United Arab Emirates, he said. Currently, the largest oil producer is Russia.

It is very unlikely that more “supergiant” oil fields will be found in the future, Osleger said. There hasn’t been a major field discovered since the 1970s.

“There are oil pockets out there, but they’re in smaller pockets,” he said.

The UC Oil Forum is hosting the seminar in hopes of gaining “intelligent responses” to the situation, said John Theobald, founder of the forum.

A group of UC alumni created the organization in 2005.

“Our mission is to create awareness and promote dialogue about our energy situation, particularly on oil because it’s our most urgent problem,” he said.

The seminar will begin with a brief introduction presented by UCD seniors George Suarez and Tara Knapp. They will focus on the shortage of oil and energy sources and the need for alternative energy.

Following the introduction will be two key presentations by Ed Callaghan and Gergely Zimanyi.

Ed Callaghan is the executive director of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil – USA, a very prominent group with members often quoted on CNN and CNBC, Theobald said.

ASPO-USA is a nonpartisan effort to encourage energy management and constructive community transformation during an era of depleting petroleum resources, according to their mission statement.

At the seminar, Callaghan will give information about the organization as well as discuss a range of different possible responses to the current energy problem.

The second key speaker is UCD physics professor Gergely Zimanyi. Zimanyi is an expert on solar energy and is the leading researcher in developing new technologies for generating solar power.

Zimanyi’s presentation will be about the promise held by solar energy, Theobald said.

“He’s an expert scientist in a high end area, but he designed the message for a general audience to understand how energy works,” Theobald said. “It’s not just for science geeks.”

To attend the seminar, go to ucoilforum.org for free registration. More information about the event can also be found on the website.

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

ASUCD Senate Briefs

Campus News

Campus Editor

June 2, 2008

ASUCD Senate meetings are scheduled to begin Thursdays at 6:10 p.m. Times listed are according to the clock at the May 22 meeting location, the Memorial Union’s Mee Room.

Meeting was called to order at 6:13 p.m.

Ivan Carrillo, ASUCD president, present

Molly Fluet, ASUCD vice president, present

Rebecca Schwartz, ASUCD president pro tempore, present

Lula Ahmed-Falol, ASUCD senator, present, arrived at 7:24 p.m. from a break scheduled to end at 7:23 p.m.

Andrew Bianchi, ASUCD senator, present

Sergio Blanco, ASUCD senator, present

Joe Chatham, ASUCD senator, present

Chris Dietrich, ASUCD senator, present

Rebecca Lovell, ASUCD senator, present

Erica Oropeza, ASUCD senator, present

Ramneek Saini, ASUCD senator, present

Chad Roberts, ASUCD senator, present

Jesse Rosales, ASUCD senator, present

Tracey Zeng, ASUCD senator, present, arrived at 7:24 p.m. from a break scheduled to end at 7:23 p.m.

Awards

Humanitarian of the Year awarded to Brendan Hurt

Commission Chairs of the Year awarded to Christine Pham and Michael Rivera

Appointments and confirmations

External Affairs Commission

Greg Dizon, chair

Gender and Sexualities Commission

Laura Brown, chair

University Affairs

Matt Shannon, director

Pathfinder

Dipti Munshi, director

Picnic Day Committee

Christine Pham, chair

Presentations

Daniel Sheeter, a representative for SmartSite, presented the future plans for SmartSite. Grades will be moved to SmartSite, but MyUCDavis will basically stay the same.

Lobby Corps presented its progress in restoring funding to the UC system.

Austin Merrill, director of Cal Aggie Camp, presented a video on Cal Aggie Camp, which will be held July 6 to 20.

Melissa Bacon presented the success of Safeboats on the previous weekend’s Houseboat’s trip. Law enforcement calls were decreased because of the EMTs on the Safeboat. They provided services to approximately 300 people over the weekend.

Consideration of old legislation

Senate Bill 52, authored by the Environmental Policy and Planning Commission, coauthored by Mark Lundy, to allocate $900 from senate reserves to Davis Ox Power for six months of insurance for two oxen, passed with a 9-2-1 vote.

Senate resolution 17, authored by External Affairs Commission, Dizon, co-authored by Oropeza, introduced by EAC, a resolution urging the Department of Education to provide the grant specified for increasing crisis management awareness on university campuses to UC Davis, passed unanimously.

Senate resolution 19, authored by Carrillo, co-authored by Steven Lee, introduced by Ahmed-Falol a resolution in support of the establishment of a living wage for city of Davis employees, passed unanimously.

Senate bill 1, authored by Carrillo, co-authored by Mark Champagne, Fluet and Paul Harms, introduced by Carrillo, a bill to enact ASUCD’s operational budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year, passed unanimously.

Senate resolution 18, authored and introduced by Oropeza, a resolution urging Peter J. Shields Library Administration to integrate independent campus libraries into the main Shields Library website, passed unanimously.

Urgent resolution 20, introduced by EAC, co-authored by Brent Laabs and introduced by EAC, a resolution in support of the Epic Quad Battle, withdrawn.

Senate resolution 21, authored by Dietrich, co-authored by Chatham, introduced by Dietrich, a resolution honoring the contribution of Michael John Tucker to ASUCD, passed unanimously.

Senate resolution “Malfitano,” authored by Brent Laabs, co-authored by Max Mikalonis and Oropeza and introduced by Oropeza, a resolution to honor the life of the late Angelina Malfitano through the renaming of the ASUCD Conference Rooms, passed unanimously.

Public discussion

Mikalonis proposed a student mental health model. Davis College Democrats announced new officials. Mikalonis read the names and had a moment of silence for soldiers who lost their lives in service.

Meeting adjourned at 11:38 p.m.

LAUREN STEUSSY compiles the senate briefs and can be reached at campus@californiaaggie.com.

Senate approves ASUCD budget

Campus News

Campus Editor

June 2, 2008

The ASUCD budget is officially set in place for the 2008-2009 school year as of Thursday’s senate meeting. The budget, in bill form, was passed unanimously.

The association was faced with $50,000 in cuts to the overall budget for units such as Unitrans, Coffee House, KDVS and the Bike Barn. Overall, ASUCD works with a budget of $9.2 million and employs approximately 1,500 students.

The large cut caused slight controversy, as some units received an increased budget, while others’ were decreased.

“Everyone going into this year knew this was going to be a bad cut, said Ivan Carrillo, ASUCD president, author of the bill and senior history major. “Any time someone gets cut, there’s going to be some kind of emotions, but we talked to the directors and they were perfectly fine [with the budget].”

One position in particular, the ASUCD student government adviser, was cut completely from the association. The adviser offered unbiased help to all student government members and completed paperwork for ASUCD.

Michael Tucker has been the student government adviser since November 2005 with a salary of $30,000 per year, plus benefits. The cost of keeping Tucker employed would have compromised the student body’s overall budget, said Paul Harms, ASUCD controller and junior managerial economics major.

“We needed to make the cut,” Harms said. “We felt that was the area of the budget we could cut because it would have the least severe impact on the student body.”

However the cut was not met with complete approval. ASUCD senators Chris Dietrich and Joe Chatham at first felt that cutting Tucker’s position would eliminate a vital role in the student government’s politics.

“My concern is that we lose some objectivity and stability that he provided,” said Chatham, sophomore international relations major. “The way it’s going to work now is that [matters of student government] will be more subject to partisan control. With that person there, they can bring a level of continuity.”

Despite the concern, the senate approved the cut and those opposed authored a resolution to honor the work of Tucker.

The portion of the budget that was the least affected by the cuts was Cal Aggie Camp, a summer camp for underprivileged and inner-city youth. They received a $4,000 increase in order to fund T-shirts and more counselors.

Though none of the senators challenged the benefits of the camp, during the budget hearing, there was some debate over the increase.

“It’s not really an appropriate time for that with all the other budget cuts in the school,” Chatham said.

On the other hand, a majority of the senators viewed the camp as an important philanthropic event that is vital to sustaining UC Davis’ sense of community.

The ASUCD Coffee House’s income was also increased as a result of the rising costs of food and gasoline. Student salaries will remain the same, and ASUCD aims to keep food prices low as well.

“In the budget, we predict that they will spend as much as they bring in,” Harms said. “The coffee house will never bring in exactly as much as they spend, but this goes back to fundamentally what a budget is – a goal.”

The unit that received the most cuts was the student government, said Amy Hartstein, chair of the internal affairs commission and sophomore international relations major.

“[The student government’s] job is to protect,” Hartstein said. “Cuts to things like the bike barn or KDVS are more visible student units. It’s our responsibility to make sure the student body is the least affected of anyone.”

All senators felt that the budget was fair, for the most part, and put differences aside in Thursday’s meeting.

“In our economy, it is hard enough for non-students to find jobs so I felt it was essential to keep students employed,” said Molly Fluet, ASUCD vice president, co-author of the bill and junior history major. “If we had cut a certain percentage across all our units to cover the cuts we had to make, like the administration is doing, students would have been negatively affected.”

LAUREN STEUSSY can be reached at campus@californiaaggie.com.

Freshmen Athletes of the Quarter: Chelsea Stelzmiller and Austin Graham

Sports

Sports Editor

June 2, 2008

Name: Chelsea Stelzmiller

Hometown: Placerville, Calif.

Sport: Women’s golf

Year: Freshman

Major: Exploratory

In her first year at UC Davis, Stelzmiller was named the Big West Player of the Year. She led the Aggies to their first NCAA National Championships appearance, where she placed 75th out of 126 of the best golfers in the country.

For the season, the Union Mine High School graduate averaged 74.6 strokes per round en route to seven top-10 finishes – including her first-place finish at the Big West Conference Championships on Apr. 21 to 22.

Stelzmiller wasted little time making a splash on the Division I scene. In her debut tournament at the Heather Farr Memorial from Oct. 1 to 2, Stelzmiller came out sizzling, shooting a three-under-par-69 in the tournament’s final round.

Name: Austin Graham

Hometown: San Clemente, Calif.

Sport: Men’s golf

Year: Freshman

Major: Economics

Back
in San Clemente, Austin Graham was dubbed the “next Tiger Woods.” Here
in Davis, the freshman is living up to his reputation.

Graham led the team with 72.7 strokes per round and three top-10
finishes. In his last three tournaments, Graham averaged 70.2 strokes
per round, posting ninth, 11th and sixth-place finishes, respectively.

The San Clemente High School graduate shot his best round Apr. 4 at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic, where he shot a 6-under-par-66.

At the Big West Conference Championships, Graham was awarded
second-team All-Big West honors. He fell just short of placing ahead of
Nick Delio (71.9 strokes per round) of Cal State Northridge for
Freshman of the Year.

Track & field preview

Sports

Sports Editor

May 30, 2008

Event: NCAA Division I West Region Championships

Host: Cal State Northridge

Where: Matador Track Complex – Northridge, Calif.

When: Today and Saturday, all day

Who to watch: To qualify for this weekend’s competition, athletes must surpass the regional qualifying mark in their event just once.

UC Davis‘ Polly Gnepa has done it eight times.

The 6-foot-1 junior out of Turlock, Calif. has spent the season making a laughing stock of the 14.30-second qualifying time in the 110-meter high hurdles, highlighted by a school-record time of 14.01 seconds on May 10 at the Aggie Twilight.

Did you know? In its first year in Division I, UC Davis is new to the concept of regionals. But so is everyone else.

The concept of regionals is in just its fourth year in existence. Before, athletes could qualify for the NCAA Division Championships based on regular season marks. Now, they meet one weekend of the year, with the top finishers advancing with either automatic or at-large bids to the national championships.

“The regional concept means toe-to-toe on one day, let’s see what you got,” said women’s head coach Deanne Vochatzer. “That’s what’s exciting about track – toe-to-toe competition. It’s like sudden death. You either got it or you don’t.“

Preview: UC Davis may be competing in Northridge, but the athletes and coaches‘ minds will be on Des Moines, Iowa – the site of the NCAA Championships.

“That’s what our focus is on right now: How are we going to get past regionals?” Vochatzer said. “[They’re] just not going down there to be in the moment. They‘re going down with focus to try and get past the moment.“

Along with Gnepa, seven other Aggies will be looking to punch their ticket to Iowa: Jah Bennett in the high jump, Kim Conley and Kaitlin Gregg in the 5,000, Ray Green in the triple jump, Matt Swarbrick in the discus, Jazz Trice in the 110-meter high hurdles and Sirena Williams in the 100 hurdles.

“Obviously we always like to have more, and next year we plan on that, but we are very proud of the eight that are competing,” Vochatzer said.

With the region’s third-best qualifying time of 16 minutes, 23.58 seconds in the 5,000, Conley is the highest-ranked Aggie heading into competition.

“If you look at it mathematically, Kimmy is probably in the best spot right now,” Vochatzer said. “But still it won’t be easy – it will still be a tough race for both her and Kaitlin.“

Any UC Davis athlete who finishes in the top five in an individual event will receive an automatic invitation to the NCAA Championships. At-large bids will also be announced on Sunday.

–Michael Gehlken

Scouting Report: Stanford Regional

Sports

Sports Editor

May 30, 2008

No. 1 STANFORD

Season in brief

Coming into the 2008 season, Stanford had hosted 13 regionals and had won an impressive 120 tournament games all-time.

The Cardinal has added to one of those numbers, and will look to advance the second starting today.

No. 15 Stanford (33-21-2, 14-10 Pacific-10) pieced together a season that the Palo Alto faithful have come to expect. The Cardinal (No. 20 RPI) has five regulars hitting over .300, and have seven pitchers with an ERA at 4.26 or below.

Names to know

Junior catcher Jason Castro is rated as the third-best catching prospect in the country by Baseball America, and the 21st-best prospect overall.

Hailing from Castro Valley, Calif, Castro has everything that pro scouts are looking for – not only is he a left-handed hitting catcher, he’s a left-handed power-hitting catcher. The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder holds an impressive .369/.418/.592 line this season.

Junior outfielder Sean Ratliff will be sure to bring his power stroke to the postseason. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound slugger leads the Cardinal with 18 homers and a .633 SLG.

Senior starter Erik Davis leads the way for Stanford on the hill. The 6-foot-4, 200-pounder is 7-2 with a 4.22 ERA. Opponents are hitting .241 off the righty, who holds a 1.27 WHIP.

No. 2 PEPPERDINE

Season in brief

The Pepperdine program has been making waves for years, and this season was no different.

After going 14-6 in West Coast Conference play and 36-19 overall, the No. 13 Waves have claimed the No. 2 seed in the Stanford Regional.

With its strong record and No. 34 RPI, No. 13 Pepperdine is expected to be a major player in the postseason tournament.

The Waves know how to get it done with the bats, sporting an impressive .308/.401/.454 team vital line this season. Their pitching staff hasn’t had the same success from top to bottom, but has its fair share of individuals worth watching.

Names to know

Pepperdine has a pair of prospects expected to go within the first three rounds in the upcoming draft.

Reliever Brett Hunter currently holds the No. 51 slot on Baseball America’s board, projecting him to go near the top of the second round. Opponents are hitting just .226 off the righty this season.

On the offensive side of things, outfielder Eric Thames has put up an unbelievable vital this season: .407/.513/.769, leading his team in each category. Thames also has 13 home runs and 11 steals, and is expected to be a third-round selection.

Infielders Bryce Mendonca and Matt Aidem have also put solid seasons together, hitting .335 and .322, respectively.

No. 3 ARKANSAS

Season in brief

When the Razorbacks‘ 14-15 record in Southeastern Conference play kept them out of the conference tournament, they had a hard time imagining they’d find their way to the NCAA Tournament.

But they did.

Arkansas received an at-large bid to the postseason dance – like each of the four teams in the Stanford Regional.

While their conference record might not have impressed, the Razorbacks‘ 34-22 overall record and strong RPI (No. 33) proved to be enough to lock up a postseason berth.

Names to know

Arkansas is led by junior third baseman Logan Forsythe. A native of Memphis, Tenn., Forsythe currently projects to be a second-round pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball Draft (June 5 and 6). Baseball America ranks Forsythe as the No. 76 prospect in the country.

A 6-foot-1, 208-pounder, Forsythe had a breakout campaign as a sophomore last season. After hitting just .189 as a freshman, Forsythe improved to .347 as a sophomore. He leads his team with 11 steals and a .536 SLG this season.

Junior utility man Chase Leavitt is making a name for himself in his first season with the Razorbacks. A junior college transfer, Leavitt leads his team with a .360 batting average and .514 OBP.

While Arkansas appears to be led by its hitters (.293 team batting average vs. 4.94 team ERA), starter Cliff Springston has strung together a solid season. He’s 5-2 with a 3.83 ERA, and has walked just 24 batters in 82 1/3 innings this season.

– Adam Loberstein

Men’s club crew junior varsity eight strokes home with a national club title

Sports

Sports Editor

May 30, 2008

It’s the reason any college athlete competes.

It’s why these athletes wake up at five in the morning six days a week and return later at night for the second practice of the day.

It’s a national title with a thrilling finish.

Almost immediately after the seven final junior varsity eight boats from schools across the nation broke the water’s solitude on the Oklahoma River, it became a three-boat race between UC Davis, UCLA and Michigan.

After UCLA started to drop back at the 500-meter mark, only the Aggies and Wolverines were left to face off for the championship. The national title belt depended solely on the final sprint.

As the lead went back and forth, UC Davis came out ahead when it mattered most, winning the gold medal by 0.75 seconds. The UC Davis junior varsity eight broke out from behind the varsity eight’s shadow and busted into the spotlight as the club national champions.

With a time of 6:42.258, the gold medal win at a national regatta is the first for the club since 1991, when the four-man lightweight boat took home first place in Illinois.

“Our coaches work us really hard,” club president Marcus Godfrey said, “Two-a-days from the end of summer all the way through spring. It’s just really nice that it paid off.“

The Aggies are led by head coach Desmond Stahl, who in the 2007 season led the varsity eight to the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association title. After the Aggies won the championship, he was named the WIRA Coach of the Year.

This weekend was the first annual American Collegiate Rowing Association national championship regatta. In years past, both Intercollegiate Athletics and club teams competed together in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championships. But as the waters parted this season, club teams from across the nation were sent to the Oklahoma River.

As first impressions go, the Aggies left one to remember.

The varsity eight made a strong showing, finishing in seventh place overall and first in the petite final. In the varsity eight’s heat on Saturday, the boat fell just 0.45 seconds away from Sunday’s grand final.

Disheartened from not qualifying for the main event, the varsity eight was still determined to make Sunday successful. The petite final was dominated by the Aggies, as the boat finished six seconds ahead of any other boat and in seventh place overall.

This regatta concludes the 2008 season, and comprises seniors Tara Knapp, Keith Pullin, Travis Clymer, Stephen Held, Pat Hutchison, Matt Chabrier, Vince Rogers, Erich Uher, Faraz Ghoddosi and Godfrey.

At an awards presentation on Saturday, Held and Seth Weil were named to the West Region All-ACRA team.

SAMMY BRASCH can be reached at sports@californiaaggie.com.

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