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Daily Calendar

Features

Features Editor

March 31, 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.

Linux Users’ Group of Davis meeting

6:30 to 9 p.m.

Blanchard Room, Davis Branch Public Library, 315 E. 14th St.

Celebrate LUGOD’s birthday and learn about the Open Source Security Information Management project at this meeting.

Ingmar Bergman Retrospective

6:30 to 9 p.m.

Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

Bergman’s romantic comedy Smiles of a Summer Night will be screened with a pre-show talk by Arne Lunde, assistant professor at UCLA.

WEDNESDAY

Galois Group math tutoring

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2112 Mathematical Sciences

Students in Math 12; Math 16A, B and C; Math 17A and B and Math 21A, B and C can pay $10 for all-you-can-take tutoring from graduate students. Sample finals will also be provided. Questions can be directed to tamijoy@math.ucdavis.edu.

East Quad Farmers Market

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

East Quad

Support local farmers and get fresh produce, nuts, flowers and more!

Career advising for women

Noon to 1 p.m.

104 North Hall

Still trying to figure out what to do with your major, career or life in general? Drop in and talk with an Internship and Career Center counselor.

Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous meeting

7 to 8:30 p.m.

United Methodist Church, 1620 Anderson Road

Program for individuals recovering from addictive eating, bulimia and under-eating based on the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. There are no dues, fees or weigh-ins. For more information, go to foodaddicts.org.

THURSDAY

Olive Oil Launch Party

4 to 6 p.m.

Silo Cafe and Pub

Free samples of UC Davis olive oil and other foods will be available. Cost for wine tasting will be $8 and beer tasting $4 at the door. RSVP to ucdoliveoil@ucdavis.edu.

Dat Phan comedy show

7 to 9 p.m.

Griffin Lounge

See the original winner of NBC’s Last Comic Standing for free!

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.

Dissent over gang injunction continues

City News

City Editor

March 31, 2008

The Yolo County District Attorney’s office re-filed for a July gang injunction although the court overturned it in April 2007.

Jeff Reisig, Yolo County District Attorney, placed a gang injunction to prevent gang activity in West Sacramento in February 2005.

The district attorney is saying that this place is horrible and that there is so much crime and that people are afraid to speak up and get out of their homes, said attorney Josh Kaizuka.

However, last month, senior investigator Rick Gore of the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office accused Reisig of ethical malfeasance in a seven-page letter.

[Gore] was forced to sign an affidavit that he didn’t believe, and that’s a great concern, said Citizens Empowering Citizens member Julian Perez.

Amidst the turmoil Monday, there was a rally of homeowners and community members from West Sacramento protesting the preliminary hearing for a second gang injunction outside the Yolo County courthouse in Woodland.

There are people in the community that think that there shouldn’t be one, Kaizuka said. Some people don’t think there is a gang problem the way it is portrayed by the district attorney’s office.

There are 11 different criteria to be considered a gang member in Yolo County. If one falls within two of the different criteria, such as wearing a certain color, that person will be placed into the gang injunction.

Many of the innocent victims of the community were mistakenly identified as gang members, Kaizuka said.

Some people are afraid of possibly being named as a gang member when they’re not, Kaizuka said. The youth in West Sacramento will probably be labeled.

President of the Lorenzo Patiño Council of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) of Sacramento Rebecca Sandoval agreed.

Kids would say that they were placed on the injunction even though they have never committed a crime, she said.

Reisig fought against crime and was the first prosecutor in Northern California to obtain a gang injunction. He advocated for an injunction that would eliminate all gang related activity by imposing curfews and restrictions. The community, however, expressed dissenting sentiments.

It violates the civil rights, Sandoval said. [Citizens] would not be able to leave their home after 10 o’clock at night, they couldn’t leave before sunrise, and they can have criminal charges placed against them if they violate the gang injunction. It’s like placing a city under a Marshall Law.

The city leader and district attorney never asked for the neighborhood’s opinion and thoughts, according to Sandoval.

We don’t believe [the gang injunction] is necessary because the citizens were not the ones who asked for the injunction, Sandoval said. It was the city leader and district attorney. They never engaged the community they were never part of it and never asked us if this is necessary.

In reality, the neighborhood is a safe place, contrary to what the district attorney believes, Perez said.

The district attorney called the Broderick and Bryte area a war zone, Perez said. However, we got over 100 declarations signed by residents saying that they live in a good community and they don’t feel that there are any gang problems.

Having a second gang injunction will place a negative image on the community.

[The neighborhood] is going to have a very negative effect if they place the second injunction, Perez said. People will be afraid to associate with each other if they place the injunction.

The community hopes the gang injunction will not be placed in the end.

This is clearly a violation of civil rights, Sandoval said. It’s very frightening this is happening. We are having a concern on the effect it’s having on the community because of the harassment that Latino youths have faced from the police as a result of the injunction. Broderick and Bryte are the ones that keep West Sacramento together and now they’re breaking it apart.

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

Foundation asks Davis residents to help local schools

City News

City Editor

March 31, 2008

A dollar a day for one year.

That’s what the Davis Schools Foundation is asking Davis residents to give to support local K-12 education. Its leaders are hoping to raise enough money to compensate for a $4.25 million cut in the Davis Joint Unified School District’s (DJUSD) budget for 2008-2009.

School district trustees are grappling with how to deal with the nearly 6 percent reduction in the budget. They have already voted to shut down Valley Oak Elementary School and are considering closing Emerson Junior High School. They have also notified 112 teachers and administrators that they could lose their jobs.

If we received a dollar a day for every child currently enrolled in DJUSD, that would equate to $3.08 million, said Janet Berry, President of the Davis Schools Foundation, at the Mar. 6 school board meeting. However, since we know that not all parents will be able to give at this level, we will be reaching beyond parents to the community at large.

Berry said the foundation, which is a nonprofit volunteer group, has been receiving a very positive response from the community. According to its website, the foundation had raised $138,293 as of Mar. 19.

Some community members, such as Harper Junior High School teacher Cliff Dimon, are calling for Davis residents to donate all or part of their federal tax rebates to the foundation.

It just so happens that many of us will be receiving money from our federal government designed for ‘economic stimulus,’ Dimon wrote in an open letter to the community. We can use this to financially ‘stimulate our schools.’

DJUSD trustee Tim Taylor said he was not surprised at the public effort to help the district.

This community has a long history of supporting its children and its schools, he said in an e-mail interview. Anything else would have been a surprise. [The foundation members are] dedicated, determined and have proven over the last two to three years to be very good at what they do.

City Councilmember Don Saylor presented the Davis Schools Foundation with his $365 personal check and Mayor Pro Tempore Ruth Asmundson’s $365 personal check at the Mar. 6 school board meeting.

With Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed $4.8 billion cut in state funding for public education, Davis isn’t the only school district facing a budget crisis.

The Elk Grove Unified School District, located just south of Sacramento, faces a $25 million budget shortfall. Trustees there notified 388 teachers earlier this month that they may lose their jobs, according to the Elk Grove Citizen.

Statewide, more than 20,000 teachers have been issued notices of potential layoff, according to a news release from the California Department of Education.

‘Unscathed’ districts are now the exception, Taylor said.

The decrease in funds available to the district is not just because of state budget cuts, said DJUSD trustee Gina Daleiden in an e-mail interview. The district has been facing declining enrollment for several years, which means a corresponding drop in attendance-based funding, she said.

At some point, we must reconcile our system to this reality, and that may mean changes in facilities and configurations, she said.

Last November, Davis voters passed Measure Q, a parcel tax that generates about $3.5 million per year for the school district. In a letter from the Yolo County Board of Education, associate superintendent Linda Legnitto said the situation in Davis would be worse without this.

If DJUSD was an average district without the benefit of the parcel tax, you would be cutting $8 million at this time, Legnitto wrote.

The district must adopt a budget by June 30.

JEREMY OGUL can be reached at city@californiaaggie.com.

Strong opposition stalls Chevron’s upgrades to Richmond refinery

City News

City Editor

March 31, 2008

The city of Richmond’s planning commission is in the middle of a contentious debate about approving the renovation of a Chevron oil refinery that has sat on the Bay Area city shores for over 100 years.

After hearing over five hours of public comment at its standing-room-only Mar. 20 meeting, the planning commission scheduled a special meeting for Apr. 10 to continue receiving public input. The commission will then vote on whether to approve the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and conditional use permit, allowing the project to proceed.

In April 2005, Chevron applied to Richmond for permission to proceed with its proposed $1 billion equipment upgrade, which includes replacing the existing hydrogen plant, power plant and reformer.

The new equipment would improve the refinery’s reliability, [energy] efficiency and add environmental controls, said Lamont Thompson, Richmond’s senior planner.

Opposition to the project from various environmental groups centers around the concern that the upgrades will increase greenhouse gas emissions and allow the refinery to process a higher polluting grade of crude oil. The project will increase emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide by up to 898,000 metric tons annually — largely from increased hydrogen production, according to the city’s EIR.

Additionally, the refinery currently processes crude oil with an average sulfur content of 1.7 percent, whereas the upgrades would allow it to process crudes with sulfur contents between 2.5 and 3 percent.

The city faces a problem in determining whether 898,000 metric tons is a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions, because there are no predetermined applicable thresholds of significance for greenhouse gases for California, said Ellen Garber, the city’s California Environmental Quality Act attorney.

The city felt it was not able to draw a numerical line and say this is the number above which greenhouse gas emissions are significant and below which they are not significant, Garber said. That is the type of thing that needs to be done by an air quality agency or the state.

The state Attorney General’s office suggested in a letter to the city that it simply determine the number of new emissions to be significant without reference to any specific threshold in light of the serious effects of greenhouse gas emissions. The Attorney General’s office said projects like this make it more difficult for the state to combat global warming and the city must require Chevron to mitigate the additional emissions.

Because the production of hydrogen from fossil fuels is so carbon intensive, Chevron could consider a hydrogen plant that uses at least partially renewable sources to produce hydrogen, wrote Jamie Jefferson, deputy attorney general in the letter to the city. We request that the city not approve this project unless these significant issues are addressed.

Richmond city staff compiled a list of mitigation strategies Chevron would need to undertake in order to reduce all new greenhouse gas emissions generated by the project to net zero. The mitigation strategies were added to the final draft of the EIR, which is now up for certification.

Should the city choose to deem the additional 898,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions significant and that mitigationis required, it would need to recirculate the new draft of the EIR for further review and comment before the project could proceed.

The commission is expected to make a decision at its special Apr. 10 meeting.

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

UC, nurses reach contract agreement

Campus News

Campus Editor

March 31, 2008

080331_ca_ucagreement.C

Headline: UC, nurses reach contract agreement

Layercake: Nearly one year negotiation ends with both sides pleased

By ANNA OPALKA

Aggie News Writer

After 11 months of negotiations, the University of California and the California Nurses Association recently agreed to a new multiyear contract for registered nurses at the 10 UC campuses and five medical centers.

Beth Kean, director of the University of California division of the CNA, said the agreement came at the end of the mediation process, averting a possible strike.

The university is very pleased that we were able to reach agreement with CNA on a new contract that appropriately rewards our nurses for the hard work they do at UC medical centers every day, said UC spokesperson Nicole Savickas in an e-mail interview. She added that the contract will go into effect once UC receives the official signature from CNA.

The UC, which operates the largest health science and medical training program in the country, announced the tentative agreement Mar. 17, and the contract was officially ratified by CNA on Mar. 25.

The CNA union represents over 10,000 registered nurses employed by the UC, including the approximately 1,800 nurses employed by the UC Davis medical center and main campus.

It’s a three-year contract with a lot of improvements in nurses’ working conditions and patient care, as well as setting salaries for the first year and protecting benefits for the first year, said Kean.

Highlights include a 6 percent across-the-board wage increase, pension and health care benefit protection, said Carol Majeski, chief nurse negotiator for the UC Davis medical center.

Kean said the contract also addresses sick time and rotational issues.

One of the biggest successes from our point of view was we were able to stop the implementation of ‘paid time off’ that would have eliminated the same-day sick leave benefit that nurses currently have, she said.

PTO is an attendance control policy that would have forced nurses to come to work sick, instead of staying home when they are ill, she said. It would have been bad for patient care, bad for coworkers and bad for the workers.

The new contract also eliminated the use of mandatory shift rotation in UC medical centers.

Under mandatory shift rotations, nurses work the day shift one day, and the night shift the next, Kean said.

The nurses are basically jetlagged, she said. People must be very alert to catch changes in patients and to double and triple check medications.

We consider this contract to be a turning point in eliminating shift rotations entirely at UC. We do not believe shift rotation is in any way pro-patient or pro-nurse, Kean said.

This is a very important contract in California and also nationally, Kean said. [UC employs] the largest group of university-contract registered nurses in the United States. With 10,000 nurses, it’s huge.

[The contract] was overwhelmingly positive, said union negotiator Majeski, who is a registered nurse in interventional radiology at the UC Davis Medical Center.

It was a long haul, but once we were done, I think both sides were very happy with it, she said.

ANNA OPALKA can be reached at campus@californiaaggie.com.XXX

It’s not easy being green

Opinion

Opinion

March 17, 2008

St. Patrick’s Day is here. For a great many of you, tonight will be a night of drunken debauchery. But then again, this is college. Lots of occasions are marked by heavy drinking. Really special events, such as Picnic Day or Wednesdays.

St. Patrick’s Day for me, however, is not a day of merriment. There is no joy in wearing green. No joy in telling people, Yes this shirt is green. No, I already told you, it’s not turquoise. Don’t pinch me. I’m telling you, it’s green. Seriously, you’re color blind. Don’t pinch me! Owww! St. Patrick’s Day brings back painful (but not pinching-related) memories of the past. Cue the Wayne and Garth-style flashback.

The year was 1993. The Wayne’s World craze was sweeping the nation. Crystal Pepsi had been discontinued. I was 7 and in the first grade and eagerly awaiting St. Patrick’s Day.

School had been pretty weird during the days leading up to the holiday. When I arrived to class one morning, I was shocked to see my classroom completely ransacked. Chairs were flung across the floor. Those little cube things that you could connect that were supposed to teach you how to count were strewn across the desks. As all the kids helped to put the room back in order, we talked amongst ourselves. Who could have done such a terrible thing? Mrs. Ibsen had the answer: leprechauns. Those little bastards, my 7-year-old self thought.

I was sick on Mar. 17, so I missed school. I don’t remember what kind of bug I caught, but it was enough to keep me home. When I went back to school the next day my friends told me what I missed. Rachel, we went to the park and we saw leprechaun tracks. Leprechaun tracks, like footprints? There was physical proof of the existence of leprechauns and I missed it? Apparently, there was also some sort of living area set up, complete with leprechaun furniture and leprechaun gold. To the best of my knowledge, no one found leprechaun scat. I suppose there were leprechaun toilets located somewhere.

My friends consoled me. Don’t worry, Rachel. You can see the leprechaun tracks next year.

Second grade came. St. Patrick’s Day finally rolled around again. I made sure I wasn’t going to get sick that year. I arrived to class that day with great anticipation, my immune system super high charged to battle any evil antibodies. But did my class go to the park to see the leprechaun tracks? No. Apparently, only first graders got to make the pilgrimage. But there were leprechaun tracks in the park! A venture to such a site should be made every year, regardless of age. It’s a freaking wee Irish miracle, people! Why weren’t we going to see the leprechaun tracks?

In the third grade, my class was assigned to make leprechaun traps. My trap consisted of a green cardboard box with a metal washer covered in gold glitter hanging inside. The gold washer would entice the leprechaun to pull on it, thus closing the doors and trapping the leprechaun in the box. I made sure the leprechaun would be comfortable, however, by putting some of my Playmobil furniture in the trap.

We displayed our traps on our desks in the classroom. I kept wondering why we weren’t testing these bad boys out in known leprechaun infested areas. What good were leprechaun traps going to do in the classroom?

Even though I didn’t even believe in leprechauns in fourth grade, I was still bitter. And I remained bitter through junior high, through high school. I’m still bitter now that I’m in college. I know that it’s been 15 years and I should probably get over it, but I’m not going to. I’m stubborn like that.

I suppose I should drown my sorrows in some green beer.

RACHEL SKYTT wants to know about any leprechaun whereabouts in Davis. E-mail her at raskytt@ucdavis.edu.

Women’s lacrosse preview

Sports

Sports Editor

March 17, 2008

Teams: UC Davis vs. Long Island

Records: Aggies, 2-5; Blackbirds, 1-3

Where: Aggie Stadium

When: Today at 3 p.m.

Who to watch: After tallying 12 goals, eight ground balls, seven caused turnovers, six draw controls and five assists in consecutive Aggie wins against Holy Cross and Quinnipiac, senior midfielder Katie McMahon cooled off Thursday against Temple.

The Pleasanton, Calif. native had only one goal and two assists with seven turnovers in a 12-9 loss. On the season, she leads the team in goals (22), assists (7), ground balls (19) and caused turnovers (12).

Did you know? The Aggies had a blast the last time they faced the Blackbirds.

On Mar. 13, 2006, UC Davis teed off against Long Island, 18-5, with goals from current Aggies Patrice Clark (3), McMahon (2), Eri Ichikawa (2), Katie McGovern (2) and Megan Miller (1).

Preview: After falling behind to Temple 5-0 in the first 11 minutes of play Thursday, UC Davis rallied back with a 6-3 scoring run to end the half.

But the six-goal performance from Owls senior midfielder Whitney Richards proved to be too much for UC Davis to overcome, as the Aggies’ comeback fell short despite four goals from freshman midfielder Christina Corsa.

It was nice to come back from being down 5-0, said head coach Elaine Jones. We dug ourselves a hole that we didn’t quite dig ourselves out of, but we are looking forward to our next game.

That game will come today against Long Island in what will be the final contest of a six-game, 20-day homestand.

The Blackbirds are coming off a 15-11 win Saturday over UC Davis conference foe St. Mary’s. Seven different players found the back of the net for Long Island, including freshman attacker Annie Kalata, who scored a team-high four goals.

We definitely will make it our goal to beat Long Island before we head east, Corsa said

No. 10 Aggies drop second-straight overtime contest

Sports

Sports Editor

March 17, 2008

Coming off an upsetting overtime loss to conference rival Loyola Marymount, the No. 10 UC Davis women’s water polo team traveled to No. 9 San Jose State hoping to uproot its extra-play exhaustion.

Instead, UC Davis’ overtime woes would only continue.

Deep into the fourth period of overtime, Spartans’ senior hole set Beth Harbert found the back of the cage, and for the second game in a row the Aggies found themselves on the losing side of an extra frame contest, 10-9.

The opportunities have been there, said head coach Jamey Wright, Now we just have to cash them in.

After a 6-1 run gave it 7-6 third-quarter advantage, UC Davis’ buzz was killed by its inability to put away 6-on-5 opportunities.

The Aggies’ impressive nine ejections drawn were muted by only three conversions, including two misses in the overtime periods.

Both teams finished regulation with eight goals and each scored once in the first overtime period. After a scoreless second overtime period, UC Davis and San Jose State moved to a three-minute sudden-death frame.

The Aggies and Spartans went scoreless again, and Harbert scored with 40 seconds remaining in the second sudden-death period.

UC Davis (13-8) was paced offensively by Christi Raycraft, junior Lindsay Kiyama and freshman Dakotah Mohr, who all contributed two goals.

The loss drops the Aggies to 3-4 this season in one-goal contests.

We know what it feels like to play close games, Wright said. I would rather play 10 close games against good teams than have a better record and have played lots of five- or six-goal games.

Although the Aggies were disappointed from their second-straight overtime defeat, they are still confident in their ability to be successful in the future.

I don’t look at these as two bad losses, said Wright. I look at them as great opportunities to play two good top-ten teams. It’s obvious we can hang with these teams, and we know what we have to work on now. These losses have only made us stronger and more prepared for the future.

The Aggies enjoy a two-week break for finals before hosting Brown on Mar. 28.

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

UC Davis finishes second in Big West Tournament

Sports

Sports Editor

March 17, 2008

When the final buzzer sounded on Saturday’s loss to UC Santa Barbara in the conference championship, the Aggies run in Big West Conference play had come to a close.

UC Davis’ season – unlike seven of the conference’s nine teams – is far from over.

With their second-place showing in the tournament, the Aggies have locked up a berth in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. The bracket for the 48-team tournament will be announced today by 9 p.m., according to the WNIT’s official website.

Friday – UC Davis 63, UC Riverside 53

Sophomore guard Anna Harp said it took five minutes to wrap up her injured left leg to play against the Highlanders.

But she only needed five seconds to make an impact.

Five seconds after entering the game, Harp’s quick steal set the tone for the afternoon she was about to have. A native of San Jose, Calif., Harp scored 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting to help UC Davis to victory, 63-53.

I thought Anna gave us a great lift off the bench tonight, said head coach Sandy Simpson. For somebody who’s been out hurt for a while – really just started practicing a couple days ago – I thought she did a tremendous job.

Harp, who had not played since Feb. 23, entered the game with 6:43 remaining in the game’s first half.

I was a little nervous out there, Harp said. I just tried to relax and keep it loose because I sat on the bench a little while before I got in. I didn’t keep it moving and it really tightened up on me. I just played through it and focused on winning.

Staying true to what has led them to success all season, it was the Aggie defense that set the tone for victory. UC Davis held UC Riverside to just 15-for-55 (27.3 percent) shooting, allowing just five first-half field goals.

The first half – we were very fortunate to have the lead, Simpson said. I think you can point directly to UC Riverside’s shooting percentage in the first half keeping us in the game.

UC Davis’ offense, however, stole the show in the game’s second session, where the Aggies went 14-for-21 (66.7 percent) from the floor.

I’d just like to say how proud I am of our team, said junior wing Haylee Donaghe, who led the Aggies with 13 points and three steals. The fact that our team is so close, we respect the coaching staff so much – we just trust each other. I think that’s what’s gotten us this far in our first season of eligibility, which is a huge, huge accomplishment.

And after besting the Highlanders, the Aggies had one last Big West Conference accomplishment to pursue this season. UC Davis faces UC Santa Barbara for the Big West title Saturday at noon.

We have one more game tomorrow that we want to take care of to really meet our goals that we set for the season, Donaghe said. It’s just been a great experience so far this season, and we can’t wait for tomorrow.

Saturday – UC Santa Barbara 74, UC Davis 59

When Gaucho guard Jessica Wilson was subbed out of the game with 40 seconds to play, Simpson did the only thing he could – applaud her performance.

A senior out of Sacramento, Wilson had team highs in points (17), rebounds (seven) and assists (five) to lead UC Santa Barbara past UC Davis and claim the Big West title, 74-59.

She’s not the player of the year in this conference for nothing, Simpson said. It seemed like every time there was something going on, she was in the middle of it…. She’s hard to stop – there’s no question about that.

And while it’s difficult to fall in the conference’s championship game, it doesn’t take anything away from the positives the team experienced in its first season of Division I eligibility.

This has been a great season, and Santa Barbara played well, said senior wing Heather Bates. We lost to a very good team. I mean, obviously we wanted to win the Big West, but for our first year in Division I, I guess we’ll look back on this [year] as [being] pretty good.

But the 2007-2008 season is far from over for the Aggies.

By claiming second-place honors in the Big West, UC Davis has earned a berth in the WNIT.

It’s always nice to keep playing, said senior wing Jessica Campbell, who scored a game-high 25 points. I’m glad that we have more games left in our season. Like our coach said, we probably have a better chance of going further in the WNIT than we would in the tournament, so maybe that’s a bright spot in this.

And as the Aggies arrive on the WNIT scene, they do so with the respect of their Big West foes.

I have to congratulate Davis on a great season, said Gaucho head coach Mark French. I really felt like this championship game had the best two teams in it. It was a well-contested game, and I think Sandy and that whole staff and the program have done a magnificent job in their first official year in the Big West. They’re going to be very, very good in future years, as well, and we look forward to future rivalries.

ADAM LOBERSTEIN can be reached at sports@californiaaggie.com.

One year later: catching up with Derek Moore

Sports

Sports Editor

March 17, 2008

He was the first person in his family to attend college, the first Aggie to wrestle an undefeated season, the first Aggie to earn Pacific-10 Wrestler of the Year. He won UC Davis’ first Division I national title and was the first Californian wrestler to win a national title at the 141-pound weight class.

And if things go the way he plans it, he’ll be the first Aggie wrestler to compete at the Olympic level.

One year ago, on Mar. 17, No. 2 Derek Moore of UC Davis dominated No. 1 Ryan Lang of Northwestern by a 17-2 technical decision in the most decisive match of the 2007 NCAA Division I National Wrestling Championships.

Immediately following this accomplishment, Moore graduated from UC Davis in the winter quarter with a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology.

I went all over the place after I graduated, said Moore from his current residence in Fort Sill, Okla. I did a lot of wrestling clinics all over the nation: Alaska, New York, Ohio and a bunch on the west coast.

Elected the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler, Moore was invited to coach at a number of wrestling clinics in the summer following his graduation.

I probably did somewhere between 20 to 30 clinics at all levels, from high school kids to even working with D-I wrestlers and coaches, Moore said.

Coming out of Shasta High School in Redding, Calif., Moore joined the UC Davis wrestling team as a freshman walk-on and enrolled in the ROTC program to fund his education.

Four years of college meant four years of active duty, and on Oct. 5, 2007, he was commissioned at UC Davis and began officer’s training school just a few weeks later. On Dec. 14, he graduated as a second lieutenant.

I thought I was done studying for exams, but then I come here and I have a lot more, Moore said. It’s like college all over again.

After a short break Moore began the second phase of his training Jan. 7, which he will have completed by Apr. 29.

Scholastically I’m doing really well, Moore said. I never did that well at Davis, and here everyone in my class is a college grad, but I’m still at the head of my class – this stuff is coming easy. I think it’s a testament to the level of education you get at Davis.

Following his completion of the second phase of officer’s training, Moore will be transferred to Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, Colo. There he will begin training as part of the Army World Class Athlete Program for the 2012 Olympics.

Moore’s spot in the elite program was guaranteed by his national title.

It allowed me to avoid having to try out, which was good, Moore said.

On the road to the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Moore has come a long way since he first set foot on a wrestling mat.

Going into high school he wasn’t a stud, said Dustin Noack, former teammate and current senior on the UC Davis wrestling team. Coming to college he was a walk-on, but even before his senior year he was consistently one of the best wrestlers on the team.

As someone who has trained and competed alongside Moore, Noack knows what his former teammate can do.

He doesn’t know how not to succeed, Noack said. He’s just got that mentality that’ll take him anywhere he wants to go.

And Moore knows where he wants to be.

If I could choose an ideal route for my life, I would wrestle as long as I can, until my body gives out, then coach in the army until retirement time so I could get the best in terms of my [retirement] benefits, Moore said.

Seeing Moore as a coach isn’t difficult for Aggie wrestling head coach Lennie Zalesky to visualize.

I think he’d be a very good coach, Zalesky said. He’s an extremely meticulous technician – he’s very organized and he does well with people. He’s got that military style about him.

Moore does not currently have any plans for his degree, which he considers a safety net if his wrestling career is cut short.

If it was up to me I’d stay with wrestling all my life, Moore said. It’s a possibility that I’ll try to become a doctor or a physician’s assistant, but to really pursue my degree would take up so much time and interfere with wrestling.

I’m still pretty young, and coming off a national championship feels pretty good, and you tend to want to keep [wrestling] as part of your life.

This weekend Moore will be attending the NCAA 2008 Division I National Championships in St. Louis, Mo., to cheer on Tyler Bernacchi, Marcos Orozco and Nexi Delgado, who all will be competing.

A four-time national qualifier himself, Moore began his national career in St Louis.

I’m hoping Davis gets another national champ soon, Moore said. Right now I’m thinking about them, hoping they can do it. I’d like to see a national champ in any sport at Davis.

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

Disturbing the peace

Sports

Sports Editor

March 17, 2008

Women’s basketball in the Big West Conference had become monotonous.

In the 2005-2006 season, UC Riverside finished first, and UC Santa Barbara took second. In 2006-2007, UC Riverside finished first and UCSB took second. Entering this season, the media and coaches predicted that UC Riverside would finish first and UCSB would take second.

Women’s basketball in the Big West Conference had become monotonous, but it is no longer.

In its first season in Division I and the Big West, UC Davis has disturbed the peace, defeating two-time defending champion UC Riverside on Friday, 63-53, and finishing second in the conference Saturday behind NCAA Tournament-bound UCSB.

With that, a new era has begun in the Big West.

As the conference’s top finisher in the regular season to not make the NCAA Tournament, UC Davis has received an automatic berth to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. It will mark the first time since 1998 that a Big West team other than UC Riverside or UCSB has qualified for a postseason.

It’s always nice to keep playing, said senior wing Jessica Campbell, an All-Big West Tournament selection. I’m glad that we have more games left in our season…. We probably have a better chance of going further in the WNIT than we would in the tournament, so maybe that’s a bright spot in [not winning the Big West].

Though the team left Anaheim disappointed with not winning the conference, it has plenty to be proud of, and so does this university.

It begins with the fan support.

On Thursday, a group of about 30 students and staff members came together at the Pavilion to send the team off before it headed to the Sacramento International Airport for its flight.

Then, Saturday night, 15 students welcomed the team back to Northern California with signs and balloons at the airport.

Despite the 400-plus mile trip to Southern California, a bus of over 20 students traveled to Anaheim to root on the team. Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef, athletic director Greg Warzecka, Vice Chancellor Fred Wood and other campus administrators also found their way to the tournament.

And then there was the band.

On a foreign court in a foreign town, UC Davis heard a familiar sound erupt in the Anaheim Convention Center Arena. Two minutes into the pre-game warm-ups, the California Aggie Marching Band-Uh! marched out at full volume.

It felt just like we were at home again, said sophomore guard Anna Harp. All the familiar songs, having the Aggie Pack there – it felt good. It was just like home.

Along with having more fan support than UC Riverside, which was practically playing a home game, the university should take pride in how it was represented this weekend.

Simply put, the Aggies played for the right reasons.

We just did it for each other, did it for the fans, everyone who’s supporting us, said junior wing Haylee Donaghe. We wanted to go out there and show them what UC Davis basketball is all about.

They did that, and now, after disturbing the peace in the Big West and qualifying for the WNIT, the Aggies aren’t done making noise.

MICHAEL GEHLKEN went to Anaheim and back. Greatest piece of advice to give after 14 hours on the road: If you get the chance to visit the town of Coalinga, don’t. The place smells horrible. You might as well shove your head down a port-a-potty and inhale. Seriously. He can be reached at sports@californiaaggie.com.

Mindshare

Opinion

Opinion

March 17, 2008

My skull is usually filled with voices. Placid voices. Violent voices. Hundreds of voices, willing to argue at any hour of the day – which they do, constantly – inconsiderate of what I, myself, am trying to get done in the physical realm.

But there are times of the year when the number of voices is reduced, when only three are yelling, or even two. One of these respites comes with every finals week, when the usual babble dwindles down to just two voices chattering in the dark.

They refer to me as The Big One.

The Big One is urinating, one voice says.

Don’t you think I can hear him? says the other.

What were we saying?

About finals.

Ah, yes. The studying.

Useless.

I concur.

Yet he does it anyway.

Yes. For those grades.

Think of the time wasted. The things he will learn and forget.

Hours and hours.

Remember when the Big One was an engineer?

Like it was yesterday.

What a joke. He studied and forgot everything. Within a month, I’m telling you.

The formulas, the theorems…

It’s all gone. I checked.

What’s an integral again?

My point exactly.

Four years of forgetting.

Except for stories and writing. He remembers those. For whatever reason.

Love?

Never say that again. The point is that, whatever it is, the things he remembers are things worth doing.

What’s that ruckus?

The Big One. He’s on the move.

He’s sitting down.

Listen to that. He’s probably going to meditate. Try to block us out.

Will he succeed?

Of course not. We’re still here, aren’t we? Just keep saying perverse things.

Like what?

Like toad testicles.

Toad testi-

Shout it! Toad testicles!

Toad-

Toad testicles!

–

Maggot vomit shit bitch!

–

Bleeding fecal-

–

Fuc-

–

When the voices finally fade I open my eyes and stare about my room. I go to my desk and open a textbook. Behind my concentration I’m thinking about how I haven’t written anything but essays in the past week, haven’t read anything but school books.

I feel like a sucker wasting his time, like there are dancing people behind me laughing together in a golden field, tossing up butterflies from cupped hands, and all I need to do is look over my shoulder, stand up and go to them.

My textbook lies cold. I close it and extinguish the desk light. There are books scattered on the floor beside my bed and I stoop to pick one up. I open it to a short story, and without taking my gaze from the page I sit down at my chair next to the window. I turn the page.

I know that finals are approaching. I know that my grades may suffer, my GPA. I turn another page.

The afternoon passes and I am happy.

KOJI FRAHM lives in Davis with his three wives and 12 daughters, all named Gretel for convenience. He does not endorse polygamy.

A high-altitude spring break lies on the horizon

Features

Features Editor

March 17, 2008

There are a number of ways a 20-year-old could use $30,000. A new car, for instance, or maybe a college fund. However, Tanner Bixler, a junior economics major, has been raising $30,000 for a different cause – to climb Mount Everest.

On Mar. 27, Bixler will be embarking on a journey he has been dreaming about since he summited Alaska’s Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America, at the age of 16. At that time, the San Diego, Calif. native was invited to climb Everest, but his high school had no intention of allowing him to skip school and ruin his chances of attending college.

With time in his own hands as a college student, Bixler will dedicate spring quarter to pursuing his passion.

I’m nervous, to an extent, because I know this mountain is deadly, Bixler said. Some haven’t been able to make it off. I don’t take unnecessary risks and I have good safety precautions…. If there is something I don’t feel comfortable with, I will gladly turn around.

Standing 6-foot-1 and weighing in at 185 pounds, Bixler has been improving as a climber since conquering the tallest mountain in California, Mount Whitney, with his dad at age 10. And now Bixler looks to summit the tallest mountain on earth, Everest – 29,035 feet above sea level.

Accompanying Bixler will be Rob Casserley, who has summited Everest four times in the past five years. Bixler and Casserley first met by chance while climbing Mount McKinley in 2002.

Pound for pound, Tanner is one of the strongest climbers I have ever met, Casserley said. He is very mature for his age and cool-headed. Tanner has a natural understanding of what is expected.

Tanner’s father, Steve, jokingly takes responsibility for creating the monster. He will join his son’s international expedition, consisting of about 12 experienced climbers, to base camp where he will see his son off.

Of course I am concerned, but he’s following his passion and I wouldn’t stop him from that, said Steve Bixler. Who he’s going with has a lot to do with making me feel more comfortable. Tanner is taking it seriously and he knows the risks. You just hope for the best.

When asked about his training, Bixler said he never likes to time himself while running, but recently ran a marathon in three hours and 45 minutes. At night, he spends a continuous hour-and-a-half hiking up and down the Hutchinson Field parking lot while carrying a 60-pound pack.

Bixler is very involved with the UC Davis community. He is a student firefighter at the UC Davis Fire Department, a supervisor at the ASUCD Coffee House and a volunteer at Outdoor Adventures as an EMT teaching aid.

We’re all totally supportive of him, said Terry Zimmer, UC Davis Fire Department captain. We’re all hoping he does great. I’m sure he’ll be on top of the summit and looking down on us all.

Bixler finds many similarities between firefighting and climbing, and plans to use his firefighting experiences to his advantage. He said that placing a great deal of attention on safety, a strong sense of camaraderie and being able to think on your feet in dangerous situations are values that are practiced on a routine basis as a firefighter.

Once Bixler reaches base camp at Everest, his group will spend one month performing acclimatization climbs to camps one, two and three to prepare their bodies for the final summit push after camp four at 26,000 feet.

Climbers refer to the point of 24,000 feet as the death zone. At this altitude, the body will begin to eat itself and is at risk for pulmonary and cerebral edema. Therefore, it is imperative that climbers arrive at camp four only once they are ready for the final 15-hour push to the top.

There is one-third as much oxygen at 29,035 feet than at sea level, making movement very difficult and slow. However, unlike Bixler’s climbs on less treacherous mountains, sherpas will be carrying a 60-pound load, leaving only about 40 pounds for the climbers.

Casserley, 32, and Bixler, 20, differ from the average climber who tends to be older, averaging 40 years old, said Casserley. The expedition is expensive, potentially reaching $65,000. In addition to Nepal’s $10,000 permit fee, Bixler needs resources for food, supplies and gear.

I’m going to be the guardian angel looking out for him, said Casserley. He’s an incredible friend. He doesn’t need much help and is very gifted. But you have to watch your luck on every step. There is a healthy basis of luck to get to the summit…. I can’t think of someone more likely to summit based on his credentials.

Bixler has been trying to find sponsors for his trip to little avail. As an incentive for people to give any sort of donation, Bixler will carry a list of supporters and leave it at the highest point he reaches on Everest. For more information on how to support Bixler, go to tannerbixler.com. To follow Bixler’s progress during his climb, go to ice8000.com.

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

Daily Calendar

Features

Features Editor

March 17, 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.

Linux Users’ Group of Davis meeting

6:30 to 9 p.m.

Blanchard Room, Davis Branch Public Library, 315 E. 14th St.

Celebrate LUGOD’s birthday and learn about the Open Source Security Information Management project at this meeting.

Ingmar Bergman Retrospective

6:30 to 9 p.m.

Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

Bergman’s romantic comedy Smiles of a Summer Night will be screened with a pre-show talk by Arne Lunde, assistant professor at UCLA.

WEDNESDAY

Galois Group math tutoring

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

2112 Mathematical Sciences

Students in Math 12, Math 16ABC, Math 17AB and Math 21 ABC can pay $10 for all-you-can-take tutoring from graduate students. Sample finals will also be provided. Questions can be directed to tamijoy@math.ucdavis.edu.

East Quad Farmers Market

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

East Quad

Support local farmers and get fresh produce, nuts, flowers and more!

Career advising for women

Noon to 1 p.m.

104 North Hall

Still trying to figure out what to do with your major, career or life in general? Drop in and talk with an Internship and Career Center counselor.

Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous meeting

7 to 8:30 p.m.

United Methodist Church, 1620 Anderson Road

THURSDAY

Olive Oil Launch Party

4 to 6 p.m.

Silo Cafe and Pub

Free samples of UC Davis olive oil and other foods will be available. Cost for wine tasting will be $8 and beer tasting $4 at the door. RSVP to ucdoliveoil@ucdavis.edu.

Dat Phan comedy show

7 to 9 p.m.

Griffin Lounge

See the original winner of NBC’s Last Comic Standing for free!

Sheep replace lawnmowers

City News

City Editor

March 17, 2008

For the next month or two, sheep, lambs and goats will be grazing the tall grass at the Mace Community Ranch Park Habitat Preserve to create a better environment for the burrowing owl indigenous to that area.

This is the second year of a no-cost arrangement approved by the city’s wildlife specialist John McNerney between Davis and a local ranching family. In this arrangement, livestock get fed and the city doesn’t have to spend its resources on maintaining the preserve.

The benefits of the arrangement is that the city is saving money on using herbicides, and it’s also more integrated pest management by not using pesticides if you don’t need to, said a coordinator from the Parks and Community Services Department, who asked to remain anonymous.

Using lawnmowers to keep the grass down uses up city resources, and having the livestock to do it saves the city both money and resources, he added.

Because the habitat preserve was created for the burrowing owl, it would be counterintuitive not to maintain the area in a way the burrowing owl is accustomed to. This arrangement between the ranching family and the city is necessary for maintaining this area because the owls are accustomed to lower grass around their dens to protect themselves from predators.

Using sheep is a little more natural than the other methods, said UC Davis wildlife, fish and conservation biology professor Dirk H. Van Vuren. Although the sheep are not native to this area, they were native animals with burrowing animals. Burrowing animals were never native of lawnmowers and herbicides.

Not only do the sheep provide an efficient and safe means of maintaining the grass at the preserve, they also provide a means of entertainment for the city of Davis.

Me and my children were walking through the park when we saw [the sheep],said Davis resident Jose Garcia. We’ve been playing with the sheep and feeding them grass for a half-hour. It has been a really nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The sheep are located at the Mace Ranch Community Park at 3141 Fifth St.

There have been no incidents reported of harm to either the sheep or humans, and this arrangement has been very successful for both the ranching family and the city.

For more information, or if there is any irregular activity with the livestock, call the Parks and Community Services Department at 757-5626.

ALEX BULLER can be reached at desk@californiaaggie.com.

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