Daniel Noble was charged with the “distribution of visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office

By KAYA DO-KHANH — campus@theaggie.org

Content Warning: This article contains discussions of sexual misconduct and abuse which some readers may find disturbing.

On May 19, the assistant coach for the UC Davis men’s water polo team, Daniel Noble, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for charges related to possession of child pornography, according to a charge letter on the investigation into allegations against Noble. 

As of May 20, Noble ceased to be a UC Davis employee, according to a statement from Chancellor Gary May regarding the situation. The statement goes on to say that Noble has been ordered to stay away from campus and will be arrested if he returns. 

According to a June 2 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Noble was part of a Kik Messenger group that exchanged videos and images that displayed the sexual abuse of children. The release states that Noble shared videos of children being sexually abused to the group multiple times throughout 2022. 

A federal grand jury returned an indictment on June 2, charging Noble with “distribution of visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct,” according to the news release. 

“Noble has been released on a $100,000 bond, with special conditions including no-contact with minors and home confinement with electronic location monitoring,” the news release reads. “If convicted, Noble faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison, with a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to a lifetime of supervised release.”

The university also launched an investigation into Noble’s activities on May 20, which, according to an investigation report to UC Davis from June, was conducted by former Assistant U.S. Attorney Ellen London and her law firm, London & Stout P.C. The investigation focused on determining if Noble had violated any university policies and if there were any potential victims in the UC Davis community. London and her team worked with law enforcement to gather evidence, interviewing 17 witnesses and reviewing over 10,000 documents, such as end-of-season surveys completed by members of the men’s water polo team and emails sent to and from Noble’s UC Davis email account.

The findings from the report state that there was no evidence found that demonstrates Noble engaged in conduct violating the University’s Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy (SVSH) in his coaching activities. There was also no evidence of potential victims of the type of conduct described by his charges within the UC Davis community.

In the course of the investigation, however, according to the report, there was some evidence found that Noble may have been engaged in conduct that could constitute an improper governmental activity (IGA) as defined in the University’s Whistleblower Policy. Noble was overpaid approximately $10,000 as a result of an administrative error, and a witness disclosed that he was aware of the overpayment but did not report the error. The university later recognized the error and ordered Noble to return the overpaid amount of money, to which he agreed. 

The money has since been fully returned, and while there is some question as to whether Noble’s initial conduct in the situation would constitute an IGA, the university’s action in correcting the situation was the appropriate action, according to the report.  

The report goes on to state that there was no evidence of another IGA found.

“That evidence demonstrates that Noble kept any alleged activity involving [Child Sexual Abuse Material] separate from his professional life at UC Davis,” the report states. “With the potential exception of the overpayment issue identified in this report, we found no evidence of conduct by Noble in connection with his coaching that violates the relevant policies.” 

UC Davis Athletic Director Rocko DeLuca was contacted on Aug. 2 and had not responded as of Aug. 10. UC Davis Men’s Water Polo Coach Daniel Leyson responded to request for comment with a link to the investigation report.

Written by: Kaya Do-Khanh — campus@theaggie.org

Healthy Central Valley Together is now conducting COVID-19 wastewater testing in Davis 

By SYDNEY AMESTOY — campus@theaggie.org

Davis residents, as well as residents in some other central valley communities, can now check local COVID-19 rates based on their city’s wastewater via the Healthy Central Valley Together (HCVT) program, a collaboration between UC Davis and UC Merced researchers. 

According to the HCVT website, the program currently tracks the spread of COVID-19 via wastewater from water treatment plants in the cities of Davis, Woodland, Winters, Esparto, Merced, Turlock, Modesto and Los Banos. 

Dr. Heather Bischel, an assistant professor at UC Davis and one of the lead researchers on the project, described the scope of the project’s recent expansion. 

“We are working with seven new cities and their wastewater treatment plants to measure COVID-19 rates, and working with public health departments in three different counties to increase access to public health data,” Bischel said.

Data from each community, including Davis, can be found on the HCVT website and measures for three different variants of SARS-CoV-2. According to the website, information taken from the sampling of local wastewater updates once or twice a week. 

“This kind of test is not biased by the test-taking behavior involved in people going out and getting tested or taking a home test in which that information doesn’t get reported to a public health officer,” Bischel said, “As home tests get more popular, the public health agencies get less information, and that gap in data can be measured through wastewater tracking.”

According to Bischel, the surveillance project’s expansion to the central valley, as well as other cities in Yolo County, was born due to a lack of COVID-19 wastewater monitoring in these communities.

“There was a real gap in [wastewater] monitoring,” Bischel said. “Most of the monitoring had been done in urban or coastal areas and fewer areas in more rural or disadvantaged communities. Knowing that this was valuable public health knowledge, we wanted to work with smaller rural communities.”

Colleen Naughton, an assistant professor at UC Merced and another lead researcher on the project, also spoke on the goal of improving wastewater testing in disadvantaged communities.

“We are doing a lot of advocacy to expand [wastewater tracking] to other communities, even if it is not through us,” Naughton said. 

“Healthy Central Valley Together’s framework is equity, and as we expand and think long-term, we should prioritize communities that have less access to public health data,” Dr. Bischel said. 

The information gathered from HCVT is not only on their website but is also a part of the California Surveillance of Wastewater Systems, otherwise known as ‘Cal-SuWers,’ according to Naughton. 

“Any data that is submitted to the [Center for Disease Control and Prevention] national wastewater surveillance system, goes through the California Surveillance program,” Naughton said, “So either [Cal-SuWers] themselves do the monitoring and data, or they partner with organizations such as Healthy Central Valley Together, SCAN (Stanford University’s Sewer Coronavirus Alert Network) or other monitoring organizations and coordinate that data as part of their funding by the state.”

Written by: Sydney Amestoy — campus@theaggie.org

Free, voluntary campus testing has moved from the ARC to the Human Resources Building  

By KAYA DO-KHANH — campus@theaggie.org

As of June 24, UC Davis has ended its COVID-19 testing requirement for students, according to an announcement from Chancellor Gary May on June 13. The free PCR tests will still be available to students and employees on a voluntary basis, according to Associate Vice Chancellor of Safety Services Eric Kvigne.

“​​I believe our students are resilient and will continue to utilize testing options albeit on a more flexible basis,” Kvigne said via email.

Along with the updated testing requirement, the COVID-19 testing kiosk has moved from the UC Davis Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) to the Human Resources Administration Building across the street. The new testing kiosk opened on July 5 and will be available via appointment through the 2022 calendar year Sunday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

“We continue to monitor and respond to the evolving context of the pandemic,” Kvigne said via email. “For the time being, we are at minimum planning to continue saliva-based testing through the end of the calendar year. Additionally, we are planning to test all new students living in on-campus residence halls at the time of move-in.”

Also effective as of June 24, students are no longer required to fill out the Daily Symptom Survey prior to entering campus facilities. The survey will still be accessible to students who wish to monitor their symptoms or to provide proof of isolation status. UC Davis employees working in university facilities will need to complete the survey as it fulfills  requirements from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. 

“For the Davis campus, we closely monitor our COVID-19 dashboard and Yolo County case and hospitalization rates, as well as other factors such as the seriousness of COVID-19 illnesses and the presence of the virus in wastewater,” May said in an email announcement. “We are optimistic that the current trend will continue downward. Regardless, we will continue to follow the direction of our Yolo County Public Health officials.”

According to Dr. Cindy Schorzman, medical director of UC Davis Student Health and Counseling Services, any student who tests positive for COVID-19 through campus testing or reports it to the university during fall quarter 2022 will receive information regarding isolation procedures.

“While the availability of dedicated isolation/quarantine space is dynamic, based on multiple factors […] Student Housing and Dining Services will work closely with those individuals in congregate on-campus housing to help them find the best solution available for isolation,” Dr. Schorzman said via email. 

The Campus Ready website provides the university’s most up-to-date health and safety requirements as well as guidance on what to do if exposed to an infectious COVID-19 positive individual. 

“We will continue to provide an isolation space program with priority being given to students living in on-campus residence halls,” Kvigne said via email. 

Written by: Kaya Do-Khanh — campus@theaggie.org

The makeup commencement ceremony will be planned based on feedback from a survey sent out in late June to recent graduates, according to UC Davis Chancellor Gary May 

By JADE BELL — campus@theaggie.org

Plans for a $58 regalia refund and a makeup commencement ceremony for undergraduate students were announced by UC Davis Chancellor Gary May after heat safety concerns caused the original graduation ceremony on June 10 to be cut short. 

To address concerns such as travel and financial costs, the university sent out a survey for spring 2022 graduates to fill out by July 6, which May wrote about in his June 13 Checking in With Chancellor May newsletter.

“We are also working on a survey that we will send to […] impacted students about their feedback for the timing of a makeup commencement,” May said. “Once we get feedback from the survey, we’ll provide further details about dates and times.”

The survey, which, according to UC Davis alumna Marielle Rikkelman, was sent out to recent graduates on June 27, asked about how important certain graduation components were to them. These elements included walking across the stage, listening to student speeches, having their name read, student awards and so on. 

In addition, the survey asked undergraduate students to rank suggested times for a makeup ceremony. Those times were either late Aug. 2022, Dec. 2022, June 2023 or another time not listed. 

However, despite the use of this survey to gather feedback, students such as Alejandra Mejia, who recently graduated with a degree in psychology from UC Davis, cited various concerns about the makeup ceremony.

“I feel like the makeup commencement is a slap to the face to the student body,” Mejia said via Instagram direct message (DM). “UC Davis had months to plan. It is also a very privileged mindset for them to think that people and their loved ones have money to travel and take time off work for something that should have gone smoothly. UC Davis has the money and resources to plan a successful commencement. They chose not to, so I won’t be attending.”

Kai Obens, who graduated with a degree in design from UC Davis in the spring, also expressed travel concerns.

“I’ve planned out my whole summer with little margin for unexpected travel,” Kai said via Instagram DM. “I don’t think my family can make the time either, which would have a large factor in my decision.”

Bea Rondon, who graduated in the spring with a degree in cinema and digital media, applied for the regalia refund, expressing that it was the least she could do to ease the graduation’s financial burden on her family.

“Although I got to use my regalia during my assigned commencement ceremony on June 10, I did not get to walk up on stage and see my name on screen,” Rondon said via Instagram DM. “My family cannot take back the money they spent on plane tickets, hotel rooms, and car rentals to attend my commencement, only for it to be canceled midway. Applying for this refund is a small way I can make it up to my family for their financial sacrifices to support me and my graduation.”

Chancellor May also responded to student concerns about commencement being cut short in his June 13 newsletter. An update released on the day of the canceled ceremony announced plans for shortened Saturday and Sunday ceremonies which would include guest speeches but not reading the graduates’ names; following this update, May said that student feedback was taken into account in order to revise the plan again.

“After we shared that update with you, we heard from many of you about how important it was that you could cross the stage and have your name announced,” May said in the newsletter. “Because of the revisions we made to Saturday and Sunday’s ceremonies, we made it possible for everyone who attended either ceremony to be recognized on stage. Again, I want to acknowledge the disappointment that some of you have voiced on what should have been a time of celebration.”

Written by: Jade Bell — campus@theaggie.org