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International graduate students note a ‘disparity of access’ in regards to non-resident tuition waiver extensions

Campus News

ASUCD IT

February 25, 2021

Many international graduate students at UC Davis have had research disrupted by COVID-19 and are concerned about further funding needed to finish their program

International graduate students at UC Davis are facing difficulties when advocating for non-resident tuition waiver extensions during the pandemic, according to several graduate students, Grad Students A, B, C and D, who spoke to The Aggie on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. These students and a professor expressed dismay with how international Ph.D. candidates are treated compared to their domestic counterparts when it comes to the timeline of their graduate studies.

These challenges have been exacerbated by the pandemic, which has delayed progress for many graduate students in research-heavy fields that rely on gathering data in other locations. Some international students are also unable to return home because of COVID-19 conditions and visa restrictions.

While UC Davis allowed temporary work from abroad in Fall Quarter 2020 and Winter Quarter 2021, as of now the university said it is unable to guarantee remote teaching positions for international graduate students in the future. With travel bans and visa restrictions in place at the federal level, many students have opted to stay in the U.S., where they still face research delays and pressure to graduate.

“The timeline for international students is truncated in a way that it isn’t for domestic students,” said Grad Student A, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the humanities. “A lot of us are encouraged to take our qualifying exams sooner than domestic students.”

According to the UC Davis website, tuition is automatically waived for non-resident graduate students for up to three years post-candidacy, meaning once they have passed their qualifying exams in their doctoral programs.

After the waiver period, international students can access the non-resident supplemental tuition (NRST) fellowship, a non-competitive fellowship designed to help offset the costs of the fourth and fifth years post-candidacy.

Grad Student A suggested that international students were “constantly required” to prove their eligibility for the NRST fellowship.

According to Dr. Ellen Hartigan-O’Connor, the associate dean for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars and an associate professor of history at UC Davis, the NRST fellowship program is unique to the Davis campus.

She also explained that Graduate Studies—in a measure approved by the Graduate Council, part of the student-run Academic Senate—had provided a one-year “blanket extension of ‘time to degree,’” meaning that the quarters from spring 2020 to spring 2021 will not be counted against students’ degree progress.

“This extension was not a guarantee of extended funding,” she explained. “Rather, we continue to work closely with campus units and programs to strategize on financial solutions for those students who need additional financial support due to the pandemic.”

In June 2020, UC President Michael Drake also offered a temporary extension of paid teaching positions to graduate students still pursuing doctoral degrees after their sixth year. He encouraged students to work with their graduate studies department and their academic senate if this measure proved insufficient and said additional adjustments were possible if problems persisted.

But despite these extensions and the NRST fellowship, some international students are still struggling to gather funds. As non-domestic students, they are unable to access financial support from federal measures like the CARES Act Emergency Relief Grant Fund, which provides assistance to people whose studies have been significantly disrupted by COVID-19.

“Then there is the key issue that [international students] are put on a very strict clock for finishing before being penalized with large monetary costs that they or the department has to bear,” said Joe Dumit, the chair of the performance studies graduate department in an email.

While most students finish within the time covered by the NRST fellowship, Dumit said some may still be impacted by factors beyond their control.

“This still leaves the 5-15% whose ‘time to degree’ are affected by life, illness, family, project derailment, visas sometimes, or other factors—they do everything they can and still take longer,” Dumit added.

And with the additional pressures that come with COVID-19, graduate students have struggled to conduct research or travel to their field sites, which could mean staying past the fourth and fifth years of post-candidacy covered by the NRST fellowship.

“I haven’t been able to conduct field research since the pandemic started,” said Grad Student B, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the humanities. “My dissertation is based on performance practices that take place once a year and last year they were canceled because of the pandemic.”

Grad Student B is unable to go to the field site where the performance takes place, because it is out of the country and borders were closed due to COVID-19. The student emphasized that individual departments have different financial situations and varying numbers of international students. For example, underfunded departments may simply be unable to cover funding beyond the NRST fellowship. But another student said that the problem existed even before the pandemic began.

“This would still be a problem if COVID-19 is not here,” said Grad Student C, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the humanities. “I realize that there is this power thing between domestic students and us, and I once asked some of them, ‘What if I take longer to finish?’ [And I realized] that their answer doesn’t apply to me, […] because I have to [pay] if I go over a certain number of years.”

The disruption of field work caused by the pandemic has required the student to strategize about the financial implications of an additional year at the university.

“Our NRST waiver has no extension, and it’s a form of discrimination,” Grad Student C said. “It just feels unfair.”

Grad Student d, An eighth-year international doctoral candidate in the humanities explained that while the university has offered individual solutions for some cases, there is no system-wide plan for international students who need time beyond what is covered by the NRST fellowship.

“The [university] is not able to see that by not granting international students a waiver, they’re granting a disparity of access for people from your place of origin,” Grad Student D said. “So that’s discrimination.”

Dumit called for a UC-wide policy for extending the tuition waiver.

“In general the UC Davis NRST fellowship has helped most of these students who took longer prior to 2020,” Dumit said in an email. “But it was not designed for the additional year-long institutionally enforced extra delay that [COVID-19] created. This extension should be applied UC wide to the NRST waiver.”
Written by: Rebecca Bihn-Wallace — campus@theaggie.org

The Editorial Board calls on UC Davis Athletics to withdraw from high-contact gameplay this season

ASUCD IT

February 25, 2021

The Editorial Board calls on UC Davis Athletics to withdraw from high-contact gameplay this season

As COVID-19 death counts continue to rise, a strict following of COVID-19 guidelines is necessary to ensure the health and safety of student-athletes

As vaccinations increase and the U.S. gradually inches toward herd immunity, the return to normal life may seem in sight. In reality, however, the battle against COVID-19 is far from over. On Monday, the U.S. surpassed 500,000 known coronavirus-related deaths. As the latest statistics illustrate, properly following COVID-19 safety guidelines remains of paramount importance.

This Monday, UC Davis student-athletes went to practice; athletes from softball, equestrian, tennis, track, basketball, lacrosse, water polo, beach volleyball and baseball geared up for games later in the week. With the ensuing pandemic and rise of COVID-19 deaths, the Editorial Board questions UC Davis Athletics’ decision to resume gameplay for certain teams, especially those requiring high contact.

The Editorial Board acknowledges the measures being taken to ensure the health and safety of student-athletes, such as daily self-health evaluations, frequent testing and vigorous cleaning of shared equipment. All league institutions are required to follow medical and testing protocols as detailed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and by federal, state, local and conference guidelines. Despite these measures, the Editorial Board believes gameplay poses a substantial risk for student-athletes.

According to the CDC’s guidelines for playing sports, players should stay at least six feet away from other players when possible. In high-contact gameplay like football and basketball, keeping a two arms length distance from other players at all times is impossible.

The CDC also recommends wearing a mask at all times, but NCAA does not require all sports to wear masks during games, as it could “present a physical challenge to the student-athlete during activities when there is contact to the head or face, strenuous exercise is involved, or the mask is likely to get wet.” Masks are not effective at helping prevent the transmission of COVID-19 droplets unless they are worn at all times. If masks cannot be safely worn during gameplay, then simply, games should not be occurring, especially with high-contact sports.

Additionally, limiting the amount of shared equipment is recommended by the CDC, as well as the proper cleaning of equipment and frequently-touched surfaces. In sports that share balls, like volleyball and football, the chances for disease transmission increase.

In terms of game attendance, the Editorial Board appreciates UC Davis Athletics’ decision to exclude fans. In other areas of the U.S., fans can attend college sports games in person following the poor examples set by professional sports. For the 2020 season, Auburn’s football stadium hosted up to 20,364 fans each game; the Super Bowl earlier this month hosted 22,000 fans. The NCAA will allow for 25% capacity for all rounds of the men’s basketball tournament and 17% for later stages of the women’s event. In addition to possible issues of gender discrepancy, it is irresponsible to allow that many fans to attend indoor sports games.

At UC Davis, even though fans are not permitted to attend, hosting athletic games still creates unsafe environments with high potentials for COVID-19 transmission. Players, coaches, athletic trainers, referees and medics are present—reaching numbers much higher than those in a recommended social bubble. Additionally, since COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions differ between states, travel for games places athletes in potentially dangerous situations.

While gameplay feels irresponsible at this time, the Editorial Board acknowledges the importance of continued practice to ensure athletes stay in shape and are prepared for games when the pandemic subsides. The proper following of COVID-19 safety measures, however, is necessary for the safety of players, coaches and staff, as well as their housemates and families. These safety guidelines should reflect the contact level of the sport, as it is clear further precautions are necessary for high-contact ones.

The Editorial Board has seen some student-athletes’ poor following of safety protocols firsthand, witnessing unmasked individuals on team social media stories and when walking past practice spaces. While athletes have a responsibility to follow guidelines, it is ultimately the responsibility of the athletics department to impose stricter penalties to ensure proper practices.

The reasons why UC Davis Athletics resumed gameplay remain fairly unclear. The Editorial Board understands the value of sports during this pandemic as a morale booster and a way to find community during this time of isolation, but we believe the health of student-athletes and community members is worth more than those reasons.

When the Editorial Board met with campus leaders for our quarterly interview, we asked why the university is trying to complete the football season given the pandemic situation in California. Chancellor Gary May responded with “Our student-athletes and coaches want to play. That’s the biggest factor. We think that with all the infrastructure and testing we have at UC Davis, we think they can play safely, which is our priority.”

While some athletes “want to play,” we are sure not all feel this way. Athletes that do not wish to play are cornered in uncomfortable situations, resulting in the possibility of them feeling obligated to participate despite concerns of their safety. Interim Athletics Director Rocko DeLuca said “If our student-athletes want to compete or opt-out, we fully support them,” but many factors may pressure athletes to play, including possible loss of opportunities on the team and peer pressure from teammates. To ease the stress of student-athletes during this pandemic, the only solution is for UC Davis to withdraw from gameplay in all high-contact NCAA events.

This pandemic has taken away events that spark joy for everyone. Whether those events are concerts, dine-in restaurants, vacations or sports games, we all “want” to go back to a time when we could enjoy them. But as we get closer to minimizing the threat of this virus, now is not a time for sports games, or any events that have a high potential for spreading the virus. For a university that has recently been praised for being a leader during this pandemic, the Editorial Board expects more from the athletics department.

Written by: The Editorial Board

The Bike Campaign opens new nonprofit Bike Garage in Davis

City News

ASUCD IT

February 25, 2021

Local bicyclists explain the benefits of biking for health, happiness and the environment

The Bike Campaign opened a nonprofit, Bike Garage, on Dec. 5 in the Cannery on in addition to working at Douglas Middle School in Woodland.

The Bike Campaign Founder Maria Contreras Tebbutt was optimistic Davis residents would appreciate the Bike Garage, citing her experience during the pandemic.

“After the COVID-19 pandemic started, we were in a middle school in Woodland, and my phone was ringing off the hook,” Tebbutt said. “People were looking for bikes to buy, used bikes to buy or they wanted their bikes repaired.”

Many bike shops and services were closed or limited when the pandemic began, such as the Davis Bike Collective, also known as Bike Forth. Volunteer minister for the Davis Bike Collective Michael Shearer explained that the Davis Bike Collective has seen much less traffic over the course of the pandemic due to health guidelines.

“Due to the pandemic, we closed all the way down for about three months,” Shearer said. “And then, following the protocol that the county or the city of Davis issued, we were required to have much reduced services, so we’ve seen an enormous decrease in our clientele.”

As the demand for bikes and bike services grew, the supply became severely constricted, and Tebbutt sought to fill the gap.

“Every Saturday, we would work out of my front yard,” Tebbutt said. “And all week long I would be taking phone calls and making appointments with people who wanted to come here to my front yard and test-ride bikes because they wanted to buy a bike.”

The Bike Campaign does not only sell and repair bikes; volunteer “Bike Buddies” also coach new riders about urban biking. Tebbutt noted that although many people know how to bike, they’re not always comfortable biking in a city.

“There are many people who have not used a bike since they were children who come to UC Davis,” Tebbutt said. “So what we want to do is to get them where they’re strong, confident riders. You need to know what your rights and responsibilities are. We want to share that with them, make them feel welcome and create a sense of community where we’re all sharing that kind of information and encouraging people to enjoy this lifestyle, because biking is definitely a lifestyle.”

Tebbutt mentioned the importance of visibility as an example of an urban biking skill.

“You can make yourself safer on a bike, like making yourself visible,” Tebbutt said. “I love black, I wear a lot of black—but not on my bike. I want people to see me, and I want to have lights so people can see me, and I want to look car drivers in the eye so I’m communicating with them.”

The Bike Campaign’s mission is to encourage people to use biking as the primary mode of transportation, according to Tebbutt.

“We want to encourage people to bike more and drive less,” Tebbutt said. “If you’re riding on the right side of the street and you have a bike helmet on, it’s safer than driving a car.”

Shearer also avoids driving, stating that he hasn’t had a car for one and a half years.

“The Davis Bike Collective has about eight ministers or core volunteers and a number of them, myself included, don’t use a car,” Shearer said. “We use bike trailers so that we can transport bicycles or parts. It’s exciting to try to switch, it’s healthy, good for the environment, it’s enjoyable—it’s a whole different way of living.”

Among other benefits of cycling, Tebbutt mentioned that it’s sustainable. Even after a bicycle is used beyond repair, it can be recycled, according to Tebbutt.

The Davis Bike Collective also recycles bike parts and repairs bikes so they are usable again, according to Shearer.

“We also recycle—that’s one of our main goals, to reuse everything we can,” Shearer said. “So if I’m out biking and I see an abandoned bike thrown in the dumpster, I’ll bring it out, I’ll take it to the Collective and rebuild it, so that it’ll be rideable again.”

A quality bike can also be used for many years, Tebbutt explained.

“A bike can live a long life if it’s not a Target or Walmart bike,” Tebbut said. “Those bikes are meant to wear out really fast. They’re kind of like junk bikes—you use it, it wears out and then you throw it away.”

More than any of these considerations, Tebbutt emphasized that he considers biking an enjoyable form of transportation.

“People really enjoy biking, and it’s probably because it kicks up the endorphins more than people might expect.”

Written by: Rachel Shey — city@theaggie.org

City of Sacramento receives $1.8 million grant for electric vehicle infrastructure

City News

ASUCD IT

February 24, 2021

Sacramento to continue its goal of becoming a California zero-emission vehicle capital

The California Energy Commission chose the City of Sacramento to receive a $1.8 million grant, aiding the city’s ongoing efforts to become a zero-emission vehicle capital of California.

As part of the second phase of the California Energy Commission’s (CEC’s) EV Ready Communities Challenge, different communities submitted blueprints for transitioning to zero-emission. Sacramento was then selected to receive funding to begin work on electric vehicle infrastructure.

Deputy Director of the Fuels and Transportation Division at the California Energy Commission Hannon Rasool explained the process by which they choose grant applicants.

“We really strive to have a transparent process so that we can make sure we are designing to the needs of both the state and local communities,” Rasool said. “For this specific solicitation, we were looking for robust and well-thought-out implementation strategies as well as team qualifications, experience, project budget and project benefits in terms of greenhouse gas reduction.”

Rasool explained that providing equitable access to electric vehicle technologies is essential to the CEC’s mission.

“We look at not just where the chargers are, but who has access to them,” Rasool said. “We want to make sure that low-income and rural communities don’t get left behind. Electric vehicles are cheaper. Not only are they good for the environment, they’re good for the individual because the operating costs are much lower.”

In addition to the environmental and personal benefits, Rasool described how providing electric vehicle infrastructure is also a matter of public health.

“We know that transportation is the leading emitter of greenhouse gasses in the state— 50% of emissions—but It’s also an equity and a local public health concern,” Rasool said. “Diesel vehicles, especially trucks and buses, emit a lot of emissions that cause cancer and asthma. Local health issues are disproportionately borne by those in disadvantaged and low-income communities.”

Rasool further explained that investing in electric vehicles also has the potential to improve California’s economy.

“Right now, there are 34 entities within California which manufacture zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) and infrastructure that is a part of the ZEV economy,” Rasool said. “Zero-emission vehicles were also the number one export for California in 2020. They bring a lot of good-paying jobs in construction and engineering.”

Director of Communications and External Affairs at the CEC Lindsay Buckley explained that the goal of a zero emissions California is ultimately a multilateral one.

“There are a lot of cooks in the electric vehicle kitchen,” Buckley said. “For example, the organization VELOZ is an effort where all of the state agencies involved in this work along with utility companies and car companies are coming together around a public service campaign to raise awareness about the availability of these vehicles and the rebates.”

In addition to the funds provided by the CEC, the Sacramento Metro Air District has committed $650,000 to the installation of electric-vehicle chargers.

Transportation and Climate Change Manager at Sacramento Metro Air Quality Jamie Lemus explained that this project has been developing for a long time.

“A lot of time, effort and networking has gone into this project over the years,” Lemus said. “We started with a project called CarShare, and over the years there have been different efforts from different partners. This project is really exciting because it brought all the players together.”

Lemus described what it means for Sacramento to become a zero-emissions capital, and what the next steps are in achieving this goal.

“The idea is to make chargers as normal as gasoline stations,” Lemus said. “Within the City of Sacramento, we have to normalize [EV charging stations] and educate the community. We still have a lot of work to do.”

Lemus said that Sac Metro Air District is also undoing a legacy of systemic disinvestment in certain communities.

“Redlining has historically created some land-use sectors that were heavily invested in and others that were not,” Lemus said. “We need to locate these areas and do what we can to provide relief to disinvested communities.”

Lemus explained that one way local and state governments are attempting to remedy this disinvestment is through programs that provide EV transportation to low-income individuals.

“The California Air Resources Board’s program, Clean Cars 4 All, provides some lower-income communities the opportunity to get into an electric vehicle by providing a cash incentive of up to $9,500 towards a new car,” Lemus said.

Lemus explained that the move towards a zero-emission California will require every resident’s participation.

“We have the largest zero-emission school bus fleet in the nation—but people don’t know,” Lemus said. “We need to expand the mentality of carsharing and public transportation not just out of necessity, but because it’s easy and an option. Ride our bikes, drive electric cars. Let’s do what we need to do because it’s our responsibility to the next generation.”
Written by: Yan Yan Hustis Hayes — city@theaggie.org

The Arts Desk’s weekly picks for television, movies, books and music

Arts & Culture

ASUCD IT

February 23, 2021

The Arts Desk’s weekly picks for television, movies, books and music

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Movie: “Someone Great” dir. by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

I have been known to not have a particularly informed taste in movies, and I’m usually not the one who picks what we’re watching on a movie night, so I think I will surprise absolutely no one when I say “Someone Great” is more than worth the watch. Although the movie starts just like so many others with a close-up of heterosexual couple Jenny and Nate on a night out, it is one of the few movies I can quickly name that passes the Bechdel test—it has two named women who talk to each other about something other than a man. “Someone Great” is beautifully directed and produced, with seamless transitions between the past and present that take you through the ups and downs of Jenny and Nate’s relationship and then bring you back to the present to see how Jenny’s best friends Erin and Blair help her through the heartwrenching breakup. In terms of life lessons, this movie shows its viewers the power of female friendships, and that even an immensely strong love is not always enough. More importantly, it is an incredible show of diversity: Jenny and Erin are women of color, Erin has a girlfriend, Nate is Black and themes of race and gender are constantly being brought up throughout the movie. The movie manages to break your heart while reminding you that with pain comes growth.

TV Show: “Firefly Lane”

Again, it should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I am picking what sounds like a very cheesy TV series, but I am determined to make my case. Female friendship is once again at the forefront of this piece, but it is so much more complicated than the ones in “Someone Great.” The transitions between the past and present are just as seamless, as we watch Tully and Kate grow up into two incredible women, but their relationship is not without its faults. Tully is the star—literally, she has her own TV show—and Kate is the stay-at-home mom who gave up so much for her family, only to get a divorce from the love of her life. Tully gets and has always gotten all the attention, and Kate struggles with feeling like she’s second-best; her soon-to-be ex-husband hooked up with Tully before they got together even though Kate had feelings for him for years, and her parents and brother seem to have closer relationships with Tully than Kate. Despite all the trials of their relationship, they are so much more than best friends—they are each other’s family, and they provide such gracious examples of forgiving one another’s faults.

Album: “Air Fàir en Là” by Niteworks

Finally! It is my time to shine in a selection that will hopefully redeem me in the eyes of those who viewed my prior two as basic and cheesy. I would best describe Niteworks’ music as Scottish house music. Normally, I’m not the biggest fan of house music, but the band’s modern twist on classic Scottish music is truly remarkable. All the lyrics in the album are in Gaelic, and the angelic voice of lead singer Innes Strachan has the power to transport you to the Scottish countryside—even if you have not been there yourself—especially in “Air Fàir en Là.” The bagpipes in “Iain McGee’s” bring the classic house music style alive, and the entire album serves as the perfect study music if you like to have something on in the background but get too distracted when you know the lyrics to the songs playing.

Book: “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien

This is perhaps the most impactful book I have ever read. It follows the author himself, Tim O’Brien, who is an American soldier during the Vietnam War. You read about the physical items the soldiers carried but also the emotional burdens they possessed. Then, the characters start to die. For those of us who only read about the turmoil and national strife during the Vietnam War, it is a rude awakening into the horrors faced by the soldiers drafted. Five years after my initial reading of this book, I still remember the tragedy of the honorable soldier who was killed in a sewage field and was left to rot in human feces. Although we cannot reverse this injustice and the many others that occurred during this time, O’Brien reminds us of the power of stories. We are reminded that death does not have to be an end and that it is up to the living to celebrate the loved ones we used to hold on so tightly to in order to bring them back to life.
Written by: Sabrina Habchi — arts@theaggie.org

Reduced cancer screenings due to COVID-19 fears may result in serious health outcomes

Science & Technology

ASUCD IT

February 23, 2021

Health professionals remind public about the importance of early diagnoses and treatments to mitigate cancer threats

With many people believing that stepping into a hospital will heighten their risk of contracting COVID-19, some may be waiting to get their annual check-ups until the pandemic is over. Predictions by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) illustrate the potential fatal consequences of these delays—10,000 excess deaths could occur in the next 10 years from breast and colorectal cancers alone due to pandemic-related delays in cancer screenings and treatments. In an open letter signed by 76 cancer organizations nationwide, health professionals urged the public to resume regularly scheduled cancer screenings and treatments to reduce further repercussions.

“The fact that so many leading groups were eager to sign our letter shows how important and universal this issue is to the entire oncology community,” said Robert Carlson, CEO of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), via email.

According to statistics provided by the NCCN, one-third of adults in the U.S. failed to receive their recommended cancer screening during the course of the pandemic. Approximately 22 million cancer screenings were canceled or missed between March and June of last year. As the estimated 10,000 excess deaths only account for breast and colorectal cancers, the actual number of deaths may be much higher.

Carlson explained that once it became clear that reductions in cancer screening and treatment were threatening lives, the NCCN and American Cancer Society (ACS) decided to come together and send a message to the public. Both organizations actively reached out to NCCN Member Institutions, NCI-designated cancer centers and other cancer organizations to spread the word to more patients. One of these organizations was the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“With the identification of new variants of COVID, the health care community remains uncertain when the pandemic will end, and further delays in cancer screening may worsen cancer outcomes,” said Richard Bold, physician-in-chief for the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, via email.

Bold said that cancer screenings try to identify the earliest development of cancer before symptoms, when the chance of spreading to other sites of the body is the lowest and the chance to cure the disease is the highest.

“For the most part, once a cancer has spread to other sites of the body, it is typically incurable, so the goal of earlier diagnosis is to treat the cancer before any spread to other organs has happened and offer the patient a chance at cure,” Bold said.

Helen Chew, director of the Clinical Breast Cancer Program at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, explained that breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women by far. She elaborated that 90% of breast cancers are caught in its early stage, when it is only present in the breast and possibly the lymph nodes under the arm.

If there is a delay in detecting these growths, the cancer could disseminate and become metastatic, meaning that it will spread to a different part of the body. If detected early on, the patient may only need surgery to remove the tumor, whereas more advanced cancers may need chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. With reliable and effective screening methods such as mammograms, Chew expressed that these screenings could save lives.

“If you have [an] early-stage disease, the goal is to cure,” Chew said. “We’re going to do everything possible to lower the risk that the cancer will ever return in the future. But if you already have the disease escaped, then really, the goal is to control it as much as possible. We know that we can’t generally remove it completely.”

Carlson emphasized that with long delays in cancer screenings and treatments, the risk of leaving a potentially fatal cancer undetected is greater than the risk of experiencing a negative outcome from COVID-19. He stated that there has been nearly zero reported COVID-19 transmissions during cancer treatment at NCCN cancer centers. Although precautions are still necessary during the ongoing pandemic, Carlson hopes that people will continue to address other important health concerns during this time.

Although Chew understands how the uncertainty and confusion surrounding the pandemic a year ago may have warranted an aversion to regularly scheduled visits, she hopes to reassure people that they should not continue to delay seeking treatment. At UC Davis, she is confident in the precautionary measures being taken such as personal protective equipment (PPE), symptoms screening and masking.

“With the rapid availability of healthcare visits by video, patients should discuss cancer screening with their primary care physician,” Bold said. “But the current safety of the healthcare environment makes the risk of catching COVID quite small, and far less significant than the impact of a delay in cancer diagnosis and potential reduction in the chance for cure.”
Written by: Michelle Wong —science@theaggie.org

How to de-stress without breaking the bank

Arts & Culture

ASUCD IT

February 23, 2021

Three ways to relax during midterm season

As the storm of the first midterm season comes to an end and I start to prepare for my next round of tests, I’ve noticed that I am not doing anything to settle myself down. Last quarter, I had four midterms in one week, so I just poured myself into my work instead of taking time to relax. But as a fourth year, I’ve grown to see the faults in how I deal with stress. For example, I typically avoid all stress relievers, and instead allow my stress to consume me until I have rashes all over my arms—which isn’t necessarily the best way to deal with the ongoing dread of tests. Therefore, I have created a random list (which is also one of my favorite ways to de-stress) of ways to handle stress on a budget.

Make a mood board

I love Pinterest for so many reasons, but mostly because it has everything I love about media without the social part in it. I don’t really care who follows me; there’s no pressure to maintain a certain image and it’s just cute photos pertaining to what you already have saved on your boards. Creating something for your friends is wholesome; I love it when someone goes up to me and says, “This reminded me of you,” and that’s essentially what a mood board is: a whole picturesque vibe of what reminds you of your friends. Instead of focusing on whatever is currently weighing you down with your own stress, pick a friend and find random pictures on Pinterest that you think describe them. If you want to get even more creative, download the photos and turn them into an aesthetic collage.

If you want to use this spare time to focus on yourself, then create a mood board about you. Use this stress-free time to focus on what you love most about yourself or the things you love and create a fun mood board that allows you to reset your motivation and focus on something other than your stress without spending any money.

Make a playlist

Something similar to a mood board is creating a playlist. It might be my complete Type A personality, but I love organizing things and making sure they match and fit well. Creating a playlist could be as simple as going through all of my liked songs and sorting them depending on the vibe they bring or listening to random recommended searches on YouTube and sorting them by whatever theme they bring to mind. My new favorite playlist topics are ones that remind me of book characters; having to focus on the lyrics meshing with the background music gives me a small exit from the normal frantics of school stress. Focusing specifically on one thing can often pull me away from whatever is currently stressing me out, and stepping into the mind of a book character or the plot of a story gives me a break from my problems.

Maybe you’re stressed because of school work or maybe it’s a certain person in your life that gives you a difficult time—whatever it may be, creating a playlist for how you feel is cathartic. Releasing those emotions into songs when you don’t have the right words to create them yourself can be freeing.

Reading

Reading truly does have a bad reputation amongst Gen Zers. So many of my friends complain that they would love to read, but they just can’t—they don’t have enough time or it bores them. However, I believe there’s a book out there for all of us; we just need to find it. This is why I recommend reading a book to calm the stress. Think about what types of movies you like and find a book in that same genre. There is a book about everything, and they are so much more beautiful than movies because they have more detail.

What’s best about reading is that it gives you the same sort of escapism that movies do but better. With movies, we are thrown into a new world for two hours where we are given an outsider’s perspective. However, with books, we get to visit a new world and immerse ourselves in it, ultimately forgetting about our problems for a good length of time.

While going to small bookstores are half the fun of reading, continuously spending $10 on every paperback adds up. That is why I suggest second hand online bookshops. Websites like Book Outlet or Thriftbooks offer books for half of the cost, and some are good as new. You might receive the occasional dent or crooked spine, but the energy of a story remains the same. The Friends of the Davis Public Library also often have their own book sales. During the first Friday of every month, the Friends of the Davis Public Library set up their shop, and the public is open to browse their books, some as cheap as $1. While their shop is currently closed due to COVID-19, they plan on opening up the first week of March for outside browsing.

I recommend reading 30 minutes before bed. As a Class A worrier, there have been countless nights where I stay up because I’m stressing about all of the work I have to do. I’ve found that spending time away from my phone or my schoolwork before bed helps me fall asleep faster and sleep through the night.

Everything on this list is an alternative to focusing on our problems. Focusing on a friend, a book character or music allows us to step back and look at our stress from a different point of view, so we can get things done and take the breath of fresh air that we desperately need.
Written By: Itzelth Gamboa — arts@theaggie.org

Students invest after Gamestop stock surge

Campus News

ASUCD IT

February 23, 2021

UC Davis’ stock market club and a professor of finance weigh in on the phenomenon

As video game retailer Gamestop’s stock rose following a Wall Street attempt to short it, students flocked to easy-to-use brokerage apps like Robinhood, entering into the stock market in record numbers.

In late January, the Reddit group r/wallstreetbets sent out a call to buy Gamestop stock despite the hopes of Wall Street traders who bet that the video game retail outlet’s stock would fall. Many of the investors inspired by the Reddit group used brokerage apps like Robinhood, and some UC Davis students joined in.

Mihir Wadekar is a third-year computer science and engineering major who recently began investing using Robinhood and purchased some of the shorted stocks like Nokia and Blackberry.

“I started investing right after we got our stimulus checks,” Wadekar said. “This is pretty much money I haven’t earned.”

Dong Yeon Lee, a third-year psychology major and president of the UC Davis stock market club, has been investing since he was 18 years old.

“More people are investing now,” Lee said. “I see that as a good thing.”

Dr. Brad Barber, a professor of finance at UC Davis co-wrote a paper that showed hype-chasing investors will often buy stocks because they see a company favorably depicted in the news, artificially driving the price up for a short time.

“This is an attractive play for short sellers because they can see the retail herd going in and it’s a generally good bet to bet against it,” Barber said.

After the hype dies down, people sell off shares in large numbers and the price of the stock overall plummets; this is when short sellers buy back the shares at low rates, pocketing the difference in price per share. As a result, hype-chasing investors lose an average of 5% of their earnings around a month later as the frenzy dies down.

“We basically found that the top about 10 stocks purchased by Robinhood users each day go on to earn poor returns,” Barber said.

However, in the case of Gamestop, things played out differently than short sellers anticipated. Gamestop reached a height of approximately $380, driven largely by calls from Redditors to jump on the stock.

“It’s really retail investors using Reddit as a forum to coordinate their attacks on short sellers,” Barber said. “Really what it reveals is a general resentment of Wall Street.”

Unlike his genuine belief in the legitimacy of Gamestop’s long-term goals, Lee said his reasoning for purchasing AMC was different.

“If I had more money I would buy more because I really don’t like hedge funds,” Lee said.

For the hedge fund Melvin Capital, this meant having to buy back the stocks at a higher price because they feared losing even more money if they held on.

“What was unusual about it is that retail investors in that episode decided to fight back, if you will, against the short-sellers,” Barber said. “That fight back is interesting because it made it very risky for short-sellers.”

Wadekar said that the move was to send a message to short sellers that Redditors could collectively make them lose considerable amounts of money just because they wanted to.

“I feel the movement was a symbol telling Wall Street that retail investors are not stupid like they presume,” Wadekar said.

After shares in shorted stocks skyrocketed following the wave of media attention, Robinhood started to limit buying highly volatile stocks. Wadekar, who bought Nokia and Blackberry stocks during the spike, said this drove the price back down sharply.

“I bought them on Robinhood and the next morning Robinhood decided to shut off the ‘buy’ option so people could only sell,” Wadekar said. “And because of that, people panicked.”

There have been calls on both sides that hedge funds, as well as Redditors, have engaged in market manipulation by artificially driving the price of the stock up or down, respectively.

“Was it market manipulation? Maybe,” Wadekar said. “But it’s also market manipulation when you’re shorting a stock 84%.”

Lee, who invested in Gamestop before the spike when it was between $17 to $20, said he has been holding it through its rise because he believes in the company’s ability to succeed and not because he planned on jumping ship once the stock rose.

“I think if the beliefs are being shared and are sincerely held, then it’s not really market manipulation,” Barber said.

Wadekar said he hopes investors will now have increased control over their finances.

“This episode has just proven that hedge funds can make mistakes,” Wadekar said. “Why would you want to trust someone like that? If they are losing billions of dollars and they went bankrupt, they will take your portfolio with them.”

Barber said that one of the reasons he encourages new investors to buy index funds, a much slower moving but safer investment option, is that they are cheap comparatively and the majority of the returned funds go to the investor and not to Wall Street.

“In other words, index funds are a good way of making sure the gains from the Stock Market go to Main Street rather than Wall Street,” Barber said.

Wadekar said that Gen Z and Millennials have shown that the way the stock market traditionally operates needs to change.

“I feel we’d be more inclined to trust ourselves then the hedge funds because of what happened two weeks ago, what happened in 2008 and what has been happening in Wall Street,” Wadekar said.
Written by: Kathleen Quinn — campus@theaggie.org

UC Davis, Sacramento City College receive $27,500 Equity Transfer Initiative grant for work with transfer students

Campus News

ASUCD IT

February 23, 2021

Though undergraduate enrollment has decreased nationwide, UC Davis has seen a surge in applications and in applicant diversity, according to the grant

The American Association of Community Colleges Equity Transfer Initiative awarded UC Davis and Sacramento City College (SCC) a two-year, $27,500 grant to “increase transfer rates among African American, Hispanic, and first-gen students.”

UC Davis and SCC are one of only two teams in California to be chosen for the grant, which requires that at least 100 students be placed on the transfer student trajectories outlined in the initiative by the end of the first year. Three hundred or more students are required to be on these pathways by the end of the grant’s second year.

In the U.S. at large, undergraduate enrollment—which includes transfer student enrollment—decreased this year, possibly due to the challenges students have experienced during COVID-19, suggested a CNBC article.

The article cited a study by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which noted that only 76% of American colleges had reported their enrollment-related data. Still, the study posited that community colleges were the hardest hit by the overall decline in applications.

The Equity Transfer Initiative grant comes amid a surge in freshman and transfer student applications for UC Davis during the pandemic: The undergraduate application rate for the university increased by 11.7% this year. The applications also revealed a significant increase in undergraduate applicant diversity at UC Davis.

There was a 20.6% increase in applications from African American students, an 11.8% increase from Chicano and Latinx applicants, a 22% increase from Pacific Islander applicants and a 7.9% increase from Native American applicants.

“[The grant provides] such an opportunity to support students who come from historically underrepresented communities,” said Hope Medina, the director of transfer and veteran services at UC Davis. “We’re creating a successful pathway for African American students, Hispanic students, Chicano and Latino students, first-generation students.”

Medina noted the struggles first-generation college students potentially face in “blazing that trail” and fighting for resources.

“This grant goes a long way towards taking that pressure off of students and providing that space and opportunity for them to learn together and find success together,” Medina said.

The grant will provide funding to improve transfer outcomes for these underrepresented students at SCC and UC Davis, according to Don Hunt, the associate vice chancellor for enrollment management at UC Davis.

“We are looking to increase the support services, communications, and engagement models to support students as soon as they enter community college,” Hunt said in an email.

These services could include providing students with access to counselors and transfer representatives while attending community college, rather than after they arrive at the university. The grant could also help SCC students learn about pathways to the UC system and may also aid in tracking their progress from the beginning of their community college experience onward.

“We are still in the planning stages, so there is a lot to be developed in terms of a specific plan,” Hunt said via email.

Medina highlighted the importance of building a community for students transferring to UC Davis, who have spoken about their difficulties in meetings with advisors and other officials at the Transfer and Reentry Center.

Lacking a four-year experience at the university, they may struggle to adjust to their new surroundings, according to Medina.

“Students who are here for only two years feel like they have to hit the ground running, and it’s hard for them to build community,” Medina said. “Creating small cohorts [of students] […] is very impactful to how they transition over and how comfortable they feel.”
Written by: Rebecca Bihn-Wallace — campus@theaggie.org

Local businesses negatively impacted by storms, power outages

City News

ASUCD IT

February 22, 2021

Power outages led to lost revenue, spoiled food and damaged infrastructure for Davis businesses

Many businesses and operations were affected by the storms that happened Jan. 26-29 in the Northern California region which caused power outages and damaged infrastructure.

PG&E spokesperson Megan McFarland explained that these were the strongest storms since 2011 and led to the number of two and three-day outage totals being the highest they’ve ever been since 2010.

McFarland described the impact the storm had on customers.

“Since midnight on Tuesday, Jan. 26, through that Saturday morning, more than 935,000 PG&E customers lost power due to heavy wind, rain and snow,” McFarland said via email. “More than 90% of customers were restored within 12 hours after the start of the outage.”

In addition to power outages, there were more than 1,330 cases of “damaged infrastructure where equipment needed to be replaced or repaired, including 365 broken poles and 1,417 spans of wire,” McFarland said.

Some Davis businesses went without power for one to three days, and could not or chose not to resume business operations, resulting in a loss of revenue, according to the Marketing Coordinator for Davis Downtown Aaron Wedra.

Wedra explained via email that the storm caused physical damage to businesses.

“The storm itself damaged many outdoor patios or otherwise caused disarray to outdoor accommodations,” Wedra said. “Canopies were thrown by the wind and some were ripped or otherwise damaged. Downtown banners and light pole flags were tangled and torn.”

One such business that was affected was Cloud Forest Cafe. In addition to throwing away a plethora of products and spending large amounts of money on dry ice to keep food cool, the cafe was unable to operate for three days and thus earned no revenue for one-tenth of the month, according to the Manager of Cloud Forest Cafe T. H. Fang.

Once it was safe, 475 electrical workers and 477-plus crews, plus thousands of PG&E employees, began restoration and assessment work, according to McFarland.

City of Davis Vice Mayor Lucas Frerichs stated via email that this storm was one of the biggest he’s seen since living in Davis for 25 years and described the damage it caused.

“I live in the central part of the city, where there are many big trees and numerous overhead power lines, there were many instances where the downed trees were tangled up with the power lines and/or utility poles,” Frerichs said.

Fang expressed gratitude for technicians who worked to restore power quickly so Cloud Forest Cafe could recommence business operations.

The city also undertook some actions to help residents, according to Frerichs, including opening two charging locations.

“Many parts of Davis were without power, in some cases, for up to three full days, after the storm,” Frerichs said. “The city opened up two publicly accessible charging locations—one for medical devices and one for other items, such as cell phones and laptops, etc.”

Residents who went “[…] without power for more than 48 hours due to a severe event […]” could be eligible for Storm Inconvenience Payments as part of the Safety Net Program, according to McFarland.

Despite the damage caused to the businesses, Wedra explained that there was no permanent damage.

“I do not believe there was any irreparable damage,” Wedra said. “Business owners seemed to take the storm and electrical outage in stride with the rest of 2020 and now 2021. ‘We will rebuild’ seems to have been the sentiment.”

Written by: Shraddha Jhingan — city@theaggie.org

UC Davis Mind Institute develops maternal biomarkers test for early detection and potential early intervention of autism

Science & Technology

ASUCD IT

February 22, 2021

The test uses machine learning to recognize autoantibody patterns in mother’s plasma that are highly associated with autism

In a recent study conducted by the UC Davis MIND Institute, researchers discovered specific associations between maternal autoantibody patterns and increased risk of a child developing maternal autoantibody-related autism spectrum disorder (MAR ASD). By using these recurring patterns as potential biomarkers as inputs for machine learning, clinicians and doctors can test any mother’s plasma to observe whether the same patterns are present and make an early prediction of the chances that their child will develop ASD, even before a mother’s pregnancy.

Judy Van de Water—a professor at UC Davis Internal Medicine, Associate Director of UC Davis MIND Institute and lead author of the study—explained the impact this test could have on autism diagnosis.

“Right now, the average time for diagnosis is really three and a half to four years old, but by then the plasticity of the brain—to change how the brain is developing—is already complete,” Van de Water said. “But if we can diagnose really early, we can have a greater impact with earlier interventions.”

At a young age, brain development in children can be greatly impacted by their environment and interactions, an idea known as brain plasticity. Thus, being able to diagnose and intervene early has huge implications, including lessening the impacts of autism, according to Van de Water.

The research team worked to achieve early diagnosis by first comparing autoantibodies present in a mother whose child developed MAR ASD to those of a mother whose child developed normally. Alexandra Ramirez, a graduate student in UC Davis’ Graduate Immunology Group working in Van de Water’s research team and the first author of the paper, explained the process in which autoantibodies can attack fetal brains.

“We all have autoantibodies to some degree, but during pregnancy they can cross the mother’s placenta and the baby’s blood-brain barrier and attack certain targets in the fetal brain,” Ramirez said.

Autoantibodies are a type of immune response that attacks an individual’s own cells or proteins, and if a mother’s autoantibodies can target components of the fetal brain, alterations in neural development are inevitable.

Van de Water’s research team retrieved plasma samples from mothers of affected children and mothers of unaffected children from a comprehensive CHARGE study, which had accumulated a large sample of enrolled mothers and collected mass amounts of data on various environmental factors and risk exposures that could affect their child’s development. The team then identified through machine learning which autoantibody combinations and patterns were observed at high frequencies in mothers of children with ASD.

The researchers then built and validated a test of 100% accuracy that could recognize these autoantibody patterns that can alter fetal brain development in different mothers with ASD children. Irva Hertz-Picciotto, a principal investigator of the CHARGE study who previously collaborated with Van de Water, described the emotional stress parents may experience while learning of their child’s risk for autism.

“I remember talking to one family,” Hertz-Picciotto said. “They were thinking about getting pregnant and having another child and there’s an elevated risk of having a child [with ASD]. The father asked, ‘Well, how much?’ and I said, ‘Somewhere around 20%.’ The father was shocked, expecting it to be between 3 to 5% [chance of the child developing ASD]. It can be very devastating and draining for the family providing a child with intensive care.”

Ramirez explained that autism affects individuals in nearly every community throughout the U.S., highlighting that people with autism still face prejudice in communities where stigma is predominant.

“Autism is a disorder that affects 1 in 59 children in the U.S.,” said Ramirez. “And the tendency is still on the rise. We really do not know much about autism. In the more underrepresented communities, there is a lot of stigma on mental health, so just talking about it—this is a biological process—we need to educate ourselves and the community about how this is something that is real that we don’t really understand much about.”

Not only is academic discourse around this diverse and heterogeneous disorder of autism necessary, but so is a humane discussion of how we can better support families who oftentimes are left devastated thinking their child is different from the rest.

Though it will be a long time before this maternal biomarkers test can enter the market, both Ramierez and Van de Water note that it is a big step forward and a promising result, laying the foundation for further refinement and testing—as well as a much earlier diagnosis—that could change the whole process of ASD intervention and benefit families in the long run.

“As we move toward early risk detection as something more commonly administered, we can reduce the impact that autism has on both the family and the individual, so that life might be more comfortable for everyone as the early interventions can greatly lessen the severity of autism in the child,” Van de Water said.

Written by: Brandon Nguyen — science@theaggie.org

UC Davis research shows ‘shadow pandemic’ is disproportionately hurting women and girls

Features

ASUCD IT

February 22, 2021

UC Davis students and staff discuss COVID-19’s disproportionate effects on women, especially women of color

The COVID-19 pandemic has had effects that stretch far beyond public health and economic sectors, including its disproportionate effects on women. The adverse effects of COVID-19 on women has been called a “shadow pandemic” by many scholars, which Anna Ward—the grants and program manager at the Feminist Research Institute at UC Davis—described as the sometimes easy-to-miss, overlooked effects associated with the pandemic.

“So there’s a pandemic itself: the virus and the impact on people’s health, and then there’s consequences that flow from the measures that we […] take to combat it,” Ward said. “So [there are] social distancing lockdowns and the economic impact of that, of course. And the question is, who does that impact the most? Not surprisingly, it’s already marginalized populations that tend to be impacted the most, in this case, women and girls.”

The Feminist Research Institute at UC Davis is an organization working on intersectional, inclusive, justice-oriented and transformative feminist research. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they have conducted a lot of research regarding the implications of the pandemic on women.

Student-run clubs on campus, like She’s the First and Girl Up, have also been looking into the topic and discussed it at their recent joint Zoom meeting on Feb. 3. Ward’s research and the women in these organizations’ experiences carried similar themes. One of the topics of the Zoom discussion was the rising rate of domestic violence during the pandemic. According to Girl Up, one in five women worldwide have experienced some form of domestic abuse in the past year.

Catherine Rodriguez, a third-year microbiology major and the vice president of She’s the First, explained why researchers think that these rates are rising as a result of the pandemic.

“When you are around abusive people like that, they’re more likely to monitor what you’re doing, watch what you’re saying, so it becomes really hard,” Rodriguez said. “Even if you’re on Zoom, or maybe you’re in a closed room, and you’re talking to people or messaging them privately, there’s a great risk that you cannot say anything. [This] is leading to a lot more people becoming more severe victims of domestic violence.”

Ward shared a similar sentiment, calling the situation in the U.S. a “worst case scenario” for victims of domestic abuse.

“You have a highly stressful situation, with increased levels of social isolation, limitations on services, transportation,” Ward said. “So you take, for example, a home environment that was already volatile, where violence was already part of the picture, and now you have a circumstance in which people are stuck at home together, perhaps isolated from extended family members and friends.”

Another issue that was brought up in the discussion was the rising number of women and girls leaving the workforce and schools to take on greater roles at home. Twenty million girls worldwide have left school during the past year and are assumed not to return when the COVID-19 pandemic ends, according to She’s the First.

Tanya Sanexa, a third-year biological sciences major, explained why this has profound negative implications moving forward.

“When women get educated, it’s more likely that they are [going] to educate their children, and other women as well, and lift other women up,” Sanexa said. “So women not getting that education or lacking the access or the support they need to do that is actually pretty disheartening because they won’t get to move forward in their lives in that way, especially in […] third-world and developing countries where women’s education is not given much importance anyway. For a girl to lose that opportunity, it kind of limits her chances.”

As for the workforce, CBS This Morning has found that one in four women is considering scaling back or leaving the workforce as a result of the pandemic. According to Ward, this trend has disproportionately impacted women of color in industries that already have lower workforce participation rates of Black and Latina women.

“The implications are particularly disturbing in the U.S. context,” Ward said. “Because if you look at the women who have dropped out of the workforce so far, and who are considering dropping out of the workforce, it’s not just women, it’s almost exclusively Black and [Latina] women. If you look at the rates for white women, not much has changed. So it’s a very racialized issue.”

Many women have left the workforce because of the additional housework that the pandemic has created. Ward explained that among people working from home and essential workers, women are taking on the responsibility of homeschooling and caretaking at much higher rates.

“Every colleague I know, including myself, that has kids is just barely hanging on,” Ward said. “Women just tend to be more of the caregivers and kind of hold that responsibility more, so if you’re trying to work with your kids at home because schools are closed, that’s not fun. But also, when we talk about essential workers, a lot of those workers are women. You’ve got women that are having to continue to go to work without childcare support and having to come up with all sorts of ways around that.”

Sanexa shared that during the discussion on Feb. 3, a lot of attendees noticed this trend of women taking on more responsibilities in their own households.

“When we were talking about if we had seen any pressures being placed on our moms during these quarantine times, a lot of girls resonated with that,” Sanexa said. “I also spoke a little bit about […] how most of the time you look to your mom for taking care of the house, and when you’re living at home during quarantine. Between the girls that was a common narrative.”

Ward hopes that if anything positive is to come from this disparity, it will be an understanding that these caretaking and home responsibilities have fallen on women for generations and are only being exasperated during COVID-19.

“People need to be treated as whole people,” Ward said. “We need to build policy accordingly. There’s a sociologist by the name of Jess Calarco that had a great line about this recently, where she said, ‘Other countries have social safety nets, the U.S. has women.’ My hope is that COVID-19 kind of forces us to get serious about recognizing that and changing that and really taking into account how much we rely on the labor of not just women, but girls as well.”
Written by: Katie DeBenedetti — features@theaggie.org

Your post-Valentine’s Day reminders and remedies

ASUCD IT

February 22, 2021

The only difference between you and a calendar is that the calendar had a date for Valentine’s Day

I’ll be honest with you. The past few weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day were emotionally harrowing. Why are there Valentine’s Day sections in literally every business enterprise? Target? Even Trader Joe’s, are you kidding? Call me John because I honestly ain’t Cena thing.

Without further ado, here are my post-Valentine’s Day reminders. Keep these at the back of your mind at all times. There are many fish out there who literally swim all year round. Real swimmers’ seasons don’t stop; they go all out every fall, winter, spring and summer.

YOU ARE NOT A BOARD GAME. Remember your worth—you are not a board game, so no one has the right to play you. This goes out to everyone as a general reminder.
Sometimes when they make you a playlist, it honestly just means they’re in your played list. This goes out to all my indie music lovers out there. Make sure your indie boyfriends do more than just play the same Tame Impala songs for you. Also, if they only play you Tame Impala songs, that’s a red flag—add some variety.
Roses are red, violets are blue. Just because they’re investing in GameStop doesn’t mean they’ll ever invest in you. Even economics nerds know that love is the riskiest investment of all. This is me telling you now that you are worth every investment.
Sometimes they’re in our lives so that we can meet their pals and get better vibes. Remember, you meet their homies for a reason: expanding your options (for friends and such, of course).
If you ask for their phone number and they freak, just know that they belong to the streets.

Written by Macy Lee — mcslee@ucdavis.edu

Disclaimer: (This article is humor and/or satire, and its content is purely fictional. The story and/or names of “sources” are fictionalized.)

Each year, a new disaster spawns

ASUCD IT

February 22, 2021

Drawn by: Ke Lin –– keylin@ucdavis.edu

Disclaimer: (This cartoon is humor and/or satire, and its content is purely fictional. The story and names of “sources” are fictionalized.)

New super-coronaviruses discovered

ASUCD IT

February 22, 2021

Technically they’re mutants, but that didn’t sound as cool

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on, many mutations of the virus have developed. Last week, however, researchers that I fabricated in my brain discovered some very strange mutant variants of the coronavirus.

While observing some of the viruses under the microscope, Dr. Stanley Trask noticed that certain viruses had developed special abilities. “I was checking out the spike proteins on the outside of some of the viruses, and one literally had metal claws.” Trask has nicknamed this one “the angry badger.”

This, however, wasn’t the only mutation that was found. Other researchers in the lab quickly discovered more strange mutations: the ability to control metal, shapeshifting into other viruses and “this one was just bald in a wheelchair.”

Another researcher, Dr. Jacoby McCoy, found something interesting about some of these mutations. “Some of these mutant viruses would go around killing the regular coronaviruses, but then other mutant viruses fight those mutant viruses and would save the regular coronaviruses. It would make for a really good plot for a comic book series that possibly could be an action film franchise. But who am I kidding, I’m just a doctor.”

According to researchers, the effectiveness of vaccines is unknown against these mutant variants. Strangely, however, most agree that if “they made a movie about the origin story for the virus with metal claws, it probably wouldn’t be worth watching.”

Currently, more research is needed, so just don’t worry about it. Just stay home and maybe watch a good movie or two. Disney+ has many movies from the X-Men film franchise. If you bundle it with Hulu and ESPN+, it’s a pretty good value because the “Deadpool” movies are on Hulu. What? Did you think this was a real article?

Written By: Ean Kimura (who is not paid by Disney) — etkimura@ucdavis.edu

Wait then why did he even write this? This is not even selling out. It’s just kind of sad, not even funny and just weird. What’s his deal? Good lord he even did a post-credit scene.

Disclaimer: (This article is humor and/or satire, and its content is purely fictional. The story and/or names of “sources” are fictionalized.)

Wait… no, it’s over.

Written By: Ean Kimura (who is not paid by Disney) — etkimura@ucdavis.edu
Disclaimer: (This article is humor and/or satire, and its content is purely fictional. The story and/or names of “sources” are fictionalized.)

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