Students find a sense of community in cooperative living

Campus culture often encourages students to focus on themselves — to better improve their personal situations and therefore, be more successful coming out of college. There’s a small group of students on our campus, however, who have dedicated themselves to the betterment of their own small communities: Co-ops. A co-op is defined as an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. More simply put, cooperative housing is a group of people who choose to live together and create a community which thrives on mutual cooperation.

Davis has many co-ops located on campus and downtown that serve as living options for students interested in this way of life. Many of these on-campus co-ops are a part of the Solar Community Housing Association (SCHA), a university nonprofit run by residents of co-ops on campus. It’s mission statement is “SCHA is committed to providing low-income cooperative housing that works to confront and critique systems of oppression through ecological awareness, inclusive self-governance and alternative economic models.” One co-op that falls under SCHA is the Tri-Cooperatives located behind Segundo. Davis alumna Francesca Tettamanzi was a resident of the Tri-Cooperatives and feels this mission statement was central to her college experience.

“Living in the Tri-Cooperative impacted me because it allowed me to walk into leadership roles,” Tettamanzi said. “This was really important to me because as a student, I feel we are constantly fighting to get to a certain place in life, and the Tri-Cooperative allowed me to gain experience that I can apply to my adult life.”

Social justice is also a central idea emphasized in the SCHA mission statement. Tettamanzi believes this expectation enhanced her college experience and her ability to view the world with a wider scope of understanding.

“Living cooperatively made me work with people who did not necessarily come from the same places or have the same perspectives as me, and I think that taught me the valuable skill of cooperating with people different than myself,” Tettamanzi said.

Not all Davis co-ops are affiliated with SCHA, however, and as a result, these co-ops must find the best way to function independently. One of these co-ops is located in Downtown Davis and is known as Turtle House. Turtle House functions based on the people living in it, making mutual respect and cooperation from its residents vital to its survival. Fourth-year psychology major John Lynch has found both a home and a community living at Turtle House. Lynch believes the culture at Turtle House is very much dependent on the residents living there on a year-to-year basis and their specific demands.

“When you are dealing with cooperative living you are dealing with 20 different identities, 20 different incomes, 20 different schedules and 20 different people with different needs,” Lynch said.

Lynch also believes the culture of Davis has a significant impact on its co-ops. Turtle House in particular has events in which residents show art, or perform music —  events that lend themselves to the culture and vibe of the space.

“Davis fosters an environment that is often progressive, artistic and environmentally friendly,” Lynch said. “Turtle house is a space that facilitates events related to this for us, like being able to have shows in the basement.”

Lynch argues that the sense of agency given to residents is empowering in itself. Because each resident is at the core of its function, Turtle House is a space which reflects the needs of the people in it.

Assistant professor of communication, Seth Fry is an expert on cooperative living and has dedicated much of his undergraduate and postgraduate life to understanding the in’s and out’s of cooperative living. Having attended the University of California, Berkeley for his undergraduate degree, Fry lived in various co-ops and went on to be a founding member of a graduate co-op at the University of Indiana, Bloomington. He has since gone on to study co-ops all over the United States and around the world. Fry shares Lynch’s belief that cooperative living can be incredibly empowering and can introduce students to an alternative way of living.

“My journey with co-ops started with going to parties, but it ended up leading me down a path of political and economic empowerment, both because of its affordability and because of the experience it gives you being an effective participant in democracy,” Fry said.

This is especially relevant for young people living in the current political climate. Fry believes that those who participate in democracy in everyday life are better able to make informed decisions when it comes to voting.

“To prevent democracy being taken over by Demagogues, we need citizens who are savvy and know how to vote against corruption,” Fry said. “In my mind, people who live in co-ops have the day-to-day experience that make them informed of both the upsides and the downsides of democracy.”

Cooperative living is not only an effective way to find a community within UC Davis but has many real-world implications that students often overlook. By fostering a way of living based in growth and responsibility, students receive much more out of co-ops than simply a place to live.

Written by: Miki Wayne  — features@theaggie.org

Davis students and faculty comment on the use of Tinder in college

Back in August, the popular dating application, Tinder, created a new feature that made it easier for college students to connect with each other. When Tinder was first introduced back in 2014, the app was used primarily on college campuses to encourage students to engage with one another in various ways. Since then, Tinder has gained the reputation of being an app used for hookups and a place to look for potential partners.

Associate professor Paul Eastwick teaches PSC 51: Love, Lust, and Human Evolution, an undergraduate class focused on human relationships.

Some view Tinder as a platform to find partners for potential hookups, but Eastwick details why he believes that Tinder is a viable way to start a relationship whether it’s serious or casual.

“I think Tinder is absolutely a good way to meet a potential partner,” Eastwick said. “The best thing that Tinder, and really all online dating platforms can offer, is the ability to introduce you to people that you might not have otherwise met and that’s something they do really well, they expand the pool of possibilities for you.”

Eastwick explained how the idea that Tinder is not a strong foundation for a relationship is not necessarily true.

“Those early intentions, before you meet a person face to face are overrated,” Eastwick said. “That’s the sort of typical course that relationships take, is that they meet somebody and they sort of figure it out from there, and sometimes ‘figuring it out’ means that you hook up and it doesn’t really go anywhere and sometimes ‘figuring it out’ means its takes a while and you realize you really like the person, so in that sense anything that expands peoples pool is a perfectly great way to meet a partner.”

Although there are a multitude of dating apps available, Tinder seems to be one of the most widely used dating application in college. Eastwick explains why he believes this might be.  

“I think most users of Tinder are using it because it’s fun to use in the moment,” Eastwick said. “From my understanding, it’s sort of rewarding to swipe through and get matches […] and because of that, I think Tinder feels more like a game which makes it more enjoyable in and of itself. The eHarmony that I remember from a few year ago was kind of like ‘a thing you had to do’. You would get a few profiles a day, and you would have to look through them and see what you thought, which is not meant to be as much goofy and fun as Tinder is.”

Since Tinder was released in late 2012 to a few college campuses, there has been a significant increase in the amount of users. Eastwick offered a potential change to the app that might make it more successful in helping users find partners.

“I think the most successful dating apps are like to be the ones that leverage people’s existing social networks,” Eastwick said. “Essentially, what it’s doing is not only introducing you to people that you wouldn’t have met otherwise, but also pointing you to the ways that your social networks may overlap and having friends in common and having the support of those friends for your relationship is generally a good thing […] hopping to a brand new social network is a harder thing to do.”

Up until the start of Fall Quarter, third-year managerial economics major Stephen Fallon was an avid user of Tinder.

“I think Tinder’s intended purpose is for people to meet new people and where you go from there is up to your discretion,” Fallon said. “From my personal experience, I always like to just go with the flow and that’s just kind of like my trademark, just because you can meet some really cool people off of Tinder from just talking to them, but then there are also some people that you just do not vibe with.”

Fallon describes his experience as a ex-Tinder user.

“I was so against Tinder before I got it, and once I finally downloaded it, it was like the dam broke down,” Fallon said. “On the first week, I was averaging 6 hours a day, that’s how bad it was […] so when I say I had Tinder, I had Tinder. It was an awesome way to kill time, and I felt like God when I was swiping through like ‘no, yes, yes, no.’ Then when I got back to school I had more responsibilities and I was like ‘what the hell am I doing with my life’ so I deleted the app.”

After matching with a person on Tinder, both individuals have the opportunity to message each other, start a conversation and possibly meet in person. Fallon explains when he felt he was willing to meet up with someone in person and how long they stayed in touch for.

“It depends on the eagerness of the person,” Fallon said. “I’ve had like one girl that I exchanged maybe three messages with and we met up, but it was really weird. And then I was talking to this other girl for over a month and a half and then we finally met up, but it was way better to meet up with someone that I waited longer for because it felt like I had already known her so we didn’t have to do all the, ‘Where’s your family from?’ shit […] On average I would say that I keep in touch with my matches for three weeks, but then there are some that I have been friends with for over six months.”

Personally, Fallon could never see himself starting a serious relationship with someone he met on Tinder.

“I don’t think that Tinder is a good way to start a relationship,” Fallon said. “But I know someone who literally got married to someone he met on Tinder, so I guess it can happen […] I think in general [Tinder] should be used for people you want to meet casually and talk to, but I guess the best way to be in a relationship is to fall ass-backwards so I guess I will play the devil’s advocate for that.”

Fallon detailed how he used Tinder more at home than while he was at college.

“I think I use Tinder a lot more at home because I am constantly new meeting people through clubs and organizations [on campus],” Fallon said. “Whereas at home, i’m not trying to see the same people from high school, that just sucks, so instead it’s like ‘oh this person is five miles away, do you want to grab coffee?’”

Lillian Cheung, a second-year undeclared major, explained why she uses Tinder and what type of people she hopes to engage with on the app.

“I personally use Tinder to meet new people and potentially meet someone I can consider having a casual or serious relationship with,” Cheung said. “As a bisexual female, I’ve been exploring my interest in girls more lately, but I still don’t know how to approach girls so Tinder is a way to meet them. As I’m becoming more comfortable with myself and my sexuality, Tinder is a way to meet people and explore what I like and don’t like.”

Cheung explained how she uses Tinder more than other dating applications because of its widespread advertisement on a college campus.

“It’s more popular because we hear about Tinder more than any of the other dating apps and it’s been normalized in society,” Cheung said. “I heard about Tinder first because of the phrase ‘swipe right’ and it became an ongoing joke in society to say you would swipe right on someone if you thought they were cute.”

Third-year mechanical engineering major Reese Short explained why he is an advocate for Tinder although he has never been a user.

“I’m an advocate for the hookup generation,” Short said. “People don’t like to talk about it, but everyone has needs and Tinder establishes a pretty easy way to come to an ideal that you are both going to consent to something. So you both essentially go and read the situation with the person and you mutually match and then you can talk on Tinder first and say ‘this is what I want’ and you can basically set those boundaries before you even meet up with a person.’

Being on a college campus with over 35,000 students it can be hard to form close relationships, Short explained. Tinder gives people the chance to have that one-on-one interaction without feeling intimidated to talk to someone in person.

“It’s easier than going up to people and talking to them in person,” Short said. “In high school, you were in such a small area and you knew everybody and everyone knew each other. But here, I haven’t had a class under 150 people yet, and I can see how someone could be intimidated by that. [Tinder] just gives people the confidence to go talk to someone and meet someone new.”

Written by:  Sneha Ramachandran — features@theaggie.org