Local electronic music collective brings a lively approach to sleepy Saturday mornings 

By EMME DUNNING — features@theaggie.org

For many, listening to live music is strictly a nighttime activity. Electronic dance music (EDM) shows in particular have a longstanding reputation for large crowds, dark rooms and a party-like atmosphere. Davis Rave Collective, a local music collective, is attempting to shift this narrative. 

On Jan. 18, Davis Rave Co. held a morning music set at Volt Coffee, Tea & Taps, a coffee shop and beer garden located on Olive Drive in Davis. As patrons enjoyed their morning beverages, rotating DJs with the group played varying subgenres of electronic music such as minimal tech, progressive house and melodic tech. 

The set was the first event of a new initiative DRC is hoping to make a regular addition to Davis mornings — a monthly morning music set highlighting local artists for new and different audiences. For DRC, the main goal of the morning coffee set was increasing accessibility to live music. 

“Some people are morning people, and just because you’re a morning person doesn’t mean you need to be any less involved in music,” Mikayla Bailey, a fourth-year environmental science and management major, said. “It’s a lot about expanding access.” 

Bailey is the current marketing lead for the DRC and believes that electronic music can and should be enjoyed by people of all ages, beyond just a traditional concert or rave setting. On the morning of Jan. 18, patrons of Volt could be seen doing just that. People of all ages gathered to enjoy the music while socializing, studying or nodding along. 

“People were there to vibe and have that morning boost and carry on with their day,” Bailey said. 

The DRC hopes that events such as this one will help integrate more people into the local music community and — as Aaron Helali, a recent UC Davis alum with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in biological sciences, described it — “disrupt the norm.” 

For Volt Coffee, this idea of disrupting the norm is a core value — the shop itself was born out of an unconventional idea: to be a traditional coffee and tea shop during the day and transition into a beer garden in the evening. 

Jacqueline Siefker, a manager and partner at Volt, outlined the motivations behind this goal.

“Our vision for Volt is to be something different and unique,” Siefker said. “We want our space to be inviting and a place people enjoy coming to. We aim to have something for every guest — whether that be coffee, beer or food.”

It is this very vision that made DRC a natural partner for the local shop. 

“[They] reached out to us with a vision to do something different by changing the typical music scene from clubs and night events or bars to something that can be enjoyed in the morning,” Siefker said. “DRC helped us connect with more people which is a big mission for Volt as we want to be inviting for everyone.”

For Helali, Davis Rave Co.’s mission to make music accessible is personal. As the current chief operating officer (COO) of Davis Rave Co. and a DJ himself, Helali is familiar with the ins and outs of the music industry — but this hasn’t always been the case. 

Growing up, Helali gravitated toward sports and science-related activities, which majorly shaped his interests in college. These activities included his decision to major in biological sciences, as well as his pursuing the men’s club lacrosse team while enrolled at UC Davis. 

“If you told me freshman year that this is the position I’d be in, I’d have been like, ‘What happened?’’’ Helali said. 

It was not until Helali met Caden Velasquez, the founder of Davis Rave Co., through the UC Davis club lacrosse team that he considered pursuing music in any formal capacity. Helali began working with Velasquez at different events, learning the ropes along the way. 

“Gig after gig, I just started learning more and learning why everything is set up the way it is,” Helali said. 

Today, Helali is a key figure within Davis Rave Co., taking on a large role in event planning. A major goal for Helali is to help others find the same joy that music has brought him in an inviting and accessible format.

“Finding this perspective and this community was eye-opening for me,” Helali said. “I realized how important it is and how important it is to share that love with others. I think it’s just important to have these third spaces for people to be able to connect with each other, connect with music and have a safe space to enjoy themselves.”

Helali noted that the music community can also bring solace and a sense of unity throughout times of turmoil. 

“Especially with how the world is now, it’s important to find places where you’re safe but you can also express yourself,” Helali said. 

The morning coffee set aimed to promote this very atmosphere — a goal that Helali believes proved successful. 

“It went really, really well,” Helali said. “There were people from start to finish and it was just a really nice organic little vibe. It was nothing too crazy or energetic, but it was groovy. It was fun.” 

For both Volt and DRC, the event fulfilled key values of building community and creating a unique experience for everyone involved. Although the initiative may move locations in the coming months, Davis Rave Co. hopes to host similar events in the future, whether at Volt or at different local locations, to spread their love for both EDM and the Davis community. 

Written by: Emme Dunning — features@theaggie.org

Online smear campaigns use social media to shape public opinion

By LAILA AZHAR — features@theaggie.org

Early into the press tour for “It Ends With Us” — a 2024 film based on Colleen Hoover’s 2016 novel — fans were quick to point out tensions between the cast members. 

Co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, who also directed the film, were rarely spotted with each other outside of filming. At the movie’s premiere, the two didn’t pose for a single photograph together. Lively and Hoover, alongside cast member Jenny Slate and Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, subsequently unfollowed Baldoni on Instagram. 

On social media, a narrative quickly emerged, and Lively was widely criticized for her lighthearted tone in promotional interviews. 

“Grab your friends, wear your florals and head out to see [the movie],” Lively said in a promotional video posted on Instagram. 

Baldoni, on the other hand, spoke soberly about the realities of domestic violence, a theme the movie devotes much of its attention to. 

A 2016 video of Lively responding to an interviewer’s question about her pregnancy resurfaced — titled “The Blake Lively interview that made me want to quit my job.” Additionally, Lively promoted her beverage company and launched a hair-care company alongside her promotion of the film, as well as revealed her husband had written a scene and commissioned her own edit of the film, earning her a producer credit.  

In the court of social media, Lively was found guilty of being abrasive and hard to work with, of being controlling and of skirting Baldoni’s authority over the movie and guilty of being callous toward the serious subject matter of the film, according to public opinion. 

In December 2024, nearly five months after the movie’s release, The New York Times’ article, “‘We Can Bury Anyone’: Inside a Hollywood Smear Machine,” revealed the behind-the-scenes details of the situation. 

Lively had called a meeting with Baldoni and Jamey Heath, the film’s lead producer, in which she had made several complaints regarding inappropriate conduct on set, according to the article. 

“She claimed Mr. Baldoni had improvised unwanted kissing and discussed his sex life,” the article reads. “Mr. Heath had shown her a video of his wife naked. […] She said that both men repeatedly entered her makeup trailer uninvited while she was undressed, including when she was breastfeeding.” 

Following these complaints, Lively then made requests requiring an intimacy coordinator to be on set during her and Baldoni’s scenes together to ensure her safety and comfort. In return, Baldoni, alongside public relations (PR) executives Melissa Nathan, Jessica Abel and Jed Wallace, orchestrated a media frenzy aimed at painting Lively in a negative light, according to the article. 

For example, the report states that the official marketing strategy for the movie involved keeping an uplifting tone when discussing the film. When Lively received criticism for this approach, Baldoni and his PR team chose to display a more serious attitude, according to The New York Times article. 

While the details of how the campaign operated are murky, communication between the PR executives contain references to “social manipulation” and “proactive fan posting,” according to the article. 

“We’ve started to see shift on social, due largely to Jed and his team’s efforts to shift the narrative,” one of Nathan’s employees wrote in a group text. 

 A leaked voice note, however, shows Baldoni apologizing to Lively for his initial reaction to her version of a scene, praising her creative skills. Many believe this shows that Baldoni was not responsible for a hostile environment on set and was instead receptive and accommodating to her ideas. 

His legal team additionally released a video of Baldoni and Lively on set together while filming a slow dance scene, claiming it refutes her allegations of harassment. Baldoni denies the allegations made by Lively, alleging that she collaborated with The New York Times to portray him in an unfavorable light. He has filed lawsuits against both Lively and The New York Times for defamation and libel, respectively. The trial is set for March 2026. 

The public discourse over the PR campaign has brought attention to a similar situation of an actress’ abuse allegations being discredited. In 2016, Johnny Depp’s ex-wife Amber Heard filed for a restraining order claiming she had been physically and sexually abused. 

“She’s begging for global humiliation,” Depp said via text message. “She’s gonna get it.”

In 2022, the Depp v. Heard defamation trial took the internet completely by storm. This case, however, wasn’t the first time these claims of physical abuse had been tried in court.

When an article published in The Sun referred to Depp as a “wife beater,” he filed a lawsuit against News Group Newspapers Limited in the High Court of Justice in London, claiming the piece was libelous. He lost the case, and in 2020, the judge ruled that 12 cases of alleged assault had been proven to a civil standard. 

The 2022 case regarded an op-ed Heard published in The Washington Post in 2018 — an op-ed in which she did not specifically name Depp. Rather, Heard had stated that she had become “a public figure representing domestic abuse.”

The livestreamed trial sparked a barrage of online hate toward Heard. Social media users scrutinized every detail of her body language, mocked her testimony and criticized her every move.

As Depp was more famous than Heard, he had a natural advantage when it came to garnering the public’s sympathy. Additionally, he employed a crisis PR team (which included Melissa Nathan, who would later go on to represent Baldoni), and the conservative media outlet The Daily Wire, founded by Ben Shapiro, spent thousands of dollars promoting anti-Heard advertisements. 

In a 2023 journal article, researchers analyzed the impact different forms of information diffusion on social media have on public discourse, comparing viral diffusion (when information is spread through a peer-to-peer network) and broadcast diffusion (when an external event serves as a catalyst for discourse across various internet communities). 

Richard Huskey, a co-author of the paper and a professor in the UC Davis Department of Communication and the Cognitive Science program, commented on the broadcast-like nature of the Depp v. Heard trial’s coverage on social media. 

“Even I heard about it,” Huskey said. “I’m not connected to those kinds of people on the internet at all — I am not following that kind of discourse, and somehow it even made its way into my conscious awareness.” 

While topics like this one initially generate a lot of attention, eventually the internet moves on. 

“When we’re looking at an event that will elicit a broadcast diffusion, there’s first not a lot of conversation and discussion, and then all of a sudden everybody’s talking about it all at once,” Huskey said. “The peak happens almost at the very beginning and then discussion kind of decays over time.” 

However, despite their short lifespan online, the impact of these situations are far-reaching — as one student at UC Davis has observed, they reveal a culture of misogyny online.

“It shows how thinly veiled the hatred for powerful [and] beautiful women really is,” Ella Fodor, a second-year wildlife, fish and conservation biology major, said. 

As Cuahtemoc Martinez Marquez, a second-year international relations and psychology double major, pointed out, these situations display the immense power of social media.

“Using the press to shift everyone’s opinion and cover your own faults is a gaslighting technique,” Marquez said. “This situation shows a very negative side to social media: its ability to ruin reputations.” 

This sentiment echoes the ideas expressed in an open letter signed by more than 130 domestic violence organizations and experts: Powerful men, armed with public relations teams and media manipulation, have seemingly learned to weaponize the internet to tarnish the reputations of women who speak out, setting a dangerous precedent for victims everywhere.

On social media, it’s often easy to scroll mindlessly, passively absorbing online content without fully understanding the forces behind it. We can be flooded with posts, opinions, and content that generate conversation and have the potential to shape our thoughts, without even realizing how this discourse might be manipulated to serve a specific agenda. 

The Depp v. Heard trial has largely faded from online discourse. In a few months, the Lively and Baldoni situation will likely follow suit, but the online culture that subjects victims of abuse to onslaughts of public ridicule will remain. The internet is not an inherently neutral space — it can be shaped by existing social structures and manipulated to meet the needs of powerful individuals.  

Melissa Nathan — who worked on both Depp and Baldoni’s campaigns — encapsulated the underlying dynamics of these media strategies in a leaked text from The New York Times article. 

“And the socials are really, really ramping up in his favour,” Nathan said. “She must be furious. It’s actually sad because it just shows you how people really want to hate on women.”

Written by: Laila Azhar — features@theaggie.org

The background behind the frogs that live in Davis and how students can help them out

By AMBER WARNKE — features@theaggie.org

Frogs have long been objects of fascination and been depicted in countless memes, stories, TV shows and other aspects of pop culture. It is no surprise that they have found their way into the hearts of many UC Davis students as well. 

Ethan Negus, a second-year biological sciences major, grew up loving the creatures. 

“I used to always go to the [Los Angeles] Zoo and go to the little [amphibian exhibit], and I would always just stare at the frogs,” Negus said. “I don’t know what inextricably drew me to them, but I just feel like when I stare [into] the eyes of a non-thinking frog, I just feel my soul at peace. They’re just so chill.” 

Matthew Perez, a fourth-year chemical engineering major and long-time frog lover, tuned into the frog conversation as well.

“I’ve noticed that a lot of people are into frogs [in Davis],” Perez said. “They’re really seen as a symbol of nature itself, and there [are] a lot of people in Davis that came here because they love the amount of nature.” 

Brian Todd, a professor of conservation biology and herpetology at UC Davis, agreed with this statement, explaining that amphibians help connect him with nature as a whole. Todd also believes that many people love frogs because of their strange, alien-like appearance.  

“Half their body looks like a mouth, and I think that creates this really weird alien perspective — and yet they always seem pretty harmless,” Todd said. “And with the exception of some of the grumpy frog memes that you see on the internet, they also seem to always be in a relatively whimsical mood.”

Negus shared Todd’s love of frogs, describing the amphibians as lovely, but added that his feelings are multifaceted.

“They’re pretty awesome, except for when they do irrevocable damage to the ecosystem,” Negus said.

Certain invasive frog species can greatly harm ecosystems, especially when they outcompete native frog species. Invasive species often threaten native ones by competing for scarce resources, reducing biodiversity and altering habitats. 

“One [species] that you’ll sometimes see [in Davis] that’s not native is the American bullfrog,” Todd said. “[They] will either eat the [native] tadpoles or they’ll outcompete them. One [native species] you don’t see a whole lot anymore but can still be found in the area, especially along Putah Creek, is the western toad.”

The western toad frogs can grow up to four inches in length and are brown, gray or olive with black spots. They can secrete an irritating fluid from glands on their skin and feed on aquatic plants, insects and small invertebrates.

Todd also explained that contrary to popular belief, toads are still frogs, but not all frogs are toads. 

“We reserve ‘frogs’ often for the more aquatic or arboreal species, [ones that are found] climbing in trees,” Todd said. “We reserve ‘toads’ for the more terrestrial, drier-skinned species that are found.”

Todd continued by describing some other common frog species in Davis. 

“The other [species] that you’ll see more commonly, and [that] you’re more likely to hear than you are to actually see, is the western chorus frog,” Todd said.

These frogs, also called the Hollywood frog, are quite small, growing up to only 1.5 inches in length, and have several dark brown or gray stripes. 

“Anytime you see a movie or a TV show and they have frogs calling, it’s usually a recording of the western chorus frog or Pacific chorus frog,” Todd said. 

Todd added that the Pacific chorus frog can also often be heard calling in the UC Davis Arboretum but can be hard to spot, as they often hide in dense vegetation. In recent years, pacific chorus frogs are much more populous in Davis than western toads, but this hasn’t always been the case. 

“Western toads used to be all over Davis, so much so that Davis was famously made fun of on Fox News because, at the expense of the city, they developed a tunnel that went under a road, and it was called the toad tunnel,” Todd said. 

The Davis toad tunnel was constructed in 1995 at a cost of $14,000 and ran underneath Pole Line Road overpass. Unfortunately, the frogs overheated and died from lights in the tunnel and were picked off by birds that waited at the tunnel’s end.

“[The tunnel] was supposed to connect one side of the road to a wetland on the other side, so that all the toads would go under it,” Todd said. 

While the tunnel is no longer operating, students can still visit Toads Hollow, a small set of frog-themed statues and ornamental houses that were meant to await the toads on the other side of the tunnel. 

Today, Todd said the major challenge native frogs in Davis face is tied to the way the land of Davis has been altered over time.

“We have changed a lot of the waterways in California so that they don’t dry out every summer like they were supposed to and like they used to,” Todd said. “That’s actually really good for amphibians, when they dry out — because it keeps things like fish and bullfrogs from taking over.” 

This has led to less space for frogs to breed, lay their eggs and survive, according to Todd — majorly problematic as frogs are also highly important to ecosystem health. Frogs are a “keystone species,” balancing the food chain by acting as both predator and prey: They act as a food source for birds, fish, snakes and other wildlife while also controlling pest levels. Most critically, however, they are also an “indicator species,” which means that frog species are the first to be affected by pollution and ecosystem changes. Frog species’ well-being thus reflects the general health of an ecosystem. 

Because of this, however, over half of all frog species are in danger of becoming extinct, especially as the Chytrid fungus, discovered in 1998, has been causing rampant disease in frog species across five continents.  

The most important way to protect frogs is by pushing for environmental protection in general by supporting laws that emphasize conservation and combat climate change. Increasing the amount of habitat available to frogs, such as by incorporating more ponds and greenery into gardens, can also be beneficial. 

“If you live in a place where you can manage your landscape, having lots of shrubs and bushes around seems to be where all these frogs like to hang out,” Todd said. 

Avoiding using pesticides and slug pellets is also vital, as these pollute the environment with chemicals that can be absorbed directly into frogs’ skin. Lastly, Todd added that students should look, but not touch, any froggy friends that they see. 

“Not handling them is a good thing,” Todd said. “It’s hard not to want to pick up every frog you see, but a lot of times that can stress the animals out and can introduce or spread diseases around.”

Protecting these amphibians is especially important to Negus, who believes that frogs carry life lessons all UC Davis students can benefit from. 

“I think at least every person in their time on Earth should look into the eyes of a frog as it’s just really living it up in a water structure and just existing,” Negus said. “I think we could all learn to exist like frogs and just put aside whatever troubles us. Anything in life that seems insurmountable at any point, we should just take a minute to appreciate that frogs, [who] no matter their strife and effectiveness of their tunnels, just seem to have a good time, all the time.”

Written by: Amber Warnke — features@theaggie.org

UC Davis recreational soccer players share their love for the sport

By GRACIELA TIU — features@theaggie.org

Recreational sports provide a unique opportunity for people to play the sport they enjoy without the stress of a large time commitment. Recreational soccer at UC Davis is a popular sport of choice, with many students finding benefits from the recreational soccer program.

“Rec soccer has helped me stay physically good and mentally happy,” Sammy Aguilar, a second-year psychology major, said. “In a place like college, it’s easy to get caught up in schoolwork and the stress that comes with it. Rec soccer has helped me relieve that stress and keeps me mentally calm, since I am playing the sport I love the most with friends, worrying about nothing and enjoying the time I have playing out there.”

Recreational soccer at UC Davis accepts people from various levels and backgrounds, welcoming those with years of experience and those with little to no experience at all.

“I have been playing soccer my entire life at a variety of levels — and coming from

playing every day throughout high school, I knew I would want to continue playing in college,” Kate Bienkowski, a first-year mechanical engineering major, said. “As much as I love playing at a highly competitive level, I wasn’t quite prepared to join the school’s official club team, so rec soccer seemed like a perfect fit for me. I also wanted to expand my social circle and meet new kinds of people that I otherwise would not have the opportunity to meet.”

One of the most fulfilling aspects of recreational soccer for many students is the tight-knit dynamic fostered by recreational sports teams.

“The overall culture and environment of the rec soccer community is family-like,” Adi Srivastava, a second-year nutrition science major, said. “Most people know each other because we’ve played throughout our time at the university. Everybody is light-hearted and everybody does a great job of playing clean but also making the games competitive.”

Many students comment that they find the atmosphere on the field feels very encouraging and comfortable. Bienkowski discussed that this was especially helpful as a new student who was seeking an environment to play with others who share a love for the sport. 

“The environment in rec soccer is overwhelmingly supportive and welcoming,” Bienkowski said. “As a freshman who came to college not knowing a single person here, I was anxious about finding a group to play with. Without having to do much work on my end, I was invited to join a team full of strangers who welcomed me with open arms, with no concerns over my skill level or how well I would mesh with the group. I feel like that is a perfect example of what kind of community the rec soccer teams are.”

Students often find more than just supportive teammates on the field — they also make meaningful friendships.

“Many of the friends I have now I met through playing recreational soccer,” Aguilar said. “These friends have become an important part of my life and I’m really grateful to have found them. I love that we all share the common love of soccer, but we’re also able to connect outside of it.”

Although the time commitment is relatively low compared to club or official school sports teams, the practices and games sometimes require players to develop time-management skills. 

“Being a student and a person who plays rec soccer is quite a thing to balance, but I am a firm believer in the idea that as much work as you put into school, you also need to put some time into yourself,” Aguilar said.

Having the opportunity to get exercise while getting to escape from everyday worries and tasks can help students’ mental well-being.

“Participating in soccer definitely impacts my mental health, as it allows me to put all my focus on the field and my problems [and] stresses on my mind are washed away,” Srivastava said. “It’s an extremely beneficial activity for my mental health, and [it] obviously also keeps me physically fit.”

Bienkowski also added how she believes playing soccer can feel more enjoyable than other types of exercise.

“It is also a great option for physical exercise that is less tedious than your typical forms of cardio, such as running or biking,” Bienkowski said.

For students who want to get involved with the sport or find a team to play with, there are multiple options for finding fellow players.

“It’s often easy to recruit players for your rec sports team,” Aguilar said. “Most of the time you contact your friends to make a team — and when you need more players to fill in certain gaps, the best way to recruit players is to go to Dairy Field and play some pickup soccer. That’s where you can meet new people and potentially new players you would want to recruit for your team.” 

The UC Davis Campus Recreation website provides an overview of the sports programs and shows different ways to get involved. Another way to get more information is through the app “Fusion Play.”

“For those who are hesitant to join, I know that the app that rec soccer is organized through has different options for skill level and effort necessary,” Bienkowski said. “People who have never touched a soccer ball in their life can very easily find a team that fits their preferences, and people who are looking for more competition can also very easily find that option. I think retainment of players comes fairly easily for a majority of teams because of how welcoming and warm the community is.”

Altogether, the recreational soccer program at UC Davis allows students to bond with one another and feel fulfillment while exercising an appreciation for the sport.

“It’s a sport that I really enjoy playing, so when I saw the opportunity to play rec soccer I knew I had to sign up,” Aguilar said. “For me, it’s a way to take a break from school and enjoy playing the sport I love with no distractions — just me and the ball.”

Written by: Graciela Tiu — features@theaggie.org

Walid Jailani launches the non-profit to provide education in support of over 1,200 students and empower local educators

Walid Jailani, a fourth-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major and education minor, founded the School of Freedom — a non-profit organization dedicated to providing education to young Afghan girls who have outgrown the limited schooling opportunities available to them in Afghanistan. 

Jailani shared that he was deeply moved to help young girls in Afghanistan after seeing their videos posted on TikTok. In these videos, they revealed that they were unable to continue their education beyond the seventh grade as a result of new bans implemented by the Taliban.

“I showed my brother and said, ‘This is making me very sad, I want to do something about it,’ and he joked and said, ‘Oh, just start a school,’” Jailani said.

The School of Freedom was originally the Women’s Education Movement (WEM), a UC Davis on-campus club that Jailani started as a second-year in 2023. Jailani and other undergraduate members began tutoring girls in Afghanistan, initially teaching only English-language courses to a classroom of 30 students. Eventually, they had 1,200 students sign up, allowing them to create separate English courses: Elementary English, Intermediate English and Advanced English.

“Depending on their level and proficiency, we placed them in those classes and UC Davis students were teaching them,” Jailani said. “They tutored these girls for about 13 to 14 months themselves and so did I. It was a good time.”

Jailani also said that the dedication of the School of Freedom volunteers helped to create an established program. 

“Props to my volunteers, they would be waking up at 8 a.m. every day — they don’t even wake up for their classes at 8 a.m. — and they were ready to teach,” Jailani said. “It was very interesting for me to see them wake up and be so excited to teach and give back to these girls and this community when they wouldn’t even want to wake up for their own 8 a.m. classes.”

Word quickly spread about their classes, and soon, Afghan teachers who had lost their jobs began reaching out to Jailani, eager to contribute. With their support, Jailani established the School of Freedom, creating a platform for Afghan educators to teach a variety of subjects to Afghan students, expanding the curriculum beyond just English.

“At that time it was two different branches,” Jailani said. “We had the Women’s Education Movement that was being run in the [United States] and the School of Freedom that was taught voluntarily by teachers that lost their jobs in Afghanistan.”

The Women’s Education Movement aimed to provide crucial financial support to Afghan teachers and students through fundraising and donations. To ensure the most efficient use of its limited budget, the organization developed a financial aid application system to assess and prioritize students with the greatest need.

“We paid for their internet and anything else we could help them out with,” Jailani said. “For students, we set up a financial aid system. We were getting donations from the Willow Way Tutoring Club. […] They would give us a budget every month to pay out 30 to 40 students for Wi-Fi money because some students couldn’t afford it and we wanted to accommodate them any way we could.” 

Eventually, the Women’s Education Movement and the School of Freedom united as one, with the School of Freedom being officially registered as a non-profit organization. The School of Freedom now serves approximately 1,200 students and has 35 teachers, including a principal and vice principal. The school follows the official Afghan curriculum, while UC Davis student members focus on management-related tasks, including fundraising and outreach efforts to enroll more students.

Robina Haqiqi, a fourth-year psychology major, serves as the vice president of the School of Freedom at UC Davis, leading projects and supporting Jailani in carrying out their mission to teach. She emphasized that the School of Freedom is not just about teaching a set curriculum but also about a larger social impact.

“This work has been deeply meaningful to me because it represents hope and resilience,” Haqiqi said. “Knowing that we’re making a huge difference in the lives of girls who are denied basic opportunities motivates me every day. It’s a reminder that even in the face of unimaginable challenges, education can still be a tool for freedom and change.”

The School of Freedom’s students have already been inspired to shape the future, according to Mariam Saleh, a fourth-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major. Acting as the organization’s social media coordinator, Saleh had the privilege of connecting with students one-on-one and sharing their stories with the rest of the world.

“One thing that inspired me from the interviews [with the students] is that a lot of the girls wanted to become journalists, which is very powerful because they want to use their voice to make a change as well,” Saleh said. “Overall, I am very excited for what [the] School of Freedom can do, and [I am] hoping it can create a bigger and more powerful change.”

Moving forward, UC Davis members of the School of Freedom club are working on launching a youth program for Middle Eastern and other refugee communities in California to provide mentorship, mental health resources and tutoring support for high school-aged students. 

“They come to this country and they might be good at science and math but struggle with the language barrier,” Jailani said. “As far as mentorship, most of the members here are refugees or immigrants and have gone through this process themselves and are now at UC Davis. We want these [high school] students to get connected with our undergrads so they can see and know, ‘If they did it, I can do it too.’ […] We want to introduce them to trade schools, community college[s] and four-year universities to get them thinking about continuing their education.”

The School of Freedom organization is eager to welcome new volunteers. Students who are interested in becoming members or donating to their cause can find information through their organization’s website or by emailing admin@schooloffreedom.org. 

“Mostly, we are looking for people who can help us with fundraisers, people who can [do] outreach [and] people who can help us get donations,” Jailani said, “Once our youth program starts, we are looking for people who can help us with presentations, help out with workshops and tutor students [who reside in California].”

Jailani emphasized that the School of Freedom would not exist without the help and support from his peers, saying that the collective strength of their teamwork and shared commitment to the cause was the foundation of its success.

“I want to thank Sadia Haidari, the principal and co-founder of the Afghanistan part of School of Freedom, Moheb Salemi, who helped me out to turn this entire thing to a non-profit, and Robina Haqiqi, Jasmine Alhuniti, Mariam Saleh and Ghezal Karim for being there since day one and now help me with the management on board,” Jailani said.

Written by: Jalan Tehranifar — features@theaggie.org

The achievement is recognized by the non-profit organization Surfrider, which strives to conserve and protect oceans and waterways 

By RACHEL GAUER — features@theaggie.org

Nestled on D Street in Downtown Davis, Cloud Forest Café is a cozy coffee and breakfast hub known for its outdoor patio and homey interior. Now, the café has been recognized for its trailblazing efforts to instill sustainable practices in its operations.

The café is the first establishment in Davis and the greater Sacramento region to be formally considered an Ocean-Friendly Restaurant, an achievement recognized by the non-profit conservation foundation, The Surfrider Foundation.

Currently, there are 580 establishments nationwide that are recognized by The Surfrider Foundation as Ocean-Friendly Restaurants that follow the organization’s particular guidelines outlining sustainability and conservation methods.

To be considered Ocean-Friendly, establishments must abide by Surfrider’s seven mandatory criteria, which include the elimination of plastic bags for takeout orders and plastic bottles for beverages and providing single-use utensils only by customer request.

Additionally, the restaurant must choose at least three of their eight optional criteria to instill in their practices, such as providing a discount to customers who supply their own reusable items, like cups or bags, or regularly offering vegan or vegetarian options on their menus.

T.H. Fang and his wife, Tina, have co-owned the café since 2014 and have strived to be involved in the community through both the café’s inviting atmosphere and their art gallery events. After receiving financial assistance through the purchasing of café gift cards from both the city of Davis and UC Davis during the pandemic, Fang felt a strong sense of responsibility to give back to his community.

“When we were able to catch our breath, we thought we should do something for the community,” Fang said. “If there is something that I can do, that I can afford to do, I should.”

Emily Dumont, a fourth-year environmental science and management major, has worked as a barista at Cloud Forest Café since August 2023. On a personal level, Dumont named sustainability as one of her top priorities and serves as the vice president of the Zero Waste and Sustainability Club at UC Davis.

Dumont first learned of the Ocean-Friendly program through UC Davis’ Surfrider Foundation Club in winter 2024 and felt inspired to bring the practices to her workplace. After conducting research regarding the financial and logistical changes the café would have to take on, she proposed the idea to Fang.

“Given that I work at a cafe with a boss who is environmentally conscious and willing to make changes, I figured I’d have a conversation with him to gauge his interest,” Dumont said. “Everything was within reason and he was on board.”

Over the last year, Dumont and Fang have worked together to transition their practices to fully abide by the organization’s criteria. The transition focused primarily on minor changes, and Fang explained that the effort to become Ocean-Friendly was not the café’s first move to become more environmentally sustainable.

“Over the years, we have been trying to improve ourselves: we got rid of a lot of those paper and plastic cups, and we were using ceramics and glass prior to this effort,” Fang said. “We were moving towards the direction to be more environmentally friendly — that has always been our goal.”

Dumont outlined that the changes mostly concerned their takeout orders and single-use dining materials.

“One thing we had to change was the utensils for the to-go orders,” Dumont said. “They were plastic and we would include them in every takeout order. Now we’ve switched those to plant-based materials and we’re not including them in every order unless the customer asks.”

Dumont has more recently been working with the Davis chapter of Surfrider. The club will now be responsible for conducting compliance checks for the cafe to ensure that its practices align with the organization’s requirements.

Siobhan Gallagher and Samantha Settelmayer, both fourth-year environmental policy analysis and planning majors, first volunteered with the Surfrider organization in San Diego before bringing the chapter to the Davis community. They established the club in UC Davis during the 2022-23 academic year. Now, Settelmayer serves as president of the club and Gallagher as vice president.

Settelmayer explained that due to environmental requirements already set by the city, local restaurants tend to be very close to meeting Surfrider’s Ocean-Friendly requirements.

“Most of the mandatory requirements are already mandated by the city of Davis,” Settelmayer said. “However, a couple of them are not and those couple are the ones that have been most challenging to get restaurants on board with. We think it would be great for Davis, because a lot of students here like to be sustainable with their consumer habits.”

Gallagher expressed that the main issue lies in visibility, as many restaurants are unaware that they could somewhat easily transition their business practices to suit the requirements.

“It’s really easy for them to comply — it’s more just about raising awareness about it and drawing attention to the [organization],” Gallagher said.

Because of Davis’ distance from the coast, businesses may not recognize the necessity of implementing Ocean-Friendly practices. Dumont discussed that despite this distance, the city still directly has an impact on local waterways.

“We’re near the Sacramento River, and our water system is connected to the Delta which affects the bay,” Dumont said. “Just because we’re inland doesn’t mean we can neglect our plastic use and over-usage of single-use materials.”

Dumont hopes that Cloud Forest Café’s efforts will be recognized by other restaurants and inspire them to make similar changes.

“I want to demonstrate to other businesses in the area that making these changes is reasonable,” Dumont said. “A lot of students care about sustainability at UC Davis; Hopefully, that will bring in some more customers who care about the environment and will attract people who haven’t been coming already, which will maybe inspire other restaurants to do the same.”

Fang expressed that though he is proud of the café’s accomplishment, he hopes that their efforts provide inspiration to other local businesses.

“I’m happy and honored to be the first — but more importantly is what we can do for the community,” Fang said. “I think each business and each person should assess themselves to see what they can do to improve themselves in a way that benefits the whole community.”

Written by: Rachel Gauer — features@theaggie.org