Walk seeks to raise awareness about suicide, suicide prevention, mental illness

The third annual UC Davis Out of the Darkness Campus Walk to raise money and awareness for suicide prevention was held at Russell Field on May 20.

Students Against Suicide, a student organization on campus that works with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), hosted the walk. The AFSP was founded in 1987 and is the leading national non-profit organization dedicated to preventing suicide and reaching out to those with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide.

In her opening speech to the participants of the walk, Christine Gutierrez, a fourth-year human development major and the ambassador of Students Against Suicide, said more than eight million people in America seriously considered suicide this year, while one million acted on the thought and made an attempt.

The latest data from 2015 shows that 45 thousand people died by suicide that year in the United States, which translates to one death by suicide every 11.9 minutes. 90 percent of these people had diagnosable and treatable mental disorders at the time of their death. These suicides take a serious toll on family, friends, coworkers and the community as a whole.

The participants started off on Russell field and embarked on a five-kilometer walk through campus, looping around the Arboretum where they took part in creating an art project. Participants were able to write supportive statements for themselves as well as other people and pin them on clothespins.

“It’s just nice to see a lot of positive affirmations everywhere and it creates more of an uplifting vibe,” Gutierrez said.

Before and after the walk, participants took part in various activities such as art projects and games. There were also raffle prizes and a group T-shirt design competition.

The AFSP has been holding these walks for decades all over the country, according to Gutierrez. It also hosts a variety of other events such as Survivor Day events to show support for those who suffered from depression, stomp out the stigma relating to mental illness and hold workshops for suicide prevention.

Several other organizations on campus were there to support the walk including National Alliance on Mental Illness at UC Davis and MindSpa, a division of the Student Health and Wellness Center.

Eori Tokunaga, a third-year human development major, is a wellness ambassador from the Mind Spa. According to Tokunaga, the Mind Spa helps improve the mental health of students by providing a variety of de-stressing services such as massage chairs, relaxation podcasts and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for insomnia.

The event was also made possible through the efforts of many student volunteers.

“I’m doing this because I think suicide is a really deep topic that needs to be addressed, and doing the walk will help bring attention to the topic,” said Louie Shi, a second-year computer science major and volunteer at the walk.

Last year’s walk raised about $5,000. Donations from this year will go toward the AFSP for new research, educational programs, advocacy for public policy and support for survivors of suicide loss.

Written by: Clara Zhao — campus@theaggie.org

After almost two years of construction, Memorial Union is open to the public

After almost two years of construction and renovation, the Memorial Union (MU)  officially reopened to the public on May 18.

After an energized performance from the UC Davis Cal Aggie Marching Band, students and guests were welcomed to the event by ASUCD President Josh Dalavai.

Before introducing the event’s main speaker, Dalavai reminisced with the crowd about the past several years, during which the MU has not been open to students. With its official grand reopening, Dalavai looks forward to the role the space will play for students on campus.

“The MU serves as the living room of campus where students gather between classes to socialize, study, eat and hang out,” Dalavai said.

Dalavai went on to introduce the event’s guest speaker, Emily Prieto-Tseregounis, assistant Vice Chancellor and chief of staff to the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs. Prieto-Tseregounis spoke to the crowd about the Memorial Union’s original founding and its history of four renovations over the years.

When the MU opened in 1955, the space hosted only a dining commons, kitchen, faculty club, student lounge, alumni association offices, soda fountain and student store. Since then, the space has undergone major renovations to ensure the MU remains a utilized central hub for students on campus.

“This comprehensive renovation took the historic Memorial Union and celebrated its history as the home of ASUCD and it being a dynamic on-campus destination for students and the campus community,” Prieto-Tseregounis said.

The MU was originally named and dedicated to commemorate the UC Davis students and alumni who lost their lives during World Wars I and II. Prieto-Tseregounis urged students and guests to come back to the MU on May 25 to be a part of the annual Memorial Day Ceremony, where the new Gold Star Aggie Wall will be revealed.

Among additions to the Memorial Union, Prieto-Tseregounis welcomed the Veterans Success Center as well as the Center for Chicanx and Latinx Academic Student Success, which will be located on the second floor.

Following her speech, student groups including the Liquid Hotplates performed for those in attendance.

Students fighting for a Fossil Free UC Davis came to the event to protest UC Davis’ continued reliance on fossil fuels. At noon students joined in chants and drew words of protest with chalk in front of the MU to show the UC regents they are committed to a future that is not reliant on harmful fossil fuels. On the event’s Facebook page, students demand to know which side of history UC Davis intends to be on.

According to the event’s Facebook page, “by not divesting, our universities have turned their backs on our generation and the scientific community to side with the fossil fuel industry. It’s far past time that our colleges and universities make the choice between the fossil fuel billionaires, and the futures of its students.”

While older UC Davis students eagerly anticipated the reopening of the MU, younger students were excited for their first chance to experience the space. Hetal Patel, a second-year cognitive science major, looks forward to the new study spots that the MU will provide.

“The [Coffee House] is really small and a lot of people like to study there so I think the MU is really nice,” Patel said. “It gives you a nice place to study not in a food opens up a lot more seats and there’s space for group study.”

With the official grand reopening of the MU, students are invited to enjoy the open floor plan with additional spaces to study, relax, game and spend time with friends.

Written by: Ally Russell — campus@theaggie.org

Regents vacate room prior to the start of the meeting

In light of recent tuition hikes as well as the state audit that found $175 million dollars in hidden UCOP reserves, UC student and worker protesters gathered outside the UC San Francisco Mission Bay campus building where the May 17 regents meeting was scheduled to take place.

Workers and students displayed protests signs and chanted for the university to “put students before profit.” Meanwhile, dozens of police officers armed with batons and handguns circled the premises and used metal detectors to search individuals before allowing them to enter the conference room.

The services workers union in the UC System, AFSCME 3299, organized several groups of protestors from all nine UC campuses. Students from the southern California UC campuses coordinated a collective carpool, leaving their campuses around midnight making stops along the way to pick up student protesters from several UC campuses. AFSCME provided food and financial compensation for student transportation.

Amara Miller, a graduate student in the sociology department at UC Davis and member of Student Workers Union (UAW), worked in collaboration with ASUCD Senator Daniel Nagey, and an AFSCME representatives to facilitate the transportation of UC Davis students.

Chloe Pan, the newly elected student government external vice president at UCLA, described her personal reasons for protesting against the administration.

“I come from a low income single parent family and I wouldn’t be here without financial aid,” Pan said. “I don’t want to say the news about the audits was surprising, but I do want to say that as a student I’ve had to skip meals to pay for textbooks or sleep on campus because I didn’t have time to go back to my dorm […] [it’s unfortunate] to see those who are in power abusing their power when students are struggling just to survive every single day on our campuses.”

In the meeting room, 38 students and workers lined up for public comment. Each were given 60 seconds to introduce themselves and express their concerns. Comments were made regarding the raise of student fees in conjunction with the lack of improvements on student resources.

A student from UC Merced addressed the lack of resources for minority students and pointed out that, of the nine campuses, UC Merced has the highest population of students of color, yet it recently established a cultural center that can only accommodate 20 people and is recognized as a “temporary space.”

Julia Schemmer, a second-year student from UC Riverside, was among the public commenters that spoke about the lack of transparency in the UC administration.

“I’ve travelled in the dead of night to come here because I’m upset,” Schemmer said. “I’m upset that students are having to choose between paying for food and paying for textbooks when there are millions of dollars in hidden funds […] I’m upset that even when I’m here and [we’re] speaking about transparency there are still regents on their iPad while students are [stating] their concerns.”

Kathryn Lybarger, AFSCME 3299 president, was also among the public commenters.

“In the past UC has justified the rise in tuition and housing costs and exploitation of low wage contract workers largely by citing the decrease in state support now we know that was simply misleading,” Lybarger said. “In fact the [audit findings] seem to confirm the systemic problems that student and workers have raised over the years. An evidence of unprecedented abstraction during the audit calls UCOP’s integrity in dealing with students and workers issues into question.”

Several students used the opportunity to urge administrators to divest from the fossil fuel industry. UC Davis students Kevin Horng, Evan Steel, Daniela Palacios and UC Santa Cruz student Loretta Johnson made comments with regard to the issue.

“I think that when you have the top team of investors that can find out how you can divest this money over seven years and make a public politicized statement […] we know the divestment can change things when you cause social and institutional change and right now you as regent as representatives have that power to make that change,” Johnson said.

Horng criticised the regents for not reacting to student activist pressure.  

“[Students are] sacrificing so much unpaid time and energy just to simply get you to listen,” Horng said. “Instead of listening, you ask us to learn your language, work without compensation on your terms while you sit comfortably in a position of power avoiding the responsibility that you owe us at presumed leader of this [university system].”

Following the termination of the public comment segment, protesters began chanting about the UC’s greedy tendencies. At 9:15 a.m. the administrators got up from their seats and vacated the conference room without starting the meeting which was scheduled to end at 11:30 a.m.

While the chanting was still going on, police officers stated that everyone who does not leave the room within five minutes will be arrested. Miller expressed her frustration with the response of the regents and the number of police present, who have a history of arresting student protesters.

“I think [their reaction] showcases the lack of accountability and accessibility of the Regents, and how completely disconnected they are from the needs of students and workers in the UC system,” Miller said. “The difficulty getting in, the lack of transparency about where to sign up to speak […]  the fact that within minutes of students disrupting the meeting to point out all the problems with the Regents ‘public comment’ theater act they have rows of cops wielding batons demanding we leave within five minutes or will be arrested […] I think it all shows the way in which the Regents are supported by a militarized police force that targets, harasses, and silences the valid concerns of the UC communities they are meant to serve.”

Miller further added that that the reaction from the administration emphasizes certain implications with regard to the system as a whole.

Written by: Kimia Akbari — campus@theaggie.org