Although the sequester has already been in effect for over two months, for the most part, it is still too early to determine which services within the City of Davis will be impacted.

“The consensus around here related to the effects of sequestration is primarily uncertainty,” said Kelly Stachowicz, deputy city manager for the City of Davis via email.

On April 30, President Barack Obama held a press conference to address, among other national issues, the budget sequestration, also referred to colloquially as the sequester, which went into effect on March 1.

“It’s damaging our economy. It’s hurting our people. And we need to lift it,” President Obama said during the press conference. “What’s clear is, is that the only way we’re going to lift it is if we do a bigger deal that meets the test of lowering our deficit and growing our economy at the same time. And that’s going to require some compromises on the part of both Democrats and Republicans.”

Acts of sequestration
Sequestration refers to a national fiscal policy of austerity which will implement widespread budget cuts of approximately $1.2 trillion between 2013 and 2021, which went into effect as a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011(BCA).

The BCA was signed into law in August 2011, according to a report issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) titled the “Report Pursuant to the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012.”

The report was issued in January as required by the Sequestration Transparency Act of 2012. The law, signed in August 2012, required the administration to issue a report at the start of the 2013 fiscal year detailing the cuts that would take place if the sequester went into effect.

Under the BCA, the sequester goes into effect if the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, a committee created by the BCA, does not propose a plan to reduce the national deficit by $1.2 trillion and/or Congress does not enact the proposed plan by the end of the fiscal year.

According to the report, “the specter of harmful across-the-board cuts to defense and non-defense programs was intended to drive both sides to compromise. Congress can and should take action to avoid it by passing a comprehensive and balanced deficit reduction package.”

As described in the BCA, if an agreement had not been reached by the end of 2012, Congress would be permitted to increase the debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion. But in turn, the sequester, described in the report as a “blunt and indiscriminate instrument,” would take effect, triggering $1.2 trillion in cuts until 2021.

An agreement to reduce the deficit was not reached in time, causing the sequester to go into effect. Though sequestration was set to begin on Jan. 2, it did not begin until March 1 due to the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.

“You will recall that even as recently as my campaign, Republicans were saying, ‘sequester is terrible, this is a disaster, it’s going to ruin our military, it’s going to be disastrous for the economy’ — we’ve got to do something about it,” President Obama said. “Then, when it was determined that doing something about it might mean that we close some tax loopholes for the wealthy and the well-connected, suddenly, well, you know what, we’ll take the sequester.”

Projected local impacts
Stachowicz said that in the Davis Police Department, there could potentially be cuts in Office of Justice Programs, which would reduce future grant opportunities.

“We are also developing a research partnership with [UC Davis] Criminology, and it sounds like the cuts could affect the ability to continue this partnership, or at least with any funding,” Stachowicz said. “And if [the] shared Homeland Security Grant Program is deleted or reduced, that would resonate for emergency preparedness/response throughout the county.”

According to Stachowicz, the city may also receive less funding in federal grant programs such as the Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG), a flexible grant to serve the specific needs of individual communities, and the HOME program, which provides grants for the purpose of establishing affordable housing in communities.

“If sequestration cuts result in across-the-board cuts to federal programs, then we could receive less in CDBG/HOME money, giving us less to use for ADA upgrades and social services,” Stachowicz said. “It also sounds like there is a very small portion of transportation funding that might be affected, likely through SACOG [Sacramento Area Council of Governments].”

According to a state-by-state sequester fact sheet issued by the White House detailing projected losses if the sequester were to continue, in 2013, California is projected lose $87.6 million in funding for primary and secondary education and approximately 9,600 fewer low-income students will receive financial aid for college.

The state will lose $12.4 million in environmental funding and 64,000 Department of Defense employees will be furloughed. Public health programs will also be impacted, with the California State Department of Health Services losing approximately $2 million that would normally go toward funding HIV testing.

Cuts in funding, programs
According to the OMB, in 2013 alone, funding will be reduced by approximately 13 percent in defense programs and 9 percent in non-defense programs nationwide such as education, research funding, food safety, aviation security and government programs for children and the elderly.

Ten thousand teacher jobs are at risk. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will lose funding and the National Science Foundation (NSF) is expected to issue 1,000 fewer research grants, impacting an estimated 12,000 researchers and students.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may be forced to conduct 2,100 fewer food safety inspections at both domestic and foreign food production facilities. According to the OMB factsheet, this is a threat not only to public health, but also to the nation’s economy.

“The public could suffer more foodborne illnesses, such as the recent salmonella in peanut butter outbreak and the E. coli illnesses linked to organic spinach, as well as cost the food and agriculture sector millions of dollars in lost volume,” the OMB factsheet stated.

Air travel was noticeably affected in the months immediately following the sequester, with the April furloughs of air traffic controllers nationwide leading to widespread flight delays and the rapid passage of the Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013, signed into law on May 1.

As stated in the act received by the Senate on April 30, the purpose is “to provide the Secretary of Transportation with the flexibility to transfer certain funds to prevent reduced operations and staffing of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and for other purposes.”

The act halted the furloughs of FAA employees and allowed 149 low-activity contract towers, which were scheduled to close in June, to remain open for the rest of the fiscal year, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation on May 10.

Consequences
Government programs for low-income children, families and seniors are not exempt from the sequester. According to the OMB, between March and September, over 600,000 women could be dropped from the USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). WIC provides supplemental foods, nutritional counseling and health screenings and referrals to low-income pregnant and postpartum women and their children under the age of five. According to the WIC website, over half of all infants born in the U.S. receive WIC assistance.

Nutritional assistance programs for the elderly such as Meals on Wheels are expected to serve 4 million fewer meals to seniors in need. Within Yolo County, cuts to Meals on Wheels will definitely occur.

“As of a couple weeks ago, we were aware of a 7 percent reduction to that program,” said Beth Gabor, Yolo County manager of public affairs, via email. “Beyond that, we are generally aware of cuts elsewhere amounting to approximately 5 percent, but nothing as specific as the Meals on Wheels program.”

According to Gabor, it is still too soon to determine the full ramifications the sequester will have on Yolo County and its residents.

“So despite the fact that a lot of members of Congress were suggesting that somehow the sequester was a victory for them and this wouldn’t hurt the economy, what we now know is what I warned earlier, what Jay [Carney, White House Press Secretary] stood up here and warned repeatedly, is happening,” President Obama said. “It’s slowed our growth. It’s resulting in people being thrown out of work. And it’s hurting folks all across the country.”

MEREDITH STURMER can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

WEDNESDAY May 8
Interrogation not necessary
At Oxford Circle, somebody noticed all the seats were missing from a group of bikes and noticed a guy standing around by them. When the person confronted him, the guy pulled out a seat and admitted to taking it.

FRIDAY May 10
Why the evil eye
A person reported that his neighbor was constantly staring at him and giving him dirty looks on Becerra Way.

SUNDAY May 12
Silence is golden
A guy was talking to himself at the Davis Gold and Silver Exchange on G Street.

Custody battle
A woman broke up with her boyfriend, so he stole her dog on Cranbrook Court.

MONDAY May 12
Fighting fire with fire
Somebody on Moore Boulevard called to complain that he was implicated in several restraining orders, although he felt he did nothing wrong. He also admitted to speaking about firearms and fury, but said he would never act on his anger.

TUESDAY May 14
Born yesterday
A guy on First Street gave his current address, date of birth and the state where he was born to an unknown person on the internet, but felt they were trying to get a hold of his birth certificate and wanted to know what he could do.

Police briefs are compiled from the City of Davis daily crime bulletins. Contact EINAT GILBOA at city@theaggie.org.

The dust has barely settled on the UC Davis Quad after Whole Earth Festival, as attention turns to the celebration of another facet of the Davis community. On May 18, the Cross Cultural Center (CCC) will host the 43rd annual Black Family Day (BFD) an event which commemorates the “historical, social, artistic and educational achievements of the African diaspora,” according to the CCC’s website.

“Black Family Day is a day to celebrate the presence of the African diaspora on the UC Davis campus,” said Sinclair Wilson, a second-year chemical engineering major and co-coordinator of the event. “We invite everyone to come out and celebrate. We make it a very inclusive event; we don’t want anyone to feel like they don’t belong.”

Black Family Day will take place between noon and 6 p.m. on the Quad, and will feature a variety of activities, student performances, a children’s fair and food representative of the black community, all provided for by a range of student organizations. The African and African American Alumni Association (5As) will also host a Jazz and Wine Social between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Student Community Center for attendees over the age of 21.

“BFD is a community event. We have student and campus organizations hosting food booths [and] information booths, and this year we have a lot of activities to make the event more interactive,” Wilson said. “There’s really no other event like it.”

As well as student performances celebrating African culture, this year’s event will feature a headline performance by UC Davis alumni Blackalicious.

“We’re very excited to welcome Blackalicious, a globally renowned hip-hop duo, to headline the event,” said CCC program coordinator Fong Tran, who is responsible for overseeing BFD.

While by no means the defining feature of black culture, hip-hop has emerged as a collective expression of the African diaspora, according to Halifu Osumare, associate professor and director of African and American studies.

“Hip-hop is very much a part of the African diaspora. Blackalicious are living proof that hip-hop is everywhere, in every enclave and even at UC Davis. As alumni, they really bring hip-hop home to this institution,” Osumare said.

It is hoped that the allure of Blackalicious will pull a substantial crowd, as the turnout at BFD in recent years has dwindled. While the event once attracted in excess of one of thousand people, organizers now see between 200 and 300 attendees as a more realistic target.

“We would like to see BFD get back up to that level of capacity, but it takes time to build up that type of legacy,” Tran said.

The wane in numbers is attributed to a number of factors, most prominent among which are increasing food regulations that restrict the number of participating vendors. Sinclair said that because they can’t get as many food vendors, it limits the number of people that come to the event.

Joe Taylor, president of the 5As, further attributed the fall in turnout due to incidences of violence during the 1990s when attendance was at its peak.

“During the early 90s, there was an incident involving a firearm which considerably downsized the event. Although it’s starting to get back to those numbers, the level of advertising is not as extensive as it used to be in those days,” Taylor said.

BFD is funded through grants from ASUCD and a number of its affiliated organizations, yet organizers do not wield the same level of fiscal resources they once had at their disposal. It is felt that increased university investment would enhance numbers, especially when compared with the significantly higher financial support events such as Picnic Day receive.

“Our budget is much less than it has been in the past, and as a result, BFD definitely doesn’t get the same level of attention as Picnic Day,” Tran said. “We don’t have the level of capacity or funding to even come close to that level of organization.”

Eric Evans, controller of the ASUCD budget, responded that the disparity in budgetary allocation is justified due to the amount recuperated in terms of income.

“Picnic Day receives a subsidy from ASUCD each year to cover student payroll and operating expenses. While its allocation reflects the income brought in, it also reflects ASUCD’s commitment to that program. We make considerable annual grant allocations to various cultural programs, and ASUCD is proud of our efforts pursuant to that support,” Evans said via email.

Despite working with a limited budget, Tran feels that innovative student participation will make the event successful.

“It’s amazing to see students contributing what they have in times where funding is short. People have been really creative in how they contribute,” Tran said.

This was a view shared by Sinclair.

“We definitely make do with what we have. We’ve been doing well in terms of publicity, word’s getting out and people are hearing about it. It’s going to be a really successful event,” Sinclair said.

Historically, BFD originated as an alternative to Picnic Day, which the black student community didn’t feel they could identify with. While the Black Student Union had organized similar events on the Quad during the late 1960s, the event first appeared in the form as it is recognized today in the spring of 1972. Taylor was the chair of the liaison committee of the Ujima group credited with organizing the first BFD.

“Our task was to bring the black community together, and we came up with the idea of inviting parents to come on campus,” Taylor said.

Taylor said he is thrilled that the embodiment of the original conception still thrives today.

“It was always our ideal for it to be a community-based activity, so having the students and different organizations participate and having folks coming from the community to enjoy the day is a really great feeling,” Taylor said.

Robert Woods, another UC Davis alumnus and active member of the 5As, felt that BFD continues to serve as an invaluable institution in raising awareness of an underrepresented portion of the student populace.

“There’s a lot of stuff about the African diaspora that can broaden your intellectual horizons. People who don’t understand BFD have never been exposed to it, and they should come out. It’ll really benefit them,” Woods said.

The longevity of the event reflects the important role it plays in acknowledging minority groups on campus, a sentiment espoused by today’s generation of organizers.

“As a campus, we need to understand we’re not even close to a post-racial society. Events like BFD help us to acknowledge the incredible diversity in America and the world at large,” Tran said. “When we cross paths into each other’s space, that’s when we learn the most.”

JOE STEPTOE can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

Vini Wine Bar has dedicated one of its walls to the achievements of the late Harold Olmo, a highly recognized viticulturist and UC Davis professor for 46 years.

Jeff Day, owner of Vini, said that the culmination of the wall in his wine bar began when he met the late Olmo’s daughter, Jeanne-Marie Olmo. Jeanne-Marie brought Day items that included diplomas that the late Olmo received in the ’50s from a university in Italy as well as an old, framed California Agriculture Magazine.

“Once I learned more about him, I thought, with his ties to the university, what a neat opportunity for me to do something neat here as somewhat of a tribute wall,” Day said.

According to Day, many people who visit his wine bar are very curious and have shown a lot of interest in his Olmo display.

Other items on the wall include a Carmine vine, which is a grape Olmo bred from his vineyard, his boots and a photo of him working in his living room when he was already in his 90s.

Day has plans to expand the wall by adding some stakes from the late Olmo’s vineyard and a couple more bottles of his wine provided by his daughter.

“A lot of people wouldn’t learn about him if it wasn’t for [Jeff’s] choosing to display it,” Jeanne-Marie said.

According to Jeanne-Marie, her father spent his life trying to improve the grape industry.

“I remember growing up, everybody asked me, ‘What does your father do?’ and I’d say, ‘My father’s a doctor of grapes — he fixes sick grapes,’” Jeanne-Marie said.

The late Olmo dedicated part of his research to the breeding of root stalks that could withstand diseases. He traveled to Afghanistan, where he sought out the oldest existing vines and took clippings, in hopes of finding disease-resistant genes.

Another focus of Olmo’s research was breeding grape varieties that could grow in all different kinds of climates.

“His goal was to make wine grapes that could grow anywhere in America so that wine could be as prolific [in America] as [it is in] Europe, and hopefully be, one day, $3 a bottle on a table,” Jeanne-Marie said.

Jeanne-Marie said her father was very active into his old age. She described an instance when her father took a group of UC Davis students into the vineyard, and they struggled to keep up with his quick pace.

“His mind was clear till the end,” Jeanne-Marie said.

What Jeanne-Marie said that she likes most about the display is that it promotes a professor from Davis, and she believes in promoting things that are local.

“Professors are so easily forgotten, not in the industry but to the people. People don’t hear about what saved the grapes,” Jeanne-Marie said.

Dr. Andrew Walker, a professor in the viticulture, enology and environmental science department, said that even after Olmo’s retirement in 1977 he was very active in the department.

“Harold was down working away in his office, he came in every day until he was in his early 90s — it was amazing,” Walker said.

According to Walker, much of Olmo’s research is being used today to create disease resistance in grapes, furthering his research in applying advanced technology.

Walker described him as the “Indiana Jones of Viticulture.”

“It wasn’t artifacts, he was looking for real plants [in Afghanistan],” Walker said.

According to Walker, the department just finished a large series of evaluations on over 500 of his materials from his trip to the Middle East. Through these evaluations, they discovered that some of his clippings were resistant to powdery mildew, the disease that has the greatest financial implications for California’s wine industry.

“He was on the path for breeding for resistance to it [powdery mildew] but he didn’t really know that he had already found it,” Walker said.

According to Walker, many of Olmo’s clippings from around the world were used to create plants that would grow in different kinds of climates, but primarily a hotter and drier one.

“Lo and behold, it’s going to be a hotter, drier California,” Walker said.

With the price of table grapes rising in the ASUCD Coffee House (CoHo) from $1.85 to $2.50, it would seem that the present would be a spectacular time to deploy Olmo’s research.

According to a press release from the CoHo’s food supplier, Trinity Fresh, production from offshore suppliers of table grapes is winding down, causing the price of grapes to go up.

“We’ve been forced to raise the prices of grapes because our cost has pretty much doubled,” said Darin Schluep, food services director for the CoHo, in an email. “Up to this point, as the prices rose we were able to absorb this cost, but it got to the point where we couldn’t afford to keep the price the same.”

Exports of grapes from Chile and Peru are expanding, and the fluctuation of cost could be attributed to demand shift, Walker said.

“The good prices will be back in June,” he said.

SYDNEY COHEN can be reached at city@theaggie.org.