It’s been said that the message is in the medium, and Vent Magazine is taking full advantage of the old adage. Today, the magazine – which focuses on Asian American politics and pop culture – releases its fourth issue, the “Marijuana Issue.” Vent will hold a release party tonight at 10 at 217 Club, located at 217 E St. Pre-sale tickets are $8 and tickets at the door are $15. Admission is free for those 21 and over. Free copies of the magazine will be issued at the release party.

Just a week ago, I was put in an awkward situation. It wasn’t quite F My Life worthy, but it wasn’t mundane enough to post on Mylifeisaverage.com. Long story short: AGTV put me in front of a camera and interviewed me. Okay, so maybe it doesn’t sound that bad, and it wasn’t. Other than a bee hovering dangerously close to the reporter’s neck during filming, me peppering unrehearsed answers with nervous laughter and breaking the fourth wall by giving the camera a smile, wink and thumbs up when the interview was over, it really wasn’t bad at all.

From lab assistant to Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef, the salaries of all UC Davis employees in 2008 are now on reserve at Shields Library. The UC Office of the President (UCOP) has disclosed employee pay for four years now in an attempt to make the university transparent to the student body and public. The university is required to release its employees’ pay under the California Public Records Act. “As a public institution I believe we have a responsibility to share such information and would rather put it out proactively than wait for folks to ask for it,” said Stan Nosek, vice chancellor of administration in an e-mailinterview. “[Even though] this is standard operating procedure, I believe it is very appropriate.”

Student films return to the big screen next week as the ninth annual UC Davis Film Festival will take place on May 27 and 28 at 8:30 p.m. at the Davis Varsity Theatre. Tickets are $5 and available for purchase at the Varsity Box Office. The festival – which accepts film submissions from all students regardless of their major – has seen a spike in popularity this year as over 60 films have been submitted, up from just 30 last year. All of the films are unique and represent a wide-range of genres and concepts from music videos to documentaries.

It’s no secret that Davis is a bike-friendly town. So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the UC Davis Club Cycling team captured wins in both the men’s and women’s team time trial events to take home the National Collegiate Cycling Association Division I team title at the USA Collegiate Road National Championships in Fort Collins, Colo. on May 10. It was UC Davis’ fourth national championship. It also won the event in 1994, 2001 and 2006.

A button fell out of an undergrad’s coat as he walked through the quad in the 1930s. A girl lost her ring in between thick blades of grass when it slipped from her finger one afternoon in 1962. And last week, a couple of quarters fell out of your pocket after you bought lunch at the Whole Earth Festival. Long after their owners have moved on, these possessions lay hidden in the UC Davis quad. But they can all be recovered – if you know how to find them.

There is an increasing clamor for the bureaucratization of college education. For many, globalization reemphasizes the demand for technical expertise. To thrive in the current economic mode is to attain the very specific skill sets employers require – to the extent that “a humanities education,” as the New York Times reports, “may become “a great luxury that many cannot afford.”The oft-cited resolution is simply to shift the focus of college education to align with global economic patterns. This approach ignores the fundamental premise of a college education.

With pen and paper in hand, three students went to a bookstore on the Harvard University campus in the fall of 2007. They were there not to buy books, but to take down the ISBNs of textbooks being sold in the store. When they were asked to leave, they refused, and police were called to diffuse the situation. The students were collecting ISBNs to put on a website they had created to make it easier for other students to find the cheapest textbooks online. The incident highlighted the struggle students face in trying to combat the high cost of textbooks, a problem that has been acknowledged by virtually everyone in the higher education world.

On Monday,the ASUCD Entertainment Council encouraged one and all to put on their best pair of fishnets,dust off their pumps and slap on some red lipstick by presenting a free screening of the tantalizing cult filmThe Rocky Horror Picture Show in194Chemistryalong with a$100prize winning costume contest. There were Brad Majors,Janet Weisses,Columbias,Rockysand Magentas all vying for the honor of winning.ARocky Horror virgin,Nicole Barfknecht,a junior neurobiology,physiology and behavior major,tap-danced in true Columbia style to persuade the room to vote for her.

As an avid truth-seeker, it was hard for me to come to terms with my desire to keep myself ignorant to some things. I usedto think that, given two equally capable individuals, the person with more true information can always do at least as good as the other person. And hence, one can only gain from having true information. I still believe this, however, there is one implicit assumption that makes this line of reason not true in all cases. We are not perfectly rational agents; our mind isn’t stored in a vacuum, but in a highly irrational Homo sapien brain. There is some seemingly harmless information that, if known to people, would hurt them because they can’t turn off their bias impulses.

Sometimes I’m not sure what I’m doing with my life. I’m not talking about one of those quarter-life crises that so many of you insist on having where you trip balls about what you’re gonna do for a living or something depressing like that. I’m sure some of you know what it’s like to be sitting in class and wondering why you’re getting an education at an accredited university when you could be cussing out paparazzi or taking a baseball bat to something expensive just because. Damn, it must feel good to be a rock star. It takes a special kind of human being to get away with getting drunk and biting strangers on the leg in Swedish hotels. Some people are just destined from early on to lead lives of chaotic insanity. Like Anthony Kiedis, who lost his virginity at the age of 12 to his father’s 18-year-old girlfriend. With permission, of course. Mick Jagger also once stated that he did it at 12 with two girls in a garden shed.

Editor’s Note: Though albums and films are certainly worthy of review, there are other things that should also be looked at with a critical eye. This first of a new feature compares the various video rental outlets available to UC Davis students. Netflix Rating: 5 Someone once mentioned to me that since getting Netflix the quality of movies he watches has dropped dramatically. Though it was the opposite of my experience (Schindler’s List awaits me at home), it’s a likely outcome. That’s one of the best things about Netflix: whether you watch one movie a month or fifteen, it’s the same price. So what’s holding you back from finally watching The Love Guru, just to see what all the fuss is about? It’s only wasted time, not wasted money. Along with inexpensive pricing and online viewing, Netflix is ideal for the lazy and tech-savvy. The smoothly organized online queue is designed for functionality and yet I could play around on the Netflix site for hours planning my next movie, or maybe more – my queue currently has 480 pending, I kid you not.