Aggies roll through Northridge

UC Davis is first in the Big West Conference after weekend sweep

Written by Doug Bonham
Aggie Sports Writer
Published on April 9, 2012
Filed under Softball

After a difficult preseason schedule where they played six top-25 teams, the Aggies have exploded into conference play. With three wins against Cal State Northridge over the weekend, UC Davis moved into first place in the Big West Conference with a 5-1 conference record and a 15-22 record overall. Starting pitchers freshman Justine Vela and junior Jessica Thweatt dominated the now 7-27 Matadors as they combined for 34 strikeouts and no runs allowed in the Aggies’ three shutout victories. On the other side, Cal State Northridge’s pitching was also outstanding. In the first two games of the series, both teams were held off the board through seven innings. Fortunately for the Aggies, clutch hitting in the eighth innings allowed UC Davis to squeak out victories. In the final game of the weekend, the Aggies were able to avoid needing late-game heroics as their three runs by the fourth inning were enough to comfortably put them ahead for the rest of the game. Friday — UC Davis 1, Cal State Northridge... ...

Column: All about herbs

Well, it’s spring. And it … is … glorious. The breezes are a-blowing, the tall white clouds are tumbling in the sky, and irises and snowdrops are blooming in every front yard. Yes, it’s spring in Davis, and in spring this young woman’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of herbs. The culinary kind, of course. Don’t be vulgar. You guys, I love fresh herbs. They’re easy to grow and harvest and they make any meal fancy-shmancy. Imagine yourself in the kitchen, Billie Holiday crooning gently from your MacBook speakers, as you pick chervil and parsley for a salad, or roughly chop oregano and toss it into your pasta sauce with a carefree hand. Life is good in a well-stocked kitchen, and fresh herbs are a big step in a delicious direction. Before we get there, though, I want to drop some science on you. First of all, what makes something an herb? For our purposes, an herb is the leafy, aromatic part of a plant used for food or medicine.... ...

Dining in Davis: Pho King IV

In Review: Pho King IV 226 Third St. Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Food: *** Ambiance: **** Cost: $$ Key Food and ambiance quality **** I’m dining here every day *** Almost like eating at home ** Better than my roommate’s cooking * Only if I’m starving Budget $$$$ chancellor $20+ $$$ professor $15-20 $$ graduate student/alum $10-15 $ undergraduate $5-10 Learning at an early age that food is as good as the ware in which it is cooked and the place in which it is eaten, I’ve always tried to parallel my habits of home with my preference of restaurants. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking McDonald’s or a four-star restaurant in the closest big city — ambiance and a tended-to setting matter. Pho King IV, the fourth addition to the Pho King chain, has this figured out. Located on the corner of Third and University, close to the faddish cafe of the same name, the weeks-old Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant is a special medium between the... ...

Cooperatives reject City Council’s settlement offer in DACHA dispute

Neighborhood Partners and Twin Pines Cooperatives refused Davis City Council’s settlement offers last week, their president David Thompson calling the offers inadequate briberies. The settlement offers came in April 2010 for $300,000 and in January of this year for $280,000, according to the City Council. They aimed to resolve the conflict between the city, Davis Area Cooperative Housing Association (DACHA) and the two organizations. The controversy, known to some as the “DACHA mess,” began when DACHA decided to seek dissolution. They did this after the Twin Pines Cooperative fund (TPCF) and Neighborhood Partners LLC, the developers that created DACHA, emptied the co-op’s remaining assets after winning a lawsuit against them for illegally terminating their contract. Thompson, who helped fund DACHA at its start, told the city council at its Feb. 7 meeting that “DACHA has become a landmark case of the largest looting of a limited-equity cooperative in the nation and [its] neglect of its corporate responsibilities as a public benefit corporation, the breaking of articles and bylaws and... ...

News-in-brief: Students encouraged to ‘Take Back the Night’ during Sexual Assault Awareness Month

The month of April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). In an effort to raise awareness and education about sexual violence while preventing it, the Campus Violence Prevention Program is holding “Take Back the Night” on April 11, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on the East Quad. According to the Campus Violence Prevention website, “The spirit of Take Back the Night is to empower and support survivors of sexual violence, raise awareness, promote action to end sexual assault, and assert that it is wrong for people to live in fear of the night … or any time of day.” Co-sponsored by the Women’s Resources and Research Center and the Cross Cultural Center, Take Back the Night is a program available for all students to attend. Coordinators also suggest bringing awareness by posting on Facebook, presenting to clubs or departments, getting involved in the Clothesline Project and reading the student guide “How to be Sexcessful.” All events are promoting a message of empowerment to survivors of violence along with educating the... ...

Second annual TEDx event to be held on campus

Eighteen minutes — the time allotted for a TED speaker to give the talk of their life. On May 19, UC Davis will host its second TEDx event featuring a variety of local speakers, who will each have 18 minutes to present their research, discoveries or point of view. The event is from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in 1100 Social Sciences and Humanities, and this year’s theme is “The Power of Perspective.” The TED organization, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, was created 30 years ago, eventually giving birth to TED talks. “The idea was to create a talk that could be listened to on someone’s coffee break or between activities during the day and it had to deliver a message more than facts,” junior economics and psychology major Tyler Wilson said. “TED talks seek to inspire and enlighten people about something that the speaker of the talk thinks is important in the world.” A multitude of these talks are given at an annual conference; however, three years... ...

Column: Yahooligans

Grads, brace yourselves. Yahoo cut 2,000 from its workforce last Wednesday, which is bad news – really bad news – for those of us looking to work in the Bay Area. Those freshly unemployed, highly qualified Yahooligans will flood the labor market, making the job hunt that much more difficult for outgoing seniors such as myself. But I can’t say that I am completely surprised. The financial forecast for the Sunnyvale-based company hasn’t been, well, sunny. For the past decade, Yahoo has watched itself slip into irrelevance as Facebook and Google flew by on technology that was faster, better and more equipped for the mobile era. It’s not that Yahoo isn’t popular. Yahoo is, amazingly enough, still one of the most heavily trafficked sites in the world. Every month, over 700 million unique users visit at least one of Yahoo’s branded sites (Finance, Sports, News, etc.) – that’s nearly half of all internet users worldwide – but the company can’t seem to profit from its visitors. Yahoo remains one of... ...

Aggies roll through Northridge

Aggies go 1-1 in week’s matches

The difference between a win and a loss seems to be the doubles point for the UC Davis women’s tennis team. Both of this week’s matches were decided by a 5-2 score, and UC Davis experienced both sides of the coin. The Aggies came out on top Wednesday against Cal State Northridge, and then, on Saturday, came up short against Nevada. “I was worried about fatigue after our Hawaii trip, but it didn’t seem to faze us,” said coach Bill Maze. “The team played really tough and it was nice to get the win at home.” The Aggies ended the week with a 7-11 record, including a 3-2 mark in Big West Conference play. Wednesday — UC Davis 5, Cal State Northridge 2 Winning the doubles point was a good start for the Aggies against Big West foe Cal State Northridge. UC Davis started singles play with a 1-0 advantage for only the fourth time this year and never looked back. Senior Dahra Zamudio and sophomore Nicole Koehly had an... ...

Aggie Digest

Baseball The UC Davis baseball team surrendered two Cal State Fullerton comebacks that resulted in one-run losses in the opening of Big West Conference play. After the sweep, the Aggies fell to 11-16 overall and 0-3 in conference. On Thursday UC Davis took an early 1-0 lead after stringing together three straight base hits, but CSU Fullerton responded with a run of its own and added another run in the bottom of the third. Senior starter Dayne Quist struck out seven batters with no walks in 7.1 innings of work to keep CSU Fullerton in check. Senior David Popkins hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to tie the game at two apiece, and UC Davis rallied in the eighth to take a 4-2 lead. The Titans showed why they are the No. 14 team in the country, responding with three runs to win 5-4. Freshman Kevin Barker went 2-for-3 and recorded his first triple of the season on Friday, while Popkins was 2-for-2 with his second home... ...

Column: Play ball!

Spring is in the air, and that means it’s time for laying out on the Quad, Picnic Day and yes, Major League Baseball. By the time this reaches print, baseball will have already gone through Opening Day (or it’s “second Opening Day” depending on your perspective), and that makes this the perfect time to explore which UC Davis teams match up with squads from the Major Leagues. Baseball: Since we’re comparing UC Davis to the MLB, it seems only natural to begin with the UC Davis baseball team. And my diagnosis will make part of this campus smile and the other parts curse in their chairs. UC Davis baseball provides a striking resemblance to the San Francisco Giants. Both teams will be carried by their pitching staffs, and just as the Giants tout the starting abilities of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner, the Aggies lean heavily on Dayne Quist, Anthony Kubpens and Tom Briner. The UC Davis trio may never receive any Cy Young consideration, but if the... ...

Senate briefs

This ASUCD Senate meeting was scheduled to begin Thursday at 6:10 p.m. Times listed are according to the clock at the April 5, 2012 meeting location, the Mee Room in the MU. The ASUCD president is not required to attend senate meetings. Meeting called to order at 6:12 p.m. Rebecca Sterling, ASUCD president, present, left early Yena Bae, ASUCD vice president, present Kabir Kapur, ASUCD senator, present Jared Crisologo-Smith, ASUCD senator, present Bradley Bottoms, ASUCD senator, present Justin Goss, ASUCD senator, present Anni Kimball, ASUCD senator, present Paul Min, ASUCD senator, present Don Gilbert, ASUCD senator, present Joyce Han, ASUCD senator, present Erica Padgett, ASUCD senator, present Beatriz Anguiano, ASUCD senator, present Patrick Sheehan, ASUCD senator, pro tempore, present Yara Zokaie, ASUCD senator, present Appointments and Confirmations Anni Kimball was appointed as the new pro tempore. Melanie Maemura was confirmed as Controller. Jessica Tran was confirmed as STS/ Tipsy Taxi Unit Director. Joyce Zhou, Kriti Garg, Bree Rombi and Olivia Brown were confirmed to the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission.... ...

UC Davis smothered by Fresno State

UC Davis’ struggle to close out tight matches in their nine past encounters on the road persisted this past weekend in Fresno. The Aggies fell to 1-10 away from home while moving to a 3-13 overall record. Fresno State captured the doubles matches to earn the first point of the evening. Junior Toki Sherkabov and senior Josh Albert displayed their best showing at the No. 1 doubles showing before falling 8-5 in the third-set tiebreak. The Bulldogs’ momentum continued in the singles play, where they posted a victory at the No. 5 singles spot after three straight-set victories. Hugo Verdi-Fortin extended his No. 4 singles match into a third set before being retired. Sophomore Kyle Miller was the highlight of UC Davis’ performance, as he battled for a three-set victory at the No. 2 singles spot. He trailed 6-3, 5-2 in the second set and saved a match point before making a comeback and capturing a 3-6, 7-6, (10-8) win against David Ayoun. “He displayed tremendous poise and composure out... ...

Aggie Threads opens in the Memorial Union

Houseboats is right around the corner, which means a flurry of HB2K12 tank tops needs to be made. Newly opened Aggie Threads is seeking to satisfy any Houseboat shirt needs this year, along with any other custom shirt orders on campus. The new shop, located in the Memorial Union (MU) next to Campus Copies/Classical Notes, is the newest branch of ASUCD’s Campus Copies/Classical Notes. Aggie Threads specializes in printing unlimited colors on shirt orders ranging from one to a few hundred. “I actually pitched the idea in my interview for Classical Notes Director,” said fifth-year Classical Notes/Campus Copies and Aggie Threads director Ryan Hagens. After Hagens got the job he got together with former ASUCD Controller Don Ho and senior Eddie Hu to start up the new division. “It’s a method that prints the ink directly onto the shirt, rather than setting it on with something else,” said Ho speaking of the type of shirt-printing machine the group decided upon. “We were thinking originally about doing a screen printing machine... ...

Students hold rally for “Davis Dozen” last Thursday

Last Thursday a group of protesters rallied outside the Memorial Union (MU) building to show support for the “Davis Dozen” and to celebrate the closure of U.S. Bank’s UC Davis branch. The “Davis Dozen” are a group of student and faculty protesters that allegedly took turns protesting U.S. Bank by sitting for months outside its doors, eventually contributing to its closure and a cancellation of its contract with UC Davis. Recently the Yolo County District Attorney has cited members of the group with 20 accounts of misdemeanor charges. “Education is not a private good,” said a student protester who asked to remain anonymous. “We need to remember that this is a public university.” Members of the group ordered to appear in court blamed bank-subsidized student loans as a contributing factor to tuition hikes. Speakers at the rally said that the UC Davis administration is using a new tactic of “retroactive repression” to suppress student protests. They said the administration is sending a message by punishing demonstrators. Some demonstrators said that... ...