Recently, I had a chance meeting with a friend on campus, and the brief conversation led her to comment on my budding growth of facial hair. When I mentioned that I was partaking in the (in)famous occasion of No-Shave November, she immediately gave a huff of dismissal — something I understand. Up until this year, I had never given it much thought, considering it to be a superficial display of masculine body chemistry: “Look what I can do!” But on the morning of Nov. 1, I took a look at my two-day remnants and thought – hey, that’s not too shabby. Admittedly, I’ve always wanted to try a beard — full, but cleanly cropped. I suppose that’s my love of folk culture talking. My current experiment with a circle beard (encompassing the mouth and chin — think Kurt Cobain) was very-well received. Had the time finally come when more would be better? I put down my razor. The episode with my friend was the first time someone had actually commented... ...

Every time my parents send an email to someone, they call me to check over it first. When my dad says something that’s not in proper English, my mom tells me to correct him so that he doesn’t say it in front of other people. But no matter how shy my parents are about their grammar and pronunciation, I love their accents. I didn’t always, though. In high school, I used to get so embarrassed by their quirkiness that I never invited them to chaperone my field trips or watch any of my games. How ashamed I am now for ever feeling that way. All mothers and fathers have special relationships with their kids, but I think there is a unique bond that forms between immigrant parents and their first-generation children. Many come from less fortunate backgrounds, often having to struggle with language barriers, social prejudice and financial hardships in order to give their kids a good future. Immigrant parents want their children to advance socially and economically in America,... ...

When people think of highly professional careers, often they’re thinking of ultra-desirable professions like doctors, or dentists, or lawyers. These are the careers that mom and dad love to brag about. They’re the super-sexy careers that people talk about with shiny eyes. Let’s face it. A big reason why these professions are so popular is because they’re high-paid and way up there in terms of social status. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of these careers are glamorous for a reason. They serve very important functions in our society. But so do many other careers. Like, for instance, teachers. The education system is in dire need of highly qualified, highly skilled teachers, but there aren’t nearly enough people trying to fill those positions. Why is that, exactly? Why are there so many people studying for years trying to become doctors and lawyers, but not nearly as many people trying to become teachers? People don’t respect teachers. While everybody seems to agree that teachers are important, they don’t consider them the... ...

Next time you’re rushing to class, take a deep breath and observe the colors around you. Davis is just as alive as we are — plants are growing, buildings are under construction and artwork seems to spontaneously materialize in unexpected corners. There are trees wearing sweaters near Cruess Hall, bike racks sporting lovely knits near the Social Sciences and Humanities building as well as various murals interspersed around campus and downtown. The 35 new works of art in Downtown Davis were created by the Davis Mural Team in partnership with the John Natsoulas Gallery in an attempt to make Davis an art destination. Most pieces are on private businesses, but there are two on public property. One of these is in the Richards Boulevard bike tunnel, and it contains the combined ideas of all artists involved. Though Davis is quite vibrant — especially in the fall — the addition of murals does a lot to brighten gloomy days and sketchy alleys. The artwork tends to be a bit bizarre, surreal... ...

The ASUCD Senate election starts today and runs through Thursday. It matters. ASUCD has a huge presence on campus with an operational budget of over $11 million. It directly affects students through its units; Unitrans gets students to and from campus, the ASUCD Coffee House provides sustainable, nutritious food for students, the Association gives out $10,000 in scholarships yearly and ASUCD directly employs over 1,500 students. ASUCD senators directly influence all these things. Historically, the turnout for ASUCD Senate elections has been abysmal. Out of 25,000 undergraduate students, only three to four thousand students actually vote. That is a turnout rate of 16 percent. We can do better. This year is especially important. ASUCD faces what could be a perfect storm in the coming years. The ASUCD budget for the next fiscal year faces a huge hit from the Shared Services Center (SSC) tax and the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) tax. Although ASUCD was exempt from the SSC tax this year, no guarantees have been made... ...

When I was a kid, we had these things called yellow books. They were mundane, archaic-looking items that people would use to contact their local pizza joint, orthodontist or occasionally the guy they met once at a party whose number they were too afraid to ask for. As I approach adulthood, I realize we’ve traded in our yellow book for a more up-to-date novel —  a Facebook, to be exact. A yellow book was fine and dandy when people still used their phones for communication — but in the age of sparkling technology and the ability to contact people with the click of a button, Facebook has become the obvious bestseller. But with great power comes great rejectability. Now the mystery of dodged calls has turned into the mystery of dodged friend requests — a familiar but equally aggravating sequel. As we ask ourselves where our friend request has gone for the past two weeks, we only have one question left: Has Facebook become the new rejection hotline? I once... ...