Recipe: Cranberry-Pecan Baked Brie

Written by Katie Morris
Published on November 15, 2012
Filed under Aggie Eats, Blogs

Thanksgiving is only a week away, and I bet people are starting to look forward to the massive amounts of food they are going to consume. I picked baked Brie this week because, not only is it one of my favorite snacks, it is also versatile enough to go with any seasonal meal. I adapted this one from a recipe I found on a blog called Chef In Training. I don’t like incredibly sweet foods, so I scrapped the maple syrup glaze. Regardless of your Thanksgiving traditions, I highly recommend serving this next Thursday. It could be either an appetizer or a dessert, depending on how strong your sweet tooth is. Same with the bread; I chose sourdough to cut the sweetness of the cheese, but if you wanted a less savory dish, a French baguette would also work really well. Preparation time: 10 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes Ingredients: 1 8 oz. wheel Brie cheese ½ cup brown sugar ¼ cup dried cranberries ¼ cup chopped pecans 1 sourdough... ...

News in Brief: Colors of India performance this Saturday

Visions at UC Davis will be putting on Colors of India, an extravaganza featuring an Indian cultural music and dance this Saturday from 5 to 7:30 p.m at the Richard Brunelle Performance Hall on the Davis Senior High campus. All proceeds will support education for youth affected by poverty and conflict in South Asia. The event is $20 at the door, $15 for students, $35 for VIPs and free for children and seniors. For more information, visit visionsglobalempowerment.org/colors-of-india. — Elizabeth Orpina ...

Column: Gym etiquette

I wanted to hold off on writing this until I became ridiculously buff. But that day might not come for a long time. We enjoy life by the help and society of others, but there’s a time and place for everything. You may be used to being a social butterfly who flaps your wings and has jolly conversations in the meadow. Get used to not doing that shit at all. Don’t accept a single call or start a single conversation, because your conversation will probably be stupid and will definitely piss people off. Some lifters are carrying massive loads, and they need to be able to focus. It also helps if you don’t say ‘hi’ to people and don’t try to help them. While unsolicited assistance may seem nice, it really isn’t, because it comes off as condescending and emasculating. If someone’s doing something dangerous or specifically asking for insight, then by all means, help them. But otherwise, just let them suffer. When I was waiting at the pull-up bar,... ...

The Aggie Arcade

Game of the week We all know the biggest release this week is Call of Duty: Black Ops II, despite my disinterest in the series over the past few years. In fact, I’m liable to go on a rant about it if given the opportunity, so I’ll just say this — if you like Call of Duty, you’ll probably like Black Ops II. But for the sake of discussion and my own personal sanity I’d like to highlight a much smaller game that came out a few weeks ago. I first played it earlier this week and it’s a real standout. Hotline Miami was released on Steam in late October, but the fervor among downloadable game fans has increased steadily with each passing week. Now that I’ve actually spent a fair amount of time with the game, I can say the attention is absolutely warranted. This is a game shrouded in mystery — the protagonist gets strange phone calls, puts on one of many animal masks, and kills numerous enemies... ...

Author Talk: Jason Mallory

In his new novel Proxy, author Jason Mallory has imagined a trying future. In his world, robots replace human workers, politics are deeply divisive, the United Nations struggles to keep order and the U.S. is on the brink of civil war… and yet, this world is not so different from our own. Mallory will be conducting a presentation about his novel on Tuesday from 12 to 1 p.m. in The Bookstore Lounge at the Memorial Union, as well as an event at The Avid Reader (located at 617 Second Street) at 4 p.m. on November 24. These events are free to the public. MUSE: Can you give us a brief introduction? Mallory: My name’s Jason Mallory. I’m 31 years old, from California. I’ve lived in Davis before. Can you describe your writing and/or creative process? It starts with a good idea or concept, and the story unfolds around it. I write in screenplay format to develop scenes and then bring [them] into literary format. When did you decide to begin... ...

In Review

The title of the new French film playing at the Varsity Theater, Chicken with Plums, only relates to the movie in two ways. 1. Like the meal, the movie is a delicious blend of different ingredients that somehow blends deliciously, sweet and salty: It’s an imaginative meal for your film-viewing eyes. And 2: The protagonist’s wife, in the last moments of desperation over her husband’s suicidal pact with himself to wait in bed until he dies because he can no longer live without the violin she has broken, hopes to lure him back to the safe harbor of sanity through cooking him his favorite meal of chicken and plums in an attempt, if you will, to have him regain a taste for life. This French film is written and directed by Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, who both also wrote and directed the film Persepolis, an Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Film. Though I never saw Persepolis, I can see how Paronnaud and Satrapi’s background in creatively composing animation... ...

International Education Week

The campus is celebrating International Education Week through Friday. International Education Week, hosted on campus by University Outreach and International Programs (UOIP) is a national event organized by the Department of State and Department of Education to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This year, UOIP is promoting how international experience has impacted members of the campus community and will be sharing profiles each day of the week. Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi One of the most defining experiences of my life was having the opportunity as a young woman to travel to another country. I was 22 years old the first time I left Greece. It was 1976; I was a junior at the National Technical University of Athens and I traveled to Germany to present a research paper at an academic conference. I had never been to a conference before or even flown on an airplane. I arrived in Munich for the conference and I found myself in what seemed like a huge place, surrounded by... ...

Music department to celebrate construction of new classroom and recital hall

In celebration of the start of construction for a new classroom and recital hall that is to be built on campus, the music department will be hosting an event tomorrow at 11 a.m. The ceremony, located at the project site on First and A streets, will consist of a tractor rolling through the area while drums are playing to mark the beginning of the clearing of the site before construction. After the initial ceremony, a piano concert and reception will be held at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. The ceremony is being held in honor of the donors who have contributed a large sum to the project’s budget. The new classroom and recital hall has been long underway, according to Clayton Halliday, assistant vice chancellor and campus architect. “It’s been identified for a long time as a need for the music program to have a quality recital hall environment,” he explained. The total cost of the project is $15 million. Halliday explained that, due to... ...

Pepper spray lawsuit awaits finalization

Nearly one year after the pepper spray incident at UC Davis, those directly affected are now awaiting their settlement payments. The students who were pepper sprayed and arrested filed a lawsuit at the beginning of this year and on Sept. 27 a preliminary agreement was made. “The plaintiffs who filed suit and who were pepper sprayed would be eligible for compensation under the settlement, if it is approved by the court on Jan. 9,” said Michael T. Risher, one of the attorneys who handled the case. He also added that students who were not originally a part of the lawsuit could have submitted a claim by Nov. 13 if they felt they were also threatened last November. Aside from the compensation of the students involved, part of the settlement maintains that Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi will issue a personal written apology to each party affected. “Since the proposed civil settlement is still under review by the Court, we aren’t able to comment on details,” said UC Davis Spokesperson Barry Shiller.... ...

Roving Reporter

Riders of the Unitrans B-Line: What song are you listening to right now? “‘The Last,’ by Childish Gambino. I like a lot of hip-hop, especially Kendrick [Lamar]’s new album. You can really see him growing up as a person, from the first song to the last.” — David Tran, third-year transfer mechanical engineering major “‘chAngE,’ by Miwa. It’s a cartoon song; that’s what I usually listen to. Like, soundtracks for Naruto and One Piece. I’ve got a store in China where I sell anime figurines, and that’s what’s always playing.” — James Zhang, third-year managerial economics major “‘Pathetic,’ by Blink-182, off of Dude Ranch. I’m a big pop-punk fan, like my favorites are Blink, Green Day, Weezer … they’re the best bands of all time.” — Dean Tayara, fourth-year sociology-organizational studies major “‘Mercy,’ by Kanye West and 2 Chainz. But it just came up on shuffle, I was going to switch to ‘Watch the Throne’ — definitely Kanye and Jay-Z’s best work. I don’t usually listen to Jay-Z though; I... ...

Women’s field hockey year in review

Two weekends ago, the women’s field hockey team ended their tumultuous season on a strong note with a satisfying 5-2 victory over Pacific. The team’s performance was a showcase of all of the hard work, time and heart they have put into each and every single one of their games, at home and on the road. The Aggies end their season with a 8-12 overall record and 3-3 conference record. Their eight wins are the most for the program in four years while their second-place finish in the NorPac West Division was another team-best. Against Pacific, five different players scored — with four goals in the first half as the women sealed their final victory in Northwood, Va. Senior Emily Mecke, junior Maggie Barry, junior Cloey LemMon, and freshman Jamie Garcia all scored in the first half to build a comfortable lead for the team. Senior Nadia Namdari ended the second half on a pleasant note with a goal to put the Aggies up 5-2. Overall, six seniors played a... ...

New UC Berkeley chancellor appointed

University of California President Mark G. Yudof announced on Nov. 8 that he selected Nicholas B. Dirks as UC Berkeley’s 10th chancellor, succeeding Robert Birgeneau. Dirks was formerly at Columbia University as the executive vice president and dean of the faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. “There was a Chancellor Search Committee that was created including faculty, staff and student leaders including External Affairs Vice President Shahryar Abbasi and Graduate Assembly President Bahar Navab,” said Klein Lieu, Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) senator at UC Berkeley. The appointment will need to be confirmed by the UC Regents at their meeting, which began Tuesday and ends Thursday. Since 2004, Dirks has been the executive vice president for Arts and Sciences at Columbia University and has overseen the academic administration, operations and financial management, both long- and short-term. He has managed over 29 departments for the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences and six schools during his time at Columbia. Most prominently, he led major diversity initiatives for... ...

Civilian Oversight expert visits campus in response to pepper spray incident

In the aftermath of the Nov. 18 pepper spray incident, UC Davis community members began considering the possibility of developing a civilian oversight committee to oversee campus police action. Currently, plans are underway to begin proposing models that would best fit UC Davis and the greater community. “Oversight in its many forms provides accountability and transparency for police issues that are otherwise inaccessible to the larger community,” said Barbara Attard, private oversight and accountability consultant and former president of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE). “Community members work to ensure that police practices reflect the values of the community— and that there is a balance between maintaining public safety and respecting constitutional rights.” There are several basic models of civilian oversight, including the commission model, the investigative model, the auditor/monitor model or a hybrid of the three. “We’ll be looking at identifying concerns with the current police situation, how we can better student-police relations and how we can have a level of transparency and accountability in... ...

Locals vote UC Davis Medical Center best in region

The UC Davis Medical Center (UCDMC) at 2315 Stockton Blvd. in Sacramento received a Consumer Choice Award in October for the 14th consecutive time. The medical center, a teaching, research and clinical practice hospital, is nationally ranked as one of the top 50 hospitals in the US for cancer research and pediatrics, as well as high-performing in other specialities. The Consumer Choice Award, provided by the National Research Corporation (NRC), recognizes exceptional healthcare provided by a wellness facility in 300 different regions. The recipient was selected based on a survey issued from Sept. 1, 2011 to Aug. 30, 2012. American consumers in 250,000 households and 3,200 hospitals rated local healthcare facilities based on qualities such as service and equipment. “We are constantly striving to improve and ensure that we deliver the highest quality care available,” said UC Davis Health System Marketing and Research Manager Lisa Montell in an email. “Many of our improvement initiatives are aimed at improving the quality of communication between patient and provider and also between the... ...

Women’s Volleyball preview

Teams: UC Davis vs. Cal State Northridge; vs. Hawaii Records: Aggies, 15-13 (9-6); Matadors, 18-9 (9-5); Wahine, 22-2 (14-0) Where: Pavilion — Davis, Calif. When: Friday at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 7 p.m. Who to Watch: It’s no secret that senior outside hitter Allison Whitson is an irreplaceable piece to the Aggies’ offense. But for those who haven’t noticed, the Palo Alto, Calif. native reminded everyone across the Big West with performances that garnered Player of the Week honors for the second time this year. Whitson was the clear-cut winner this week after posting phenomenal stats against Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara over the weekend. After recording 19 kills on Friday night against the Mustangs, Whitson came out firing again the following night against the Gauchos and managed to put away 20 more, totaling 39 in just six total games. Whitson will need to bring her A-game this weekend as well, as UC Davis will take on two more tough opponents to close out the year at home, including... ...