The Ethical Hedonist: Ramen — the Other White Noodle

Written by Hillary Knouse
Published on November 28, 2012
Filed under Aggie Eats, Blogs

As Katie Morris mentioned earlier this month in her blog post about slow cooker minestrone, dropping temperatures and encroaching finals mean ‘tis the season for soup. And lots of it. Soup appeals to my cooking sensibilities, as it requires no measuring of ingredients, can be made with virtually whatever you have on hand. What’s more, if you’re willing to break out a 50 cent package of Top Ramen, it can be finished in about the time it takes to boil water Livening up a package of ramen noodles into a full bodied soup can be as simple as throwing in some vegetables and an egg or as fancy as frying up some pork and breaking out the sake. The incarnation pictured above falls somewhere in between. This soup adventure began as most of my cooking does, by setting water in a pot to boil and throwing a sliced onion into a pan of hot oil — I used red, but yellow or white would work just as well. After caramelizing half... ...

UC extends Fall 2013 application deadline for students impacted by Hurricane Sandy

In response to Hurricane Sandy, the University of California is providing applicants affected by the superstorm with the option of an application deadline extension for Dec. 15. Applications for Fall 2013 enrollment are due Friday, and students are encouraged to meet the deadline. However, if necessary, students on the East Coast can seek authorization from the UC Application Center to extend the submission deadline for the application and official test score submission beginning Dec. 3. In addition, UC will accept January SAT scores from students unable to take the November SAT or SAT Subject Test due to the superstorm. According to the UC Office of the President, about 5,150 students, or approximately 3.2 percent of all Fall 2012 UC applicants, reside in states affected by Hurricane Sandy. “I think the deadline extension will give students on the East Coast a bit more of a chance to get things in order because we know how deeply the hurricane affected them,” said UC Davis admissions advisor Jessica Melgar. “I’m hoping it’ll spread... ...

Award-winning Aggie traditions

Taking the Unitrans bus, going to the Silo Union and eating at the ASUCD Coffee House may seem like a daily routine to most students. Little do they know that these are part of 50 Aggie traditions that could earn them a medallion to walk with at graduation. The 50 Aggie traditions is a challenge that began in 2008 but has never been truly promoted until this year. The Cal Aggie Alumni Association (CAAA) created a list of 50 activities and events unique to the Davis community. Once a student has completed all 50 during their time at UC Davis, the Student Alumni Association (SAA) awards them with a medal and traditions booklet at the end of the school year to acknowledge them as a true Aggie. “If you keep track of the traditions, they’ll help you keep track of what’s going on on campus,” said Sarah Ng, a second-year sociology and psychology double major and SAA director of traditions. “And it’s just a way that the whole campus comes... ...

Complaints filed against ASUCD senate slates

A series of official complaints to the ASUCD Elections Committee were filed this month against both the NOW and SMART slates, following the recent senate election.According to Internal Affairs Commission Chair Sergio Cano, this could result in senators-elect Felicia Ong and Tal Topf (NOW) and Armando Figueroa and Alyson Sagala (SMART) not being seated, should the complaints remain unresolved by tomorrow’s senate meeting.Bradley Bottoms, ASUCD senator, filed a complaint against the SMART slate for allegedly falsifying their expenditure forms by failing to report the purchase of alcohol for a Nov. 10 party for SMART supporters during the campaigning period. Candidates are required to cite all expenditures during the campaign in expenditure forms, according to ASUCD Bylaw 412D.“No campaign executive may falsify expenditure forms. This may include, but is not limited to, false signatures, incomplete forms, and/or not claiming purchases/donations used for campaign purposes,” the bylaws state. According to Elections Committee chair Aaron Hsu, full details to the formal complaints will not be released as of yet. “The complaints may or... ...

Buying more than you bargained for

People are seemingly more and more concerned with what goes into their bodies. The diet craze began decades ago with the release of everything from dieting books to pills to yoga classes, all promising a healthier lifestyle. Proposition 37 strove to educate consumers about genetically modified foods and where they come from. One would think that the health-savvy consumer would know about what they are eating, but according to a recent study done by researchers at UC Davis and UCLA, there is more to our groceries than meets the eye. “Contaminants get into our food in a variety of ways,” said principal investigator of the study Irva Hertz-Picciotto, professor and chief of the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health at UC Davis, in a press release. “They can be chemicals that have nothing to do with the food or byproducts from processing. We wanted to understand the dietary pathway [that] pesticides, metals and other toxins take to get into the body.” In the study, researchers at UC Davis and UCLA... ...

News in Brief: Downtown Window Decorating Contest begins tomorrow

Sixteen businesses in Downtown Davis are embarking on a quest of having the best decorated window. The contest starts tomorrow and will end on Dec. 12. The contest has a People’s Choice Award, in which after viewing the windows, people can cast their votes online for the best storefront at surveymonkey.com/s/davisdowntownpeopleschoiceaward. “We are very excited to have this new addition to the Davis Downtown promotional line-up,” said Stewart Savage, director of Davis Downtown, in a press release. “Visitors to Downtown Davis can stroll through Downtown Davis and enjoy the bright and festive decorations and lights the participating business will put on display. It is really going to add a huge splash of light and color to the many events taking place downtown during the holidays.” Participating businesses include French Cuff Consignment, Davis Ace Hardware, Bubble Belly, Nestware, Outdoor Davis, UC Davis Store Downtown, Icekrimski, Preeti Girl, The Wardrobe, Pinkadot, Cultivé Frozen Yogurt, USE Credit Union, Davisville Travel, Pomegranate Salon, Haute Again Consignment and Whole Foods Market. — Claire Tan ...

The Sleeping Beauty app

REM, or Rapid Eye Movement sleep, is a beautiful state in which we wander the surreal realms of the mind in the quest for organizing and sorting information we accumulate throughout the day. Unfortunately for us college kids, we can never seem to get enough of it. Like many, I suffer from sleep deprivation. Countless nights, I’ve stayed up to write seemingly endless papers, complete homework assignments, or cram furiously for tests. This sleepiness or grogginess is due to the lack of, or interruptions in, the REM sleep cycle. Every night, the average person gets between 90-120 minutes of the all-important REM sleep. When we are woken up in this sleep stage, we face possible grogginess, and, in my case, “the grumpies.” Luckily, there’s an app that ensures that we do not wake up during this critical period. SmartAlarm (free, or 99 cents for the pro version on iOS/Android) is a fantastic app that helps people wake up at the appropriate times without ruining REM sleep. Once activated, the app... ...

Column: Distractions from distractions

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! People are coming back from their Thanksgiving breaks, eyes locked ahead on the upcoming winter holiday. Oh, and finals are right around the corner. All of that work and information from the past few weeks is culminating in either a large exam or paper. Throw in whatever personal issues the average Aggie goes through on a day-to-day basis and early winter becomes a stressful time. Fortunately, there’s a simple way of finding at least a moment of mental focus and creativity. Step back. Breathe. Take a shower. Go ahead and laugh incredulously. With the precious seconds ticking away, and the mountain of tasks not shrinking along with them autonomously, it’s easy to start believing that all of one’s attention must go to the job at hand. However, a change of scenery and attitude can often result in seeing the problem from a fresh perspective. Why would a shower really help with thinking about problems creatively or differently? The answer lies in how... ...

News in Brief: “Light Up the Holidays” event tomorrow evening

A holiday tree lighting and parade will initiate this year’s “Light Up the Holidays” Downtown Davis event. At 5:30 p.m., parade participants will begin to converge at the Davis Food Co-Op, with the parade officially starting at 6 p.m. The parade will consist of a double decker Unitrans bus, a fire truck, bicyclists, strollers and walkers. They will start south on G Street, go west on Third Street and south on E Street to the plaza. The holiday tree in the plaza will be lit at 6:30 p.m., and Santa will be on hand to greet children until 8:15 p.m. Free screenings of How the Grinch Stole Christmas will be shown at the Varsity Theatre at 616 Second St. There will also be free horse-drawn carriage rides from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., departing every 10 minutes in front of The Avid Reader at 605 Second St. — Claire Tan ...

Final exam tech tips for the hopeless procrastinator

Finals are just around the corner, and if you are like most college students, you have a serious problem with procrastination. By studying on your computer and having your cell phone nearby, you are at risk of being seduced by your technology and the vast amount of distractions that it can provide. Technology can seriously harm your studying if you are pulled away by every ding and ring on your digital devices. However, technology can also save you from technology. The following applications are easy to use and are very effective in curbing procrastination. The first program is Freedom, which is $10 at macfreedom.com. Freedom completely disables all access to the internet for a set amount of time. Getting online once Freedom has started is very difficult, so it is good at keeping you focused. Freedom costs $10, but there are free alternatives as well. LeechBlock, an extension for the Firefox browser, which you can get at addons.mozilla.org, will not cost you a dime, and is more customizable than Freedom.... ...

Column: Punch Line

Woman to Winston Churchill: Sir, you are drunk. Winston Churchill to Woman: And you are ugly. But tomorrow, I will be sober. Humor is as much a part of being human as anger, sadness, joy or any other emotion. Even more fascinating is the fact that humor spans every single culture on earth. Regardless of language, religion, ethnicity or geographic region, humor permeates written letter and spoken word. This pervasiveness exists because humor comes from within. It is hardwired into every one of us. We can stop laughter if we really try, but that feeling of laughter we experience on the inside is impossible to fake. Take a look at any comedian who performs on the stage and you will notice that it is almost never the content itself that is actually causing you to laugh; it is the context and the way it is delivered. Content plays almost no role in determining what is funny. Why is it funny to watch Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner and... ...

Saturate Yolo to show iPhone images of Yolo County

A new type of exhibit will be displayed at the Davis Art Center in January. The center will host Saturate Yolo, a display of images taken using an iPhone and focusing solely on Yolo County. Local Davis resident and artist Dave Webb created the exhibit, which will feature over 60 printed images and a five-frame electronic installation that will rotate dozens more images. The exhibit will coincide with the City of Davis’ “Phone Art Month.” During the month of January, people will be free to post their own phone images on a Facebook page synced with Saturate Yolo. Webb said that research has shown 85 percent of American adults own a cell phone and 76 percent of those users take pictures with those devices. He also said new technology allows people to share those images instantaneously, which most people do via some social media platform. They also use their phones to edit and manipulate the images. “Declaring January ‘Phone Art Month’ is an invitation for people to submit their stuff... ...

UC Davis students rank high when it comes to Honest-tea

This October, UC Davis students displayed their honesty while quenching their thirst at Honest Tea’s “Honest Campus” sale. Honest Campus is a sale in which Honest Tea bottles are set up at unmanned stands on campus. Payment ($1, collected in a clear box at the stand), is made under the honor system. Once the stands are up and the bottles are out, Honest Tea staff stand back and watch from afar as their thirsty customers’ honesty is put to the test. “The idea is to see if people will pay the $1 for the tea (the honest approach) or just grab one without paying,” said Darin Schluep, Foodservice Director with the Associated Students Dining Services at UC Davis, in an email interview. Honest Tea approached Davis in early October with the hopes of conducting this social experiment on campus. On Oct. 24, Davis students were put to the test. Honest Tea staff discreetly watched the stand from nearby, tracking the results of the sale. As it turns out, UC Davis... ...

Highest-paid UC Davis faculty members from medical, professional programs

During recent budget cuts and proposed fee increases to the University of California system, highly paid faculty members have come under fire. At UC Davis, top paid faculty members include neurological surgery professor at the UC Davis Medical Center J. Paul Muizelaar, at $858,999.91; CEO of the UC Davis Medical Center Ann Rice, at $798,230.14; co-director of the UC Davis Spine Center Professor Kee D. Kim, at $746,955.14; vice chancellor at the UC Davis Medical Center and Dean of the School of Medicine Claire Pomeroy, who will be stepping down in June, at $734,378.38 and medical director of the UC Davis Vascular Center Professor John R. Laird at $575,000. University of California is unusual in having a pay scale. The main pay scale is for faculty on regular nine-month appointments in non-professional school departments, notably in the College of Letters and Science. The usual progression begins at Assistant Professor Step 2, six years later promoted to Associate Professor Step 1, then eventually to Full Professor Step 1. Promotion to Full... ...

Column: Under-reported rape

After a sexual assault, survivors are told to call the police, get the support of their friends, seek medical help, press charges and avoid taking a shower. This is great advice that will help survivors. But what if they shower, don’t have a rape kit done, don’t tell anyone and time goes by? We live in a society that expects instant punishment for the rapist and instant reporting from the survivor. However, this does not always happen and many survivors feel that if they did not immediately report the rape, they aren’t left with other choices. All survivors have options, whether they decide to report the sexual assault or not. The victims’ advocates at the Campus Violence Prevention Program (CVPP) offer support, information and assistance with living situations, academic settings and health. CVPP also provides guidance to other campus resources such as Student Judicial Affairs (SJA) and UC Davis Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). CVPP resources are confidential and free to any UC Davis student (both undergraduate and graduate), staff... ...