UC Davis wins Conference Championship

Swimming and diving team grabs second MPSF title in three years

Written by MATTHEW YUEN
Aggie Sports Editor
Published on February 28, 2013
Filed under Sports

Typically the first win is great, but the second is twice as nice. The UC Davis swimming and diving team put truth to that statement this past weekend. The Aggies, competing at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference championship down at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, Calif., grabbed their second conference championship in the third year of the conference’s existence. Still, this one was different. With the addition of two athletic powerhouses, Hawai’i and Brigham Young University, the competition was stacked much higher for UC Davis than it was back in 2011. “I told them to swim with no fear, and it was a total team effort, not just one individual scoring most of the points,” said head coach Barbara Jahn. “This year was harder than the previous year, with the addition of two extremely strong teams, Hawai’i and BYU.” Indeed, UC Davis flipped back and forth for the lead and was in contention with the Rainbow Wahine and the Cougars for the duration of the meet. Junior... ...

Guest Opinion: Rape, in other words

A part of me might tell you that I once dated someone who felt differently than I did about the physical aspect of our relationship. Yet another part of me might tell you that I was raped. What does the term rape actually mean? That’s what I’m trying to figure out. What happened to me is this: I felt forced to have sex. I was consistently asked to have it despite how often I explained that I didn’t want to. I felt like we couldn’t make out without the expectation that it would lead to intercourse. I was not reassured that he would be in a relationship with me if I refused to have sex. Anything sexual that he did for me, I felt that I had to do the same for him or I was being selfish. Does this fall under the definition of rape? From my understanding, rape is any type of sexual intercourse that is forced upon another person. Most importantly, there is a lack of consent... ...

Women’s Basketball Preview

Teams: UC Davis vs. UC Irvine; vs. Long Beach State Records: Aggies, 11-15 (6-9); Anteaters, 9-17 (5-9); 49ers, 14-12 (7-7) Where: Bren Events Center — Irvine, Calif.; Walter Pyramid — Long Beach, Calif. When: Thursday at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m. Who to Watch: The Aggies have struggled with rebounding and scoring this season. However, sophomore Sydnee Fipps has been a constant contributor in these areas, averaging 17.1 points and 4.9 rebounds a game this season. Fipps has also scored 10 points or more in eight of the past 10 games. This is not surprising as she is second in the conference in scoring. Her efficiency is also notable, shooting 44.7 percent, seventh in the conference. Fipps’ scoring output and efficiency are going to be critical if the Aggies wish to pick up two road wins this weekend. Did you know? Senior Cortney French has shot a blistering 40.6 percent from beyond the arc in her career against the Anteaters and 49ers combined. She is 26-64 from three-point land... ...

Featured at the Flea Market

If sugar, spice and everything nice is what makes up the Powerpuff Girls, then leather scraps, bike tubes and everything reused is what makes up Manda Maples’ second hand crafts. Displaying one of her own creations, a neck warmer made out of an old sweater, Maples was at the Davis Flea Market this past Sunday to sell her wares. She is a local Davis artist who has found a way to upcycle almost anything, from scraps of leather that she gets from leather stores to popped bike tires from bike repair shops. “I don’t buy new materials,” Maples said. “My whole philosophy is that everything here is reused.” The handicrafts she had to offer were all wearable objects with their own unique sense of style. There were embellished and twisted leather bracelets, collars made out of sweater sleeves and shirts patched over by gas-station style bears and foxes, à la the classic “Three Wolf Moon” T-shirt. The ties alone contributed to multiple products: necklaces, bracelets, eyeglass cases, and more. “This... ...

Women’s water polo preview

Event: Aggie Shootout Teams: UC Davis vs. Concordia; vs. Santa Clara; vs. Colorado State Records: Aggies 7-7; Eagles 7-7; Broncos 6-8; Rams 2-6 Where: Schaal Aquatics Center — Davis, Calif. When: Saturday at 8:30 a.m.; at noon; at 5 p.m. Who to watch: Keep an eye out for senior attacker Carmen Eggert. Eggert was selected as the Big West Conference Player of the Week, marking her fifth award and her first in 2013. A 2009 alumna of Marin Catholic High School in San Rafael and a two-time honorable mention All-American, Eggert led the Aggies in goals (10), steals (seven), drawn exclusions (six) and field blocks (four) at the Davis Challenge tournament over the weekend. Eggert scored hat tricks on each end of Saturday’s doubleheader with Cal Lutheran and No. 20 CSU Bakersfield, then scored two goals each against No. 18 Pacific and Sonoma State. She also put up heavy defensive contributions in the 12-5 win over the Tigers, tallying four steals and a pair of field blocks. Did You Know?... ...

Davis homework policy change targets children in achievement gap

Thursday evening, the Davis Joint Unified School District (DJUSD) Board of Education decided to approve changes to the current homework policy affecting kindergarten through sixth-grade children. A 2-3 vote accepted the 10-minute addition to homework time. “Our kids in the achievement gap need to be doing homework and they need to be reading more, and so we need to find ways in supporting them in doing that successfully,” said Marguerite Montgomery Elementary School Principal Sally Plicka. The board’s policy subcommittee said that after discussing the homework policy with teachers and staff, they came to the conclusion that the smallest time increment that would make a difference would be 10 minutes. According to the subcommittee, the extra 10 minutes need to be added to accommodate more reading, with the main concern being children in the achievement gap who don’t do extra work at home. Board of Education member Nancy Peterson said she has concerns that children in the achievement gap could fall further behind because of the 10-minute increase. “I have... ...

The Aggie Arcade

There are no notable video game releases for the end of February and the week in news amounts to a series of small-ticket items that could best be summarized in bullet point form. So for today’s edition of The Aggie Arcade, I’ll take time to address Sony’s recent PlayStation 4 reveal. It’s hard to imagine that I was in middle school the last time Sony announced a new console, and yet I had the same boyish excitement last Wednesday when the company held its PS4 conference. The cynics and optimists both voiced their differing opinions in the wake of the event, but I think we can all agree that there’s something thrilling about welcoming in a new generation of video games. From what I can tell, the overall reaction to Sony and the PS4 has been largely positive so far. The company did a wonderful job of championing its new streaming technology following the $380 million acquisition of cloud-based gaming company Gaikai. I’ll admit some of it amounted to pie-in-the-sky... ...

Baseball Preview

Teams: UC Davis at Oklahoma State Records: Aggies, 5-4; Oklahoma State, 7-1 Where: Allie P. Reynolds Stadium — Stillwater, Okla. When: Friday at 2 p.m.; Saturday at 1 p.m.; Sunday at 11 a.m. Who to Watch: Senior Paul Politi is off to a good start to the season. In the nine games he started, he leads the team in runs (10), doubles (five), and runs batted in (nine). His batting average sits at .361 with a .465 slugging percentage. He went 5-14 with three RBI, extending his hitting streak to 19 games in the series against Utah last weekend. He walked five times and scored four runs in the series, while homering on Sunday. Politi started every single one of the 57 games last season. Occupying third base, he led the team in many offensive statistics including at-bats, batting average, hits, RBI and total bases. For every other statistic, he finished in the top five among his teammates. Politi graduated from Los Gatos High School and dominated the competition, batting... ...

Letter from the editor

There will be no issue of The California Aggie outside your lecture the first day of spring quarter. Or the next day. Or the next day. Don’t freak out. The first issue of a new California Aggie will be waiting for you that Thursday. We can’t promise four Sudoku puzzles, but we can promise an exciting version of the official UC Davis student-run newspaper we’ve all known and loved since 1915. We’re moving to a weekly format, stressing long-form, in-depth journalism. Our issues will be fatter, not only with higher-quality writing but with more visuals and design. We’re working on a new website that should be ready to roll before the quarter begins. It’ll be modern and sleek, with multimedia capabilities and room to grow for budding digital journalists. Blogs will be more active and our news editors — bless their hearts — will be updating around the clock, so you can always know what’s happening. Personally, I’m excited about these changes. With no journalism major at UC Davis, The... ...

Report cards

A new class of senators and an executive ticket have been elected. What better time for me to sit safely behind my computer and cast judgment on my one-time peers for their fruitful or futile year of public service? These are ASUCD report cards — sadly it’s a low curve this quarter. Senator Joyce Han — C+: Han accomplished none of her three platforms (that’s a theme with this class) and was not a strong presence at the senate table. However, her beautification of the 24-hour study room in collaboration with the Aggie Public Arts Committee makes her one of the few senators to accomplish any project whatsoever. Though I myself did not agree with the project, it has improved the extremely drab study chamber and bettered the lives of students. For this, Han should be commended. Senator Beatriz Anguiano — C: Anguiano offered a softer, more charming voice at the table in the fight for ethnic and lavender graduations, making her a fitting battle companion to the fiery former... ...

Porn vs. reality

Pizza Guy knocks. The door swings open to reveal a half-naked woman with neck-down alopecia and two balloons attached to her ribcage. “I hear somebody ordered a large sausage pizza?” We all know where it goes from there. Pornography is as old as civilization itself — even prehistoric rock art depicted erotic images. Pornographic films, such as the Le Coucher de la Mariée striptease, were in production less than a year after the motion picture was invented in 1895. And since the advent of the internet, porn has become more accessible than ever before. This has led, unsurprisingly, to quite a bit of self-righteous backlash. Porn is immoral, they say. It’s filthy. It is corrupting the minds of the people who watch it with depraved thoughts. If you watch porn, you should feel ashamed, especially if you are a girl. I beg to disagree. Porn has many benefits for those who enjoy watching it. For those not in sexual relationships, it can provide relief from sexual frustration. For those with... ...

Editorial: Appreciate responsibly

We college students love beer. Duh. But what kind of beer drinkers are we? Those of us on the editorial board who aren’t yet 21 years old obviously have no idea what beer tastes like. Bread, we’ve been told. We’ve seen undergrads at frat parties chug cans of Keystones like water — boat racing and shotgunning and chanting and throwing ping-pong balls into plastic cups and all sorts of other things you should never do with beer. Correction: Those are things you should never do with good beer. Natty Light? OK. Pong that shit up. Beer is an artform. It deserves to be savored as such. It should be poured into a glass. It should be poured into the right glass, so it can create and maintain the right amount of head. Yes, foam is important. It’s sad going to The Davis Beer Shoppe and feeling almost exclusively surrounded by non-students and grad students. Great beer, and bartenders who will happily tell you all about the beer, are worth the... ...

Softball preview

Teams: UC Davis vs. St. Mary’s Records: Aggies (7-9); Gaels (3-8) Where: Cottrell Field — Moraga, Calif. When: Saturday at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. Who to watch: Just this last weekend at the NFCA Leadoff Classic, sophomore pitcher Justine Vela came up big for the Aggies, proving herself worthy of the numerous honors awarded to her during her freshman year. To truly understand Vela’s importance for the Aggies’ success on the weekend, you need only to see the numbers. Through 18.2 innings pitched, Vela boasted a 1.88 earned-run average, recording 20 strikeouts to go 2-0 for the weekend. To add the cherry on top — both of Vela’s recorded wins were complete game shutouts, in one of which she gave up only one hit. Due to the fact that Vela’s efforts in the circle proved to be essential for the Aggies’ two recorded wins on the weekend, she earned a coveted spot among 11 others on the All-Tournament Team. But wait, there’s more. Vela again added to her litany... ...

MUSE speaks with Whiskey Business

Last Sunday, local bluegrass band Whiskey Business’ banjo picking and folk rhythms caused a surge of unabashed dancing at the Davis Flea Market. Made up of four UC Davis students, the band began its ascent from Tercero dorm room jam sessions last year to performing live from the KDVS studio just last week. Galen Shearn-Nance, a second-year undeclared major, plays the banjo and fiddle as well as provides vocals. Gabe Saron, who plays the Mandolin and provides vocals, is a first-year evolution, ecology and biodiversity major. Stefan Turkowski, who plays guitar and sings, is a second-year electrical engineering major. Corey Reider plays the bass and is a third-year history and psychology double major. After trudging through a flock of dosey-doe dancers at their live Flea Market performance, MUSE was able to talk to the musicians in an interview about their music, creative process and experience playing bluegrass. MUSE: How did your band first take shape? Shearn-Nance: Stefan Turkowski and I jammed in the dorms last year, and we would sometimes... ...

Column: Watts legal?

Question: There’s a bar in Sacramento that turns into a nightclub on weekends. They charge cover — which is annoying in itself — but on “ladies’ night,” women get in free before 10 p.m. Guys still have to pay $15. Is this legal? Can I sue them? If so, would I only get $15? — Brian B., Sacramento Answer: Ladies’ nights are absolutely illegal in California. And yes, you can sue them — for $4,000 in automatic damages. Like the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, most states, including California, have their own civil rights acts. Named after former state legislator Jesse Unruh, the Unruh Civil Rights Act prohibits California’s businesses from discriminating against people on a variety of bases, among them race, sex, disability and national origin. A person who suffers discrimination in violation of the Unruh Act is entitled to $4,000 in statutory minimum damages. These damages are the minimum that a court can award; theoretically, a victim of discrimination could get even more. While $4,000 might seem... ...