Matt Soeherman walks through the throngs of incoming first-years bustling about the Quad on Decision Day, the largest recruitment event of the year. He is one of many prospective students accompanied by a parent, carrying a map and overwhelmed by the UC Davis campus. By day’s end, he will log in to his computer, pull up a Statement of Intent to Register and take his first step to officially becoming an Aggie. With rumors floating around that UC Davis has begun to reject applicants with GPAs of 4.3, students are wondering what it takes to become an Aggie these days. The average admission GPA is slowly creeping up. While the average GPA of a first-year in 2010 was 4.1, the average GPA of a first-year in 2012 was 4.2. The 2013 average is expected to be even higher, and that statistic will be released in early May. However, GPA is only a small part of the admissions picture. When it comes to choosing incoming first-years and transfer students, the admissions... ...

He’s waiting at the restaurant, looking slightly nervous and fiddling with his phone. He looks up as she opens the door. They hesitate, make eye contact and simultaneously exhale in relief. Thank goodness — they both actually look like their OkCupid profile pictures. Online daters aren’t always so lucky. In fact, the UC Davis seniors writing this article weren’t always so lucky. Overwhelmed with curiosity — and after hearing about fellow undergraduates looking for love on the Web — we made accounts the first week of Winter Quarter. We chose OkCupid because it was free, and therefore, presumably more popular with people our age than paid websites. In about a month, we collectively went on 36 dates with 14 people. We wanted to learn a few things. Being in our early 20s and attending a large university should make these years the easiest, and most prolific, for dating in our entire lives. So why are there so many undergraduate students moving their efforts online? Aren’t websites like OkCupid only for... ...

When you hear the words “adult store,” does your mind conjure up images of black plastic bags, dimly lit stores on the edges of town and questionable characters in knee-length trench coats? While this may have been the case in the past, in the last few decades there’s been a growing movement to make sex shops safe and welcoming environments for all. At the forefront of this movement is Good Vibrations, which celebrates its 36th birthday this year. California Aggie writer Sam Wall email interviewed Jackie Strano, the executive vice president of Good Vibrations, to find out what it’s like to run a store with a focus on sexual pleasure. The Aggie: When and how did Good Vibrations first get its start? Was there a particular niche you were looking to fill? Strano: Good Vibrations first opened with one store in 1977 in the Mission District of San Francisco. We wanted to provide a safe, comfortable, clean and well-lit place for women to come in and buy a vibrator. Word... ...

The next time you see a puppy in a green vest, don’t pet it. It might get too excited and lose its job. Green-vested puppies are part of the Eyes for Others, the only Yolo County guide dog puppy-raisers club currently in existence. At 8 months old, puppies are given to raisers. These volunteers can be as young as elementary school children, and they raise and train the puppies until the pups are about 14 to 17 months old. The puppies are then sent off to the larger organization, Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB), for their last and formal training before going out into the world and making life a little easier for the community. “Our main goal is to get these dogs as comfortable being out in public and around everyday life as possible, so a blind person can feel confident that the dog they get won’t bolt or run them into a car,” said Patricia Wight, one of the Eyes for Others leaders. The club works with... ...

The California Aggie has seen a lot of change in just the past 20 years. While the days of daily color publication have long been over, some things won’t budge — The Aggie is still the best place on campus to get a journalism education, and its past editors are a testament. We have alumni reporting for publications like The New York Times and National Geographic, but we also have folks in politics, education, public relations, and others legitimately living out their dream jobs. We asked them to reflect on their time at The Aggie and how it got them where they are today. Nathaniel Levine News editor and director of graphics at The Sacramento Bee Aggie editor in chief 1993-94 It was the last week of spring quarter and our staff was limping toward the finish line: Graduation for some, a new position at The Aggie next year for others. As managing editor, I had a few more papers to put out before the end of the year. I... ...

Being a grown-up used to be the glorified “someday” of our childish imaginations. Now it seems like the older we get, the less glorious it seems. Perhaps we’re afraid that growing up involves a bridle, reins and a wagonload of responsibility. Or perhaps we resist because we don’t know how to be adults. According to Brandie To, a third-year sociology major, adulthood is a process of socialization. To her, it’s a phase that people spend their childhoods preparing for, and that through socialization, can be reached. Roxana Reyes, a marriage family therapist who works with CAPS in the Community Advising Network, also stated that the transition from adolescence to adulthood is different for everyone, based largely on culture, gender and economic status. However, to Allyn Alves, a fourth-year transfer student double-majoring in managerial economics and psychology, there are certain personal responsibilities that can be used to identify new independence. “For me being an adult means taking care of certain personal responsibilities, making a positive impact in the world and being... ...

Do you know what your first Miranda right is? How about the colloquial name for the London Underground, a rapid transit system in the United Kingdom? Or what noun/verb fits the description, “to fill various items”? Chances are if you didn’t get these answers right, The Scrambled Eggheads or The Ice Cream Socialists probably did. Trivia nights throughout downtown Davis offer a night of puzzling questions and funny team names. Just follow the rules, feel free to buy food or drinks — especially if you’re there during happy hour — and collaborate with your teammates to pass this weekly bar exam. Locations for these quiz nights include DeVere’s Irish Pub, hosted on Mondays at 7 p.m., Sophia’s Thai Kitchen and Bar, hosted on Tuesdays at 10 p.m., G Street Wunderbar on Mondays at 9 p.m., Ket Mo Ree on Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m., Woodstock’s on Thursdays at 9 p.m. and Froggy’s on Wednesdays at 7 to 8 p.m. While there are many opportunities for trivia nights, DeVere’s Irish Pub and... ...

If you’re looking to channel your inner 1970s Barbra Streisand, going with a $15 metallic pink sequin drop V-neck dress might be your best bet. Look no further, because Davis thrift shops and consignment stores have you covered. “I actually really enjoy fashion and I love putting together different types of clothes and patterns,” said third-year nutrition science major Jessica Stark, who enjoys thrift shopping in Davis. “I think thrift shopping is cool because unlike retail stores focusing on one type or brand of clothing, there are many different types of clothing, and you can mix and match with them.” Whether you’re on a search for a ridiculous Halloween costume, a hipster sweater, a Gucci purse or a sofa for your awkwardly cramped living room, there is one thing that most people will never pass up: a good deal. Most college students would agree that getting an item for over 70 percent off its original price, even if it may be used, is a undeniable offer. “Quite frankly, I am... ...

A student makes his way to the front of the class and starts to sing a rap about fish. He’s chosen to sing his haiku about salmon, a haiku he’s been required to write for his class, Wildlife, Fish and Conservation 120, also known as Biology of Fishes. This is just one of the interesting perks Professor Peter B. Moyle includes in his classes: poetry. While poetry may seem a lost art to some, it is actually a unique skill many professors and graduate students here at UC Davis are incorporating into their classes. Just because you are not enrolled in an English course does not mean you will escape the experience of writing poetry in a fish biology class or a design class. Professor Moyle said he cannot ever remember not using poetry in his classes, even when he taught as a graduate student over 40 years ago. “In my fish class, I write a haiku on the board every morning and require students to write at least one... ...

At UC Davis, there exists a group of dedicated students using their time to not only raise money for all-expenses-paid children-care camps, but also provide emotional support to the children who need it. Camp Kesem is a summer camp sponsored by Camp Kesem National for children with a parent who has or has had cancer. The free overnight camp is planned for children between ages 6 to 16 to enjoy a fun-filled week of enjoying life and just being kids. The camp is open to all children regardless of race, religion, national origin or financial status. Fifty college students spend the entire year before summer raising $60,000 to send at least 90 well-deserving children to camp for free. They continue to help those children by working as camp counselors throughout the week at camp. “Everything we do at Camp Kesem focuses on our goal of giving campers the most fun week possible, while providing the extra support and attention they need,” said counselor Ashley Wolf, a second-year biochemistry major. Camp... ...

With spring break right around the corner, many students are anxious for their long-awaited trips. For some, frantic last-minute planning is still being put into motion as many attempt live up to the notorious college spring break. Thankfully, we are in a generation of smartphones, where the latest and greatest application can help you through the mog of planning the perfect getaway. In an era of thousands of smartphone applications, users get lost in all of the possibilities available to them. But while you venture out into the world, keep in mind that there are helpful and handy tools which you can use to broaden your horizon and become technologically adventurous as well. Steering out of the mainstream Facebook, Instagram and Yelp, there are apps that can cater to your specific needs. Dalena Chu, a third-year genetics major, sees the benefit of using travel applications for making sure college vacationing goes as smoothly as possible. “I think people who are in business [or who] travel a lot, having an iPhone... ...

When going abroad, participants travel to distant countries and are introduced to new sights, foods, experiences and people. But there is more to traveling the world than personal gain and memories; there is the opportunity to make a difference in rural communities — places where one extra pair of hands and one additional set of skills have a weighty impact. Few understand this sentiment better than UC Davis graduate Aaron Salit, co-manager of Soksabike Tours, a Cambodian cycling shop and tour service with the intent of providing jobs to college-age locals as well as fostering cultural understanding with international visitors. Salit worked at the Bike Barn throughout his undergraduate years, and upon earning his degree in food science and technology, decided to travel the world. While in India trying to figure out where to go next, he searched online for his next destination. After one Skype conversation with a future co-worker, Salit found himself heading to Battambang, Cambodia to volunteer with the Kinyei organization. Kinyei is a social enterprise that... ...

Professor Duane Kouba has been teaching in the UC Davis Math Department for 30 years. For 20 of those years he’s been involved with the UC Davis basketball team and just about ten years ago he set up a webpage filled with calculus problems to assist his students, simply called “The Calculus Page Problem List.” The site’s stark white background and minimalist layout of problems leading straight to their solutions is so low-tech that your grandmother could probably navigate the site in between playing rounds of Pong on her Commodore 64, but that’s exactly Kouba’s intention. “If you go to my website you can see that it’s low-tech — here’s a topic, here are problems, here are solutions,” Kouba said. “You just click on the links. No bells and whistles. I haven’t worked on it for many years, but people like it because my explanations are clear.” The site’s simplicity, and the fact that the link is the first to appear when searching for “calculus problems” on a number of... ...