Attorney Ava Landers browses through the list of students seeking legal advice. Next up: a student wanting legal consultation, because their roommate ate their cookie. ASUCD contracts with an attorney to offer registered undergraduate students free legal phone consultation, a service that seems unknown to many students. Every quarter, each student can get up to 15 minutes of free consultation. In some cases, students may schedule another 15 minutes in the same quarter if needed. Paid for out of ASUCD student fees, the service has been around as far back as the 1980s. Students can go to the ASUCD office at 347 Memorial Union, show their student ID card and make an appointment for their free consultation. The issues students want advice for vary, with about 85 percent pertaining to tenant-landlord issues, according to Landers. “A lot of the time, it’s roommate issues and housing issues,” said Kathy Wilton, ASUCD Student Services Office Manager. “Those are the most prominent things. Every once in a while, you have someone who got... ...

Students who wish to be in the pre-health field at UC Davis may have different majors, but many strive for one goal: to pursue their fields of study after graduating and ultimately help others. Both the Nursing Club and the Foresight Pre-Optometry Club help students interested in pursuing nursing or optometry careers beyond their UC Davis education. The Foresight Pre-Optometry Club aims to provide both academic and social support to students who are willing to learn more about the profession of optometry. Members are mainly given all the information needed about the process of applying to optometry school. “I decided to join fall of my sophomore year after having spent my first year at Davis as an undeclared major and exploring various career options,” said Teresa Nguyen, a fourth-year psychology major. “Optometry was the path that made the most sense to me. It’s clean, comfortable and fits my personality.” For member Ece Turhal, a fourth-year biochemistry major, the most important part is the screening process for children in the community.... ...

From cultural phenomena to unbelievable annoyance in a matter of days, most viral videos seem to suffer the same sudden and irreversible demise. A video is posted with an easy to follow formula — it’s hot, it’s new and then, suddenly, there are hundreds upon hundreds of versions and responses. For a time, the formula is embraced, the videos are modified and made extraordinary … and just as swiftly, the magic is gone. Parodies of “Call Me Maybe” and “Gangnam Style,” once so popular, now reside in Youtube purgatory. Internet fads are short-lived, and accruing likes or views is entirely dependent on the hour or minute in which the video is posted. What is cool one moment is dead the next. The latest fad to make waves online were dances done to Baauer’s “Harlem Shake.” The craze lived a life of just two weeks before being considered majorly overdone, but before that time, many residents of Davis were able to create and submit their own versions of the video. Each... ...

Political events of the last decade have put the Middle East and South Asia firmly in American students’ minds. However, according to some, academics concerning these regions are surprisingly lacking, with UC Davis’ program only recently established and only one of four in the entire nation. Twelve years ago, there were barely a handful of Middle Eastern and South Asian courses at UC Davis. Now, after the founding of the Middle East/South Asia (ME/SA) studies program, the original two-member faculty and 300 students have grown to 22 and 2,000, respectively. With the leadership of founding director anthropology and women’s studies professor Suad Joseph, pressure from UC Davis student petitions and support from local Middle Eastern and South Asian communities, ME/SA has grown to offer both a major and a minor. It is also a resource for non-majors, as the program hosts two lecture series and many guest speakers throughout the year. The lectures are free, open to everyone and aim to offer richer understandings of Middle Eastern and South Asian... ...

While UC Davis seniors are gearing up to delve into the real world, it’s also that stressful time of year when high school students are getting ready for the much-anticipated college experience. Before this independent lifestyle, however, students need to actually get into college. UC Davis offers multiple programs and student services which prepare middle and high school students for post-secondary school. Programs including Educational Talent Search (ETS), the Student Recruitment and Retention Center (SRRC) and the Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) provide these students with help for getting into colleges, as well as services to help them after they are accepted. Founded in 1994, ETS is a federally funded program that helps about 1,700 students from 12 different high schools in Yolo, Sacramento and Solano counties. Sam Blanco, director of ETS, said that their program does not recruit students for UC Davis. Instead, it helps students throughout their high school and college academic careers, following them from their first year of high school until they graduate from college. “We... ...

To dorm-room and apartment complex dwellers, the grassy pathways to the Baggins End Domes and the clotheslines hanging across Tri-Cooperative bedrooms seem like a remarkable way of life. Both residences are cooperative communities which practice sustainable living. They follow Student Housing’s established practices, and are open to only UC Davis students. The Tri Co-ops are three on-campus houses across from the Regan Hall Circle which each rents out to 12 to 14 students. The 13 polyurethane-insulated fiberglass Domes are slightly farther from campus, and are home to 26. Both communities are now accepting applications for potential residents with an interest in cooperative and low-impact living. “[Sustainability] is a concept that we’re really trying to work into our daily lives,” said Hillary Knouse, a fourth-year Spanish and education double major and Tri Co-op resident. “Some of the ways we do that are more attractive than others. There are cool things like gardening and getting food from our own gardens, and then there are things like, we don’t typically flush the toilets... ...

We’re all determined to save the world. For the students at Davis Senior High School, they’re taking the initiative to do just that through the power of written word. Davis’ very own student-run The World Spectra Magazine launched its first publication last month. Spectra is a nonprofit journal featuring student works on different perceptions of the world. Led by Davis Senior High School fourth-year and editor-in-chief Linda Ge, the magazine was founded in August 2012. Last month, the team of 14 Davis high school students contributed to successfully launching its first issue. “We want to teach people to appreciate others,” said Ge in an email interview. “We want to learn from new voices and from experts.” According to Spectra’s website, the magazine aims to bridge communities and cultures from all over the world. Spectra showcases a collection of works by people in their teens to their 60s, providing a wide range of experiences and perceptions about any human experience. The magazine publishes works in different forms such as articles, poems,... ...

Long legs strut down a walkway as photographers flash pictures of models and designers beam with smiles as their new fashions are on display. Yep, it’s that time of year again — the latest styles emerge with spring around the corner. What you may not know is that the Sac Fashion Week creates many opportunities for students right here at UC Davis. Sacramento Fashion Week, which takes place from Feb. 24 to March 2, features 18 designers, six boutiques, a film on fashion exhibition, three workshops and a number of stylish parties. Originally launched in the spring of 2006, it launches designers and models into the fashion business and links entrepreneurs, makeup artists, photographers, advertising companies, hair stylists and many more. Duane Ram, executive director of Sac Fashion Week, says that he and his team usually start planning almost a year in advance. “You can’t come out to put on a full week’s schedule right off the bat,” Ram said. “In the early years we had a launch party and... ...

UC Davis students and alumni are given the opportunity to volunteer and help children from foster care and underprivileged families through a two-week summer camp called Cal Aggie Camp. “Cal Aggie Camp is a sleep-away summer camp for youth from underserved communities in Sacramento and nearby counties,” said volunteer John Vu, a fourth-year biochemistry and molecular biology major. “I believe our purpose is to provide a safe place where these kids can just be kids for a week and not have to worry about their troubles at home and the stresses in their day-to-day lives.” Cal Aggie Camp takes place for two weeks in July. The first week is for 6- to 12-year-olds while the second week is for 13- to 17-year-olds. The camp brings about 200 children every year and the staff aims to reach out to underprivileged kids to give them a week of nature-filled adventures, free of charge. “It is very rewarding to know you are making a difference in the campers’ lives. It teaches you to... ...

An inside look: My post While the moderator said that there are an average of 600 individual views per post, to get a better idea of the response that someone on the site obtains, I created a fake email and submitted a minimal, two-line profile. I was surprised to open my inbox two days later to find 22 emails. Wading through the sea of winking emoticons and innuendo, I determined a clear distinction between two types of people who replied to my post: some wrote personalized responses, while others seemed to copy and paste the same message to every address that catches their eye. Some went as far as to upload pictures of themselves, while others invited me to share my photos with them. Based off of the feedback I received at the time of this writing, the popularity of the page is worth noting. My profile was not detailed, it was posted the same day as ten other profiles — but it still attracted 22 individuals, suggesting UCD DTF’s... ...

Last Friday, asteroid DA14 zipped by Earth at a record-breaking distance of about 17,000 miles from the Earth’s surface. That same day, a surprise meteor streaked across the sky and rained fireballs on Russia, causing a shock wave to blast windows, trigger car alarms and injure civilians. But in an alternate world, it was the asteroid that collided with Earth and ripped our planet of civilization. Retired UC Davis professor Thomas Cahill published his first novel of a trilogy, Ark: Asteroid Impact, telling a story about a post-apocalyptic world. This science fiction begins in Davis and centers on Californians trying to survive the devastating effects of an asteroid impact and rebuild civilization. “I’ve always been fascinated by the effects that asteroids have on the Earth and especially the extinction of the dinosaurs,” Cahill said. “And the question came to me, ‘What if the same thing happened now, but instead of dinosaurs, we have people who are clever enough to somehow survive?’” Ark: Asteroid Impact was published in December of 2012,... ...

A loud truck blaring music pulls up outside the house where Mike Eidlin, a third-year economics and Japanese double major, sits with his friends. Girls in bikinis hop out, passing out free Monster energy drinks. No, this isn’t your average frat party. After Mike Eidlin did his research, he discovered it’s actually a little something sweet called product sampling. “[Product sampling is when] the [company] gets the products into the potential users’ hands; it’s a very efficient form of marketing,” Eidlin said. Eidlin, a member of Delta Sigma fraternity, decided to start his own company, GreekDrop, using this strategy of product sampling. “We feature clothing, accessories, events, bicycles, hotels, but all [at] discounts. For people who want something familiar [to compare it to], think about Groupon or Gilt.com or JackThreads, but for Greek life members,” Eidlin said. Liz Zimmer, a third-year mechanical engineering major and member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, loves the idea of having an online catalog where Greek students can score deals. “I will definitely use this... ...

“We went to Mikuni, which we usually go to, and it’s pretty good, and we ate, like, a lot more than we usually would. We got drinks too. Then we went to Pinkberry, and I didn’t have any and he had some, and then he texted me this morning asking if I got food poisoning. I was like, ‘No …’ So I don’t know what it was, but something about last night …” — Nasim Yazdani, fourth-year international relations major “I had a really fun Valentine’s Day. I just drank an entire box of wine. They’re amazing — with a straw, with my puppy. He was awesome. He helped a little … just a little.” — Rachel Kemiji, third-year classics and philosophy double major “In seventh grade, I started dating this guy, and we wanted to have our first kiss. So awkwardly on Valentine’s Day we were like, ‘Oh, we should kiss, I want to kiss you!’ It took us two days, and when it finally happened, we missed! It... ...