By THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE STAFF

June 5, 2:30 p.m., 2024

By RIVERS STOUT

PULP DISCUSSES AN ALLEGED USE OF AMMONIUM SULFIDE BY COUNTER-PROTESTER 

On the Morning of May 30, a masked individual threw a glass bottle of Smirnoff into the encampment, UCD PULP media liaison Stanford McConnehey claims. 

According to McConnehey, the bottle — which broke on impact — has the words “Fuck y’all” written on it. The bottle contained vials of ammonium Sulfide, with at least one of the vials shattering and releasing ammonium sulfide into the encampment. Nobody was injured from the alleged attack.

Ammonium sulfide is a skin, eyes and respiratory irritant. The substance is commonly used for stink bombs, and tends to not be lethal in small doses with limited exposure. However, those with respiratory conditions are more likely to experience more extreme affects. 

“This was an attack with poisonous chemicals,” McConnehey said. “Obviously the intent was that the glass bottle would break, and the [ammonium sulfide] bottles would break. 

McConnehey spoke on the accused person’s choice to wear a mask.

“People who are opposed to the encampment criticize campers and protestors for wearing masks,” McConnehey said. “Which we do to protect ourselves from Covid, which is being transmitted to people in our communities and to protect our identities when there is an open threat of doxxing and harassment. But, the same people wear masks when they come to assault us and to throw toxic chemicals into the camp, hoping that the vessels within them will break, and that they will harm people.”

McConnehey continued.

“This is engaging in terroristic tactics,” McConnehey remarked. “These are meant to terrorize people in the encampment, to threaten them, to make them feel like they’re unsafe, to make them literally unsafe. Often these are the same people aligned with one another that say they’re threatened just by the presence of the encampment, or the mere presence of disruptive protests in classrooms, or picket lines, or people chanting about Palestinian freedom and liberation, or even chanting about their support for one side versus another in a conflict.”

Police were not contacted over the matter, he shared.

“As always, we’re not going to stop what we’re doing, and we’re not going to be intimidated. Its obvious that this escalation and type of violence is a reaction to the marginality of the Zionist viewpoint and the justification, denial and actual celebration of the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Specifically what’s going on in Rafah right now–which is where all of our eyes should be focused.”

Despite these challenges, the encampment has continued to grow. With the strike’s beginning, the encampment has seen an increase in check-ins. In preparation for the growth, the encampment was updated to make neat rows of tents that are available to all students. The strikers and campers now host programming together on the quad field.

While the encampment is likely to continue occupying space for the coming weeks, attacks against them are just as likely. 

“People need to understand the violence that Zionists are willing to commit against people speaking out against a genocide and realize who is threatening who,” McConnehey said on the attack. “Who is unsafe, versus who is merely uncomfortable.”

May 27, 2024, 9:10 p.m.

By RIVERS STOUT

UAW STRIKE

The United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 4811 announced they will be going on strike on Tuesday, May 28. The strike is over what the union believes to be unfair labor practices, including failure to protect the safety of protesters at the UCLA encampment. 

The Davis PULP encampment shared their reaction to the union’s decision. 

“We look forward to rallying with and supporting the striking UAW 4811 workers as they raise the issues of the unfair labor practices by the University of California, as it relates to speech and protected speech on campus, specifically as it relates to the matter of Palestine,” Stanford McConnehey, PULP media liaison said.

“We expect that the quad will be a space of collaboration between both undergraduate and graduate student campers and striking workers,” McConnehey added. “As always, all of our community is invited to engage in the public facing programming. We’re going to maintain this as a safe space for our community and we’re looking forward to accepting new people into the Popular University for the Liberation of Palestine.”

May 27, 2024, 6:20 p.m.

By RIVERS STOUT

PULP NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE

On May 22, the second round of negotiations between UC Davis campus leadership and the PULP members occurred. 

“This round of negotiations was a chance for the administration to offer responses to our initial five demands,” PULP media liaison Stanford McConnehey shared. “It was not a detailed response to our fully detailed list of demands. It was very obvious that it was vetted through UCOP [University of California, Office of the President] and the regents. What they offered was insufficient to meet the needs and the demands of this community. Going forward the administration’s engagement teams will be setting up meetings in real time with the relevant decision makers as they relate to each of our demands.” 

According to McConnehey, offers to schedule more meetings were made at the table.

“Basically it was just offered to set up meetings in exchange for us breaking down the encampment,” McConnehey said. “We’re not here to be in meetings, we were in meetings before the encampment started.”

The establishment of meetings with the engagement teams has given hope to the PULP movement.

“We’re going to move towards discussions that need to be had, with the people who have the information, the access to information and the power to make changes or make recommendations for changes at the various institutional levels on which our demands operate,” McConnehey said.

“This movement is diverse, it engages in a multiplicity of various tactics, of which the encampment is just one,” McConnehey said. “We’re looking forward to coming together as a community to push our demands, until our demands are met.” 

May 15, 2024, 7:39 p.m.

By CHRIS PONCE

PULP NEGOTIATIONS BEGIN

Earlier today UC Davis News & Media Relations shared that campus leadership met with PULP negotiators on Monday, May 13. 

“Campus leaders expressed appreciation for the students’ efforts to keep the encampment safe and peaceful and listened to the students’ concerns about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” the university shared in a statement. “UC Davis leaders said the conversation was productive and that they will continue to engage with the students about issues they are raising.”

The statement also shared Chancellor Gary May’s previous sentiment that the university won’t punish students for remaining within their First Amendment rights. 

“UC Davis cannot and will not discipline students for speech protected by the First Amendment, even though [May] recognizes that such speech sometimes distresses or inconveniences members of the campus community,” the statement reads. “We remain committed to keeping the campus peaceful and welcoming for people of all backgrounds.”

The statement did not discuss PULP’s fifth demand which asks that May resign from the board of Leidos or as chancellor of the university.

This is the second statement from university leadership, following the first on May 6.

“Our Student Affairs team is working closely with UCD PULP members to offer guidance or information today, and they will remain available to UCD PULP to discuss their needs,” May said in the previous statement. “We are reviewing the demands we’ve seen posted and are working on responding.”

May 15, 2024, 7:21 p.m.

By RIVERS STOUT

At 10:30 a.m., protesters gathered at the East Quad for a walkout on Nakba day. The walkout was organized by the UCD Anti-Imperialist Student Association (AISA) and the Spartacist League. They traveled across campus, drawing some students to their walkout.

The march included chants such as “Gay Mary you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” “Walkout for Palestine,” “The working class will take a side, down with U.S. genocide” and more.

“We called a walkout to defend the camp against Zionist provocation and to free Palestnie,” Jameson, an organizer, said. “Over the past few days there’ve been provocations at the encampment, disruptions to their classes and just kind of general aggressive behavior.”

Those that organized the walkout don’t believe that negotiations aimed at divestment should be the primary means of aiding Palestinians. Instead, they aim for a class struggle.

“The university administrators are not neutral, they are agents of the capitalist class,” Jameson said in a speech. “Overseeing control and operation of higher education. The time has come. Let’s divest these administrative parasites of their authority to control schooling and serve as the bulwark of genocidal imperialism on our campuses. Abolish the administration, for student, teacher and worker control of higher education.”

While the walkout organizers and PULP organizers both want a free Palestine, the groups have ideological differences. An AISA organizer said that Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Revolutionary Student Union were too “liberal.” The organizations rely too heavily on working within the university to achieve their goals, they said.

“We’re happy to see people being active around the ongoing issue in Palestine,” they said. “I think there are differences in the political lines between some people who organize with PULP and AISA; In terms of their feelings about the settler-colonial reality in occupied Palestine and how to move through or past it.”

May 14, 2024, 4:10 p.m.

By RIVERS STOUT

Today at 9:45 a.m., a group carrying a sign that read “WORKERS UNITED AGAINST GENOCIDE” marched near the Quad. They chanted: “Palestina sería libre/Cueste lo que cueste,” which means in English “Palestine will be free/It cost what it cost” and “Viva Palestina,” which translates to “Long live Palestine.” 

Marchers consisted of members of organizations that work within the California Coalition for Worker Power. Many marchers were members of Trabajadores Unidos, a Woodland and Sacramento based worker center.

Alma Soto, executive director of jobs with Justice San Francisco, was a member of the march.

“We’re here because we’re a worker-led organization and we very much honor solidarity,” Soto said. “We have an analysis of what it means to be in solidarity, like with working people internationally, not just here in the United States.”

The group had plans to be in town for a workers’ assembly in Davis, and wanted to express their solidarity with the encampment while they were in town.

“Palestine has been an issue that has been raised from workers in our communities — communities that are primarily immigrant communities,” Soto said. “Imperialism has impacted a lot of the communities that we represent. We see that happening in Palestine and we have a commitment to continue to be in solidarity as workers in Palestine have asked for solidarity actions from workers across the country.”

May 13, 2024, 1:53 p.m.

By CHRIS PONCE

It has been one week since the PULP encampment was set up in the Memorial Union Quad. Since last Monday there have been counter protests, several donations made to the encampment and an alleged assault on a PULP member. A media coordinator with the group recently shared that negotiations with the university are expected to start sometime this week. 

“It’s going to be our first meeting [with the university this week], we just aren’t quite sure yet how things are gonna go,” the coordinator said. “But we are hopeful and have faith that our negotiators are going to do a good job.” 

In order to join the encampment, participants have to check in at the PULP entrance. The coordinator said there have been around 1000 check-ins since last Monday and that there are typically around 200 people who stay overnight.

“We have more systems in terms of dealing with food and dealing with cleaning up and maintaining the camp,” the coordinator discussed what has changed since day one. “At the beginning, there was such an influx of donations that things just kind of were not organized well. But now we’re getting much more organized and things are running smoothly.”

The coordinator shared why they feel hopeful about negotiations. 

“I think because we have so much community support, we feel hopeful,” they said.
“But we just are just really confident in our negotiators and confident that we’re going to stick to our demands.”

May 13, 2024, 11:48 a.m. 

By CHRIS PONCE

Today, Aggies for Israel (AFI) held a small demonstration in front of the Quad. They hung an Israeli flag from a tree and set up missing posters of Israeli Hostages taken by Hamas. Since Oct. 7, it is believed Hamas has been holding around 100 people hostage.

“It’s to bring awareness of the people that were taken hostage into Gaza, or kidnapped or murdered,” Elizabeth, a member of Aggies for Israel who didn’t feel comfortable sharing their last name, said. “I mean, so we’re just bringing awareness to the people that are still there since Oct. 7.”

It has been one week since PULP organizers set up their encampment in the Memorial Union Quad in support of Palestine. Elizabeth shared her thoughts on the encampment. 

“I don’t want to speak for everyone, but I know that I just want a peaceful campus,” Elizabeth said. “I just know that this is a very tough situation and some people are very personally involved. And I hope that those of whose family are also doing okay.”

Elizabeth shared she believes a sign in front of the encampment which reads “Davis to Gaza — Intifada,” is a call to violence. 

“It’s a little bit scary,” Elizabeth shared. “My reaction when they’re, you know, having signs that say ‘Intifada’ and things like — it’s a little nerve wracking. It’s a call for violence, it incites violence. And I know a lot of [the encampment members] say they don’t want that [violence]. And so I wonder if they know that that’s what [Intifada] means. I just really want a peaceful environment, I want everyone to be safe.”

She shared that there are misconceptions people have about their group and that there are also likely misconceptions held about PULP.

“I try to have empathy for them and understand where they’re coming from,” she said about the PULP encampment. “But I definitely want to encourage people to talk and have respectful and open dialogue. That’s what I would want. But yeah, I’m sure there’s misconceptions, those misconceptions on our side too.”

Elizabeth and another member, Ari, shared that they are cautious about supporting a total “prisoner/hostage for hostage” exchange in the war. They believe the Palestinian prisoners held by Israel are different from hostages that were taken by Hamas. 

“We want peace, we want to end the war,” Ari said. “It’s as simple as that. We want our hostages home, and we want Palestinians to have a government that doesn’t hold them hostage and that isn’t a terrorist organization.” 

Elizabeth has family in Israel and has been hearing about this conflict since she was a child.

“I mean, I’ve heard about this conflict since I was younger, it’s not something that just started now,” Elizabeth shared. “And every time I’ve talked to my family and to my family in Israel, there are so many different perspectives in Israel alone. So many people want to be able to live freely and be able to coincide and live together.”

Elizabeth believes that both Jewish people and Palestinians are indigenous to Israel and Gaza and that they can coexist.

“People can coexist and live on land that they are both indigenous to, that both have history and ties to,” she shared. “Palestinians do deserve rights and freedom and human rights and land. And so do Israelis and Jews, so I really think that’s just that’s where I would leave off — we really just want peace, we want to not be afraid for our family, of constant rockets and taken hostages.”

“I was so afraid that my family would be [one] of the faces,” Elizabeth gestured to the missing signs with hostage faces on them. 

May 11, 2024, 2:02 p.m.

BY RIVERS STOUT

On May 10, at around 5 a.m., 4-5 older men encircled the UCD PULP encampment and blew airhorns. People in the camp responded with chants. Camp safety volunteers prevented the men from entering the camp, according to PULP liaison Stanford McConnehey.

May 10, 2024, 4:18 p.m.

By RIVERS STOUT

On May 10, around 2:45 p.m., a late middle-aged man walked into the PULP encampment and punched a camp safety volunteer, according to media liaison Stanford McConnehey. 

The attacker was soon expelled from the camp. Afterwards, a group of middle-aged men continued to record campers outside of the encampment until around 3:40 p.m., McConnehey shared.

This is a developing story, more updates will be provided in The Aggie’s ongoing coverage.

May 10, 2024, 1:03 p.m.

By RIVERS STOUT

It is the fifth day since the PULP encampment was organized in the Memorial Union Quad.

A banner reading “JEWISH LIVES MATTER TOO” and “#BRING THEM HOME” as well as other phrases was placed in front of the PULP encampment earlier today. 

The sign previously appeared on Tuesday, May 7. A group called the Davis Oct. 7 Coalition claims responsibility for the previous sign. 

Campus News Writer Vince Basada contributed to this update

May 9, 2024, 3:28 p.m. 

By CHRIS PONCE

Stanford McConnehey, third-year law student at King Hall, had a final exam this morning and graduates tomorrow. On top of his academic work, McConnehey is a media coordinator with Davis Popular University for the Liberation of Palestine (PULP) and is a part of the encampment. 

According to the United Nations, 80,000 people have fled from the Rafah area due to Israeli involvement. McConnehey shared his reactions to the ongoing violence in the region.

“The logistics of the encampment have been taking up a lot of my attention,” McConnehey said. “So every time I open my phone, it’s horrifying. Words actually can’t describe the level of loss. We have members of our community whose families are trapped in and around Rafah, unable to get into Egypt. And nor should they have to be faced with the decision to go into Egypt, the United States needs to force the Israeli occupation forces to get out.”

McConnehey said he hopes all prisoners, both held by Hamas and Israel, are exchanged safely. He believes that a fully military withdrawal is also necessary for the region. 

“I personally am in favor of an all for all prisoner exchange,” McConnehey said. “That includes everybody that is held by the Palestinian resistance factions and every Palestinian that’s held by the State of Israel — including those in administrative detention should be swapped. There needs to be full military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and immediate attempts at rebuilding.”

He is feeling hopeful about the future of the encampment and shared that he believes negotiations between the administration and protesters are in process. 

“I think those talks are in process, as far as what negotiation would look like and how far they’re willing to come on our demands,” McConneyhey said. “And I think that might have to do with the Chancellor’s travel schedule.”

While there have been some counter protests, McConnehey said PULP is avoiding escalation. 

“We’re not here to get into fights with people,” he said. “We’re here to focus on Palestine. And so we’re trying to avoid any escalation. Obviously, there are some folks who want to come and take high resolution photographs of people’s faces inside in order to threaten them with doxing and things of this nature.”

McConnehey also believes that the encampments have provided a space for people to take action against the violence in Gaza and also grieve what has been lost. 

“Being able to share this space and collectively grieve and mourn and also act and take up this space and bring other people’s attention to it is a meaningful way to not normalize a genocide,” he said.

May 9, 2024, 2:31 p.m. 

By CHRIS PONCE

Today is the fourth day of the encampment protests at the Memorial Union Quad that was organized by the Davis Popular University for the Liberation of Palestine (PULP). 

Earlier today, Yolo County Moms for Liberty Chair Beth Bourne and other protesters gathered in front of the encampment to protest against gender affirming care for transgender children. 

“You know, they have their First Amendment right to free speech and I have my First Amendment right to free speech,” Bourne said about the encampment protesters. “So that would be my message for Chancellor May and all the administrators. If there’s a mother, father or grandmother who’s concerned that we have these new medical procedures and treatments and drugs that have never been given before to young people, then we should be able to be critical of it and question it.”

A media coordinator with PULP said they were unaware of the Moms for Liberty protest, but another encampment member who wished to stay anonymous referred to them as “transphobes.” 

“They’re just here to draw attention to themselves,” the coordinator said about Yolo County Moms for Liberty and counter protesters. “They’re here to get into arguments. They’re here to kind of distract from the reason we’re here — which is the ongoing genocide in Palestine.”

May 9, 2024, 2:05 p.m.

By CHRIS PONCE

PULP press coordinator shared that the group is working to make an on-demand pathway for people with disabilities and other accommodations to move through the Quad.

The post Live Updates: Davis Popular University for the Liberation of Palestine (PULP) encampment appeared first on The Aggie.

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

The California Aggie’s Editorial Board met with Chancellor Gary May and administrators via Zoom to ask questions about the quarter. Attendees also included Faculty Advisor to the Chancellor and Provost Ari Kelman, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Dana Topousis, Associate Chancellor and Chief of Staff Karl Engelbach, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Life, Campus Community and Retention Services Sheri Atkinson and Vice Chancellor for Finance, Operations and Administration Clare Shinnerl.

The Editorial Board meets with administrators every quarter and shares the full transcript online afterward — if you have a question you would like us to ask for the fall 2024 quarter, you can submit it to editor@theaggie.org. 

Below is a transcript of the meeting that has been edited for length and clarity.

Editorial Board: This quarter’s ASUCD elections saw a 23.7% voter turnout — a fairly significant increase from prior quarters, and one that enabled The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) to pass. What do you think contributed to this? How can the administration continue this momentum and further increase student involvement in elections?

May: I think obviously we are all very supportive of the increased turnout in this election and hopefully others to come. It’s an encouraging sign that students voted and enough voted for TGIF to finally pass, I think after the fourth or fifth time [of TGIF being on the ballot]. I would give most of the credit to the students and student leadership in ASUCD for increasing turnout, but I know that the administration has also been very supportive of those efforts. There was additional signage promoting QR codes to encourage the voting; the voters were incentivized with $10 CoHo gift cards; the voting period was extended from three days to five days [and there was] lots of social media promotion, a raffle [and] prizes. Then we promoted it on “Checking in with Chancellor May,” “Thursday Thoughts,” the UC Davis Life newsletter, social media, student housing communications and support from IET staff on the Schedule Builder navigation menu with a vote button. We’re always eager to do whatever we can to support the voting on campus.

Atkinson: As Chancellor May has said, the students in ASUCD were very organized this year and did a lot of promotion and had a lot of these different ideas. Their idea of having a [raffle] drawing [for] coffee with the chancellor was one of their ideas to increase voter turnout. The students were really motivated, and then we supported their efforts as Chancellor May mentioned. 

Editorial Board: What has your reaction been to the ongoing PULP encampment for Palestine in the MU Quad? What is the state of negotiations and what has this process looked like? 

Topousis: I’m just going to jump in here, if the chancellor doesn’t mind. I know that [the Editorial Board] has submitted at least three questions, maybe four questions, about [the encampment]. We’ve made a public statement on May 15 and that’s going to remain our public comment on the situation. I hope you understand we’re just preferring to not undermine the ongoing engagement process and the communication that we’re having with the students. We’d rather just leave our public comment to what it was on May 15 for all.

Editorial Board: So just for clarification, you guys will be making no comment on those questions for today?

Topousis: We’re making the comment that this is our statement, we don’t want to undermine the engagement process with the students, so we are going to keep to the message that we put out on May 15 as our most recent statement.

The Editorial Board reviewed all the prepared questions regarding the encampment to give the campus leadership an opportunity to provide additional information on any of them. These are the questions that the Editorial Board asked: 

The group has five demands, one of which is for you to step down from the executive board of Leidos or resign as chancellor. Have you considered this demand and communicated your stance with the protesters?

If the protests continue to go on, does the university have a plan on how to address them outside of the negotiations? Will/has the university considered police enforcement? If not, is there a line when the university will consider authorizing the use of police? 

How has the UC system as a whole been reacting to the effects of encampments at campuses across the system? Are administrators collaborating with each other to address violence that has occurred at campuses such as UCLA and UCSD?

If the UC did divest in part or in full as requested by protesters, what would the most likely impact be in terms of decreased scholarship availability, changes to campus operations funding, etc.? What moves could UC Davis make to minimize any negative impacts?

After going through these questions, Topousis responded as follows. 

Topousis: I think the ones about their demands, their requests and what the universities are doing in the process are the same [in that] we don’t want to undermine the discussions we’re having with the students, and we don’t want to say anything that might undermine that process.

I would say the UC has made a statement about their reaction to the system. On April 30, UC President [Michael] Drake did issue a statement about freedom of expression. We can certainly point to that, but that’s probably the most we can say there. I will turn to the chancellor related to the president’s comments [and] if there’s anything further we should say about the UC system.

May: Only that there’s been an investigation opened at UCLA to find out a little bit more detail about what exactly happened and why. We’re waiting to see how that investigation unfolds. [The Editorial Board] asked if we are collaborating, and the chancellors have a regular monthly meeting where we do talk about various issues happening on our campuses. This is certainly an important one that we have been discussing. I don’t know if I would call it collaboration, but we’re certainly sharing information.

Topousis: I’ll just also clarify our not wanting to undermine the process. The statement that we released on May 15 [was reviewed by] students that we’re talking to […] before we released it. We’re really trying to respect each other and respect their role in this as well. That’s why we don’t want to say anything without them being part of the table.

Editorial Board: With violence continuing overseas and tensions rising at college campuses across the country, what is the university’s plan to make Jewish, Muslim and Arab students feel safe and protected from discrimination? Is the university’s current approach to addressing these types of issues different from in the past? 

May: I’ll just start by saying the events in Gaza and Israel have been heartbreaking and have created a really challenging environment for our campuses, both in the UC and across the nation. I believe that Student Affairs here at UC Davis has done a tremendous job of working with our students on all sides of the issue and the student organizations that represent them to provide the necessary resources and support. 

I want to make it clear that whenever the university receives any sort of complaint about antisemitism, islamophobia or any type of intolerant or offensive behavior, we immediately reach out to the affected parties to provide support and resources using HDAPP [Harassment and Discrimination Assistance and Prevention Program] and other resources of similar type. We review each allegation and compare it to the university’s anti-discrimination policy and then take action appropriately.

We’re always looking for ways to improve. If there are ways that the campus climate can be improved to ensure that every student is not restricted in their participation in our programs and activities and most importantly, their classes, we want to make sure we take those suggestions for improvement and develop an environment where every student, faculty member and staff member can feel welcome and thrive.

Atkinson: We take any kind of report very seriously in Student Affairs. We will work with individual students to review their case, help them navigate any challenges they might be facing and help them find the resources that they need. We have done this with various groups of students to hear their concerns and talk about them. It’s definitely something that we’re very concerned about, and we want to support our students in having a positive campus climate.

Shinnerl: I can just add that we have teams of professionals here to help with safety on campus. I think one of the areas we’ve been pretty busy with is vandalism and removing offensive language quickly when it’s reported so that it does not damage property, but also does not hurt people. 

Editorial Board: UAW 4811 has just authorized a strike in response to the UC’s “unprecedented acts of intimidation and retaliation directed at [their] rights as academic employees to free speech, protest and collective action.” UAW has listed various concerns to negotiate and discuss with university leaders, such as the right to free speech, divestment, disclosure regarding university funding sources and investments and amnesty for students and faculty who were arrested or faced disciplinary action due to protests. How does UC Davis plan to address the strike and demands of strikers, as well as the potential interruption to education posed by the event? 

May: The strike [in 2022] was a difficult situation for the entire campus community, and we always hope that any strike activity does not meaningfully disrupt teaching or learning or campus operations. It’s the position of the University of California system that this strike is illegal and violates the collective bargaining agreement that was reached in 2022. There is a contract that has been in place since that collective bargaining was concluded, and it specifically says in that contract that the UAW will not strike during the period the contract is in place.

The university has asked the Public Employment Relations Board [PERB], per an injunction, to stop the UAW from striking and we await that outcome. I will say that many of the same issues that are raised by the UAW and their strike authorization vote were raised by the encampment students and others, and we do think that that’s a constructive conversation to have. We just don’t think the strike is the appropriate way to have the conversation.

Kelman: I was disappointed to see this is a so-called “stand-up” strike — which is to say that the strike happens at different places at different times, and our campus has been constructively engaged with the leadership of the encampment on the quad. I was surprised to see a stand-up strike on our campus based on its reasons for striking. I would say further that the strike is creating additional stress for students, for faculty and staff. We recognize that we’re in the process of considering ways that we can try and mitigate some of those issues. We’re going to, as we did during the previous strike, find ways to [provide] additional support for faculty who might need help because they’re facing significant additional work around grading, leading sections [and] otherwise maintaining the integrity of the curriculum.

We had some unfortunate activity the other day [where] some classes were disrupted. The Student Affairs team has reached out to students who were very uncomfortable because of some of the ways in which those events transpired. More broadly, students who are facing impacts because of the strike can reach out to case managers and others in Student Affairs for a variety of different kinds of support.

Editorial Board: Governor Gavin Newsom’s new budget proposal will decrease the amount of financial aid students receive – around 300,000 students receive the Middle Class Scholarship every year, which is losing funding. In addition, this new budget will potentially harm many low-income students. Is there any plan to ensure that students will have enough opportunities for financial support throughout their education? 

May: The UC firmly supports the Middle Class Scholarship program’s goal of making the entire UC education, as well as CSU education, debt-free. To that end, we’ll continue to support President Drake’s debt-free program for our lowest income students. We were always going to rely on the Middle Class Scholarship program to make the rest of our students debt-free. Unfortunately, the proposed cuts would mean a delay in reaching that goal and likely an increase in borrowing by students. The Learning-Aligned Employment Program was also a key program for our debt-free goals, which provides high quality employment opportunities for UC students, so that’s another area of disappointment. 

I would just add that the UC has done its part to achieve the debt-free goal by setting aside 45% of new tuition revenue under the Tuition Stability Plan that was passed a few years ago. That money is already needed to fund UC’s debt-free program [and] we were unable to make up for the loss and potential middle class scholarships from that source, so the budget is not final. The legislature and the governor will still be negotiating the budget for the next two or three weeks. We hope that there’s some possibility that the Middle Class Scholarship will get placed back in the budget, or at least some portion of it, but that’s all we can say at this point.

Editorial Board: As you know, the Arboretum is undergoing restoration. What has been the administration’s role in facilitating this process and can you tell us a little more about the set timeline or when it will be fully restored?

May: We’re supportive of the project. We’ve contributed $2.5 million in deferred maintenance funds as a match to a grant that we received from the California Natural Resources Agency for the project — that grant was $5.4 million. The Arboretum and Public Garden staff have really worked closely with partners in Finance, Operations [and] Administration, which was led by Clare [Shinnerl]. This includes collaborating with campus planning, environmental stewardship, design and construction management [and] utilities, as well as various academic contributors across UC Davis to implement the project.

As far as the timeline goes, construction occurs over 2024 and 2025, and mainly from April to November of each of those years, and we expect to be complete by winter of 2026. The construction will begin at Lake Spafford and extend this year. It’s always somewhat frustrating to have disruptions in any kind of campus construction project, so we appreciate everyone’s patience as we try to make things better for the Arboretum.

Shinnerl: I don’t have much to add other than that this Arboretum, you know, it’s a lake, right? It doesn’t have a source and it doesn’t have an outlet, so algae was really building up there. It’s disruptive, but we absolutely had to make these repairs to keep our campus looking great and healthy for the Arboretum to be healthy. I do have a fabulous video [which] tells a really great story that this work will be well worth it.

The video can be found on the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden Youtube channel. 

Editorial Board: UC Davis SHIP rates are increasing next year — what went into this change, and how will it affect students? Are there any plans to subsidize this rate increase for students who need it?

May: So UC SHIP is a self-funded plan, which means that the annual premium is based on the members’ overall utilization of the plan. During the last half of last year, 2022 to 2023, UC SHIP had experienced significant increases in planned use when members came back after the pandemic and began using services, and the pandemic wound down. The use was so high that the UC SHIP program had to pull about $75 million from its reserves to cover the claims above what the actuarial team had forecasted for last year. By the time these claims were submitted and processed, the premium for this year had already been set. It was too late to adjust the premium for this year. 

Over the past several years, SHIP insurance premium increases have stayed pretty much in line with state and national insurance plan costs. The increases that students will be expecting next year are not unique to UC SHIP. Plans across the country have seen dramatic increases in demand similar to what I described in the last half of 2022 to 2023, and we expect that might continue.

Some adjustments were made to the planned benefits for next year to help mitigate the increase in premiums: The emergency room copay, the annual out-of-pocket maximum and the copay for special medications were all standardized across campuses that participate in the program. These changes in discontinuing services brought down the premium increase by about 5%, so there was some relief there.

In terms of subsidizing, Student Health allows students to waive the UC Student Health insurance program cost if they have approved health insurance coverage, such as from their parents or from some other source. Annually, approximately 40% of the undergraduate population here at UC Davis opts out of SHIP. We also offer gift aid to cover the full cost of SHIP for our neediest students, [and] of those students, about 50% of those were enrolled in SHIP — that’s 6,443 students as of fall 2023. That financial assistance that was provided totals about $20 million.

Lastly, I’ll just note that a 17% increase in the number of undergrads who qualified for SHIP coverage for fall occurred compared to 2022. There’s a couple of things happening: the increase in the number of students that we have to serve, as well as those premium increases. 

Shinnerl: I can add that this is now a national trend for all health premiums. We, as employees, had gigantic increases this year. You’re seeing rising healthcare costs everywhere for a lot of reasons.

Editorial Board: With commencement coming up soon, can you tell us what the process of choosing commencement speakers is like? Why were this year’s speakers chosen? 

May: We start by advertising the opportunity to apply to be a student speaker for the undergraduate commencements, and that’s advertised throughout the general UC Davis community. We get typically 25 to 35 applications to be student speakers each year. The selection committee that [selects student speakers] is about 12 to 14 people, [and] that includes faculty, staff and students. 

To apply, the students submit a draft copy of the speech and a one minute video that demonstrates their presentation style. There’s a scoring rubric which is used to move the applicants through the various rounds of the selection up to the live auditions, which are conducted in mid-May. Once the five speakers have been selected, Student Affairs, Marketing and Communications works directly with the students to help them prepare to give the speech. All the speakers get to rehearse the speech at the Golden One Center a few days before the commencement ceremony.

Engelbach: I’ll speak to our faculty speakers. We actually reach out to college leadership and ask for nominations about the most outstanding faculty among their peers within a respective college, and we make selections of one faculty speaker for each of the five separate ceremonies. We added faculty speakers for the first time last year, and we received feedback from both students as well as parents that they appreciated hearing faculty voices as part of the commencement ceremony. 

Finally, we have an advisory committee for our undergraduate commencement ceremonies, including student faculty, staff and administrators. That advisory committee made recommendations about external speakers that we might consider inviting to serve as speakers at the upcoming undergraduate ceremonies. This year, our undergraduate student representatives suggested Sacramento Kings Head Coach, Mike Brown. We reached out to him, and he provided remarks [via video] that will be shown at all five of the ceremonies. [We are] happy to answer any other questions [students] might have about speakers at commencement ceremonies, whether student, faculty or external.

Editorial Board: There seems to be a construction site being set up near Young Hall. What can you tell us about this project and its timeline?

May: So that would be my statue that’s going up. No, I’m kidding. We’ve started the construction at Young Hall. It’s going to be one of six existing buildings on campus that get funds for mandatory seismic improvements that we do as needed. UC has policy requirements that drive those improvements and will provide some increased seismic capability and accessibility for students, employees and the public. This project will deliver those seismic improvements [in] Young Hall for the roof, floor, column reinforcement, lab renovation, some interior lighting upgrades, restroom upgrades and some enhanced safety requirements. Access to the building is going to be limited during construction, so detailed plans for temporary relocations for affected faculty, staff and students have been developed. The target for completion is summer of 2026.

Editorial Board: There were some changes to the questions asked in this year’s Undergraduate Experience Survey — what are you hoping to learn from the questions related to artificial intelligence, and how will you apply this knowledge?

May: There are many emerging technologies that are reshaping education, research and everything we do at the university — AI is certainly a big part of that. We want to understand how this tool is being used today. The new questions related to AI were understanding how often students use the generative AI tools that are available, how they use those tools, how often they go beyond what instructors have allowed in using those tools and understanding how faculty in their courses explain the use of AI. We think that understanding how students use the generative AI tools will also help faculty provide better guidance on academic honesty, citations and their own scholarship to protect students. One of the goals of doing this is to reduce the AI referral rates for academic dishonesty claims.

I will also add that we’ve just kicked off a campus-wide AI council that just met this week, [which is] going to not only include some of the things I just talked about, but also research anything you can imagine where AI might impinge upon what we do at the university. There are two students on the council: a graduate student and an undergraduate student.

Atkinson: I think there’s a lot of exciting potential with AI and a lot of discussion about how we can make sure we’re using that in ethical ways. I think the survey questions will be an important piece of the student voice in informing how we move forward with AI and what that looks like on our campus here at UC Davis.

Editorial Board: Just to clarify, did you specify when the experience survey results would be released?

Atkinson: It’s maybe late fall or winter quarter of the following year. There needs [to be] time for analysis, so that’s my best guess.

Editorial Board: The one-year anniversary of the stabbings in Davis was a few weeks ago. Do you have any reflections as this time marker passes, in regards to mental health resources on campus, lighting/student safety and resources for unhoused residents? 

May: We continue to have deep sympathy for the victims of the stabbings, in particular our own Karim Abou Najm and his parents, who are, I’m sure, still grieving in terms of what we’re doing. Aggie Mental Health is ending its second year of that program. One of the significant updates this year was obtaining student feedback to revamp the Health  e-messaging system to make it easier for students to make their counseling appointments. We have a new Academics and Mental Health webpage designed to help those students struggling academically or mentally navigate the complex university system. We have the Aggie Mental Health ambassadors that continue to do outreach to students — they’re running a promotion in May for Mental Health Awareness Month for students who take a free suicide prevention training course called QPR. There’s a “Let’s Talk” mural at the CoHo that was installed in the winter to encourage and affirm students as they connect in that space. We also have Health 34 and other mechanisms available to assist students who are in crisis.

Shinnerl: I’ll say that with the chancellor’s approval, we have $20 million to spend over the next few years on infrastructure improvements, which includes lighting, cameras, call boxes and access cards. [Students will] see a lot of work over the next few years to improve the infrastructure on our campus.

I’ll [also] point out that some of you have gone on the lighting walk. We hold them usually once a year, but the last year we’ve held them twice, and 94% of the identified fixes have been repaired. I think that’s a really good success rate. At night, [community members] walk around, tell us which paths they go down and help us identify areas that are dark and where improvements are needed.

Atkinson: I can chime in on the housing piece. Aggie Compass has a lot of information, it’s outlined on their website, for resources available for unhoused students — I’ll highlight a few of those now. We have a rental assistance program which provides emergency financial assistance, rent, food and housing and security deposits. We have a college-focused rapid rehousing program which provides safe and stable housing for houseless students, as well as a meal plan and case management to help provide that holistic wraparound support as well. We [also] have some emergency and short-term housing options for folks that may be facing struggles.

Editorial Board: The fifth and sixth floors of the Hutchinson Parking structure, a popular place to watch the sunset for students, have been closed for a little over a week and marked with ‘No Trespassing signs.’ What can you tell us about the decision behind this closure, and what is the plan moving forward in terms of reopening?

May: It’s not only a popular place to watch the sunset, it seems to be a popular place for partying. What’s the thing to do with cars? The spinning thing and other things that are dangerous [drifting and donuts]. That’s really the motivation for the closure.

Shinnerl: It’s really a safety measure. We’ve had things thrown from the top that could hit people. I will also let you know that this is a permanent fix. So, the temporary fencing is there now, but we are going to be doing some permanent fencing that looks a lot nicer. We can open the top garage areas when there’s a big event or if a student group wants to reserve the top and has supervision, that’s really different. We’ve just had too many incidents.

Editorial Board: So there’s no plans to reopen it just for people to go up there? 

Shinnerl: No, we’re going to help all the students find an alternative place for their celebrations.

Topousis: It’s also true that I think it’s a lot of high schoolers and people from Sacramento who come up there, and it becomes a really dangerous place sometimes. It’s not necessarily our UC Davis students.

Editorial Board: What advice do you have for graduates, since many of us and many other students are graduating soon? 

May: I would say this is an exciting time in your life, and you’ve received a great education that’s prepared you to really do great and wonderful things in your careers. Follow your passions [and]  find something to do with your life that feels like you’re not working. There’s an old saying, “If you enjoy what you do, you never work a day in your life,” and that’s not completely true, but it’s somewhat true. I would say congratulations to the graduates.

Topousis: You’re starting a new chapter in your lives, but this time in your life should also be about just enjoying the freedom as much as you can. You have your whole lives to have all kinds of obligations and commitments. Do those things that you really want to do, if that’s pursuing a graduate degree or if that’s doing something else. Just don’t take everything too seriously, because life just gets really complicated the more you get into decades and decades. Enjoy the time that you can to do the things you want to do, without a lot of the obligations that might hold you back later.

Shinnerl: Don’t forget about UC Davis, we’re also a really big employer. A lot of people forget that we are the second largest employer in the entire region, second only to the State of California. [There are] a lot of jobs here [and] a lot of opportunities, but most of all, be super proud of your accomplishments here. I’ll also say lean on each other — I’m going to my reunion next week at UC San Diego [and] I’m still in close contact with a lot of them, and it’s a prized network.

Atkinson: Definitely take this moment to really pause and take in this achievement because you all have worked really hard. I know the hustle and bustle can sweep time by, but just take in the moment that you’re experiencing and know that the journey continues. [With] life after college, you’ll continue to grow and learn about yourself. 

Engelbach: You may discover you’re going down a path, and the path isn’t exactly the one that you thought it might be. It’s okay to say, “This isn’t working, and I’m going to do something different because now’s the time to make those decisions.” When you get to your mid[dle-aged] years, it’s not quite as easy to make those changes. Seize that opportunity to make the change for yourself because life is short and you need to be happy.

Written by: The Editorial Board

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By OLIVIA HOKR — city@theaggie.org 

On May 17, the Davis Chamber of Commerce held its annual Celebrate Davis event to highlight local businesses and organizations in the community with educational booths, live music, games and other fun activities.

Bobbi Vaughn, the director of Events & Communications for the Chamber of Commerce, shared that Celebrate Davis was founded with the purpose of bringing local businesses into the community in an entertaining setting. 

“We have hundreds of nonprofits in our community, [with] mom-and-pop shops next to chain establishments and everything in between,” Vaughn said. “For us, bringing out the diverse types of businesses at the event, and all the events we do, really celebrates how lucky we are to have what we have here — a small-town feel, residents who care about their community and the businesses that support us.”

 This year there were about 80 different businesses in attendance along with six city of Davis departments, the Yolo County Sheriffs and UC Davis departments, according to Vaughn. The businesses included local food vendors as well as informational booths from organizations such as Meals on Wheels. 

Meals on Wheels is a nonprofit organization in Yolo County that provides fully-prepared and nutritious meals for struggling seniors. Bonnie Sanchez, the engagement manager from Meals on Wheels, shared that her organization was participating in Celebrate Davis to give out information about their mission, look for volunteers and talk with people who would be interested in joining their program. 

“[At Meals on Wheels] we deliver cooked meals,” Sanchez said. “We have two kitchens, one in Woodland and one in Winters. And we deliver them to the doorsteps of our seniors — anybody that’s 60 years or older.”

Along with nonprofits and small businesses, the city of Davis Police Department and Fire Department were both in attendance. Patrick Sandholt, a fire marshal with the city of Davis Fire Department, has been with the station for 25 years and has come to nearly every Celebrate Davis event. Sandholt expressed the importance of having organizations such as the fire and police departments present at these community gatherings. 

“We come out here to support the event and to answer any questions the public may have about fire safety or safety in general, and then we have some supplies we give to the kids,” Sandholt said. “We like to come out to stuff like this for that reason, to discuss safety. And also we really want to get the kids familiar with us and comfortable with us so they know if they have a problem that they can come to us.”

Celebrate Davis brings awareness to the vast resources available to community members from different organizations and allows the community to show appreciation for local businesses and city departments. 

Written by: Olivia Hokr — city@theaggie.org 

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By CLAIRE SCHAD — cfschad@ucdavis.edu 

For many students, attending college would not be possible without financial aid and scholarships. Luckily for myself and many others, California has been a leader in the efforts to make college more affordable to all students. 

However, in early May, a shadow was cast over California’s progressive approach to financial aid when Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a revision of the state budget which included many cuts and limits to higher education grants and scholarships. 

For many years California has been one of the few states to acknowledge and act on the increasing burden that paying for college has on not only low-income families but also middle-class families who had previously been left out of financial aid opportunities. The disproportional rise in college prices in relation to income has made paying for college more difficult for the middle class, who were once defined by their ability to pay for their children’s college. Now, many middle class families struggle to afford the price of college without spending an outrageous and often impossible amount of their income on tuition. 

Unfortunately, the revolutionary Middle Class Scholarship program, which is designed to alleviate financial stress for middle-income families, was hit hardest in Gov. Newsom’s May budget revision. Since its founding in 2013, the Middle Class Scholarship has provided financial assistance to over 300,000 students attending the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems, as well as California Community Colleges (CCC) that have a household income of less than $217,000. 

If the newly unveiled budget revision is finalized in June, the Middle Class Scholarship will undergo cuts totaling $510 million, affecting students as soon as next fall. This means students who currently receive the scholarship could see their award amount reduced by as much as 80%. This will undoubtedly create issues and increase financial strain for eligible students at UC Davis and across the state, who currently receive anywhere from $500 to over $7,500 per year from the scholarship. 

Additionally, if approved, Gov. Newsom’s proposed budget revision would also put a halt to the promised yearly expansion of the Cal Grant, which provides support to over 350,000 students, with awards ranging from $1,000 to upwards of $15,000 yearly. In 2022, Gov. Newsom signed AB-1746, the Student Financial Aid: Cal Grant Reform Act, saying the state would increase the reach of the Cal Grant each year, allowing more students access to the program and increasing the amount of aid many students receive. This promise helped modernize the Cal Grant system, which hadn’t been updated in nearly six decades, allowing the expansion of access to the Cal Grant and making the California financial aid system more equitable and inclusive overall. However, Gov. Newsom’s signing of AB-1746 came with one important condition: the expansion of the Cal Grant would only occur if the 2024-2025 budget year allowed it. This very condition is why we are now grappling with the proposed cuts to financial aid. 

Despite this, the governor has made it clear that he doesn’t want to make cuts to public education funding, saying it ultimately boils down to the fact that California has “a math problem,” referring to the state’s $27.6 billion deficit.

Ultimately, whether Gov. Newsom likes it or not, cuts to financial aid will have lasting negative effects and are not the solution to the state’s budget problems. If these cuts are implemented, thousands of students will see their financial aid reduced next fall, placing more strain on families and forcing students to take on more loans that will take years to repay. California’s budget deficits are undeniably problematic, but cutting spending for financial aid programs that will fund the education of our future leaders is not the answer. 

Written by: Claire Schad — cfschad@ucdavis.edu 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by individual columnists belong to the columnists alone and do not necessarily indicate the views and opinions held by The California Aggie.

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By ALEXANDRA SHAPIRO — city@theaggie.org

June in Davis is filled with excitement as the annual Davis Pride celebration kicks off. Davis Pride is inviting the community to join in on the fun with various events welcoming members and allies of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

The Davis Pride Fair and Music Festival will be held on June 1 at the new location of Davis Civic Center Park, starting at 11 a.m. Voted “Best California Pride Celebration” for three consecutive years, it’s also the oldest and largest LGBTQ+ celebration in Yolo County.

Held to celebrate and support the LGBTQ+ communities in Yolo County, Davis Pride aims to foster allyship and increase awareness. The event is in part organized by the Davis Phoenix Coalition (DPC), whose mission is to unite the Davis community against intolerance while promoting diversity. 

Proceeds from Davis Pride support the coalition’s initiatives which include anti-bullying campaigns, workshops and outreach programs involving local law enforcement, churches and schools.

The 10th annual Community Fair is made possible by 100+ volunteers, around 125 local exhibitors and Northern California-based businesses and community organizations. These include craft vendors, informational booths and some of the most popular food vendors in Yolo County.

The event has remained free with support from the city, county and sponsors such as  Outward Magazine, Armadillo Music and Dignity Health.  

Additionally, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Yolo County Health Department are sponsoring this event by providing the first dose of the MPOX Vaccine, also known as the Monkeypox vaccine, during the festival. In recent years pride events have offered this vaccine due to the way the virus has disproportionately affected Gay men.

The highlight of this year’s celebration is the music festival held at the Sutter Health Main Stage, starting at 11 a.m. with eight performances by various groups, including Butterscotch and Willie Gomez. One of the performers at the festival is the Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus (SGMC), originally established in 1984 as the Sacramento Men’s Chorus. In 1996, their name was officially changed to The Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus, and in 2017 SGMC began to diversify and now aims to reflect the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. Davis Pride is just one of many events that SGMC participates in throughout the region. 

“We love to perform and give back to the communities that always give back to us,” Don Henkle, the vice president of SGMC, said via email. “Our mission statement is to foster pride and enhance lives, one song at a time. SGMC looks forward to a fabulous performance at Davis Pride.”

After the music festival ends at 5 p.m., patrons can continue at the Davis Pride After Party from 6 to 11 p.m. on G Street between Second and Third Street. DJ Mellax of Davis Rave Co. will perform a DJ set, and attendees can purchase food from downtown restaurants.

Additional community Pride month events include the Drag Story Hour hosted by the Avid Reader Bookstore on June 9, Davis Pride Comedy Night on June 21 at the Stonegate Country Club, Skate with Pride on June 8 at Central Park and Drag Queen Trivia on June 27. In 2015, after a 10-year hiatus, the board of directors at the DPC rebranded the community celebration event as Davis Pride which has grown from about 500 attendees to an estimated 6,000 to 8,000.

Following a violent anti-gay assault on a Davis resident in 2013, the DPC was founded by city councilmember Gloria Partida, the victim’s mother, alongside Sandré Nelson and others. 

“Our mission ensures individuals have a community [where] they are welcomed in and can get the resources they need,” Davis Pride director Sandré Nelson said. “We want to make sure that those who are struggling [have] a place [where] they can reach out.” 

Partida sparked the idea for a 5K race and recognized a need for an accompanying event, which eventually evolved into the Davis Pride festival, according to Nelson. 

The annual Walk for Equality remains a popular tradition, with over 250 participants in the 5K. This year, the Walk for Equality begins in Central Park at 8 a.m. on Sunday, June 2.

Austin Arredondo, third-year clinical nutrition student, is ecstatic to attend this year’s Pride. 

“I grew up in a town with only a couple thousand people [where] there was no such thing as pride in any aspect,” Arredondo said. “It is such an amazing thing to feel accepted here, largely because of the uplifting LGBTQ+ community in Davis.”

The pride website, https://www.davispride.org/, has a complete calendar list of events that attendees can look to for information. Nelson shared that this year’s pride has more sponsors and that the community has a lot to look forward to. 

“[This year] there are more sponsors, the musical artists are excited and our pride is out there,” Nelson said. “This is an event that our community is looking forward to.”

Written by: Alexandra Shapiro — city@theaggie.org

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By BENJAMIN CARRILLO — campus@theaggie.org

Vice President Aarushi Raghunathan called the May 23 Senate meeting to order at 6:21 p.m. After roll call, she read the UC Davis Land Acknowledgement.  

First on the agenda, the Bike Barn presented their quarterly report, discussing some of the issues affecting the Bike Barn in recent times. 

Teddy Mates-Munchin, the business manager for the Bike Barn, asked during the presentation if any lawsuit could arise from the Bike Barn publicly supporting Palestine.

“Would you pay for your own lawyer in that situation?” Senator Jacob Klein said. “Or would you expect that to come out of reserves?”

“I’m not sure why it’s only an issue of a lawsuit when it’s Palestinian rights in question,” Senator Yara Kadaan said. “Through a quick scroll through the Bike Barn’s page on Instagram, I see a post supporting Pride Month. And yet there’s no issue of a lawsuit there?” 

Next, the Senate approved Vanessa Sandoval, a third-year environmental science and management major, to be the internal affairs commission chair. With the previous chair, Thuyanh Truong, stepping down, she delivered a speech with her goodbyes and her time working with the senators.

“So much time I have spent here has been spent reflecting on the past, but I think now as I’m leaving I can say that I enjoyed my time here and that I feel as if I have made an impact with my time on the Senate,” Truong said. 

Afterward, there was a quarterly report presentation by the Whole Earth Festival (WEF) The presentation went through the highs and lows of the festival, which took place from May 10 to 12.

Senate President Pro Tempore Trinity Chow then gave her quarterly report and talked about the highs and lows of being a president pro tempore the last two quarters. The senators and chairmen all applauded Chow once she finished and thanked her for not only being a great president pro tempore but also for her kindness and care for the table.

Then followed public comment, where three students, including a previous senator, discussed their opinions of the recently passed Student Resolution (SR) #10, which affirms support for UCD Popular University for the Liberation of Palestine (PULP) and the encampment going on in the Memorial Union Quad. 

“I’m not only hurt but scared about what this bill means and the nuance that ASUCD neglects to acknowledge,” one student said in their comment. “I’ve been stalked, harassed and bullied for my Jewish and Israeli identity.” 

Senator Katia Bouali said that no one should feel unsafe in this environment and most senators nodded in agreement.

A previous senator was the next to make a public comment. 

“Your commitment to democracy and transparency is disingenuous at best,” they said. “You all manage and vote for the budget you vote on. While you consider my ex-[Senate] table to be toxic, we would never usurp the democratic process.” 

Kadaan was the first to respond, saying that she didn’t want to give any validity to the undemocratic claims. 

Senator Bouali, Senator Nur Ambaw, Senator Gabriel Gaysinsky and Senator Jonathan Ng also answered this public comment, saying that there was no validity to the claim of undemocratic actions.

The senators then decided not to reconsider Constitutional Amendment #90 this meeting and postponed the voting to the next meeting. The table then passed the consent calendar, looked at the status of previous legislation and approved the meeting minutes.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:08 p.m.

Written by: Benjamin Carrillo — campus@theaggie.org 

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By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Fast fashion has revolutionized the clothing industry with the mass production of trendy items, appealing to a wide range of customers for its convenience and affordability. The business model gets its name from the rapid design, production and marketing of clothing, allowing them to be sold as soon as the demand arises. The industry is quickly growing due to the continuous cycling of fashion trends and the rampant consumerism in today’s society.

The allure of fast fashion can be attributed to the ability to buy stylish (albeit low-quality) items at cheap prices, allowing customers to try the latest styles without the buyer’s remorse. As a result, many of these items are bought at the height of various social media trends, leaving them to be quickly discarded when they fall out of fashion. 

Individuals are often drawn to popular fast fashion brands like SHEIN, Cider and Zara because of this purchasing power. However, they may not be entirely aware of how their support of these companies contributes to numerous harmful effects, including environmental damage, animal endangerment and the exploitation of laborers. Despite their budget-friendly price tags, the affordability of these items comes with a different type of cost. 

Every year, around 11.3 million tons of textile waste are deposited in U.S. landfills. The manufacturing process leads to extensive greenhouse gas emissions, contamination of water from dye waste and the build-up of non-biodegradable microplastics from synthetic fibers. This type of clothing production also requires the use of hazardous chemicals like phthalates, parabens and formaldehyde, which can pose significant risks to the environment, human health and wildlife safety. 

The industry employs millions of laborers making unlivable wages who may be forced to work up to 16 hours per day. Fast fashion is also heavily reliant on child labor; the vulnerability that comes with their age means they are often subjected to poor working conditions and little compensation, affecting their education, free time and health.

It’s understandable that so many people fall into these buying habits, especially when the social nature of college often encourages people to buy a single-use costume for each day of Halloweekend, or a new dress for every occasion. But buying less and local is easier and more rewarding than you think.

It’s fun to experiment with your style, and there are many ways to do so while shopping sustainably. Downtown Davis is the perfect place to peruse thrift stores and support local businesses to find pieces that won’t be gathering dust in the back of your closet a few months down the line. 

On campus, the Aggie Reuse Store is a student-run thrift shop that offers free items to students with the help of community donations. If you’re looking to exchange items, you can participate in a clothing swap organized by The Aggie Trading Post. Furthermore, investing in a few high-quality wardrobe staples will ensure that your clothing lasts a long time and won’t need to be replaced after a few wears.

Before you make a purchase, ask yourself: Do I need this item? Will I still be using it a year from now? Do I actually like it, or is this a classic case of FOMO? It’s important to take a step back and consider what you already own, what you actually want and what you really need. By considering a more ethical approach to fashion and engaging in conscious consumerism, the planet (and your closet) will thank you.

Written by: The Editorial Board

The post The state of your closet might be a problem, but so is the state of our planet appeared first on The Aggie.

BY SONORA SLATER — science@theaggie.org

The UC Davis Physics and Astronomy Club’s rooftop public viewing on Friday, May 10 was supposed to end around 10:30 p.m. But first-year biomedical engineering major Marin Cantrell had heard a rumor that there was a small chance the northern lights would be visible later that night — so she asked the organizers to stick around a little longer.
Needless to say, it paid off.

“I was sitting there and talking, and then somebody just yells around 11:30, ‘Oh my God, we can see it!” Cantrell said.

She jumped up, ran over to the ledge on the north end of the building, and eagerly looked out into the dark sky. She was rewarded with the sight of the pillars of light and pink and green spots that marked the phenomenon.

“People always say, like, ‘It felt like I was in a dream,’ but I’d never actually felt that before,” Cantrell said. “And then I stepped back for a second. And I was looking around at all these people and I was looking at the sky, and you can see bits of color. I look at all of this, and I get this really weird feeling that I’m going to wake up any second now. Like this is a hallucination. Like this cannot possibly be happening to me, this cannot possibly be real.”

The northern lights, otherwise known as the aurora borealis, can usually only be seen close to the north pole. It’s caused by eruptions of radiation called solar flares on the sun’s surface, hitting the Earth’s atmosphere with particles that excite gasses in the atmosphere and make them glow in shades of pink, purple, green and more.

This year, however, the sun is at the peak of its 11-year activity cycle — contributing to a historic geomagnetic storm that allowed viewers as far south as Texas, Georgia and (of course) Davis to see the stunning display. For many, this was a fulfillment of a bucket list goal: one that they didn’t expect to come true in their own backyard.

“I’ve wanted to see the northern lights for a really really long time,” Cantrell said. “My family wants to see them as well. We were probably eventually going to travel somewhere to see them. But I never thought that I would be able to see them without even having to leave California.”

So… how did the experience compare with seeing the lights in, say, Iceland? Well for one thing, the lights are visible closer to the horizon, rather than up above. And for another, the colors are significantly less vibrant to the naked eye. But with a phone camera on long exposure, the streaks of light are captured much clearer.

“You can see pink and green very vaguely in the sky,” Cantrell said. “But you can’t see much with your naked eye, [which is] true for a lot of astrophotography. It’s not [the same as] what you see on the camera, but being able to see it in person with your own eyes is so cool.”

The event was certainly unexpected for a lot of people — in fact, social media feeds the next day were flooded in near equal measure with pictures of the aurora, and those lamenting going to bed early and sleeping through it unaware.

“One of my friends actually texted his roommate [about the aurora], and his roommate was like, ‘That’s what your photos are for,” Cantrell said. “He did not want to get out of bed. I’m like, you’re insane for that.”

In general, Cantrell said it felt like a community affair, as everyone texted their friends to go outside and look up, and more and more people joined the party on the rooftop.

“We were all taking pictures and just being like, ‘We’re really glad that we were here,’ Cantrell said. “We were really glad to be able to experience that. That moment was a really special once in a lifetime thing.”

Written by: Sonora Slater — science@theaggie.org

The post ‘It felt like I was in a dream’: Aurora borealis lights stun over Davis fields appeared first on The Aggie.

By DIEGO CERNA — sports@theaggie.org

On May 5, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) held the AdventHealth 400 race at the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. 

The winner, Kyle Larson, was able to beat out runner-up Chris Buescher in the final stretch of the race with a margin of 0.001 seconds, the closest margin of victory for first place in NASCAR history. 

This NASCAR season has shown some of the closest photo finishes ever. Kansas City’s 0.001 second finish broke the record of a 0.002 second finish earlier this season at the Texas NASCAR Cup Xfinity’s Series (NXS) on April 13. Sam Mayer inched out the victory over Ryan Sieg in the 200 lap race for the Texas NXS title. 

Before that exhilarating race, The Ambetter Health NASCAR Cup held in Atlanta held a finish of 0.003 seconds for first place on Feb. 25. The race proved challenging as Daniel Suárez was able to beat out Ryan Bailey in the 260 lap race by nearly no time.

The most recent AdventHealth 400 was supposed to be a total of 267 laps for all racers, but the race went into overtime to ensure that there would be a green flag finish, signaling when the final two laps of a race would commence. Buescher had been leading the race up until lap 261, where he spun out. This caused a caution period, as cars are forced to slow down due to unsafe conditions. Buescher’s spin had also caused a restart, which forced cars to go to the pit and start over before going into overtime. 

With two laps to go, fifth-place finisher Denny Hamlin led the pack with Buescher in second and Larson in third. Going into the final lap, Hamlin fell among the pack with Buescher and Larson in first and second just before the final lap commenced. 

On the final backstretch of lap 267, Larson found a sliver of space between the wall and Buescher’s car in order to get better positioning and make them neck and neck into the final turn. After gaining the position, Larson and Buescher’s cars collided as they approached the finish line side-by-side.

At first glance, it looked as if Buescher had won, with Buescher’s pit team even celebrating right before the results were announced. After officials reviewed the replay, however, it was determined that Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet’s front had just barely hit the finish line first, giving the victory to Larson.

Many people have compared the photo finish line picture to Disney Pixar’s film Lightning McQueen, where cars finished side by side to end the race. 

Larson’s victory marks his second victory so far this season, and the 25th overall victory of his career. 

“That race from start to finish was amazing. That first stage was incredible. The second stage at the end was fun, and then that whole last stage with the wrecks and cautions and then fuel strategy and tires running long and all that was wild,” Larson stated in a press conference after the game. 

The next two NASCAR Cup Series races will continue in North Carolina for the remainder of May, as racers make their way in the middle of the season to determine who advances to the NASCAR Cup Playoffs beginning in August.

Written by: Diego Cerna — sports@theaggie.org

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By JULIE HUANG  — arts@theaggie.org 

Album: “After Fillmore County” by Vansire (2020)

Vaguely describing a road trip through Vansire’s home county in Minnesota, the collection of songs featured on “After Fillmore County” slowly moves toward a discussion of love, loneliness and the existence of inescapable truths. These themes sit at the heart of the album and permeate every track with a sense of hazy uncertainty that grows larger the longer the songs go on. Do the words “fall short of something profound” or do they instead reveal the existence of such? The album itself strives to avoid certainty in its lyrics, enhanced by its sonic quality of dreaminess, and allows the listener to walk away feeling something intangible.  

Song: “Vapour Trail” by Ride (1990) 

With its distorted instrumentals, subdued vocals and melancholic lyrics, this song seems to perfectly encapsulate the bittersweet experience of nostalgia. Featured on English rock band Ride’s first album “Nowhere,” “Vapour Trail” is an elegant example of the shoegaze genre and its many merits. As I can attest, it is also a great song to play on solo walks in late spring or early summer, when the sun is shining down and stirring up the desire to reminisce and reflect on the passage of time. 

TV Show: “The End of the F***ing World” (2017 to 2019) 

“The End of the F***ing World” follows two teenagers who run away together to take a road trip across England, hoping to get different things out of their shared experience. The protagonist, Alyssa, seeks an opportunity to escape her messy home life with a thrilling cross-country adventure, while the other protagonist, James, seeks an opportunity to kill her and prove to himself that he is truly a 17-year-old psychopath. The intersection of these highly contradicting motives creates a dynamic between the two that is endlessly watchable and yet provides many opportunities for character development, leaving the protagonists in vastly different places than where they start out from. Although the show’s offbeat premise is often played up for dark comedic effect, it is also a way for “The End of the F***ing World” to contextualize its characters and their actions within circumstances which often feel uncomfortably realistic, creating a funny yet sharp and dramatic atmosphere for viewers. 

Book: “The Carrying” by Ada Limón (2018)

Ada Limón’s sophomore effort at a collection of poetry delivers on all accounts. Her poems showcase technical skill more than deserving of the National Book Critics Circle Award, but the most awe-inducing aspect of “The Carrying” is Limón’s ability to infuse each line of her poetry with feelings that are tender yet forceful in their intensity and vulnerable yet piercing in their clarity. The core concept tying this collection together appears to be an examination of what it might mean to live year after year in a changing world. What is constant, and what is certain? Limón’s exploration of these ideas encourages readers to widen their perspective and appreciate the smallest details. 

Written by: Julie Huang — arts@theaggie.org

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