Today’s weatherSunnyHigh 104Low 64

Forecast

In an unexpected twist ... It’s still hot in Davis. Expect triple digits for the next couple days and remember to stay hydrated!

Written by Amanda NguyenForcast courtesy of www.weather.com

Sunny Partly cloudy

Wednesday

High 97Low 61

Tuesday

High 102Low 64

Something to keep you going while you’re pulling your next all-nighter: If you stay up all night, your body burns an additional 161 calories.

Amanda Nguyen

serving the uc davis campus and communit y since 1915

www.theaggie.orgvolume 131, number 81 monday, august 13, 2012

UC graduate programs may see a 35 percent tuition hike

Vice Provost Patricia Turner to

leave UC Davis for UCLA

City of Davis encourages neighborhoods to use Nextdoor

Nextdoor aims to enhance neighbor-to-neighbor communication

Turner named Dean and Vice Provost of Undergraduate

Education at UCLA

Fees would be in effect early this yearBy ANDREW POH

Aggie News Writer

On July 18, the UC Board of Regents voted to raise the supplemental tuition for most of its graduate school programs by as much as 35 percent. Taking the brunt of the measure will be the UC system’s four nursing school pro-grams, which will all see tuition increases of 35 percent. Most of the other programs should face a roughly 10 percent increase, which could amount to $1,500 for some of the more cost-ly programs that the system has to offer. Some are already re-evaluating future plans in the wake of the news. “I was strongly considering getting my MBA from a UC,” said Sunny Wong, a recent UC Santa Barbara graduate. “Now I’m lean-ing toward working a few years to pay back my undergraduate loans first.” The decisions were granted as requests by the professional programs to either raise their current fee or implement a fee when no fee had previously been required. The fees will be implemented as early as this year, but some programs may see gradual increases annually until 2015. Student Regent Jonathan Stein and Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom voted in opposi-tion of the hike with the remainder of the board voting in favor. At the same meeting, the UC Board of Regents decided to freeze the cost of tuition for undergraduates for the time being, as long as Proposition 30 passes. Though Stein has expressed enthusi-asm for the undergraduate tuition freeze, his feelings aren’t the same for the graduate school situation. "How can we expect people to be a public defender or work for the government with a debt load of $150,000?" he said in a July 19 article in the San Francisco Chronicle. "I just don't understand that." Nevertheless, the initiatives have passed and the effects will soon be felt. Undergraduates will be getting a little room to breathe for the time being; however, the respite may be short-lived. "This is a matter of all hands on deck. Let's pull together for the university and for our country," Gov. Jerry Brown said at a sur-prise appearance at a meeting following the Board of Regents meeting.

ANDREW POH can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

By GHEED SAEEDAggie News Writer

Patricia Turner, UC Davis’ Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, will be join-ing the Bruin team as Dean and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education at UCLA. Turner will be succeeding Judith L. Smith, UCLA’s current Dean and Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education, who will be retiring after 16 years of service to the University. Turner has been active within the University of California system, beginning her career as a Ph.D. graduate student from UC Berkeley in 1985. "We all recognize that undergraduate educa-tion is of paramount importance to UCLA, and I am confident that Pat will provide outstand-ing leadership as vice provost and dean," said UCLA Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Scott Waugh in announcing the appointment on July 11 in the UCLA Newsroom. Turner joined the UC Davis faculty in 1990 as a faculty member in African American and African studies. She has held her current position as Vice Provost for Undergraduate

By CLAIRE TANAggie City Editor

On July 18, the City of Davis launched its Nextdoor site — a free, private social network that allows for neighborhood and citywide communication. Together with Nextdoor, the city established 33 neighborhoods. “It gives neighborhoods the ability to create their own private website, to talk to their neighbors about what’s important to them, whether it’s crime and safety, civic issues, re-porting lost pets or exchanging advice and recommendations,” said Nextdoor’s senior com-munications manager Kelsey Grady. “We’re really just giving neighborhoods ways to meet each other and communi-cate with each other.” According to Grady, when a city gets on board with Nextdoor, they get a Nextdoor city page that lets the city target messages to certain neigh-borhoods, if, for example, there’s a water main break that affects par-ticular neighborhoods in Davis. “It allows us another communica-tion mechanism to talk to the resi-dents,” said Stacey Winton, commu-nity partnership coordinator for the City of Davis. To date, about 21 neighborhoods in Davis use Nextdoor. Although 33 were initially set up, a couple have broken out into smaller areas. “At least two-thirds of the city has been claimed by a leader and have people sign-ing up,” Winton said. “It really started with Davis Neighbors Night Out, to get people out into the street and have a block party to meet people.” Winton said sometimes block parties don’t help with curbing the anxiety people may have when going out and meeting new people.

“Nextdoor is kind of like a step back from that,” Winton said. “You get to know people, who they are, where they live and what kind of things are being talked about.”

Additionally, the City of Davis’ funding has been cut back dramatically, so the city has been looking for no-cost or very low-cost means to get the word out to people about different city issues, Winton said. “It doesn’t cost us anything; it doesn’t cost the city anything,” said President of the Old North Davis Neighborhood Association Steve Tracy. “The city just wanted us to try it out. We’re probably the first organization to take it on.” Founded in October 2011, Nextdoor is cur-

rently active in over 4,000 neighborhoods across 48 states. “We see that Nextdoor is working in ur-ban areas and suburban areas on the West Coast and East Coast,” Grady said. “There’s a lot of data online that shows a lot of people don’t know their neighbors and we’re trying to change that.” Each neighborhood’s site operates simi-

larly to Facebook, with its interface taking cues from the widely used social net-

work. Every site has a wall, as well as the option to form groups and events

and upload pictures, with each household also having their own profiles. In addition, Grady said

each neighborhood site can post updates on crime and

safety and has func-tions similar to Yelp and Craigslist.

“The neighbor-hood map is a big thing that attracts people into using Nextdoor,” Grady said. “We’ve seen a lot

of people give up Yahoo! groups or a LISTSERV and get on Nextdoor because it’s kind of the

new, more updated way to connect to their neighbors.” Grady said Nextdoor is more of a util-ity network instead of a social network. “It’s more about solving problems,”

she said. “We use ‘social network’ a lot be-cause more people understand what it means now.” Tracy said one of the values of using Nextdoor is not having to find a webmaster to maintain or structure the neighborhood website. “The value is higher for the other neigh-borhoods where they only meet when there’s a crisis,” Tracy said. “I think it’s a good thing for the city if more neighborhoods use it.”

CLAIRE TAN can be reached at city@theaggie.org.

News iN BrieF

UC Davis fraternity closed for

alcohol violations

Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE), UC Davis’ oldest fraternity, has been given a five-year ban by its national headquarters for serving alcohol to minors. Minors were served alco-hol at two different events in January and February. This is the second major violation for the organization in three years, as it was still on proba-tion in 2009 when it received a two-year penalty for sim-ilar violations. The decision to strip the organization of its presence on campus was made April 2, but only re-cently was it made public. The fraternity, which was removed from the Interfraternity Council at UC Davis, cannot use campus re-sources or raise funds for ac-tivities during its ban. Due to the ban, SAE’s na-tional organization and head-quarters, which are based in Illinois, will not recognize the campus chapter and the 50 residents of SAE are sus-pended until graduation. According to SAE spokesper-son Brandon Weghorst, they can become SAE alumni after that time.

— Muna Sadek

courtesyPatricia Turner

see TUrNer, page 2

Irisa Tam / Aggie

Irisa Tam / Aggie

daily calendardailycal@theaggie.org

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TUesday

Uc davis extension professional education showcase5 to 7 p.m.Sutter Square Galleria, 2901 K St., SacramentoLearn how continuing and professional education opportunities in 16 growing industries – including Project Management, Green Building and Health Informatics – can advance your career. Free parking will be provided. Visit www.extension.ucdavis.edu/showcase for more information.

THUrsday

Uc davis Health system summer concert5:30 to 8 p.m.The lawn behind Shriners Hospital for Children, 45th and X Street, SacramentoThis is a free community event featuring R&B, funk and contemporary jazz music by Sacramento’s Mercy Me! The family-friendly, alcohol-free and smoke-free event includes a fun kid’s zone, which will open at 5:30 p.m. Concert to begin at 6 p.m. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. Bring your chairs or blankets and dance the evening away! Free parking available in Lots 14 and 16 on Second Avenue east of Stockton Blvd.

friday

folk Music Jam sessionNoon to 1 p.m.Wyatt Deck Folk musicians bring their acoustic instruments – fiddles, guitars, banjos, mandolins, squeeze boxes, you name it – and play together informally over the lunch hour. All skill levels are welcome and listeners are invited.

Women’s soccer5 to 6 p.m.Aggie Soccer FieldWatch the UC Davis women’s soccer team play against Fresno State.

campfire7:30 to 8:30 p.m.Maidu MuseumEnjoy an evening in the museum amphitheater with family and friends around a campfire. Listen to native stories and songs under the stars and roast marshmallows for a sweet ending to the perfect family gathering. No reservations required. The event costs $5 per person or $16 for family of four with $5 for each additional person. Children under 2 are free.

saTUrday

Guided Tour: The redwood Grove — so cool!9 to 10:30 a.m.Wyatt DeckEnjoy the cathedral-like cool and quiet of the redwood grove and learn about the plants of the redwood forest understory.

Men’s soccer5 to 6 p.m.Aggie Soccer FieldWatch the UC Davis men’s soccer team play against Chico State.

art Walk: a night out at the Museum6:30 to 8:30 p.m.Maidu MuseumFilmmaker, graphic designer and Tribal Advocate Joseph Arthur will be showing several short films shot with the RED camera by his Native American film team over the last couple of years and music videos featuring such notables as Taylor Swift. This is a free event with light refreshments.

To receive placement in the AGGIE DAILY CALENDAR, e-mail dailycal@theaggie.org or stop by 25 Lower Freeborn by noon the day prior to your event. Due to space constraints, all event descriptions are subject to editing, and priority will be given to events that are free of charge and geared toward the campus community.

accUracyThe California Aggie strives to ensure that all of its facts and details are accurate. Please bring any corrections to our attention by calling (530) 752-0208.

Janelle BitkerEditor in Chief

Hannah StrumwasserManaging Editor

Jonathan WesterBusiness Manager

Caelum ShoveAdvertising Manager

Muna SadekCampus Editor

Claire TanCity Editor

Elizabeth OrpinaArts Editor

Devon BohartFeatures Editor

Matthew YuenSports Editor

Hudson LofchieScience Editor

Dylan GallagherOpinion Editor

Joey ChenCopy Chief

Brian NguyenPhotography Editor

Janice PangDesign Director

Amanda NguyenNight Editor

Irisa TamArt Director

THUrsday

planking is so overA man was reported lying facedown on J Street. it’s in the cardsA person a girl believes to be her stalker left her a note saying they only have a little time left on Olive Drive. school of rockThough no cars were present and all lights were off, the office doors were wide open and music was playing in the office of a school on E. Eighth Street.

friday

Wet reckless

A group of intoxicated people hopped the fence to an apartment pool on J Street, and one of the males was running around naked.

saTUrday

domestic foulA group of roosters was believed to be wandering around and making noise in the cemetery on Regis Drive. stealing the spotlightSomebody tried to steal a light pole out of a resident’s front yard for the third time, leaving a muddy handprint behind on Oak Drive.

Police briefs are compiled from the City of Davis daily crime bulletins. Contact EINAT GILBOA at city@theaggie.org.

By BRIAN RILEYAggie Science Writer

After “Mars Curiosity,” a space probe sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), successfully land-ed on Mars Aug. 5, UC Davis researchers contin-ued to work. The 567-million-kilo-meter journey marked the 12th successful NASA Mars mission out of 16 attempt-ed since 1964. Dawn Sumner, UC Davis associate professor in geology, is a member of the Mars Exploration Program Advisory Group, a group of NASA scien-tists who help determine

the goals of NASA’s Mars projects. “We have to make deci-sions every day as to what the rover is going to do,” Sumner said. For more than eight years, the US has had a continual robotic presence on the Martian surface. Another Mars rover, named “Sojourner,” land-ed on Mars in 1997 and was the first probe to use the technique of landing a rov-er by allowing it to bounce on the surface using an air bag. “The [Curiosity] rover is so big that they couldn’t use the same air bag land-ing system,” Sumner said. One of Sumner’s stu-

dents, Amy Williams, a fourth-year Ph.D. stu-dent in geology, is also involved with the Mars Curiosity mission. She’s a member of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) science team and will help choose science tar-gets on the ground to an-swer questions. Williams has had an in-terest in space exploration for many years. “I’ve always been kind of a sci-fi nerd, and enjoyed the thought of searching for life in the universe,” Williams said. “When the chance to work with Dawn and MSL came around, it seemed like the perfect fit — an opportunity to be-

come an astrobiologist.” Williams is currently working with Athena Phan, a UC Davis undergraduate and member of Sumner’s team. “I’m doing an analogous research project [on Earth] because the exploration for evidence of life on Mars be-gins with comprehending how life is imprinted on Earth,” Phan said. The Mars Curiosity rover could be functional for sev-eral years and NASA scien-tists will be working to ob-tain funding to continue the project into the future as long as is desired.

BRIAN RILEY can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

‘Curiosity’ rover makes spectacular landing on Mars

UC Davis professor, students involved with research

By MATTHEW YUENAggie Sports Editor

Summer is a time for fun, which for many college students involves sleep-ing in and relaxing. However, there are some who de-fine fun as waking up at six in the morning and working tirelessly in the hot August sun. The UC Davis football program re-cently completed its first week of practice, in a season that is already under unprecedented circumstances. The 2012 season marks the twen-tieth and final year with Bob Biggs at the helm of the program. Almost as if they are just passing each other by, Terrance Tumey will assume his role as the UC Davis Athletic Director in 2013. The Aggies sported a 4-7 record last season, with notable victories over ri-val Cal Poly in the Battle of the Golden Horseshoe and over Sacramento State in the Causeway Classic. Looking forward, UC Davis has shown hints of a promising season in its first season in the Big Sky Conference in its first week of practice. “We take care of what we can con-trol and that’s how we come out and work each day, it’s how you practice, how you prepare, how you push each

other, how you support each other,” Biggs said. “Our mantra is ‘win the day,’” he said. “If we do, the rest has a tendency to take care of itself and so far, the leadership and attitude has been terrific.” The Aggies have plenty of leader-ship to go around, since 22 seniors and nine All-Conference players from 2012 will return to Jim Sochor field. “I feel this team came in with some goals about how they want to prac-tice and improve,” Biggs said. “We’ve improved within the first 11 days and made progress and that’s what you want to see.” According to the schedule, each Big Sky team will play eight of the other conference teams. The Aggies were predicted by the Media Poll to finish 11 out of the 13 teams in their new conference. UC Davis and Cal Poly will join fa-miliar foe Sac State in the Big Sky, where they will face off with teams such as two-time defending confer-ence champion Montana State and the powerhouse Eastern Washington. The Aggies have had quite a situa-tion at the quarterback position, one that can only have positive payoffs. Red-shirt third-year Randy Wright and red-shirt second-year London Lacy have been taking a majority of

the snaps this pre-season, as was the case last season. Wright has been impressive in prac-tice and has gained a lot of experience over the years, experience that may give him the nod as the regular start-ing quarterback. “Randy is in a terrific rhythm the way he’s throwing the ball right now,” Biggs said. “There’s a confidence about the way he’s playing and he’s a much different player even from the one he was last year.” Though this is a year of many firsts, it will be the end of Biggs’ colorful ca-reer as head coach of UC Davis foot-ball. Yet, Biggs is approaching this season the same way he has so many times in the past: with goals and de-termination to achieve them. “I’m not approaching it any differ-ent but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m savoring every moment,” Biggs said. “Every moment I’m on the field or in meetings or interacting with players and coaches is a joy and as you wind down a career, you get much better perspective about how lucky you are to do something you enjoy.” The Aggies will continue to practice until they kick off the season against Azusa Pacific on Aug. 30 in Davis.

MATTHEW YUEN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

Aggies finish first week of preseason practice

Coach Biggs’ final season has optimistic outlook

courtesyMars curiosity

paGe TWo The california aggie2 monday, augusT 13, 2012

Education for 10 years, serving as in-terim dean of Humanities, Arts and Cultural studies (HArCS) for a short time during from 2004 to 2006, be-fore returning to the position of Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education in the spring of 2007, her biogra-phy on the UC Davis Undergraduate Education website states. In addi-tion, Turner served as director of the American studies program from 1997 to 1998 and director of African American and African studies from

1998 to 2000. Turner’s research is focused on ra-cial dynamics as reflected in folklore and popular culture, states Cynthia Lee of the UCLA Newsroom. Turner’s fourth book, Crafted Lives: Stories and Studies of African-American Quilters, was published in 2009. Turner maintains two additional po-sitions in the UC system as chair of the UC Education Abroad Program and as a member of the UCDC Academic Advisory Council. “Pat has been a tireless advocate for our students, and one of the most effective. It is hard to see her go, but there is some consolation in know-

ing that her talents will remain in the University of California,” said UCD Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter. Though her move to UCLA will like-ly face new, difficult challenges un-der the limited UC budget, Turner is pleased to continue her work within the UC system. “I’m delighted that the next chap-ter of my career will be at a UC cam-pus. I’ll be keeping all my Aggie T-shirts, just adding some Bruin shirts to the mix,” said Turner in UC Davis’ Dateline News for Faculty and Staff.

GHEED SAEED can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.

TURNERcont. from front page

and a part-time job at the library, which doesn’t leave her with a lot of time to pack her lunch, even though she’d like to. “I don’t bring lunch, but if I had time, I would def-initely do it. It’ll proba-bly save me money in the long run. But now, I either buy lunch or if I have a break in between classes, I go home and eat some-thing real quick,” Huerta said. Charles Lam, a third-year human development major, also said that he is

fairly busy, but whenever he goes home, his moth-er makes him lunch, with food that she has prepared and packed in containers for him. “It’s great that I get food from home because it’s healthy — usually, I have rice, some sort of meat and vegetables,” Lam said. “[Also,] bringing your own lunch to school saves a lot of money because you can pack according to how much you eat; sometimes when you purchase food, you get too much or too little.”

MICHELLE RUAN can be reached at features@theaggie.org.

LUNCHcont. from page 4

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8/6/12 puzzle solved

Sack lunches make comeback

In a world of flesh and cellulose, who holds the power? Do we, the flesh, hold the power to cut

down the trees, or do the trees hold to power to relieve us of our air once they are gone? This attitude of mu-tually assured destruction is the wrong way to go about creating bal-ance. Like it or not, we are stuck with each other. But plants do not have to be a constant hindrance to human expansion, and humans do not have to be a grim reaper for the woods and forests. This summer when I visit-ed Floriade, the once-per-decade World Horticultural Expo in the Netherlands, I had the privilege to see the power and beauty of what can be done when man doesn’t just accommodate nature, but embraces it and folds nature and technology together. A house that grows its own food on the walls, buildings made from living trees that heal them-selves when damaged and home-sized algae reactors that can clean the air and provide valuable bio-mass were only a few of the innova-tions present at Floriade. There were houses that processed their waste to charge electric cars,

and lighting systems that captured natural sunlight and released it at night without any need for electrical power. But even more impressive than the technology present at the expo was the cooperative presence of over 20 countries. Each contrib-uting country constructed a pavil-ion incorporating the national ar-chitectural aesthetic as well as a bo-tanical technology innovation. If we were lucky, the national pavil-ions were also serving their national dishes. Chicken curry odors wafted and gemstones sparkled from the Nepal pavil-ion. Sambouseks from Turkey made mouths water from hundreds of feet away. Wood carvings and jewelry from Sudan showed the artistic side of a country torn apart by strife. Countries from every continent were represented, from Yemen and Turkey, China and South Korea, Spain and Italy, Indonesia, Nepal, Ecuador, Kenya and even Pakistan and Sudan. Visiting each pavil-ion was like taking an internation-al flight to the country itself. The smells, the plants, the architecture and the garden styles were all em-blematic of the host country, and all were as different as the countries themselves. In a time when the world is be-coming more and more concerned about our ecological future, Floriade was a literal and metaphorical breath of fresh air, reminding visi-tors that human ingenuity reaches beyond finding better ways to mine, cut and burn. When our minds are set to the task, we can create art that

we can live in, and industry that is beautiful to look at. We can create self-sustaining environments that contain more biodiversity than any other place on earth. This international and inter-species cooperation represents a new paradigm of where our soci-ety should be heading. One country changing its environmental policy will have little effect if other nations do not follow suit. What Floriade demonstrated was that even the most industrial nations, even the countries with their minds set on

expansion, can do so with absolutely no harm to the en-vironment. The technologies that come out of such an endeavor

can often bud off technologies that, even with no practical value, can provide an aesthetic alternative to existing technologies. Hanging gar-dens in your kitchen, kitchen tables made of grass and flowers that will use the crumbs you spill as com-post, the list goes on. And just when you think that the walk-around naturalism is becom-ing too much to handle, you can take a ride on a cable car gondola 300 feet above the park powered by 100 percent solar energy. Technology is not anti-nature, and nature is not anti-technolo-gy. The two can coincide beautiful-ly, and with better results than if ei-ther were working independent-ly. You do not have to visit Floriade to understand how beneficial such a mindset can be.

HUDSON LOFCHIE can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

monday, august 13, 2012 3the california aggie

Visiting each pavilion was like taking an international flight to

the country itself

Hudsonlofchie

The plant lords

Better-tasting tomatoes on the horizon, thanks to UC Davis

and Cornell researchersResearchers identify genetics behind flavorful produce

By ALAN LINAggie Science Writer

Usually when one thinks of to-matoes, images of nice round fruits with a bright red color spring to mind. Heirloom tomatoes, on the other hand, typically don’t enjoy the same patterns of uniform redness. However, despite their lackluster color, a distinction in their genetics allows them to exhibit a higher lev-el of sweetness than their traditional red counterparts. In a June study conducted by UC Davis and Cornell plant biologists, researchers gained new insight into these differences. The amount of selective breeding devoted to creating a perfect color has lead to the unintentional reduc-tion in tomato flavor. Farmers have traditionally selected varieties of to-matoes that are lighter green be-fore ripening. This allowed for easi-er identification of ripe tomatoes for harvest but also gradually lowered the overall sweetness of the fruits harvested. The lighter green color is due to a reduced amount of chloro-plasts, the sugar-producing part of the plant. Ann Powell, a UC Davis biochem-ist, and her team sought to better understand how this information specifically pertains to fruit growth and development. In their efforts, they identified a series of transcrip-tion factors that could lead to higher sugar levels in tomatoes. “Sugar is a flavor enhancer; as we increase sugar levels, we increase the flavor of raw tomatoes,” Powell said. The research effort focused on finding sequences in the toma-to genome responsible for how the fruits ripened. Specifically, re-searchers isolated segments of DNA where expression would re-sult in differences in color or fruit quality. Researchers identified two important transcription factors, genetic material responsible for

regulating the expression of other genes. According to the study, expression of the transcription factors GLK1 and GLK2 resulted in tomatoes ex-hibiting a darker shade of green pri-or to ripening. This color was the end product of the transcription fac-tors increasing production of chloro-plasts in the fruits compared to their traditional processed counterparts. Powell, the coauthor of the study, said that tomato breeders had unin-tentionally selected strains of toma-toes exhibiting a missense mutation of the GLK2 gene by breeding for to-matoes with their appealing uniform color. A missense mutation is a change in the DNA sequence that prevents a gene from being properly translated into a protein. This premature stop sequence cleaves the resulting protein early and renders it ineffective. In the case of GLK2, it no longer functioned to increase sugar levels. However, the higher chloroplast concentrations in the darker green tomatoes that don’t exhibit the mutation result in higher sugar concentrations in the fruit.

Traditionally, tomatoes are har-vested at a specified percentage brix, a by-weight concentration measure-ment for dissolved sugars, and then cooked to artificially increase these concentrations. By utilizing the in-creased chloroplasts found in the darker strains of tomatoes, toma-to farmers have the potential to har-vest higher quality tomatoes per unit time. “Nature presents numerous im-portant genes and their variants, like uniform ripening, that breed-ers employ to facilitate the needs of growers, processors and consum-ers,” said Jim Giovannoni, a USDA plant molecular biologist with the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University. “Understanding the genes responsible for these characteristics facilitates the chal-lenging process of breeding crops that meet the needs of all compo-nents of the food-supply chain.” The increased efficiency or quality of the tomatoes harvested could po-tentially translate into cheaper, high-er-quality tomatoes for everyone.

ALAN LIN can be reached at science@theaggie.org.

courtesy

More students bringing their own lunches to schoolBy MICHELLE RUAN

Aggie Features Writer

As climbing tuition costs continue to dominate headlines, some students are trying out new ways to save money. But rather than sacrificing your more luxu-rious and perhaps expensive tastes, just brown-bag it. Bringing your own lunch isn’t a new idea, but it is new to many students, many of whom have usually eaten lunches pro-vided by their school cafeteria or have had the luxury of parent-packed lunches. However, the college lifestyle can be con-sidered the first step toward being a certi-fiable “grown-up.” There is little to no pa-rental supervision and students who never had to cook, do laundry or clean the house before suddenly find themselves thrust into these responsibilities. Add in a basic course load, extracurricular activities and maybe even a part-time job and the hours seem to be going by a lot faster.

Thus, many students would rather buy their lunch or dinner than actually cook something, as it involves an additional routine of a trip to the local supermarket for groceries, cooking the meal and then fi-nally washing the dishes. You may think that $1.75 for a large slice of cheese pizza from Ciao at the CoHo sounds like a great deal compared to all the work that goes into cooking. It’s a fa-vorite meal choice of many students. A week’s lunch of cheese pizza slices then comes out to about $9. However, the food pyramid advises that a week’s worth of cheese pizza slices is in no way a balanced meal, so occasional-ly, there might be rotation in food choic-es such as a CoHo salad or a $6.75 ham-burger from Burgers and Brew for another day. Eventually, these prices do add up and one can spend around $30 for an entire week’s worth of lunches. That is a figure that many students would rather spend on something else, or save for a rainy day.

Vinson Banh, a fifth-year human de-velopment major, brings sandwiches to school instead of purchasing them. Banh believes it to be a much healthier option to bring one’s own lunches. “Instead of going to the CoHo where the grease on the pizza is enough to soak up two napkins, a nice sandwich would be a lot better. In addition, I would be saving a lot of money instead of shelling out five to seven dollars on lunch,” Banh said. So, in an effort to curb extraneous spend-ing, more and more students like Banh are discovering the financial benefits of pack-ing their own lunches. These homemade lunches are not any-thing grand, as they usually consist of sev-eral sandwiches hastily prepared the night before or plastic containers of dinner left-overs. But dinner leftovers are a great way of stretching groceries for more than one meal a day, thus contributing to the finan-cial benefits of brown-bagging. But sometimes it’s hard to find even a

few minutes to make a sandwich in the mornings or at night after a long day. Victoria Chen, a third-year neurobiolo-gy, physiology and behavior major, admits she brings lunches to school sporadical-ly as it depends on how much homework, studying and club activities she has, which is often a lot. “I wouldn’t mind bringing my own lunch more often but it’s really hard to do when you don’t have a lot of time,” Chen said.However, she did say that eating home-made food does have its benefits, such as serving as a comfort food. “Bringing my own lunch makes me less homesick because ethnic foods make me feel a lot more comfortable and happy,” Chen said. Gloria Huerta, a third-year biochemistry major with an emphasis in molecular biol-ogy, echoes Chen’s thoughts about bring-ing lunch. Huerta also has hard courses

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The california aggie4 monday, augusT 13, 2012

The University of California (UC) payroll grew from about $10 billion in 2010 to $10.6 billion in 2011, according to the UC Report on Employee Pay, released August 9. The report is produced annually to honor UC’s commitment to transparency and accountability to the public and is ar-ranged by employees’ pay, personnel cat-egory and fundsources. The six percent increase can be seen in the rise in student enrollment by almost one percent in 2010 to 2011 and research expenditures that increased by over five percent. The UC workforce also increased

by less than one percent in 2010. UC was also able to pay for a number of 2011 mer-it increases as well. “This increase is likely attributable to a combination of factors, including restora-tion of furlough reductions, increased re-search activity and market pressures for more competitive compensation, partic-ularly in the areas of health care, instruc-tion and research,” the report stated. An estimated 36 percent of systemwide compensation funding stemmed from “clinical revenue” and sources affiliat-ed with UC medical and teaching hospi-

tals. Less than 26 percent stemmed from tuition and general funds, and four per-cent came from Summer Session and University Extension student fees. The fi-nal amount came from private contracts and gifts as well as sources from the feder-al government and state and local govern-ment appropriations. Top-earners on the UC payroll, who earn over $1 million, are mainly athletic coaches and health science specialists. Due to continuous declining state sup-port, many employee salaries are lagging behind market, according to the report.

“With the exception of contractual obli-gations to union-represented employees, salary increases were either eliminated or sharply curtailed … In addition, furloughs for UC faculty and staff in 2009-10 trans-lated to salary cuts that ranged from 4 per-cent to 10 percent,” the report stated. A larger plan to achieve higher employee pay has been delayed by the Board of Regents due to the state’s financial crisis. This brings about the risk of not being able to retain or attract talented faculty and staff.

— Muna Sadek

News iN Brief

UC payroll increases by 6 percent