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enterprise THE DAVIS
SUNDAY, JULY 16, 2023
Who is a first-generation college student? Colleges can’t seem to agree By Adam Echelman CalMatters
A tractor-trailer crosses the railroad tracks at County Road 32A east of Davis. Wayne Tilcock/ Enterprise file photo
CalSTA awards grant for County Road 32A work Enterprise staff WOODLAND — Yolo County announced this week that it will receive a grant of $4.16 million from the California State Transportation Agency for the environmental and design elements of the County Road 32A Crossing Relocation and Grade Separation Project. This project aims to enhance safety, improve
transportation efficiency and boost economic growth in our region, according to the county. The County Road 32A Crossing Relocation and Grade Separation Project will address the existing crossing with the Union Pacific Railroad Martinez Subdivision. Currently, the crossing's geometry poses safety and operational challenges, as it intersects with a rail line that
carries freight and passenger trains daily. By relocating and grade-separating the crossing, the county will “significantly” reduce conflicts between trains and those using the roadway.
cyclists, cars, and trains traveling on Road 32A. These improvements will not only benefit our local commuters but also strengthen our regional economic competitiveness.”
“This project is a top priority for Yolo County,” Yolo County Supervisor Jim Provenza said. “Having a grade-separated railroad crossing will significantly reduce the danger posed to
Union Pacific has pushed for change for years, filing an application with the California Public Utilities Commission in
See GRANT, Page A4
Scientists push back on climate denialism By Monica Stark Enterprise staff writer A Family Features syndicated article headlined “Cooking with gas” on the July 5 Living page and a letter to the editor that questions the “uncertainty in science” behind climate change both prompted discussions with UC Davis College of Biological Sciences Associate Professor and Fossil-Free UCD climate activist Mark Huising on the media’s responsibility covering dis- and misinformation in the climate crisis. Meanwhile, on Thursday, Covering Climate Now held a webinar for journalists on Thursday titled “The Ever-Shifting Landscape of Climate Misinformation.” It also discussed disinformation, in which the intent of disseminating false
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information is purposeful and not accidental. As the webinar description explains, it is not only the “journalists’ job to help the public sort fact from fiction, but also, no journalist wants to find themselves an unwitting accomplice to a disinformation campaign.” The Family Features story pictures a cook chopping vegetables to add to a pan on his gas-powered stove with the caption: “Be safe to have the best gas-cooktop experience.” The article argues that a clean lifestyle could be enhanced by “cooking with an environmentally friendly, clean energy source like propane” and that “gas-powered cooktops are preferred by 96% of professional chefs, including nutritionist and chef Dean Sheremet of ‘My Kitchen
WEATHER Today: Sunny and still extremely hot. High 106. Low 67.
Rules,’ who partnered with the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) to educate homeowners on the benefits of cooking with gas.”
Across California’s public colleges and universities, one nearly universal admissions factor — first-generation status — is still up to debate because no one can agree how to define it. The phrase “first-generation college student” is about the education level of a students’ parents and it’s a key predictor of that student’s success in school. For years, California schools have used first-generation college status as a means to boost campus diversity, especially after voters banned affirmative action in 1996. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 29 decision to end raceconscious admissions nationwide, the term is top of mind. It’s more than semantics: For those who lack support from family to navigate college, the term “first generation” encompasses an experience, a part of their identity, and in some cases, access to targeted state and federal services. In the Inland Empire, first-generation students can receive thousands of dollars worth of tutoring and support through high school and college — if they meet a certain definition. But these contradicting definitions leave some students unsure what first generation means and how they should proceed.
Who counts?
Regarding the “Cooking with gas” article, Huising says, “calling propane ‘environmentally friendly’ by the PERC spokesperson does of course not make it so.
The University of California boasts a higher percentage of first-generation students compared to the community college system, which uses a more restrictive definition of the term. The UC system defines a firstgeneration student as anyone whose parents did not receive a bachelor’s degree or equivalent, while the California Community College Chancellor’s Office defines it as any student whose parents never attended college at all. Cal State, meanwhile, includes numerous definitions on its website. In one scenario, 31% of CSU students are considered first generation; according to another definition, 52% are. It’s a national problem. In one 2018 study, researchers surveyed
See CLIMATE, Page A4
See FIRST, Page A7
The letter to the editor ran with the subhead, “Climate Models Vary” and questions the uncertainty in the science of climate models, claiming they vary by as much as 400 percent. The author argues that not only is the expectation “to not believe as climate skeptics do that global warming isn’t true” but also not “hold so much as a quiet reservation or doubt.”
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