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THE CALIFORNIA AGGIE

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VOLUME 146, ISSUE 13 | THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2023

UC Davis Professor Ting Guo fired after being accused of sexually assaulting a high school student An external investigation into the university’s handling of the matter is also underway BY KAYA DO-KHANH campus@theaggie.org On Thursday, Jan. 19, UC Davis Professor Ting Guo was dismissed from the faculty of UC Davis after being accused of sexually assaulting a high school student in 2010. The decision was made by the Board of Regents at the request of UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May and at the recommendation of UC President Michael Drake, according to a statement by UC Davis. “We are grateful that the regents agreed with our recommendation to terminate the employment of Dr. Guo effectively immediately,” May said in the statement. “Sexual misconduct is not tolerated at UC Davis. We encourage people to report abuse and seek support.” The chemistry professor, who was employed by the university for more than two decades, was placed on academic leave in early 2021 after an investigation by the UC Davis Title IX found that he had sexually assaulted a high school student who had worked in his laboratory. The investigation began after a 2018 civil lawsuit against Guo alleged that in 2010, the professor sexually assaulted the student multiple times at his home, according to a recent press release. Court documents state that

Guo’s accuser grew up in the Davis area and met Guo when she was 18 years old while completing an AP chemistry assignment that involved shadowing a working chemist. She began shadowing him in January 2010, according to an article from the San Francisco Chronicle. Guo was a mentor in the Young Scholars Program, a summer program in which high school students complete a research project in a campus lab and work one-onone with research faculty, until 2019. The university said in another statement that the woman involved was never enrolled as a student at UC Davis and was not a part of the Young Scholars Program. “Due to issues related to student and employee privacy laws, we are unable to address or confirm specific details of the process,” the statement from the university reads. “We can confirm that the internal processes remain ongoing, and appropriate UC policies and procedures are being followed to address this serious matter.” The university said that by request of Chancellor May, an external investigation into UC Davis programs involving youth will be conducted.

Former UC Davis chemistry Professor Ting Guo. (UC Davis / Courtesy)

Student dies in Lecturers file Unfair Labor Practice charge after UC changes Segundo residence hall UC Davis released a statement regarding grade deadline to Feb. 13 the death that occurred on Tuesday The union is demanding compensation for what they view as additional labor required of lecturers due to fall UAW strike BY LEV FARRIS GOLDENBERG campus@theaggie.org JOANNE SUN / AGGIE

BY RACHEL GAUER campus@theaggie.org

On the morning of Jan. 24, firstyear computer science major Arhan Vyas died in Miller Hall, according to a recent press release. The cause of death has not been released as of Jan. 24. First responders were present at the scene, according to the statement, and “did all they could for the student.” The UC Davis Fire Department responded to the student’s address once at 1:46 a.m., and then again at 5:05 a.m., according to an article by the Davis Enterprise, although it has not been disclosed why there were multiple

responses. “Our hearts go out to the family, friends and others who knew and loved him,” the press release reads. UC Davis shared several mental health resources for grieving students and faculty to contact, including Student Health and Counseling Services (SHCS) for students and the Academic and Staff Assistance Program (ASAP) for faculty. Miller Hall is a freshman residence hall located in the Segundo residence hall area that houses over 200 students. This is a developing story, see online for updates.

Planned Parenthood hosts ‘Remembering Roe’ Rally in downtown Davis

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UC Davis Professor Emeritus Mike Henderson to hold first solo exhibition in 20 years

“Mike Henderson: Before the Fire, 1965-1985” will display neverbefore-seen work by the artist. SEE PAGE 7

The UC-AFT lecturer’s union filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charge against UC Davis on Dec. 30 in response to the university’s extension of fall quarter’s grade submission deadline. “UC-AFT supported our UAW siblings in their strike and we are holding the UC accountable for any ramifications their inability to negotiate a fair contract with UAW had on our members,” Katie Arosteguy, communications coordinator for the Davis chapter of UC-AFT and a lecturer in the UWP department, said. The ULP charge alleges that the UC violated the Higher Education Employee Relations Act (HEERA) when they extended the grading periods at multiple campuses, an action that the union says “required lecturers to work through their scheduled holidays.” With academic workers on strike for higher wages and better labor practices during fall quarter finals, a backlog of ungraded student work built up. As a result, the university initially pushed the grade deadline to Dec. 28 before later extending the date to Feb. 13, according to an email to UC Davis staff and faculty sent by Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Croughan. According to Croughan’s email, a majority of instructors of record were able to submit grades by the initial deadline of Dec. 28. However, not all lecturers were able to submit grades, and instead submitted a ‘No Grade’ (NG) for their students. Courtney Caviness, a professor in the Sociology department, told students

in an email that she would likely be unable to submit fall quarter grades by the Feb. 13 date. “I have 250 students across two classes, and it would be impossible [...] for me to grade the backlog for both my courses while also fulfilling my teaching contract for Winter quarter,” Caviness wrote in the email. The lecturer union’s charge also alleges that lecturers were coerced into doing “struck work,” which, according to Arosteguy, lecturers have a right under HEERA to refuse. Struck work is “a product which is produced by an employer during the period of a labor dispute with his employees,” according to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. In response, UC-AFT filed a Demand to Bargain and is currently engaged in effects bargaining with the university. Arosteguy, who has been a lecturer at UC Davis for 13 years, is part of the team of UC-AFT bargainers. According to Arosteguy, the team is asking for two things: that the UC give lecturers the ability to remove fall 2022 student evaluations from their review files, and compensation for what they view as additional labor due to the strike. According to UC-AFT, “the disruptions caused by the strike caused some undergrads to evaluate lecturers more harshly than they would have under ordinary circumstances.” GRADEDEADLINE on 8

The 50-year anniversary of historic Supreme Court decision reflected reality of post-Roe America BY MADELEINE YOUNG city@theaggie.org On Jan. 21, the weekend of what would be the 50-year anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte hosted a “Remembering Roe” rally at the Davis Community Church downtown. The rally was used as a decompression space for attendees, with speakers discussing the new realities of the reproductive rights movement in a post-Roe America. “We’re really excited to be partnering with Planned Parenthood Mar Monte because, as everyone is aware, the issues that have occurred recently that are attacking our most vulnerable populations are very relevant to our groups,” Davis District 4 Councilmember Gloria Partida said at the rally. “When you begin to take away rights from those folks, it affects everyone, so we are very concerned about the direction that our nation is going in.” Maiya De La Rosa, an organizer with Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, talked about what Planned Parenthood is doing to ensure they can continue to provide abortion access. “We’re contacting additional abortion providers because of an influx of people who are coming out of state and that’s going to continue going forward,” De La Rosa said. “We’re

continuing to train providers as well as developing new health centers. Right now we are one of the first affiliates to do behavioral health and provide federal centers as well as primary care. We’re expanding our primary care services throughout the Central Valley and Sacramento.” De La Rosa was accompanied by California State Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, who represents District 4, which includes Davis. She also spoke about the state of reproductive rights in post-Roe America. “We’re here to fight for our rights because our rights have been taken away by the Supreme Court,” AguiarCurry said. “Last year’s draft opinion overturning Roe was leaked and it was a gut punch to every single one of us. I kept saying to myself ‘It can’t be happening, it can’t be happening,’ and I’ve been fighting for this. [...] When the final decision dropped, we weren’t surprised, but that morning, we woke up to a new America.” Many UC Davis students attended the event, including first-year Sia Patel, who is a political science public service major. “I thought it was really inspiring and honestly kind of emotional,” Patel said about the event. “It’s sad to think about how much has changed since Roe was overturned and how we’re almost receding.” REMEMBERROE on 8