02-26-26 Issue 18

Uber driver found guilty on Feb. 5 of sexual battery against UC Davis student

The driver faces up to one year in jail and is prohibited from working for any

BY MADELYN SEVIGNY city@theaggie.org

On Feb. 5, Safiullah Miakhil, a 46-year-old Carmichael resident, was convicted by a Yolo County jury on two counts of sexual battery, unwanted contact or touching, toward a UC Davis student.

He faces up to one year in county jail, according to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office.

On that same day, Uber was ordered by a federal jury to pay $8.5 million to a woman who alleged one of their drivers sexually assaulted her in 2023.

The company is currently facing 3,000 pending sexual assault and sexual misconduct lawsuits, along with a growing scrutiny over their sexual assault record.

The offense occurred after midnight on Nov. 1, 2023, when the victim received an Uber ride after attending a Halloween party in Davis.

When they arrived at the student’s home, Miakhil got into the back seat of the vehicle with the victim and proceeded to “grope, kiss and fondle her against her will,” according to the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office. After Miakhil let

her go, she exited the vehicle and immediately reported the incident to the police.

At Miakhil’s March 3, 2025 arraignment hearing, Judge Clara Levers ordered him not to drive for the Uber or Lyft rideshare services and provide the court with proof of termination, according to court documents.

After the guilty verdict on Feb. 5, Judge Catherine R. Hohenwarter declared a mistrial on a misdemeanor charge of false imprisonment — the restraint of a person against their will — as the jury failed to reach a verdict on the charge.

On Feb. 13, the prosecution dismissed the charge, and the

Yolo County nonprofits host civic engagement

movie night

The event featured a viewing of ‘The Deciders’ and small group conversations about voting

BY KATYA OKS city@theaggie.org

On Feb. 17, Woodland Community College hosted a Civic Engagement Movie Night. The event was co-sponsored by three nonprofit organizations in Davis, including American Association of University Women (AAUW) of Davis, Indivisible Yolo and the League of Women Voters of Yolo County (LWVYC). All three nonprofit organizations aim to empower community members to participate in local and national politics.

The event’s goal was to promote civic engagement in a fun and interactive manner. The event included a movie viewing of “The Deciders,” a 2024 documentary about increasing minimum wage, followed by small group discussions with other participants. Free snacks and pizza were also included at the event. Before the movie began, Michelle Famula, the president of the LWVYC chapter, shared the goals of the event and what she hoped to inspire in participants.

“Without you, without all of us, there is no democracy,” Famula said. “Each day we can see how our civil rights are not guaranteed, even as our leaders place their hands on holy books and pledge to defend and uphold the Constitution. We — the public, their constituents, the voters — are the engine that drives and defends democracy.”

Before the movie began, Jesse Salinas, the registrar of voters of Yolo County, discussed how feelings of discomfort can help promote growth.

“We [have to] move from our comfort zones and into the learning zones and growth zones,” Salinas said. “But to do that, you have to overcome your fear zone. So that means to get out of your comfort level, hear different perspectives, but really try and get to a better place, because everybody has value.”

The event then transitioned

into a movie viewing of the “The Deciders.” The documentary follows a group of people across the political spectrum who worked together to campaign for a state-wide living wage in North Carolina.

Jamie Seibel, the Woodland Community College event coordinator, discussed how the movie paralleled the goals of the event.

“Just like in this film, people in every community need to come together to take action as ‘Deciders,’” Seibel said. “Let us decide for ourselves how we want this country to be and how to make it work for the vast majority of people. Tonight, in this room, let us become the Woodland ‘Deciders.’” Participants were then split into small group discussions to reflect on their reactions. Event organizers answered questions regarding voter registration and civic engagement.

Famula discussed why the event was geared toward potential young voters.

“If [young people are] not engaged in voting, it’s so easy for them to get ignored and outvoted,” Famula said. “The leaders that are picked today start that trajectory toward what [the future is] going to be.”

Famula also discussed the state of politics currently and the importance of maintaining hope. She highlighted how civic engagement does not necessarily only include voting, but collective action, too.

“History gives me hope,” Famula said. “Strangely enough, we’ve been through some absolutely awful times in this country where people’s civil rights were grossly abused, and we still came through.

[...] Minneapolis also gives me hope, because it’s everyday people saying: ‘This is not right.’ People are showing up on the streets and saying, ‘We’re not going to accept this.’ This is ‘un-American.’”

For more events and information, visit the AAUW of Davis, Indivisible Yolo and the LWVYC websites.

retrial was cancelled, according to court documents. Miakhil remains free on his own recognizance and faces a maximum sentence of one year in the Yolo County Jail. Miakhil’s sentencing hearing is set for March 26, 2026. Brooks Parfitt, Miakhil’s defense attorney, stated his argument for Miakhil’s plea of not guilty.

“The strongest legal arguments were that Mr. Miakhil actually and reasonably believed that the student was consenting,” Parfitt said. “She didn’t do anything to indicate that this wasn’t something that she was agreeable to. [...] The very first time she expressed any

reservations or a desire to leave the car, you know, she pulled away from him and said, ‘I’ve got to go now.’ And his response was, ‘Okay.’”

However, Parfitt emphasized that the defense believes that the trial was fair.

“We do believe that he received a fair trial,” Parfitt said.

“We’re disappointed in the jury’s verdict, but we respect it, and we thank them for their service.”

When asked about an appeal, Parfitt stated his plans for Miakhil’s case.

“We plan to appeal; I will leave [the grounds] up to the appellate attorney [as] I would not handle the appeal myself,” Parfitt said.

Stefanie DeCillis, the deputy district attorney and prosecutor for the case, spoke about the outcome of the trial.

“The young woman who was victimized in this case demonstrated immeasurable courage and tenacity,” DeCillis said in a press release. “I am very thankful to the jury who made the right decision and treated this case with the gravity it deserved. This outcome signals that sexual assault cases, especially against those in vulnerable positions, will be treated with the utmost seriousness in Yolo County.”

When asked about the role that prosecutors play in cases similar to this, DeCillis stated the need for additional checks

on services such as rideshares.

“I think that district attorneys and prosecutors and law enforcement have a role in this, absolutely,” DeCillis said. “But unfortunately, you know, our role comes after something like this has already happened. And so, at the point when we learn about this type of an assault, we can try to use the existing mechanisms in our legal system to try to get what might look like justice for a victim, but I think that there’s a whole lot that is to be done on the other side, which is prevention and awareness.”

DeCillis also noted the District Attorney’s Office has a victim assistance program that helps victims through the legal process.

“My office has a really robust victim’s advocate program,” DeCillis said. “[It is] really a key program that our office supports, because the criminallegal system can be very overwhelming especially for people who have never really had any experience with it. [Victims] have a person who they can reach out to, who can kind of be that liaison between me, the prosecuting attorney and them.”

Local activist groups gathered for a Davis Community Meeting organized at Davis Central Park

The organizations in attendance included 3rd Street Art Collective, NorCal Resist, Mutual Aid Davis and more

BY SONJA WOOLEY city@theaggie.org

Local mutual aid and immigrant rights organizers met on Feb. 8 in Davis Central Park to share information and bridge the gap between UC Davis and City of Davis activist groups. The event was organized by Davis Community Meetings, a group that has helped organize “Know Your Rights” training at the Davis Night Market, water distribution drives during summer heat waves and clothing swap events.

Volunteers from groups like the UC Davis Jewish Voices for Peace, the UC Davis Student Farm Food Access Program, the Davis Night Market, the 3rd Space Art Collective, NorCal Resist and the Davis Freedge joined the community meeting event to share resources and information.

Organizers discussed recent efforts to protect Davis street vendors from legislation by the Davis City Council and harassment by brick and mortar business owners and police officers. Community meeting participants made plans to speak in support of the street vendors during the

Feb. 17 Davis City Council meeting.

Organizers from the 3rd Space Art Collective, which hosts community open studios and art exhibitions around Davis, announced their Print Zine Fest on May 2. A leader from the Yolo Creek Protector’s Alliance shared their efforts at Yolo County Board of Supervisors meetings to halt gravel mining operations along Cache Creek. Participants also discussed threats to the Davis Respite Center, a homeless shelter which has faced neighborhood complaints at Davis City Council meetings.

A student leader from the UC Davis Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Club (TGNC), who wishes to remain anonymous, organized this most-recent community meeting. They explained that the previous organizers of the community meetings were no longer able to host events and that the fall gathering had to be cancelled.

“I’m trying to bring momentum back to it, and this was the first attempt at that,” the student said.

The student explained how they became involved in the community meetings.

“Community Meetings

reached out to [TGNC], because we kept reposting their stuff, and asked if we would like to present at the meeting in August,” the student said. “At the time, we were considering how much reliance we wanted to have on the university. This was also during the time that there were talks between the federal government and [UC Los Angeles] (UCLA) about trans student resources.”

On Oct. 26, 2025, the Donald Trump administration filed a $1.2 billion settlement against UCLA. The administration accused the school of allowing antisemitism on campus and engaging in race-based discrimination in their application process. The settlement demands also included a ban on trans women from women’s sports at UCLA, a statement by the school denying the existence of trans people and a ban on genderaffirming care for patients under 18 at the university hospital. The case remains in court, though a federal judge recently blocked the Trump administration from withholding $600 million in grant funding from UCLA.

“We knew that once UCLA gives in, then UC Davis does, too, so that’s something that

we were worried about,” the student said. “So, [we are] relying on mutual aid networks rather than the institutions like the university for our survival.” An organizer from NorCal Resist — an immigrant advocacy group founded in Sacramento — who attended the community meeting and wishes to remain anonymous, spoke about the importance of organizing offline and in person.

“There was a recent subpoena [by the federal government] into a lot of very popular social media websites including Instagram, Facebook, Reddit [and] Twitter for anti-ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] opinions that were posted publicly,” the organizer said. “It’s very easy for your digital profile and digital space to be abused by these companies. A lot of people have been preaching that for a while, and only in the past year and a half has it become more of a mainstream principle. People are meeting more inperson. There is recognition that having a community that is face-to-face instead of just through a screen is usually more productive and valuable.”

UAW 4811 votes to authorize unfair labor practice strike

Citing bad faith bargaining and cuts to hours, union leaders can now call a strike if they deem one necessary

BY KHADEEJAH KHAN campus@theaggie.org

Three units of the United Auto Workers (UAW), representing over 40,000 academic and research employees across the University of California (UC) system, have authorized a strike over unfair labor practices (ULP).

United Auto Workers Local 4811, Research and Public Service ProfessionalsUAW and Student Services and Academic ProfessionalsUAW — together representing graduate student instructors, readers, tutors, researchers and postdoctoral fellows across the UC system — announced the strike authorization through a joint Instagram post on Feb. 16. At UC Davis, UAW represents some 5,200 workers.

“With this overwhelming result, UC management should be officially on notice that UCUAW workers are united against their unfair labor practices and that they must bargain with all of us in good faith towards fair contracts,” the statement reads.

The vote on whether or not to strike was held from Feb. 5 to 13, with 93% of the over 23,000 participants voting in favor of strike authorization.

Importantly, the vote outcome does not mean a strike is immediately called or set in motion. Instead, with the successful authorization vote, union leaders can now call and start a strike if they deem it necessary. Union leaders are continuing to negotiate with university management at this time.

“At any point in time, the

university can resolve their ULPs and, if they remedy these ULPs, we would hope that they do so quickly,” UAW 4811’s Academic Student Employee Chair Emily Weintraut, a UC Davis graduate student in food science, said. “We want UC management to stop breaking the law and resolve these ULPs.”

The union has been bargaining with UC since July 2025, and has filed six ULP charges against the UC system with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board.

Some of the ULPs include UC management failing to respond to over 50 requests for information made by UAW 4811 regarding wages and health benefits, the cutting of hours for instructional workers and a new annual $9,000 Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition fee implemented at the Media and Arts program at UC Los Angeles (UCLA).

In a press statement, the UC said that it has met consistently with the union, exchanged proposals and reached two dozen tentative agreements. The statement adds that the two parties planned to meet from Feb. 16 to Feb. 20 to continue negotiations.

“The University of California is disappointed by the UAW strike authorization vote,” the statement reads. “Last year UC and UAW worked together to advocate for research funding, and in the months ahead, UC and UAW will continue to work together to support SB 895, which would provide $23 billion for scientific research across California to ensure the vital research conducted at UC can continue without

disruption. Our focus remains on practical progress, continued collaboration, and outcomes that benefit our employees and the communities we serve.”

The union previously went on strike in spring 2024, citing unfair labor practices and the UC allowing law enforcement to use force against UCLA’s Palestine solidarity encampment that year. At the end of 2022, the union held the largest strike in United States higher education history, when over 48,000 workers went on strike for six weeks.

Weintraut explained that this moment is essential for workers across the UC in order to protect their rights, and especially those of international workers.

“[UC] management really has the opportunity to join workers to safeguard the future of the university,” Weintraut said. “We want to secure fair agreements, where we want to protect international workers, have decent, fair, paid benefits for working parents and maintain the prestige of the UC system.”

Weintraut also said that securing a fair contract is a priority amid research funding cuts and federal restrictions on higher education.

“Ultimately, there’s a lot of instability we’re seeing with the federal government, with the Department of Education being shut down, grants being canceled [and] research really being politicized,” Weintraut said. “These contracts that we UC union workers have are really the only way to create legal precedence necessary to defend our members and our rights.”

UC Davis hosts Feb. 17 debate over merits of public research funding

Guest speakers debated whether government or private models best support research and scientific advancement

BY THOMAS WU campus@theaggie.org

Is scientific progress best achieved through publicly funded research initiatives?

That was the question at the heart of a recent Feb. 17 debate hosted at the Vanderhoef Studio in the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. Arguing on behalf of the merits of public funding was Jon Hartley, an economist and Hoover Institution policy fellow. Taking the opposing side and arguing for privatized and market-driven funding was John F. Early, an economist and adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. Carrie Sheffield, a senior policy analyst for the Independent Women’s Forum, served as moderator.

The debate came as universities across the country continue to grapple with changes in federal funding for research under the second Donald Trump administration, with the University of California system as one of the administration’s targets. These cuts have left an ambiguous future for institutionwide academic and research opportunities and corresponding technological advancement.

The two speakers shared some common ground; both Hartley and Early agreed on the private sector’s significance in catalyzing scientific and technological development, which has contributed to the United States’ dominance on the world stage.

However, Hartley argued that private sector contributions were contingent on a research foundation brought by publiclyfunded initiatives. Early, on the contrary, argued that government-models instead serve as a barrier to further development.

Early primarily challenged the status quo model of research, arguing that money is thrown arbitrarily at research without designated target outcomes, thus impacting efficient bureaucratic allocation of public funds. He offered that an alternative, mission-driven model prioritizes tangible outcomes to produce progress.

“When the research is focused on a result — not a paper, but a real-life result — that is effective research,” Early said. “If I want to pay for it, I will buy it in the marketplace or

I will make charitable donations to support it.” Hartley, speaking in defense of public-funding, posited value in the inherently uncertain nature of the scientific discovery process: an antithesis to Early’s mission-driven research model that approaches research with limited flexibility.

“At some level, there’s unknown in the future,” Hartley said. “Dealing with uncertainty, that’s really the core of what basic science is. At some level — because there’s so much uncertainty [and] because it’s such a long run thing — firms sometimes just don’t invest enough in these sorts of very basic scientific efforts.”

Hartley continued, expressing an unwillingness to depend on economic forces alone to meet demand for basic research.

“When it comes to very big projects that require a lot of upfront investment, the private sector isn’t willing to take the risk [...] because it’s so expensive and maybe too uncertain, and maybe too far off in the future,” Hartley said. “That’s really the one exception where government can sub in.”

Yolo County Library hosts Lunar New Year Celebration

Families across Davis marked the Year of the Horse with music, dance and cultural performances

BY MICHELLE BEKHTEL city@theaggie.org

The Yolo County Library hosted its annual Lunar New Year Celebration on Feb. 7 at the Davis Veterans Memorial Center, drawing families, students and community members of all ages for an afternoon of dance, music and cultural traditions. The free event, sponsored by Friends of the Davis Public Library, marked the arrival of the Year of the Horse with performances from local schools and UC Davis student clubs, including Holmes Junior High School, Mira Loma High School, UC Davis’ Chinese Orchestra and UC Davis Wing Chun Kung Fu Club.

This year’s celebration required expanded coordination, as the library moved the event off - site to accommodate a larger audience and a broader lineup of performers. Staff

explained that securing a new venue, increasing publicity and organizing additional volunteers significantly extended the planning timeline.

Event coordinator, Hualing Wan, noted that the performer lineup itself came together through community outreach, rather than a formal selection process.

“We basically ask around to see who can perform and then send out invitations,” Wan said.

“There isn’t much selection going on — our only rule is: keep it joyful and New Year appropriate.”

The celebration opened with a land acknowledgement honoring the Patwin people, followed by remarks from Yolo County Librarian Diana Lopez.

“The true heart of our institution is the volunteering of our staff members, often going above and beyond,” Lopez said. Library Regional Manager

Scott Love later noted that the event relied on months of behind-the-scenes preparation.

“Staff voluntarily became part of the committee that organized and put on the celebration,” Love said. He added that employees regularly join cultural event committees to support programs that reflect the county’s diversity. Although staff time is paid, the event also drew support from additional community volunteers.

The program began with percussion, as the Mira Loma High School Chinese Performing Arts Team launched into a dragon and lion dance accompanied by drum rhythms. The group transitioned into a fan dance set to a soft ballad, followed by performers in traditional qipao and dancers using ribbon props.

Daytime Homeless Respite Center to stay open until June 2026

The Davis City Council announced its continued support for the Respite Center as it weighs options for possible new locations

BY YUENJO FAN

On Feb. 17, the Davis City Council met to discuss potential alternative sites for the Daytime Homeless Respite Center, the current location slated to permanently close following logistical challenges — such as budget cuts, change in service providers and neighborhood concerns.

Since 2020, the Davis Respite Center has played a key role in the city’s homelessness resource initiative, acting as a daytime shelter for Davis’ unhoused population. With the impending closure of the Respite Center, four potential new locations have been selected for consideration. However, Director of the Social Services and Housing Department Dana Bailey noted that each one of the possible sites will likely come with challenges, including a need for significant building rehabilitation and compatibility with the neighborhood.

Bailey detailed to the Davis City Council the department’s requests for the Respite Center in order to prolong its operation.

“The next steps that we are asking the council to consider is [to] prioritize what an operational model will look like for the Respite Center,” Bailey said. “We are asking that the council authorize continued

operations at the current site through June 30, as we make that determination of what model we would choose. We are also asking [if] there are other locations that the council would like to be considered or reviewed.”

In terms of costs, Bailey noted that building a new Respite Center could range anywhere from $148,000 to $2,750,000, depending on renovations needed at various locations. California’s Permanent Local Housing Allocation Program (PLHA) was identified during the meeting as a possible funding source to help alleviate the expenses of maintaining the Respite Center.

Public comments brought by individuals and neighborhood representatives expressed support for the Respite Center’s continuation, though concerns were raised.

One public commenter, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed concerns regarding neighborhood safety.

“My wife doesn’t feel safe sometimes when she’s taking kids out of the car and unsheltered people try to engage [with] her or harass her at times,” the public commenter said. “If you can reduce the impact we feel being so close to the Respite Center, that would be great.”

Erin Stark, another public commenter representing 50 residents of the Davis Manor

neighborhood, asked about the project’s future trajectory and cost.

“What we’re asking for is clarity and structure,” Stark said. “We understand that the council wants a transition plan that preserves services while addressing long-term sustainability. We support that direction. But the staff report does not yet connect operation to timing, cost or governance safeguards.”

Ultimately, the Davis City Council decided in favor of maintaining the current Respite Center until June 2026.

Mayor Donna Neville recognized the importance of the city continuing to sponsor a safe space for the unhoused and other city residents in need.

“We acknowledge the importance of providing respite,” Neville said. “Regardless of how constrained resources are, we believe it’s important for those in our community who are unsheltered to have a safe and welcoming place to go. Secondly, in this time of extremely constrained resources, it’s even more important than ever to work cooperatively and creatively with our community partners. We also recognize that any changes we make in the way we provide respite support need to ensure [that] those who currently receive services continue to receive them with the same level or greater.

RESPITECENTER on 9

Davis Community Church hosts Sacramento Ebony Chorale

African American spirituals were performed at the 2nd Friday free concert series on Feb. 13

At noon on Friday, Feb. 13, Davis Community Church (DCC) hosted the Sacramento Ebony Chorale. The onehour performance of African American spirituals was part of the DCC’s 2nd Friday concert series, also known as Live@ DCC: a free monthly event with performances that aims to foster community through music of varying genres. With frequent shows and youth workshops across the greater Sacramento area, the Ebony Chorale advertises itself as a Christian group that works to preserve the “Negro Spiritual.” A pamphlet handed out at the Friday concert articulated the Chorale’s mission of promoting appreciation of the genre through performances at community organizations like the DCC. In sharing their music, the brochure also noted the group’s emphasis on the cultural values of perseverance, resilience and hope.

LuAnn Higgs, retired music director at Davis’ Unitarian Universalist Church (UU Church), detailed the beginnings of the concert series.

“Before I left [UU Church], I had started the Music at

Noon series,” Higgs said. “The Unitarian Church gave us a very substantial seed fund to help with securing the artists, so we just moved it here.” Higgs explained how the performances are affiliated with Downtown Davis’ ArtAbout series.

“It dovetails with the Pence Gallery,” Higgs said. “They publicize the events on their flyers.”

Emma Turnbull, the music director at the DCC, described the structure of each concert.

“Every month we’ve had a different type of music genre,” Turnbull said. “It’s brought in a really varied audience. We’ve had very standard classical musicians, we’ve had some French jazz and now we have African American and some gospel, as well.”

February’s performance from the Sacramento Ebony Chorale involved a personal connection for Higgs.

“My contact was Sheryl Counter,” Higgs said. “Sheryl is part of the Sacramento Ebony Choir [...] We both sang in the Sacramento Opera together, years ago.”

Velma Larry, founding member and director of the Ebony Chorale, highlighted the origins of the Sacramento group.

“We started just before COVID-19,” Larry said. “We

just felt like there should be some way that we should do something with the spirituals and mainly with the young people.”

By noon, pews began to fill with patrons. Each row was completely occupied as Larry introduced herself to the audience. With perseverance as one of the Ebony Chorale’s main values, Larry emphasized the opportunity of finding strength through music.

“We have to learn how to persevere,” Larry said. “We have to learn how to get back up again, and we have to learn how to have hope in our life.”

In hosting a wide variety of musical groups, Zoe Tilton, ministry leader at the DCC, emphasized the positive impact that each 2nd Friday concert has had.

“It’s great,” Tilton said. “It’s been wonderful for our church that people have been coming that maybe hadn’t been here before.”

The March 13 performance for the 2nd Friday concert series was recently announced on the DCC website.

The noon performance will feature the works of Schumann, Menotti and others, all played by a trio of piano, violin and clarinet. The piano will be played by Higgs.

I can’t get over my summer fling

Dear Aggie,

Last summer, when I was studying abroad in Venice, I met this guy. I was only there for a few weeks, but it was such a whirlwind romance. He’s from Italy but he spoke English, and we saw each other almost every day that I was there. We kept in touch for a little while once I got home, but now it’s more or less fizzled out. My problem is that I can’t get over him. I’m stuck on this memory, this possibility of what could have been, even though I know it’s impossible. It’s stopping me from truly pursuing anyone else because I feel like I’m holding out for the off chance that this will work out somehow. How can I let a fling be a fling? How do I get over this so I can move on to more realistic opportunities? Am I delusional for thinking it could actually happen?

— Summer lover

Dear Summer lover,

I would bet when you walk into your kitchen and look around, you would see a hundred ingredients you use only on occasion — your cardamoms, canned goods and frozen cauliflowers. Your dinners may not always include them (though they sometimes do), but you’re comfortable knowing they exist and that they’re bound to come up in a recipe every once in a while.

Your feelings can be the same. You can have all these feelings, but everything you produce, everything you make and do, does not have to be made out of every feeling you have. In other words, you can feel everything you still feel for this guy and still explore other opportunities. Let yourself have the feelings and consciously try to not let them control your life — two things can exist at the same time, feelings and a desire to try new things. It clearly means more to you than just a fling, and that alone validates and is validated by the depth of your emotions. You aren’t delusional for caring, but thinking you should make decisions about your life right now based on an uncertain future is shortchanging yourself a possibility of something else great.

Don’t refrain from adding new ingredients to your shelf because of ones you already have. Know that the ones you have will be useful from time to time, but don’t let them run your kitchen. Your future isn’t black and white with or without him — it’s your story (not his) with no known, certain, set journey, path or ending. You don’t have to “move on” to move forward.

XOXO, Master Chef

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.

California’s hopeless governor race

Will California finally have a candidate that shakes up the state’s political stage?

BY SABRINA FIGUEROA

sfigueroaavila@ucdavis.edu

After serving as governor for two terms, California Governor Gavin Newsom will be leaving office in 2027. With this comes a gubernatorial election later this year. Candidates and campaigns are sweeping the media — just not in the minds of voters. With plenty of chaotic, depressing events currently going on nationally — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, unjust United States military operations and climate change — the California’s governor race has been drowned out by all the noise. With less than five months until the June primary, voters are still heavily undecided on who they think is the best fit to govern California: There’s no front-runner, yet.

The current race’s partisan makeup is not peculiar to California, with only two Republicans running against eight Democrats. The Republicans have Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News Host Steve Hilton, both common politicians for the current Republican Party. At the same time, the Democrats have former U.S. Congresswoman Katie Porter, former U.S.

Health Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and many more. However, these are common politicians in the Democratic Party, with many being left-of-center. This constant commonality beckons the question: Have voters grown tired of the same players, and are we looking for someone different for a change?

It’s no secret that the Democratic Party has been struggling to keep the support of their voters for a while, as many see them as “ineffective” or “weak.” We’ve also seen increasing support for democratic-socialist candidates recently, with more left-leaning policies than what most Americans are used to.

For example, the newest Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani ran on a democraticsocialist slate, winning people over from all across the country and giving them hope during a dark time.

Suddenly, the question becomes whether or not it’s possible for California to have our own Mamdani-like candidate. This may be the change and type of candidate — charismatic, progressive and populist — that voters are looking for to provide them with what they’ve been promised. Among the 10 true-to-party

Let’s talk about sex! Why conversations about sex are important

BY ANJALI IYER amiyer@ucdavis.edu

In an increasingly tumultuous era of politics, I’ve noticed a concerning rise in the normalisation of purity culture. This movement grew popular in American evangelical groups during the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDs) crisis of the 1980s, and emphasized teaching abstinence for the sole purpose of preserving one’s virginity until marriage. As the world moved into the 21st century, purity culture became widely regarded as a regressive and anti-intellectual practice that reinforces misogyny and compulsory heteronormativity.

I consider myself lucky that my sexual education never included abstinence — my parents and educators were incredibly open when talking about sexual health in a scientifically objective way. But growing up, I felt as though I lived in two worlds; I was raised in a conservative country while I attended a relatively progressive international school. The people who comprised my social circle were diverse, ranging from the rapscallion friends I partied with to pious devotees. Consequently, I became accustomed to hearing

girls loudly proclaim they would “never have sex before marriage,” as they associated virginity with moral righteousness. My internalized ideas of sex as a natural function provided a strong foundation that repelled the noise of purity culture that surrounded me. As a result, I felt relatively neutral toward sex. I never shied away from conversations about it, but viewed it as something that simply existed. I was under the impression that by the 21st century, humanity should’ve reached a point where we could all exist in our own ways — it wasn’t until 2022 that I realized not everybody felt the same.

I was 18 when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade — the 1973 landmark court case that codified access to abortion before fetal viability as a federal right. I felt the impact from halfway across the world, as my social media feeds flooded with discourse over the groundbreaking decision. Over time, I noticed a theme — conservatives defending the decision often hid behind the horribly outdated idea that people who had the capacity to get pregnant should just “keep their legs closed.” As more videos came

across my feed, my frustration grew. Aside from the blatant misinformation, the notion of accidental pregnancy being a natural punishment for simply having sex angered me. The use of purity culture language to justify this gross revocation of bodily autonomy seemed like a regression to a time when sex was considered “dirty” and “sinful.” Over the course of the 2020s, billionaire-backed conservative pundits like Matt Walsh and Ben Shapiro set out to make purity culture mainstream by pushing abstinence-only sexual education whilst demonizing conversations about gender and sexuality as “grooming” children for a supposed LGBTQ+ agenda. For a group that claims to “care about children,” conservative misrepresentation and elimination of comprehensive sexual education seems entirely counterintuitive. By censoring speech around age-appropriate conversations about sex, they rob young people of the ability to make informed choices about their bodies. Federally-funded abstinence programs have been caught spreading blatant misinformation regarding the effectiveness of condoms in preventing STDs and pregnancy.

TALKABOUTSEX on 9

Your embarrassment is limiting you

And frankly, it’s embarrassing BY AMBER DUHS

alduhs@ucdavis.edu

candidates, California also has some independents running. One in particular has caught the attention of many: Ramsey Robinson. Running as a Peace and Freedom Party candidate, Robinson has proposed a socialist program that aims to support working-class Californians through universal healthcare, housing and education. He also has a plan for divesting from Israel, addressing climate change and confronting racial, gender and LGBTQ+ inequality.

While this slate seems promising — and would be a progressive change many would welcome — running in a third party is what separates Robinson from the Mamdanitype candidates.

As the two-party system in the U.S. usually leaves out independents, it is possible that Robinson’s whole candidacy will sadly be drowned out. Mamdani ran as a Democrat, giving him more publicity than an independent candidate. It’s a strategic move, but it also makes clear that whatever change happens — in terms of the types of candidates — will have to be made within the Democratic Party, not outside of it. However, the change will also have to be made with the help of voters. If our politicians are representative of Californians, this shift has to be a team effort. We have to want it enough for it to happen, and we must collectively begin seeing the value in moving more left, which would entail proper, strategic organizing and engagement with enough time to make an impact.

Change comes with energy and time; it won’t come from a campaign organized a few months before the election. Sometimes we forget that we have to give ourselves hope as much as anyone else. We are the ones who give politicians the consent to govern — that’s power.

I’ll admit it — I hate feeling embarrassed. I hate when I walk into a lecture hall a few minutes late, tripping (but ultimately recovering) and knowing everyone’s eyes are slowly making their way towards me. I hate listening to music with a group of people, eyes closed with my leg tapping and head bobbing, only to open my eyes and realize no one else is as into the scratchy record as I am. I hate going to a themed event with the outfit I had meticulously planned, only to find that no one else took the theme as seriously as I did, and I look a little out of place.

I don’t know if it’s the postpandemic adjustment from months of living in incognito mode, or if it’s the anxiety we feel from living in an increasingly surveillant society, but at some point we let the embarrassment get to us. We let the tiny pit in our stomach supersede the feeling of excitement and the thrill of doing something you’ve never done before. Somewhere along the way, we decided that living our lives to the fullest was unimportant enough to sacrifice for avoidance of that short-lived feeling of uncertainty and discomfort.

If you’ve been on the Internet, you’ve probably heard the saying “To be cringe is to be free,” and unfortunately, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Embarrassment is an emotion entirely dictated by the amount of weight you place on the opinions of others — something that, whether we like it or not, we can learn to control. The rise of social media, the intense curation of feeds, vibes and ultimately, the surveillance of every inch of our lives has caused immense damage to our ability to not care (I say immense, not irreparable, because we can, in fact, save ourselves before we become embarrassment-ridden zombies.)

We’ve become conditioned to constantly search the room to desperately confirm that no one is staring at us, out of fear that we may not look the exact way we want to be perceived.

I’ve lost track of the

amount of times a conversation proposing a new experience immediately goes south once the speaker realizes it may require them to give up the tiniest bit of their pride. A new party suddenly morphs into a social nightmare when you realize no one else is dancing and you desperately want to. Surely it’d be too embarrassing to be the only person showcasing enjoyment. An excursion to the roller-skating rink turns into an extra hour of screentime as you idle in the corner, hoping no one realizes you haven’t been on wheels since you were 12. Everyone else at the rink definitely skates every weekend and surely views those who don’t as lazy and unskilled. From curious encounters to new adventures, embarrassment stops it all: it stops the slight possibility of someone you don’t know judging you. It stops the potential for you to exist for just a second not as a perfectly curated person, but as a real-life one — someone with flaws who makes mistakes. Ultimately, it stops you from experiencing life and from learning to take your emotions with ease, rather than hide from them. On social media, there’s been a proliferation of content which attempts to “normalize” this feeling of embarrassment — all hopping on the bandwagon of Austin Butler’s “Subway Takes” video where he states that “embarrassment is an under-explored emotion — go out there and make a fool of

yourself.” In the short 60-second video posted to Instagram, Butler explains that the issue isn’t feeling the embarrassment, but acting on it. We must learn to feel our emotions, to validate them and to act anyway: to do things we’re scared of and things that embarrass us. 99% of the time, I doubt you’ll ever regret trying something new, even if it does result in a few seconds of embarrassment.

I’ve begun to place embarrassment not on the side of the emotion wheel with anxiety, fear or sadness, but instead sit it with happiness, courage and hope. If I haven’t accomplished (or even attempted to accomplish) a single act that might be embarrassing — something that requires me to swallow my pride and take a leap of faith purely for the enjoyment of it — then I haven’t done enough that day. I haven’t experienced all that life has to offer.

Truly, there’s nothing embarrassing about enjoying your own company over lunch or practicing a new language with a native speaker. When did the learning process, being passionate or being content in yourself become synonymous with embarrassment?

At what point will we all realize that the extraordinary value we place on this emotion we can control not only holds no innate positives, but is constantly holding us back?

The EPA is prioritizing short-term profit over climate action and policy

Public health and the livelihoods of future generations are at risk due to the latest cuts by the Trump administration

WRITTEN BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has undergone some of its most drastic changes since the Trump administration took office in January 2025, marked by major deregulation efforts, immense staff reductions and the removal of crucial climate policies and standards.

On Feb. 12, the EPA announced its largest deregulation in the agency’s history: rescinding the foundational 2009 Endangerment Finding, which found that six major greenhouse gases are harmful to public health and welfare and were therefore able to be regulated under the Clean Air Act. The consequences of this decision are severe; regulations on greenhouse gases are no longer established and supported by the federal government. In removing the Endangerment Finding, the agency eliminates the legal basis for federal greenhouse gas standards and withdraws formal government recognition that these emissions endanger public health and future generations. With the removal of the Endangerment Finding, the EPA also terminated federal greenhouse gas regulations

for new vehicles, repealing emission limits set for 20122027 model-year cars and trucks. Automakers are no longer required to meet carbon dioxide emission limits under the Clean Air Act. Since transportation and car pollutants are the largest source of greenhouse gases in the United States, eliminating these standards could significantly increase emissions nationally and slow climate change mitigation.

Removing federal limits on carbon pollution from cars does not help the automotive industry; instead, it harms long-term environmental progress and stability. It gives permission to leading greenhouse gas producers to pollute even more, despite scientists’ warnings that emissions must be reduced further to prevent worsening climate disasters.

Continuing its regulatory rollbacks, the Trump administration announced on Feb. 20 that it would reduce restrictions on toxic emissions from coal-powered power plants, including limits on mercury — its most recent effort to delegitimize clean air and support the fossil fuel industry.

“EPA’s actions today right the wrongs of the last administration’s rule and will return the industry to

[the] highly effective original [Mercury and Air Toxics Standards] that helped pave the way for American energy dominance,” EPA Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi said.

Coal-powered power plants are among the leading producers of mercury and other toxic air pollutants in the atmosphere, according to the EPA. These pollutants are detrimental to public health, as they settle into water and soil, contaminating the food chain and causing severe neurological damage, heart disease, impaired immune function and developmental issues in younger generations.

Regulations on coalpowered power plants have saved lives since their implementation: 26,610 lives were saved in the U.S. between 2005 and 2016 due to the shift away from coal for electricity, according to a University of California study. Without these protections, public health is put at risk for nothing more than short-term profits. The federal government’s recent actions signal that environmental protections and human health are no longer priorities. By furthering reliance on finite fossil fuels, the Trump administration and EPA are undermining and reversing years of progress toward more sustainable energy sources.

In defense of the grind

The administration also announced on Jan. 13 that it would no longer consider the economic cost of harm to human health — including those related to fine particles and ozone — into regulatory decisions. The EPA cited “too much uncertainty” and an aim to avoid a “false sense of precision” as the justification for this drastic change. Previously, the agency’s projections of these health impacts and cost values have accurately estimated more than 230,000 lives saved and billions of dollars in health benefit costs.

All of these actions over the past month mark a fundamental change in the EPA’s focus and purpose. The agency was originally created in 1970 to establish environmental laws and safeguards for the environment and human health.

What do we sacrifice when we give up on hustle culture?

BY GEETIKA MAHAJAN giamahajan@ucdavis.edu

Who are you when nobody’s watching? Maybe you’re deeply invested in the latest celebrity drama, or maybe you go home and put on a show that you’ve rewatched so many times you can quote it.

The things we do in our alone time become a part of who we are; they outline and structure our entire lives. I’ve heard people say, “How you do something is how you do everything.” While this may be a generalization, it’s also grounded in reality: how you approach your life in private is how you approach your life in general.

A lot of us don’t like the approach we take toward our lives.

That’s why we try to improve every new year or birthday: 2026 is the year we begin training for that marathon.

At 30 years old, we start reading for fun again. These goals represent our fullest potential — the person we could be and would be, if only we weren’t so tired after class, hadn’t slept in or were a little bit different to begin with. We wait for the day we stop being tired, or inspiration overtakes the desire to doomscroll. Yet, we all know that this day will never actually come.

Bestselling author Rebecca F. Kuang was once asked what

“the secret” was to balancing writing novels and completing a Master’s degree and now a Ph.D. — her response was that there was no secret.

“I’m always missing deadlines,” Kuang said. “I’m never getting enough sleep. But I love school and writing too much to not do it.”

Kuang’s mentality may sound like she’s encouraging a work-life balance that could be unsustainable in the long run. But I would argue that she’s actually not talking about balancing work and life at all — rather, her approach is to simply recognize that the pains of effort are far outweighed by the pains of regret. Consequently, her success is an inevitable byproduct of someone who consistently prioritizes their own ambition.

This is where hustle culture comes in. Also known as “the grind” or “toxic productivity,” it’s been attacked by mental health professionals for turning life into a spreadsheet that measures inputs and outcomes. It’s understandable why this performance of constant productivity is occasionally abandoned in favor of slow and mindful living: sacrificing one’s current happiness and stability for a future goal isn’t a sustainable way to live. But hearing it also makes me wonder if our first mistake was misinterpreting the grind completely.

“Hustle culture” urges people to run marathons and

become millionaires by the age of 25 — this encouragement, in itself, is not a bad thing. It isn’t wrong to urge people to set lofty goals: that’s one of the only ways that you can truly challenge yourself to grow.

The problem is when you make the end goal a measure of self-worth, rather than recognizing that your efforts to improve your life are making you a better person overall. When nobody’s watching, do you still act like the person you want to be? If nobody knew what you had achieved, would you still put in the effort to achieve it?

In actuality, a lifestyle of working will be productive no matter what the output is, because you’ve dedicated your life to making yourself the best possible version you can be. This can look like working on a passion project when you’re tired or going to the gym when it’s raining. It involves doing difficult things — oftentimes things that are so foreign they feel out of character.

However, it’s knowing that you can do these “impossible” tasks that allows you to reach seemingly impossible results. Our mistake is valuing the reward over the effort.

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.

And the award goes to...

Editorial Board

ALYSSA CREVOISERAT Editor-in-Chief

MAYA KORNYEYEVA Managing Editor

VINCE BASADA Campus News Editor

JORDAN POLTORAK City News Editor

MOLLY THOMPSON Opinion Editor

ZOEY MORTAZAVI Features Editor

SAVANNAH ANNO Arts & Culture Editor

MEGAN JOSEPH Sports Editor

KATIE HELLMAN Science & Tech Editor

Managing Staff

JENNA LEE Photo Director

NOELLE ESCALANTE Layout Director

SAVANNAH BURGER Design Director

SAM RUIZ New Media Manager

KAYLIE HUANG Social Media Manager

JULIAN MONTANA Website Manager

JULIA CROSSAN Distribution & Outreach Director

YILAN LI Translation Director

CARMEN RODRIGUEZ-ZARATE Translation Director

JENNY DYE Copy Chief

ALYSSA PULIDO Copy Chief

LAURIE PEDERSON Business Development Manager

BY GRAY ENGSTROM

ARTS & CULTURE

The Arts Desk’s

CULTURE CORNER

Fresh finds in television, movies, novels, & music

BY MIRIAM RAMAKRISHNAN arts@theaggie.org

Movie: “Surf’s Up” dir. Ash Brannon, Chris Buck (2007))

Before I was old enough to understand the appeal of mockumentaries like “The Office” or “Spinal Tap,” “Surf’s Up” scratched that itch for me. A story about a penguin with a passion for surfing might not immediately make you ponder life’s inner meaning, but growing up, it made me realize how insightful this film really is. “Surf’s Up” follows main character Cody Maverick, a teen penguin chasing the only thing that matters to him: the Big Z Memorial Surf Off championship. Maverick is mentored by the reclusive Geek — who later turns out to be Big Z himself — and battles nine-time champion Tank Evans for the grand prize. This was a fascinating film for me as a child: the realistic voice acting made the film seem grounded and conversational in a land of movies with high-pitched fairytale characters. However, I relate to it even more as a young adult. Cody doesn’t really know what he’s doing in life, and he’s tired of everyone around him defining him before he gets a chance to do it himself. Soundtracked by 311, Sugar Ray and Pearl Jam, this movie pulls its weight in grown-up music as well. I can confidently say that Surf’s Up is one of the few children’s movies that I can easily enjoy at the age of 18 as much as 8.

Movie: “The Book of Life” dir. Jorge R. Gutierrez (2014)

I knew this movie was special early in my film critic career — at age 9. The vibrant colors, stop-motion animation and iconic rendition of Radiohead’s “Creep” captured my heart even as a youngster. Protagonist Manolo Sánchez has a family legacy of bullfighting to continue, but he’s drawn to music over the violence of the former tradition. When his childhood love Maria Posada is killed and taken to the Land of the Remembered, Sánchez’s mission evolves: to bring her back to life. I wished I could be Posada as a child — beautiful, intelligent and above all, steadfast in her beliefs. As I look at this film through the lens of adulthood, I realize how visually and emotionally beautiful this movie is. Mexican culture is showcased with so much love and care in “The Book of Life,” with the production of Guillermo del Toro proving why he is so widely praised in Hollywood circles. The Land of the Remembered is accurate to its namesake; in this story, ancestors live on as long as they are remembered, which reframes how younger audiences might think about grief. This movie taught me that honoring where you came from doesn’t mean surrendering who you are, both as a child and as an adult.

Movie: “The Incredibles” dir. Brad Bird (2004)

I truly believe that “The Incredibles” is one of the best children’s movies of all time. I loved the sleek cars and suits when I was younger, along with the modern lair of superhero fashion designer Edna Mode. Yet, I appreciate this movie for the details that were included for the adults. Superheros are hidden away from the rest of the world, placed into a system akin to the Witness Protection Program in real life. The Parr family, also known as the Incredibles, are not happy about this. Despite his dissatisfaction, we see Mr. Incredible’s superhero traits even in his mundane job at an insurance firm, where he secretly tries to help customers get their claims adjusted and gets fired for it. As a first year, “The Incredibles” reminds me that being a good person shows up in everything I do — and not all of those moments are cinematic or grandiose. You see “super” moments in day to day life: Unitrans drivers waiting for someone running to the bus stop, professors giving second chances and helping a friend cram for an exam. A movie being so entertaining as a child and so profound as an adult is not a common occurrence, which is why I saved the best for last.

Review: The halfhearted highs of ‘Wuthering Heights’ are incomparable to its sweeping lows

Emerald Fennell’s latest film attempts to capitalize on a classic work, with little success

BY JULIE HUANG arts@theaggie.org

“Wuthering Heights,” Emerald Fennell’s third film, debuted in theaters on Feb. 13 starring Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff. The film has not only renewed interest in Emily Brontë’s original 1847 novel of the same title, but also revived an old debate: How faithful should an adaptation be to its source material? Does adaptational accuracy matter at all for a good story, especially if the original is hailed as one of the hallmarks of Western literary canon?

Marketing for “Wuthering Heights” described the film as “inspired by the greatest love story of all time.” This provocative claim constitutes an attempt to imbue the project with a sense of myth for the modern world — eternal, transcendent, larger-than-life.

Yet, there’s a catch in the film’s attempt to carve out a space in modern pop culture for itself by invoking the scandalously self-assured attitudes of Brontë’s tempestuous novel, which ignored the contemporary social mores of its time. By attempting to craft a metanarrative not based on its own substance but on the reputation of a more established work, “Wuthering Heights” invites all the baggage of public opinion and misconceptions inevitably attached to the lofty

status of a “literary classic.” Consequently, external discussion about the film is not merely an extraneous factor separate from the film’s artistic status. Rather, it might be enlightening to consider the current sociopolitical landscape in which this newest iteration of “Wuthering Heights” is borne as a love story.

Questions surrounding Fennell’s project are fueled by and perhaps even originate from the controversy surrounding the film’s casting decisions — which arose before the film ever came to the screen — when Elordi was revealed as Byronic hero Heathcliff. Detractors argued that Elordi’s whiteness erased a central aspect of Heathcliff’s character as a person of color (POC), which was integral to the structure of the novel’s story.

UC Davis’ budding Urdu program cultivates an environment for learning and community

Students and faculty share their experiences in the Middle East/South Asia Studies program

BY HANNAH OSBORN arts@theaggie.org

The Middle East/South Asia Studies Department (ME/ SA) offers six languages, one of which includes Urdu, which is primarily spoken in Pakistan and India. Since fall 2024, UC Davis has had a dedicated Urdu program that offers one year of Elementary Urdu (URD 001-003) with plans for an intermediate expansion to the program in the works.

Taught by Shagufta Fatema, lecturer in Hindi and Urdu, the program was announced at the 2024 Shaam-E-Ghazal event. Prior to 2025, Urdu was taught in a course combined with Hindi. Fatema discussed the reasoning behind creating a separate Urdu course.

“It was a need of the class, because I had students who only wanted Urdu, but they didn’t have the option because Urdu was taught in the same class [as Hindi],” Fatema said. “As an instructor, it was sometimes hard for me to teach two scripts, and it was hard for students to grasp.” Urdu and Hindi, while sharing similar vocabulary and syntax, have different writing scripts — Nastaliq and Devanagari, respectively. Iman Tariq, fourth-year sociology

and political science double major, shared her reaction to the differentiation between the Hindi and Urdu language programs.

“When I tried to take an Urdu class in my first or second year, it was always advertised as a Hindi/Urdu group, but Hindi’s a very different language,” Tariq said.

“I didn’t really want to learn Hindi because I can speak and understand it just fine, but I want to learn how to read and write in my mother tongue [Urdu].”

The class, which — like most language courses — meets five times a week, provides an atmosphere that students find welcoming and close-knit, according to Mariam Siddiqi, a teaching assistant and third-year human biology major.

“The class is very community-centered,” Siddiqi said. “It’s not super formal. You get to learn while still talking to people; it’s a casual class where you’re still learning a lot.”

Starting from the basics in the fall, Fatema discussed the progression of learning in the class and her instructional methods.

“There’s no prerequisite to being in the [Elementary Urdu] class,” Fatema said. “We start from zero. We start from the alphabet and then gradually we

bring structure [and] sentences.”

A key aspect of the class is interaction with others: students practice talking in the language to boost familiarity and encourage repetition.

“I focus on speaking a lot in the class,” Fatema said. “I have something called ‘Bug Your Neighbor,’ so that is the conversation part, and my class loves to talk. They would just go ahead and ask each other some questions. My only request to them is ‘Urdu min bat karo [talk in Urdu]’, so I reinforce that learning part without telling them that they are studying. And I love it — creating an environment where they’re not afraid of making mistakes.”

Students in the Urdu program expressed how engaging the class feels — conversation flows as meals are shared and games are played.

“It’s such a passive way of [learning] that it makes it feel like I’m just going to hang out with everyone,” Tariq said. “But in reality, I’m learning a whole new language. It kind of feels like a break from everything else.”

The significance of Urdu as a language program separate from Hindi also carries historical weight — some Indian states have suppressed Urdu, in part due to its association with the

country’s Muslim religious minority.

“Urdu wasn’t taught for almost 30 years,” Fatema said. “Now, in the last 10 to 15 years, language learners are bringing it back. I feel it’s important to be represented, and language is not only language, it’s also culture.”

The cultural impact of Urdu is noticed by students in the program, who often come from a background in speaking Urdu with their families in childhood, but did not receive further formal education in the language through the American school system. The class offers students a way to connect with their roots in new ways.

“Actually being able to read and write Urdu has been so amazing,” Tariq said. “Now, whenever my parents watch the news, I can read everything that’s on the screen.”

The class has helped some students strengthen their language skills and form a deeper understanding of Urdu, as shared by Aariz Iqbal, a fourthyear computer science major.

“It helped me revive what I used to have, because I used to speak it relatively frequently,” Iqbal said. “I never knew how to read or write, and I’m also learning new vocabulary that I had never heard before. I would say [my Urdu] improved a lot.”

The success of the program as a place for learning and growth was reported by students as the result of Fatema’s level of attention and care for teaching and connecting with her students.

and connect

“It’s really sweet,”

said.

“[Fatema] is so welcoming and warm that she creates an environment where people can come and be themselves. It’s so nice because [for] a lot of people in this class it’s their family’s language, what they’re learning and studying.”

“[Fatema] is such a great professor, I couldn’t recommend her more,” Tariq said. “She is super understanding and knowledgeable and she really does care about every single one of her students.” ME/SA Peer Advisor Mabel Minney, a second-year linguistics and Spanish double major,

FEATURES

Why is everything suddenly so political?

Political messaging and its presence in the arts

BY VRITI SHAH features@theaggie.org

Recently, it seems like everywhere one turns they are faced with a political opinion, argument or reference. Even after turning off the news, many are met with even more political conversations on social media and television, in music and literature, creating a feeling of inescapability.

Mainstream media held a major conversation on the controversies of politics during the 2026 Grammy Award Ceremony. At the red carpet, many well-known celebrities wore “ICE OUT” pins to show their condemnation of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

During acceptance speeches, many artists — such as Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish and Olivia Dean — used their time to further speak out against ICE.

“Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say: ICE out! We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans,” Bad Bunny said during his acceptance speech after winning the Grammy for Album of the Year.

Other celebrities have opposed the mass exclamation of politics at the Grammy Awards Ceremony.

“If you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a political platform to make a political speech,” Ricky Gervais said in an X post, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.”

When Bad Bunny was chosen to perform at the Superbowl halftime show, he

faced backlash. Even though Bad Bunny is from Puerto Rico — a U.S. territory — conservative critics argued that he shouldn’t perform at the Superbowl halftime show because he is “not an American artist.”

Conservative organization Turning Point USA (TPUSA) even created their own Superbowl halftime show that viewers could watch to boycott the Bad Bunny performance. The performance was called an “All-American Halftime Show,” featuring outspoken conservative and musician Kid Rock.

In contrast, during his halftime show, Bad Bunny performed his hit songs in front of a sign that said “the only thing more powerful than hate is love” — as a nod to the importance of kindness and togetherness amid turbulent times.

Sydney Sweeney — an actress most recently known for her American Eagle jean advertisement that sparked controversy for its apparent support for eugenics — stated that she, as an artist, has no place to comment on politics.

“I’m in the arts. I’m not here to speak on politics,” Sweeney said, according to Variety. “That’s not an area I’ve ever even imagined getting into. It’s not why I became who I am.”

While there is popular discourse on politics and its place in art, UC Davis students had their own varying opinions on the topic.

“I think art can be political,” Amirra Williams, a second-year psychology major, said. “I think it’s always been [used] as a means of expressing all [out]looks. Especially in the era of very high surveillance, [...] dictatorship [and] people in power with the media.”

Others echoed the notion that the artistic reflection of politics has been around

throughout history.

“I definitely feel like politics, and just generally, statements have been made throughout time and art,” Anika Karody, a fourth-year economics major, said. “Even if you go back to the Renaissance and way back when, they’ve definitely made statements before.”

Karody continued to describe how she has noticed politics coming up more frequently in art as she has gotten older.

“I feel like now people are making a lot more statements,” Karody said. “But also, I feel like it’s kind of always been there. I feel like even I am just now becoming more aware of it as I grow up.”

Whether political expression has been around us or if it’s just starting to arise in the media, Williams believes that politics within art can function as an important means of protest.

“I feel like art can be a good outlet,” Williams said. “It’s very easy to produce. So, I think, yes, [art] could be [...] inherently political.”

READ MORE ONLINE

Professor spotlight: McCage Griffiths

Griffiths shares his methodology as a political science lecturer

BY AMBER WARNKE features@theaggie.org

McCage Griffiths, a political science lecturer at UC Davis, has been leading lectures at UC Davis since 2015.

Many students, like Hannah Levin, a fourth-year political science major, have found Griffiths to be uniquely engaging.

“I feel like in a school where it’s very easy to feel like a number as a student — because you’ll have class sizes of up to 200 or more students — it feels like he can make a huge class feel smaller,” Levin said. “It’s really easy to ask questions [and] to approach him.”

Being an approachable professor can not only boost student morale, but also contribute to their academic success, according to Education Week. Students who get to know their teachers are more likely to attend class and get higher grades.

Another way Griffiths makes his class engaging is by finding ways to make the content interesting to teach, not just learn.

“I am interested in all of [the topics I teach], and I always find a way to teach the material in ways that I enjoy, so I try to bring my own enthusiasm to the classroom,” Griffiths said. “When I was an undergrad, I had plenty of professors who weren’t that into the stuff they were lecturing us on. So, I like to think being a little more enthusiastic on my side makes other people more engaged.”

Students witness Griffiths’ passion through his lectures and personal teaching style, according to Saba Khan, a second-year political science and communication double major.

“He’s just very outspoken,” Khan said. “You can tell he cares deeply about the subject.”

Griffiths also prioritizes active learning methods like discussion-based learning, which is proven to increase grades and decrease rates of failing, according to University of California, Los Angeles. Active learning methods also encourage higher-level thinking, teacher analysis and evaluation skills, not just memorization of facts.

“I like to ask lots of questions in the classroom, and I’m not the kind of person to ask rhetorical or pointless questions,” Griffiths said. “I ask questions because I want people to think about them, and I want them to offer their ideas and contribute to the thing that we’re doing. And so, I tend to think those kinds of things increase not just interactivity with myself and my students, but students with each other and taking more of an individual ownership over the process. I hope students come to my lectures and think, ‘Hey, I’m here to actively be a part of this, not just to listen to this guy talk.’”

While encouraging students to wrestle with the subject matter, Griffiths also provides ample support to students outside of lecture hours to help them grasp the more complex subject matter.

“When I was struggling with the homework and with the assignments, I would email [Griffiths], [...] and he would

respond back within an hour and be like ‘Oh this is actually how you do that,’” Khan said.

While Griffiths takes care to let students know that he is passionate about their education, he tries to keep private where his political passions lie.

“I think one of the things that I tend to pride myself on is not ever really showing my hand as to what my politics are,” Griffiths said. “At the end of the quarter, I’ll always get basically two perfectly offsetting reviews: I’ll always get a review from someone that’s like, ‘Hey, I’m so glad to have representation of a left-wing professor in our department,’ and then the next review will be, ‘I’m so glad to have representation from a right-wing professor in our department.’”

Keeping personal political views out of the classroom is a research-backed teaching strategy, as it not only ensures that students develop a wellrounded perspective, but it can also foster an environment that welcomes students of different perspectives and often leads to higher academic achievement.

Ultimately, Griffiths’ teaching strategies balance factual information, critical thinking skills, collaboration and passion, giving him a unique style of lecturing. What is most important to Griffiths, however, is not what students think of him, but the impact he is able to have on them.

“I see my job as helping you to get to the places you want to go, whatever that is you take out of this course,” Griffiths said.

“I’m not someone on high. I’m just a guy that knows stuff and is gonna tell you about it.”

Aggies share their uconventional illness remedies for this flu season

Students share their preferred methods of beating sickness, from processed sugar to herbal tea

BY AMRA ABID features@theaggie.org

It’s that time of year when temperatures hit their annual low and it seems like everyone is sick — and if you aren’t yet, you will be soon. With winter quarter winding down and finals looming closer, you may find yourself feeling that the common advice of ‘liquids and rest’ is a bit antiquated.

Nayah Hlebakos Del Rio, a first-year biological sciences major, shared that chamomile tea and honey help relieve her cold symptoms.

“Every time I start to feel myself getting sick, I will just start drinking herbal tea with honey — like copious amounts of honey — every single day that I feel even slightly unwell,” Hlebakos Del Rio said. “I just drink a bunch of it, and it usually works.”

Francesca Campos, a third-year mathematics major, said that at the first signs of a cold, gargling salt water usually mitigates her symptoms.

“When I’m sick, usually what happens first is I get a little tingle in the back of my throat,” Campos said. “And I always heat up some water, [...] mix some salt in there, and then I gargle with the warm salt water.”

Zhi Gonzalez, a third-year statistics major, shared a more unconventional method of

flushing out sickness.

“When I get sick, I specifically search out hot Cheetos with the lemon flavor,” Gonzales said. “And then I also get Sprite — I drink like six of those Sprite minis. [...] It’s like all terrible food, and my body recognizes that. [...] So, it just insta-kills the virus that I’m fighting. Cause it’s like, ‘What are you doing? Like, I gotta deal with this Red-40 in your body now.’ And then I’m just good the next morning.”

Derek Saenz, a second-year managerial economics major, claimed the key to his recovery is candy and a hot shower.

“When I’m sick, I’ll go to the gas station or any store and I’ll buy a ton of processed candies — gummy bears, Airheads, Sour Ropes,” Saenz said. “I’ll eat like all of them in [one] sitting. [...] I get so low-energy when I’m sick that I need something to like, stimulate that energy, so I’ll eat all that candy and then I feel a lot better afterwards. And, once I take a hot shower, it’s over [and] I’m not sick anymore.”

Ethan Yuan, a third-year hydrology major, swears by a concentrated, Chinese tea called Pu’er. Although he isn’t quite sure what the tea’s intended effects are or why it works, Yuan claims the drink immediately makes him feel better, and has yet to fail him.

“I drink like an entire eight ounces of it just in one go: like

one big gulp,” Yuan said. “I get like super, super nauseous for like two minutes. And then everything in my guts is instantly, like, all at one go, vomited out.”

Thomas Sutter, a first-year sustainable agriculture and food systems major, also swears by a remedy passed down from his parents.

When I’m sick, I go outside at night, like past [midnight], to breathe in the cold air for at least 30 minutes,” Sutter said. “That’s because my parents always did that when I was a kid for some reason. And it helps me [...] I think the cold air helps the coughing and the throat. Like, when I have a really congested throat or I’m coughing a ton, it helps me breathe better, I think.”

Paige Williams, a firstyear clinical nutrition major, explained that the best remedy for a cold, in her opinion, is simple: It’s whatever comforts you the most. That comfort, for her — in a college dorm with limited utilities — is often what she calls ‘dorm-stewed apples.’

“I chop up some apples and then [I] microwave them,” Williams said. “It’s more like a comfort thing than actually remedying me, but I think comfort is [a] remedy [initself].”

Regardless of the methods suggested by these UC Davis students, recovering from sickness is truly whatever you make of it.

Is abandoning social media outright the answer to online woes?

Students weigh in on having a healthy relationship with the digital world

BY NATALIE SALTER arts@theaggie.org

In 2026, it’s hard to avoid being online. There seems to be an app for everything: Instagram for keeping up with friends and popular culture, Pinterest for aesthetic inspiration, Letterboxd for logging films, Goodreads for logging books and so on. On one hand, aApps like these offer convenience, making social connections easy and entertainment just a few taps away. media use continually proves itself to be a double-edged sword. As it has risen in prominence, expressions such as “doomscrolling” and “brainrot” have arisen to describe the loweffort, cognitively damaging relationship between people and online spaces. Social media overuse has come to be associated, ironically, with emotional disconnect and a feeling of meaninglessness. In response, new movements on social media have urged users to abandon these apps altogether. Some argue that the constant trend-cycling and algorithmic nature of social media is destructive to our ability to develop individual tastes and ideas. Others argue that it overexposes us to everything going on in the world and each others’ lives, causing anxiety and hopelessness. Abandoning social media, then, is often framed as a positive. Breaking free of the doom-scroll may help you regain

Davis Odd Fellows host ‘Thursday Live!’ concert series

Broken Compass Bluegrass had a full house at the Odd Fellows’ lodge at the most-recent performance

BY GIA LOOMIS city@theaggie.org

On Feb. 5, Broken Compass Bluegrass, a Northern Californiabased string band, made their Davis Odd Fellows debut at the Odd Fellows’ “Thursday Live!” concert series. “Thursday Live!” is a free, donation-based concert series hosted by the Davis Odd Fellows every first Thursday of the month.

The “Thursday Live!” concert series has grown from its beginnings. The free concert series began 16 years ago, with the Odd Fellows now having hosted close to 136 shows.

Juelie Roggli, vice president of the Hall Board of the Davis Odd Fellows and co-chair of the music committee, explained how the concerts got their start.

“In the beginning, we solicited local musicians who were mostly friends to play,” Roggli said. “When we went to shows, we would talk to bands we liked, who we thought would be a good fit. As we have grown, word has traveled that the Davis Odd Fellows is a good place to play and bands are now contacting us to play. They love the attentive and enthusiastic audience we draw.”

While the concert series’s popularity has grown, the Odd Fellows’ goals for the event have stayed the same. Roggli continued to explain that

“Thursday Live!” is curated to benefit musicians and the community.

“‘Thursday Live!’ is not a fundraiser,” Roggli said. “100% of the donations go directly to the musicians each month. All we hope to achieve is to bring community together to hear good music and enjoy themselves.”

“Thursday Live!” hosts a variety of different bands and genres of music month-tomonth, with music ranging from Americana to bluegrass, rockabilly, Celtic rock, Western swing or country. Most recently, the Odd Fellows featured the band Broken Compass Bluegrass. Kyle Ledson, the mandolin and guitarist for the band, explained Broken Compass Bluegrass’s sound.

“We are a string band with bluegrass and jamband roots,” Ledson said. “The play on our name is intentional. We don’t fit into the traditional bluegrass or jamband box. [...] We improvise when playing live. No song will be performed the same way twice.”

The recent “Thursday Live!” event featuring Broken Compass Bluegrass had attendees packed inside to the door. There was such a large turnout for the band that volunteers had to turn people away at the door once capacity was met. Ledson explained how it felt to play for such a large, excited

crowd. “It’s so heartwarming to feel this loving support in Davis,” Ledson said. “And as performers, there’s nothing better than a full room that is engaged, dancing and feeding us back the driving energy that elevates a show.”

While “Thursday Live!” provides a space for musicians, it also creates a way for live music to be more accessible for Davis community members as a donation-based show. Ledson explained how events like “Thursday Live!” benefit musicians and attendees alike.

“‘Thursday Live!’ is a free event,” Ledson said. “Live music should be accessible. It is a leap of faith to work for tips as a musician, but the generosity of that Davis crowd came through and we’re grateful for that as well. It takes a lot of time and work by volunteers to make great events like ‘Thursday Live!’ come to life.” With support from the community, “Thursday Live!” concerts will continue next month. On March 5, the Odd Fellows will host the acoustic Celtic rock duo, Caliban, at the Odd Fellows lodge. The duo will perform a blend of music on fiddle, mandola, mando-guitar and accordion. For more information on upcoming concerts, visit the Davis Odd Fellows’ website.

Cross Cultural Center’s ‘Threads of Tradition’ event spotlighted diversity across campus through fashion

Student designers and participants showcased their cultural clothes on the CCC runway

connections.

“Recently, I’ve been distancing myself from all social media platforms, especially during exam seasons, and I’ve benefitted a lot in terms of focus and mental health,” April Nguyen, a third-year human biology major, said. “I miss

BY IQRA AHMAD city@theaggie.org

At the Cross Cultural Center’s (CCC) fashion show event, “Threads of Tradition,” students stepped into the spotlight wearing garments tied to ancestry, memory and everyday survival. From handembroidered dresses and Mexican huaraches to contemporary Chinese qipao layered with denim, to looks honoring Black American political movements, students shared pieces of culture embedded into fashion.

Roughly 50 people attended, filling the room with a chorus of cheers from friends, family members and classmates of the participants. The CCC team prepared the stage the day before, draping linen in green, blue and purple and stringing lights, colorful tassels and flowers across the stage beams. As the participants walked, the soundtrack jumped across genres, playing “At Dusk” by Faye Wong, “La Malagueña” by Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, “The Smile” by Mehdi Saki and “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott-Heron. Before the first walk, organizers read aloud the UC Davis land and labor acknowledgements. Then, the CCC staff invited the audience to celebrate the 10 student participants and their creations.

“As we prepare for the show, we wanted to let you know that you are more than welcome and encouraged to cheer, clap and show a lot of support and love for our amazing participants,” Asian and Pacific Islander (A&PI) CCC Community Coordinator Johannah Seah, a second-year Asian American studies and sociology double

major, said. “They spent a lot of time curating, putting these outfits together and rehearsing.”

A&PI CCC Community Coordinator Chaedon Robinson, a third-year biotechnology major, directed the event and noted that “Threads of Tradition” grew from the center’s broader mission and values.

“Our motto at the CCC is to work toward a more liberated world,” Robinson said. “We want to work toward highlighting intersectionality across cultural knowledge.”

For Robinson, fashion is both personal and political — a daily practice of identity that can become communal when shared publicly.

“The purpose of this event was to highlight the artistry and storytelling of cultural garments, to provide a platform to feel confident while embracing their identities and cultures,” Robinson said. “I feel like fashion can be a really fun and easy way to incorporate your culture into your everyday life, and we also wanted to emphasize the cross-cultural aspect of the CCC by highlighting garments across all diasporas. I think it’s really important that we remain unified and remember that we are stronger together.”

Among the show’s participants were Mariana Munoz, a second-year psychology and Chicana/o studies double major, and Helen Madrigal Gonzalez, a secondyear political science major, who walked together wearing garments rooted in Mexican textile traditions.

Munoz wore a cream-colored dress embroidered with vibrant florals, a style she described as connected to her ancestry.

“Traditional wear is beautiful, wearing it is like

celebrating our culture,” Munoz said. “Our traditional wear has flower embroidery because our ancestors are very connected to land, to life and healing.” Madrigal Gonzalez spoke to the personal importance the show held for her.

“Coming to college, I felt like my fashion was normal, basic,” Madrigal Gonzalez said. “Walking this runway was very special for me because I love wearing the traditional Mexican clothes.”

The two also pointed out details of their fashion that are heavy in meaning, such as their red bracelets worn for protection from the “evil eye,” as well as heirloom jewelry and family memories stitched into accessories.

“I really love arracadas,” Munoz said. “These earrings are passed down from my mother and they’re worn in fashion by this icon, Maria Felix. Even the shoes I’m wearing — boots — connect us to the land.”

Yi-Xuan Chang, a firstyear community and regional development major, used layering to express her Chinese American identity. She paired a contemporary Chinese qipao, a garment popularized through the 1920s to 1940s in Shanghai Cinema and fashion magazines, with a long denim skirt.

Sudoku

Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row, column and 3x3 square must contain each digit. Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing.

Answer to previous puzzle 2/19/26

Crossword

On the contrary, Early argued that uncertainty is best suited for private intervention.

“The people that really know how to manage uncertainty are who?” Early asked. “They are the entrepreneurs.”

Haley Cook, a third-year biological science major and an attendee at the debate, expressed concerns over Early’s privatefunded model.

“My concern with it being privatized is that it’s more profitdriven, rather than adding to the body [of] knowledge,” Cook said. “Personally, I’m really interested in biology, like vaccines, but that’s not a very profitable area of research. And so I don’t think I would have as many opportunities.”

The debate was part of the ongoing Chancellor’s Colloquium series, organized by the Steamboat Institute, a conservative educational nonprofit based in Colorado. UC Davis is one of many universities across the nation that has hosted Steamboat Institute’s Campus Liberty Tour debates.

Emma Eisenman, director of development for the Steamboat Institute, said that she worked with UC Davis administrators on selecting a topic for the debate. She noted the institution’s strong science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) presence and corresponding dependence on public funding for research.

“Our first, primary goal is [to] get people comfortable talking about hard topics that they might disagree with,” Eisenman said. “We believe in thinking through things [and] learning how to think, because that ultimately makes you more free.”

Based on pre- and postdebate audience polling, the debate’s winner was John Early, the advocate for privatesector funding. Judged by the largest percentage change in

audience support, Early gained an additional 25% of audience support for the privatization of research funding. “Don’t be afraid of change,” Early said. “If what you’re doing is valuable, and government doesn’t interfere, you will be paid for it.” The full 90-minute debate is available to view on The Steamboat Initiative’s YouTube channel.

2

Holmes Junior High School’s orchestra continued the program with three pieces: “Gongxi, Gongxi,” “Spring Carol” and “Lian Xiao,” featuring a full string ensemble. The performance blended traditional melodies with a contemporary orchestral sound.

UC Davis’ Chinese Orchestra followed with “Full of Joy” and “Jasmine Flowers,” incorporating cello, erhu (a twostringed bowed instrument), dizi (bamboo flute), liuqin (mandolin with a pear-shaped body) and other traditional instruments. The pieces evoked the musical style of Southern China, known for its lighter melodies and use of instruments like the erhu and dizi, which create this softer, more expressive sound.

Shi’s Ballet presented two pieces, “Window Flowers,” which depicted the quiet anticipation before the New Year, and “On the Horizon.” Both featured dancers in traditional attire, using fans to shape the choreography. Another dance group, Unsurpassed Glamorous Dancers, performed “Peach Blossom Takes the Ferry,” a folkinspired dance with performers wearing pointed straw hats. Later in the program, the UC Davis Wing Chun Kung Fu Club demonstrated Wing Chun, the martial art popularized by Bruce Lee’s master, Ip Man. They showcased close-range techniques and partner drills.

Wan noted that the variety of performances reflects the autonomy given to participants when choosing their pieces.

“The performers know their own fields best, so they sometimes pick ethnic or cultural pieces, which ends up being fun and educational,” Wan said.

Throughout the event, attendees participated in multiple prize drawings using red envelopes containing numbered tickets. Decorations, donated by the Friends of the Library, included traditional Chinese door banners — two vertical lines and one horizontal line above the doorway — that symbolized the transition from the past zodiac years of the Dragon and Snake into the Year of the Horse. These lines were accompanied by phrases that expressed good intentions for the coming year.

The celebration also included a classical interlude with a performance of Mozart’s Flute Quartet in A major, Movement No. 1.

Love noted the importance of hosting cultural events like the Lunar New Year Celebration at the library.

“We feel it is paramount that we celebrate the many cultures that make up our communities in Yolo County,” Love said.

[...] What we are recommending is that the city continue to provide the existing level of services that are currently being provided at 530 L Street until approximately June 30, 2026.”

As the city government continues to ponder its final decision on where to build the new Respite Center, temporary measures have been put into place. Neville announced a referral and transportation system to the Fourth and Hope shelter in Woodland, about 12 miles north of Davis. She also

cited Paul’s Place, a homeless facility associated with Davis Community Meals and Housing, as a potential alternative while the new Respite Center is being planned.

Council member Bapu Vaitla summarized the main long-term issues that the council would need to address concerning the Respite Center.

“There are two challenges,” Vaitla said. “One is actually getting the financing and the units built. The other big challenge is that [it] will take time: How do [we] provide the necessary services for the unhoused in the meantime?”

The Davis City Council is expected to continue future discussions about methods and costs related to the Respite Center and its temporary alternatives.

The council meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month in the Community Chambers at City Hall, 23 Russell Boulevard. More information can be found on their website.

Teens who received abstinence-only sexual education were more likely to believe that condoms did not prevent the spread of STIs, according to a 2007 study. Abstinence-only programs that refuse to teach even basic information about contraceptives put teenage girls at significantly higher risk of becoming pregnant. Girls aged 15-19 who didn’t use contraception at first sex are twice as likely to become teen mothers than girls who did use contraception. Countless studies have proven that teaching abstinence harms children in the long-term — a lack of sexual education deprives young people of the ability to thoughtfully plan their families and protect themselves against STDs, even after marriage.

In a desperate attempt to push Christian Evangelicalism into mainstream American culture, conservatives have demonized sex — much

to the detriment of future generations. Countless studies have demonstrated how ageappropriate conversations about sex, anatomy and boundaries prevent child sexual abuse. It’s estimated that almost one in three teenagers will be victims of verbal, physical or sexual abuse. By raising awareness of acceptable behavior and safe sex practices, parents and educators can help prevent adolescents from falling victim to sexual abuse and teen pregnancy.

In a culture marked by a rise in anti-intellectualism, we are constantly bombarded by commentary that lacks nuance and dismisses difficult conversations about sex as inherently dirty. It’s likely that there are times when you or someone you know has even slipped into using purityculture rhetoric. Our society’s convoluted ideas around sex are a direct result of the distorted ideas we inherit from our parental figures or see in the media. Ultimately, it’s our responsibility to unlearn shame and inform ourselves; after all, there’s only good to be gained from talking about sex.

While the Urdu program at UC Davis is still in its early stages, it is already fostering a lively classroom environment by providing students with an opportunity to both learn a language and make deeper connections.

“It’s not only a language class,” Fatema said. “It’s a community. So come and be a part of the community.”

“I think it’s possible to have a healthy relationship with social media, but for me, it’s been harder to do so in recent years.”

Social media is a realm where content of all types can be shared, both hopeful and

anxiety-inducing alike. Even one’s best efforts to curate their feed cannot guarantee that they are safe from seeing frightening and upsetting content on the daily when using these apps.

“With the rise of algorithmbased social media platforms, it’s been difficult to curate content I actually want to see,” Weatherby said. “Platforms like Tiktok or Instagram tend to show me sensitive or triggering content that I’m not usually prepared to see. I think it is possible to have a healthy relationship to social media, but it can only be done so by setting boundaries with the content we consume, which has become more difficult to control in recent years.”

Still, it can be challenging to leave social media entirely when it does have benefits for its users, especially as a space of discovery and social connection.

“I use social media a lot, and I find it hard to stay offline because it’s a lot easier to reach my friends on there,” Rowena Wong, a third-year cognitive science major, said. “I think there are certain days where my social media usage is a lot more productive and fulfilling than other days.”

A potential middle ground can be found by one setting social media aside temporarily when it causes them stress without abandoning it altogether.

“Sometimes my feed is full of art, poetry, philosophy, and neuroscience,” Wong said. “Sometimes my feed will be so funny I laugh until tears are streaming down my face. Other times, my feed is so full of doom and despair I have to set my phone down and listen to some Norah Jones. So, I think social media works best for me when I can recognize when my feed is doing more harm than good, and pick up a book or go on a walk.”

While using social media has its benefits, and cutting it from our lives altogether might not be possible, students find that a healthy distance may be advantageous. Sparing a little time each day on social media to check in on our friends and keep up with current events is helpful, but only so long as it does not consume us.

Even though connections and discoveries we make in the real world may demand more effort, this effort is more than worth it if it gives us healthier relationships to ourselves and those around us.

Currently, there are many researchers at UC Davis who are actively working on studying and creating therapies for pancreatic cancer. With the continuing development of research in the field, the hope is that someday, we will be able to detect and treat the cancer before the patient realizes they even have it to begin with.

SCIENCE AND TECH

The shift in forest dynamics

Discussing the observational shift in forest composition regarding slow and fast-growing trees

BY EMILIA ROSE science@theaggie.org

Trees, as we know, are unmoving organisms. However, there are actually many specific mechanisms by which trees can “move.” Even though trees are technically rooted to the ground, the seeds they produce definitely aren’t. This is called seed dispersal, a process by which trees produce seeds that travel to new places and grow into new trees.

Patricia Maloney, a lead scientist at UC Davis’ Tahoe Environmental Research Center Forest and Conservation Biology Lab, explained a common way seeds disperse. Maloney used pinecones as an example.

“[Cones] dry up in the fall and release their seed[s] [...] and then disperse from there,” Maloney said. “If there’s any wind, they can get caught up in that air flow over short — and at times longer — distances.”

Besides the strategy utilized by pinecone-bearing trees, there are numerous other ways a seed can spread. Some of these ways include animals carrying them on their fur, via water currents or even just rolling down a hill. Thus, trees can move — not by themselves, but over time as their seeds travel. Over the course of many, many generations, empty land can become an expansive forest.

A new study from Aarhus University in Denmark identified a trend in global forest patterns concerning the type of trees present.

“Fast-growing tree species are becoming increasingly dominant,” the study noted. “At the same time, slower-growing trees with specialized traits face a growing risk of decline or extinction.”

Despite both being trees, these types of species differ heavily in their survival strategies. Susan Ustin, the director of the UC Davis Center for Spatial Technology and Remote Sensing, expanded

on the common growth patterns for these fast and slow-growing trees, more commonly called early and late serals.

“Fast-growing species […] will grow to larger sizes faster than slow-growing ones,” Ustin said. “This means that the early colonization of a site will be dominated by fast-growing species that get their canopies out and shade the soil for later germination and seedlings […] Generally, fast-growing species have shorter life-times than slowgrowing species.”

Simply put, when new land is available, often through fire or logging, the early serals (like white firs or incense cedars) will come in quickly and set up future generations. Late serals (like the sugar pine), on the other hand, spend more time growing and establishing themselves, surviving in the long run.

So what does it mean if early seral species have become increasingly dominant on a global scale? Will our forests become increasingly more homogeneous, that is, filled with the same few types of trees? Is this a helpful or detrimental development?

For one, late serals store

more carbon over long periods, so replacing them may lessen carbon sequestration. Additionally, early serals have shorter life spans and respond strongly to disturbances, so the ecosystems they inhabit may become more dynamic.

Ustin attributed this shift to natural selection.

“If the trees currently occupying a place become less able to reproduce successfully,” then trees more resilient will establish more seedlings and […] the composition of the forest will change,” Ustin said.

Historically, a global change in forest composition has taken place. 380 million years ago, for example, fern-like plants were commonplace, but became less dominant as the first trees and forests emerged. Today, angiosperms — or flowering plants — are the most dominant types of plants.

Ecosystems are not static. Tree species have different strategies that allow them to dominate at various times and environments. In the current trend, the pace of forests may be changing, and with it, the dynamics of their ecosystems. Scientists are watching as this shift unfolds.

New treatments arise in the fight against pancreatic cancer

Novel therapies can target mutations and reduce the prevalence of pancreatic tumors

BY NAREN KRISHNA JEGAN science@theaggie.org

Pancreatic cancer is among the most aggressive diseases in patients with poor outcomes. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), constitutes around 3% of all cancer diagnoses, but is quickly becoming the secondleading cause of cancer deaths.

Cancer progression and metastasis, or the ability of cancerous cells to migrate and take over other parts of the body, can be characterized by stages.

Stage 1-2 cancers indicate a regionalized cluster in the local anatomy, while stage 3-4 cancers indicate the spread of the tumor across the body. PDAC is often detected in stages 3-4 due to the poor accuracy of existing biomarkers in the clinic. This often leaves patients with limited treatment options of aggressive chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery — if they are lucky.

Dr. Andrew Ko is the associate chief of the division of hematology/oncology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Pancreas Center. Ko explained what causes this cancer’s aggressive nature.

“PDAC contains mutations, notably in genes such as KRAS, TP53 and SMAD4,” Ko said.

“These have strong downstream effects that can affect properties such as cell proliferation.”

When we think of mutations, we often associate the word with superpowers, like

in the cases of Spider-Man, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or even the X-Men. By scientific standards, mutations refer to any change in the natural order of your genetic code. Genes are the instructions that help your cells function properly; if there are errors made in these instructions, then serious consequences — such as improper control of cell division — can occur.

“A big issue that we’ve seen in the clinic is the resistance that PDAC tumors develop,” Ko said. “These tumors are able to adapt quickly and overcome certain chemotherapies we throw at [them].”

Recently, a paper published by The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported a significant elimination of pancreatic tumors in mice using a combination treatment.

Led by Mariano Barbacid, the group developed a therapy consisting of three compounds that target the KRAS mutation and affiliated proteins.

The authors also discussed the topic of therapeutic resistance.

“RAS inhibitors used as monotherapy have been shown to induce partial regression of KRAS-driven orthotopic and GEM mouse tumors doubling survival of the treated mice,” the paper reads. “These tumors, however, ended up progressing with time due to the onset of tumor resistance, ultimately leading to the death of the animals.”

By using both patientderived organoids and patientderived xenografts, alongside the

cocktail of the three compounds, the researchers found an efficient cell death of all the organoids tested at small concentrations of the drugs.

“Our triple combination therapy based on the use of a RAS inhibitor […] led to complete regression of all orthotopic tumors as well as preventing the onset of tumor resistance,” the paper reads. “These tumors, however, ended up progressing with time due to the onset of tumor resistance, ultimately leading to the death of the animals.”

By using both patientderived organoids and patientderived xenografts, alongside the cocktail of the three compounds, the researchers found an efficient cell death of all the organoids tested at small concentrations of the drugs.

“Our triple combination therapy based on the use of a RAS inhibitor […] led to complete regression of all orthotopic tumors as well as preventing the onset of tumor resistance,” the paper reads. “Treated mice remained tumor free for more than 250 days post-treatment with no signs of tumor relapse as determined by careful histological examination of mice sacrificed at the end of the experiment.”

Do the findings in this study mean that we have officially found a cure for PDAC? The short answer is: not yet. The timeline of implementation for similar therapies takes anywhere from seven to 12 years due to the numerous rounds of clinical trials. Moreover, many drugs fail at the human level due to anatomical differences between mice and humans. That isn’t to say that studies like these aren’t useful — rather, they provide valuable insight into the cellular level. They offer us a chance to investigate ways to connect the dots between the results mentioned and an effective method of delivering therapeutics.

on 9

UC Davis women’s indoor track and field travel to the Husky and Battleborn Classic

The Aggies finish in the top 10 ranking in multiple categories

BY DANIELLE WIRNOWSKI sports@theaggie.org

On Feb. 13 and 14, the Aggies women’s indoor track and field team split up to attend both the Husky and the Battleborn Classic, with each classic starting at 10 a.m.

The Husky Classic, held at the Dempsey Indoor Track on the University of Washington’s campus in Seattle, Wash., consisted of races for the distance teams. The Battleborn Classic, held at the Reno-Tahoe Indoor Track at the RenoSparks Convention Center in Reno, Nev., featured races for the sprint team and events for the field team.

“I think we’re starting off really strong already,” Kylee Davis, a fourth-year African American and African studies major, said. “We already have multiple school records. Everything is going really well [and] chemistry is going good for our team.”

The Battleborn Classic saw Shinnick’s time for the making this the second time this season for her to reset the Aggie school record.

“It’s just a huge transition in how you compete and how you run certain things and events just because the track is smaller,” Davis said. “It’s a hard track to run on, so it’s really impressive that we are setting personal records.”

The Aggies also saw Dominika Janik, a fourthyear neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, finish in sixth place in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:12:85 minutes.

Brooke Butler, a thirdyear clinical nutrition major, finished in seventh place in the 3000-meter run. She was followed by Kiah Aitken, a second-year undeclared physical sciences major, who finished in eighth place.

The 4x400 meter medley relay had an eighth place finish for UC Davis, with Ashleigh Christy, a fourth-year human development major, Avah Reichow, a

second-year biological sciences major, Janik and Shinnick running a time of 3:51:17 minutes. Davis finished in first for the high jump, with a distance of 1.69 meters. UC Davis finished in 17th place in shot put with a distance of 13.07 meters.

“The support system around me is really good,” Davis said.

Peyton Adams, a first-year in the exploratory program, participate in the women’s 1-mile run. McGrath finished in 32nd place, with a time of 17:34:99 minutes, and Adams finished in 99th place with a time of 5:01:15.

“It’s a hard track to run on, so it’s really impressive that we are setting personal records.“

Kylee Davis

UCD Women’s Indoor Track and Field

“A lot of my teammates are really locked in on track and have similar goals as me, which matches in a healthy competitive way.”

The Husky Classic saw Fiona McGrath, a second-year biochemistry and molecular biology major, participate in the 5000-meter run, and

“I want to win the outdoor conference, but I think our team goal needs to be our mindset,” Davis said. “It needs to be a winning mindset. I think it’s going to be infectious for the team’s chemistry, dynamic and believing in ourselves.” The Aggies are set to host the Aggie Open on March 20 and 21 in Davis, Calif., at Toomey Track. This will be the first outdoor track and field event of the 2026 season.

Women’s swim and dive places second in Big West Championship, their best result since 2016

UC Davis earned multiple podium finishes throughout the four-day event

COLINA HARVEY sports@theaggie.org

On Feb. 11, UC Davis women’s swim and dive kicked off the Big West Championships in Houston, Texas. They faced off against seven other Big West teams in a four-day meet. Overall, the Aggies placed second, their highest place in a conference championship since 2016. Throughout the regular season’s meets, the Aggies did not always get the results they wanted. On paper, their 3-5 dual may not have been the finish they wanted.

“While the dual meet record reflected a lot of losses, we knew going through the season we were a strong team,” Ella Palmer, a third-year economics major, said. “Even though at the end of the dual meets it said a loss on paper, we knew that we were still swimming really well and getting fast times and performing well and even more importantly, developing that strong mental base throughout the team.”

Olivia Andersen, a fourthyear animal science major, credited the strong team culture for their success.

“It’s kind of funny because a lot of the times [...] we would lose a dual meet and people would ask how it went and we would be like, ‘It was amazing,’” Andersen said. “We had a great time, we were dancing [and] people still swam fast, even if the result isn’t what we wanted. Because of that, we really lean on team culture and team environment.”

In preparation for their trip to Houston for the championship, the team emphasized focusing on themselves and building their mental fortitude. Palmer credited Associate Head Coach Carl Weigley with helping the team to find a positive headspace going into meets.

“One of the things [Weigley] really focused on [was] getting us [to focus] on ourselves and on

our team, focusing within so that we’re able to perform to the best of our abilities,” Palmer said. “It’s not about beating Santa Barbara, it’s about racing for your own pride in the Ags and just laying it on the line for the Ags.”

Aside from mentality, team values are also important for the team when competing throughout the season.

“As every athlete knows, we all work hard and we all put in that hard work all season long,” Andersen said. “And so, when it gets down to the postseason, it really does come down to mentality, and something that we emphasize[d] with our team values was trust — trust in yourself, trusting the process and trusting your coaches, your team, all of it.”

During practice, the team also prepared by breaking races into sections in order to focus on quality.

“Sometimes, we’ll suit up at practice and do a ‘broken swim’ — just to kind of emulate what we’re doing in a race — so that during the race, you’re not trying to focus on all these things, you’re just like, ‘Okay, I know what to do, just kind of dive in and like go,’” Ella Ackerman, a first-year neurobiology, physiology and behavior major, said.

On the first day of racing, the Aggies competed in the 200yard medley relay and the 800yard freestyle relay. In the 200yard medley relay, the team was made up of: Emily Scheberies, a third-year communication major; Aileen Zheng, a thirdyear biotech major; Naomi Boegholm, a third-year statistics major; and Sophi MacKay, a third-year communication major. This team was able to secure second place. In the 800-yard freestyle relay, the Aggies also found a podium finish and picked up third place. This relay team consisted of MacKay, McKenna Valenta, a second-year psychology major, Elsie Luisetti, a third-year food science major and Gabi Bellin, a fourth-year neurobiology, physiology and

behavior major. After the first day of competition, the Aggies sat in the No. 2 spot on the leaderboard.

The highlights of day two included the Aggies making it to the podium in the 200-yard freestyle relay and picking up 32 points. The relay team included Zheng, Boegholm, MacKay and Valenta.

Additionally, diver Katherine Lim, a second-year animal science major, placed first in the one-meter dive event.

“Our strengths include our diving team,” Andersen said. “They score major points for us, especially at this Big West Championship. We don’t always practice at the same time, we don’t always lift with them, but we really try to keep our teams as integrated as possible.”

By the end of day two, the Aggies had fallen by one spot, occupying No. 3 in the standings. However on day three, the Aggies came back ready to reclaim second place.

“Our Coach Matt [Macedo] put [Friday] as the best day of racing that he’s been a part of at UC Davis. He was like, ‘I don’t want to call it the best, but it was the best one that [I’ve] been a part of,’” Palmer said. “We had so many girls come back at night in the finals and the momentum just built and everybody was just firing.”

One of the highlights of the whole meet happened on Friday, when Ackerman won the 400-yard individual medley. Following the meet, she was named Big West Women’s Freshman Swimmer of the Year.

“[Ackerman] was not seeded to win going into it, and she absolutely crushes it, blows it out of the water and wins the entire event,” Palmer said. “She was seeded, I think fifth going into finals, and in my opinion, it was the race of a lifetime.”

On Friday, Scheberies placed third in the 100-yard backstroke and Scheberies, Zheng, Boegholm and Valenta placed fourth in the 400-yard medley relay. By the end of day

three, the Aggies had fought their way back to second place overall.

The Aggies stayed strong on their last day of racing, with Scheberies placing second in the 200-meter backstroke and Zoe Childers, a first-year business major, placing second in the 200-meter butterfly. The team also won a third place finish in the 400-meter freestyle relay. The top three teams in the relay,

UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), University of Hawai’i and UC Davis, were separated by just 0.42 seconds.

After four days of competition, UC Davis earned 692 points and won second place in the conference, their highest placement in 10 years.

The University of Hawai’i won first place, with 798 points, and UCSB came in third with 660 points.

“It was just so awesome to finally see it all come together at the conference championships — all of our hard work, all of our positivity, all of the things that we’ve been consistently doing throughout the season,” Palmer said.

The team will now say goodbye to graduating seniors and move to the off-season.