Officials also said that there were no squirrels–or no nonnative tree squirrels–seven years ago, but that there are 400 now. According to doctoral students, the squirrels can cause grievous harm to people, chew through orchards of almonds and walnuts, eat baby birds and wreck power supplies by snacking on tasty electrical wires.

We’ve heard horror stories about the squirrels at UCLA, but Davis is different in that it’s got 5,300 acres of attractive habitat. And we think we have it bad here.

Image Source: swafo under Creative Commons
UC Davis: Troublesome, Non-native Squirrels Will Get Birth-control Shots [Physorg]

According to a life-changing new study out of the department of Psychology at UC Davis, women go for more than just good looks (gasp). Apparently, something like survival-of-the-smartest kicks in when a woman meets a man, and she considers how his intelligence level might affect the kind of genes he may pass to their future progeny.

Obviously, the nerdy guy has more evolutionary potential and might even make a better party hook-up, than say, douche-y, decent-looking frat guy, or so says the study. That being said, the study also upheld the notion that looks do count for something. Basically, if you want your legacy to live on, you can’t be a dolt, but you also can’t be completely trollish.

In case you’re wondering what kind of scientific study yielded these results, videos were made of male volunteers who were told to read news reports, explain why they would be a good date, and discuss the idea of life on Mars. They also threw and caught a Frisbee to parade to show the intensity of their physical prowess and took a quantitative test of verbal intelligence.

More than 200 women watched a series of these videos before rating each man’s intelligence, attractiveness, creativity and appeal for a hook-up or a long-term relationship (um, awkward?). The smart man apparently scored better on both fronts. So Berkeley students, cast off thy goggles and embrace your fellow nerd, literally. They may just be more attractive than you gave them credit for.

Image Source: bayat under Creative Commons
Nerds rejoice: Braininess boosts likelihood of sex [NewScientist]

We’ve also heard of “sexually active band geeks,” a concept which we suppose was fabricated and then left up to interpretation. And interpret, they did–UC Davis bandsmen are reported to have driven their new band director to the point of filing a sexual harassment complaint with the university. Here’s a condensed list of their raunchiness:

*On last year’s road trip to a football game, men and women stripped down to their underwear to carry out their “naked van” tradition; they also wrote “I (heart) BOOBS” in masking tape on the band.

*Four band members dropped their pants for a photographer at band picnic day to commemorate an actual event where four other drunken band members that got caught urinating in a dorm elevator.

*The trombone players sent their new band director a Christmas card with a picture of Santa Claus and a message that read “I saw you masturbating.”

SFGate goes into greater detail about UC Davis band members’ “lewd” acts, “sexualized” comments and drunken hazing. They also include a lengthy list of other college bands that have been cited or banned for various acts of misconduct. We’d like to point out the long list of offenses committed by the folks we love to hate across the bay.

The UC Davis Cal Aggie Band–much like our own California Marching Band–is student-run, which makes for a sticky situation. The band director is their first in four years, and he has no power to expel musicians that misbehave from the band.

There really isn’t much that can be done in terms of forcing a quick rehearsal on manners and public decency. If band members want to better themselves, they’ll do it, and if the university prefers no band to rowdy band, they’ll take appropriate actions. Society has little reason to fret over the wild and crazy kids; we’re pretty confident that our friends over at Davis will grow up to be responsible and contributing citizens. (Maybe … ) Really, bringing in a PhD-pursuing, 44-year-old man to a college marching band is kind of like inviting your dad to party with you at your frat house (or co-op … or dorm room, for that matter).

We say: If someone should commit an illegal act, they will answer to the law. If the band, or the university should face charges for the acts of one or a few students, then the band will face a suspension of some sort. As for the band director, on the other hand, we only have one question:

What did you expect?

Go home. Teach high school, where they might actually listen when you ask them to keep their pants on.

Image Source: markagibson under Creative Commons, edited by April Angeles
Director Files Complaint about UC Davis Band [SFGate]
In Other News: Cal Aggie Marching Band, Viruses on College Campuses [Notes from the Field]

We knew there were gems of pure artistry out there on the ‘book. Don’t you want to look at pretty pictures with us? Trust us, it’s worth a click.

Jay Tang, from UC Davis, is more than a pretty face. Again, he displays a knack for texture and precise color patterns with his tiger:

Continuing with the nature motif, there’s Chris Hamner. He’s still in high school, but this youngun can hang with the big boys:

He also amazes us with his black and white (and sorta sepia) rendition:

Jeff Cattie, from Temple University, has the realism down, but a lot of his work also looks like someone Photoshopped a picture, blurred and blended:

Paul Yan, an alumnus of Cogswell Polytechnical College, is seriously talented in both realism and in duplicating other styles, like cartoon art, pastel work and computer-generated imaging.

Maybe we’re obsessed with the liquid effect, but whose mouth doesn’t water at the sight of this brew?

Actually, it’s the negative space that strengthens this graffiti–it calls attention to the action and, consequently, the art of making that action look believable.

Let’s not forget our own talented golden bear alumnus, Ian Cheng. He gets points for his blue tones, his style and his humor. His pieces look as if they were hastily sketched and colored, with splotches of color that blend well without the actual blending.

Like so:

Hats off to all the artists. We just wasted two hours looking hundreds of graffiti posts, and now you’ve ruined it for the rest of us. We can’t even make a box look realistic.

Graffiti applicaton [Facebook]

So we present to you UC Roundup, a look at what’s going on at the other UC schools.

*First Up…UCLA Says Women Like Muscles*
Researchers at our sister school in Westwood, UCLA, have made it official: Women dig the rock-hard abs.

In a study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, researchers at UCLA have concluded that women are drawn more to the more muscular men for a one-night stand but look for a “normal” looking man when settling down. So there’s actually hope for guys who look like William Hung?

Yeah, for marriage. But women still prefer the big biceps.

bq. “Women are predisposed to prefer muscularity in men,” said study author David Frederick of UCLA.

That’s great insight, especially for the public school that spends the most money on research of any other in this country.

*UC Davis Professor Tests Our Democracy*
As the country moves toward electronic voting machines, concerns over the security and the rigging of those voting machines come into question. Is our democracy in trouble?

Well, to make sure these machines are safe UC Davis Professor Matt Bishop tested machines made by Sequoia, Diebold and Hart InterCivic that will be used in next February’s California Primary.

How did they do this? They tried to hack into the computers. But it doesn’t sound too exciting.

bq. “That’s really most of our job, sitting at a desk checking software,” he said. Bishop said part of the job is to make mistakes intentionally in an effort to disrupt the machines.

*Cal Isn’t the Only School With Development Problems*
UC Santa Cruz has been planning this new research center for the last 20 years, according the Mercury-News. And it has hit its snags, especially with the environmentalists. Hmm … that sounds kind of familiar.

But the difference with UC Santa Cruz and us here at UC Berkeley is the fact that Santa Cruz is trying to work with those complaining about the university’s plans. And the complainers? They’re trying to work with UC Santa Cruz too. What a novel concept.

Now, if only the city, neighborhood association and the tree-sitters could all work the UC Berkeley and get this whole stadium thing done. Well, is hasn’t really helped UC Santa Cruz that much–it has been planning this thing for the last 20 years.

Women ‘drawn to muscular men’ [news24.com]
California Enlists Higher Ed Hackers To Test Voting Machines [Campus Technology]
UCSC seeks to build on coast [Mercury-News]