Your Weekly Get Up & Go has been Published

Posted by Meaghan Likes on Feb 17, 2017
 
Weekly News & Views by: Dick Bourne
Photographs by: Jim Belenis
 
      It was a typical February morning for this wettest-ever year, with Rotarians “runnin’ through the rain” toward our dry sanctuary and Dave Morse (the elder)’s romantic and rainy refrains.  Guests did not abound; only David Morse (the younger) announced an accomplice, real estate attorney Port Telles, who was enthusiastically welcomed by the club.  President Manny Carbahal’s quick-witted ad-lib was that that more members would have invited guests had they looked ahead to our program schedule, featuring Bob Segar, UCD’s Assistant Vice Chancellor for Campus Planning and Community Resources. 
 
     In the postcard prelude to announcements, Manny waved one from mailman extraordinaire Clay Brandow, posting from the foothills of Twain Hart, and one slightly more elevated card from Chuck Cunningham on his visit to Machu Picchu.  But on to our key notices:
  1. Tim Daleiden issued a “last call” for skiers to Northstar on Thursday 3/3.
  2. Chuck Snipes urged all ski survivors (and many more) to save the post-ski evening, March 4th, for our annual Trivia Night fundraiser.  15 tables are now reserved, but we need 10 more.
  3. Roy Kroener re-announced our club social next Wednesday 2/22, 5 PM at the Graduate. After this no-host dinner we will attend the UCD women’s hoops game; tickets can be purchased at dinner.
  4. Larry Olsen noted that the 4th annual Jay Gerber award event is scheduled for Thursday 4/13 at 5 PM at the USBHOF in Central Park.
  5. David Copp recounted details of last Wednesday’s International Committee meeting, at which Suzanne Rockwell treated attendees to strawberry shortcake.  The committee finalized our necessary “bailout” from the Nepal global grant in a most honorable way, donating directly to the organization that was to be the grant’s beneficiary, funding equipment for healthcare training.
    Moving expeditiously along toward our program, Manny pretended we had no time for sergeants, which immediately earned him a $5 fine from commanding, commandeering SOTD Will Portello.  To rub salt in Manny’s wound, Will even dallied to solicit Happy Bucks, which were forthcoming from:
  1. Chuck Cunningham, praising Dick Morrissey’s many contributions to Rotary and to Davis.
  2. Don Saylor, thanking Davis for supporting his Soup’s On fundraiser, with added thanks to Gretchen Peralta for her ongoing public citizenry.
  3. Jay Brookman, happy for the excellent Veterans’ pancake breakfast turnout the Saturday prior.
     Perhaps to Manny’s delight, the happy bucks stopped here, so Sergeant Will turned to his many fine-tuned notes.  Like shooting skeet, he began with a Clay target, chastising the effervescent Mr. Brandow for failing to donate toward his happiness for skiing with his daughter Chloe.  Next target was Lori Raineri, who dazzled the club last week on her initial sergeantial outing.  After glowing kudos from Will and much applause from the club, Will turned the tone on a fellow sergeant, chastising Lori for her dollar and cents (50, to be exact) group fine.  As punishment he charged Lori $1.63, then added $4 for Daisy, who simply wagged her tail as Lori dug into her purse. 
 
     John Morgan (perhaps a former associate of Gene Auriemma’s?), was targeted next for the UConn women’s 100th straight victory; lucky for John, the $5 fine was well below the victory total.  Continuing his sporting behavior, our SOTD Will hammered Jim Belenis (who claimed he had “blanked out” during happy bucks) for daughter Anna’s first starting role on the UCD lacrosse team, in a game against Will’s niece, playing for Stanford.  In another slap at last week’s fine behavior, Will assessed Meaghan Likes $5 for orchestrating that ubiquitous waving of dollar bills at Lori’s call for happy bucks.
 
     After levying no fine on Suzanne Rockwell for failing to note his theft of her cute little red and white cooler, Will showed the scope of his committee’s research (and that there is no concept of double jeopardy here) in his second attack on Clay’s ski outing, this time about Clay being carded while attempting to claim a senior discount.  Still heavy on sports, Will went long and asked Mark Pratt about the “49er” in his email address, but Mark’s answer fell incomplete before Will asked next president David Morse about PETS and his incoming board.  David brought the house down with his immediate response that his administration’s goal was to “Make Rotary Great Again!”
 
     At last it was time for Manny to introduce Bob Segar, whose topic was the 2017 Long Range Development Plan for UC Davis, intended to shape the campus through its next ten years.  After graciously expressing his family’s good fortune to have been in Davis for so long, Bob launched his title slide about UCD goals of “learning, discovery, community, stewardship, and connecting”, all areas of emphasis in the long range plan.
 
     With responsibility for campus planning over the past 25 years, Bob now has the sustainability mandate under his wing too, as this has become a major focus in all planning activities.  The LRDP Bob presented is a “what-if” plan for a scenario in case the UCD student population grows to 39,000 by 2027 (from 32,000 a year ago).  “Keeping close” is a major planning mantra that requires infill and redevelopment so that new growth is as near as possible to the academic core area.  Student housing is the most pressing community issue, as UCD is proposing housing all students on campus.
 
After summarizing planning goals, Bob showed photos and renderings of significant new projects on campus, including:
  1. The “Pitzer Center” recital hall near A St. that seats 400 and will offer free Thursday concerts
  2. A classroom building under construction that will feature tables, not desks, in a conference-style setting
  3. A central campus promenade near Shields Library that will significantly change how the middle of campus feels
  4. A new VetMed building
  5. A Community Life building being completed with the Yacksan Group
 
     Turning to sustainability, Bob showed photos of the 16 MW sun-tracking solar farm on the south side of I-80 that can power the whole Campus on its lowest energy day; the waste heat-to-energy plant; and a new low-energy dorm complex.  He also referred to major efforts at energy retrofitting of existing buildings.  Bob noted the new International complex on Russell Blvd before describing development of the new UCD “entry quad” begun in the early 90’s with the “facing the wrong-way” Beuhler Center that is now buttressed by the Mondavi complex, the GSM, and the new Manetti-Shrem Museum.
 
     The 10-year draft LRDP will be ready for Regents’ approval this fall.  Bob confessed that he didn’t have time in this presentation to discuss status of UCD’s Sacramento campus.  He opened to questions with 10 minutes remaining, but it wasn’t enough time.  Resulting Q&A went as follows:
 
  1. Brodie Hamilton: What about the recent sustainability award?  A- Yes, in the most recent “GreenMetric” international ranking from the U. of Indonesia; the UCD campus was ranked #1 on the planet for sustainability!!!!  Bob also noted that the campus has earned several other national #1 awards.
  2. Dick Bourne: How is West Village doing?  A- planning began 2003, construction in 2011; it is the largest planned zero net energy (ZNE) project in the US; and has largely achieved the ZNE goal. 2000 students live there now, with another 2200 to come; 500 faculty and staff homes will begin soon.  The overall footprint has been reduced compared to the original plan.
  3. Suzanne Rockwell:  What was Chuck Cunningham’s role?  A- started with Aggie Village, Cunningham Engineering evolved to be the “who you call” firm for campus civil engineering work.
  4. Don Winters: How did the Nishi result affect UCD planning?  A- Anyone else with a question?  After the laughter, Bob noted that UCD did participate in the Nishi plan and will keep the right-of-way open in case a future Nishi attempt succeeds.
  5. Jack Latow: Is there a plan for faculty and student housing on the Sacramento campus? A- Not too likely, though possible.
  6. Clay Brandow, 2 Questions: Is there land left to develop in Sacramento? What about Orchard Park?  A1- with ~150 acres, there is room to grow in Sacramento. A2- Orchard Park has been empty for 2 years; with Solano Park, it has been the most affordable married student housing.  The replacement project was halted due to concerns about affordability. The existing buildings will be demolished this summer, but affordability of the replacements is still being discussed.
     After sustained applause for Bob’s excellent presentation, Manny enforced the obligatory donation book signing, and we moved on to the draw-of-the-day.  Dave Heard noted that there were two jokers in the deck, but David Copp’s #776 resulted in his draw of the 4 of spades, winning a free breakfast instead of the $835 pot.  Off to a rainy long weekend, and a long rainy week!