![yolo archive](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6496343733_588d8d19cc.jpg) The mornings are cold. Dusk arrives at a time that would barely qualify as late afternoon in July. The holidays are diverting the usual business of life, bringing people back home for celebrations or visits, in memory if not in practice. It’s a fine time for stories. And so, for the last Davisville of the year I asked three people with some of the best voices in town to read out 2011 with a story, or part of a story, that means something to them. We hear from:
- Rebecca Plack (right), a classically trained singer and voice teacher who grew up in Davis. She chose part of a story that she often re-reads in December.
- Jeff Hudson, a freelance reporter whose venues include Capital Public Radio, and who chose poems by California poet Robinson Jeffers.
- Anne Hance, a co-founder of the Explorit Science Center and former teacher. She selected a recent short story written by an author who is, like her, from Great Britain.
I thank all three for helping Davisville end the year well—and I thank all of you for tuning in. Happy new year, and see you again in 2012.
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Hank Shaw has written an unconventional book that takes a primal approach to obtaining food. His “Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast” says we should consider foraging, fishing and hunting for more of what we eat, not to fulfill a social agenda or political movement, but because it’s a healthier, satisfying, and more vivid way to live. The book struck me for its clear, persuasive writing, diverse appeal, and insight into the outdoors. When he writes, “North America is home to so many native fruits that all but the most obsessive of foragers will never taste them all,” that sounds like Eden. I haven’t thought of our continent that way. On Davisville we talk about foraging – including good places in the Davis area – the thrill and horror of hunting, how much time he spends hunting/foraging/fishing during the average week (about 8 hours), and the fact he hasn’t bought meat in a store, except for pork fat, since 2005. We talk about the
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Occupy Wall Street began in New York as a protest against greed. Then it spread and came to Davis in October, complete with a camp in Central Park. Like many folks, I wondered … why Davis? Is Occupy Davis pursuing specific changes in Davis, or is this only a local expression of a protest occurring elsewhere? The Davis Wiki page has a good discussion (although the discussion falls off sharply after mid-October), and there’s more on the Davis Occupy Facebook page. The Enterprise, Aggie and Vanguard have all published articles and comments about Occupy Davis. Clearly, an interview with some Davis participants could be useful. And that’s what this edition of Davisville is: a discussion with UC Davis students Artem Raskin, left, and Sean Zweifler, right. They talk about Occupy Davis--what they and other participants are doing, how the group works, how it connects to the larger movement, its size, and, among other subjects, the purpose behind the campout. Which, now that the weather has turned cold and wet, includes a big tarp over most of the tents.
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This show is a Halloween treat. UC Davis instructor Sarah Juliet Lauro (pictured), who co-edited the new book "Better off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human," appears on Davisville this week to talk about the book, zombies, how she got interested in zombies, what our interest in zombies says about our culture – and why she came to UC Davis to get her PhD in English. The book’s essays range in tone from seriously scholarly to accessible for non-academics. The chapters discuss zombies in old radio shows, zombies in movies, public zombie walks, the evolution of zombies (there are nine types), the origin of zombies – unlike Frankenstein and Dracula, for instance, they did not originate in Europe.
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![](http://www.bcx.org/photos/events/concerts/montereypop/MontereyPop1967_05.jpg) We cover a lot of ground in Davisville this time out. That’s no surprise, considering how much territory guest Barry Melton has covered over the years, and how easily he talks about it on this week’s show.
In Davis, there are two main reasons you would have heard of Melton: he’s an attorney who spent 10 years as Yolo County public defender, and he’s an accomplished musician who, when he was still a teenager, co-founded Country Joe and the Fish as the lead guitarist. He continues to play, and on Oct. 20 he’ll perform at the Odd Fellows Hall in a benefit for Habitat for Humanity.
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![barry melton](https://farm7.static.flickr.com/6155/6167888891_f665a11d39_z.jpg)
A few weeks ago, Michael Bisch and Rosalie Paine wrote an article in the Enterprise that backs plans to build a parking garage and 12,000 square feet of new shopping space between E, F, 3rd and 4th streets. Today's show focuses on the idea. The basic question is why downtown needs another parking garage when it already has two; plus lots at the Amtrak station, behind the former Border’s, and next to the E Street Plaza; plus street parking; plus the tree-shaded lot that exists (see photo) where the new garage would be built. The answers lie in a discussion of where downtown is headed, in terms of growth (UC Davis’ plan to add 5,000 students in five years is a factor), civic policy, and other development ideas. Those other ideas include creating a new E Street promenade which, in one version, would close E to cars from 1st to the new garage.
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This week we have a return visit with Andy Jones, who is not easily summarized. He is a lecturer and educational technologist at UC Davis, savvy about social media, one of Davis’ best-known poets, a bit of a showman, a trivia host … you get the point.
New technology is typically bewildering, but Jones makes good use of tech. On this program he discusses how he used Twitter to engage students in one of his UC Davis literature classes. (He wrote the experience into a chapter for “Teaching Arts and Science with the New Social Media,” a 2011 book edited by Charles Wankel of St. John’s University.)
In August, the Sacramento News and Review interviewed him for an article on “Facebook fatigue” (http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/facebook-fatigue/content?oid=3356429), and we discuss his views on Facebook too.
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![yolo archive](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6191/6074932037_b45b9fd565_m.jpg)
Davis isn’t known for its military connections, but 4,500 U.S. military veterans live in town, as do 2,000 more who currently serve. What do veterans want from Davis? Do they get it? On this edition we discuss those questions, plus broader ones involving all U.S. veterans, with Ted Puntillo and Rich Dryden. Puntillo, a former Davis postmaster and City Council member, became veterans service officer for Solano County on Aug. 1. He held the same job in Yolo County from 2003 to 2008. Dryden is executive director of the California Disabled Veteran Business Alliance – a group with a growing constituency, due to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to the advances in medicine that help combat veterans live through what would have once been fatal wounds. We cover a lot of ground in this interview. Among other points, Dryden explains why some vets are better employers than employees. Puntillo notes that he talks to every person he sees who holds a "homeless veteran" sign.
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The state’s budget problems continue to shape and degrade the education available to Davis students. The district is relatively OK for now, thanks to cuts and extra taxes repeatedly OK'd by Davis voters. But the schools face major financial decisions in the new instructional year that starts Aug. 23 – and a lot will depend on the state’s hopeful gamble that California’s economy is improving. On this Davisville, return guest Jeff Hudson – he writes about education for the Davis Enterprise -- discusses the budget and decisions facing the Davis school district in 2011-12. Two of the topics we covered had significant developments after KDRT recorded this interview. The federal government
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