Let's go! HOOOOOME stretch!

For once, I want finals to come! Then winter break. Then 2010! :D

im not saying im ready for finals (HAH) but im ready for fall quarter to end and for winter quarter to begin. i sincerely believe that new beginnings brings new opportunities, so COME ON ALREADY 2010!

i am genuinely excited for all the opportunities and amazing things that 2010 will bring me :)))

Save TXC: Info to Educate & Motivate [please read]

On September 14, 2009, the Dean’s Proposed Action Plan for the College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) Academic Prioritization Committee Report was published. It starts off: “A faculty committee led by Professor MRC Greenwood was charged to advise our college on how to absorb expected significant budget cuts in ways that strategically position us for the future.”

The Academic Prioritization Committee (APC) recommended the closure of three departments: the Department of Environmental Design, Department of Nematology, and the Division of Textiles & Clothing (TXC).

[Dude, they didn’t even consider consolidating us. Just straight up closure].
Although this Action Plan is dated mid-September, TXC students did not discover the news until October 20, 2009 through an article in The California Aggie (You can access it here). Regardless of the news, department chair Dr. You-Lo Hsieh, stated in a letter that the department will still do its best to help us learn and thrive.

Why do they want to close it? The APC notes the small size of the department – we are so small that we are considered a “division;” ironically, we have been trying to hire new faculty for decades and have not been able to because of the lack of resources put into the department.

It is important to clarify that the APC recommends the closure of the department, and not the major; declared majors will be able graduate. However, what you may not realize is that the department IS the major. We TXC majors and minors exist because of the faculty who have invested much time and energy into our education and research for others.

The APC report also makes note of the College’s future priorities to Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (i.e. Agricultural threats; food safety, food choices, & adequacy; global hunger; genomics, proteomics and biotechnology, climate change, urbanization, migration, land use, etc).

While we (those who represent the major and the department) acknowledge these as top priorities as well, we want to you to consider this: California has the largest apparel industry and is the second largest cotton producer in the nation.

Guess what? UC Davis has the only Textiles & Clothing program within the UC system, and also has the only textile research institution in the state.

The department’s academic mission “is to develop, integrate and disseminate knowledge in the physical and social science aspects of sustainable production and consumption of fibrous and biobased materials and products.”

First of all, we don't [necessarily] design clothes. Those who do are the design majors who focus under textile and fashion design. In addition to the focus on the social and psychological aspects of clothing, a popular emphasis is Economics and Marketing.
[Sidenote: I have NOT been busting my ass for the past few years over these required managerial economics, mathematics, and chemistry-based classes just for you to think that this is some “froufrou fashion major.”]

TXC majors & minors take classes such as:
- Style and Cultural Studies (TXC7)
- Textile and Apparel Industries (TXC8)
- Textile Fabrics (TXC162) & Textile Fabrics Lab (TXC162L)
- Principles of Apparel Production (TXC164)
- Clothing Materials Science (TXC171)
- Intro to World Trade in Textiles & Clothing (TXC174)

We are taught in the classroom and the laboratory by outstanding faculty, those who are responsible for the research and ensuing development on military suits, firefighter jackets, anti-microbial gowns, etc. They continue such research for important stakeholders (i.e. the Occupational Health & Safety Association [OSHA] and the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] to name a few) that utilize our research.

The numerous creative projects give us hands-on experience for the future and greatly help us obtain internships in the field of retail, marketing, merchandising, testing, etc at companies such as Banana Republic, bebe, Target, Macy’s, Ralph Lauren, Cost Plus World Market. We have open and strong connections with our TXC alum; they often visit us and give insight during the quarterly career development seminars.

As these students graduate, they are able to find positions in the field of their choice. Our alum work at companies such as GAP, Nike, Adidas, BCBG, Northface, etc. Although a substantial percentage enter textile and apparel-related industries, that does not deter other alum from going into different fields such as finance and technology (they work at Wells Fargo and Google, respectively).

The uniqueness of Textiles & Clothing stems from the department. You know what’s even more amazing than everything I just told you? The faculty to student ratio is so low that I get the exceptional attention that I want and deserve.

TXC majors and minors, specifically juniors and seniors, acknowledge that without a doubt, we are prepared for the future; however, we feel that the closure of the department will invalidate the degree that we obtained for the future. And without a "valid" degree, how will we help California maintain its substantial apparel industry?


What can do you to help? Help us to dissuade them.

Write Dean Van Alfen (nkvanalfen@ucdavis.edu), Provost Enrique Lavernia (lavernia@ucdavis.edu), and Vice Provost Patricia Turner (paturner@ucdavis.edu) and tell them to reconsider the department’s closure.

I’ve given you my two cents. Now give them yours.

True Life: WTF Am I Gonna Do After College?

LAWLS to my title :D

Fall Quarter has turned out so different from what I thought it would be. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's just... unexpected.

Approximately four weeks left in the quarter, and there's so much I want to do. And school is the least of my worries :\

This time last year, I totes thought I would be applying for a full-time job. Of the many things I've learned at the ICC, I noticed that companies start hiring for full-time positions as early as fall quarter (eek!). Some of my incredibly down-to-earth and ambitious friends, they started job-hunting as early as Fall 2008 and still were struggling to find jobs once graduation came (alas, they were victims/class of 2009 haha).

And what have I realized? That I still don't know what to do with my life. I'm constantly debating with myself and adding but ruling out options... A few weeks ago, I had a quarterlife crisis and realized I should've been a design major (::gasp:: yeah, i said it). Or at least, I should've double majored (too bad there is no minor, here at davis).

Iunno, I kinda thought this year would be such a "breeze," but I realize that there's an inverse relationship between time and pressure which begets my anxiey (as time decreases, the pressure to quote-on-quote figure out my life increases which equals z0mg anxiety).

My poor sister... she has to deal with my late-night panicky phone calls about the future. Thanks Ate, I love you.

ps - to those of you who actually read this, i'm sorry these are so depressing (to say the least). my job allows me to express my thoughts and creativity through artwork and social mediums, but this blog (other than facebook) is the one place where i can be honest, and that itself is cathartic.