February 2004

Briefly speaking: Creative outings on $25

	Students Mike Sintetos and Nerissa Rujanavech, his girlfriend, fly down a cement slide at a Davis park. (Debbie Aldridge/UC Davis)

It was a challenge readily accepted.

The Aggie Family Pack gave three student volunteers $25 each and told them to see how much fun they could have with it.

Jelly Belly beans

Second-year student Mike Sintetos, a Santa Cruz native, began his adventure by rounding up some cardboard boxes and then stopping to purchase a laundry basket.

Sintetos, who is majoring in psychology and sociology, and his girlfriend, junior Nerissa Rujanavech, visited Davis' Slide Hill Park. There they spent the morning coasting down the park's large cement slide.

The couple then set off for the nearby city of Fairfield, home of the Jelly Belly Candy Company. Jelly Belly offers free, 40-minute tours of its factory, which includes samples of its sugary concoctions. With only a portion of their $25 gone, Sintetos and Rujanavech, who is majoring in wildlife, fish and conservation biology, were free to spend the rest at the Jelly Belly store.

Freshman Sonia Saini visited a local zoo. (Debbie Aldridge/UC Davis)

He said the experience has made him rethink the traditional dinner-and-a-movie date. "I think doing this forced us to be more creative, and I think we ended up having a lot more fun," he said.

A trip to the Zoo

Sonia Saini, a first-year English and psychology student, met up with a friend from her Elk Grove high school and headed off to the Sacramento Zoo. "It was a lot of fun," Saini said. "We just walked around and looked at the animals. It was very quiet and peaceful."

With admission at $7.50 per person, the women had plenty of money left for lunch. At a nearby park, they ate burritos from Baja Fresh, where they had stopped before heading to the zoo.

Stepping back in time

	Student couple Lindsey Rattray and Robert Ehsan enjoyed a horse-and-buggy ride. (Debbie Aldridge/UC Davis)

Fourth-year sociology and communications major Lindsey Rattray, a Santa Barbara native, also spent her $25 in Sacramento. She and her boyfriend, fourth-year economics major Robert Ehsan, visited Old Sacramento, a historic part of the city made up of riverfront restaurants, shops and museums.

For $10, the couple was treated to a 20-minute horse-and-buggy tour of the area. After the tour, Rattray spent a few dollars on coffee while her boyfriend shopped for goodies at an old-fashioned candy store.

Like Sintetos and Saini, Rattray said the $25 challenge has made her see that, with a little planning and a little money, there's a lot to do in the Davis area. "It's definitely made me research and think about better ideas instead of always doing the same things," she said.

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