Feature Archives

"Surf City Revolt!" writes: The rental ordinance, passed in August 2010 by a 5-1 vote, spells bad-news-bears for those of us renting in Santa Cruz. The rhetoric around the measure was mostly about cracking down on illegal units and rentals that don’t meet basic habitability standards. At first glance, this might seem like a step towards a safer and saner rental market in Santa Cruz. Will this finally be the end of uninsulated garages listed as studios (at $800 a month) or two-bedroom bungalows crawling with rats and mold (at $1400-1600)? Maybe it will, but it’s going to cost us.

April 20, aka 420, is the international day to gather with friends and strangers to celebrate cannabis. Thousands of people converged on Porter Meadow at UC Santa Cruz. People adapted to the drizzle throughout the afternoon and took shelter in the woodlands and under redwoods surrounding the meadow. As in past years, UCSC police and administration restricted access by only allowing people with UCSC identification to drive onto campus.

For the past two years, California has been in an ongoing struggle against cuts to education and public services. On March 4th, 2010, students, teachers, faculty, workers, and supporters statewide held coordinated Strike and Day of Action in defense of public education and public services. This year, California's new governor, democrat Jerry Brown, is planning to cut $1.4 Billion from public higher education, and students across the state demonstrated in coordinated actions on March 2nd and over the following days.

On March 8th, several hundred Modesto Junior College students responded to a call for a walkout against budget cuts that would result in the gutting of various departments and the laying off of faculty. Students rallied in the quad in front of the administration building for over half an hour. Also speaking at the rally were several faculty members who expressed solidarity with the students for standing with them. After rallying, students marched around campus then moved downtown, disrupting an event held by the Mayor of Modesto.

On February 3rd and 4th, students at the University of California Berkeley and Stanford University held campus demonstrations calling for solidarity with those uprising in Egypt. In Berkeley students gathered in front of Sather Gate and staged a die-in under the watchful eye of campus police.

On January 20th, a meeting on the USF campus was held in protest of the sudden and unannounced shutdown of 34-year-old college station KUSF the day before. The station's FCC license was sold for $3.75 million on January 18th, in a secret deal of which almost nobody at the station had prior knowledge. Shocked and outraged station personnel, supporters, students, a media studies professor, and other media made up close to 500 people who rallied outside the packed auditorium. Supporters plan to attend the Board of Supervisors meeting January 25th at City Hall.

UC Santa Cruz has suspended the American Studies program, with a possible permanent termination of the major, according to an email sent to students on January 3rd. American Studies is the second major at UCSC to be suspended in the past year. It is widely speculated that Feminist Studies and The History of Consciousness are next to be eliminated.