Feature Archives

The Third World And Native American Students Press Collective (TWANAS) was established in 1979 as a response to the violent racism, sexism, classism and homophobia at the University of California Santa Cruz campus. TWANAS is a quarterly student-run publication dedicated to the liberation of "Third World" and Indigenous peoples. The TWANAS collective strives to create a publication that demands justice for all peoples and that serves as a vehicle for true unapologetic expression.

UAW-QUAD writes, "Upon reading the UAW Local 2865’s summary of advancements made in the recent round of contract negotiations (emailed 10/4), one might think we made significant progress in improving our rights and benefits. It is apparent, however, that only small movement was made in the area of improving the rights of minority groups, while, generally speaking, disproportionate progress was made around the rights of the majority."

Disorientation Guide Collective writes, "We are trying to write and share our own history of the university. In other words, this is an introduction to the side of UC Santa Cruz that you might have heard about but won’t find in your glossy orientation materials. The guide is important to us because we realize that there are many difficult issues and challenges facing new UCSC students and we’d like to offer some information and inspiration."

On September 27th, the first day of UCSC's Fall quarter, service workers organized with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299 initiated an informational picket in the Baytree Plaza demanding a fair labor contract. Workers, some with their families, were joined by student allies for a rally to send a strong message to UC administration that AFSCME, the Student Worker Coalition for Justice and graduate students organized with UAW Local 2865 are united in demanding that UC prioritize workers, students and their families.

United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2865, the Union representing over 12,000 Teaching Assistants, Tutors, and Readers throughout the University of California (UC) system, is in the process of filing dozens of unfair labor practice (ULPs) charges against the UC. The Union may call a strike over these ULPs if the charges are not resolved and agreement reached by the expiration of the current contract, September 30th. UAW 2865 recently released a public statement which had over 6,500 signatures from members.

Ike Solem writes, "Let me point out here that the University has proposed to set aside $70 million for a new "Biomedical Research Facility" [at UC Santa Cruz] for the year 2007-2008. This facility is unlikely to do much for undergraduate research, and represents a continuation of the ongoing corporatization of the University of California. The research done there will undoubtedly be done for the benefit of private pharmaceutical corporations, a theme that is already quite common in the Chemistry Department."

Progressive Lawyering Day is a free annual conference organized by Bay Area National Lawyers Guild students. Attorney and advocate Banafsheh Akhlaghi, founder and president of the National Legal Sanctuary for Community Advancement, gave the keynote address at this year's event on September 15th in San Francisco.