Feature Archives

The 4,000th US soldier was killed in Iraq on March 23rd. Vigils and actions were held at the Military Recruiting Centers in Capitola and Berkeley on March 24th to express grief over so many senseless deaths in Iraq. In San Francisco, a vigil was held in Civic Center Plaza. CodePink shut down the Marine Recruiting Station in Berkeley by conducting a direct action inside of it.

In early March, Finnish filmmaker Hannu Hyvönen came to Santa Cruz to participate in the EarthVision International Environmental Film Festival. While visiting Santa Cruz, Hannu recorded a video interview with Owl, a tree-sitter at UCSC's Science Hill. On March 13th, Uncle Dennis spoke with Owl and fellow treesitter Stitches during an Earth First! Radio Special broadcast on Free Radio Santa Cruz.

Outraged over the undemocratic nature of the University of California Board of Regents and the Regents’ continued management of the national nuclear weapon labs, on March 19th, students from the Coalition to Free the UC took nonviolent direct action at the UC Regents meeting at UCSF Mission Bay campus in an attempt to obstruct their ability to meet. Over 100 students from five UC campuses participated in the day of action as part of March 19th Direct Action to Stop the War.

Maestra writes, "The Pajaro Valley Unified School District board of trustees voted to send pink slips to 201 teachers, nurses, and school support staff. In a desperate move to balance a budget and save their own jobs, the administrators of PVUSD have decided not to trim the fat from the top of the pyramid, rather preserving their high salary positions while instead removing a possible 130 teachers from the classroom. What does this look like for students? Larger class size, for one."

On January 24th, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Chuck Conner announced the availability of $74.5 million in emergency funding to combat the light brown apple moth (LBAM) "infestation" in California. President Bush's recent budget proposal sent to Congress sets aside $330 Million to eradicate plant pests, like the LBAM. It is unprecedented to design a long term plan to spray chemicals on people, which are untested for safety.

On March 10th, Roxy Scarmichael, Robin YoLife, and Charlie Red Stick, three members of the Santa Cruz Roller Girls (SCRG), spoke with Phil Free in the Freak Radio studio about the art of roller derby, creating SCRG and their upcoming first season starting March 15th at the Civic in Santa Cruz.

Cruz Molina, one of two UCSC freshman targeted for supporting anti-expansion protests, was scheduled to have a student hearing on March 13th at the UCSC Inn in Santa Cruz. Supporters of Cruz say he is being scapegoated and that the UC is trying to hold him responsible for all past, present and future actions of the tree-sit protest. Without explanation, UCSC canceled the hearing.