Feature Archives

As the longest running festival of its kind, the UCSC Women of Color Film and Video Festival has sparked dialogue across communities – locally, nationally, and trans-nationally – by providing a platform for critical explorations at the intersections of race, nation, class, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality. The festival took place March 14th and 15th at UC Santa Cruz along with spoken word and hip-hop on Friday night at the Hide Gallery in Santa Cruz.

On March 10th, Judge Paul Burdick of the Santa Cruz County Superior Court ruled that the University of California's lawsuit was an attack on the first amendment rights of at least two tree sit supporters. A motion to strike from the lawsuit tree sit Media Support person Jennifer Charles and tree sit supporter Oliver Schmid was granted. Because the case involved the first amendment, the University will be asked to pay Charles' and Schmid's lawyers fees, on top of the money spent serving the injunction and on the University's own lawyers.

Science Hill tree-sit organizers and supporters write, "As you may have heard, on February 24th, some kind of protest took place at the home of a UCSC researcher who experiments on animals. Hyped-up news articles and administrative messages on campus have led some people to associate this protest with the Tree-Sit on Science Hill. We wish to take this opportunity to make it clear that the tree-sit is NOT affiliated."

On March 4th, Skidmark Bob of Free Radio Santa Cruz 101fm interviewed Lyn Gerry, host and producer of Unwelcome Guests radio program and collective member of A-Infos Radio Project. The project's goal is to support and expand the movement for democratic communications worldwide by offering an alternative to corporate media.

On becoming Santa Cruz Mayor last November, Ryan Coonerty laid down a new set of procedures at City Council requiring members of the public to get his permission before talking on "Consent Agenda" subjects. The afternoon Consent Agenda makes up more than half of what City Council acts on. Hence this new ruling removes Public Comment on the majority of Council actions.

Laurel Carlsen, a passionate fighter for social justice, has learned that she has Hotchkins Lymphoma, a type of cancer, and will have to undergo nearly a year of chemotherapy. She is currently uninsured and will be unable to work during her treatment. Laurel graduated from UCSC in 2007 where she majored in Community Studies.

On February 21st, the Bush administration finalized its controversial decision to remove the Northern Rockies gray wolf from the list of species protected under the Endangered Species Act. The removal of federal protections for the gray wolf puts its continued survival in the Northern Rockies at the mercy of the woefully insufficient state management plans developed by Wyoming, Idaho and—to a lesser extent—Montana. George Cadman of Free Radio Santa Cruz 101.1 FM interviewed Mike Leahy, Rocky Mountain Region Director for Defenders Of Wildlife, about the recent decision.