Feature Archives

The Renaissance Garden Project started when UC Santa Cruz students responded to a call for help that Renaissance High School students sent out about the lack of nutrition they were receiving at school; students felt unhealthy. Students from the Education for Sustainable Living Program at UCSC came to the rescue. A garden was constructed to provide nutritional food and health education.

On June 24, Alberto Tovar, a recent graduate of Cal-State Monterey Bay and a Salinas local, was arrested for challenging military recruiters at a Día de la Famila celebration in Salinas. Tovar asked why recruiters promise kids health and educational benefits if they sign up, but don’t talk to them about the risks of combat. Tovar faces numerous charges, including "disturbing the peace," "criminal trespass," and "possession of a dangerous/deadly weapon" (a trendy bracelet from Hot Topic). The Monterey County D.A. also added "disorderly conduct for public intoxication" even though Tovar was never tested to see if he had been drinking. Alberto is asking for his supporters to donate to his Legal Defense Fund.

Faced with imminent layoffs and management’s attempts to eliminate unions, workers from the Northern California Media Workers Union held a picket and press conference in front of the offices of the San Jose Mercury News on Tuesday, June 26th.

Peace advocates gathered on 41st Avenue in Capitola on June 26th to protest the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the recent troop surge, which has resulted in greater casualties, not fewer; and the recruitment of at-risk youth by military recruiters, many of whom use lies and manipulation in order to get people to sign up. Ten people engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience and were arrested by Capitola Police when they stayed in front of the Army recruiting office door when asked to disperse.

A day after students and workers held a protest outside administrative offices, the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) rehired Crown custodian and AFSCME 3299 member Angela Ruiz. Ruiz was fired on April 9 for attending a union-sponsored protest against UC President Robert Dynes, even though she had received excellent evaluations and the protest was during her lunch hour. Angela's re-hiring marks the 3rd victory in the past month for activists at UCSC.

The small community of Felton is going toe to toe with the nation's largest private water company, American Water, which bought Felton's water system in 2002. American Water serves some 18 million customers in 29 states, including California, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, and Ohio. The community of Felton voted overwhelmingly to buy their water system back, but the company refuses to sell. Now the people of Felton plan to use eminent domain to buy back their water system, but American Water has spent millions of dollars resisting.

UC Santa Cruz is preparing to cut down approximately 150 acres of trees on upper-campus to make room for all the new buildings that are part of the much-criticized expansion plan. This would be one of the most serious logging operations on UCSC's campus in decades, meaning the loss of well over 1,000 trees — mostly 2nd generation redwoods and mixed evergreens.