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Illustration by Matt Boblet.

UC Santa Cruz’s mascot Sammy the Slug is 25 years old. In honor of the slug’s birthday, at the beginning of the regularly scheduled city council meeting, Mayor Ryan Coonerty proclaimed Sept. 27, 2011 the official day of the UCSC mascot.

The mascot made a special surprise appearance at the meeting. While waiting for the mayor to introduce him, Sammy waited in the aisle against the wall, as there were no seats left in the packed council chambers.

The mayor welcomed Sammy to come forward to the cheers of the crowd.

Fourth-year math major Leila Etemadieh didn’t know there had been a mascot before the slug.

“I just know a slug’s our mascot, but I don’t know how long he’s been the official mascot,” Etemadieh said.

It all began in 1981, when then-chancellor Robert Sinsheimer, with the support of some student athletes, decided on the sea lion for the university’s official mascot. The sea lion was chosen to make the university’s sports clubs meet National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) standards, which required teams to have an official mascot.

Many students were reluctant to relinquish their hold on the beloved former unofficial mascot. An underground movement of Banana Slug supporters emerged after the change was made, and when the first Student Union Assembly met in 1986, they wanted to settle the sea lion versus banana slug issue. Their solution: a campus-wide vote. The rest is history.

“As many of you know, 25 years ago, the students rose up at UCSC and decided to change their mascot from a sea lion to a slug,” Coonerty said. “They worked many, many hours, and now our slug is a national mascot and a national symbol for UCSC … I encourage all of my fellow residents to share their appreciation for the timeless Banana Slug.”

Since its adoption as the official mascot of the university, the banana slug has garnered national attention for the school. “Pulp Fiction” fans will remember John Travolta donning the Fiat Slug T-shirt in the film, and the mascot has been recognized by ESPN, Sports Illustrated and People Magazine, among other publications.

Mayor Coonerty’s announcement was met with cheers of approval from the audience. The mayor thanked Sammy for coming to the council meeting, then proceeded to hand him an award while a few people snapped photos.

Mike Hopek, a fourth-year literature major, feels passionately about Sammy the Slug.

“Our mascot is different than a lot of other mascots,” he said. “It’s modest and doesn’t try to be any type of heroic figure.”

Illustration by Louise Leong.

Sooner or later, it will end up in a landfill.

It’s not your fault. We live in a culture that too often values itself based on the stuff that we own. Do we have the newest laptop? The coolest phone? The completely useless — though perhaps wildly entertaining — iPad? More than any other time of the year, the holiday season is too often about getting more stuff.

But as you rush from shop to shop, please put down the shirt you are thinking of giving your sister and ask yourself: Is this something she really needs?

The answer is probably no.

According to Stanford’s recycling center, in the short time between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, Americans generate around 25 million tons more waste than at any other time of the year. Even if your gift isn’t chucked out with last night’s pot roast, it might become obsolete by next year and “need” to be replaced.

This isn’t to say you have to give up gift-giving altogether. Instead, try to think of more practical or socially responsible gifts. Creativity, more than convenience, will give you the “wow factor” during the gift exchange, and you can sleep soundly knowing that it will be put to good use. Here are some suggestions:

Rather than reaching for the newest DVD, see if there is something that the people on your list actually need.

If the folks on your list have it all, then give them an alternative gift that will benefit others. Micro-financing can be a great way to help someone, and there are many sites that offer easy ways to get involved. Investing in Kiva could be a great way exercise your generosity this year. The site allows you to browse through the profiles of motivated entrepreneurs from the developing world and select who you’d like to help and how much to loan. For just $25, you can empower someone to change his or her life.

If you would rather make your social impact locally, visit the Homeless Garden Project gift shop on Pacific Avenue. The proceeds from gift sales go directly to the payroll of homeless trainees, so you are not only buying a gift, but also paying for a homeless person to learn valuable skills that will help him or her get off the street.

Finally, what your loved ones really want for the holidays might be you — not bursting out of a gigantic cake like a stripper at a bachelor party, but in the form of spending some quality time. Mom might be thrilled to be taken out to lunch, or maybe Dad would like to go fishing like when you were younger. Especially now that you spend so much time away from home, don’t be surprised if what your folks really want is some bonding.

So this holiday season, don’t be boring. Don’t make the annual trip to stores you think your family members like and wait to stumble upon the “perfect” gift. Surprise them with something more interesting.

You might find they are impressed you thought outside the box.

Illustration by Rachel Edelstein.

The Santa Cruz Veteran’s Hall will be unable to continue its 24-year tradition of hosting Santa Cruz’s Community Thanksgiving Dinner this year. The United Veteran’s Council announced last month that due to the closure of the Veteran’s Hall, it would be unable to host the traditional dinner.

In response, a group of activists from the Santa Cruz community formed Friends of Thanksgiving, a broad-based coalition of people who have taken responsibility for carrying on the tradition of the annual Thanksgiving dinner, served to the homeless of Santa Cruz. Former city council candidate Steve Pleich was the driving force behind the group’s materialization.

“All these people have made time especially to do this,” Pleich said. “This group wouldn’t have been anything if people hadn’t made the commitment to really see this through.”

Friends of Thanksgiving came together only three weeks ago, and in that time they organized the alternative Thanksgiving Day event, which will be held at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium from 12 to 3 p.m.

The Veteran’s Hall typically serves over 1,000 meals each year for Thanksgiving, and Friends of Thanksgiving is prepared for a similar turnout this year. Pleich said that it is ready to serve about 1,500 meals this year, maybe more.

“A lot of private individuals have been donating food, and many different organizations were willing to contribute,” said Rev. Dennis Adams, a Friends of Thanksgiving leader. “When we mention to people that this dinner is still going to be going on, they are very happy and willing to help out.”

Pleich said main donation sources include the Farmers’ Market, Second Harvest Food Bank and Beckmann’s Old World Bakery. The Homeless Services Center has helped as well, and Costco offered special prices on turkey for the event. Though many businesses are pitching in, some food sources will potentially be unavailable due to the initial cancellation.

“Our problem is, because we started so late, it took a while to work out,” Pleich said. “Some of the folks that normally donate saw the article in the Sentinel that there would be no Thanksgiving dinner, and they made commitments of food that they normally would have given to [the Veteran’s Hall]. We’re trying to get a hold of those folks and make sure they haven’t committed their food to somebody else.”

Nevertheless, volunteers have been stepping up to the plate, and phones have been ringing off the hook with people interested in donating their time or food to the event, said Megan Carlson, volunteer coordinator for the Homeless Services Center.

“I don’t have any doubt that the community will come together and be a part of this event,” Carlson said. “We’re really excited about it. It’s an event that we all can participate in. It’s for the whole community.”

Former city council candidate Pleich said Santa Cruz has a reputation for being generous and helping those less fortunate, and that Friends of Thanksgiving has been counting on that aspect of the community to get this event together.

“This is the Santa Cruz tradition, and we’re going to keep it going in any way we can,” he said. “There are a lot of people doing really great work. This is going to help us turn a time of want and need into a time of celebration and generosity.”

Rev. Adams emphasized the importance of the meal for the homeless in Santa Cruz.

“We are very thankful to give ourselves up to the city of Santa Cruz so that people can have a great Thanksgiving this year,” Adams said. “Whether people are living inside or outside, we want to make to sure they have a nice toasty dinner on Thanksgiving Day.”

Thousands of trick-or-treaters flocked to downtown Santa Cruz for the unofficial holiday last Sunday. The city spent more than $45,000 on security measures for the event, including salaries for gang specialists and over a hundred police officers. Photo by Molly Solomon.

Photo by Molly Solomon.

Marilyn Monroe, Neytiri, Bob Marley, Pikachu and the Little Mermaid danced to the impromptu beats of a drum circle on closed-off Pacific Avenue. People on stilts towered over the crowd and a group of zombies performed choreographed dance moves to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” blasting from a boombox.

Thousands took to the streets of downtown Santa Cruz on Halloween night — and helicopters, gang specialists and over a hundred police officers joined them.

Zach Friend, spokesman for the Santa Cruz Police Department, said the turnout on Halloween has grown exponentially over the past six or seven years.

“Halloween night is the largest unsanctioned event we have in Santa Cruz,” Friend said. “This isn’t an official organized Santa Cruz event. We usually have up to about 25,000 people here downtown on Halloween night, which is about half the city’s population — in one square mile.”

Police made 40 arrests this year, 32 of which were for public intoxication. Other charges included drug possession, violation of parole and battery.

Santa Cruz resident Mark Ruiz, who attended the event, said Halloween is “pretty crazy.”

“Pacific Avenue is generally pretty safe, but the side streets are where things get shady,” Ruiz said. “I definitely suggest walking in a group, because it can be very dangerous when you’re running solo, especially for a girl.”

Public intoxication and rowdy crowds were commonplace, but there were no reported cases of shootings or stabbings this year. There were seven gang-related stabbings on Halloween of 2006 and two on the Halloween of 2007.

Over the last couple of years, police forces have stepped up enforcement to maintain public safety, augmenting the security budget for the event to $60,000, up from about $40,000 last year.

Costs cover lighting, police overtime and other expenses for what is essentially one large downtown party. This year, according to Friend, actual costs ran between $45,000 and $50,000.

“Every police agency in the county is providing law officers to patrol this event,” Friend said on Halloween. “We have over 100 officers that are here tonight, which includes probation and parole agents. We also bring in some gang specialists from Santa Clara County and the Salinas area.”

Police officers patrolled the premises all evening, attempting to prevent violence before it could take place.

This year, the focus was on removing possible threats before problems began. A unanimous motion by city council allowed police to issue triple fine tickets to discourage law violations.

“If we see someone that’s intoxicated who may become an issue, we get them off the street early before it rolls into something else,” Friend said. “If you’re caught with an open container, it’ll cost you about $500 tonight, so be sure to put your beers away.”

The preventative measures and increased law enforcement presence lessened crime downtown on Halloween night. Attendees said they appreciated being able to feel secure.

“This is my first Halloween at downtown Santa Cruz,” first-year Juliet Ulibarri said. “The vibes are really good from everyone, and I haven’t felt any sense of danger at any point of the night. I feel secure with the fact that there are so many police officers roaming around everywhere.”

Illustration by Maggie McManus.

Take a deep breath in, and let it out slowly. Do this a few times with the intention of breathing in the world around you. Let this respiration quiet the mind and bring awareness to the heart space within you. Allow gratitude to fill you, and enter you into a place of thanksgiving.

For many years I have traveled with my father and brother to Los Angeles to visit relatives for Thanksgiving. As a boy gathering with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents, the reunion was, and still is, my favorite holiday. Around the dinner table, three corn kernels would be placed under each plate. We would all listen as each person shared three things they were grateful for and would symbolically place the kernels, one at a time, into a beautifully painted gourd. This gourd has been used for longer than I can remember and is now quite full, full of thanksgivings. But for most of my youth I dreaded this very tradition. I can remember trips down to Los Angeles, where days in advance I would be thinking of things to say, finding it surprisingly hard it to muster something I was thankful about.

More recently, I have come to value the kernel tradition, finding myself at times overflowing with thanks.

Living in gratitude is a way of placing oneself into the holism of the natural world, as a participant. To give thanks is to give back; it is a form of spiritual reciprocity, a meaningful exchange with the forces of nature.

But how do we ever give back in way that is meaningful? For all that we receive every day, to what do we give thanks?

For me, expressing gratitude releases the affairs of my ego and I am filled with the joys of the world. By creating this as a daily ritual, I remember that I am a part of something much larger than myself. When I am grateful, I am giving and receiving love. Gratitude becomes authentic and we can bring this awareness into our daily lives consciously, as opposed to just once a year.

Take a deep breath in, and let it out slowly. The world is animated and you are alive. Take a moment right now to give thanks, however you want, to whatever you want, and allow less to become more, and watch as life becomes richer. What role can gratitude have in our daily lives?

The life of modern humans is filled with materials from all over the world transformed and molded into products we consume. We often don’t know what things are made of or from where they came. It is hard, then, to appreciate the process of production, and we are disconnected from the original materials extracted from the earth.

Most of us eat three times a day. What better way to express appreciation for the natural world than through the celebration of food? Through remembering to appreciate simple things, like food and water, family and friends, ancestors and the stars, we can allow ourselves to be fulfilled with joy.

The holiday of Thanksgiving is familiarly centered upon a special seasonal dinner of corn and pumpkins, with a turkey as the centerpiece. But are not all meals special and worth giving thanks for? When there is abundance, like during the fall harvest, share in celebration. We, as a species, have done this for thousands of years and it is an important function of community.

The meal doesn’t start at the table either. Spending time preparing the meal can be of equal enjoyment to eating the meal itself. The product of Thanksgiving is not solely the finished dishes, but rather the good intentions had throughout the process of cooking; eating will nourish all involved in more ways than just from consuming the physical nutrients.

Next time you are at a dinner party, whether it is from your backyard bounty, a local farm, or from the supermarket, try initiating a “thanks-giving” circle: it could be a one-word go-around or open-ended sharing.

The uncountable gifts of the world are more felt than measured. Each flower opens with beauty, blooming courageously into an unknown world. As humans, our bodies are vessels of the world; our nourishment is both physical and spiritual. From the fertile belly of the earth we are fortified with food. When we dance or cry, we let flow through us energy larger than ourselves. We are invited daily to participate in the sensuous and invisible of life.

Take a deep breath in, and let it out slowly. I am grateful. And to those who have come before, to our ancestors, to the elders in the community, to the people and spirits who made life possible for us today, to the work, to the time and energy spent in creating the world we call home today, I give thanks.

~~~~~

Santa Cruz AIDS Project

Although food drives are not specific to the holidays at SCAP, food donations are more than welcome year-round. Volunteers keep a well-stocked food bank on site and available to all clients. Toilet paper, shampoo and other personal items are also appreciated.  SCAP will be hosting a food drive outside the downtown Santa Cruz Trader Joe’s on Saturday, November 21. Shoppers will be given SCAP’s wish list of items needed for the food bank. SCAP is located at 313 Front St., Santa Cruz, CA, 95060 and can be reached by phone at (831) 427-3900.

Second Harvest Holiday Food Drive

In light of the 20 to 30 percent increase in requests for food aid, food drive organizers at Second Harvest are hoping to collect 2 million pounds of food for this year’s annual Holiday Food Drive. Companies, organizations and groups are encouraged to pick up a barrel provided by Second Harvest and collect as much food as possible. Solo participants are welcome to make monetary donations online, where $1 can provide $9 worth of food, or a square meal for a family of five. The drive will benefit low-income families, seniors and disabled people all over Santa Cruz county, and will continue until mid-December. To apply for a barrel or for more information, contact Bly Morales at (831) 722-7110 x 226 or to make a donation, visit Second Harvest’s website at http://www.thefoodbank.org.

Alliance for Children: Give a Kid a Coat

A non-profit organization based in Santa Cruz, Alliance for Children focuses its generosity on keeping local kids warm. The group, which provides coats for low-income families and children who cannot afford warm outerwear, is hoping to exceed the 800 coats collected in last year’s drive. The drive calls for both cash and gently used coat donations for Santa Cruz children between the ages of 1 and 18, and will run until the end of the month. To donate a coat, contact Eileen Donnelly at leeniebug@hotmail.com or send check donations to Coats for Kids, 515 Broadway, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060.

~~~~~

Donation Centers in Santa Cruz

Click for larger image. Illustration by Maggie McManus.

There are many other donation sites around the city to remember as we embark on our holiday giving endeavors. These organizations accept food, coats and other goods all year long.  Happy donating!

New Life Center
707 Fair St. Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-427-1007

River St. Shelter
733 River St. Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-459-6645

St. Francis
205 Mora St. Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-459-6712

Homeless Community Resource Center and Page Smith Community House
115 Coral St. Santa Cruz, CA 95060
831-458-6020

Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center
195 Harvey West Blvd., CA 95060
831-459-1700