After filing a grievance against a layoff notice two years ago, former mayor and longtime Community Studies lecturer/supervisor Michael Rotkin leaves the department at the beginning of term. Though outraged by the program’s suspension, Rotkin hopes students and faculty will organize to bring the major back.
The Transportation Commission, Public Works, and the Downtown Commission held a special joint meeting on Thursday, Nov. 3 to vote on whether or not to turn Pacific Avenue into a two-way street. Due to traffic concerns, the proposal was quickly postponed to allow further study.
Faced with lowered ridership, the Santa Cruz Metro may discontinue certain routes.
A brawl outside a Santa Cruz bar last week left four wounded and two arrested. The implications may go deeper to alcohol ordinances and out-of-city criminals.
Cities across California are cracking down on medical marijuana. Santa Cruz City Council is trying to strike the right balance for local dispensaries.
Community Studies is still here. Despite the fact that since last spring, the noise around the fact that cuts to the major has died down, Community Studies department and supporters are still trying to figure out what the future will look like.
The Kresge Town Hall was filled last Wednesday night with roughly 200 faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students prepared to discuss future tactics in preventing furloughs, fee increases and layoffs similar to those that have ensued this year. The meeting, hosted by the Student Union Assembly (SUA), was held to form a coalition to address the current statewide budget crisis in wake of the last week’s occupation of the Humanities 2 building at UC Santa Cruz.
Ninety-six percent of over 10,000 union employees, faculty and students at the University of California (UC) have voted that they have no confidence in the leadership of UC President Mark Yudof.
The ballot was distributed between Aug. 26 and Sept. 2 by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Coalition of University Employees (CUE), the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE) and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), for the purpose of raising awareness locally and throughout the state that UC workers are displeased with their management.
Mike Rotkin is a busy man. He is a lecturer, a union leader, the coordinator of the UC Santa Cruz community studies field study, an activist, a father, a husband, the faculty adviser for Fish Rap Live! magazine, a former Santa Cruz mayor, chairman of the local ACLU chapter, and a City Councilmember. He also kayaks, enjoys sports, and spends time outdoors.
Large-scale budget cuts now loom over UCSC’s Division of Social Sciences like a dark cloud of uncertainty. As it stands now, the division faces $1.3 million in cuts as the entire university confronts a $13 million state funding cut, adding to the $6 million in cuts left over from last year. “When it comes time to cut the budget, people always cut services, clubs, anything that isn’t the bare bones,” Sebastian said. “They cut the social sciences. When you do that, you cut what makes the UC different. You’re cutting away what makes this community different.” The budget cuts to the social sciences are the largest core budget reduction campuswide, and will affect every program within the division.