Photo by Nick Paris.

Until his first year at UCSC, Eugene Negrete did not talk about his identity as a queer Chicano.

At his generally heteronormative high school, the queer community was underrepresented and a sense of homophobia lingered, keeping Negrete from fully expressing himself.

“During high school I was held back from even thinking of the possibility of an alternative to life or gender expression,” he said. “We’re taught through institutions such as the school system, our parents, culture, and in the case of Latino/Chicano culture, the Catholic religion.”

Raised in a Catholic home, Negrete said his Mexican-American culture hindered him from accepting his queer identity.

“In high school I was very internally against, and I tried not to think about it. I tried to occupy my mind through extracurriculars, academics and plans to go on to higher education,” Negrete said. “I looked at [other activities] as an escape from thinking about it.”

While Negrete assumes his parents will accept his queer identity on some level, he is still hesitant to fully discuss it.

“In high school I was very concerned about my family, in terms of my family not accepting it and me thinking it was wrong and disgraceful,” he said.

Negrete still has not directly told his family, but assumes they know because of his increased confidence in college.

“Till today, it’s still an issue. It hasn’t been directly stated yet — it’s kind of invisible. I go back home after all these years and I’m sure they sense that I have this new confidence and a new perspective of life,” Negrete said. “I think yes, [my parents would accept me] because of the sense of love. But I also think it will take time and, internally they’re still not used to challenging they way they’re brought up.”

However, his father’s background as a migrant from Mexico and separation from his family leads Negrete to assume that his father will most likely be more understanding.

“He’s gone through the struggles of feeling singled out and being isolated,” he said.

From a queer Chicano perspective, Negrete discusses the “two pillars of oppression.”

“Being Chicano, you’re often singled out because of being a minority in the United States,” Negrete said. “And by being Chicano queer, you’re singled out by your own Chicano community and family. I don’t belong here, and I don’t belong there.”

In his transition from his first to his second year, Negrete made his queer identity public in a gradual process as a result of his classes, Rainbow Theater, involvement with Familia Equis, a group dedicated to creating a space of healing for students with queer and Latino/Chicano identities, and allies at the Cantu Center.

For queer individuals who have not come out, Negrete advises they take all the time they need.

“It’s a process of coming out to yourself first — coming out to yourself and coming to terms with the way you felt growing up, your attractions, and just being honest to yourself,” he said. “There’s no need to actually make it public and think about what the world is going to say. It’s not like when you meet someone you ask, ‘Are you straight?’ It really shouldn’t really matter.”

About the Series: Coming Out

October is LGBT History Month. In honor of the month, City on a Hill Press sat down with members of the LGBT community to hear their coming-out stories and insights into what it means to be queer and questioning in 2011.

Photo courtesy of Michael Loik.

In this week’s Community Chest, City on a Hill Press spoke with environmental science professor and researcher Michael Loik. Loik explained his passion for natural values and his genuine concern for the health of our planet.

CHP: What is it like to be teaching environmental science at this very crucial time in terms of global warming?

Loik: Like you said, it’s crucial. I don’t think there is anything more important than understanding the complex interactions between population growth, global politics, environmental issues, economics and everything we hear on the news. All of these things are intertwined, and all of the impacts are coming down on our forest, grassland and agricultural land resources. Even if there wasn’t climate change occurring, those issues would be causing devastating impacts on our planet’s biodiversity. Multiplied on top of all of that is that we’re altering the characteristics of the atmosphere.

CHP: What is your best moment as an environmental educator so far in your career?

Loik: It’s hard to pin down the one “best moment.” When I was a grad student at UCLA, I moved from LA to rural Colorado — that was a monumental shift in the scientific approach for me. When I was at UCLA I was working on very small-scale, molecular cellular biology questions, and when I went to Colorado, my focus shifted to broader scales associated with global climate change. I was living in a highly urbanized environment and then I found myself in a research position at an incredibly beautiful location at 10,000 feet elevation … It broadened my horizons in many ways.

One of the outcomes of that transition is that now I am really excited year in and year out to teach … There have been so many wonderful students to work with. My former students are now teachers, farmers, activists and scientists. Each of them is doing their part to make sure we can move into a sustainable future. My goal is to inspire people to find the niche where they want to make a difference, and then help them to go and make their difference in that particular corner of the world.

CHP: If there was one thing you could reverse and undo for planet Earth, what would it be? 

Loik: I hate to say this, but it would have to be human population growth and industrialization. There are so many things that we all enjoy these days, but when we sum them all up and think about what it means for all the other species in the biodiversity crisis and the impact we have put on the atmosphere, we have a moral imperative to reverse these impacts. I don’t think there is a species that has affected the biosphere and atmosphere as much as we have. CO2 has gone up and down and temperatures have changed,  but never at the current rate compared to geologic time. “Business as usual” economic practices mean that billions of people are going to suffer remarkably in the near future.

Photo by Prescott Watson.

Morgan Mathias is alert, easygoing, and out. In a light blue scoop neck, an ivory spiral-shaped necklace and silver nail polish, she discloses everything — or more precisely, everything she knows thus far.

“You never really stop coming out. The first couple of times, you grit your teeth and do it. But it never really stops. There’s always new people in your life and new assumptions,” she says, “and your identity also develops over time … there’s too many flavors of it for words.”

Raised in Thousand Oaks, Los Angeles, Mathias was deeply closeted prior to college. She initially dated women, and began to identify as bisexual in her senior year.

“High school was really the process of coming out to myself,” she remembers.

In community college, Mathias came out to her close friends as gay. She joined the gay-straight alliance there, though she rarely bothered to specify whether she was a queer ally or a straight ally.

“If people asked me, I wasn’t going to beat around the bush,” she said, “but maybe half of the people just thought I was [a straight] ally.”

Moving into the dorms changed things for Mathias. Normal, everyday aspects of her life were much more public domain than before, and she didn’t see the point in hiding anymore.

“Day one, I was out as queer, and I spent that year immersed in the queer culture up here,” she said.

She found the Cantù Queer Center and pledged Delta Lambda Psi, a Greek frarority founded at UC Santa Cruz.

She also came out to her parents last year.

First her mom, while they were in the middle of an argument. She had commented on the transformations she perceived in her daughter, and alluded to a suspicion of heavy drug use. That was too much for Mathias.

“I was like Mom, I’m not on drugs — I’m gay,” she laughs, “and later that day I came out to my dad.”

Despite how it came up, Mathias remembers that coming out to her parents went smoothly. She’s been fortunate enough to have her orientation received positively elsewhere as well.

Mathias attributes the success of her experience at Santa Cruz to the combination of many elements here, and hopes to live in similarly queer-friendly communities upon graduating.

“For the queer students,” she advises, “if you haven’t realized what an incredible, safe, and encouraging space Santa Cruz on the whole is, realize it, and take advantage of it while you’re here. You would be hard-pressed to find as safe a space for any kind of queer people.”

At UCSC, Mathias believes that she is still coming into her self as queer, and her identity will likely evolve further.

“Gay people have identities and straight people have identities, which are way more than just ‘I’m straight’,” she points out. “Nobody can be reduced to just one facet of their personality.”

About the Series: Coming Out

October is LGBT History Month. In honor of the month, City on a Hill Press sat down with members of the LGBT community to hear their coming-out stories and insights into what it means to be queer and questioning in 2011.

Photo by Nick Paris.

Uyenmy Yamamoto dreams of good conversations.

As Yamamoto speaks, using words like “male-bodied” and “female-bodied,” it is clear she simply likes people and sees them precisely as just that. In a world of definitions that can both include and exclude people, Yamamoto is open to all exterior genders and defines herself as a “queer womyn of color.”

Yamamoto is a fourth-year Vietnamese Kresge student from Sacramento majoring in psychology and history of art and visual culture. Yamamoto laughs as she explains that even before she realized her queer identity, she had always been interested.

“I always wanted to be queer,” Yamamoto said. “I was really open to it in the first place, but I just hadn’t met anyone that proved it true to me. … I wanted to be able to fight for that equality and that consciousness.”

Yamamoto has dated males, but has felt the most connection to females. She discovered her queer identity during her junior year of high school, when she met the person who changed her perspective.

“It was the most natural thing for me, because I just met someone and it just clicked for me,” Yamamoto said. “I’ve never really felt magnetized to anyone before. I kind of just dated guys and it was whatever until I met someone and they just opened a whole new world of emotions for me. There were times when I just let myself question it, but I’ve just never felt as strong of a human connection as I did. It was the most natural thing ever. It felt real. We never went out, we just remained friends, but it was just the first time I felt that way.”

Yamamoto came out to her parents and received surprising support before leaving for college.

“I was pretty open about it in high school but totally hid it from them for the longest time,” Yamamoto said. “They also actually came out for me because with the people that I was bringing home to hang out with, the way they appeared was a lot more stereotypically queer. Their presence was different and my parents noticed that and kind of figured it out.”

However supportive, Yamamoto still feels doubt from her family.

“My mom secretly thinks that it’s a phase and that I’m just young,” Yamamoto said. “When I talk to her about relationship problems, I feel like she’s open to talking about how to help me without being biased, but sometimes at the end she’ll say little comments and I can tell that she thinks that it’s just a phase.”

While Yamamoto has found people to be very accepting on campus, she still faces some adversity.

“Little comments hurt me. I feel like when people find out that I’m feminine and queer, they try to ask about my sexual life and sometimes I feel like for people, it becomes a game,” Yamamoto said. “They’ll say, ‘It’s because you haven’t met a real man yet.’ They’ll try to get at me in both sexual and emotional ways and they’ll try to psychoanalyze me. It’s disgusting. I know it’s because I’m feminine — if I were more masculine, I know I would get a completely different reaction from guys.”

Yamomoto is currently single and is open to dating people of any label. Even though she has found female connections to be much deeper, Yamamoto does not necessarily reject any male-bodied individuals just because they are not female.

“I don’t want to be discriminatory toward people — whoever it is that I meet and make connections with and fall in love with,” she said. “When I would imagine people in my head, I wouldn’t think about their biological sex, I would just imagine their personality to be amazing. I would take snippets of what I liked about people and I would just imagine them in my head.”

Yamamoto’s philosophy on love regardless of label does, however, invite conflict even within the LGBTI community.

“Even people within the queer community sometimes don’t understand people who identify as being bisexual. There’s a stigma to it that you’re always confused,” Yamamoto said. “It’s hard for me to talk about it because a lot of people don’t understand. For people who I came out as queer to, my fear is that they won’t understand what it’s like to just like … people. People are so stuck on identity. Are you lesbian or gay? Are you trans? Are you bisexual? What is it? Love is complicated.”

Yamamoto ends the conversation with a smile.

“I think my best falling in love moments have happened when it was just friends first.”

About the Series: Coming Out

October is LGBT History Month. In honor of the month, City on a Hill Press sat down with members of the LGBT community to hear their coming-out stories and insights into what it means to be queer and questioning in 2011.

Photo by Morgan Grana.

During last year’s Thanksgiving break, a four-word question turned a mother-daughter novella viewing session into a much more significant experience for Helen Aldana.

“She just asked me, ‘Do you like girls?’ and I replied, ‘Yeah, I like them a lot,’” Aldana said.

Aldana, who now identifies as a lesbian, came out to her mother as bisexual, and at first, her mother dismissed her coming out as confusion.

“It didn’t feel real to me because she thought I was confused,” Aldana said. “Instead of ‘I know you’re a lesbian,’ or ‘I accept that you’re a lesbian,’ it was ‘I accept that you have this phase going on.’”

This past September, Aldana finally felt her mother acknowledged her identity as a lesbian by recognizing the connection Aldana had to another girl and not regarding it as confusion.

“I felt like I was coming out to her again. She took it seriously, and it was like, ‘Wow, she acknowledges my queerness,’” Aldana said.

Her mother, Aldana said, was not the only one confused about her sexual identity.

“I was confused all of high school because being straight is so convenient. It made my parents really happy, yet sad,” Aldana said. “If a guy broke up with me they would ask, ‘Are you sad?’ and I would say, ‘It’s cool.’ I don’t get why they didn’t see that, me being careless about getting dumped by a guy.”

When Aldana told her older sister she was a lesbian, her sister simply denied it, and Aldana agreed.

After coming to UC Santa Cruz, Aldana was still trying to figure out her identity. She started working at the Lionel Cantú Queer Center and tabled for National Coming Out Day. This experience was the first time Aldana stated she was a lesbian.

“Coming out to my friends was a little frustrating. There was a part of me that wanted to get it off my chest, but they still didn’t take it seriously. I really wish they had,” Aldana said.

Some of her friends at that time just assumed Aldana liked men. She did not feel involved in many of the conversations they had, and hoped that her friends would notice her discomfort and make their conversations more general.

Now that she works at the Lionel Cantú Queer Center, Aldana has made more friends within the queer community and no longer feels left out of conversations.

Even though Aldana has come out to her mother, she still has some hesitations about coming out to her father and much of their extended family. She has discussed coming out to her father with her mother and knows he will love her no matter what. Aldana predicts her father’s biggest concern will be her safety, emotionally and physically, from gay-bashing. Aldana has never experienced gay-bashing firsthand.

“I hope I never have to go through it,” she said.

Aldana is concerned that her extended family will not understand her sexual identity because of their religious views.

“I always tell them, ‘Well if God is so awesome, he would love a homosexual.’ And they say ‘Yes, he will forgive a homosexual,’” Aldana said. “I respond, ‘No, but there is nothing to be forgiven … There’s nothing wrong with being gay.’”

About the Series: Coming Out

October is LGBT History Month. In honor of the month, City on a Hill Press sat down with members of the LGBT community to hear their coming-out stories and insights into what it means to be queer and questioning in 2011.

Courtesy of Paula and Mark Allen.

When siblings Paula and Mark Allen received their undergraduate degrees in social science, neither of them ever expected work with cows and chickens.

Paula had two passions when she entered UC Santa Cruz, marine biology and history. She eventually went on to pursue her undergraduate degree in history. She took every class the program had to offer and formed meaningful relationships with her professors. During her senior year, she was enrolled in three seminars, which she viewed as opportunities to converse and connect with professors.

“The relationship that I developed with the professors and how passionate and engaging they were on their own topic was the best part of the program,” she said.

Mark’s undying interest in social problems led him to pursue a degree in anthropology. He viewed it as something that would be academic, but could also have a tangible effect on the quality of life that people experience. He found one of the strengths of the anthropology program was the professors, and that they were all very knowledgeable and passionate about their field.

“UC Santa Cruz does a pretty good job of allowing their anthropology department to approach things in new angles,” he said.

However, upon graduating, both Paula and Mark found it difficult to find professional careers in their fields. Paula took a year off after graduating with her undergraduate degree in 2003, and then went on to receive a master’s degree in museum studies. She found a part-time job at a local history museum, but due to budget constraints, was recently asked to reduce her work schedule from 20 to four hours a week. Mark recently finished his last classes in the spring and has been considering what to do next.

“Ultimately it comes down to the idea that we look at our employment options with our degrees,” Mark said.

“Or lack of,” Paula chimed in with a laugh.

So what have the brother and sister duo decided to do? They plan to start a farm.

“We want to raise chickens, grass-fed cows, dairy goat or meat goat, dairy cows, honeybees,” Paula said.

The idea is simple: Live a more sustainable lifestyle by making more of an effort to do the work yourself. Inspired in part by their uncle’s farm in Colorado, the Allens want to create an established garden and maintain livestock in a setting where they are responsible for processing and creating as much as they can.

“[We want to] break away from the broken model and pursue the kind of life that we were taught to find after we graduate,” Mark said.

“I would like to go back to a model to be as self-sufficient as possible,” Paula added.

Ultimately, the Allens would like to pay it forward by providing food at affordable prices for the community, as well as inform and educate those in the urban community about rural living.

“I would like to have a personal connection, not only as an educator, but bridging that gap between urban and rural experience,” Paula said.

Photo by Morgan Grana

Making the best of what he has been given is not new to Lukas Flynn, who in high school had his pick of only two art courses. Flynn is a third-year art major who has been practicing art since childhood. Currently, Flynn is grappling with whether to continue pursuing a degree in a department that he says has had to cut back courses in his area of interest, the fine arts.

“Most of my gripe with the art department is around the fact that the department is heading in the direction of being more focused with conceptual art,” Flynn said. “As a fine arts focus, it is more difficult to get into painting and art classes.”

Flynn said the art department is shifting away from fine arts in favor of “intermedia” and conceptual art and thus “funneling students into the conceptual art arena.”

“In my opinion, conceptual art cannot really be taught,” Flynn said. “The university acts like an arena, whereas in fine art, there is a kind of a science about painting — there is a lot that can be taught.”

Flynn said the prestige of the print shop initially attracted him to UCSC, but the decreased number of courses in that area and other fine arts areas offered next year is disheartening.

“Due to budget cuts, they are having to phase out programs that I am focused in,” Flynn said. “I don’t think asking for two studios a quarter in my area of focus is asking too much. It has become a luxury and it shouldn’t be that way. It is getting to the point where I do not think that I can maintain my art degree.”

If Flynn had known of this trend prior to attending UCSC, he would not have attended.

“I would not have come to Santa Cruz if I had known that it would have been this difficult to get into classes I am interested in,” he said. “I would have looked more carefully at art schools.”

The scarcity of classes in the fine arts, Flynn said, is pushing students into facets of art that may not be in their field of interest, essentially “trying to fit a square peg in a round hole just to graduate.”

“I don’t want my education to filled with placeholders and requirements. I will be here forever if I am having to wait to take classes that are in my focus,” Flynn said. “I would love to graduate with an art degree from here, but I need to prepare for if I can’t.”

Flynn plans to continue with art and pursue postgraduate education in the field, but because of the lack of courses for his area of focus, he may drop the art major and focus on anthropology.

“At this point, my money will be better spent majoring in something else then going to art school,” Flynn said. “Naturally, I am worried I won’t get in to art schools without a degree in art.”

Flynn came to UCSC with the intent of adding a major in conjunction with his art degree, but did not foresee having his secondary major become his main option.

Considering the increasing cost in tuition, Flynn’s choice in degree is increasingly based upon “getting his money’s worth.”

“I always wanted to double-major and it is a public school, so I thought it would be affordable,” Flynn said. “Let’s just say I am glad I only have one year left.”

Photo by Toby Silverman.

On July 26, UCSC student Amanda Timoney will be embarking on a trip through the University of California Education Abroad Program to Ghana. While staying in Accra — Ghana’s capital — she plans to help the local refugees and villagers as best she can, meanwhile studying at the University of Ghana, which is 10 miles northeast of the capital.

City on a Hill Press: What organization(s) will you be working with while in Ghana?

Timoney: As of right now it’s my own project — I’ll be working with both fisheries in Accra and in rural villages. Ghana is very popular for digital dumping as well, mostly computers, but they come from all over the world.

CHP: What do you hope to bring back to UCSC?

Timoney: Well, at the moment I’m really active in College Ten’s core theme of social justice and community. I’m planning on making a blog while abroad to turn into a complementary documentary and share some of the things I learn as well as some of the culture I live through.

CHP: How prepared are you for the culture shock you’re about to experience?

Timoney: I’m excited for it. A lot of people get nervous about not being accepted — I like the idea of working on a clean slate and being challenged to live in that culture. Also I hear that American women get proposed to on the streets pretty often, so I’m excited for that — might just tie the knot there.

CHP: Where does the drive to connect with people come from?

Timoney: It’s like being a new kid at the first day in school. I was always that one kid that never really connected with the society around me but always seemed to have things figured out. When I see people who need my help, I just want to connect with them and help them however I can. I have a great life and everything I need. I just want to share that.

CHP: Why Ghana?

Timoney: I feel that the Congo is one of the most challenged places in the world right now. Ghana takes in a lot of refugees from the Congo, and since A: I’m a woman and B: I’m American, I feel as though I wouldn’t be able to do as much for the people in the Congo directly other than draw lots of attention to myself. This is the best place for me to go and help those people.

Photo by Nick Paris.

Noah Miska didn’t come to college looking to be arrested.

But on May 9, Miska became one of 23 UC Santa Cruz students arrested for attempting to occupy the state capitol building. He said despite being aware of the social justice issues he now so passionately organizes around, before coming to UCSC his political activism was more focused on environmental causes.

“I wouldn’t have been able to tell you anything about the importance of higher education,” Miska said.

When he arrived at UCSC in fall 2009, Miska aspired to work as a lobbyist for clean energy corporations. To pursue this goal, he took an environmental internship editing the campus food guide.

“I interacted solely with a computer for hours. It is probably one of the few environmental internships in which you never get outside,” Miska said. “While I know activities like that are important, they are not for me. I need to be around people.”

Miska said education has been important to him his whole life, but he did not spend much time thinking about the social issues surrounding educational access until the UC budget crisis came to a head last year.

While attending rallies in protest of the 32 percent fee increases imposed by the UC regents in early 2010, Miska said, he found a home in the community of student activists.

“Most of my best friends I’ve met through organizing,” Miska said. “These are people who have my back. How many people do you know would be willing to be arrested with you?”

Participating in the Kerr Hall occupation in November 2009 was a catalyst on his journey to becoming an active member of the student organizing community on campus.

“I’d been to some of the rallies before, but I hadn’t actually been involved in any form of resistance,” Miska said. “Protest involves saying, ‘I disagree.’ But resistance generally involves using your body to stop something from happening. Doing something that radical forced me to justify my actions.”

Through researching the UC system and its budget crisis, Miska said, he found hope.

“I started learning more about how the university is run, and I realized that all of these fee increases and budget cuts that increase class sizes are not inevitable,” he said.

Miska has found ways to weave his passion for social activism with his academics. Earlier this year he organized a peaceful protest called “Free Education” as a student in Transformative Action, a class taught by UCSC lecturer Christine King. Miska had students use their bodies to spell out the words “Free Education” on the East Field, while a plane flew over to take photographs.

Miska said his experiences at UCSC have altered his viewpoint on the world to such a degree that he is unsure of what he wants to do after graduation.

“My perception of what is important in the world has changed so drastically that many of the avenues of work I could have imagined myself going into previously no longer seem like options,” he said.

He has, however, felt a stronger pull towards the arts.

“There are very few of my drawings now that don’t include some sort of social or political commentary,” he said.

Miska strives to ensure that his work remains pleasing to the eye despite its heavy political focus.

“For people to be receptive to that commentary, the artwork itself has to be aesthetically pleasing,” Miska said. “I think that’s the difference between some angry message sprawled on a wall in spray paint and [political art]. It has to be apparent to people that you care about what you are saying.”

Miska sees a connection between his more radical activism and his artwork.

“I think art can be a powerful catalyst for social change,” Miska said. “When people start to get creative, it’s a microcosm of this desire to create a newer, more beautiful world.”

Photo courtesy of Mollie Murphy.

Mollie Murphy, co-president of the UC Santa Cruz chapter of STAND and a Crown College fourth-year majoring in sociology. She was one of a dozen students who participated in a die-in event on May 5 to bring awareness of the genocide around the world to the UCSC students.

City on a Hill Press: What is the die-in event and what is its significance?

Murphy: A die-in is a visual demonstration, similar to a protest but a little bit less. Our group dressed in all black and laid down on the ground, first on the College Nine and Ten lawn for an hour and [now] at the Quarry Plaza, with tombstones to symbolize all the deaths of the victims of genocidal crimes and mass atrocities. My tombstone said, “Hitler is alive in Darfur, in Sudan, and his name is Omar al-Bashir.” The idea behind that is that similar genocide crimes that happened during the Holocaust are happening in Sudan right now. [Sudan] is getting a lot less publicity and people are paying a lot less attention. It is meant to link that past, the Holocaust, to things that are going on today to raise awareness.

CHP: Why are you interested in spreading awareness about this issue?

Murphy: I want to find a career in human rights, and this is an important human rights issue. I’m concerned with how people across the globe are treated and respected. I think I chose this issue because it means the most to a huge amount of people. It’s a logistically complex issue, but an ethically simple issue. Nobody is for genocide. It’s hard to imagine that people would commit mass murders against each other. Eradicating the world of genocide is probably one of the most important steps to having global peace, global cooperation and respect between cultures.

CHP: Why do you think this is the best way to get people’s attention?

Murphy: I think when people have a more visual kind of cue it’s a little bit more shocking and can hit home a little bit more. The idea is not to be abrasive or to guilt people. It’s just a statement, a vigil to bring people close to something that is happening far away, especially for students who live on campus or who never have really heard about these issues. We are trying to make it easier to grasp in a lot of ways, and sometimes visual demonstrations help that.

CHP: How do you hope this will impact UCSC students?

Murphy: We are hoping to create an atmosphere of solidarity between people in all countries, and to raise awareness and create a compassionate energy towards people who have to face these crimes or these kinds of circumstances every day. The hope is to get students here interested and get them to care about stopping genocide on the planet.

It’s going to be a slow process, and we expect it to be years and years, but we hope to empower students to feel that they have connections with people across the world and to feel that they can actually take part. A lot of times, students hear what is going on and it’s really scary, which it is, and it is hard to understand how we can help people or help these kinds of situations because it’s such a big problem and it’s so drastic and tragic. The idea is to hopefully give students really easy ways they can make a difference and to advocate for those who need it.

CHP: How do you plan to impact this campus outside of STAND?

Murphy: We are now working on a coalition for conflict-free UC, so we are trying to reach out to the other UC campuses. There is a genocidal situation in the Congo and there is a lot of violence centered around mines. Tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold are minerals that are found in every single cellphone, computer and pretty much every electronic item in the world. It’s a large western demand that is fueling violent rebel groups that are controlling the mines, burning villages, kidnapping children to become child soldiers and murdering a lot of people so that they have access to these resources that we are creating demand for. What our campus is doing, and what our students are doing outside of STAND, is hopefully creating a coalition of student and faculty on all the UC campuses to ask the administration to start investing responsibly in electronic companies, so that they directly check their supply chain and do not supply the conflicted area and the specific mines that are a part of this. Stanford and Penn State have already passed this legislation, but the UC system is a little bit more complex because there are 10 campuses. There is no way to invest in it responsibly right now, so we are trying to create ways for consumers to do that.

CHP: Do you plan on going to Africa and helping with the issues there, or are you mostly interested in raising awareness here?

Murphy: I would love to go there but have not been able to because of a medical condition. I have had a heart transplant and my cardiologists get mad at me when I talk about going. Places that I might be at a high risk of infection I’m not recommended to go to. If I were to go, I think I would love to go somewhere with an open mind and get to know the people and then start trying to use resources that I have to do what they need. I would not necessarily know, standing here at UCSC in California, what they need as a community. I would love to go immerse myself in the culture, get to know the people and then do what I can to help. Invisible Children is inventing radio systems to alert people when the rebel groups are around, hopefully I can do some work with that — anything on the ground that engages people, I would love to do.

Photo courtesy of Lizzie Bernard.

No one said college was easy ­— but challenges should be faced in classrooms, not while trying to get into them. Lizzie Bernard had the latter problem.

Bernard was a third-year film and digital media major from Stevenson when she decided not to return to UC Santa Cruz for this current spring quarter.

Bernard had completed all of her general education requirements when she left UCSC, but had only been able to get three classes for her major in four quarters.

She was never able to get into any upper-division classes.

“What I was paying and the quality of the education wasn’t worth it anymore,” Bernard said. “I couldn’t get the [classes needed] for my bachelor’s degree, and I felt like I was wasting my time.”

Feeling overwhelmed and unfocused with a full load of classes, coping with personal problems and aching under the strain of the economy, Bernard had gone to part-time status this past fall to ease her load.

At UCSC, enrollment time is determined by how many credits you have completed — the more, the better. Because she was taking less units, Bernard’s enrollment times only got worse, making it even more difficult to get into the classes she needed.

“Another problem I have with UCSC is I haven’t been able to explore what I want to do, because I can’t get freaking classes, because I always get shafted on my enrollment time,” she said.

Since Bernard was able to enroll in so few classes, her ability to select courses and a major best suited for her preferences was significantly hampered.

After so many quarters of full classes and overflowing wait lists, she decided to cut her losses and regroup — a decision her family fully supports.

“My mom said that she didn’t really want to give the UC system the money anymore because it is ridiculous, all the fee and tuition increases,” Bernard said. “The other reason I’m taking the time off is that I need to figure out myself. I need to figure out what I want to do.”

Bernard is a self-described “jack of all trades,” participating in campus radio station KZSC and Slugs in Fishnets, playing guitar and trumpet and delving into photography and acting. She often felt stifled at UCSC, and has been taking advantage of her new freedom of exploration.

She took a trip to New York with her new Rocky Horror cast, “Barely Legal,” and performed for the Rocky Horror Picture Show Festival as Magenta at the House of Blues in Atlantic City.

Right now Bernard is happy to explore. Despite her difficult experiences at UCSC, she said, getting a degree would be worthwhile, though she does not think it will be from UCSC.

“Everything is a big question mark, really,” Bernard said. “I’m planning on going back to school within a couple of years, maybe sooner, maybe later — I don’t know — but I’m definitely going to get a degree.”

Photo by Prescott Watson.

Nate Bennett naturally smiles a lot. That’s probably for the best because being a food service manager at the College Nine and Ten dining hall during a budget crisis may not provide too many reasons to smile.

Although he’s currently dealing with the school’s financial woes, Bennett’s 20-year career has been widely varied.

“I’ve fed people at four-star resorts and I’ve fed people for 7 cents a meal,” he said. “I came in from managing the Homeless [Services] Center of Santa Cruz for many years, and I’ve made friends with the public I serve. I feel I’m pretty well-liked, as long as you don’t steal food.”

Despite his optimistic disposition, Bennett has experienced his share of tribulations. The fact that food service employees are both union and non-union has caused some complications.

“From this level down [below managers], you’re part of the union. From this level up [managers and above], you’re not,” he said.

Bennett was prepared for the role, however. He even took a class called “Managing in a Union Environment.”

Bennett is a problem solver, and this system put his skills to the test.

“Last year, during the [union] protests, we — the management — got behind the picket lines, climbed the hill, and we made food,” he said. “People still had to eat. It wasn’t our disdain for the union that did that, it was our commitment to our customer. I like challenges like that: Get your skills and logistics together with other people and make something happen before your eyes.”

Though this complicated system may allow Bennett to display his commitment and skill, it tends to cause conflict.

“There has been a natural mechanism that when somebody goes, [we] don’t replace them. We’re out of money,” Bennett said. “That isn’t necessarily the case for the union folks, that’s the case for the management. If our kitchen is one cook short, we’re required by contract to find somebody.”

Bennett said the budget crisis is something that impacts everyone.

“People see what naturally hits their pocketbook,” he said. “As a state, we haven’t paid our bills for some time, and I know that’s trickled down in part to me — that’s my part in that.”

Though budget cuts are making for a tumultuous and sometimes conflicting atmosphere, Bennett said the challenges he faces demand compromise and understanding.

“I’ve learned to be sympathetic with my superiors for facing that pressure,” he said. “We were told at the start of the year that we’d take furloughs.”

Still, Bennett is aware that things are changing.

“As the managers, we’re trying to be as efficient as possible,” he said. “We’re not complaining, but you have to change your priorities. It’s something you have to deal with.”

In the face of these difficulties, Bennett feels the student body may not be aware of the complexities of the situation.

“What the student body doesn’t understand is the division between represented staff [union] and management,” he said. “That tension between the two worlds is something we’re caught in the middle of as managers. We know we need to give them room to get together and do their thing, but it’s not [management’s] fault, and we both know that. We’re a team.”

Photo by Michael Mott

In this week’s Community Chest, City on a Hill Press sat down with Shelby Donaldson, a UCSC student who performed at this year’s Queer Fashion Show (QFS).

CHP: How was Queer Fashion Show? Good crowd?

Donaldson: It was really fun! I danced all three nights — Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. I’ve been in shows before for dancing, and a lot of times the directors think they’re the shit and aren’t very personable to each person, but [in QFS] they were. They enjoyed putting it on, and that transfers to everyone else.

There were a lot of people there. We actually sold an extra 86 tickets. People really look forward to it. Everybody was super loud and they really liked everything. Lots of screaming, pretty sure I heard my name a few times, it was great.

CHP: Were you nervous? You guys do some pretty daring stuff up there.

Donaldson: Yeah I know, we have to strip onstage! I wasn’t nervous at all though, as a performer, just because everybody was so welcoming. We were all there to have fun, so it wasn’t like you’re going onstage [thinking], “Oh I have to be super good.” Everybody is super nice.

CHP: Can anybody participate? Was it empowering?

Donaldson: Anybody can participate. And I’d say it is empowering for everybody, just because the atmosphere is so loud and fun. I think people feel really comfortable there, whatever your color, race or sexual preference. I would think that if you’ve never been onstage, Queer Fashion Show would probably be the first place you should go to. You would definitely open yourself up there, of all shows, if you’re not comfortable onstage. And the girls in my jazz class who had never been onstage before really enjoyed it.

CHP: Would you recommend participating in Queer Fashion Show to others?

Donaldson: I would encourage anyone who is outgoing and has a sense of humor to get involved with QFS. Even if performing isn’t your thing, there are opportunities to help the directors or be a part of the light and tech team.

Photo courtesy of Dennis Tibbetts.

Originally, fighting to add a veteran-friendly class to UC Santa Cruz’s curriculum was difficult for lecturer Dennis Tibbetts. With the support of Rep. Sam Farr (D-Santa Cruz), Tibbetts was able to create a UCSC class that became a source of knowledge about veterans for students and a place for veterans to feel welcome, called American Combat Veterans.

City on a Hill Press: How did you decide to teach at UCSC? Do you enjoy teaching here?

Tibbetts: My family wanted to leave the cold in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for the warmth of California. I approached a few different college campuses to include a veteran awareness class into their curriculum, but I wasn’t having any luck. Sam Farr was very interested in a class of this kind being provided in his district. He wrote a letter of recommendation for me to the UCSC campus and Merrill College was interested in the course. Teaching here is great! These are the best students I’ve had in a long, long time.

CHP: Do you think veterans awareness is important at college campuses? Why?

Tibbetts: I think it’s important to create a presence when there’s an absence. It needs to be incorporated into the curriculum. Vietnam veteran stories weren’t in the curriculum [at different colleges I have taught at], almost as if they weren’t welcome. We have been at war for the past 10 years. This takes a toll on our country and our psychology as a country. War is so brutal. It takes a toll on the people in uniform and their families.

CHP: Do you think UCSC has a high level of anti-war sentiment?

Tibbetts: I have been teaching on this campus since 2002, and believe that the atmosphere here has changed from being unsophisticated to a more sophisticated campus. Previously, the students here perceived the military as being against the gay community because of its “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy. I am in favor of gay individuals serving openly, but the students went about it in a way that wasn’t very productive. It seemed like the students were using the DADT policy to attack the military in a way that didn’t have a lot of impact.

Recruiters on campus are trying to recruit educated individuals, contributing more good people to the military. And good people change the culture in the military. I didn’t understand the protest against this. Good people will only make the military better. The military has to have really good people to be leaders — otherwise changes don’t happen. Even the Dalai Lama says that we need ways to defend people and ourselves.

CHP: How do you think this affects veterans in our community?

Tibbetts: Veterans have offices and infrastructure here to make them feel welcome. But a place in the curriculum is very important. It gives them an avenue. They can come to the class and always know it’s there. Who are they? What do they do? This [American Combat Veterans] class can help answer these questions for the community.

CHP: How do you think that learning about veterans and active military members benefits the students on this campus?

Tibbets: If you are 18 or 19, we have been at war for half of your life. There’s a lot of tragedy and sacrifice going on, a lot of money being spent. Even though it’s been going on for 10 years, the subject remains pretty untouched. Our society makes it easy to disconnect, but I believe as a citizen of democracy it is our responsibility to know who we are fighting and why we are fighting them. We can’t be disconnected.

Photo by Prescott Watson.

Lexi Stephenson’s mother likes to say, “No one can take your education.” But after Stephenson switched from community studies after it was cut last winter, only to see the suspension of her current major, American studies, it seems like someone is trying very hard to do so.

Stephenson fell in love with community studies as a second-year when she took an introductory course taught by Sean Burns. Although a self-proclaimed science and math student by nature, she said she felt inspired by that class to make a difference.

“Walking out of the classroom, I felt like change really could happen and that I could be a part of it,” Stephenson said. “That was one of the greatest feelings I have ever felt in my entire life.”

Stephenson decided that she wanted to provide educational opportunities for immigrants and the children of immigrants. So after declaring the community studies major, Stephenson focused her courses in education.

Studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain during her third year, Stephenson met a fellow community studies major from UCSC in a dive bar. Learning of her peer’s field study orchestrating a needle exchange program for sex workers, Stephenson became increasingly excited about her own field study. However, when she returned to UCSC for winter quarter last year, she found her major had been cut and the courses she intended to take were no longer offered.

“It was just sad,” Stephenson said. “When you believe in something and [the university] decides it isn’t valuable, it’s very disheartening.”

She scrambled to redefine her interests to fit course offerings, but eventually decided she was unwilling to compromise her education to remain in the major.

“I was trying to change what I wanted to do just to get into classes,” Stephenson said. “That defeated the purpose for me. Community studies is supposed to be about finding a passion and then figuring out a way to use it to make a difference.”

After debating her options, Stephenson declared the American studies major. In January, faculty in the American studies department voted to suspend admission to the major starting July 1. They cited as the primary reason for suspension the dwindling resources that significantly reduced the capability of the program to provide a quality educational experience for students.

Stephenson said programs like American studies are the reason many students come to UCSC, and eliminating these options degrades the value of the university.

“Santa Cruz attracts a certain type of student,” Stephenson said. “A lot of us come here to get the alternative education offered at UCSC. Unfortunately [budget cuts] are changing that.”

Stephenson said she and fellow American studies majors are angry about what is happening, but are unsure of how to act. For a while Stephenson had been considering utilizing public art to make her frustrations heard, but decided that might not accomplish anything.

“I wanted to make signs that say, ‘Fuck UC’ really big and put them all over campus. But that is not very mature,” Stephenson said. “If you do that, no one is going to listen.”

Stephenson says American studies majors should not be left to fight for social sciences and humanities programs.

“I think it is the responsibility of students and teachers to do something about this,” Stephenson said. “A lot of students come here with the false notion that they will be able to take these classes.”

Despite her frustrations, Stephenson feels lucky to have been a part of the program before it was suspended.

“I think the [American studies] major is the best education I could have gotten at this school,” she said.

(Left) Roark and Kirk (right) campaign against the selling of bottled water on campus. Photo by Morgan Grana.

Third-year UC Santa Cruz students Gabi Kirk and Lindsey Roark are on a mission to bring plastic water bottle sales on campus to an end.

City on a Hill Press: Can you tell me about the project you are both a part of?

Kirk: Take Back the Tap is a campaign to end the sale of plastic water bottles on the UCSC campus, and eventually, the UC systemwide. We want to build long-lasting behavioral change. We want to be teaching the people who are going to lead our nation and our future that these are the social values that we hold dear, that water is a right for everyone.

CHP: Would you consider Take Back the Tap a green movement?

Roark: Our campaign is more about the fact that water is privatized, that water is commoditized, and it is something that should be available to everyone. It’s great that there will be less plastic consumption, but that’s not what our campaign is about. We’re trying to make this also a community-based marketing scheme, [instead] of an information-based marketing scheme …What we’re trying to do is find out exactly why people buy bottled water [and] how can we modify that behavior to be more sustainable.

CHP: How is the project going?

Roark: Hopefully by mid-May there will be two spigots, one in the foyer at OPERS and one in the upper floor of the Wellness Center. They’ll just be little push-back spigots where you can fill your water bottles. And if that goes well, then we are hoping to install spigots at all of the high-usage areas that we find around campus, so probably around 25 more spigots. We’re hoping to have the rest of the installation done next year [since] they don’t have the capacity [this year].

Kirk: We actually got grants from Measure 43 and Measure 44, which were passed last year on the ballot.

CHP: Any other future plans for the project?

Kirk: We want to identify the “deserts,” as we like to call them, areas without an accessible water source, and maybe make it into a map for a phone, where someone can ask, “Where is the water fountain near me?” and then later on, “Where is the recycling bin near me?” [or] “When does the next bus come?” And we want to build a website with a transparent budget, so that people can track it. If we’re going to be spending student fees, we want to make sure it’s in a way that’s going to engage the student body.

CHP: Have you received support from the administration?

Roark: What’s cool is that we’ve noticed in this project that every administration, staff [or] faculty [member] that we’ve approached about this has been so stoked, and so as far as administration support, I feel like the administration supports us full-heartedly.

Kirk: There’s a great sustainability community here and we’d love this to be a big part of it. Right now it’s a small group of people doing it, but we’re slowly getting more and more, so we really want people to come out to Earth Day and find out how they can get involved with this effort.

Photo by Morgan Grana.

Callan Hajosy is a recent UC Santa Cruz graduate and Merrill College affiliate who studied environmental studies and economics. Next month she will be embarking on a five-month open-ended trip to Tanzania as a representative of the non-profit organization One Heart Source, which helps educate people about HIV/AIDS.

CHP: Can you tell me a little bit about the organization you work for?
Hajosy: I work for One Heart Source (OHS), a non-profit NGO that is based in Arusha, Tanzania. We run educational programs trying to break the generational cycle of transmission of HIV/AIDS.

CHP: How did you get involved with the organization?
Hajosy: Forty-one schools nationwide are involved. I got involved because a good friend of mine from high school was one of the first volunteers to go over there. He worked there for two years, told me about it, and I went last year. I was a volunteer there for eight weeks and then they asked me to go back as a program manager. That was after I graduated.

CHP: What pulled you into it and made you interested?
Hajosy: I’ve always wanted to go to Africa. I was already going after school [to South Africa and Tanzania] and then I heard about [OHS], read their website and was just hooked on it. I thought it would be a really great way to travel and help and get involved.

CHP: Where will you be going in a month and what will you be doing there?
Hajosy: I will be going to the village of Mateves, which is in Arusha, Tanzania, and I will be there for five months just running the summer programs. We also have programs in Zanzibar, so I’ll be running back and forth. We [volunteers] teach classes about three times a week, or however long they want us, and we also do community outreach programs and community teachings. There’s an orphanage there, so we work there also. We teach about HIV/AIDS awareness, protection and empowerment.

CHP: Do you have any future plans?
Hajosy: I don’t know, I have a one-way ticket right now, so it could end up being a while. Hopefully I stay involved. What I do right now when I’m not in Tanzania is recruit UCSC students and help them go through the application process, and also help them with pre-fieldwork. Right now I have five volunteers. I am so excited — I had my first dream of being back in Tanzania last night and I was like, “It’s time! It’s coming!” It’s definitely an adventure.

Photo by Morgan Grana.

When Gareth Rees-White first started his courses in American studies at UC Santa Cruz during fall quarter, he was reading the likes of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Cormac McCarthy and William Faulkner — then in winter, Toni Morrison and Mark Twain. This quarter, he will be reading the Twilight series.

“In my first quarter there were loads of courses that sounded amazing,” Rees-White said. “Then in winter there were less, and this quarter I’m taking a class on vampires because it is my only option.”

An international student from England, Rees-White is studying American studies at UCSC as part of a year abroad program offered by his home “uni,” the University of East Anglia.

Rees-White knew that he wanted to attend a UC ever since visiting California on a family vacation while in secondary school.

“I was sitting on the beach with my sister in Santa Barbara and the volleyball team was practicing,” Rees-White said. “I remember thinking — this is a university?”

When applying to universities a year later, he chose American studies as his major because it offered the chance to study abroad in the United States. His abroad program dictates that he take 70 percent of his courses at UCSC in the upper division of the American studies department. Earlier this year, American studies faculty voted to suspend admission to the major as of July 1.

Citing the reasons for the major’s suspension, faculty said the needs of students were not being met due to the fact that only five professors were specific to the department and that other departments were spread too thin to lend adequate assistance. Department head Eric Porter said students already in the major should not have trouble completing their degrees, though according to Rees-White, that assurance does not include a wide enough selection of classes.

Rees-White chose Santa Cruz for its natural beauty, iconic boardwalk and its American studies major. Of all the schools Rees-White looked into, only UCSC had an established American studies program, an aspect of the university that largely factored into his decision to attend. If he were applying for study abroad this year, however, Rees-White could not chose UCSC because of the reduction of classes. Rees-White said that the suspension of the major will reduce the number of international students at UCSC.

Since coming to Santa Cruz, Rees-White has fallen in love with the redwoods — and a woman. He refers to the latter as the most serious relationship he has been a part of, and says they already have plans to see each other after he goes back to England. Despite self-professed poor skills, he says he is also equally infatuated with the extreme sport that put Santa Cruz on the map, surfing.

In his time at UCSC, he has made many friends, sharing British culture with them as he learns what it means to be an American.

“I would like to think that I have influenced the culture a wee bit,” Rees-White said, “and it has definitely influenced me.”

Photo by Nick Paris.

In this series, City on a Hill Press will be interviewing community members who are currently making a mark on UC Santa Cruz’s campus.

Kicking off the series is Daniel Wirls, a professor of politics, who has published two books, “Irrational Security: The Politics of Defense from Reagan to Obama” and “The Invention of the United States Senate.” Currently he is teaching Politics 1, Politics: Power, Principle, Process, and Policy.

City on a Hill Press: What do you think of the level of political activism at UCSC?
Wirls: I’d say that I’m happy that there are a lot of students involved in a lot of things. That sometimes is a problem though — there isn’t so much a movement around a few focal causes, sort of a disadvantage when everybody is standing in the quarry soliciting their own individual causes. So I’d say that you certainly have more students involved in different things than you ever did. What this accomplishes is yet to be seen.

CHP: Teaching politics at UCSC, what are the challenges you face in interpreting the world of politics for your students?
Wirls: Current events sort of overwhelm the class — getting across certain concepts and making sure they relate to what’s going on in the world.

CHP: How would you compare teaching politics at UCSC with other schools?
Wirls: Well this has been really my one and only job teaching politics. I arrived on campus when I was 28, right out of graduate school, so aside from doing a little bit of teaching as a grad student for Cornell, my entire teaching experience has been at UCSC. In effect, I arrived here only seven or so years older than the people I was teaching. And of course I was younger than a few of the people I was teaching.

CHP: Did that factor disadvantage you in any way?
Wirls: No, I just thought it was fun. There were a couple times when the staff on campus would mistake me for a student, but that was just kind of funny.

CHP: You’ve often been described to me by other students as very passionate about what you teach — where does that passion come from?
Wirls: I care deeply about what goes on in the world and the problems within it, but I don’t intend to preach to everyone about how they should care about the world or stand on particular issues. My main goal is really to be passionate about the political process itself. Politics is rather difficult and unsightly, but you have to stick with it and learn how it works to organize your passion as an activist around it, using as a foundation that knowledge of how it works. In politics you’re not just a student, but also a citizen and active participant.

Sparring,” or practice fighting, is one of the best ways to train. When sparring, the participants wear larger gloves and headgear in order to focus more on technique and their fitness, rather than trying to determine a winner in the fight. Here, Moreno spars against a male competitor. Photo by Sal Ingram.

Photo by Sal Ingram.

Carina Moreno has beaten six people unconscious.
In fact, at her job, knocking out her opponents is the ultimate goal. Moreno is a four-time world champion boxer with a 21-2 professional record.

And this Saturday, she will be traveling from her home in Watsonville to Argentina to fight Yesica Yolanda Bopp, whose titles with the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organization are at stake. Bopp has a professional record of 13-0 (5 KOs) and most recently fought in Aug. 2010. Moreno has not had an official fight in over a year.

Her sabbatical, however, was involuntary. In her most recent fight, Moreno endured one of only two losses in her career. Anabel Ortiz defeated the champion in their fight in Mexico.

Rick Noble, Moreno’s manager and trainer, said Moreno did not receive a fair fight and there was a hometown decision. Noble and Moreno wanted a rematch, but the fight never happened.

“We’re over it at this point” Noble said, shaking his head. “We spent too much time hunting this girl down and it never happened.”

Several other fights had been set up but fell through as well.

Moreno has also been recovering from a shoulder injury. The fighter said she has been dealing with immense pressure in her shoulder, probably due to repeatedly throwing her hook too far.

After receiving a cortisone shot from her doctor, she toned her training down for the past five months. Noble said that although they had no control of the time off, Moreno is now hungrier for a fight because of it.

Moreno’s trainers are confident in her ability, despite the setbacks. Albert Romero, one of Moreno’s trainers who was once a professional boxer, said that Moreno has all the tools to win the fight. He said she is ready to deliver a knockout.

A knockout is a coveted accomplishment in boxing and Noble lights up at the suggestion of Moreno delivering one.

“Your goal [as a boxer] is to render your opponent unconscious and beat them into submission,” Noble said. “Very rarely will you see a boxer quit.”

Noble explained Moreno’s style as aggressive.

“She is a pressure-type boxer. She throws a lot of punches, she doesn’t get hit, and she is quick on her feet and with her hands,” he said.

Moreno said that she is successful because of her ability to adjust.

“I can box, but I can brawl as well,” she said. “When I fight, I feel my opponent out and see what they will do, and then I decide.”

Moreno has been preparing for the fight by working out seven days a week and taking supplements provided by Victor Conte’s brand Scientific Nutrition for Advanced Conditioning.

Conte is the founder and owner of Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, which is notorious for its ties to Barry Bonds’ steroid controversy.

Noble said Conte is now clean and supplying Moreno with quality, steroid-free supplements.

This Saturday, Moreno will fight a boxer who, at 26, is three years her junior. Noble said a professional female boxer peaks at approximately age 24 to 30. He said that although Moreno may have peaked physically, she is a wiser and smarter boxer than before.

As Moreno has gotten older and transitioned from an amateur career to a professional one, she is more patient with each shot, she said.

And, despite growing older, the intensity she brings to each fight has not waned.

“Every fight, whether it’s a title fight or just a tune-up fight, are all the same for me,” she said.

This mentality has contributed to Moreno’s international success. To her, becoming a world champion was a natural progression.

“My goal was always to be a world champion in three weight classes,” she said.

Moreno is currently two-thirds of the way there, and a victory in her upcoming fight could allow her to reach her ultimate goal.

While Moreno finishes up her work out session by sparring for a few rounds with a partner, her eyes have the focus of an animal hunting its prey.

“When I step in that ring I just zone in on what is in front of me,” she said.

She doesn’t see the posters and photographs of her successes covering the walls at Noble-Moreno Boxing Gym. She doesn’t see the young kids hanging on the side of the ring in awe, watching her throw each punch. She doesn’t see her trainers analyzing every move she makes or choice punch she throws.

She only sees her goal. And this Saturday in Argentina, she will only see Yesica Yolanda Bopp.

Photo by Kyan Mahzouf.

Steven Neale
Second-year, Stevenson
Proposed psychology major

Steven Neale, second-year and proposed psychology major, crashed two classes this quarter. He did not get into either. For Neale, this is not the first quarter he’s had to crash courses. But it is the first time that he was not able to enroll.

The two courses he crashed were FILM 20P — a class on production technique, with 77 students currently enrolled, and SOCY 15 — a class on world society, with 231 students enrolled. Neale made sure he did not miss his registration appointment, yet he became frustrated prior to his enrolling time.

“The classes that I was crashing closed up before my registration,” Neale said. “Intro to Film Production closed 15 minutes before [my registration time].”

Because he was not able to get into those two classes, Neale kept in mind two back-up courses, which he is taking now.

Neale’s expected graduation date is June 2013. Neale said his experience crashing courses was not fun but not horrible. He still has a couple of years left and some room for the unexpected change of plans.

“As of now everything is going according to plan,” Neale said.

Photo by Molly Solomon.

Zahara Alam
Fourth-year, College Ten
Anthropology and legal studies

Fourth-year anthropology and legal studies major Zahara Alam has had to experience “course crashing” for the past three years. This year was no exception. Alam crashed a political anthropology course with a 25-person wait list for a 30-person class. She was lucky enough to be the only one to get in.

“When I was crashing, I thought I wasn’t going to get in,” Alam said. “I thought I was not going to graduate [on time].”

Alam, whose expected graduation date is June 2011, said one of her worst experiences in crashing classes was last quarter. She tried to get into an upper-division psychology and law course with a 50-person wait list for a 180-person class.

Alam explained the strategy she has used to get into a class.

“I would start harassing the teacher — not really,” Alam said. “Just sending them a lot of e-mails until I heard from them.”

She is now on track to graduate, but is unsure what next quarter will have in store for her.

Photo by Kyan Mahzouf.

Atheena Haniff-Martinez
Third-year, College Eight
Sociology and education minor

Atheena Haniff-Martinez is a third-year sociology major and education minor. In order to graduate, Haniff-Martinez needed to enroll in two upper-division sociology electives. This quarter she crashed three courses: SOCY 142 — Language and Social Interaction, SOCY 137 — Deviance and Conformity, and SOCY 120 — Gender/Sexuality/Culture.

For Haniff-Martinez, her third-year status became the deciding factor of whether or not she was admitted into the courses she crashed.

“They were mostly giving them to seniors,” she said. “Since I’m a junior, I had no chance, basically.”

Haniff-Martinez added another five units to her schedule through an internship with the Chicano/Latino Resource Center. She receives no financial aid and — bogged down with loans — she is frustrated.

“I feel kind of upset because I paid my fees and should be able to get into my classes, but I can’t,” she said. “I needed them for my major.”

Haniff-Martinez’s expected graduation date is June 2012. Not having the ideal schedule has not altered her graduation date yet, she says, but she would be more worried if it did.

Photo by Nick Paris.

Ken Alley
Lecturer
Art Department

Former UCSC student Ken Alley is now a lecturer dealing with the quarterly influx of class crashers. This quarter, Alley had about four students crash a class he is teaching. The students that met the course requirements were able to enroll due to the low number of crashers. Alley knows that crashing is an integral part of enrollment, so he welcomes students’ attempts.

“It’s an important part of classes here,” he said. “I was an undergraduate here 20-something years ago. Back then you ‘shopped’ for classes … Because I have a longer experience here I understand how that functions and I don’t see it as a negative thing.”

Although only four students crashed Alley’s class this quarter, every quarter is different. Alley has had 10 to 15 students on a waiting for list for a class of 20, so that he could not accommodate students. He said he has never held the fate of a student’s timely graduation in his hands. However, Alley is frequently confronted with the task of directing students away from his classes depending upon the courses’ popularity.

“The only time [crashing] can become negative is when I’ve told a student, ‘Sorry, there isn’t room,’ and they keep trying to get into a class.”

Photo by Prescott Watson.

Joan Wheeler
Second-year, Kresge
Undecided

Joan Wheeler, a second-year Kresge student, is undecided as far as majors go, but she does want to minor in astrophysics.

This quarter, she crashed Intro to Film Criticism. She attended the lectures for two days, but was not able to enroll. This could affect her ability to graduate, because the class is a prerequisite for the film major.

“I feel like I’ve had to crash a class every quarter that I’ve been here,” Wheeler said. “Crashing classes can be kind of stressful, but it’s necessary if you really want a class.”

Wheeler sympathized with those who have had to crash classes and face the possibility of postponing their graduation.

“Crashing and not getting in [to a class] is most unfortunate when it sets you back in your education plan,” she said.

Wheeler said she doesn’t mind the burgeoning class sizes as much as the reason for them: the competition among students who are desperate for admission.

“As far as the packed classes go, I don’t mind big lectures because I’m sure it’s simply the best way for everyone to learn the same subject matter when so many [students] have to,” she said. “It’s too bad that even then, a lot of people can’t get in [to classes].”

Photo by Ryan Tuttle.

Jessica Rumbel
Fourth-year, Porter
Community studies

Jessica Rumbel, a Porter fourth-year, is a community studies major and an education minor. This quarter she had to crash a class, EDUC 180, for her minor.

“I got in [the class] because I am a declared [education minor] senior,” she said. “They ended up letting declared [education minor] juniors in too.”

If she had not gotten into this class, it would have affected her ability to get her education minor, because she is graduating in the spring. The fact that only juniors and seniors were let into the class means that underclassmen may be in her same situation in the coming years.

“The last two years, I’ve had to crash classes so much,” she said. “It’s ridiculous that we work so hard and sacrifice so much to come to this institution, and they can’t even give us the security of knowing that we are going to have a spot in the classes we need to take.”

Rumbel expressed her gratitude for having met some success, however.

“I feel very fortunate to have gotten into all the classes I’ve had to crash, and I thank the professors for that,” Rumbel said. “Having to crash classes is just one of the many frustrations that have resulted from student overpopulation.”

Photo by Ryan Tuttle.

Alison Mok
Third-year, Merrill
Theater Arts and Psychology

Alison Mok, a third-year Merrill student, is a theater arts and psychology double major. She is expecting to graduate in June 2012. This winter quarter, she crashed an upper division social psychology class.

“I was low on the wait list,” Mok said. “The first day I attended the lecture, the professor took about four people [from the wait list], and then said he doesn’t like taking any more than that. So I left. I’ve had to crash one class for my psychology major every quarter, because it is so packed.”

If she had gotten into the social psychology class, she could have graduated this spring, a year early.

Mok was surprised and overwhelmed by the difficulty she met in gaining admission to courses.

“I really wish that classes were less packed. It’s kind of ridiculous how full some [of them] are,” she said. “I expected to crash classes when I came to college, but I never thought it would be this much and so stressful.”

UCSC graduate Cahill Wessel showcases his unique artwork at downtown Santa Cruz’s First Friday art tour. Through his ink and watercolor techniques, Wessel portrays the usual as unusual, his panache for the bizarre both a mix of shock and humor. Photo courtesy of Cahill Wessel.

Photo courtesy of Cahill Wessel.

Cahill Wessel gets a kick out of turning humans into dinosaurs.

His creations may lounge by their pool, sip a cocktail or two, and take the “chilling” to the next level.

Having graduated from UC Santa Cruz last winter quarter with a fine art degree, Wessel is full of inspiration and ready to take over a variety of art scenes with his ink, watercolor and unique stylistic approach.

“What I do is incorporate objects that are familiar to everyone, something easily recognized like a taco or skull, and pair it with something completely different,” Wessel said. “Before, these objects are not connected, but by pairing them together in random fashions, people can’t help but draw some association between the two objects.”

Although some may find his art shocking — with works bearing titles such as “Rhinos and Elephants Having an Orgy While Baseball Players Hit Homers” and canvases showcasing penis banana boats — Wessel tries to keep it humorous and lighthearted, giving his audience a great space for their own interpretation.

“I don’t want my work to be too direct,” Wessel said. “I just want to create funny scenes that have little things happening within them that add to the story, whatever or whomever’s story it may be.”

As a young futurist and creative thinker, Wessel sees what is to come as exciting and positive. However his work may be received or interpreted, he continues to create spaces in which all forms of stimulants and moments of time collide — kind of like an explosion.

Explosions. He likes those too, and it is reflected in his work in a splattered haze of bright colors and layered patterns.

“I like watching things blow up, but sometimes the wrong things blow up, and that can be really sad and unfortunate,” Wessel said.

The opening of Wessel’s art show at the First Friday event was “awesome,” he said.

“It was really refreshing to talk to a broader audience and see people of generations other then my own interested in my art work,” he said.

The theme of the works exhibited at Stripe was encompassing, and created an opportunity to take things with a grain of salt and in a bit of a humorous way, just like Wessel’s art:

Everything explodes these days.

Wessel said that pop culture magazines and television commercials often inspire the composition of his work: He says he envisions “modern trends, struggles, and accomplishments” when working on each of his pieces because the best art is what is relevant to our modern society.

“When art is up-to-date, it becomes practical,” Wessel said. “When art is practical, that means it’s up-to-date with what is happening in different sects of our modern culture.”

Ideally, Wessel would love to make a living creating art for all sorts of scenes, be it the amped and unrestricted style of skate art, the radical and real idea of live art, or the more simplistic independent show art. In the mission statement on Wessel’s website, his work is best described as an exploration into his interest for the new and his deep-seated openness to the sense of modernity that is often rejected within the art scene:

“We are constantly surrounded by our wildest dreams, our worst fears, and our highest hopes and aspirations,” Wessel said. “My work strives to explore our modern circumstance.”

He strives to take the simplistic and turn it into someone’s wildest dream, someone’s worst fear, or someone’s hopes and aspirations, whether his subjects be football players caught in an animal orgy or pin-up girls with babies for heads.

~~~~~~

Check out Cahill’s art at Stripe in downtown Santa Cruz, 107 Walnut Street. His art will be up until Feb. 3. Prints of his work are also for sale.

Spanish Professor Byron Barahona has studied in six countries and visited 40. Barahona has expanded his cultural horizons and learned new languages through his travels. Photo by Molly Solomon.

On a sunny afternoon, Byron Barahona, lecturer in Spanish at UC Santa Cruz, sat down with City on a Hill Press to share his extensive experience studying abroad. He spoke deliberately, choosing his answers with care while punctuating them often with easy laughs.

“If you follow your intuition, it may take you to interesting places — moments in your life and the discovery of experiences that you couldn’t imagine prior to that,” Barahona said.

Born in Guatemala, Barahona has studied in six different countries and visited 40. He spent most of his time abroad in Paris, studying and researching French literature.

Current students are completing their own study abroad applications as they plan what is one of the most unique experiences of their education, many through the UC’s Education Abroad Program. These applications are not to be taken lightly, as they determine where students may spend anywhere from a couple months to an entire year of time studying.

Barahona’s own experiences reflect the impact studying abroad can have on a student’s education.

After studying for a semester in Guatemala, Barahona began undergraduate studies at the University of Massachusetts in Boston for philosophy and for French literature.

“Boston was a pretty tough place, not very used to immigrants from Latin America,” Barahona said. “It was my first encounter with a language I barely knew.”

He credits the rapid progress he made learning English with his constant desire to be able to communicate and experience the cultures around him.

In 1987, Barahona left Boston to study for a year in Paris. As a cultural hub in Europe, Paris was the perfect place to study the French language and literature. However, studying at the Sorbonne University was only a part of the experience.

“There’s much more to French culture than its writers,” Barahona said with a nostalgic look on his face. “There’s the art, the food, there’s the joie de vivre, that attitude toward living a good life which, in many ways, influenced who I am, who I became.”

One way these aspects of culture influenced him was in his appreciation of food. Barahona laughed as he related how he had always liked eating, but it wasn’t until he went to Paris that he began paying attention to the pairing of flavors with each other and with wines.

“That was an amazing discovery, because it was a discovery of the senses in a way that I had not anticipated at all,” Barahona said. “In the end, it became a pretty good balance of that intellectual idealization I had of a life in Paris and the other areas which make us human.”

Though he was constantly learning about French culture, it was an experience that took time. Learning the language simultaneously helped in his understanding, and became quite an experience on its own.

“The progression of the language development in tandem with the life experience is something quite formidable, because it gradually opens up that culture to you,” Barahona said. “The realization that you can progress both in your understanding of the language and your understanding of the culture is simply quite amazing.”

Barahona said that an unexpected aspect of study in Paris was a developing interest in his own culture.

While traveling from Paris to other parts of Europe, Barahona encountered people who had “genuine and real questions [about Latin America] which they posted that I simply had not thought about. It made me realize that there was something in Latin American culture that was worth pursuing.”

At the end of his year in Paris, Barahona returned to Boston and added a third major, Latin American literature, to his philosophy and French literature studies.

He graduated at the age of 26 and went on to pursue his doctorate at UC Berkeley. There, he continued studying French and Latin American literature, and added Italian to the list as he worked toward a degree in Romance languages in literature.

As part of his studies, Barahona spent a summer in Florence, Italy and another in Lisbon, Portugal. He went back to France for a year and a half to do research, as well as traveling to Argentina and then back to Guatemala.

“Eventually, the road led back to it,” Barahona said.

If he could go back and spend more time somewhere he’s visited, he said, he would choose Germany. Barahona has visited almost all of Western Europe and spent some time in Germany with friends.

While much of his academic time abroad has been studying and researching, six years ago he taught in Singapore while working for Stanford University.

Of the many locales to which Barahona has not yet traveled, he said he would most like to see Japan.

“I’ve never engaged with any Asian language,” he said. “Linguistically speaking, I would be very open to the challenge of studying something radically different from what I know.”

Barahona has advice for anyone considering going abroad.

“Being immersed in a culture that is totally different from yours is quite a shock,” he said. “Students who have the courage to go somewhere shouldn’t be discouraged by that initial encounter. What’s on the other side is worth exploring.”

Photo by Prescott Watson.

Vietnam veteran Bob Stanton, 60, was drafted into the army at the age of 19.

Stanton did basic training in California, before advanced training took him to Colorado. He was deployed in 1970 and served in the Proud Americans 32nd artillery. He served in Vietnam and Cambodia for 14 months.

After coming back from Vietnam, Stanton said, he was met with hostility. He said that people threw rocks at the bus transporting other soldiers and him home after arriving back in the United States.

“It was like returning out of prison trying to forget everything,” Stanton said. “I came home and hid for 30 years.”

His wife finally encouraged him to join a veterans’ counseling group that helps those with post-war trauma.

“It’s like seeing your close family all over again,” he said. “That’s what’s kept me sane.”

Stanton said Veterans Day is the day when he remembers his experiences and is proud to be a veteran.

~~~~~~

Photo by Prescott Watson.

Erica Ronquillo, a fourth-year student at UCSC, is the first and only member of her family to enlist. In Oct. 2005 she joined the Marine Corps as a reservist where she went through physical, combat and trifle training.

After a year of training, she enrolled at UCSC and reports to her unit in San José monthly. Every summer she undergoes rigorous training meant to prepare her for a last-minute draft.

Although her contract ends in October 2011, Ronquillo said she has a future with the Marines.

Ronquillo decided to enlist when she was enrolled at a community college.

“I was looking for something new, an adventure,” she said. “I didn’t want to stay at home [and the military] always sounded really enticing.”

Ronquillo hopes the media will present veterans in a more positive light this Veterans Day.

“These negative sentiments about the war have transcended to veterans and they are not honored as they should,” Ronquillo said. “We are the warriors, not the war.”

~~~~~~

Photo by Prescott Watson.

Charlton “Charlie” Scarborough, 90, is a World War II veteran who joined the military when she was 22. She served in the Army WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corp) from 1942 to 1943 and was part of the WAC (Women’s Army Corp) from 1943 to 1945 in Algiers, North Africa. She was among the first women to go overseas in WWII.

Of her motivation for enlisting in the army, Scarborough said, “I had two brothers. They were in Alaska in the National Guard and I wasn’t about to stay home.”

Scarborough recorded her experiences in the army through scrapbooks with pictures she took during her service. She did this in secret because taking pictures was not allowed.

Scarborough said of Veterans Day: “It doesn’t excite me very much. I’d rather it slide by.”

She was one of the veterans to go to Washington, D.C. through Honor Flight Network, a nonprofit organization that flies veterans out to the state to visit the World War II Memorial.

~~~~~~

Photo by Prescott Watson.

UC Santa Cruz second-year Katherine Alvord enlisted in the Marine Corps two years ago at the age of 17. She is an army reservist enlisted for a mandatory six years and is on the regular deployment schedule.

Alvord recalls her initial drive to enlist in the army.

“I had signed up for a scholarship program,” Alvord said. “But the recruiter called me and asked me if I was interested in the reserve. I said, ‘If I can [enlist] while attending school concurrently, sign me up.’”

Alvord hopes to go to Officer Candidate School. If not, she will seek a doctorate in chemistry.

For Alvord, Veterans Day is important not only to remember veterans, but also to bring awareness to those who don’t know much about them.

“There are veterans of all races, ages and colors, from the past and the present,” Alvord said. “It is a great way to open up a line of communication between [veterans] and those who are unaware.”

Nic Hdez dips in water three to four times a day, practicing his surfing skills. After competing against the world’s prime riders last month in the Cold Water Classic, Hdez said, “It was so fun — and hard to get waves against bigger guys.” Photo courtesy of Jonathan Riise.

On the windy beach at Pleasure Point, Nic Hdez, 13, stands contemplating the waves. While all of his friends are at school taking notes, Hdez is deciding whether it is the right time to get into the water. He needs to practice those flips for next week’s competition, because he has made a promise to himself: He will continue to be the best amateur surfer in Northern California.

Hdez began his career as a competitive surfer at local surfing contests when he was eight years old. Last month, five years after his first surf, Hdez competed at the O’Neill Cold Water Classic at Santa Cruz’s Steamer Lane. The competition is one of the most important international surfing competitions in the area, attracting surfers from all around the world, most of them between 18 and 35 years old. Hdez was the youngest competitor.

One other Santa Cruz surfer, 17-year-old Nat Young, also took part in the competition. He advanced to the semi-finals but did not make it past that round.

“Other surfers got surprised that I got in, because you need a certain amount of points to get in and I didn’t have them,” Hdez said. “I got in as an alternate –— someone didn’t show up.”

Hdez lost in the first round of this competition, but for him it was a positive experience.

“It was hard to compete against [older surfers],” he said. “I only got to do one round ’cause I lost, but it was so fun — and hard to get waves against bigger guys.”

Although Hdez has been competing for more than four years in events around the California coast, his commitments have become more demanding with every year.

“This year, he’s starting to do some of the pro-junior events,” Anita Hdez, his mother, said. “We’ve already been to Florida, New York, New Jersey, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.”

But defending a title and becoming a professional hasn’t been without its downsides. For Hdez, becoming a competitive surfer has meant competing on weekends, and it required his missing classes on Mondays and Fridays in order to fulfill his sports commitments.

Four years ago, Hdez’s parents decided to pull him out of public school to continue to support his development in surfing.

“[The school] was giving us a hard time, so we decided to start home-schooling him,” Anita Hdez said.

Hanging out with his friends has become more difficult, Nic Hdez said, as he is only able to spend time with them after they get out of school.

Coming from Northern California has also proved to be a challenge.

“It’s really hard for Nic to compete with the Southern California crowd, because that is where the industry is all located,” Anita Hdez said. “Those kids always get a little more advantage when it comes to exposure and sponsorship.”

Nevertheless, Nic Hdez’s talent has been enough to capture the attention of many important surf companies. He received a sponsorship from Billabong at the age of 10 — and now, some of his other sponsors include Oakley, Nike 6.0 and O.A.M.

For Hdez, surfing may be a golden ticket to other opportunities as well.

“In the future, I would like to go out and surf good waves, go on surfing trips and check new places. I want to go to Indonesia,” Hdez said. “Once you start surfing and get the hang of it, you just can’t stop.”

Photo by Andrew Allio.

Natan Tietz, internal vice chair
Second-year music and community studies double major
Porter College

While most students were moving in and attending day keggers during welcome week, Natan Tietz was recruiting students for the SUA. His mission: filling all of the SUA committee positions on campus.

“There are all these committees that students can serve on to create change,” Tietz said. “But they have never all been filled. Often they are vacant because no one knows about them. I am going to work hard on this all year so that crucial decisions that are made on this campus have input from student voice.”

Tietz did extensive outreach to students during welcome week, he said, especially to freshman and transfer students. He hopes that by increasing awareness of the committees and their functions, he can inspire more students to take an active role in governing the university.

The first milestone towards this goal was met recently when all the seats on the academic senate committees were filled. This important committee meets with faculty to discuss issues of educational direction for the university.

Tietz was attracted to this position because he saw an opportunity to make a difference.

“I saw [this position] as a way to learn from students and administrators what the real problems are on this campus,” Tietz said. “I want to use this position to try and fix the problems that I think will improve students’ lives the most.”

Photo by Andrew Allio.

Tiffany Loftin, student body chair
Fourth-year American studies and politics double major
Oakes

Tiffany Loftin beat out two other candidates to become the SUA student body chair for the 2010 academic school year. Loftin is a fourth-year Oakes student, and an American studies and politics double major. Of her goals for this year, Loftin said she hopes to accomplish many things, all with the backing of a united student body.

“I want to focus on one campus issue as a campus body and focus on accomplishing it, accomplishing one thing that we’re all in agreement on,” Loftin said.

As student body chair she is responsible for SUA’s budget, which comes to about $1.5 million, and “supporting the other officers,” she said.

Loftin and the other officers have already met with recently appointed executive vice chancellor Alison Galloway, and they are excited to work with her, Loftin said.

“I really like her, personally,” Loftin said. “She’s very personable, and she’s not afraid at all to talk to students. She seems to be more transparent [than former EVC David Kliger] about her goals, and she wants what students want, not just what she thinks is best.”

Photo by Andrew Allio.

Claudia Magaña, external vice chair
Third-year Latin American & Latino studies and sociology double major
Oakes

Claudia Magaña was drawn to her position as external vice chair by the opportunity to be an advocate for public education and undocumented students. She does so by serving as the official representative of UCSC students to all external entities.

“Essentially, I need to be informed and engaged with the federal, state and systemwide issues that affect students,” she said in an e-mail. “So, with the possible fee increase coming up at the November regents meeting, it’s my job to let you all know, find funds for a bus to take us to UCSF, and organize against it.”

This year, Magaña’s office will prioritize two campaigns that have been set by the University of California Student Association (UCSA) and the United States Student Association (USS). They will be working to pass the Dream Act on the federal level, implementing a regental policy that would allow undocumented AB540 students to have access to institutional aid, and trying to secure a new revenue source so a fee rollback can be funded.

In addition, Magaña hopes to help the SUA be at the forefront of the student movement. She hopes student advocacy in 2010 will include more student engagement.

“The more voices that are in any organizing space, the more representative it is,” she said. “There is a hell of a lot to be angry about right now, especially since another fee increase is on the table. I can’t stress enough how powerful students are when we want to be. The UC was saved in the state budget that was just passed because we demanded it.”

Photo by Andrew Allio.

Nestor Rivera, organizing director
Fourth-year legal studies major
Kresge College

Nestor Rivera doesn’t make requests. He makes demands. As the organizing director for the SUA, he is committed to increasing the power of students to make demands through grassroots organizing. His current goal is to register 4,000 students to vote.

“Whoever gets elected into office will have a tremendous impact on student’s lives,” Rivera said. “Student voter registration is a mechanism to keep legislators accountable. It is a token of our ability to remove them from office if they do not become champions for our cause. Without this power, our demands become requests.”

Rivera views the physical layout of the UCSC campus as his main obstacle with regard to organizing students.

“The fact that the university is divided into ten smaller colleges creates less of a holistic feeling when we are trying to turn out students to campus wide events, because people are socially segregated by college,” Rivera said. “There is no central point on campus to organize huge rallies like at other schools. Instead we have multiple colleges with limited space for free speech.”

Despite these challenges, Nestor said he is committed to organizing students to fight for their interests.

Courtesy Student Union Assembly.

Alma De Castro, commissioner of academic affairs
Fourth-year politics and economics double major
Oakes College

Alma De Castro wants to be a part of the big conversations.

“My position puts me in conversations about the budget, faculty, coursework and students,” De Castro said. “It is a gateway to change.”

De Castro takes over this fall as commissioner of academic affairs. One of her main goals is to continue the work of her predecessor, Matt Palm, regarding budget cuts. De Castro wants students at all UC campuses to take the budget facts survey, created last spring quarter by the SUA. The survey collected data on how UCSC students were impacted by budget cuts. By taking the survey systemwide, De Castro hopes to create a greater avenue for student voice in budgeting negotiations.

“This would put UCSC at the forefront of getting student impact data to the [California] legislature and the March subcommittee hearings for higher education,” De Castro said.

De Castro has experience working in student government. As a third-year transfer student in the fall of 2009, she joined the SUA to expand on the work she started at community college, where she was a member of the Academic Senate. De Castro said her main challenge this year will be adjusting to the bureaucracy of UCSC.

“Having to work with considerably more people than I’ve worked with before is definitely going to be difficult,” De Castro said. “But I am optimistic that I can rise to the challenge.”

Courtesy Student Union Assembly.

Omar Villa, commissioner of diversity
Fourth-year Latin American & Latino studies and education minor
Merrill College

When Omar Villa first arrived at UC Santa Cruz, it was his desire to educate himself about his culture that led him to become an advocate for student rights at rallies and protests, and to act officially in this capacity as the SUA’s commissioner of diversity (COD).

“I decided to run for commissioner of diversity because I felt I had the experience and background needed to continue advocating for student issues, especially for those who are underrepresented and/or marginalized,” Villa said in an e-mail.

Among Villa’s many goals and responsibilities this year will be chairing and participating in various committees that influence policy and change on campus and throughout the UC. As COD, Villa will sit on the UCSC Advisory Council on the Campus Climate, Culture and Inclusion Committee, which is chaired by Chancellor George Blumenthal and was created by UC president Mark Yudof in response to the “hate bias” incidents that occurred at UC San Diego last year.

Villa plans to be an active participant in student action this year.

“If the students are asking for certain demands, we can definitely be the bridge connector between students and administrators to voice the needs of the undergraduate student body,” he said.

Photo by Andrew Allio.

It’s a sunny Tuesday morning in downtown Santa Cruz, and Star Sevedar is gardening in a cement lot, trying to beautify his friends’ front yard. Passersby stop and ask him questions about what he’s planting, and Star enthusiastically responds. He pushes back his fisherman’s hat, revealing piercing blue eyes that are even more striking than the enormous beard that covers most of his face.

“That’s an avocado, that’s a rosemary, and that’s a fig,” he tells me excitedly. “Figs are very interesting, because I guess they’re very ancient, like dinosaur days. Where the tree meets the earth, there are fruitless suckers that grow out, and they produce leaves, but they never bear fruit, so they’re really just taking energy from the tree. But a nursery person can propagate new fruit-bearing trees from those suckers.”

This is Star Sevedar: a vegan activist who spends his time handing out pamphlets around town, practicing “guerrilla gardening,” and waxing philosophically about his own destiny. He’s a vegan who hates dogs because they’re too rough, a would-be stereotypical hippie who can’t stand drug use, and a preacher of peace and love who can sometimes repel people with his zealous tendencies. Because he has no strict schedule, Star is free to ride the bus all over the Santa Cruz area, attempting to convert others to veganism. Asking around, it’s startling how many UCSC students are familiar with Star — and how many have less than praiseworthy things to say about a man few know much about.

Star knows and thinks a lot about nature. He also thinks about this world in general, and what’s beyond it, and what his role should be while he’s here.

As we walk towards the Metro center I remark that he’s very all-hands-on-deck, which he responds to with gusto.

“I don’t want to be a solo hero,” he says. “That doesn’t really work. Even saints and superheroes in history that are acknowledged as great, like Jesus had disciples helping him. I’m trying to get everyone to wake up to their own sainthood.”

Star grew up in the Los Angeles area, and suffered physical and sexual abuse from his family members, a misfortune that he said led him to the decision to abstain from eating animals or using any type of drugs.

“I just didn’t lose my purity. I wanted to stay pure,” he explains. “A lot of these adults around me were into various toxic addictions. I didn’t want to be like my parents — that’s why I chose to be vegan and straightedge, because they abused children and were horrible people.”

Upon reaching the age of 18, Star legally changed his name and left his parents’ house forever. He traveled around California and the world, learning about veganism and spirituality, and he ended up in Santa Cruz right after the earthquake of 1989. He stayed because he appreciated the open-minded culture and stunning visuals, he said.

About a decade ago, Star spent two years providing what he estimates to be about $200,000 worth of vegan food to the Kresge Trailer Park. He collected some of the food from farmers’ markets and grew some of it himself.

Star is passionate about guerrilla gardening, a practice which involves growing gardens in public spaces without permission, as well as veganism.

“I influence many folks to decrease meat consumption,” he said in an e-mail before we met. “If just us Americans reduced meat consumption 20 percent, all humans on earth would be fed well with grains freed up from wasteful cycling through slave animals’ flesh.”

His job handing out pamphlets also puts him in contact with a lot of students. He met world literature major Janet Ramirez — “Janet of the planet,” as Star calls her — during their commute from Bonny Doon.

“When I first met Star, his presence was overwhelming. He was in between homes and was a bit flustered with life,” Ramirez said in an e-mail. “Star and I are good friends now. He is an excellent networker and keeps up with me, though I know he is usually on the move.”

However, not all students respond to Star this way. I’ve heard tales of Star irritating and harassing students, and some students try their best to ignore him.

On our way to the Arboretum, Star hands a girl a pamphlet. She takes it, but her eyebrows scrunch together and she shoves it carelessly into her bag in a way that makes me doubt she’ll be taking it out to read anytime soon. Still, Star insists that his interactions with people are mostly positive.

“Rarely does someone make a rude remark,” he says. “I always make friends. I try to make new friends everywhere I go.”

One such friend is longtime vegan Toni Longely, a fourth-year environmental studies major. Longely said Star introduced her to vegan-friendly places around Santa Cruz during her first year here, including farmers’ markets.

“[Star] is intensely passionate about veganism and having as little negative effect on the planet as possible,” she said. “He just cares so much, and that intensity scares people a little bit … He’s a really great guy, and I sometimes wish people would see that in him.”

We arrive at the Arboretum bus stop, where Star has recently planted some trees. He shows me the tiny plants, buried under so many weeds that I never would have noticed them otherwise, and I ask him if he’s happy with his life.

“I’m a happy soul, but I’m having to pit my happiness against the unhappiness of the world,” he says. “This world is kind of warped and twisted backwards, upside down, and inside out, and opposite of the way it is supposed to be, because people are doing too much unlove.”

Star believes that humans are “what make the world horrible.”

“Human minds are full of negativity, so they create a world of negativity,” he says. “Every bit of love and kindness makes a big difference in a person’s life.”

He points to his baby oak tress.

“I’m proud of these,” Star says. “They’ll provide shade for people someday.”

~~~~~~

To contact Star, call him at (831) 425-3334 or e-mail pureveganstar@yahoo.com.

Freshman runner Taylor Hoyt practicing by himself on the track. Without a D-III country team, Hoyt must be self-motivated. Photo by Devika Agarwal.

Tyler Hoyt is not an National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) D-III athlete. He does not wear a UC Santa Cruz uniform. He will not be representing the Banana Slugs on this year’s D-III men’s cross country All-American team.

And yet, the first-year history major trains as though he were competing against the region’s best runners.

“As a freshman, if he had the opportunity, presumably he would have been one of the faster guys in the West region for Division III,” said Adam Booth, women’s cross country coach, who has gone out of his way to set up a workout program for Hoyt.

Unfortunately for Hoyt, UCSC does not have a men’s D-III cross country team. He had offers to run in D-I at St. Mary’s, but decided to attend UCSC instead.

Hoyt’s high school coach David Jackson and Booth ran together at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the late 1990s. Jackson alerted Booth that Hoyt would be coming to UCSC and told him he’d really appreciate it if Booth worked with him.

“At first, to be honest, I kind of blew [Hoyt] off,” Booth said. “But he kept on me, he tracked me down again and again. If I see an athlete put that much work and effort into finding me and doing the training, it’s pretty easy to give it back to him.”

Booth started working with Hoyt in January. Each week, the two meet up to plan a workout, which Hoyt completes himself, checking back afterwards with ideas of what to work on next. Since January, Hoyt has cut 15 seconds off of his 5,000 meter time.

“He does all the things you would do if you were on an NCAA team, and he does it alone,” Booth said. “He is one of the runners that coaches dream of. His work ethic is unbelievable.”

“Running alone is very quiet, especially in the evening or early in the morning,” Hoyt said. “It’s pretty much in silence.”

Hoyt explained that having a person to run with helps push him, but that he finds other ways to motivate himself. Working with Booth, who was one of the reasons why Hoyt chose UCSC over St. Mary’s, has definitely made staying focused easier.

“A UC education is hard to argue with, and athletically it’s an awesome place to run,” Hoyt said. “And one of the things my high school coach told me, he said ‘if they are going to have a team, Adam is going to be the guy, and he’s a great coach, you know he’ll take care of you.’”

The two have bonded, and both say they enjoy working with each other. But Hoyt still admits that he misses the experience of running for a school team.

“I can go home and sleep in my bed at my parents’ house. I can go home and eat my mom’s food, drive my car, and do whatever, but I still don’t have a team,” he said. “Coming up here for school, the only thing I miss is my high school running team.”

But there is hope yet that Hoyt will get his team.

Linda Spradley, director of athletics at UCSC, said that the university applied and was granted a one-year waiver from the NCAA. The waiver allows UCSC to continue competing without six male sports teams, the minimum for a D-III school, but by the 2011-2012 school years, another male team will need to be added.

“We sent in a waiver, because financially, as a school, we can’t do it,” she said. “We can’t even do what we’re doing now.”

Spradley was clear in saying that the athletic department has made no decision on which sport will be added. She said that once a decision had been made, an announcement would be posted on the department’s website.

Yet, of all the sports that could be added, men’s cross country seems like the most viable option according to Booth.

“It doesn’t take a lot of facility use, it doesn’t take a lot of infrastructure within a school, and dollars-wise, it’s the cheapest of any NCAA sport,” Booth said.

On top of that, men’s and women’s cross country share a season, and Booth has already offered to coach both teams. The only cost of the team would come from buying uniforms and renting a second van to transport the runners to events.

Even the extra cost of attending tournaments would be miniscule. Booth said that, while some coaches allow him to pay only half the cost to attend an event, at other events he still has to pay the regular entry fee — despite the fact that UCSC only has a women’s team.

“Basically, I’m already paying for a men’s cross country team,” he said.

Every summer, Booth receives 15 to 20 e-mails from prospective students, asking about the possibility of joining the non-existent men’s cross country team. As of now, there are no men’s cross country teams in California public schools. Clearly, recruiting would not be an issue.

Hoyt believes there are plenty of students who would love to run for UCSC. And both he and Booth agree that if there was a men’s cross country team, it’d be a force in the region.

“We’re here,” Hoyt said. “And when there is a team, we’re ready to compete.”

Photo by Rosario Serna.

John Mock envisioned UC Santa Cruz as a university where the study of South Asian languages, culture and history would thrive, but the ever-steepening cuts the campus is facing have buried those plans. With Arabic already eliminated, UCSC’s languages are taking another hit — next year, the university will no longer offer instruction in Hindi, a national language of India, or Urdu, a national language of Pakistan.

Mock is the only lecturer teaching Hindi and Urdu at UCSC. He is also a member of several national language organizations, and serves as the school’s institutional trustee on the American Institute of Indian Studies. In addition, he was nationally elected to the Executive Committee of the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies and the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies. Mock explained that these programs offer scholarships and other resources to language students.

“On the one hand I am being told, ‘Thank you, you bring honor to this campus,’ but then this,” he said.

Mock, who has taught Hindi and Urdu at UCSC for nine years, is uncertain of what he will do next.

“I will have to look for a job,” he said. “I have no idea what I will be doing — what am I going to do for health insurance?”

Hindi instruction began in 2001 as a six-course series, or two-year program. Urdu was offered one quarter a year. Most language graduate programs, certain education abroad programs, and even some undergraduate majors at UCSC require two years of study in a foreign language.

“Students who have been studying Hindi and wanted to use it as their language requirement are out of luck,” Mock said. “They will need to start over with another language.”

This is not the first time Hindi has faced cuts. In 2005, cuts that would have eliminated the second year of instruction in Hindi were countered by private donations. An agreement between 15 donors and UCSC stipulated that the donors would contribute $1,000 a year until 2010, when the university was to find a way to continue offering Hindi.

“The donors can’t do everything on their own,” Mock said. “It is up to the campus to provide the planning, vision and leadership.”

But hard economic times have prevented the university from developing the funds needed to continue the program.

“The money is ruling everything,” Mock said. “Things like languages, which would normally be considered assets, instead are being considered liabilities.”

Photo by Rosario Serna.

Kyle Thomson wants to study Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese, but cuts to UCSC’s language department could dissolve his plans.

Thomson, a sophomore at UCSC, is a feminist studies and language studies double major. However, he recently submitted a proposal to the Committee on Educational Policy (CEP) for an individual major called Romance Languages Studies because he feels limited by the parameters of the currently offered curricula.

Thomson’s invented major would require him to study four languages in addition to cultural, linguistic, historical and political studies of those languages.

“I wanted to have my major be expressive of what I am doing,” Thomson said. “So much effort goes into earning an undergraduate degree, no one wants to dedicate themselves to something and not have it be expressive of what they are doing. If I wanted to do linguistics in English, I could have just taken linguistics, but I am interested in the linguistics of other languages as well.”

A romance language studies major would require Thomson to earn two years’ equivalent of credits in Italian, French and Spanish, and to complete the four-course Portuguese series. The possible loss of Portuguese and other courses offered by Portuguese lecturer Ana Maria Seara could potentially derail his academic planning.

“This would make it difficult to get the classes I need,” Thomson said.

He was told by an adviser that if Portuguese no longer existed at UCSC, he would need to take those courses elsewhere.

“I honestly don’t know what I would do,” Thomson said. “I would have to drive to San Jose or Monterey every week.”

Budget cuts are the reason the languages program faces reduction and elimination of languages which do not directly serve any existing major requirements. The Humanities Advisory Task Force released a report which states that if Russian, Portuguese, Hindi/Urdu and Hebrew were all eliminated, it would save the division $182,000 a year.

“My greatest fear would be that they cut all four languages — and for me, the loss of Portuguese is the biggest threat,” Thomson said.

If Portuguese is reduced or eliminated at UCSC, Thomson would need to propose an alternative plan for an independent major or attempt to take Portuguese at another school.

“I think it is important to speak up now,” Thomson said. “Don’t be afraid to go to the dean’s office hours, because if you want to take Russian or Portuguese next year, it could be gone and it will be too late.”