City on a Hill Press: When did you first start producing music?
DJ Sam F: I started producing when I was 16. I used Garageband at first and then I used Reason. It was mostly hip-hop back then and I kind of rapped. It was pretty silly.

CHP: How did you get started producing at UCSC?
DJ Sam F: One of my friends from high school, Lucky Date, talked with me about being producers and making it a career. He kind of inspired me to get back into it. I took a class at UCSC on Logic the end of my sophomore year and since then I’ve been in Logic. For the past two years I’ve been producing EDM, but I wasn’t good at first. It took a while before
I liked the end result.

CHP: What types of EDM do you produce?
DJ Sam F: Dubstep, electro-house and “hip-hop step.” I’ve done a bunch of remixes that are about 100 beats per minute. People really like those but I don’t want to pigeon-hole myself into a “remix genre” of what I do. I’m working on my EP now and it’s going to be electro. I also work on some glitch-hoppy, rap influenced EDM.

CHP: What other artists/genres influence your work?
DJ Sam F: Definitely Porter Robinson and Lucky Date. Skrillex has been a huge influence — his music has been super innovative and he started the whole “brostep” genre. People hate on it but I love Skrillex and I’ve always considered him as one of my favorite artists. I’m influenced a lot by the hyphy movement because I grew up in Berkeley, so you’ll find rap things [in my music] that allude to Bay Area hip-hop.

CHP: How would you describe your musical style?
DJ Sam F: It’s pretty complex. I do resampling — crazy techniques of making my sounds. I’ll program a synth, bounce it to a new file, edit it again, re-compress it and add more effects. Really complex, glitchy sort of sounds.

CHP: How long do you usually spend on a single track?
DJ Sam F: It depends. A hip hop remix I could do in two days, sometimes even a day. Originals I like to spend more time — really go back into fine detail and find everything that I do like, until I have a final product I can say I’m really proud of.

CHP: What is your process when starting a track?
DJ Sam F: Before I can do anything I need to clean my room, it’s like a weird OCD. If my bed’s messed up, in the back of my head, I’m like “I can’t produce.” Then I’ll usually start with drums or a sample and then layer it. I usually start with drums, then go to build, then drop.

CHP: What is your favorite part of performing?
DJ Sam F: I’m really into the vibes. When I drop a song and everyone is stoked, that’s the best for me. I just get really excited and I jump and see the crowd’s appreciation. Especially when it’s an original. So definitely “vibing” off the crowd.

CHP: What was the strangest or most interesting thing that has happened to you at a show?
DJ Sam F: This isn’t strange, just really unfortunate. There was a really drunk girl at MOTIV, and she came up and was lingering next to me in the booth. I asked if she could please move and get out of my space but she was like, “No, f*** you.” Then I was like, “Security, can you please tell this girl to leave?” Then she goes to the crowd and finds her boyfriend. They come up and then close my laptop and the music stops and I was like, “Security, get them.”

CHP: Is producing and performing music something you intend to pursue as a career?
DJ Sam F: Definitely. After I graduate I’m planning on moving to LA to network down there. It’s all about coming up with original music. I have a release on Universal Republic — I did a remix of The Lonely Island’s new song “Yolo” that comes out on Saturday.

CHP: Do you have any advice for up-and-coming producers?
DJ Sam F: Dedicate yourselves to it. It’s really hard and takes a lot. But if you’re committed to spending three hours a day, everyday — no exceptions — for like a year, then it’s definitely possible [to be successful]. I haven’t made it yet myself, I’m on a path to hopefully succeed. But it takes dedication and full commitment.

Sam’s music is available online on his SoundCloud and Facebook.
soundcloud.com/djsamf
facebook.com/djsamf

DJ Sam F gets the crowd going at the E-40 show.

DJ Sam F gets the crowd going at the E-40 show.

Sam F adds effects to the mix.

DJ Sam F performs at The Catalyst before E-40.

DJ Sam F performs at The Catalyst before E-40.

DJ Sam F performs at The Catalyst before E-40.

DJ Sam F performs at The Catalyst before E-40.

DJ Sam F performs at The Catalyst before E-40.

Sam uses a variety of plugins.

Sam F programs synths and drums.

Sam F works with his production setup in his house

Sam works with Massive to craft his synths.

Sam F programs synths and drums.

Sam F programs synths and drums.

Sam F uses Apple Logic in his production.

Courtesy of Darryl Virostko

World famous surfer and local to the Santa Cruz community, Darryl “Flea” Virostko takes recovery to another level with his local, non-profit organization Fleahab.

Started in 2010, Fleahab aims to “provide a sober living environment, created to integrate exercise and a healthy lifestyle into the recovery process for those afflicted with drug or alcohol addiction,” according to the project’s official website . This year, Virostko plans to purchase a new home on the Westside to continue carrying out this mission. First, he has to get enough funds and make the right buy.

Q: What is your short-term goal for Fleahab?
A: Our goal in the next six months is to get into a house. I get emails from people all over the country who want to do Fleahab, but I can’t do it unless we get it going for sure. We’re trying to figure out our next event to give us that push to get us that house.

Q: How are you encouraging kids to ask for help?
A: By speaking and telling my story. I was making twelve grand a month surfing. I was on top of the world. But it got to me. The partying. I didn’t think it was going to get to me, but it slowly crept in. I say to these kids you have to check yourself and know where you’re going in your life and not be scared to talk to your parents about it.

Q: How will the new house contribute to the organization?
A:There would be guidelines like a regular house, to clean up after yourself. I want them to actually do something and not just sit out back smoking cigarettes. I think that the people that come for this, come from far, like New York and Florida–they’re surfers. They’ll want to do sports and get good waves. I’m excited because there are so many possibilities for it.

Q: How do you think Fleahab will affect the community?
A: It’s going to really help people. People will get excited about getting clean and feeling like they used to feel. A lot of times, people used to like to do sports before they got on drugs. Being able to help different people with different backgrounds in sports is going to be cool for Santa Cruz. There’s no sober living environment like this.

Q: Does surfing play a large role in the organization?
A: It’s so nice to get into a wetsuit and be away from land. Surfing is definitely going to be a big part, but whatever someone wants to do, I’m going to be a support to a lot of people. I’m not going to pressure people to go surfing but if they will, that will be great.

Q: How will your past experience help the organization?
A: Just in trying to bring awareness that it’s a common problem. It’s not something that we should be hiding from. I want to help that person to not be scared and to actually ask for help. So many kids around Santa Cruz are scared. They don’t want to get in trouble. So making it more open is really important.

Q: What kind of support have you received from the community?
A: I’ve had so much support from the community. Kids’ parents who know what I’m doing are so stoked because I’m a positive role model for their kids now and it feels good for myself because I can actually help these little kids.

Q: What have you gained from helping people in Fleahab so far?
A: I’ve helped a lot of different people. Seeing the joy and happiness in their face when they actually rode a wave. The energy that you get from other people being excited is like being a kid again. I see myself catching my first wave. It’s so cool to see that. People coming back into life is such a special thing. I’ve always been really passionate about helping people, and if they need help, I’m going to help them. Just seeing progress and people being happy and being able to support people. I get satisfaction from all of that.

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Stein

In the Cervantes and Velasquez Conference Room above the Bay Tree Bookstore, UC Santa Cruz students met with their student representatives, student Regent Jonathan Stein and student Regent-designate Cinthia Flores on Friday, Oct. 19. The Q&A featured discussion on Prop 30 versus Prop 38, as well as the fate of the University of California.

Afterward, City on a Hill Press sat down with Stein, who was wearing a “Vote on Prop 30” t-shirt, to find out what the future looks like for UC students. Stein, who is pursuing a master’ s degree in public policy at UC Berkeley and a J.D. at Berkeley Law, has been a student Regent-designate for a year and is now beginning his term as a full-fledged student regent with voting privileges. Currently his most pressing concern is preserving the UC for future generations of students and voicing student perspectives to the UC Board of Regents.

City on a Hill Press: What have you liked about your position?

Jonathan Stein: It’ s an opportunity to meet incredibly talented student leaders across the UC system. It’ s an opportunity to help build a student movement across the state of California. Students are realizing their own power, I think, to a greater extent than they have in the recent past, and that’ s appropriate because they are now being asked, in today’s UC, to pay more for less. This is the first group of UC students who have been asked to pay more for their education than the state of California. The state of California that funded this system for decades and built it into this wonderful thing is now walking away from it, and they are leaving students on their own. Students have a right to be angry, and it’ s time for us to organize and to mobilize in defense of our interests.

CHP: What are the most immediate areas of concern to students of the UC?

Stein: Proposition 30. It is more than about taxes. Every year, the administration puts a fee increase on the table and students react to it — they protest, they march, they rally. Students have the fate of their education in their own hands. They have an opportunity, if they want, to stand in defense of their own education and be proactive rather than reactive. My immediate concern is to get as many people as possible to vote. I should be really clear that as an officer of the university, I’m not allowed to tell anyone how to vote on Proposition 30. But I am able to put out information about what Prop 30 means for your education, and what we know is that if Prop 30 passes we’ll receive $125 million to negate any fee increase, and if Prop 30 fails, we’ ll lose that $125 million and we’ll cut an additional $250 million. So there’s a difference of $375 million and the administration has already said that in order to find this money they’ll need to increase fees by 20 percent. So the passage of Prop 30 is guaranteed to result in a zero percent fee increase. And the failure of Prop 30 almost certainly means a 20 percent increase.

CHP: Statistics now show that about 50 percent of college graduates will not find jobs, yet they will be overwhelmed by student debt. Are there any plans of the regents to address this?

Stein: We’ re now seeing students delaying major life choices, such as getting married, having a kid, buying a home. Even people with good jobs are delaying major life choices because of debt loads. Undergraduate debt makes going to graduate school more difficult. Student debt is forcing students into certain … career choices they may not want to make, but they have to because they have this crushing debt. College is becoming less affordable across the country. The folks who are having the hardest time accessing the UC today are middle-income families. The number of low-income applicants is increasing, the number of high-income applicants is increasing. But for the first time, there is a decrease in middle-income applicants.

CHP: What has been the main obstacle to creating a UC budget that is large enough to continue current levels of education for students, but is affordable at the same time?

Stein: State disinvestment, no question. The state of California has cut us by a billion dollars for the last four to five years. We have cut about a billion dollars, that’s roughly 30 percent of all state funding. Decades ago, the state of California contributed 50–60 percent of our budget. Today, it’ s only 11 percent of our budget. State disinvestment is leading directly to higher fees and privatization of the university.

CHP: Do you have any exciting future plans?

Stein: Yes, I’ll be back in the spring to hopefully recruit a Banana Slug to be a student regent.

CHP: What would you like your audience to remember most?

Stein: That we once built the greatest system of public education in the world. And now we are tearing it down.

Photo by Sal Ingram.

UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal and executive vice chancellor Alison Galloway sat down with student media organizations on Feb. 6 to discuss issues facing the university.

CHP: The UC system accepted the highest number of students who didn’t meet the UC requirements this year — was that decision made for monetary reasons?

Blumenthal: By policy, UC is supposed to accept from among the top 12.5 percent of high school graduates in California. And by policy, non-resident students’ minimum requirements have to be at least the average of what California requirements are. The regents have, for a long time, agreed to set aside six percent of slots for students who might not meet the entrance requirements of the university. Historically I think we’ve accepted something like two to three percent of our entering class as not meeting the standard UC requirements. Oftentimes on this campus it’s if somebody hasn’t taken a particular test. On some campuses the reason for that is they want to accept athletes, so they recruit some football player who doesn’t meet the entrance requirements and they fall under that 6 percent. Sometimes it’s because of another special skill — a potential student who is a super-duper violin player and is really achieving a lot in that, but who doesn’t meet the normal requirements for admissions, that would be another example. I do think the campuses have the right to do this, up to 6 percent, and traditionally most of the campuses have not exercised that right. So why has that number gone up? My only speculation is some campuses have decided to do that more than they have in the past.

CHP: Why are the regents necessary?

B: Once you set up a university system, there has to be somebody or some group in charge. The regents serve that role as the people who bear the responsibility, financially and managerially, for the University of California system. I think if you look at any university or university system in the country, they all have something like a board of regents. Our board of regents has another unique aspect to it, namely constitutional autonomy — the regents can make decisions with regard to the university without the kind of legislative oversight that some other systems, for example the CSU system, have. And we can have a discussion about whether that’s the best possible model, but whatever you do there is going to have to be somebody in charge taking responsibility.

Photo by Sal Ingram.

CHP: Monica Lozano, one of the regents, sits on the board of Bank of America, which has been a massive provider of student loans — do you think that is a conflict of interest?

B: As a public university, I think we have to be more sensitive to potential conflicts of interests than any other organization in the country. On the other hand, the specific example of Monica Lozano and the Bank of America, I’m not particularly concerned [about] for a couple of reasons. One, Bank of America no longer does student loans —student loans are now federalized, so it’s not an issue anymore. Secondly, Monica actually has been an opponent of raising student tuition, so if she’s got the conflict of interest she did a very poor job of pushing it. I actually think she is very supportive of students and student financial concerns. Looking at potential conflicts of interest is important, but … the regents span a huge range, from people who are billionaires, who have amounts of money that you and I couldn’t even imagine, to people like Odessa Johnson, who is a retired schoolteacher.

CHP: With regard to the [upcoming] March 1 Day of Action, in terms of student interest, do you think that boycotting classes is an effective strategy for mobilizing students?

B: I think it’s not as effective as it could be, because if the only issue is closing down the campus, then the debate becomes closing down campus — the rights of students who want to close down the campus versus the students who [don’t], and then it becomes a student versus student issue … I think a much more helpful thing would be if we could use a day like that to actually have meaningful debate and discussions about the future of the university and the future of public higher education.

Photo by Sal Ingram.

CHP: How do you think students could initiate meaningful debate or open lines of communication with regents or chancellors to instigate the change they are hoping for?

Galloway: I think a lot about this. We were hoping to have the budget forum before March 1 so at least we could be on the same page in terms of what we’re looking at. I think you’ll find most of the administration is equally distressed by the budget cuts and tuition increases — it’s not an avenue we would like to be pursuing. But on the other hand, we’re faced with a situation where we have to provide a level of education which we feel at least that we can support, that it’s UC quality. And I’m looking forward — if those tax measures don’t go through, that’s a $200 million cut to the campus. We have mandatory cost increases as well, and we could be looking at more budget cuts, and I don’t know where I’m going to take that.

B: And to put it in perspective, if you look over the last four years [at] all of the budget cuts we’ve taken from the state and add to that the mandatory cost increases, things like union contracts, if you add those together and ask how much of that has been made up for by tuition increases, the answer is less than half. So in terms of the cuts that we’ve taken, we’ve taken some of them with tuition increases, but the majority has been real-live cuts — people losing jobs, classes not offered. That’s the situation we find ourselves facing.

Twanas: You said you were preparing based on what you know of March 1. What is expected of students, and how are we sure to feel the support of administration, not only on that day but also at regents meetings overall, that sometimes end up closing their doors?

G: March 1, we have heard [everything] from major demonstrations to a hard strike in closing the campus. So we are monitoring those to see what kinds of reaction and what the scale of that is going to be, and what kinds of preparations we need to make … And there are students who are paying a lot of money and want classes to continue and I have to take that part into consideration at the same time … It’s a difficult road to navigate. The demonstration advisory group has been meeting and helped us come out with a list of principles about how we’re going to manage that, and also looking at the student judicial procedures around protests, and we’re also looking at the processes we take in preparation for major protests.

B: I would just emphasize there isn’t unanimity on campus when someone decides to close the campus, and it is our responsibility to keep the campus and classes available for students who are paying a lot of money for it … our goal is to minimalize conflict and certainly minimalize any potential for violent conflict, either with police or among individual stakeholders on campus – safety has got to be our primary concern.

CHP: What is your prediction for the future of public higher education?

B: We need to think about this as a country, I think. When you look at other countries, one of the most striking things is that most countries support public higher education through their national budgets and national governments, rather than entities like states. We are now living in a time when some countries are making huge, huge investments in higher education. China is spending a lot of money on higher education. When I was in Beijing a year and a half ago talking to presidents of Chinese universities, I was struck that when they talked about some of the programs they wanted to put in place. I said, “That’s expensive.” Their reaction was, “Money isn’t the issue for us.” And I was thinking, “Gee, wouldn’t that be great if I could ever say money isn’t the issue for us?”… In California we have this long tradition of the Master Plan for higher education being a great success for the last 50 years. We should be proud of the fact that in California the Master Plan has worked so well, and I believe the economy grew dramatically as a result of that. But we’ve let the Master Plan go by the wayside by not funding education adequately … We have not kept up the commitment with the Master Plan, and the Master Plan said higher education should be free. Well, for those of you whose parents write $13,000 checks, I can assure you it is not free.

Photo by Auralee Walmer.

Dr. Marla Wyche-Hall is the new director of the African-American Resource and Cultural Center (AARCC). She stepped into the position a year after the previous AARCC director and founder, Sister Paula Powell, left UC Santa Cruz after a career of over two decades. The center focuses on retention of African-American students by creating a community hub, providing students with mentors, workshops, educational programming and peer groups.

City on a Hill Press: Is being a student athlete a big commitment for you?

Contreras: Yeah, it’s a big commitment. Being a college athlete is very demanding. But in the end, if it’s your passion, it’s all worth it. It’s fun being surrounded by people who share similar goals and interests with you. I love all my teammates and coaches. We all support each other. We train hard and race hard. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

CHP: How do you balance your team and school?

Contreras: Runners are athletes, even when not at practice. We have to sleep early, wake up early, do school, practice, race, every day until the season is over. Even when the season is over, we have to train. I think being an athlete makes me more disciplined as a student. We race almost every weekend and have to get our stuff done. There is a lot of sacrifice involved. We can’t always go out and do things normal college students would do.

CHP: Did any of your fellow runners surprise you with their performance?

Contreras: I’m not surprised with what my teammates can do. They run hard and run well. I’m particularly proud of the freshmen on the team. They did very well and had a good season, and can only improve from here. Two of our runners, Mimi Petersen and Lauren Carlton, had spectacular performances at regionals and placed top 35 in the west region. As for the guys, I think they really showed other teams they are serious and ready to compete … They will only continue to show the competition what they’ve got.

CHP: What are you doing to prepare for next season?

Contreras: I want a faster time. To get faster next year, I will have to allow myself to save my mental energy for the race and not spend it all at practice. Most importantly, I need to stay confident and rest more. I will be a senior next year and I will train my best to make my season count, and hopefully make it to regionals with the top seven girls.

CHP: How much do you train per week?

Contreras: I train 12-15 hours a week. One or two hours, six days each week.

CHP: Does UCSC support the team?

Contreras: UCSC tries its best to support us, but since we don’t have as many resources as Division I schools, we have to just do the best we can with fundraising, and use the voices of our athlete representatives [to] push for more resources and opportunities. I think the student body is becoming more aware of the sports teams UCSC has. Everybody can always use some more school spirit.

One night in November of last year, John and Sue, both Occupy Santa Cruz participants, threw a brick through the window of the Wells Fargo building downtown, just a few blocks from their home. City on a Hill Press recently sat down with the pair to learn more about Occupy Santa Cruz from an insider’s perspective, as well as what led them to vandalism for the sake of a cause.

~~~~~~

CHP: First off, can I get an idea of when and why you became involved with Occupy Santa Cruz?

John: I went to the first meeting they had in Laurel Park. I’ve always liked politics and history, and I’ve always felt a sense of inspiration in the protest movements of other generations, and I think it’s just as necessary, if not more necessary, now. Some of the biggest issues around Occupy [that interest me] have to do with legalized bribery in terms of campaign funding, and the Citizens United decision.

CHP: Since your concerns seem to be mostly national, what do you think is the value of having Occupy in a “liberal bubble” like Santa Cruz?

John: I think it’s really powerful when people read about things happening not just in New York and DC, but when they open up their local paper and read about the march on Pacific and realize it’s everywhere.

CHP: So do you see any change in Santa Cruz that could be connected to Occupy?

John: There’s been the Occupy Our Homes campaign, which is pretty much genius in terms of PR. Occupy members are inviting people to live with them if the banks are foreclosing on their homes. That’s happening in Santa Cruz and all over.

Also, I was involved with the occupation of 75 River St., which is the most recent big thing, and thought that was a good experience. I have that sentimental front page over there (he points to an issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel thumb-tacked to the wall). I think what was so controversial about it (and it was regarded as controversial) was that the storyline had a different ending. The headline says “Riot Gear-Clad Police and Protesters Clash.” There was a three-week period where they were cracking down everywhere, so it was almost like an old story by that point, but it was controversial because in this case, the police backed away and the people won. I think that threatened the status quo in a way that made people feel uncomfortable.

CHP: What is the community of Occupy Santa Cruz like?

John: So there’s the veterans of the ‘60s, who are more concerned with spiritual matters. There’s the anarchist faction, which I think deserves a lot of credit for Occupy’s success and framework. I could be completely wrong, but I think the whole consensus process was developed by anarchists as a way to do consensus without having any leaders. So we’ve got the aging hippies, the anarchist punks, the lefty academic student types (here he points to himself) and the homeless.

Sue: And in addition to that, I work in the mental health field, and some of my residents have gone and at least camped at Occupy Santa Cruz. So I have this appreciation for the movement because of how accepting they are of all walks of life.

CHP: Speaking of the homeless, a big complaint leveled against Occupy Santa Cruz is that it’s more of a “homeless haven” than anything else.

John: That’s part of it, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s living up to the values that they’re espousing about economic equality, and they want the state to be more responsive to the people. They’re leading by example. If the homeless aren’t allowed to sleep on the street or in their cars, then that’s a pretty good cause in itself for establishing a community for them.

CHP: What prompted you to throw that brick through Wells Fargo, and do you stand by [your action]?

Sue: It was earlier that day when the students had come down and done the ring around Wells Fargo. For me, it came to this point where we were so disgusted and frustrated by what was going on with the banks, by their continue abuse of practice, and the breaking of the windows was this symbolic thing. We weren’t going to break — they were going to. I would feel bad if I had broken somebody’s something, but this is not somebody’s something. It’s something that we have all paid for, and will continue to pay for.

John: The most recent issue of Occupation Times had just printed an open letter from an Oakland activist [responding to a media coverage of bank vandalism in Oakland] that was really articulate, and he was saying, ‘Some people are uncomfortable with that kind of thing because it seems like violence. But don’t do the job of the 1 percent by condemning the actions for them.’

*Names have been changed

Photo by Prescott Watson.

Story updated 11/3/2011 at 6:15pm

Wooksik Cheong, a representative of the South Korean NGO Peace Network, recently visited UC Santa Cruz to discuss the disputed construction of a South Korean naval base on Jeju Island, a South Korean island off the southernmost tip of the mainland.

Jeju Island, much like Okinawa to Japan, maintains a unique dialect and culture separate from mainland Koreans, resulting in a sometimes volatile relationship between the island and the peninsula.

In 2007, the South Korean government decided to build a naval base in Gangjeong Province in Jeju Island and since then villagers and activists have banded together to protest the construction of the base.

Peace Network, established in 1999, focuses on promoting peace within the Korean peninsula through cooperation, delegation, discussion and the demilitarization of the area.

Literature professor Christine Hong sat in on the interview to assist with translation. Hong has visited Jeju Island and is familiar with the controversy surrounding the naval base construction.

City on a Hill Press: Can you explain the history behind this contested military base? Is this resistance movement part of a much bigger issue?

Wooksik Cheong: Jeju has a very indigenous culture; South Korean mainland persons cannot understand their dialect, so for a long time the people of Jeju have maintained an independent and special culture. However, [historically] the Japanese army used Jeju Island as a platform for an attack on China, so there was an airbase for the Japanese military. After that, the United States controlled Jeju to attack Japan, but the United States changed their mind and sought Okinawa … With the construction of this naval base, the message that the South Korean government and Navy is sending is very similar to the ways the South Korean government and United States used [Jeju Island] 60 years ago. In order to isolate Gangjeong Village from the mainland, the South Korean government, or ruling party or conservative media, has labeled the residents and volunteers as pro-North Korean or Kim Jong-Il puppets.

Christine Hong: But the people who have been protesting have been jailed and they’ve been beaten. As Wooksik was saying, recently even, the mainland government sent over a thousand riot police to quell the protest, so it’s very reminiscent of the past.

WC: The central government does not believe in the local police, so they send riot police to directly control the operation.

CH: When I was in Gangjeong, there were police at every single entrance to the village.

CHP: The Defense Ministry has expressed determination to finish the military base, and has characterized protesters as more of a nuisance, spreading false information. How do you respond to that?

WC: South Korea is a democratic country and the opinions on the naval base are from a variety of spectrums. However, the South Korean government and media are hesitant to [have a] dialogue with villagers. The biggest frustration of Gangjeong villagers is, ‘Why has the government not talked to me about this?’ They’ve just talked to the press and the [police] force. But the idea is this is an issue of … national security … [and] if you express a different opinion, you’re a pro-North Korean, you’re a Kim Jong-Il puppet. Is this a democratic country, then? It’s very shameful. The first thing the villagers wanted [to say] is, “Let’s talk: Why does the government want to build a Jeju naval base?” … If even one more person supported the Jeju Naval base, we could quit the protest.

CH: The government claims that this decision came about democratically, but actually the standard proceedings for any kind of vote within the village were not observed. And I think that it’s very revealing the head of the village is in prison right now. What the government keeps saying is the people protesting the construction of the naval base are obstructing business, so the government is revealing what its notion of democracy is — it’s placing the obstruction of business … above the rights of citizens to determine what they want in the area they live [in], and it has made a mockery of any democratic process.

CHP: Can you tell me a little about “Pacific Freeze”? How do military spending, armed conflicts, and continued military expansion relate to the health and well-being of the environment?

WC: I think the biggest enemy to humanity is climate change. … Unfortunately, the U.S. military budget is up to about 50 percent in the world military expenditure. Think about that: Why does the United States spend so much on the military? Do American people feel safe? I don’t think so. American people are afraid of many kinds of threats. In order for the United States to play a leading role in dealing with global problems, I think they need to [funnel] their military sources into other things, for example the green economy. … [Furthermore,] why is the South Korean government and Navy destroying this natural and beautiful environment? It’s a gift from god, from the heavens. A few years ago, the South Korean government pointed out Gangjeong Province as an absolute preservation area. In order to build the naval base, the South Korean government cancelled the absolute preservation. That means the South Korea government is talking about green economy and green growth. However, the South Korea government is destroying the environment for a risky naval base.

CH: They have lied and said they have done environmental impact surveys, but they have not done any significant environmental impact surveys. And they say their spokesperson in the United States, one of the cultural ministers, Nam Jin Soo, said it would have minimum impact on the environment. The fact of the matter is, one, I’ve called him on the phone and … he’s never been to Gangjeong province. He hasn’t spoken to anyone and … the thing that’s interesting, too, is even when you talk to the women in the neighboring village, they say that the ocean is no one’s to own. It’s clear they are destroying the environment. And when you see the way the protesters were living on the environment, it’s unlike any other kind of sustained reoccupation … and the way that they were living was so in tune with the land …There’s something really profound about the way the protesters were coexisting with the land.

CHP: Looking forward, the latter half of South Korean history is hugely influenced by U.S. involvement — do you foresee a way for South Korea to effectively separate itself from the U.S. military?

WC: For a long time, especially since the Korean War, South Korea has been under the U.S. security umbrella. There are different ways of thinking on this relationship. For example, the past South Korean government hoped that South Korea could be more independent and self-reliant. … The current government thinks the … way to keep security and peace is to strengthen the alliance with the United States — that’s the fundamental thinking of the South Korean government. … Some people want to keep the alliance [with the U.S.], some people think we don’t need the alliance anymore and [the U.S.] cause many problems and should withdraw. Many people think, “Why are we maintaining the alliance? We need to improve our relations with the North.”

CHP: Do you hope to see a unified Korea? Is that end goal of Peace Network’s work?

WC: What is important is not reunification itself but how to reunify. Firstly, we put more value on peace rather than reunification. I think reunification should be realized step by step, gradually through cooperation.  However, the South Korean government wants to unify with North Korea through absorption, but that’s not the right way. I think peace is the best way to realize reunification and peace should be the goal of reunification.

CH: Many people describe peace in military terms and they say peace in Korea depends upon a strong U.S. military presence and a strong South Korean military. [To WC:] What is Peace Network’s understanding of peace?

WC: Peace should be based on demilitarization. … Real peace can be realized … through dialogue, cooperation, trust building [and] respecting each other. For a long time, South Korea tried to enhance its security by enhancing its military power or strengthening its alliance with the United States, [but] many South Koreans don’t feel safe. Even though South Korea spends about 10 times more than North Korea in its military budget and makes pains to align with the U.S. …many people are asking, why are we not secure? Why are we not stable?

Chancellor George Blumenthal and executive vice chancellor Alison Galloway answer questions from student media organizations. Photo by Kyan Mahzouf.

Chancellor George Blumenthal and executive vice chancellor Allison Galloway met with Student Media Organizations for their Quarterly Meeting on Oct. 10. Blumenthal discussed private UC funding and the critical race and ethnic studies movement on campus.

CHP: Regarding the Sept. 15 Board of Regents meeting: there was a certain sentiment that the UC system ought to be pursuing more sources of private funding, in light of President Yudof’s four-year proposal. What are your thoughts on this?

Blumenthal: We would love to see more private funding, no doubt about that. Don’t be misled that we don’t already do private funding. Last year, our private funding was up 10 percent. We already do a lot. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do or try to do more … There is an effort to reach out to the largest corporations in California, who are in some ways beneficiaries of higher education because they get to hire trained people. That’s a perfectly legitimate thing to do. The bottom line is, we’ve taken tremendous cuts … President Yudof’s plan was a plan to bring some stability, and to make it clear that if tuition goes up, [here's] where the finger needs to be pointed: the state and the legislature have not provided adequate funding for us to continue to do what is our mission.

TWANAS: Now that we have seen the critical race and ethnic studies movement go through several steps, students are wondering where you two see your position as salient to the movement, and what involvement you have, if any.

B: We’ve been very supportive of the major. We’ve provided funds for faculty. I’d love to see it happen. We regard it as a major initiative.

Galloway: We’re hoping to get a proposal out of the faculty quickly, and through the academic senate process where it would be approved. Personally, I’m very supportive of this … As executive vice chancellor, I’m delighted to see it move forward.

CHP: In addition to current private funding, what direct approaches do you think would be practical for corporations in showing them their advantage in funding a UC?

B: We owe it to the next generation of students to give back. People take it seriously — our donations were up last year. When I go to a group of business leaders, one of the key questions they ask concerns education and higher education. They run companies that send jobs out of the country because there aren’t enough qualified people here. It’s obvious that there should be more financial support for the benefit of our state, country and economy.

CHP: Do you think the UC system at large has done enough with regard to providing information for students about the fee increases?

B: Almost certainly no. We could do a better job of it, and we could do a better job of communicating with the people of California and the legislation. It’s frustrating that, though last year was great in terms of lobbying in Sacramento to bring the issue forward, at the end of the day higher education cuts were devastating. We have to do better, or we have to find alternatives — private fundraising, specially designated higher education funding from the state. We have to do something else.

CHP: What can students do to impress upon the private sector that it is in their best interest to invest in the UC system now?

B: I was really impressed by how students, faculty and admins worked together in Sac[ramento] last year. We came together to convey that we had the same message. I think that can translate in the private sector as well. I think it would be entirely appropriate to respectfully have student groups meet with private sector groups. Some are already there: The Silicon Valley Leadership Group is as supportive as any of higher education. We need to reach out more broadly to individual companies, though.

Courtesy of Jake Brenner.

In this past week, City on a Hill Press held an email interview with Jake Brenner, a graduate of California Polytechnic State University and founder of HouseBiscuits.com, a website resource for students at UCSC and across the country who are in search of reviews for houses in their college towns.

City on a Hill Press: How did you get involved with designing this website?

Brenner: The idea for the site came to me during my junior year of college. I lived in a house with four other people that was right across the street from the campus. The house itself was … literally falling apart as we lived in it. Only one of us had ever met the landlord, and he wouldn’t talk to anyone else besides that one person. So if something broke in the house we had to get that roommate to call the landlord, who rarely answered his phone. Long story short, it was a year in a broken house with no sign of change. So I thought, “What if we had a way of talking to the previous tenants or reading a review of the house? Then we would have known how shady this guy actually was before we signed the year-long lease.” So the second I graduated, I began working on getting the site together, and here we are.

CHP: Why do you think the site is important?

Brenner: Any college student [who] rents a house or lives in the dorms understands the pain of paying way too much rent for the standard of living they get. As student renters we are stuck in a horrible position. If you don’t rent this house then someone else will, guaranteed. The landlords know there will always be a demand for the house or apartment since it’s next to a school, [and] they take advantage of this way too much. We are here to change that by allowing renters to speak their mind and for once provide feedback about their experience.

CHP: What were the challenges of getting the site up and running?

Brenner: The biggest challenge hands down is getting the word out there about the site. It’s a great resource for any renter, but especially students, since you can rate your dorm as well. I am starting the site without any large amounts of money backing me so I don’t have the funds for a huge ad campaign. Right now, the site has just been word of mouth over Facebook (www.facebook.com/housebiscuits) and Twitter (@housebiscuits). I hope to get the word out there to help students share their experience and educate future renters before they sign a lease.

CHP: How do you feel about the site’s success?

Brenner: So far I am pretty happy with its success, but I know that there is so much more to be had. Currently, we have just over 550 dorms/apartments/houses listed at over 750 schools across the country. However, it’s up to the students to get out there and share their experience about these places and add ones. I know it sounds tacky to say, but it really is all about the users. Without them, there literally is no site.

CHP: Do you hope to influence student lives outside of this website?

Brenner: Of course. I want them to have a better college housing experience. [If] you pay rent, then you deserve the same rental experience as the family next door. Sadly, this isn’t the reality, though. By connecting potential renters with ones who already lived there, we can change this and create awareness. Many times landlords request letters of recommendation or rental history from a prospective renter — why can’t we ask the same of them?

CHP: So how did you get involved with SOAR? What’s it like?

Fujioka: I got involved in the work of student organizations first at UCSC and then at San Francisco State University. Being active in student organizations changed my life and gave me the motivation and ability to excel academically. I feel very fortunate to work with new generations of students as they engage in the opportunities offered by student organizations.

CHP: How has the year been for those organizations and SOAR?

Fujioka: SOAR supports the projects of organizations that produce over 200 campus-wide events each year, an average of 6,800 free publications each week and countless radio and television productions. Student groups and leaders had many successes this year, including the hosting of Dr. Cornel West, raising over $20,000 for cancer research and KZSC being named one of the top college radio stations in the country.

CHP: What was it like bringing Cornel West to UCSC?

Photo Courtesy of Sayo Fujioka

Fujioka: It was so inspiring to have Dr. West speak at UCSC — such an honor. The SUA and e2 [Engaging Education]students who organized the event worked hard to give the student body the experience of hearing Dr. West in person. He is indeed an icon, yet he was down-to-earth and connected with students by speaking to their experiences. I hope there will be more programs like this.

CHP: So, you’re essentially the head of a lot of student organizations and groups that all work extremely hard. Does it ever get stressful?

Fujioka: It is stressful, with the budget crisis looming over all of

us. But I love my job. UCSC student organizations are inspiring. Their leaders and members work hard to make a difference, whether through producing events, lobbying in Sacramento, or producing journals, newspapers or shows. These students gain and share an incredible spirit of generosity and love of learning. Working with them and seeing them continue on as alumni gives me hope for the future.

CHP: Where do you see the future of SOAR going?  Is there a lot of cooperation among the various student organizations, from what you’ve seen?

Fujioka: This is a very exciting time. UCSC’s student organizations are growing organizationally and developing more and more sophisticated programs — they are becoming crucibles of learning where students learn to work in teams, to listen to new perspectives, to collaborate effectively and be more self-directed and successful. And, yes, there is more cooperation between groups, which only adds to the breadth of experience available to those involved.

CHP: And do you have any advice for graduating students who aren’t quite sure where to go next?

Fujioka: Uncertainty can be uncomfortable, but give yourself time to explore. Talk with your faculty, staff, family and community mentors. Try things out and find what truly motivates you.

Photo by Prescott Watson

UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal and executive vice chancellor Alison Galloway sat down on April 14 with student media organizations to discuss issues facing the university. City on a Hill Press, KZSC, SCTV, TWANAS and The Fish Rap Live! touched on the topics of decentralization and the $500 million cut to the UC system.

City on a Hill Press: At the UC Board of Regents meeting in March, you said if the state legislature ends up cutting $1 billion from the UC system, “some fundamental assumptions have to be thrown out.” In regards to UCSC, what assumptions are you referring to?

Blumenthal: I really don’t believe that the campus can responsibly take cuts of that magnitude and still maintain the kind of student experience that you’ve come to expect. I think that the responses will have to be systemic — there will have to be a major effort to bring additional money into the system, and that’ll have to be done on a systemwide basis. I think in the short run, it’ll probably lead to significant fee increases. I don’t see any other choice … A billion-dollar cut to UC really is Armageddon, and the way you deal with Armageddon is with really radical solutions.

SCTV: On April 5 [Gov.] Jerry Brown said “the university is an engine of wealth creation.” I’d like to get your response to that idea.

Blumenthal: I completely agree with that. Let me limit my response to California. California is a knowledge-based economy — there’s a lot of farming, but a lot of California’s economy has a lot to do with intellectual property, creating things, whether it’s Hollywood or IP. We really need an educated populace in order for that to happen. It’s true that for every dollar invested in UC, the long run repays that investment many times over. It’s a great investment for the state of California. The reason they don’t do it is because they need the money now, and they’re not so worried about the future. I think it’s short-sighted.

CHP: Regarding the decentralization plan, where all the campuses will pay a flat tax to UCOP instead of paying them funds and getting funds back — this will probably be more beneficial to smaller campuses rather than larger campuses. Could you comment on that?

Blumenthal: It’s a little more complicated than that … For every different color of money that came to the system, like the mafia, they would take a piece of the action off the top, and it was a different piece and percentage based on the color (health, lab, state, student, federal money). They used a complicated formula to do that. Generally, they took more money from state general funds than from medical centers. But if you look at the total budget for UC, the total state funded budget for UC next year under Jerry Brown is $2.4 billion. But the total budget of UC, if you include medical centers and all that, is closer to $20 billion. A flat tax on all expenditure is going to be advantageous to campuses like Santa Cruz, which are more dependent on state funds, as opposed to campuses like UCLA for example, where a large part of their operation is a huge medical center.

KZSC: With the increase in student fees, what is the outlook for incoming freshmen next year? There’s the possibility that they won’t be able to apply because they can’t pay, and with the removal of more grant programs, how can they enter a UC?

Blumenthal: First the good news — Cal Grants have been preserved in the budget at the federal level, although as you probably know from reading the papers, there was a push by some to severely limit them … We have at UC the Blue and Gold Program, which guarantees that students with a household income of less than $80,000 don’t pay fees. They should not be concerned. The people who are really hurt by fee increases are people in the middle class.

KZSC: Just going off availability for classes, there was a proposal to cut the class time to 60 minutes, down from 70. Is this correct … [and] was the purpose to save revenue or to increase availability?

Galloway: It was largely to increase availability, because it would give us an extra slot in the day in which students could get a class. One of our problems is we have so few large lecture halls, so it’s difficult to have the large classes which preserve the smaller classes. Another slot would help us move enough students through so they could all get into a class.

KZSC: What do you think the potential benefits and downfalls are to this plan?

Galloway: Benefits would be students getting into classes that they need. Less delays in their progress to their degree. Downsides are pretty obvious — if you have less time in class, you’re going to get less out of the class. It’s frustrating as a faculty member when you have a certain amount of material you have to get through. We’re teaching a semester’s worth of material in a quarter. It’s hard to do in the first place.

Photo by Nick Paris

The United States unleashed warplanes with the help of European forces against Libyan leader Qaddafi and his government less than a month ago. Since then, Congress members — including Speaker of the House John Boehner — question whether or not Obama violated the War Powers Act. Amid calls for his impeachment, many ask, “What happens next?” UCSC Politics Professor Daniel Wirls sat down with City on a Hill Press to analyze the President’s decision to intervene. Wirls’ most recent book is dubbed Irrational Security: The Politics of Defense from Reagan to Obama and his interests include Cold War and post-Cold War military policy.

City on a Hill Press: First off, how much of the situation in Libya is about oil?

Daniel Wirls: It’s not like Libya was holding its oil before the war — to me that doesn’t seem major. That hardly means I think the U.S. only does things for good reasons, I just don’t think oil explains why we’re in Libya.

So then, what’s your problem with Libya?

I don’t agree with our decision to intervene — sometimes the idea of where we intervene is influenced by where we can use our military force effectively … We can go bomb stuff in the Libyan desert, but we can’t necessarily do the same thing as neatly in the Ivory Coast where many more people are dying. That would involve putting soldiers on the ground and could get very, very messy … In some ways, our interventions are governed by what we’re really good at: fairly precise use of air power.

Why is Congress so mad? Is it the principle of checks and balances or a power struggle?

There’s always going to be a political power struggle, but in this case [Congress] has a pretty good point … If you look at the Gulf War — even going back to Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq — Congress, by fairly large majorities, passed authorization for the use of force before any fighting had begun … There’s a pretty strong argument that even the formalities of the War Powers Act were not adhered to [in this case] … [Congress] can either vote to get out, which they won’t, or they can tell Obama that the clock is ticking, in which case they’re hoping that we’ll be out of there before too long … My guess is that this will just die out in Congress.

What exactly did Obama do wrong?

It’s not that Congress is saying that what [he] did is wrong, but that the way [he] handled it was … The combination of presidential power as commander-in-chief and an international decision-making structure that often calls on U.S. force to do what the U.N. needs creates a powerful mechanism for the president to step outside the Constitution … Some argue that the War Powers Act is a band-aid that has not worked. The question is, what should the change in the Constitution look like? That’s a little tricky. I would almost hate to see what some of those amendments would look like.

Every president since FDR has both participated in and escalated military conflict in another country. What do you make of this trend?

My argument in particular is that the U.S. has too much invested in military force. That doesn’t just hurt us as a country in terms of the fiscal budget, but [also] that amount of power tempts us to use it at times when we shouldn’t. Iraq is the ultimate case in point … If we dropped some of our power, we would be forced to cooperate with allies more and follow the process that led to Libya … That temptation of going it alone is in many ways really the problem, and often a bad idea.

So what’s the lesson here?

The positive lesson might be that [the international community] really can act together — not to say that we always should but that it is possible to reach a fairly profound level of cooperation. … There’s a way in which the Libyan operation could be a model for how these things are to be done. … First and foremost, we’d better hope that Egypt makes a successful transition to some reasonable version of assembly.

Photo Courtesty of The Great Morgani

Retiring at an early age from the stock brokering business, Frank Lima became a street musician. Not just any street musician — he became the Great Morgani.

His act is more than accordion playing. He is the man in downtown Santa Cruz or at farmers’ markets with the most elaborate full-body costumes covering every inch of his body as well as his accordion. While many know of the walking, accordion-playing spectacle that is the Great Morgani, few know much about him.

City on a Hill Press: How did the Great Morgani become who he is today? What was the turning point?

GM: Ah, “the Great Morgani day”? Actually, boredom. Pretty much, I’ve done my career backwards. I was a stockbroker from age 18 to 35, then I retired, and then I did, well, nothing. I remodeled and traveled and traveled and remodeled for 19 years and then I was bored. So, 14 years ago I put on a funny hat, got my accordion out and played on the street. It evolved into this very strange character of 130 costumes and 42 accordions.

So, what are your crazy costumes inspired by? Why is your face always covered?

When I first started on the street, I just had a funny hat and some boots. My accordion case was my money box. But I just wanted to push the envelope a little more. So I thought, “OK, let’s see. I wonder if I can play with gloves. Then I thought I wonder what would happen if I cover the accordion in material. Well, then the only thing left showing was my face — might as well cover that up too. So it’s all illusion. I always say my act is a sort of alienesque Cirque du Soleil.

You make your own costumes?

Yes. I make all my own costumes on a 1943 Singer sewing machine. It’s as old as I am and probably in better shape. I like dressing in the most elaborate colors. I wish they’d invent new colors for me. People want to see the spectacle!

And this is why they are so extreme?

Yes. I love it when little kids come up to me and ask, “Are you a man or a lady?” and I say, “I’m an alien!” You really can’t tell what I am — I mean, I could be anything. It’s very, very visual, it’s got to be the entire package. It can get a little manic. I mean, now my business card has got to match the outfit and then the stage I stand on, and my money box has also got to be coordinated. Some of the really elaborate costumes can take up to 100 hours to put together.

What kind of events do you usually play?

I love street performing, but I do a lot of private parties too, like birthday parties. What’s terrifying is when I have to play kids’ birthday parties. I think people think that I’m a clown and I’m going to do a lot of interacting with kids. Little kids terrify me. They’re just spontaneous, and you have to be on your toes.

So no kids’ birthday parties…

No. I worked for a non-profit organization called Young at Heart for eight years. It sends musicians to play at nursing homes and convalescent hospitals and retirement homes. The interaction with the people was just incredible. I know tons of old songs and I’d get them to sing along. I had fun doing that.

In costume?!

Oh, no. If I did those in costumes there’d be wheelchairs burning rubber to get out of there! I usually would just wear a top hat and gloves, something that’s a little bit out of the norm. Not something freakishly disturbing.

So costumes and gigs aside, why the passion?

I’ve been in the downtown area now for 37 years. I’m representing myself as a musician performance artist, but I’m also representing the community. I would say now that I’ve established myself here I feel that I’m contributing something — I’m contributing an art form. The ultimate compliment for me is “Your music makes people smile and makes people happy.” That’s what it’s all about, you know?

So it makes others happy. And you?

I’m blessed. I love what I do, the area that I’m in, and it’s all here. You’ve got to pay your dues along the way. What I did as a stockbroker was to have the financial security to do what I want to do today. That sounds very preachy — I’m sorry. I get very preachy sometimes. See that’s Frank Lima, he’s an old poop. The Great Morgani is a lot more fun.

Fourth-year Jenna Conway is one the organizers of Party, Bike and Jam, a monthly bicycle event meant to promote local bands and alternative transportation. Photo courtesy of Jenna Conway.

Organizer of group bicycle ride “PB&J” — Party, Bike and Jam — Jenna Conway speaks to the magic of mobbing. For the fourth-year history of art and visual culture student, it’s a profound, community-building and extremely exciting experience — no good feeling outdoes that of riding the town with an eccentric group of students and locals.

Last Friday, the second PB&J ride, the monthly mob of over 300 bikers took on various cycling routes around Santa Cruz, riding from one venue to the next to listen to and support local bands and to promote alternative transportation.

As a participant of the last PB&J ride, I was completely taken aback by the vibe of kinship that surrounded me while riding the streets of Santa Cruz with strangers and friends alike.

Conway comments on her experience as organizer and her ideas that ignited this magic mob, explaining her vision of the “alternative world.” For her, the goal is to bring group bike riding to the attention of the public and make that world accessible to everybody.

CHP: What inspired you to organize the PB&J bike rides?

JC: I went on one of the FMLY rides [a previous organized “family” bike ride that originated in Los Angeles] here in Santa Cruz last spring, and I was introduced to the thrill of mobbing. I had never imagined streets filled with laughter and bikes instead of noisy, dirty cars. It gave me a vision of an alternative world that I wanted to live in.

I took a class at UCSC over the summer that exposed me to a lot of critical theory and visual cultural studies. I wrote a research paper on the Critical Mass [group bike] rides, and after doing so much thinking about it I decided to make it a goal to become involved in organizing bike rides. … I was so inspired by the overwhelming feelings of community I got from that — a group of young people working together to create a positive and welcoming space within a hostile environment.

CHP: How do you go about starting to organize such a huge project?

JC: For such a radical and visceral experience, these rides start in a very virtual medium — Facebook … It makes the planning process much easier, because it allows for direct feedback from the cyclist community throughout the entire process.

CHP: Why and how do you choose the venues and bands that perform?

JC: There are some very talented groups here in Santa Cruz, and I love being able to build our community up by giving our local bands a chance to engage with the biking community. The rides draw a really large audience, and they can provide great exposure for new and established groups alike.

However, I think that the results of this ride have necessitated some changes in what we consider to be venues. I think we’re going to need to get more creative and start using open, abandoned spaces to avoid confrontations with city residents and the law.

CHP: Speaking of the law, the police showed up at the last venue on Friday. Thoughts?

JC: It’s pretty hard to hide 300 bicycles … no matter how crafty you get. So when the cops showed up en masse to the last stop, I felt disappointed but sort of resigned. I understand that the police are obligated to respond if someone in the community complains about the noise. I don’t blame them for doing their job.

I want it known that I do not condone aggression towards police officers [and it] is not something that I ever want to support. It goes completely against the spirit of the ride, which is admittedly political in many ways, but intended to be peaceful and fun-loving. I would thoroughly discourage anyone who wants to behave violently from attending any future rides.

CHP: What makes this effort worth it, what is your favorite aspect and what are you promoting?

JC: I love mobbing. … While leading the last ride, I kept compulsively glancing back to see the mob behind me, because I honestly couldn’t believe it was really there. … I love riding bikes, I love the biking community, I love music. When [all] are combined on such a massive scale I feel like the happiest girl in the entire world.

CHP: What is the purpose of a ride like PB&J?

JC: Above all, the rides are about utilizing visibility as a statement to create awareness in the relationship between drivers and bikers. The intent of PB&J is to create a sense of camaraderie amongst the cyclist community, and also to expand its reaches. The experience is meant to encourage riders to get on their bikes and become bike advocates themselves.

CHP: Where do you see this project going?

JC: My hope is that PB&J will grow big enough to engender a degree of philosophical change in Santa Cruz. Ideally, I’d like to achieve a state of cooperation at the city government level that allowed for a program like San Francisco’s Sunday Streets [a program that closes large stretches of roads in the city for several hours, restricting their use to cyclists and pedestrians], only here in Santa Cruz.

UCSC alumna Elizabeth Gordon creates based on characters in the film industry in her online comedy show, “Dumbass Filmmakers.” Courtesy of Elizabeth Gordon.

Sunday morning. I find myself conversing with Los Angeles. I’m talking to former UC Santa Cruz theater arts graduate Elizabeth Gordon. The subject of our conversation? A new online comedy show, “Dumbass Filmmakers,” which Gordon produced, co-created and co-stars in. Elizabeth is nothing if not talkative — what was originally planned as a relatively brief discussion of her show evolved into a greater debate about the pitfalls of Hollywood and her time at UCSC. Despite being some 400 miles apart, within minutes we may as well have been undertaking the interview in a more conventional, personable, setting.

City on a Hill Press: Can you give a summary of the show?

EG: It’s basically about a group of loveable losers that want to make a movie but have no idea what they’re doing. The two main characters are Harrison Dewinter and my character Vicki Moretti. Harrison is an … artsy director who thinks he’s … brilliant and amazing. He’s written this really weird movie … that makes no sense. Vicki comes on and really doesn’t understand the movie at all. Over the course of the first season, they hold auditions. Some are really good, some really bad. The people they don’t want as actors they hire as crew. Over the course of the show, they all become close and realize what they really want to do. It’s really heartwarming. I think once people start to watch it, they’ll really start to connect to individual characters.

CHP: Who do you think will relate to the show?

EG: I think it’ll especially relate to people in the entertainment industry who’ve come across people like this. That’s actually how the series started — we’d come across these kind of people while producing other projects. It was like, “Are these people for real?” — and they are. So we introduced that into the script.

CHP: Did it always start off as a comedy program, or did it evolve into that?

EG: It was intended to be a comedy. Yet, when we started working on it and had our actors come in … we found a lot of depth with them. We found their backstory, how they’d got to that place in their lives. They say that comedy is harder then drama. You have to actually come from a real place, and a lot of comedy comes out of pain. We did a lot of in-depth work with the actors. Where they were coming from was a big deal. They’re all leaning on each other. Still, they all really want to make this movie, even if they all have their own agendas. We want them all to be multi-layered as characters. So as well as the comedy, there are some really human moments between the characters, which make them all relatable.

CHP: What websites do you plan to be hosted on?

EG: We’re going to have dumbfilmmakers.com, which is our website, and we’re definitely going to have YouTube.

CHP: Changing tact, you were producer, co-creator and the lead actress. How is it juggling all three roles?

EG: [nervous laughter] You have to be very good at staying on top of things. You have to be able to separate the jobs, but at the same time keep them all encompassed together. You have — and I hate this word — a sense of control. It consumed my life for eight months, but when you see the footage, it makes you proud. We did our jobs. We had a great team of people. I really enjoy the ride.

CHP: I see that you’ve produced theater productions. Was it a different experience?

EG: Yes. I did theater for a long time before I moved to film. It was definitely stressful at times, but I was already adept to that world, having acted for some time. When I moved into film, I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is a different world.” You still use a lot of the same things as in theater — you have to know what’s going on and time elements. You also have to deal with stuff like lighting, which you don’t have the language for at that point. You have to know how to get a good crew of people together — that’s essential. At least by the webseries I knew a lot more things.

CHP: Does your character Vicky have much of you put into her, or is she a blank slate?

EG: She has some of my traits. The thing that I love about Vicky is her need for love and acceptance. She started in another play we did together [and we loved her]. The comedy comes from how she deals with people, because not everyone “gets” her. In the series she’s very organized, but has to deal with a lot of people, and gets in over her head.

CHP: Is there any advice you should give students here?

EG: Oh yes. First I should say that I loved my time at UCSC. It taught me so much. I learned that things can change in a heartbeat. You have to be tenacious and go after what you want. You never know what’s going to pop for you. Just don’t give up. Some people do one play and it clicks instantly. Others work for 10 years before finding this. That’s what I have to say.

Photo by Prescott Watson.

Chancellor George Blumenthal and executive vice chancellor Alison Galloway met with student media news organizations at the chancellor’s quarterly press conference Monday. Among other issues, the administrators responded to queries about the governor’s proposed budget and the future of American studies.

City on a Hill Press: How will the potential suspension of American studies affect the chancellor’s vision of a “cross-cultural” campus?

GB: Both American studies and community studies are programs that do have important cross-cultural contributions that they have made. But I still think, that even with the suspension of admission of new undergraduate majors in both cases, there remain programs on this campus that really do provide significant cross-cultural opportunities for students. [The suspension] by no means reflects a reluctance to have them. The steps that involve those suspensions came about for a lot of different reasons, including the question of whether or not we can continue to support these students at the level they have been enrolling. But their suspension provides us an opportunity to rethink some of these programs and perhaps have them come back in a different form that might better the cross-cultural initiatives we’d like to see on this campus. I don’t see that as a takeaway. I see that as an opportunity to improve.

AG: [The suspension of American studies] it is very much something we need to work on with the faculty to see if we can take this decision and make it into an opportunity to reformat some of these things, in particular around ethnic studies.

GB: There has been a lot of concern on the part of students as to whether or not we can have an ethnic studies program or major on the campus. The faculty decided many years ago that our equivalent of ethnic studies would live within the American studies major. So the potential suspension of that major does give us an opportunity to rethink things, and we could very well end up in a better place than where we started with.

CHP: How will the university account for the lack of diversity in student interest that might come with the suspension of American studies?

AG: Well, the majors themselves have probably [had] around 200 majors in each of those or maybe a little bit less. So it’s not an incredibly large number of students. More than likely, most of those students would be adopted to other majors on campus. Those programs may not serve exactly the kind of things they would like to do, but we still have the option for the individual majors as well, so some students may be constructing their own majors around that. There are internship programs, such as were provided to community studies, in other fields as well. Sociology and environmental studies, for example, have internship programs. So students may go into those areas as well.

KZSC: In light of the governor’s proposed cuts to higher education, do you have any insights as to what is going to happen to the university?

GB: We are fortunate that we haven’t spent all the money we got last year. But we will have to make some significant additional cuts. That will mean that we won’t be able to do everything that we currently are doing, which is already cut back from what we were doing a few years ago. I don’t think we’re in a position to say specifically which programs might be affected. We can say that a year from now, if this budget passes as it was proposed today, we will have to make cuts. Making cuts means that a year from now there won’t be as many people working at the university as there are today and that’s going to mean a loss of services for students. Exactly where they’re going to be, we don’t know yet.

AG: Obviously, cutting programs in and of itself does not save us money unless the costs associated with those programs go away. And that is something we haven’t done. We have kept the faculty going with most of the departments. The idea that we can just simply go in and discontinue teaching certain areas as we have done in the past doesn’t save us money. So we’re looking at ways of trying to preserve as much of the academic mission as we can. But still realizing savings in other areas.

On the Spot: As UCSC isn’t predominantly a graduate program-focused campus, when budget cuts are enforced, do graduate programs get cut more than undergraduate programs?

GB: It isn’t easy to look at budget cuts always and say, “This is undergraduate, and that is graduate.” We do have a graduate division which does have some money. But most of the cuts that take place on campus affect support units or even if they affect the department, they might affect graduates the same as undergraduates depending on the department and depending upon where the department’s priorities may lie. In addition to that, I would say you’re right, graduate students constitute 10 percent of the student body in this campus and that is one of the lowest if not the lowest of the UC system. But it has long been a goal of the campus and a goal of mine to increase the percentage of graduate students, certainly not to the level of Berkeley or UCLA but at least up to a level that is more consistent to the rest of the UCs. I think it may not be a priority we can easily attain during a time of decreasing budgets, but it is still a priority.

AG: Many times the cuts that we think of as being primarily focused towards the undergraduates have profound effects on the graduate programs as well. Examples of these are things like the temporary support for teaching. In many cases we cut those teaching assistants but also teaching fellows. So we have fewer sections available for undergraduates. We have fewer course offerings available for undergraduates. Unfortunately, those have implications on graduate students too, for whom teaching assistantships and teaching fellowships are a very important means of support, so it hits both undergraduates and graduates. And unfortunately, that is the way things are: One blow does not hit just one people — it hits many.

CHP: With the budget cuts, how can we keep and attract great professors?

GB: I think a lot of our faculty come here and stay here because of the quality of our students, because of the nature of their interactions with other faculty. The research environment and the teaching environment are very important for the faculty, as well as what the future will hold, if things will get better or if they will get worse. I will say up front that we do not pay our faculty adequately. Our faculty are underpaid by national standards — they are easily more than 10 percent underpaid relative to faculty elsewhere at equivalent institutions. Over the past few years our faculty have even been underpaid relative to the UC system. We’ve been trying, over the last two years and will continue this year, to make sure that our faculty are at least not underpaid relative to other UCs. We don’t have enough money to make them not underpaid relative to the rest of the country, but at least relative to the rest of the UC system, I think that’s one of our obligations. We’ve made enormous progress in that regard in the last two years, and I’m hoping we’ll finish the job this year.

Photo by Ryan Tuttle.

The founder of Homeless United for Friendship and Freedom, Robert Norse, is nothing if not a personality — from his voluminous gray beard to his gregarious and passionate nature, to the extremely detailed and elaborate speech that every question or remark is likely to elicit.

Having interviewed him several times now, it’s clear that Norse lives to opine, and that has gotten him into a fair amount of trouble — he’s been arrested or asked to leave city council meetings a number of times. In 2002, he gave a mock Nazi salute when he thought a council member cut off another public commentator unfairly, and after being arrested without charges, Norse sued the council. He just won a unanimous decision in his favor from the Ninth Court of Appeals, so I met him at Yan Flower to discuss the case, as well as what he sees as much larger problems with the Santa Cruz City Council.

City on a Hill Press: What do you think your recent victory will mean for Santa Cruz?

RN: It means the city council will probably be a little more nervous about repressing people. They need to exert their own power, they think, in order to prevent other people from exercising their First Amendment rights when they’re in opposition to the council. They have a very high-handed sense of what constitutes their power. They believe they can call a “thumbs down” gesture a disruption from the audience. The real issue is they don’t like being called fascists, when they’re acting in a fascist manner.

CHP: Part of the council’s defense in this case is that removing you was “human nature.” What do you think of that?

RN: Strange defense. People in political power have a responsibility that people in their own homes don’t have. If you’re in an elected office at a public meeting, you have an obligation to hear the public, even if you don’t like what they’re saying. It may be human nature for you to say, “Hey, I want to kick this guy out cause I’ve got an armed police officer here who will back me up even if it’s a violation of the constitution.” That’s human nature, perhaps, but it’s not the best part of human nature, and [not] the way a democracy should be run.

CHP: You’ve publicly expressed that the mock-salute fiasco was no isolated incident, but part of a larger problem with the city council abusing power. What do you mean by this, and has it gotten better or worse since 2002?

RN: We have a lawless city in some respects. The mayor restricts public space and restricts public comments at city council meetings.

It’s gotten worse. Coonerty has introduced rules that are even worse than [former mayor] Rotkin’s. Coonerty’s rules require that for the public, you’re only allowed to speak for two minutes for all 18 items, put together [during a city council meeting]. It’s unlike any law in any city in California, as far as I know. You can speak five seconds for each item, if you’re lucky. You’re not allowed to talk for more than that, unless you have the consent, the sacred consent, of one of the city council members who know better than the public what items you’re allowed to talk about. That’s a clear violation of both the Brown Act and the First Amendment. This is based on the illusion that they only have limited time, when in fact they could expand the time, obviously, to accommodate people who want to talk, as, for example, the board of supervisors does, and as the Berkeley City Council does.

CHP: Several city council members, both new and old, have expressed a desire to cut homeless services spending. What do you think of their reasoning that it would free up funds for other important things, like education?

RN: And like hiring more police officers to arrest homeless people downtown, which they did in a secret, closed session last year. Well, I have to be fair, Hilary Bryant I only talked to once on the sidewalk, and David Terrazas I know only in passing, so I have to talk to them first. Coonerty, of course, is another matter entirely. He refuses to respond to things as a public official, which is a real fault.

CHP: Would you like to see more Santa Cruz residents become actively involved in local issues?

RN: Citizens need to establish alternate organs of government. Citizens need to establish essentially a parallel government where they set up their own priorities, allow their own input. Conservatives have already done this with groups like the Santa Cruz Neighbors and Take Back Santa Cruz. It’s time for the rest of us to do it so that there’s a counterbalance.

At a meeting for the year’s first press conference with student media, Chancellor George Blumenthal (left) and executive vice chancellor Alison Galloway (right) addressed student media’s most urgent concerns. While the discussion focused on serious topics, the pair managed to keep the tone positive. Photo by Prescott Watson.

Student media news organizations put hard-hitting questions to Chancellor George Blumenthal last Thursday. Newly appointed executive vice chancellor Alison Galloway joined us at the chancellor’s quarterly press conference. Among other issues, the administrators responded to queries about student activism and the future of campus programs.

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City on a Hill Press: What went into the decision to appoint Allison Galloway as our new EVC?

Blumenthal: I really feel very, very lucky, because at the same time last year that we were doing our EVC search, several other campuses were doing EVC searches as well. Some of them were unable to complete their EVC search and make an appointment. I had four outstanding finalist candidates, any of whom could’ve stepped into that position. But in choosing Allison, I was motivated by the fact that she is very committed to the campus. She understands the campus well, and she really has demonstrated her ability to administer programs … I think Allison brings the whole package, and because we worked together in a variety of different capacities over the years I thought that we would work well. And lastly Allison isn’t afraid to tell me when I’m wrong.

TWANIS: What do you want to be your legacy at UCSC?

Blumenthal: First, I’d like people to look back and say that during our term here, the university continued its upward trajectory among universities in the country and the world. I think that was true as I was coming in as chancellor, and I’d like to continue that trend and really move it forward in a very meaningful way. Secondly, I’d like people to look back and realize that this was a very difficult financial time for the university, and that we found ways to stabilize the university during what were very difficult times and prepare us for hopefully better times ahead.

KZSC: You talked last year about increasing the graduate student population to help the undergraduate population in their quality of education — how is that going?

Blumenthal: I actually really believe in my heart of hearts that graduate students do benefit undergraduate students, and we have one of the lower, or maybe even the lowest, percentage of graduate students in the UC system … it seems to me that for a research university we could benefit from more graduate students, and I think our students would benefit. I’d also remind you that our graduate students are not evenly distributed around campus, we have a much higher percentage of graduate students in the sciences and engineering, for example, than in the other divisions, which makes me very gratified that over the last few years we opened new Ph.D programs more broadly across campus in social sciences and humanities, and that we’re now starting two new Ph.D programs in the arts … if your question is where should we make investments, graduate students versus more classes for undergraduates, those are hard choices, and we’ll have to look at all of those choices. I think that that’s a priority just as making sure that resources are available so students can get classes. I don’t see the two as being mutually inconsistent. Both of them are important priorities.

City on a Hill Press: The TA’s union on campus has asked you to be somewhat of an advocate for them to the UC Regents in their contract negotiations — how specifically have you been able to do this?

Blumenthal: Of course, I can’t talk in detail about union negotiation … collective bargaining doesn’t take place on this campus, it’s system-wide bargaining, it isn’t really with the regents, it’s really with the UC president, the president has the authority to agree to a contract with unions. We have input into it, we have representatives on the bargaining team, those issues are discussed with the chancellors, before agreements are made we all get to comment on them and provide input. I think our graduate students in general, TAs in particular, are a really key part of the campus. TAs have it tough, not only are they students but they also teach. It is a job, many of them have families to support, I think it’s really important that we make sure that they are able to survive in a reasonable way.

TWANIS: Are you going to make an effort this year to come to rallies and show public support for the UAW/students in general?

Blumenthal: I will be out there, and I’m going to try to be accessible to people. I’m more than happy to talk to anyone as long as the conversation takes place at a reasonable decibel level. I do keep office hours, I am available for people to talk to. Second, there is a presumption that chancellors are all powerful … I think there is a power in the ability to be persuasive, and to persuade the appropriate decision makers of the rightness of a position. Just because you may not see me doing it doesn’t mean that I’m not an advocate for certain positions. I am a part of the management of the university, and to the extent that a union negotiation is management versus union, it would not be appropriate for me to speak outside of normal channels in that regard. I certainly can be available to listen to concerns, I can talk to people to hear what their concerns are, and use my voice, which I actually believe is a lot, to be persuasive about the right things to do in terms of negotiations with the Office of the President. I would never write an open letter to the president urging him to do something, for example. I think that would decrease my credibility with the president even if it might win me some brownie points with those who want me to be more openly an advocate.

KZSC: What are your thoughts on the student activism against the UC?

Blumenthal: There’s nothing wrong with activism, I was an activist myself as a student. I encourage our students to speak out, I think it’s great that Santa Cruz as so many students whose voices want to be heard. There are lines, though. Sometimes, activism that exceeds what I think are the appropriate bounds of behavior can be negative for the university. I spend a lot of my time with donors and legislators, and I’d rather be talking about what they can do to help the university really provide education for a broader spectrum of Californians than having to defend the university against accusations that our students don’t understand the good things that they have. I think that activism, if it’s overboard, or it exceeds the appropriate level of behavior of respecting other people’s rights, I think that that can actually be a negative for the university. And it detracts from the conversation.

City on a Hill Press: This summer the New York Times published a story about Mark Yudof’s residence — how do you think it reflects on the University of California that the president’s rent monthly is more than a student’s annual fees?

Blumenthal: Each of the ten chancellors has a chancellor’s residence on campus, which we use … it’s a very legitimate thing. It turns out that the president has for many, many years an official residence. It’s a very large house, and I would never live there. It’s run-down, I would be afraid it would collapse around me if there was an earthquake … so when Mark Yudof was appointed president the university faced a decision of what to do … the cost to fix Blake House is $10 million, rough figures, I don’t know it exactly. The university felt it shouldn’t do that, so the decision was made, instead, to rent him a place in the Berkeley-slash-Oakland area. Now, it had to be a large enough residence, to be frank with you, to do a couple of things. One, it had to provide the opportunity to entertain … he uses his house to entertain and that’s an important part of the job, so I think it was appropriate for the university to rent a house for him. There’s also a second issue, which is security concerns, and so they had to rent something that they felt would be a secure place for him to live. As for the exact rent, well, they weren’t going to put him in a $100-a-month apartment. I can’t comment on exact numbers … what can I say? Rents are expensive in Oakland. I think it’s legitimate that they rented him a house.

Freshmen AThletes Brooke Atkinson and Salvatore Lacavera III pose for a close-up outside the Stevenson Cafe. Photo by Andrew Allio.

Men’s volleyball outside hitter Salvatore LaCavera III, and women’s soccer center midfielder Brooke Atkinson, both freshmen, came to UC Santa Cruz in very different boats. LaCavera III was a highly-touted volleyball prospect, while Atkinson still needed to make the soccer team. Hard practice earned Atkinson a spot on the traveling squad by midseason, and she won real playing time by the end of the year. By season’s end, both LaCavera III and Atkinson were impact players on their respective squads.

Atkinson scored two goals this season, while LaCavera III earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division III Newcomer of the Year award, a spot on the second team D-III All-American squad and a place on the Molten D-III Final Four All-Tournament team. City on a Hill Press had a chance to meet two of UCSC’s most talented freshmen athletes at Stevenson Café this Tuesday to ask them a few questions.

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City on a Hill Press (CHP): You two were both great high school athletes. How was the change from being star athletes at your old schools to being the new kids on the block at UC Santa Cruz?

Brooke Atkinson (BA): It was kind of a big transition, actually. I dealt with it and pushed myself a lot harder, and I’ve definitely seen improvement.

Salvatore LaCavera III (SL3): For me, it was a pretty easy transition. I mean, it definitely had its difficulties, but the seniors and upperclassmen on our team fought to have a mutual respect on the team, instead of this huge unbalanced seniority. That just made it really easy to play, and I think that is part of the reason why we did so well this year.

CHP: How do you two plan to help incoming freshmen with the move to Division III athletics next year?

BA: I’m definitely going to be really motivational and talk to them a lot, because coming here and seeing the seniors was super intimidating at first. Then, once you get to talk to them, you’re like, okay they’re real people — they’re not scary seniors. You want to get that comfort level, so you can build that team chemistry.

SL3: And just the whole freshman jitters thing. I think you just have to say, ‘Calm down, it’s just a game.’ If you just tell them to just have fun, talk to them about the game, you’ll take their mind off the pressure and the fear, because that’s just one of the things that comes along with being a freshman at any level.

CHP: Both of you are lucky enough to have three years of NCAA eligibility left. What are your aspirations for these next three seasons?

BA: Definitely to get a lot more playing time next year, because we lost a lot of seniors, so a lot of the freshmen this year are going to have to step it up. I’m hoping to be one of [them] and really help my team out.

SL3: Ours is a team goal. We’ve been trying to win the national championship for the past 10 years, so for us to actually do it in the three years that I would be here would be really special. It didn’t work out this year, so next year we have to go harder.

CHP: Right now, sports are not really a focal point at UCSC. How do you think the athletics at the school will change by your senior year?

SL3: I hope we can change it.

BA: Yeah, I hope we can just get the campus a lot more excited about our sports. No one knows about us, really. We’re like, ‘Hey, we have a game today, come out and watch us’ and no one really supports us at all. It’s kind of a bummer. I’m hoping that by senior year maybe we can get some funding to make some T-shirts to give out to the campus. Everyone can have slug shirts, slug wear — something to support us and support athletics.

SL3: The problem is just the funding. Did you guys have to pay for your season?

BA: No, we didn’t have to pay for anything, but we had to put in 40 charity hours.

SL3: Oh, see, we have a bill at the end of the season, which, I mean, I’m willing to pay, I’m willing to work harder, but it’s not a real collegiate program, in that sense.

CHP: If I were to have this interview with you guys three years down the road when you are graduating, what direction do you think you’ll be headed in?

BA: I’m planning on going to med school, so I’m working toward that. I know it is going to be difficult while playing soccer at the same time. It is a lot of commitment to be a health science major and to play soccer, so I’m hoping to keep playing for all four years. That’s my goal.

SL3: I’m actually looking to go to law school. Really solid academics and athletics will take us really far after graduating, because that definitely helps on your résumé. It shows that you are able to cooperate with others, that you are goal-oriented, and that you will do anything to win. That’s really important.

Julia Simone finds inspiration for her folk pop tunes in people and human emotion. Courtesy of Julia Simone.

Upon entering her Cowell apartment room, it is clear Julia Fogelson is a music buff. Every inch of the once-white walls are plastered with band posters: The Beatles, Jack Johnson, Bob Marley. Under the stagename Julia Simone, Fogelson recently released her first demo — her mellifluous voice flows smoothly with her guitar, as if her vocal chords are doing the strumming. We sit down at the dining table in her apartment as she peels back the foil of a yogurt container, pours in some granola, and begins to tell me how it all started.

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City on a Hill Press (CHP): Have you always been a singer?

Julia Simone (JS): I was always interested in singing. My family has some videos of me writing songs off the top of my head — I loved improv singing — and dancing around on the fireplace. I had a bat mitzvah when I was 13, and got a lot of money as gifts, so I decided to buy a karaoke machine. I had all these country CDs, so I would sit in my room and sing Faith Hill and Shania Twain. I think that actually helped my voice. My mom finally enrolled me in voice lessons in a lady’s living room when I was 14. But I think I only stuck with it for like a year.

CHP: What would you say most inspires you when you’re writing your songs?

JS: Emotions. Human emotions and people. Not all my songs are sad. “Wishing Tree,” which is the new one, is about just really, really liking someone, and the uncertainty of whether or not it’s going to work out. I added fiction in that song. It was inspired by going to the Wishing Tree [in upper] campus. I read a note there that said, “I wish I could respect my girlfriend Emily more.” And I thought it was so sad and remembered it and began writing a fiction story about the guy who wrote the note. But then it took a different route to be partly truth about myself. So, I weave in fiction and truth together. But I’m mostly inspired by people.

CHP: How does your songwriting process usually work?

JS: It’s really changed over the years. It used to be that I would have a poem and then I would put the poem to music and find out where the verses were and the chorus and everything. Now, I kind of find a riff that I like with a few chords that sound well together, and I like to improv over it. … Usually when I start a song I’ll try to finish it in a couple days. I’ve got a lot of started songs. So, if I don’t finish them quickly, I’ll just forget about them.

CHP: Where do you record?

JS: My friend Jonah and I talked last year about recording together. He’s a music major, and he’s a genius with music and music programs on the computer. He has a studio in Bonny Doon, where he lives, and his housemates are all musicians, too. So we laid down one of my songs and his housemate played drums to it. … One of the songs [on the CD] I had recorded when I was 14 with my guitar teacher. Sometimes I record on GarageBand on my Mac, but I have to borrow a mic from my housemate. It doesn’t compare to when Jonah does it.

CHP: Do you listen to your own music?

JS: Only the songs I like. But I mostly just listen to them thinking, “Do I sound good?” I really like the ones I recorded with Jonah, and I’m not in love with the ones I recorded when I was younger. I’ve just come into my own style now.

CHP: What would you say your style is?

JS: Folk Pop. I just came up with that a couple weeks ago. I mean, my songs are pretty poppy and traditional. But I like the whole female singer/songwriter thing. It’s very organic with just a guitar.

CHP: Where do you want your music to take you?

JS: I would love to get picked up by a label and be given the opportunity to just have everything handed to me. A label that would help me get covers made, distribute my music, [and] send it out to college radio stations. I also hope to continue playing shows. I’ve finally developed stage presence, and I’ve become really comfortable on stage and it’s easier to talk and make little jokes.

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Julia Simone’s Myspace: myspace.com/juliasimone
E-mail: juliasimonemusic [at] gmail.com

Courtesy of Alfredo Mireles Jr.

Alfredo Mireles Jr., a graduate public policy student at UC San Francisco, was nominated by the UC Board of Regents Special Committee as the candidate for the 2010-11 student regent delegate.

The decision, which went public May 25, was the result of months of deliberation.

The Board of Regents will vote Mireles or one of two other student regent finalists into the office at the end of the academic year. Though the regents have voted in accordance with the Special Committee’s nomination in nearly every election, nothing is certain until that date.

Mireles earned his B.A. in sociology at UC Berkeley before attending Johns Hopkins University, where he pursued a degree in nursing. Since then, Mireles acquired three years of experience in nursing and enrolled at UC San Francisco in pursuit of a degree in public policy. After one year at UCSF, Mireles took a year off to work in the state legislature before returning to school.

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City on a Hill Press (CHP): Why did you want to be a student regent?

Alfredo Mireles Jr. (AMJ): I’m the first in my family to go to college, I come from some of the underrepresented communities, I understand the issues of each — undergraduate, graduate — I can empathize with the circumstances of students.

CHP: UCSF has the highest return of fees. How do you think registration fees should be distributed?

AMJ: They should be equitable across campuses. All kinds of campuses are dynamic and important places for people to go and get their education. They should each get equal funding and equal attention.

CHP: How will you represent undergraduate students?

AMJ: I served on the University of California Student Association (UCSA) board and I have three younger brothers, two of whom are still in college as undergraduates. I remember what it’s like to not know if I could attend the next semester. I know what it’s like to send my financial aid money home to my parents. Reflecting on the experiences I had when I was an undergraduate will make me sympathetic and understand their causes.

CHP: What issue is most important to you at the UC?

AMJ: I come from a background where it wasn’t natural [to go to a university] — I didn’t feel totally natural when I got to Berkeley. I want to make sure everyone feels welcome when they get to the UC.

Fees are another important issue that have unified people who often don’t have similar opinions.

I also want to work on health issues, and provide treatment for the underserved.

CHP: What do you think about unequal funding distribution among academic divisions?

AMJ: I don’t think that’s fair. I have friends in the community studies program at UCSC and I’ve seen how important that program is to professional and personal involvement in the community. I want to fight for the UC and make sure funding is available for both social sciences and hard sciences.

CHP: How can the UC diversify?

AMJ: More comprehensive admissions — everyone should have a fair shot at UC admissions.

Getting a strong policy on harassment: severe consequences for people who partake in that awful behavior [should be] spared no punishment. Intolerant people need not apply.

I want UC to be seen as a beacon of acceptance, tolerance and understanding, open to all backgrounds.

It’d be interesting to look into requiring ethnic studies into the curriculum system-wide — to make sure that everybody that goes through a UC campus from engineering to political science majors have that as part of their academic training.

CHP: How are you different from other student regents?

AMJ: I believe I’m the first health science professional student to ever get the position. We have our own set of issues that can at times not be part of the major issues worked on by the board. It’s really important that every community have its voice heard. To be able to be a voice for health science students and UCSF students is going to be a real privilege.

I’m living proof that making the UC accessible and affordable for everyone can do great good.

SubRosa Café is meant to bring the community together and has lately been targeted by anti-anarchist sentiment. SubRosa declined to allow a picture of an individual member of the collective to be used for this story. Photo by Rosario Serna.

SubRosa Anarchist Café has recently drawn media attention as some Santa Cruzans blame the group for the May 1 riot. At the café coffee, art, music and literature are served by volunteers from the local anarchist community like Michael Russo, who has been with the café since its inception.

Michael Russo speaks as an individual. His views do not reflect the opinions of the SubRosa collective.

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City on the Hill Press (CHP): What is your reaction to accusations that SubRosa is behind the actions of May 1?

Michael Russo (MR): Basically, it’s like they’re trying to stir up a witch-hunt and the media’s playing into it. There have literally been calls for mobs to come and do lynchings. After May Day, there were … at least a dozen people who came in to threaten to kill the staffers, or fire bomb the place, or made general threats about being unwelcome to anarchists.

CHP: What threats has the group received?

MR: It was one female staffer who was in here and kind of already having a stressful morning and somebody came in. I think the exact words were something like, ‘You fucking bitch, I’m going kill you and burn down SubRosa,’ or something like that. We’ve been taking it in stride. The thing about it is, if someone wants to burn down SubRosa, they’re not going to come here and tell us first and show us their face, they’re going to do it at night. So we understand that it’s more of an intimidation thing than an actual threat. Although, if you know there are that many people coming in, then maybe that sentiment among the reactionary community is more widespread than that.

CHP: Why do you think people assume that anarchists were behind May 1?

MR: In all fairness, I myself believe that anarchists are probably behind it. There are a lot of different anarchists who have a lot of different approaches to anti-capitalism or anti-state. At SubRosa, we pick having a community center where we hold classes, and do more of a positive community thing, creating the world that we want to see. And other anarchists take the offensive against capitalism. It makes sense in that context to me. There’s not really any way that anyone can really know, no one’s spoken up from them, no one has posted any online messages or communiqués about it. There are no statements around it, so it’s like all that’s left behind are some messages that were spray-painted on walls and the broken glass.

CHP: The word ‘anarchy’ is often misused — what is your definition?

MR: At its root, the word means ‘without government’ or ‘an absence of government,’ so the common denominator between almost every definition is people that don’t like the government. Beyond that, it’s usually up for debate. For a lot of people, it’s chaos and people killing each other. Frankly, our society’s laws don’t stop people from killing each other — people kill each other all the time, anyway. An anarchist society deals with the root of the problems instead of just trying to control the symptoms. Another thing is that, if you ask 10 different anarchists what anarchy means, you’re going to get 10 different answers. If you ask 10 different anarchists what an anarchist society would look like, you would get 10 different answers. I think that’s one of the beautiful things about the idea, that there’s not one program where everyone has to believe in the exact same thing to be an anarchist. So, for me, what it looks like are communities coming together to deal with and solve their own problems in the way that they see fit and not relying on authority or hierarchy … and coming to agreements and resolutions that reflect a certain amount of respect for all parties involved.

CHP: Is there anything else you would like to add?

MR: If people are feeling skeptical still, or want to clarify for themselves, or see the people that are behind this project, everyone is welcome to come in and see we’re not all window-smashing bomb throwers. We’re a pretty dedicated group of friends … who are coming together out of care for the community. We put this place together to be a resource for people and, in essence, it’s a community center. People should come down and check it out and see for themselves to make up their own minds.

Stab Santa Cruz founder Helbard Alkhassadeh talks about Operation Snitch, the new feature of his website. Photo by Nita-Rose Evans.

For somebody who spends a good deal of his time learning about and reporting on violent crime, Helbard Alkhassadeh is surprisingly upbeat. When City on a Hill Press met with him at Café Delmarette in downtown Santa Cruz, he was all smiles, joking with the photographer and cheerfully complaining about the wind.

But, when talking about his web site, StabSantaCruz.com, as well as his new project, Operation Snitch, it becomes obvious that beneath the 30-something professional product photographer’s pleasant demeanor, he’s serious about stopping violent crime in Santa Cruz.

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City on a Hill Press (CHP): Your current website, StabSantaCruz.com, reports all stabbings that happen in the area. What inspired you to start it?

Helbard Alkhassadeh (HA): I worked in welfare for five years. I saw it all: poverty, child abuse, gang violence … my whole thought process changed about how we’re supposed to handle things. You can’t just pretend it’s not happening … I started off with the stabbing problem that we had in town. And, most people don’t realize it, but we’re having a lot fewer stabbings this year than we did the last couple years. We’re up to 22 at this point this year … If we keep at this rate, we’ll probably keep under 70 stabbings, which is going to be less than last year, which is sort of the goal of Stab Santa Cruz.

CHP: What can you tell us about your new project, Operation Snitch?

HA: When I realized that people weren’t calling the police because they’re so scared of retribution, or because they don’t want to deal with the cops … I built a site [Operation Snitch] where people can just send in their information and I’m the information middleman. I get it and I give it to the cops. It’s that easy.

In a week, we’re going to start the streaming of the police dispatch and fire dispatch … so, for example, today I was sitting there and I heard that there’s two people doing heroin down the street from us … so I went to my window and looked to see if there were any cars that fit that description. The cops just got another pair of eyes on the road. … That’s what Operation Snitch is. And, little by little, we’re trying to get webcams up and streaming them [onto the web site].

CHP: Although the subject of your web site is obviously very serious, the tone is less than somber. For example, you sell shirts that say “stabalicious” on them. What is the purpose of that?

HA: It had to do with what John Stewart of “The Daily Show” does. He takes the same garbage that comes out of CNN and FOX and puts a punch line at the end of it, and people listen to him, and they start paying attention. I never make fun of the victims. … There’s this frosting around it, just to attract you to the cake, and then, when you get to the cake, you realize the cake sucks, and the frosting was the best part, and then you walk away thinking to yourself, “Man, 72 stabbings last year?”

CHP: Has anyone ever been offended by your site?

HA: I’ve gotten hate mail. … I think I’m up to five at this point. Compared to all the ones I get about people loving the site, I think that’s pretty good. One of them was awesome, it was ‘Fuck you’ written over and over again, about 300 times. ‘Fuck you, fuck you!’ (laughs). And I was like, ‘I wonder if that’s the mayor!’

CHP: How do you feel about the Santa Cruz Police Department teaming up with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to reduce gang violence?

HA: I’m what I call an equal opportunity stabbing reducer. I don’t care where it comes from, I want the stabbings to stop. … [However] I don’t think it’s going to reduce stabbings. I think it might put a dent in the crime. I think there’s more of an economic reason for the crime, and a huge portion of the crime is being caused by drug use.

CHP: You must care a lot about Santa Cruz if you go to such lengths to make the community safer. What do you like about living here?

HA: I moved here in 1993. I was in San Jose before that, and I made a day trip to Santa Cruz to a friend’s house, and I never left. There’s nothing that I don’t like here. … We live in such an amazingly beautiful place, and there’s no way we’re going to let it get trashed or ruined or messed with.

Awards sit proudly on the countertop at Verve Coffee Roasters. Three of the café’s baristas were awarded second, fourth, and tenth place in this year’s U.S. Barista Championships. Photo by Isaac Miller.

Sara Peterson was the highest-ranked female in the U.S. Barista Championships. Photo by Isaac Miller.

Sara Peterson is still enjoying her success from last month’s U.S. Barista Championships, where she took fourth place. Her co-workers, Chris Baca and Jared Truby, also competed and received impressive scores. But Peterson, retail manager of Verve Coffee Roasters in Santa Cruz, is now the highest-ranked female barista in the country.

After serving up cups of the House Brew at Verve, Peterson sat down with City on a Hill Press to talk about not only what goes into the coffee cup, but what goes into the process of becoming a barista with serious bragging rights.

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City on a Hill Press: How does it feel to be the highest-ranked female barista in the nation?

Sara Peterson: It feels pretty good. You know, I didn’t think about the girl element to begin with, until other people pointed it out to me.

The competition isn’t necessarily representative of how many women [are in the industry] — there are great women in coffee. But it was definitely an honor to be acknowledged at the top of it.

CHP: How did you and your coworkers celebrate your success?

SP: I guess this could be our celebration event — we’re going to do a tasting on Sunday, May 16. We did one right after Westerns [Western Regional Barista Competition] and, for three hours, all three of us who competed served only the courses that we would serve to the judges, so we only served our espressos, our cappuccinos and our signature drinks.

CHP: What is your signature drink?

SP: Well, it [has] changed a little bit from competition to competition, but for the U.S. [Barista Championships] it was a kind of drink that was a balance of simplicity and sophistication. There’s a little bit of tropical fruit and jasmine in the fragrance, but citrus was the main theme.

When I first tasted my coffee the acidity was really sparkly, so lemony and bright. It sounds silly, but it almost reminded me of a lemon soda … so I played around with that a lot.

CHP: Where do you learn to incorporate all these unusual elements into your drinks?

SP: I love to cook and bake, so for fun I read cookbooks, baking books, recipes. To me that’s enjoyment, reading. It’s weird, but you can taste so many different things in coffee, so when you find something — like mine was citrus, [so I was] like “OK, I’m gonna play with that.” I guess if you’re in wine, or beer, or cheese, or pastry chefs, chefs, anybody — you’re trying to develop your palate.

It makes it easier for consumers to want to try a coffee or to be open to it if you can relate that coffee to a food and say, “this reminds me of a chocolate-covered strawberry.” People know what that tastes like, so they’re a little more open when they taste the coffee.

CHP: Have you always wanted to be a barista? Do you anticipate continuing your work here?

SP: I grew up in the Midwest and we didn’t really even have coffee shops back then. But I think when I was in eighth grade I first found out about coffee shops … my older brother would go hang out at coffee shops and I was like, “that’s so cool.” And then I just thought, “I wanna have a coffee shop when I’m older.”

I always wanted a job that would include creativity, that was a social job, and then I just love coffee. And then there’s also a lot of ways that you can be involved, just to better your community. Or even helping communities overseas, like where we get our coffee … so there’s this local thing and there’s this global network, and it’s just a good fit.

If I wasn’t doing this I’m not quite sure what else I’d be doing. I just feel kind of at home in this job. I like it.

Illustration by Louise Leong.

Bill Monning is a Democrat in the California State Assembly who represents California’s 27th district, which includes Santa Cruz and Monterey. On April 30, after a town hall meeting with UC Santa Cruz students and community members, he spoke to City on a Hill Press and other student media organizations about health care, his role as the chairman of the assembly health committee, candidates in the 2010 governors race, and California’s looming budget crisis.

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City on a Hill Press: What is your goal as the Chairman of the Assembly Health Committee?

Bill Monning: Well, as Chair of the Assembly Health Committee, one of my primary responsibilities will be positioning California to take full advantage of the national healthcare reform.

We have been introducing some bills in the last two weeks to position California to take full advantage of the immediate benefits of the Obama reform, [including] an extension of health benefits to a broader range of children and young people up to age 19.

We are also looking at ways that we can accelerate some of the elements of the Obama reform to take effect more rapidly in California.

CHP: What are you working on specifically to speed up implementation in California?

BM: One that takes effect in 2014, for adults, is the pre-existing condition — that you can’t be denied coverage for a pre-existing condition. Under the Obama legislation, it will not go in effect until 2014. We are looking at “Can we accelerate that in California to have it happen during this legislative session?”

CHP: What do you think the biggest issue will be in the 2010 California governor’s race?

BM: This governor’s race, it’s huge for the future of the state of California. I think fundamental issues include California’s taxation system, it includes growing inequality between have and have-nots and [candidates] being able to articulate a vision for the future of this state in terms of education, in terms of health care, in terms of environmental integrity.

CHP: What is your opinion of Democratic nominee for governor, Jerry Brown?

BM: Jerry Brown, who is the only formidable Democratic — running virtually unopposed in the Democratic primary, currently serving as Attorney General — talks in his own words about reinventing himself.

I actually knew him when he became governor in 1975 — I was working for a group called the United Farm Workers Union (UFW). We had worked to get the first election law for farm workers in the United States, the Agricultural Labor Relations Act … I was an advocate at that time for the UFW and it was vetoed by then-governor Ronald Reagan. We worked to elect Jerry Brown in 1975, he took office and one of his first acts was to sign the Agricultural Labor Relations Act.

He was somebody who Doonesbury characterized as ‘Governor Moonbean’ back in the ’70s and ’80s and yet I’ve always known him as person with innovative ideas, not kind of blocked into doctrine or dogma. Somebody who generates and looks at problems with a fresh prospective, and quite candidly, I’m not sure where he stands on all of the issues today in 2010, but I am very concerned about the prospective of a Meg Whitman or a [Steve] Poizner governorship because I think it will not ensure the benefit of public education or other social safety net programs that are essential to protect the most vulnerable in the state of California.

CHP: What is the biggest issue facing California right now?

BM: The paramount impediment to good governance in this state is that we don’t have a majority rule. We [the legislature] require a two-thirds vote to pass a budget and two-thirds vote to raise revenues.

It seeds inordinate power to the minority party. We are the only state out of 50 that requires a two-thirds vote on both passing a budget and raising revenues. And if you look up democracy in the dictionary, democracy is majority rule. Since we don’t have democracy rule in California, one could say we don’t live in a democracy.

CHP: How do we fix it?

BM: The only way we can fix it is getting a two-thirds majority in each house to put an initiative before the voters, because only the voters can amend the constitution. We [the legislature] have the power to make the recommendation for constitutional amendments but we need a two-thirds vote to put it in front of the voters. The other way to get there is for voters circulating signature petitions to qualify a constitutional amendment for a ballot measure on the statewide ballot. It takes four to five hundred thousand signatures, if those are paid signatures one to $2 million to qualify.

There has also been a proposal by George Lakoff and the organization called the California Democracy Campaign. Their initiative language says, “the California legislature shall pass a budget and raise taxes, raise revenue by majority vote” — period. Unfortunately, that seems not to have gained the signature support to qualify for the ballot.

I think particularly people interested in higher education or the UC system — I think it should be a focal point for student organizations over the next period of time. A lot of this isn’t going to be happening by the end of 2010 but we need to do the education, we need to connect the dots and we need to give people in California the opportunity to amend the constitution.

CHP: Is ending the two-thirds majority vote for both taxes and the budget the best thing for higher education?

BM: I think it is the most important tool for amended governance that would allow us to prioritize higher education and the UC system in the balancing of our budget in tough economic times.

Courtesy of Doug Deitch.

Douglas Deitch is a candidate in the current race for the Third District Supervisor seat in Santa Cruz against incumbent Neal Coonerty.  He has made a platform based on the city’s unsustainable water usage and increased crime.  He hopes to win his first race this year, although he has been a candidate for the position since 1995.

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CHP: How many times have you run for Third District Supervisor?

Douglas Deitch: This is actually the fifth time that I’ve run for the supervisorial seat in this county … since 1995. I’ve run for this position in large part to educate the public and make people aware of what’s going on with our water resources. That relates, however, to basically every other economic and naturalist system in this whole region. So, that’s why I keep doing this.

CHP: Can you talk a little bit more about the actual situation with our water resources?

DD: Entirely unique in the world, the Monterey Bay area is entirely dependent on its own groundwater. We have two main agriculture areas here. The Salinas Valley produces about $4 billion in produce a year, and the Pajaro Valley produces about $500 billion of produce. Those two activities basically use about 90 percent of our water resources. We’re using three times the sustainable yield, and 90 percent of that is used for the produce that is grown by transnational corporate conglomerates that rent this land. So they’re using 90 percent of the water to grow exported produce. The overuse of this water causes the level of groundwater to lower below sea level, and the seawater to come into our groundwater. What we’ve done in both of these cases is pump them down so they’re below sea level now, both of them.

CHP: Do you advocate for more localized agriculture?

DD: Every place has a sustainable carrying capacity. If you’re overusing the groundwater and mining it, just like how we treat oil as a renewable resource, then you are basically just exporting that groundwater. That would be fine except we have not established a base sustainable carrying capacity. Agriculture is a very good thing but not when it is destroying every socially economic and natural system. We can be a model, but we are not doing that. So what I plan is to have people become aware of how seriously bad our water problem is and figure out how much agriculture we can sustain without affecting the water use.

CHP: What are other things that you advocate for in this supervisor race?

DD: Another one of my positions here is this model of agricultural production requires cheap labor and the only kind of cheap labor who they say want to do this are people who come from Latin America and Mexico. Santa Cruz is the second-smallest county in the state with 250,000 people, but it is reported that we have 30,000 undocumented people living in Santa Cruz and roughly that many farm workers. So not only are we overusing our water, but we also have an economy here that requires us to export the water. I support the University of California, the biggest business in the county, and the growth of the university as well. I’d like to see them grow in Watsonville to provide the compensatory economic developments there when agriculture production is lessened so we have sustainable water use.

CHP: What will you change if elected?

DD: Gary Patton, a former supervisor, passed a law in this district in 1987 that all of the past supervisors for the past 30 years have intentionally and purposely ignored. It was called the County Well Ordinance that required under the law that they declare a groundwater emergency in 1988. They didn’t. All they have done since 1988 is to change the law last March, which would give them discretion where they have a ministerial duty. It is very key that the person who is sitting in this supervisorial seat here follows the law.

CHP: How do you feel about the city of Santa Cruz becoming a sanctuary city, or one that protects illegal immigrants?

DD: I oppose the city of Santa Cruz’s sanctuary policy. I oppose it in the city of Santa Cruz, but not in the city of Watsonville for these reasons: in Watsonville they use something close to 30,000 farm workers, and most are undocumented. I don’t see that there is any big interest group that is necessary to the Santa Cruz community that justifies the city to have a sanctuary policy like Watsonville, because what I think happens is [that] gangs, crime, trafficking, and illegal undocumented immigration are related. I think it’s the first obligation of the person who takes the supervisorial seat here in the third district to basically take care of the safety of the community.

CHP: What makes you qualified over other candidates?

DD: People are playing politics. What we need are people who understand how this area works, how it’s farmed, and where the water comes from. I’ve been working on this for 40 years. I have a whole plan. The two main issues are the desalination plant and the water policy, along with community safety. I think my positions are very sensible, rational, and counter to the current supervisor, Neal Coonerty.

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For more information, visit http://www.Dougforsupervisor.com

Only a few years old and already gaining momentum, AM Taxi is all set for their U.S. tour and for their appearance on the Warped Tour this summer.

Adam spills the goods on out-of-control gigs, banana slug encounters and the ups and downs of crowd surfing.

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For AM Taxi newbies, how did the band come together?  A brief history?

We are a Chicago group, we came together three-and-a-half years ago.  We were touring in different groups for years and years and knew each other through that.  Actually, it was me, Chris Smith [drums, backups] and Jason Schmitt (guitar, backups) that got started together. Once we decided we wanted to play shows and do other things, we got my neighbor John and became a five-piece.

You used to be known as “American Taxi” — why the name change?

There was another group with a similar name [The Great American Taxi] and we had to in order to avoid confusion.

Congratulations on signing with Virgin!  How did that come about and how has it changed things for you and the band?

It came about because, well, we just started talking to different record labels and the people at Virgin seemed to get what we were about and share the same vision we have for the project, so it was a really good fit for us.  It’s changed things in that now we can focus on the music more instead of other things like trying to get T-shirt orders in and tours booked, and, you know, promotional things like that.  It’s really helped to get the word around.

According to Alternative Press, you’re in the top 100 bands I need to know.  For newcomers to your music, why are they going to fall in love with your band?

We’re not reinventing the wheel or anything. It’s just honest rock n’ roll music and you don’t see a lot of that any more.  Everything kind of has a gimmick to it, and you don’t see straight ahead.  I think it’ll be a breath of fresh air.

What was it like recording your album live and how do you feel about the outcome?

I think it was the only way we could have done it and I’m really glad we did it that way.  We talked to a dozen or so producers.  Everybody’s sort of in a room by themselves [when you don’t record it live].  Playing it live to a tape moving instead and playing it all together … that’s the way they made records up until the ’80s.  It was good for us because that’s where our influences come from.  A lot of great records were made that way.  There’s a lot of real energy that comes across when you make it that way — there’s mistakes, but they’re real mistakes and I think it comes across.

Do you have day jobs?

This has become pretty full time. We’ve been on the road — we’re about to go on our fourth tour, we leave next week for that, and then we’re on the Warped Tour all summer.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I just wanted to do this.  So I’m pretty happy.  I’m not sure if I could do anything else, really. I’m a bit of a one-trick pony I guess.

What’s the music scene like in Chicago and how do you fit in?

The music scene is amazing, there’s a whole lot of variety, which is good for us cause we can fit in and do a few different things.  We can play with indie rock bands, punk bands, rock-n-roll bands, pop bands, et cetera.  There are a lot of open-minded listeners.

You listed The Police as one of your influences on your Myspace — what’s your favorite song of theirs?

I really like their early stuff, the first two or three records. “Bring on the Night” is my favorite song of theirs.

Have you ever crowd surfed?

[Laughs] I have a few times, when I was younger.  I haven’t in a few years.  I have a chain attached to my wallet and I lost a bit of money once.

What was it like working with Sum 41 and The Offspring?

We didn’t really get a chance to meet Offspring and hang out with them, but they were great and their audience was great.  Sum 41 was really nice, they were really professional.  A lot of people still think of them as kids, but they’re a well-rounded, well-oiled machine — totally functional, totally pro.

What’s the weirdest show you’ve ever played?

There’s been some strange ones, let me think. We played on a race track once which was really bizarre.  There have been some crazy ones.  We got pranked the last night of the Billy Talent tour that we were on by them and their crew — they superglued our drummer’s sticks together and filled the cymbal with baby powder … it just got everywhere.

What bullshit advice did you get when you were first starting out?

We talked to one manager in particular and he said that we shouldn’t be focusing just on the music.  Music has to be the priority.  There’s a lot of D.I.Y. Myspace Internet bands that promote their asses off, and that’s great, as long they are spending as much time rehearsing as they are getting Myspace fans.  Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that these young bands are working to promote themselves, but I think that music needs to come first.

UCSC’s mascot is a banana slug — have you ever seen one?  Would you lick one as it is a Santa Cruz tradition?

I haven’t.  But they seem pretty cool, yeah, I probably would lick one.

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See AM Taxi live at Slim’s in San Francisco on April 29.  Their album “We Don’t Stand a Chance” comes out June 8.  For more info, visit amtaximusic.com.

Surfer Galen Licht tells unique stories of his kayaking adventures around the world and surfing in Santa Cruz. Photo by Devika Agarwal.

On days when the weather is calm but the Pacific Ocean is not, the coastline of Davenport is peaceful except for the occasional kayak riding out in the waves.

Galen Licht, a student at UC Santa Cruz and winner of the Men’s High Performance at this year’s Santa Cruz Surf Kayak Festival at Steamer Lane, paddles out to the neighboring town to practice the sport of Surf Kayak, which he picked up eight years ago.

City on a Hill Press sat down with Licht, a native of Marin County, to talk about the beginnings of the sport and this year’s eventful festival.

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City on a Hill Press: First of all, congratulations.

Galen Licht: Thanks.

CHP: So how did you learn about kayak surfing, and what spurred your decision to pursue the sport?

GL: I picked it up from a Santa Cruz kayak surfer Dave Johnston. My brother worked for Johnston and he introduced me to surf kayaking. I actually learned to river kayak and sea kayak first. My dad owns a kayak company in Marin, so I learned at a young age.

CHP: When did you start competing for kayak surfing?

GL: My first contest was in 2002 in Santa Cruz. They had a Junior category for anyone under 18 years old. There was also the Plastic Pro Challenge event, for the kayaks made out of plastic. I did very well, but it was a really long time ago. My first real major competition was during 2003, when the U.S. Surf Kayak Team went to Ireland for World Championships. My twin brother and I were recruited to kayak surf for the junior part of the team. The first year we did this, I placed fourth overall, and the team as a whole placed third.

CHP: Have you competed at the Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival before?

GL: I competed in the same event as this year, and placed second. Last year was the first time I made it to the final heat. Actually this year, before the festival, I only practiced for two weeks because of a back injury. I’ve been competing in this festival now for about eight years, but one year I had a broken hand, another year I had whiplash, so it hasn’t been every year in a row.

CHP: How were the conditions the day of the final? Was it really as perfect as everyone said?

GL: The weather went from terrible to really good, really fast. In the morning it was high tide, but the tide dropped and we had some bigger, really nice waves. The waves made it really challenging because of how [the contestants] had to line up by the cliffs, and those who got the advantage were those who didn’t care about their kayak the most. That was the hardest part of the competition, in my opinion. Where the sport is going, many of the other competitors were looking for faster waves — with a faster wave you can showcase more of your dynamic maneuvers.

CHP: You finally placed first, and beat out Dave Johnston to do it. How would you consider your performance that day?

GL: It felt good. [After] many of the other competitions there was always a little bit of regret when you watch the tapes and you feel like, ‘if I’d just done this,’ or ‘did one more move here,’ that would’ve changed the outcome, but the finals felt really good. For the first two weeks, it was marginal but, during that last day, I didn’t make any mistakes because there wasn’t any time to make them. With the 19-minute limit, I knew if I made one mistake that would’ve been it.

CHP: Are there other competitions held for kayak surfing that you participated in? How did you do in them?

GL: On October 3, I competed in the Davenport Classic and it was the first time I had won something of that caliber. It was nice because it was the first day of the season, and hopefully I’ll be able to make it to National Championships in North Carolina in November.

A year from then, World Championships will be at the same place — hopefully I’ll be there too. I’ve been to three World Championships, the first was in Ireland, one was in Costa Rica, and another in Portugal. I’ve even spent two months in Chile. It’s really cool that I’ve gotten to travel for kayak surfing.

CHP: Let’s talk about the club you started here at UCSC. Is the UC Santa Cruz Kayak Club for anyone interested in kayaking? What’s the demographic of your group?

GL: Mostly [it’s for] beginners who have never done it before. The original thought was to create a place where experienced kayakers could gather and make trips, but kayaking is a really expensive sport to get into so our group gives people who have never done it before the opportunity [to try it]. We focus on river kayaking and surf kayaking, because the recreation center has many trips for sea kayaking. Our group goes out and kayaks, and also provides a social circle of friends.

CHP: Lastly, what do you enjoy most about kayak surfing?

GL: I like the feeling of surfing and riding the waves. You use the water and waves to harness the energy that the earth provides. It’s really about going with the flow. It’s also attractive because the sport is not very popular. I enjoy the sport, and I enjoy the people. I’ve seen the sport revolutionize — at the beginning the boats were different, the rules were different and the movement has come really far. What makes me keep doing this is that I want to stay competitive at the highest level.

Photo by Devika Agarwal.

The University of California’s Commission on the Future released its first recommendations on how to balance the ideals of accessible and affordable education with the current realities of dwindling financial resources.

Victor Sanchez is the UC Student Association President and UCSC Student Union Assembly External Vice Chair. The fourth-year Latin American/Latino Studies and sociology double major is also one of the three students on the Commission on the Future. He sat down with City on a Hill Press to discuss the Commission’s recommendations and how a few in particular might cause a riot.

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City on a Hill Press: How will the Commission on the Future influence UC polices?

Victor Sanchez: Chairman [Russell] Gould and President [Mark] Yudof are the co-chairs, so it’s hard to say that there won’t be any kind of big, significant reforms.

CHP: What kind of influence, as a student, do you have on the commission?

VS: When you count me and [the two other student regents] we could be a real thorn in everybody’s side. Ultimately, by myself, I was speaking up a lot about the recommendations and the concerns I had in terms of the dependency and reliance on student fees.

CHP: Did you propose any of the 29 recommendations?

VS: The institutional aid for undocumented students. It is a campaign that has been wanting to be won for years in terms of allowing students who have paid into financial aid for years to get some in return. (*Editor’s note: currently, undocumented students pay in-state tuition but are not eligible for financial aid) This recommendation will allow them to see access to those funds. We [the student regents and I] are going to push really hard on that proposal. That’s the golden chip we are looking to take with us and move forward.

CHP: Which, if any, of the proposals do you disagree with?

VS: There are some very poor ones. Specifically when you look at funding strategies. There are two proposals. One is to allow fees to increase 5 percent each year for five years … basically bringing fees up to around thirteen thousand dollars. The second [proposal] is for fees to rise 15 percent each year for five years, allowing it [tuition and fees] to get upward of around twenty thousand dollars per year.

It was funny because when we started off with the remarks they had one slide [with the] regent’s priorities and I didn’t see [ a priority of having] ‘no student fees,’ so I made a comment, ‘This is great because we keep hearing that you guys are so reluctant to raise our fees yet it fails to show up on a priority list.’

Ultimately, it’s just unfortunate that they can’t come up with any better solutions than to put the burden on [students’] backs.

I told a [commission member] on the side, ‘If you all pass these funding strategies to raise fees for five years … you’re gonna have riots … it’s going to be real bad.’

CHP: Were there any other solutions other than to raise student fees?

VS: The conversation about alternative sources of revenue hasn’t happened [on the commission] and [commission members] do not want them to happen. There is a need for them to expand the conversation and start having it.

CHP: Were there any proposals you did not expect?

VS: One was the differential fees by campus. That to me totally undermines the mission of the UC. It deters people away from the University of California. You would now have all these little private universities and it’s like, what’s the point? That was one of the pretty far out proposals that we saw. They want to cut down majors instead of looking at GE requirements, which is a good way to slim down stuff.

CHP: Which ideas do you support?

VS: Institutional aid is one and the three-year undergraduate degree option. A lot of students already do that anyways. That option would be good to have for a lot of folks who are prepared and ready for college. I don’t think there’s anything else though.