By Valerie Luu In Baskin Engineering room 140, home of the new Undergraduate Hardware Lab (UHL), fifth-year computer engineering major Andrew Parra is working on a robot ring-bearer. Using parts from a “2 Fast 2 Furious” toy car, Parra fiddles around with a remote control that would move his creation down the aisle for his [...]

By Jessica Parral and James Clark Anonymous demonstrators assembled in front of the Church of Scientology on Seabright Avenue: two wore masks — one surgical, one with the face of the Burger King mascot — while another partially obscured her face with a scarf. They held signs that read “Stop Scientology” and “Free Cult Test.” [...]

By James Clark When you see a bunch of tattooed, lip-ring-sporting, fishnet-clad women hurtle by you on roller skates, the last thing that springs to mind are the words “compassionate” and “supportive.” Yet that’s what the Santa Cruz Rollergirls are trying to show the community they are. The Santa Cruz Rollergirls are opening doors for [...]

By Julia Guest Has this ever happened to you? As you sip your morning coffee, you read once again about the catastrophic consequences of global warming, cringing at the thought of its brutal effects on generations to come. You hope that someone or something will change, and soon. Then you take the last sip of [...]

By Nick Winnie *LAHORE, PAKISTAN*: Pakistan’s highly anticipated parliamentary elections, held Monday in the shadow of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination and growing instability in the country, delivered defeat to the party of President Musharraf and ushered in what many envision to be a more moderate and democratic era of Pakistani politics. Tuesday’s results handed the majority [...]

By Andrea Pyka Tired of reading in the dark to avoid costly electricity bills? Sounds like you need a “power-shirt.” Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are currently in the process of perfecting a type of microfiber for clothing that would harness enough convertible energy from ultrasonic waves, mechanical vibrations or blood flow to [...]

By Elizabeth Limbach It’s a Tuesday morning in Inglewood, California, and Ms. Gray’s 5th grade class is talking about Nas. “It’s almost like he’s being hypocritical,” one student articulated. “I know that he has made songs that are really positive, talking about how black people were kings and queens, and now he’s wearing this T-shirt.” [...]

By Maricela Lechuga For some, a knock on the door is never as harmless as it seems. “You always have this fear of having to look over your shoulder,” said Luis, a fifth-year computer engineering major. “You have to be careful of what you say, because [if] you tell the wrong people you never know [...]

By Marie Haka This past weekend, UC Santa Cruz students brought new meaning to the phrase “dance the night away.” Participants in the 24-Hour AIDS Dance-a-Thon danced all night to raise awareness and funds for AIDS-related local organizations. The event was held at the Porter/Kresge Dining Hall from noon last Saturday to noon on Sunday. [...]

By Rod Bastanmehr Around his scarred neck is the bear trap covered with hypodermic needles. He’s sitting in a chair, covered in blood, screaming in unimaginable pain. He can either open up his kidney with a knife, take out the key, and unlock the deadly gizmo, or he can wait until the clock strikes and [...]