In a yellow-hued dance studio, behind the sounds of soft footsteps and echoing voices, UC Santa Cruz dance lecturer Tandy Beal’s students discuss the best ways of sparking imagination and creativity from the third-graders that they mentor.

“It’s such an amazing generational project,” Beal said. “I think I’m teaching through these guys.”

Beal teaches Arts Education in the Community, a Porter course that she considers her way to give back to the community.

Every Wednesday morning this quarter, Beal’s students have been visiting third-grade classes of Del Mar and DeLaveaga Elementary Schools, teaching the classes about the dance traditions of selected countries.

Beal’s class, which is composed of a variety of students who come from many different majors, is broken up into nine small groups, each of which has been assigned a country to teach about.

The selected countries are the Philippines, Mexico, Brazil, Ireland, Greece, Hawaii, India, Senegal and Spain.

“I chose the countries because they are all ones that have very strong dance traditions,” Beal said. “I wanted very much that [the children] feel the dance tradition coming through.”

Near the end of the quarter, the student leaders and their third-graders will perform a dance show on the stage of Porter Dining Hall to showcase the different dances and cultures that the children have learned about.

Working with the children from Del Mar and DeLaveaga has been extremely rewarding, said third-year theater arts major Crystal Smith.

“It’s enhancing their creativity and imagination,” Smith said. “I think that is one of my goals: for them to not be afraid to express themselves, no matter what age they are at, and have some kind of voice within their small community of the classroom.”

Smith, along with all her classmates, has had the opportunity to step into the shoes of teachers and educators. They plan out their classes ahead of time and send their plans to Beal for feedback. During Friday classes, they practice choreographing the dances that they will teach their students, and on Wednesdays, they get 40 minutes to put their plans to work in the classroom.

“During our first week I was a little skeptical about how we were going to get the kids to really be involved and be really energetic,” first-year Morgan Cooper said. “I think at first at least a quarter of the class was really shy and it seemed like almost half of them didn’t even want to participate. But now everybody is into it and the teachers are really enthusiastic and really supportive.”

First-year Daniella Schepps recalls the first day she met with her third-graders and one particular challenge she faced.

“On the first day we had this one kid,” Schepps said. “He was crazy, his name was Javier, and he wanted to do the opposite of everything we wanted him to do. Now he’s the best kid in the class, and it’s so funny, because every time we do ‘follow the leader,’ he’s right behind us. He has himself totally invested in the class now.”

Beal’s enthusiasm to enrich children’s lives has carried through to her students. Her class has taken on a generational phenomenon, and she feels she is teaching through the actions of her students.

“I feel like it’s going incredibly well,” Beal said. “I feel that as money is cut from the arts in the schools, this is one way for me to give back to our community and keep developing. Hopefully there will be people from this class who will want to continue in teaching.”

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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Dancing Through the Generations

Dwight Collins, UC Santa Cruz’s executive chef, has been competing in Santa Cruz’s annual clam chowder cook-offs since 1983.

What makes a good clam chowder is pretty simple. “Clams, potatoes, cream, and celery,” he said, “and some secret ingredients.”

The cook-off is held every year at the Boardwalk and is an important fundraiser for the Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Department. Last year’s cook-off raised $30,000.

UCSC started competing in the cook-offs five years ago, centered around Collin’s culinary creativity. “The competition recipe was created by Collins, and uses sustainably harvested clams,” said Candy Berlin, the program coordinator for UCSC dining services.

For the cook-off, the campus chefs typically make about 75 gallons of clam chowder — 40 gallons of Boston and 35 gallons of Manhattan — for the three to four thousand guests.

“Boston-style is made from 100 percent organic ingredients, and many ingredients are local, including the clams, potatoes, and cream,” Berlin said.

The Chowder Slugs team makes the creamy Boston clam chowder, and the Redwood Sluggers team makes the tomato-based Manhattan clam chowder. Both teams are composed of chefs working for UCSC Dining Services.

“If we win or place, we take [the chowder] around and do a road show, and serve it in bread bowls in the dining halls in the spring quarter,” Collins said.

The normal dining hall recipe is similar to the competition recipe, but “uses canned clams and a milk base to help contain costs and calories,” Berlin said.

The UCSC teams, led by Collins, have done well in the past, winning coveted awards for their chowder recipes.

The Chowder Slugs won three awards for their New England clam chowder in 2005: first place in the Corporate Division, third place for Overall Most Tasted, and grand prize as the People’s Choice.

The Chowder Slugs won again in the corporate division and the People’s Choice Award the next year, but 2007 was the year for the Redwood Sluggers, who won third place overall for the Manhattan Clam Chowder.

The Slugs couldn’t pull in an award last year, but Berlin said, “We’re hoping to win something this year.”

The 27th annual clam chowder cook-off is Saturday, Feb. 21. UCSC students are encouraged to head down to the Boardwalk and support their teams.

James Perry, fourth-year environmental studies major, attended the cook-off last year.

“The setting, the tastes, and the different spices were all excellent,” he said. “I had a really great time.”

Admission is free, and tasting kits, which cost $8, allow guests five cups to sample chowders and vote for their favorites. The cooking starts at 10 a.m., and the public tasting starts at 1 p.m.

“Sammy the campus mascot will be part of our cheerleading squad, encouraging guests to taste the UCSC dining entry,” Berlin said. “We’re especially proud that no slugs are harmed in the production of our chowder.”

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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Campus Cooks Prep for Chowder Cook-off

“Wanna win $12,000?” was the catchphrase of the day last week at Lisa Donchak’s Quarry Plaza table. Donchak is one of eight student committee members responsible for organizing UC Santa Cruz’s first-ever Business Plan Competition (BPC).

The idea is simple: students form teams, develop their business ideas and compete for cash prizes. The first-prize team wins $12,000, the second-prize team is awarded $2,000, and $500 prizes are awarded to both the third-prize winner and People’s Choice award recipients. A total of $15,000 of prize money is up for grabs.

The competition, Donchak said, is “open to everybody, all majors, undergraduate, graduate … You don’t have to have an idea. Just come to a mixer and join a group.”

The teams are mentored by UCSC faculty as well as members from the regional business and technology community. These mentors provide feedback and a network of resources in order to construct commercially viable ideas and strategic plans.

Although the idea is new at UCSC, Eric Gonzalez, the competition mastermind and president of the University Economics Association (UEA), got the idea from similar competitions held at Stanford and Berkeley. Both schools’ BPCs were founded by students over 10 years ago —1999 for Berkeley and 1996 for Stanford — and have grown to enormous proportions. Last year’s competition at Berkeley received over 100 business plans, and Stanford awarded $50,000 in prize money.

The competition has three goals: to foster a culture of entrepreneurship in the UCSC community, to create lasting relationships between campus community and entrepreneurs, and to educate the student body about global entrepreneurship. The keywords, Gonzalez said, are “connection and collaboration, or technology and entrepreneurship.”

Considering that the competition is open to students in all majors and fields of study, as well as to recent graduates and undergraduates, Donchak stressed the fact that “we’re promoting the interdisciplinary approach to this competition.”

“We’re looking to provide students with an opportunity to network with the campus community and local entrepreneurs,” Gonzalez said at a press conference with Peter Koht, the economic development coordinator for the Development/Redevelopment Agency of Santa Cruz.

“My role is to strengthen the ties with the university,” Koht said. “After all, we have similar goals.”

Koht also emphasized the objective of connecting people. “For so long in Santa Cruz people have been working in parallel rather than together. … It’s nice to see ties between the city and the university materialize.”

As for expected participation turnout, Gonzalez is confident.

“I’m expecting about 15 to 20 teams [to participate] in the initial round. But based on student involvement I would not be surprised to see more than that,” Gonzalez said. “Fifty-seven people signed up to receive e-mails at our first mixer.”

Donchak’s enthusiasm is evident when she talks about the competition.

“It’s a completely student-run event,” she said, “so it’s outrageous that we have a $15,000 pot!”

The Economic Development/Redevelopment Agency of Santa Cruz is one of the main sponsors of the event, and Koht said that the city’s interest was to “support people with good ideas, [help] them get a permit, negotiate with a landlord,” all facilitating the first steps of a start-up business.

“Whether we’re in economic boom or bust,” Koht said, “it’s always a good investment to support entrepreneurship.”

The competition aims to foster a supportive and creative environment for ambitious students, with limitless possibilities. Students may come up with ideas “ranging from technology start-ups to really neat social entrepreneurships or new distribution systems,” Gonzalez said.

In 2006, the Kauffman Foundation recorded 353 business plan contests around the world. Now UCSC has joined the ranks, and thanks to a core group of motivated students and supportive faculty and community, the university is well on its way.

In regards to other the BPCs held in Stanford and Berkeley, Gonzalez said that “they’ve been extremely successful, and I’m hopeful that in the long run we will reach that level and go beyond them.”

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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Students Compete for $12,000 Prize

The writing requirement for incoming UC Santa Cruz frosh will change in fall 2010, the Academic Senate voted on Wednesday.

The W general education requirement, a requisite for all students who wish to graduate, is traditionally fulfilled through a single intensive writing class. New changes will allow students to bypass this through either a 5-credit class or a combination of three classes totaling at least 5 credits. Transfer students, who currently are exempt from the W requirement, will now also have to take the classes.

The changes come in response to “resource constraints in some fields,” according to a flyer distributed at the meeting, as well as a perceived deficit in the writing training on campus. The new requirement, called disciplinary communication (DC), aims to provide writing training appropriate to students’ field of study.

“Faculty should be clear in their minds that the current W requirement is broken and is not working,” the flyer said. “Students often find themselves in W courses that do little to enhance the kind of particular writing skills that they need in their majors and will need in their future careers.”

DC also aims to give students a chance to develop communication skills beyond writing that are valuable to their chosen field, such as class presentation and public speaking.

“I hope this passes,” Bill Ladusaw, professor of linguistics, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, said at the meeting. “By the time the students get to upper-division their writing is not as good as faculty expects. I have been talking to my colleagues about an assessment project that would include the lower-division writing courses.”

The Academic Senate, a body of faculty and student government representatives, guides the education focus of the university.

However, not all of the attendees were confident that the change will have a substantial effect on the students.

“Right now students are having difficulty graduating because they cannot fulfill this requirement. But I really think it will have minimal effect on writing ability,” said Barry Bowman, professor of molecular cell and developmental biology. “Now, I have somewhat of a viewpoint from my own experience in the biology department. … We have over 2,000 majors … and there aren’t very many of us. For all those students to get attention in the major is difficult.”

The flyer cited that the Committee on Education Policy “does not expect its revamping of the current W requirement to solve all the problems with student writing,” but that “[the W requirement] is currently in crisis — something has to be done.”

Bowman echoed these sentiments, but stressed the importance of a thorough review of the writing program.

“We all feel the students don’t know how to write, perhaps because the students don’t read,” Bowman said. “I would love to see along with this change a real serious measure of the level of the problem.”

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Teaching may not be the world’s oldest profession, but it is arguably one of the most vital.

However, a debilitated economy leaves teachers’ futures uncertain and forces them to make do with deflating budgets as the state’s population balloons.

This year, a probable $5 billion cut to funding awaits California K-12 public education, adding strain to an already failing system and sealing the fate of thousands of educators.

“We had a budget meeting the other day, and they said all new teachers are receiving pink slips on March 15,” said Frances Karg, a first-year biology and marine science teacher at North Monterey County High School. “That doesn’t mean I won’t have a job next semester, but you never know.”

Karg, who received both her B.S. in marine biology and M.A. in education at UC Santa Cruz, said she was blindsided by the news that she’d be handed a pink slip next month.

What Karg didn’t know is that school administrators throughout California fire and rehire teachers every year in anticipation of budget shortfalls.

New teachers usually find their jobs on the chopping block first, as per an agreement with teachers’ associations that bases who gets fired on seniority.

“The reality is [in] school districts up and down California on March 15, many, many teachers are going to be noticed,” said Mike James, deputy superintendent of the Santa Cruz School District.

Schools have let go of librarians, nurses and electives teachers. Teacher hirings are at an all-time low.

“In my over 30 years in education I’ve never seen anything as gloomy as the potential funding cutbacks, not only in the current year, [but] next year, and perhaps in the year after that,” James said.

About 50 percent of UCSC’s credential program graduates go on to teach in Santa Cruz County and neighboring counties, like Santa Clara and Monterey, said Lorie Chamberland, director of teacher education at UCSC. Eighty-three UCSC grads currently work for the Santa Cruz county school district.

“Historically, we’ve been very fortunate in that our students want to get a job teaching, they get a job teaching,” Chamberland said.

While her department has seen an increase in credential applicants in the past year, from 83 to over 100, prospective teachers are definitely conscious that public education is currently a competitive field, especially as class sizes increase.

“They read the newspapers, they hear the news and they hear about state budget cuts and how it could affect class size reduction, so they’re really curious in terms of what the job opportunities are in the area,” Chamberland said.

James explained that as the economy worsens, fewer veteran teachers retire as planned.

“In the economy, you have people who may have considered retirement, but by virtue of the economy, they’re not sure that this is the optimum time to retire and [they] retain their jobs, again affecting the possibilities for new and incoming teachers,” he said.

Even if teachers get a job in Santa Cruz County, it can be near to impossible to afford to live here.

James explained that salary adjustments were not made for the 2008-2009 school year. Teachers are getting paid the same amount as before, yet housing prices have gone up.

Lindsey Wilson received her degree in math from UCSC and participated in Cal Teach, a systemwide UC program designed to encourage math and science majors to become teachers in their field.

Wilson is currently earning her teaching credentials at UCSC. She has worked at half a dozen schools in the area, from Aptos High to San Lorenzo Valley High School in Felton, and wants to teach middle-school math.

Wilson said she is not sure if she’ll be staying in Santa Cruz once she gets her credentials.

“I did my undergrad and master’s being a single parent,” she said. “When I leave, I’ll be $60,000 in loan debt. I don’t know if staying in Santa Cruz would be financially responsible.”

Wilson said she studied math solely to become a math teacher. She has no question that teaching is her calling, but like many new teachers, budgetary concerns affect her psyche.

“It’s scary and it’s hard to keep motivated,” she said. “Already I’m a new teacher and having to keep myself motivated.”

For Karg, the compounded stress of teaching for the first time and not knowing whether she’ll be back to school next year affects her drive as well.

“It does affect my motivation a little bit,” she said. “I’m planning for next year, but I’m thinking, ‘Am I even going to be doing this?’”

Despite uncertain futures, inadequate budgets and stymied job opportunities, Wilson said she is amazed at the talent and ambition of the teachers in the credential program.

She offers the following advice to new teachers: “You have to be realistic and you have to stay positive,” she said.

James said that he is sure things will get better.

“Many of us have optimism because it’s a rewarding profession,” he said. “We’re in this bump right now, but I think we’re going to see a turnaround. And for the tenacious, there are always opportunities.”

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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at New Teachers Suffer from Budget Woes

Crowds of people gathered on top of parking structures, roofs and trees in order to catch a glimpse of the 129 cyclists passing through the finish line that spanned Santa Cruz’s Front Street.

With an estimated 10,000 bodies viewing the race in downtown Santa Cruz and hundreds more gathered in various viewing spots throughout the city, Mayor Cynthia Mathews called Stage 2 of the Amgen Tour of California a success.

“It took a huge amount of energy and resources to pull this off,” she said. “Our plans came together perfectly.”

For the first time, Santa Cruz served as one of the 16 host cities for the Tour of California, where the eight-stage race came through the city on Monday, Feb. 16, and will finish in Escondido, Calif. on Feb. 22.

On Presidents’ Day, 17 teams competed in the rigorous 116-mile course from Sausalito to Santa Cruz, through the rain and muddy trenches, where the weather added unexpected challenges along the way.

But for some of the local fans and professional cyclists, the Amgen Tour of California serves as more than just a race.

Many city officials and local Santa Cruzans are supporters of the cancer-fighting initiative the tour is promoting. Numerous professional cyclists competing in the Tour of California see the fight-against-cancer movement as an important issue, and have said they are happy that the Tour is shedding light on it.

Lance Armstrong, who finished in 13th place of the Stage 2 race, returned to the sport of cycling after a three-year retirement in order to raise awareness for The Lance Armstrong Foundation, which works to unite people to fight cancer.

The foundation was started in 1997, after Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer and decided to educate others about the growing epidemic.

Chief Operating Officer of the Lance Armstrong Foundation Betty Otter-Nickerson said the foundation predicts that by the year 2015, cancer will be the number-one killer in the world.

“The foundation empowers people affected by cancer,” said Otter-Nickerson, who watched the Stage 2 finish in downtown Santa Cruz.

Professional Bissell Team cyclist Ben Jaques-Maynes is a strong advocate for the fight against cancer, as the disease runs in his family.

“The cancer initiative of the Amgen Tour of California is terrific,” Jaques-Maynes said. “If I can help with that goal, the more the better.”

Jaques-Maynes was awarded with the Amgen’s Breakaway from Cancer™ Most Courageous Rider Jersey, which recognized his strong performance in the breakaway during the race. As a local resident of Watsonville and a UC Santa Cruz alumnus, thousands of fans cheered for Jaques-Maynes as he accepted the award on the main stage.

“There’s a lot of courage flying through this race and it’s a nice homecoming to be honored with a jersey this spectacular,” he said.

While Jaques-Maynes was disappointed with his finish in the 28th position, he remains thrilled with his local fan base.

Other awards were given to Thomas Peterson, of the American Garmin-Slipstream team, who placed first in the Stage 2 race and to the Levi Leipheimer of the Astana team, who placed second.

Tour of California organizers got a taste of how Santa Cruz feels about this particular bike race, with thousands of “Livestrong” posters, promoting the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and numerous people drawing chalk banners in the middle of the raceway.

While Mathews said she didn’t know whether or not the Tour would return to Santa Cruz in future years, she saw the event as a great success. When it came down to how the event was organized, she said she wouldn’t change a thing.

“We hear the people at Amgen are thrilled,” she said. “It went absolutely primo!”

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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Tour of California Comes to Santa Cruz

Two hundred years after Abraham Lincoln was born and 100 years after the NAACP was founded, the 25th annual Martin Luther King Convocation was held at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium.

The convocation celebrates the life and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Speakers discuss civil rights issues including justice, freedom and opportunity. This annual event also seeks to build dialogue between the UC Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz communities.

UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, in his opening remarks, called on audience members to reflect on how far the nation has come in 200 years. He called the convocation “an example of the way UCSC contributes to the community.”

The convocation also included the presentation of the Tony Hill Award for Community Service to an individual who demonstrates “the hallmarks of Tony Hill’s life: mentor, inspirational leader, gifted mediator and bridge-builder in our community.”

Hill, who served on the Convocation Planning Committee for a number of years, died in August 2007.

The award was given to Luis Allejo, a staff attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance, a nonprofit that helps the poor in California. Hill’s wife, Melanie Stern Hill, and daughter Tara Kemp presented the award to Allejo, who assists English- and Spanish-speaking people who cannot afford a private attorney.

In a gracious acceptance speech, Allejo described Hill as “one in a million” and encouraged audience members to keep “fighting the good fight.”

Van Jones, the keynote speaker, came after the award ceremony. Jones’s fame, both as a speaker and an activist, packed the auditorium.

“He’s dynamic,” audience member Norma DelGaudio said. “That’s why I’m here.”

Jones is the founding president of Green for All, an organization whose mission is to build a green economy: one that fixes the ecological crisis and provides jobs for millions of workers.

To thunderous applause, Jones took the stage.

“Yes we can,” Jones said. “And yes we did.”

Jones praised the American people for persevering, and for electing “the skinny guy with the funny name and big ears.”

People cannot rely on consumption and credit to keep the economy going, Jones said, and cannot run the economy on ecological destruction. He called for a turn-around in ideas about economic growth that would promote clean energy and provide jobs for workers.

Jones called for “construction over destruction” and “production over consumption.” He said that we haven’t recognized “our clean energy power centers” and that “the green economy can save us all.”

“We need to renew our politics, reinvent our economy, and recreate civilization,” Jones said.

Jones’ powerful one-liners were welcomed with continuous ovations. His main stance on how to change our current situation, a call to “fight pollution and poverty at the same time,” was well-received by audience members.

After the speech, Santa Cruz Mayor Cynthia Mathews described Jones as having “a high-energy resonance with the values of this community.” She described him as relevant and exciting for the future.

The success of the convocation was evident in the enthusiastic reactions of the audience members, but there is still much work to be done.

As Jones said, “In 100 years the question will be asked: Were we locusts or were we honey bees?”

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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Van Jones Speaks, Celebrates Martin Luther King’s Vision

UCSC fourth-year Charles Lewis often has trouble getting from campus to his downtown home.

Like many UC Santa Cruz students, Lewis often has to stand in the dark, the cold, or the rain after his late afternoon classes, as crowded buses pass him by. More often than not, after long days on campus, when all he wants to do is head home, relax, and get on with his night, he simply can’t — at least, not in a timely fashion.

“I see people almost every day get on a city bus on campus, to go somewhere else on campus,” said Lewis, an earth sciences major. “A lot of the time I can’t get a bus to go downtown.”

UCSC’s student ridership is up about 6 percent this year compared to last year, said Larry Pageler, director of Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS). According to October 2008 figures, more than three-quarters of the approximately 15,000 students on campus ride the buses on a daily basis.

TAPS is currently looking for cost-cutting measures within campus transit operations because they are unable to meet the high fuel and maintenance costs that the shuttles demand.

“These are likely to include elimination of the Long Marine Lab Shuttle — which carries very few people and costs a lot to operate — and possibly some reductions to Day Shuttle services that overlap with SCMTD routes through the campus,” Pageler said. “The high cost of maintenance and fuel has hampered the fiscal sustainability of the Day and Night Shuttle operation, and we’re looking for ways to reduce those costs while maintaining service.”

The Santa Cruz Metro Transit District (SCMTD), which is funded by the state and the university, does not expect any cuts, but it also remains unable to expand service.

“Our management plan is to get through 2010 without cuts,” said Les White, director of SCMTD. “The downside is we have serious overcrowding and service needs that we’re not able to respond to.”

Campus transportation faces the same issue of not being able to expand services, even in areas some think are vital.

“The Highway 17 bus is standing-room only, and we don’t have the money to expand service,” Pageler said.

In a desperate bid to close the state’s budget gap, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently diverted $3 billion out of the State Transportation Assistance Fund (STA), which provides money to public transportation systems statewide. For SCMTD, this means a loss of $6 million — a big chunk of its total funding.

The California Transit Association filed a lawsuit, claiming that the diversion of funds was illegal. The suit cites various propositions, including Prop. 116, passed in 1990, and Prop. 1A, passed in 2006 by voters wanting to keep money in the Public Transportation Account for mass transportation.

“It’s really frustrating,” White said, “especially after voters have said they want money to go to those services.”

According to the California Transit Association, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most recent budget proposal would eliminate funding to the STA altogether, meaning $536 million in cuts to public transportation throughout California.

These cuts come at a time when public transportation is becoming an increasingly popular option for commuters.

Pageler said that he has seen a decline in personal vehicle traffic on campus to levels comparable with fall quarter of 1997, when 5,000 fewer students were enrolled than in the fall quarter of 2008.

“Much of this [decline] was due to higher gasoline prices early in fall quarter, but also people’s concern about global warming and the economics of owning and operating a car,” Pageler said.

There are some things UCSC students can do, and some pieces of information they should know, that will make transportation run more smoothly and efficiently for everyone while dealing with this simultaneous lack of funding and increase in ridership.

The Cost of “Free” Bus Rides: $2.5 Million

The idea that riding any bus is free with a student ID is a common misconception. When students get on a Metro bus and ride for miles, like from downtown to campus, or blocks, like from college to college, TAPS is charged a flat rate of $1.20.

Last year, UCSC had to pay SCMTD $2.5 million for all student bus riders in the county.

When hopping on a city bus to go from one campus location to another, students may be taking a valuable spot from someone else who needs that bus to get home.

“We hear a lot of complaints from transit commuters trying to get off campus who find their particular bus — say, a Route 19 headed down Bay Street, or a Route 20 down Western — full of people traveling only as far as Porter or Oakes,” Pageler said.

Instead of taking these seats away from the students who really need them, Pageler suggests walking or biking when traveling across campus instead of riding the Day Shuttles or SCMTD buses, especially when “between classes” comprises only a short distance.

“Humans walking produce a lot less greenhouse gas emissions than a shuttle or bus,” Pageler said. “And you’ll get some healthy exercise at the same time.”

Putting the Bike Pedal to the Metal

Because of the unique geography of the UCSC campus, riding a bike up the many hills doesn’t always represent the most desirable mode of transport, especially for students housed downtown.

Nonetheless, Metro bike commuter numbers increased significantly during fall 2008, rising from 1,000 riders a day at the start of the quarter to 1,800 per day near the end, most likely due to rising gas prices and increased concern about global warming.

These numbers mean that competition abounds for the limited number of bike racks on buses. But those who plan ahead and venture to and from campus at off times are often able to find room for themselves and their bikes on the buses.

John Williams, a third-year American studies major, often buses his bike up to campus, then rides back down after classes.

“Usually if I want to take my bike, I ride to the Metro station downtown. You have a better chance of getting on a bus there,” Williams said, referring to the fact that many bus routes start and end downtown, which means open bike racks for bus riders.

Frank Jacinto, an SCMTD bus driver, shared some advice for transporting bikes via the city and campus buses.

“I want to emphasize that there’s a protocol when loading and unloading bikes,” Jacinto said. “A lot of students exit through the back and don’t even mention that they’re getting their bike. You don’t want the bus to drive off with your bike, and you certainly don’t want to end up under the bumper.”

The campus bike shuttle is another increasingly popular option for those who want to have bikes with them at the end of the day, but are not prepared to make the uphill trek to campus.

Bike shuttles have large racks which hold many more bikes than buses, attached to the backs of vans, and take an express route to select upper campus locations. Students can then lock bikes near classes, ride to lower campus locations and pedal home on their own schedule, often past mobs of students waiting for crowded buses.

Long-Lost Lesson: Look Before You Leap

Both city and campus buses run on schedules. Sometimes traffic makes buses late, sometimes weather does, but more often than not delays are caused by the very people who complain about them most: students.

Specifically, disrupted bus schedules are often the result of students walking in continuous streams across the street, many of whom fail to notice the packed buses halted at a standstill waiting for a chance to move.

“Both SCMTD and the Day and Night Shuttles take longer to travel around campus because of the high number of pedestrians and traffic delays caused by people in the crosswalks,” Pageler said. “I’m all for pedestrian travel — it’s healthy for each of us and for the planet — but it’s amazing how much of a delay a half-dozen individuals can cause when crossing the street.”

According to TAPS driver Steve Walker, known to many students as “the funny bus driver,” these streams are often the result of impatience on the part of students.

“Students have this crowd mentality where they see the first bus come and they get on that bus,” Walker said. “They don’t know that there is another Metro bus or another Upper Campus bus right behind them, pulling up in a matter of seconds.”

Walker wishes students realized that they have a choice in which buses to take.

“When you’re at a bus stop and you see the first bus pull up, and it’s a Metro bus, don’t assume it’s the only bus coming,” he said. “Do you want to get into the sardine can, or the empty bus behind it?”

Campus driver Timon Read offered advice as well.

“If one door is totally crowded, I recommend going in the empty door,” Read said.

And a final tip for the majority of UCSC students, nearly 12,000 in total, who rely on the services of bus drivers to get to and from class every day: Show a little love.

Almost all bus drivers say that they have noticed a new appreciation among students for the availability of transportation and the services offered by drivers.

Jacinto noted that, compared to previous years, students this year show a lot of gratitude, all of which is valued.

“Everyone says thank you,” Jacinto said, “I appreciate that. It makes my day.”

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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Bus Riding Blues

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Gavin Newsom, the San Francisco mayor who made a name for himself nationwide as a vocal advocate for gay marriage, came to Santa Cruz on Tuesday night as part of his tour through the state. Newsom, 41, is widely considered as a candidate for the upcoming 2010 California governor’s race. City on a Hill Press sat down with him after the town hall meeting to discuss his political ambitions, his campaign and his vision for the state.

You have said that holding these town hall meetings is meant to help you determine whether or not you want to run for governor. Can you say, with any degree of specificity, when you’ll come to a decision?

I feel very committed to this effort, so the question is really when will I announce, not when we know. We know. I want to do this … We have been very aggressive in going out and reaching out and doing these unfiltered town halls as a way to really gauge what people are … looking for.

What I’m hearing is very positive feedback, not because every answer is satisfactory or every idea is 100 percent in line, but that people like this approach and they believe this approach would be promising, not just during a campaign but in terms of governing the state.

The issue of your looks comes up quite often. Do you think that this affects how you’re perceived as a politician?

It shouldn’t. Some don’t like it, they have real disdain for the gelled hair, and I know that, and I know what you’re thinking out there. At the end of the day people don’t care about that, they care about what you can do to make a difference in their lives. … Our universal health care plan, our universal preschool program … What we’re doing on cleaning and greening our environment in San Francisco, what we’ve done on poverty eradication.

Those are the reasons I ran for mayor, and those are the reasons I want to run for governor, is to scale that. And if I can’t offer something along those lines to people, then who cares whether or not I wear a blue suit or a grey suit, whether or not I’m this tall or short? It doesn’t matter. What matters is what we can do to make a difference for people.

You’re talking about universal health care and greening. Your greening efforts have been criticized in terms of Measure H in San Francisco. Do you think this criticism is legitimate?

Oh yeah, [Measure H] was a big mistake. That was a takeover of PG&E. I don’t think that was about environmental stewardship, I think that was about an ideological agenda.

[San Francisco has] the most aggressive solar program in America, not just the state of California; the most aggressive strategy for alternative fuel vehicles in the country … We’ve done more on biodiesel and alternative energy sources than any city in America. … We’ve already reduced our CO2 emissions 6 percent below 1990 levels, and we’re already in 2009. We have done that and we’ve grown our economy. We have the most progressive environmental policies in the state of California and in this country, by any objective standards. I think people recognize that, so I’m very proud of our environmental work.

The greening happening in San Francisco is partially through new regulations and partially through efforts by the city. Do you foresee those regulations being extended throughout the state any time soon?

Yes, of course. We need to do more recycling, we need to be more focused on energy efficiency and energy conservation, we need to have stronger green building standards. We have the most aggressive green building standards in America. We need to electrify our vehicle fleet, not just in the Bay Area and San Francisco; it needs to happen up and down the state of California. There’s no way we’ll get from 12 percent renewables as a portion of our energy portfolio to 33 percent by 2020, pursuant to AB 32, unless we get serious. … San Francisco’s made a lot more progress, and we’ve been a stronger economic output and engine because of it. We have unemployment at 6.6 percent, the state at 9.3 percent. We’ve grown new green-collar jobs to a degree, now we’ve attracted 118 green-collar companies into our city. We can do a lot more in this state, so I’m going to work aggressively to do a lot more if I’m governor.

A lot of what you’re talking about, including universal health care, involves government spending. You recently were the force behind a massive cut in San Francisco’s spending. Does this mean a cut in services?

Yep, and there will be a lot more because of the budget deficit, but there’s not going to be a cut of our universal health care. In fact, last week we just announced we’ve increased the opportunity for people earning up to $106,000 for a family of four. Expanding our universal health plan for people earning up to 500 percent of poverty.

You’re not going to see any cuts in our universal health plan … you’re not going to see cuts into our support of housing for homeless people … you’re not going to see cuts into residential treatment for people with bipolar disorder, or that are dually diagnosed with drug or alcohol addictions … you’re not going to see any teachers laid off. You’re going to see an enhancement [to all of these].

But yeah, I’m dealing with reality. Every big-city mayor in this country is dealing with reality. That is, there are going to be cuts. … And we’re going to have to make even tougher decisions over the next few months, but I’ll make those decisions, I won’t defer them.

If you were Arnold Schwarzenegger right now, what would you do?

I’d do everything in my power to convince the one outstanding, remaining Republican that they need to step up to the plate and do the right thing and as we speak, they’re hopeful they can get one of two Republicans they think are “in play,” but what a terrible way of describing Sacramento and the game plan that goes on there. It’s interesting, you know, a lot of candidates would talk about the fact that they’re better at playing the games because they’ve been around Sacramento.

I think it’s time to end the game-playing, period, in Sacramento, and move in a completely different direction. That’s another one of the reasons I’m running for governor. That being said, I wouldn’t be doing what the governor has been doing, because it produced the result that we have today, and I think none of us are particularly satisfied with the results in Sacramento.

A lot of the things that you say you’re going to push for San Francisco cost money. Would you also plan on funding them on the state level, which would be significantly more expensive?

Not necessarily, in relative terms. Conditions are the same. I’m the only mayor of a county in the state of California. It’s a big differential between other mayors that govern a city. I govern a county, so I have welfare, adult and aging services issues, I have issues that disproportionately impact health of people, and so as a consequence I’m very familiar with the challenges of the state.

The reality is that [San Francisco’s] budget deficit is bigger, on a percentage basis, than the state’s budget deficit. I have more constraints — yes, even more constraints — as a mayor of San Francisco, in terms of set-aside funding, than the state of California. Yet we’re doing universal health care, and universal pre-school, and universal after-school programs, and we’re doing more in poverty eradication, with a high minimum wage, and a sick-leave ordinance, and doing working families tax credits, and getting more people banks and other check-cashing places, and more people housed that are out on the streets and the sidewalks.

So, if we can do it, we can do it in the state. … Again, that’s why I ran a campaign of ideas when I ran for mayor for the first time, and that’s why I’m running a campaign of ideas for governor this time, and I think it will distinguish our efforts.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Gavin Newsom’s Vision for the Golden State

For many prisoners in the United States, turning to a new novel is the most favorable, and sometimes only, source of entertainment during incarceration.

Former UC Santa Cruz student Ilya Arbatman, a volunteer with the Prisoners Literature Project (PLP), wants to make sure that access to literature remains a right for everyone — especially prisoners without the means to obtain books themselves.

Arbatman saw the opportunity to help the Books Through Bars program — an organization dedicated to providing quality reading material to prisoners — in his own way. He has created a benefit compilation CD entitled “Walls Turned Sideways Are Bridges.” The album title acquired its name from within the 1974 autobiography of activist Angela Davis, a former history of consciousness professor at UCSC.

The CD is the accumulation of a year’s worth of work, during which time Arbatman tracked down artists, oversaw design and assembled the final product.

Arbatman chose a combination of bands with whom he shared personal connections, as well as some who inspired him from afar. The compilation includes tracks from artists such as Tulsa, Prohibition Heartthrob, Fischer and Andrew Jackson Jihad. Most of these tracks are previously unreleased, an incentive which Arbatman hopes will boost sales.

All proceeds of the benefit compilation, which is now available online at GreatPlainsRecords.com, will be donated to the Prisoners Literature Project. Only 200 copies have been produced. Arbatman strived to create a cost-efficient album with large-scale results, he said.

“I worked at a copy center for awhile, so I made [promotional] flyers there,” Arbatman said. “And I actually got all of the jewel cases for free off of Craigslist, so that really helped. It’s minimum cost for maximum proceeds. Keeping the cost down ensures that more money will get to PLP.”

The finished product reveals the fruits of Arbatman’s efforts, for which he had support from his friends Rosie Zuckerman and Eugene Goldin, who are both UCSC alumni. Zuckerman assisted with assembly and Goldin created the dark, yet vibrant artwork on the CD cover. The image depicts a morose prisoner standing solitary in his cell. The darkness of the bars gradually turns into a bridge above his head, indicating the opportunity that may await him.

The Prisoners Literature Project started in the early 1980s as a volunteer-driven and donor-funded organization, with the goal of securing and sending free books to prisoners across the nation. Beginning in the back room of Bound Together Books, a popular anarchist bookstore on Haight Street in San Francisco, Prisoners Literature Project (PLP) has brought together the efforts of these volunteers to emphasize.

“Everyone deserves access to literature and educational materials, including people trying to work toward social change, self-empowerment or rehabilitation within the incarceration system,” according to the PLP Web site.

While attending a concert in Oakland, Arbatman saw the flyers for PLP and stepped up.

“I got involved after the show by opening the letters from prisoners who requested books,” Arbatman said. “You try to match as much as possible what they’ve requested, but it’s only a few books at a time we can send because of the cost of postage. I thought it was a sweet thing to do, to make the penal institutions a more humane place. Everyone has the right to literature.”

The same sentiment is voiced by UCSC first-year literature student Lisa Martin.

“Reading and knowledge are the answer to the world,” Martin said. “The more you read really affects the more you know, and PLP recognized this. It’s the best way to make connections with the outside world.”

In the words of Angela Davis, “A bridge is just a wall turned sideways.” Arbatman’s work intends to create one such literary bridge for prisoners as he and PLP fell the wall keeping incarcerated citizens from access to literature.

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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Benefit CD Brings Hope to Prisoners

Birdies flew through the air as sweaty bodies darted across the polished floor, swinging racquets in every direction, trying to get a hit.

This was the scene at a rigorous Thursday-night practice with 24 members of UC Santa Cruz’s badminton club.

“It’s very vigorous, very fast, and the sportsmanship is very uplifting,” said junior and club president Renald Tamse. “It’s a singles [competition], but there’s still a team balance you don’t find in any other sport.”

Founded in 2003 as a Tier II team, the badminton club has witnessed a dramatic increase in popularity, seeing more participants coming out to join over the past few years.

“In the past, we’ve had 10 people on the team,” Tamse said. “This most recent year, in comparison, witnessed so many new faces eager to play that cuts were made and players were turned down. That definitely keeps my hopes up.”

Tamse was one of several team officers present that night, in addition to George Zhong and Ronald Sham, all of whom were busy circling the courts while coaching and offering advice to other players.

“We go over a lot of stamina and technique during practice,” Zhong said. “We teach those techniques to members, people on the team, and even those not on the team who just wish to drop in for a practice.”

Jim Bosco, the team’s adviser, was one of the only people on the court that evening who was not receiving any coaching from the team officers. Among the younger and less experienced badminton players, the 80-year old two-time badminton world champion and former OPERS chairman was practicing the sport that he fell in love with over 45 years ago.

Bosco, dressed in his warm-ups and baseball cap, appears to be your typical 80-year-old. But by the time he steps on the court, wearing his shorts and polo shirt, he transforms into one of the most deadly players his age the sport has ever seen.

“Coaches tell their team what to do,” Bosco said. “As the adviser, I listen to what the team needs, and then I react.”

As a sport that hasn’t been very popular in the United States, many people view badminton as an easy “backyard” type of sport, one that doesn’t require much skill or discipline. But badminton players like Bosco know better.

“Tell them to come see me,” Bosco with a chuckle. “I can make you move your butt as fast as you can across the court with every stroke.”

Freshman Jeffrey Chuc had a similar stance.

“People don’t really see the intensity in it,” he said. “There’s a lot of sprinting involved although it may not seem like it. Although it’s a small court, you really move around.”

With one of the biggest rosters they’ve ever had, the Slugs are ready to go into action this Saturday, when they will host their first match of the season against Stanford and San Jose State in the East Field House gym.

“It’s [going to be] full of energy [and] fast-paced,” Tamse said. “It makes you feel alive.”

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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Badminton Preps to Host First Match of the Season

Seagulls scream out in the sky above. The salty sea breeze tosses sand into the air. Surfers are spotted riding rolling waves in the distance.

Such prime conditions are expected in world-renowned surf towns like Santa Cruz. And naturally, one might expect the local university to have a surf team, but at UC Santa Cruz, this is not the case.

Three years ago, UCSC’s own UC Surf Team disappeared from the school’s club roster, becoming one of many unfunded UCSC clubs. Now, the UC Surf team, all but unheard-of, struggles to regain the funding they once had, but still to no avail.

“The team has been around for a while, but it lost club status a few years ago due to a captain who didn’t notify the school that he was taking over the team, so the school thought we just disappeared,” current team captain Pat Ryan said. “But that’s not the case. We’ve still been going for the past three years, independently from the school, and the school won’t take us back as a club sport.”

To not be a school-sponsored club means that these surfers have to pay for everything out of their own pockets. For clubs like the UC Surf Team, many tournaments are not held in Northern California and therefore expenses for food, gas, hotels and admission fees come from their own savings and can get costly.

“The years prior to us coming [to UCSC], the school gave the surf team a bunch of money to fund the contests and so we would have enough money for gas to get to the contests,” junior and surfer Nathan Zoller said. “Now we have to support ourselves.”

But for those in the club, surfing is a driving element of their lives. To train, they surf nearly every day, and many of them have been competing in National Scholastic Surfing Association (NSSA), the highest profile amateur competitive surfing association in the United States, for most of their lives. Because surfing is so central to their lives, the fact that UCSC does not award funding to its surfing team while other schools do has really started to rankle team members in recent years.

“I don’t mind, because I like doing it,” surf team member Daniel Shea said. “But when other schools, even community colleges, get it paid for and we’re a UC and we don’t, [it’s unfair].”

Despite the team competing and taking third place in state and fourth nationally two seasons ago, there is still no acknowledgment in the way of funding for the club. This is due to a general lack of funds within OPERS, which ultimately stems from the much larger state budget crisis.

“The chances that the team will get their funding back is probably close to zero until we get out of this statewide budgetary mess,” said Kevin “Skippy” Givens, the director of intramural and club sports, and the sole person in charge of running all 24 club and intramural sports teams. “We’re going through the first round of a 10 percent budget cut reduction, and I hear there’s another 7 percent coming on top of that. Even if none of that was happening, it would be difficult, but with these budget cuts, [it’s nearly impossible]. … If it was under better circumstances, then they would at least have a chance.”

With the budget cuts playing such a strong role in funding, the surf team, as well as other potential club teams, are unlikely to get admitted into the UC club system at this time.

“It’s unfortunate, really. They’re a classic case of a club that I would love to have back in the sports club family,” Givens said. “I mean, they meet my criteria, they’re organized, and they understand what’s required to be a sports club.”

So even though Santa Cruz is a place known for its beaches and surfing, the UC Surf Team will continue to function as an unfunded and understated hidden gem that has the potential to compete at a national level and win.

“It just feels like [UC] Santa Cruz should definitely be a place with a sponsored or supported surf team,” Ryan said, “especially since places like UC Riverside have them, and this is what, like, Surf City?”

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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at UCSC Surf Team Struggles to Catch a Break

When the red carpet is finally rolled away, and the camera bulbs, swimming through the crowd like neon sharks, retire their incessant flashing, the 81st Academy Awards will have handed out nearly 40 awards over the course of its seemingly endless ceremony.
But when it comes to celebrating the year

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at The Oscars: Behind the Velvet Curtain

As the nation celebrated Lincoln’s birthday this Presidents’ Day weekend, the city of Santa Cruz was celebrating another monumental event. On Feb. 16, Lance Armstrong and the Amgen-sponsored Tour of California came to Santa Cruz. The race, which is broken up into eight stages, set up the finish line for the second leg in Santa Cruz.

The event affected campus and city alike. Santa Cruz residents, students and businesses all benefited from the international exposure brought on by the race.

The Metro did not dispatch any buses on their regular routes. Instead, a few designated bus routes were established for the day. These routes encouraged spectators to use public transportation by providing park-and-ride services at various locations within the city. The race had the potential to inflict a devastatingly huge carbon footprint on the city and surrounding areas, but the park-and-ride service as well as ride-sharing alleviated some of the impact.

Estimates show that tens of thousands of spectators migrated en masse to Santa Cruz for the event, and it is commendable that alternative means of transportation were made available for environmentally conscious viewers. By preemptively anticipating the effects of traffic congestion, the city of Santa Cruz made mass commuting possible through public transportation and ride-sharing. Also impressive was the efficacy with which the city accounted for road closure and the subsequent transportation needs of local residents as well as tourists.

The Tour of California is the largest bike race in the United States, and, as such, the event provides a unique opportunity to educate people about important political and environmental issues. The publicity surrounding this race, due in part to Armstrong’s participation, helped raise public awareness about the critical issue of physical fitness as well as highlighting bicycling as an alternative means of transit. In Santa Cruz, people were made aware of their personal impact on the city by observing a traffic-free Pacific Avenue and taking advantage of public transportation.

Competitive riders from all over the world are eligible to take part in the Tour of California. Having an event of such international importance was beneficial to Santa Cruz in more ways than one. Local businesses and hotels profited from the sudden surge of tourists who might not have otherwise sojourned in our beach town during these rainy winter months. Additionally, the implementation of a car-free zone on Pacific Avenue allowed locals and visitors to mingle freely.

April 20 and Halloween most consistently draw visitors to Santa Cruz for our out-of-season tourism influxes. This city is a beautiful one with a lot to offer. The Tour of California and the publicity that came with it offered the city a chance to put its best foot forward to visitors who, if not for the race, might not have otherwise ventured to this side of the Monterey Bay.

For its display of impressive athletic skill and remarkable influence on the Santa Cruz community, the Tour of California should be commended. Not only did this international bike race provide the forum for the best of Santa Cruz to see and be seen by locals and visitors, the Tour of California put this city in the spotlight, where it belongs.

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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Tour of California Brings New Fame to Santa Cruz

On Tuesday, Feb. 17, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger laid off 20,000 state employees. This is the latest tourniquet applied by Sacramento to stop California from financially bleeding to death.

As the nation struggles with the recession, states are tackling their own monetary woes. California, with over 36 million people and a $41 billion budget deficit, appears to be suffering worst of all.

Already, Schwarzenegger has ordered mandatory one-day unpaid furloughs per month for over 200,000 state employees.

Unemployment throughout the Golden State is at 8.7 percent, above the national average.

Countless public works sit abandoned, rusting in the winter rain. California has lost nearly all of its access to credit lenders, almost unheard-of for a state and an embarrassing downturn for the world’s eighth-largest economy.

When Californians tear open envelopes from Sacramento expecting to see their income tax refunds, they’ll find an I.O.U. staring them in the face.

High foreclosure rates and waning tax revenues are a large part of the problem. But the biggest issue lies in the state’s constitution.

Constitutionally, the state must pass a balanced budget each fiscal year. The 2008-2009 budget was due on June 15, 2008. Lawmakers are still hammering it out.

Part of the budget plan proposed by Democrats, the majority party, includes $14.4 billion in tax hikes, which would bring much-needed revenue to the state’s coffers.

Republicans, sticking to their tried-and-failed economic bread and butter, don’t want to see any tax increases and are blocking the Democrats’ plan, leaving California without a budget. Without a budget, workers can’t be paid. Herein lies the cause of the layoffs, unpaid vacation days and indefinite hiatus for all state-sponsored projects.

No one wants to pay more taxes, but we are in desperate times.

One would think that, with a majority in the State Assembly and Senate, Democrats could override any Republican naysayers, just as the national Democratic Congress and Senate have done with the stimulus package.

Unfortunately, Article 13A of the California Constitution requires a two-thirds “supermajority” for all tax laws passed by both houses of the Legislature.

Only two other states, Rhode Island and Arkansas, have a two-thirds provision.

Currently, 24 Democrats and 15 Republicans compose the Senate, and the breakdown in the Assembly is 51 to 29, respectively.

With these numbers, and under normal circumstances, Democrats theoretically could pass any bill they like. However, with the two-thirds provision, it takes just two senators and six assemblymembers to hijack a vote.

It looked like a deal was close to completion over Valentine’s Day weekend, but two Republican senators changed their minds at the last minute. On Wednesday, Senate Republicans ousted their minority leader, Dave Cogdill of Modesto, in favor of Dennis Hollingsworth of Murrieta.

Cogdill was prepared to accept the budget plan, tax hikes and all, which was forged over three hard months of negotiating and conceding from both sides.

Senate Republicans, stubbornly sticking to their guns, held a private caucus in the middle of the night and elected Hollingsworth, a stringent opponent of raising taxes. Subsequently, the plan did not pass, and Republicans want to restart from square one.

They seem hell-bent on getting their way, regardless of the nightmare they are causing to the state’s infrastructure, health care, education, and hard-working citizens.

Republicans, now under Hollingsworth, haven’t offered any alternative solutions.

It seems they only want to remain the party of obstruction and completely disregard the welfare of the state.

Sacramento is on virtual lockdown until a supermajority is reached. Democrats may be forced to make even more concessions to appease Republicans and get the votes needed to balance the budget. However, just balancing it without raising taxes will not get California functioning properly in the long run.

And with the 2009-2010 budget due by June 15 of this year, it looks as though this whole mess is destined for a repeat.

The two-thirds provision has become a power play for a minority party, and is hurting our state. It is a backwards policy, detrimental to our future, and must be abolished. We implore the Assembly and Senate to revise the California Constitution before we find ourselves in even deeper and darker waters.

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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Two-Thirds Rule Perpetuating CA Budget Woes

In light of a dwindling economy, Natalie Dylan has taken her virginity and turned it into a business, collecting publicity money left and right. Although Dylan’s story has sparked national disapproval, she reveals that behind the hype, she is your average 22-year-old who dates, goes to school, and spends time with her family in San Diego.

R: What’s the status with the auction? Have you made any decisions?

N: I haven’t made any decisions yet, but I’ll take you back to the catalyst of this all. I finished my BA and I knew I wanted to pursue a master’s. I was prematurely thinking of different topics. I find virginity fascinating with the different cultures and looking back at the geisha and all these different things. And so I did a basic Google search on virginity in different cultures and I came across this article about a Peruvian woman who wanted to put her virginity up for sale, and she was offered an enormous amount of money to do that.

I decided to continue my thesis research and implement it into my own life; to basically extract an age-old tradition and implement it into modern day. I contacted Dennis Hof at the Bunny Ranch and he thought it was a great idea. He wanted to help me think of a good strategy to get it out there and decided Howard Stern would be a good platform for that. After that show, every media source picked up on it and it’s been crazy. I’m working on a book, there’s talk of making a feature film. It’s so funny how you open up (no pun intended) but more opportunities open up to you.

R: What was the Bunny Ranch like when you visited?

N: You know, it’s really funny, it’s like a sorority house! It’s such a non-judgment zone. People seem very real there because, I mean, what do they have to lose? I found everyone very lovely.

R: Are you nervous as hell about this? Is it nerve-wracking, taking your sex life to such a public level?

N: I have yet for the nerves to kick in. I’ll definitely be nervous on the actual night. I’m not going against my own morals. For all the money in the world I would never go against my own morals. Why do people think exchanging sex for money is bad? I feel very comfortable even though a lot of people don’t agree with what I’m doing. I haven’t lost a single friend over this and my family of course doesn’t love my decision but they still love me.

R: Are you flattered that you are worth $3.8 million?

N: To me, it’s ridiculous. I don’t think it’s because of me. And not even necessarily about my virginity. The media has sensationalized this so much to the point where I feel like people just want to be part of this hype. It’s almost like the “American Idol” of virginity!

R: Does it make you uncomfortable to know that people are judging you?

N: Not really, because this whole thing is on the Internet. When people see me, I become more humanized to them. The only way I could take it personally is if it’s somebody I already know.

R: Let’s say during this process you meet somebody and you fall in love. Would you consider not going through with all of this?

N: Well I’m dating right now and it’s really tricky because I’m trying to separate having sex for love and having sex for money. Everything really depends. You can only have a relationship if you’re really open to it at the time, otherwise it won’t really work.

R: What else are you looking for in a man beside just the money?

N: It’s primarily monetary. If I just wanted to have sex I could go to a bar tonight, and mission accomplished!

R: What if the highest bidder was 80 years old?

N: I don’t know about that one so much. This is tough because I’m trying to think like a businesswoman. But I would definitely have to do a thorough background and medical check, make sure he’s OK, you know.

R: And you are currently not in grad school?

N: Correct! Everyone’s pulling the headline that I did this to pay for grad school! I actually work; I could easily pay for grad school. I just saw this as a great way to put money in my bank account, especially in this economy!

R: What is something that people don’t know about you?

N: I’m not evil! A lot of people think I’m saying that all girls should do this, and it’s so funny. So many interviews, people have said, “Well what are you teaching young girls about marriage?” and I say, “What are you teaching these young girls, that their virginity is the most important thing they have to give to their husband? I know I have much more to give to my husband than my virginity!” If there’s any message I’m sending, it’s do what you want with your virginity and don’t follow what society thinks you should or shouldn’t do.

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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Q&A with Natalie Dylan: 22-Year-Old Virgin Up For Auction

<p><b>Behind the Scenes:</b><br />Check out our time lapse of City on a Hill Press Illustrator Rachel Edelstein creating an illustration for this week’s issue.</p>
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---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Behind the Scenes: Rachel Edelstein Illustration Time Lapse