The following letter is in response to Injection Drug Users Sentenced to Disease, published May 21st. ——– Dear City on a Hill Press,   It was no surprise that President Obama retained the language that prohibits spending federal funds on syringe exchange programs in the President’s Fiscal Year 2010 Budget. We had been receiving that [...]

As the next stage of the Obama presidency begins to kick into high gear, with many of his promises slowly becoming realities, the final remnants of the Bush administration’s war on terror are slowly exiting the Oval Office.

Last Thursday, Obama spoke at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. about America’s current visage regarding the moral authority surrounding our war on terror and use of torture, and the United States’ Guantanamo Bay detention camp, located in neighboring Cuba, was at the center of the discussion.

The clothing culture in Santa Cruz has become infamous for reuse and thrift. Community members and students alike are often innovative and creative with pieces they already have. The hard economic times and rising student fees have inspired some new fashion-savvy trends and ways to do it yourself (DIY). The resources for an environmentally conscious wardrobe makeover are bountiful downtown and right here on campus.

Performers circle the perimeter of the room. A jester serves mango and a masked woman swings a sword and drags it across the necks of audience members. People sensually kiss and hug and it becomes difficult to tell who is actually a part of the show — it seems everyone is.

A sign on the bulletin board of the 418 Project details its income, totaling $105,615, while its expenses have reached $127,000. It is clear that some monetary stimulation is necessary. The annual “What is Erotic?” fundraiser is intended to provide just that.

Now in its fourth year, the interactive performance raises money for the 418 Project, a nonprofit community center located in downtown Santa Cruz.

There was seemingly no escape from the litany of e-mails, text messages and automated voice messages sent out through the new CruzAlert system to the students and faculty members of the UC Santa Cruz community reporting a “suspicious device” near the campus main gate on May 21.

Over the sounds of passing cars and occasional honks of encouragement, Students of Color Collective (SOCC) member and emcee Chelsea Johnson-Long spoke out to the crowd of hunger strikers and supporters who gathered at the base of campus Tuesday. During this rare quiet moment at the sunny afternoon rally, Johnson-Long referenced the increases in tuition for working-class families and the university’s perceived lack of support for undocumented AB540 students, two of many issues that SOCC students believe are especially detrimental to UC Santa Cruz’s students of color. The event was designed to shine light on such issues as well as kick off SOCC’s hunger strike.

Several UC Santa Cruz programs and departments, including but not limited to community studies, may be at risk of disestablishment. According to Student Union Assembly (SUA) and Academic Senate officers, deans and division administrators are consulting with committees of the Academic Senate to determine whether the most recent budget cuts will fundamentally change the curricular stability of any of the programs affected.

Jesse Cheng, a third-year Asian American studies major at UC Irvine, was nominated by the UC Board of Regents Special Committee as the candidate for the 2009-10 student regent delegate. The committee met on May 20 in Santa Monica to nominate Cheng. Their choice was not public until the following Friday because of a protocol [...]

With Memorial Day weekend behind us, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk summer season has officially begun. And while our parents’ generation may fondly reminisce about the crowds, rides and bouts of childhood rebellion that took place at this local landmark, it seems that many UC Santa Cruz students have dismissed it as a congested tourist trap. However, the Boardwalk has lots of new and exciting features to discover as the summer months approach. This is your guide to the bustling and jubilant atmosphere that can be found this summer on Beach Street, for both tourists and natives alike.