Illustration by Rachel Edelstein.

This spring election season could simply be described, in today’s terms, as an epic fail.

The annual spring campus elections, held every year to decide on proposed student fee increases and student government representatives, fell short of the minimum voter turnout needed to pass four proposed student fee measures, proving that student apathy is on the rise when it comes to campus politics.

Out of the eligible 14,303 undergraduate and 1,416 graduate voters, only 19.97 percent took the time to vote online during the weeklong election that began May 13. Twenty-five percent of the eligible student population was needed to validate the votes.

Apathy toward politics, whether campus or statewide, is dangerous during times when money is scarce and important decisions have to be made about what we want to invest in and what we can decide to forgo.

In this election, we lost the opportunity to increase green education (Measure 39), extend the gym hours (Measure 40) and provide more support for the Sustainability Office (Measure 41).

Perhaps the most devastating defeat was of Measure 38, which proposed to renew an existing fee referendum to make UCSC a greener campus. It proposed to redirect the $135,000 generated from Measure 28, passed in 2006, which purchased renewable energy certificates to offset the campus’s electricity purchases.

If enough people voted to pass Measure 38, the $3 that comes from each UCSC student per quarter would have been directly used to create a more sustainable campus by purchasing on-site renewable energy sources and funding energy-saving projects. 

Whether or not students wanted to tax themselves to support growing programs or student services that have been cut back due to budget cuts, a lack of voting merely sends a message that we don’t care.

We could blame it on the students who didn’t take the time to vote, or the lack of outreach and publicizing efforts compared to previous years. But what we really need is to do a better job of educating ourselves and others about the issues going on.

It’s not a time when we can afford to raise student fees anymore, but more than anything, we can’t afford to sit by the sidelines and not engage in the decision-making process — whether it’s participating in campus elections, fighting for programs and resources being cut, or voting in the statewide elections.

But if we don’t work together to take actions to control our education and economy, someone else will make the decisions for us.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Campus Elections Fail

Photo by Alex Zamora.

The Cantú Queer Center, located across from Crown College on campus, is accepting of all sexual orientations and is open to students from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mon. thru Fri. Photo by Alex Zamora.

VIbrant Balloons led this year’s PRIDE march as it made its way throughout all of campus, ending at Kresge College in a huge celebration. Photo by Alex Zamora.

On Nov. 4 of last year, UC Santa Cruz students celebrated the election of the 44th president of the United States with a large victory run that spanned the entire campus. However, the joyful mood was soon dampened when news of the passage of Proposition 8 became known, and students’ hopes for marriage equality in the state of California began to fade.

The proposition added a section to the California Constitution that reads, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” 

On March 5, the California State Supreme Court heard the oral arguments of three cases challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8. A 90-day decision period commenced and the fate of 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place before the November election hung in the balance.

On May 26, the court rejected the challenges by a 6-1 vote and further disappointed those who had hoped for the legalization of same-sex marriage. However, the court ruled that the marriages that had occurred before the election would be exempt from the adopted revisions to the California Constitution. Justice Carlos R. Moreno was the only judge to rule that Proposition 8 was invalid. 

The arguments addressed in the hearing focused on Proposition 8’s validity, as it constitutes a revision of the California Constitution. The proposition was also questioned for possible violations under the separation of powers doctrine in the California Constitution. 

Adriana Lopez, UC Santa Cruz residential educator, and Monica Morales, UCSC alumna, were married in August 2008. Lopez is worried about what the exception to the proposition will mean for their future.

“It’s a very odd position that we’ve been put in, being one of the 18,000 same-sex couples to keep their marriage in California,” Lopez said. “We are not part of the mainstream, and I can see that becoming an obstacle.” 

Despite the difficulties arising from the state, Lopez believes her marriage means more than what others think of it. 

“We were planning on getting married even before it was legal in the state,” Lopez said. “It was more of a personal recognition of our bond before anything else.  

“The main obstacle we faced came from our family’s perception of marriage, but having a family of our own is more important to us than anything else,” Lopez said. 

With the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in Maine, there has been more and more talk about what advances California should make in the fight against the ban on same-sex marriage in California. 

New York is predicted to be next in line to jump on the same-sex marriage bandwagon that now includes Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont and Iowa. New York governor David A. Paterson broke ground when he introduced a same-sex marriage bill for his state in April. 

This latest string of New England states in support of same-sex marriage has increased the LGBT advocates’ drive in California to tackle another ballot measure on the issue by next year. 

LGBT Pride in the Community

On campus and in town, students and citizens have been gearing up to fight the court rulings with events and protests.

The people of Santa Cruz and several towns in the surrounding area gathered together on the “Day of Decision” for the California Supreme Court hearing, May 26. 

Equality Action Project team member Cathy Andrews organized the event and saw more people there than she had anticipated.

“There were several hundred people there with signs, even though so many folks in Santa Cruz were upset by the decision,” Andrews said.

On campus, a gay pride march from Cowell to Kresge caused many students to get involved and informed about California’s status for same-sex couples.

“It was great to see so many straight and gay people out marching together for the same cause,” said first-year Cowell student Mark Rossow, who participated in the march.

At the UCSC Cantú Queer Center’s GALA Gallery, the photo exhibit entitled “We Now Pronounce You” documents the recent marriages of UCSC staff, students, faculty and alumni. It is open for the spring quarter during the center’s open hours, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Deb Abbott, director of the Cantú Queer Center, said that the photo exhibit gives the stories of each couple, and although the exhibit is a celebration of the marriages, for some of the couples it was a long and strenuous process to be married. 

“There are many couples that got married last summer, which is very exciting, but very few people realize that for a long time, those weddings were in limbo,” Abbott said. “There are couples that were forced to get their marriage annulled.” 

Santa Cruz’s Stance

Long before the LGBT community was more widely accepted, the city of Santa Cruz took a strong stand in supporting it. In 1983, John Laird, an openly gay man, became mayor of Santa Cruz. As one of the first gay public officials elected in the country, he successfully fought the Briggs Initiative, which attempted to ban gay teachers in schools in California. 

“Santa Cruz is particularly accepting of the GBLT community because early on, we did a lot of basic public education and grassroots organizing on the issue,” vice mayor Mike Rotkin said. “The city of Santa Cruz also started one of the first consistent gay pride events in California.” 

On June 6, the 17th annual “Dyke March” will take place in Santa Cruz, and the 35th annual LGBT Pride Festival will follow the next day at San Lorenzo Park. With a variety of booths, speakers and entertainers, both events characterize the fervent support of gay pride that can be found in the Santa Cruz community. 

With the majority of the fight to legalize gay marriage taking place in the more liberal cities of the state, there are also protests in support of gay marriage taking place in characteristically conservative areas of central California. A rally called “Meet in the Middle for Equality” took place in Fresno at the City Hall last Saturday after the California Supreme Court ruling.

“In communities that are small or not typically progressive it is especially important to have some visibility of GBLT issues and to begin to educate them on the rights they deserve to have,” Abbott said. 

In addition to less progressive areas of the state, there are also religious groups that are not accepting of the union between same-sex couples. 

Cowell first-year Nick Paterno has faced the difficulties of being an openly gay Catholic head-on. 

“At first I stopped going to church because it scared me when the priest said that it was a ‘hellfire damnation’ to be gay,” Paterno said. “I don’t think that most churches support the gay community even if they say they do.” 

Reverend David Grishaw-Jones of the First Congregational Church in Santa Cruz expressed the importance of accepting multiple viewpoints within the church community. 

“I want to believe our country can be a place where a wide diversity of views and spiritual values are tolerated and welcomed,” Grishaw-Jones said. “What worries and angers me is the attitude among some fundamentalist Christians that theirs is the only view that matters.” 

Abbott said that California’s decision was more of a reflection of the financial power of religious groups than a reflection of how the majority of California citizens felt on the issue of same-sex marriage. 

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at The Same-Sex Marriage Fight in California Is Not Over

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Slug Comics

Photo by Isaac Miller.

Over 500 People attened the rally sponsored by the Friends of Santa Cruz States Parks. The govenor’s plan would close every state park and beach in Santa Cruz County. Photo by Isaac Miller.

The dramatic landscape of Natural Bridges State Beach served as the backdrop to an impassioned rally on June 1, with over 500 residents coming together to oppose Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed plan to cut $213 million from the California State Parks system by 2011.

The cuts, which were announced just days before, would come in the form of an amendment to the state budget and would effectively close 80 percent of California’s state parks. Two hundred twenty out of 279 state parks, including every park located in Santa Cruz County, will be closed if the legislators approve the plan.

Randy Widera, the director of strategic development and partnerships for the Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, which hosted the rally, said he was impressed with the high turnout by the people of Santa Cruz.

“I couldn’t imagine a more important issue in a more important place,” Widera said. He continued by asking the vocal crowd, “Why are we always having to save our state parks?”

Speakers at the rally addressed the many issues that will arise if the state park system is dismantled, including decreased public safety, loss of tourism revenue, a vacuum of ranger patrol and the loss of vital environmental stewardship programs. 

Fred Keeley, the Santa Cruz County treasurer and former assemblyman for the 27th district, which includes Santa Cruz, said during the rally that the cuts are dangerous because closing the parks will not necessarily prevent people from visiting the sites.

“What’s being proposed is an abandonment of the state parks — that’s lunacy to do that,” Keeley said. “If we accept these cuts we’re waving a white flag of surrender to the intergenerational responsibility we have to save our state parks.”

There have been reports that the governor is using the proposed cuts as an intimidation tactic to leverage state Republicans, who oppose any new taxes or fees, into considering finding new revenue sources. 

Bonny Hawley, executive director of Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, said that citizens must fight the proposed legislation regardless.

“Some people think the governor is bluffing,” she said during the rally. “We can’t risk finding that out — there’s too much at stake.” 

Brian Dowd, a UC Santa Cruz environmental studies lecturer and Ph.D. candidate, teaches a class about the importance of environmental interpreters and outdoor educators in California and has worked for organizations such as the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Dowd spoke about some of the hidden costs that would come as a result of closing the state parks.

“Who’s there protecting public safety? Who’s there making sure trash doesn’t pile up? Who’s there enforcing the laws?” Dowd asked. “That’s a hidden tax on the local community that’s going to come up.”

Several speakers at the rally warned against the state parks’ cause getting pitted against other important issues in the face of numerous draconian budget cuts. Dowd also believes that it is counterproductive to oppose these cuts without addressing them in the scope of the larger budgetary catastrophe at hand.

“A conscientious Californian can’t think of this just as ‘save our state parks,’” Dowd said. “We need to marry it with larger issues and seek new revenue sources to solve these problems.”

Organizers of the rally encouraged citizens to contact the governor and other state lawmakers via phone, e-mail, and an online petition to make it known that they would not accept the cuts. A bus full of supporters attended a legislative hearing in Sacramento on Tuesday, where they got a chance to express their disapproval to state lawmakers through public comment.

A bevy of citizens, young and old alike, stood with creative signs emblazoned with the names of their favorite state parks in Santa Cruz, from Seabright State Beach and Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, to Wilder Ranch and the Forest of Nisene Marks.

One resident summed up the tone of the rally with a sign that referenced the great California naturalist John Muir. 

It simply read, “We need a Muir-acle.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Santa Cruzans Mobilize to Save California State Parks

A second-year apprentice at the UCSC Farm stands outside a tent which uses solar energy. Photo by Alex Zamora.

Tim Becker came to the farm as a first-year and hasn’t left since.

The seed was planted in 2005, when he arrived at UC Santa Cruz as a proposed language studies major from Los Angeles who had no prior farming experience.

Then he got his hands dirty. During his first quarter, Becker spent Tuesdays and Thursdays harvesting food at the farm, waking up at 6 a.m. so he could eat breakfast at College Nine before spending his day working at the gardens. He became more rooted in agriculture his second year, when he interned at the farm 10 hours a week, learning the basics of gardening: weeding, planting, maintaining tools, compost and working in the greenhouses.

“I was in awe of this garden that I discovered so recently in my college experience, and I felt so lucky coming from L.A., this big metropolis where I never really experienced agriculture on that level,” Becker said. “When I found this place I realized how important it was for me to get involved on a deeper level.”

Becker, who graduated this past winter with a degree in environmental studies, is now an apprentice in the UCSC Farm and Gardens Apprenticeship Program, a six-month intensive program where farmers from all over the nation come to live, learn and work on the 32-acre UCSC Farm and 3-acre Alan Chadwick Garden.

Since its founding in 1967 by Alan Chadwick, more than 1,200 farmers have lived and worked on the farm to learn the nuts and bolts of organic farming and horticulture.

Many have since started their own farms and businesses and become chefs and educators all over the nation. One recent graduate, Blair Randall, started the Victory Gardens in front of San Francisco City Hall.

On April 13, Becker moved back to Santa Cruz with a mattress, some blankets, a dresser and his tent, much like all of the apprentices before him. However, Becker and his fellow apprentices will be the last group to live in these tents that line the periphery of the farm. As of June 2009, they will no longer be permitted to do so by the university due to building regulations.

In December 2008, the UCSC Farm and Alan Chadwick Garden launched the Grow-a-Farmer campaign to raise $250,000 in order to build permanent university-approved housing that would shelter the 38 apprentices that work on the farm each year.

Ann Lindsey, the fundraising coordinator for Grow-a-Farmer, expressed excitement for the eight four-person tent-cabins that will provide private rooms for 32 new apprentices.

“We want people [to] have a better place to live than a tent,” Lindsay said. “They’re going to be nice little structures tucked behind the plum orchards. They’re going to be a great place to live.”

Christof Bernau, the UCSC garden manager and instructor, views living on-site as a “very solid cornerstone” of the program not only because it provides first-hand experience, but also because its low cost allows for people of varying economic backgrounds to be able to afford to attend the program.

In addition, Bernau said that the community that develops due to on-site living arrangements provides a valuable opportunity for the cross-pollination of ideas and backgrounds.

“[The apprentices] come from a world of experience that they share with each other in part in the day-to-day, but in the off-hours as well,” Bernau said. “If people weren’t living there and were all off in these separate places, there would be a whole lot less community engagement.”

The month of May marked the last push to get businesses, restaurants and organizations to help fund the tent-cabins that would house the next generation of organic farmers. The support was overwhelming — over 50 restaurants and businesses in Santa Cruz and the Bay Area, such as Gabriella’s Café in Santa Cruz and New Leaf grocery stores, pledged to donate a percentage of their profits. The effort isn’t just a local one; restaurants in New York and Los Angeles also held events to benefit the campaign and foundations like Newman’s Own Foundation donated $50,000.

The work has started to pay off. As of June 1, Grow-a-Farmer had raised $213,000. County Supervisor Mark Stone proclaimed June “Grow an Organic Farmer Month” to honor the work the apprentices have done to provide sustainable and organic agriculture.

Aside from businesses, there have been individual donations ranging from $5 to $10,000, an effort that Martha Brown, senior editor at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, compares to the grassroots efforts utilized in Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

Brown said that the most gratifying part of the campaign was receiving donations from former apprentices who threw events at their homes and farms, using their connections with family and organizations to get more sponsorship.

“It’s so clear that they’re so passionate about giving people the same opportunity to have the same chance they had,” Brown said. “That’s been kind of a fun part of it, a whole community of people [coming] together to work on it.”

“Agriculture is such a social engagement. As much as it is about your involvement in the land, it’s about your involvement with people,” Becker said. “What we partially strive to achieve is a deeper relationship with our agricultural community. That’s what I realized coming here. I kind of fell in love with this place.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Community-Supported Farmers

Photo by Rosario Serna.

The Students of Color Collective (SOCC) finished a week of hunger strikes, optimistic about the success of their protest. Situating their demonstration at the base of campus, SOCC proved to be an organized and resilient group of concerned students.

Irene Vasquez, a fourth-year Merrill student double majoring in environmental studies and economics, said that the SOCC protest started on May 25 with about 20 hunger strikers. Participation varied from a 24-hour fast to those who are committed to starve until demands are met.

The SOCC was established at the end of April in reaction to the growing concern over budget cuts and their impact on the quality of education available for students of color at UC Santa Cruz, with many programs no longer offered.

“The hunger strikers are bringing attention to our list of demands, including the DREAM Act and the university making campus a safe sanctuary,” Vasquez said.

The DREAM Act provides undocumented students with conditional permanent residency, allowing many to attend college.

Twelve people are still fasting, Vasquez said, surviving on a drink mix of water, cayenne pepper, honey and lemon for energy.

Protesters wore red ties to indicate that they had fasted since Tuesday. Some students wore purple ties on their biceps to indicate their “standing solidarity” and support for those fasting.

By May 28, residents of Family Student Housing (FSH) and the New UC group joined SOCC at the base of campus. The groups participated in a one-day protest, both for their own causes and in solidarity with SOCC. Leaders of the three organizations said that their protests were distinct and autonomous from one another.

Still, delegates from each group were in contact throughout the day. FSH’s agenda to stop rent increases, and the New UC’s desire was to keep administrative processes transparent and the UC system public, were also in SOCC’s list of demands. Each organization offered their support for the others.

“I feel your presence and your energy,” said Martin Garcia, a graduate student and resident of FSH, at the New UC’s May 28 rally. He said this energy sustained him throughout the day as they stood in solidarity with SOCC’s hunger strikers.

“They are putting their bodies on the line,” Garcia said.

Taking medical precautions, many of the strikers physically prepared themselves to carry out the hunger strike. Some strikers maintained restricted diets or practiced fasting for 24 hours the Friday before the start of the protest.

Each person who fasted received emotional preparation as well, said third-year Chelsea Johnson-Long, community studies major and SOCC organizer. SOCC met many times beforehand, she said, to ensure the protesters knew exactly what they volunteered for.

“We have a great check-in buddy system to ensure that the strikers are taking care of themselves,” said SOCC member Vasquez.

Among other demands, SOCC wants the university to hire full-time directors for the American Indian Resource Center (AIRC) and Women’s Center. Vasquez said that she learned of SOCC because Dennis Tibbetts, the AIRC director, retired.

Tibbetts pioneered the establishment of relations between local tribes in the Santa Cruz area and the UC. He renamed conference centers on campus in honor of these tribes, such as the Cervantes and Velasquez rooms.

“[Tibbetts] was vital to native students,” Vasquez said. “He was vital to the program.”

Along with their various demands, the month-old coalition wants the administration to freeze budget cuts over the summer. SOCC fears that without a majority of students being present during summer, the administration will reallocate and reduce funds without student input.

“There’s a definite concern over the summer,” Johnson-Long said.

It is important to keep on protesting and engaging the administration over budget cuts, Martin Garcia said. Student organizations “need to sharpen their axes” with regards to the budget woes of next year.

“We have some big-ass trees to cut down,” he said, referring to the administration. “It doesn’t end here.”

Garcia is not the only one afraid for the future of student involvement and protest over the university’s fiscal crisis. Nora Hochman, an organizer with the Coalition of University Employees Local No. 10, said that the summer poses a problem for student protesters.

“The administration is waiting, holding their breath until we disappear over the summer,” Hochman said at the rally. “Then they can go ahead.”

If students like Johnson-Long, Garcia and Vasquez have anything to say about it, this is only the beginning.

“Our ultimate direction,” Garcia said, “is perhaps a complete [university] rehaul.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Students Wrap Up Protest at Base of Campus

Photo by Rosario Serna.

Mike Rotkin is a busy man. He is a lecturer, a union leader, the coordinator of the UC Santa Cruz community studies field study, an activist, a father, a husband, the faculty adviser for Fish Rap Live! magazine, a former Santa Cruz mayor, chairman of the local ACLU chapter, and a City Councilmember. He also kayaks, enjoys sports, and spends time outdoors.

What doesn’t he do? 

Drive a car. 

How does he do so much? He sleeps five hours a night, doesn’t waste time in front of the television, and wakes up each morning genuinely excited to be doing what he does. The man of many masks sat down to talk about his role in this community and the issues facing the city and the university.

~~~~~~

City on a Hill Press: You came to Santa Cruz in 1969 and entered UCSC’s history of consciousness graduate program the following fall. That is when you became a TA for the budding community studies program. You have watched the program grow, as a lecturer in community studies and the field coordinator in. Why did you stick with community studies for so long? 

Mike Rotkin: I really believe in and like the hands-on method that they use for students getting an education about social change. We were one of the first programs in the country to actually ever do that. We may be the first major ever, actually, organized around a required field study. It’s one thing to read about social change, and it’s another to actually get involved. I thought it was a great program and I liked the way it was organized from the very beginning. 

CHP: You are a local president as well as a vice president of the UC-AFT, representing lecturers and librarians in the UC system. What is your role there, and what has driven you to remain an active member for the past 18 years? 

MR: I grew up in a union family, my parents are strong supporters of unions, and I’ve always wanted to belong to unions wherever I worked. When I came to Santa Cruz there was no union representing lecturers, so at the time I joined AFSCME, which represented service workers, but I wanted to belong to some union when I was working here. I actually was on the Central Labor Council in Santa Cruz for 10 years. 

I think working people need unions to defend their self-interest. Unions fight for a better world in broader kinds of terms. 

I think what people might imagine of the University of California is that, because it’s a university, that it’s a rational institution. I would have assumed earlier on, if I didn’t know what I know now, that it’s a just institution that looks after its students and employees and so forth, but sadly that’s far from the case. People need a union to defend their basic rights, to ensure that they are paid decently for their jobs, and to be recognized as contributors to the institution. 

The librarians are being abused by the university. For one example, they are paid less, about 15 to 20 percent less, than the equivalent librarians in the CSU system. 

You would expect the university to recognize the importance of what librarians do for them, but they don’t. It requires a struggle to make that happen. It’s a very sad lesson for a lot of us to learn that it’s a lot more than being right and having a rational argument on your side — you actually have to organize and put direct pressure on the administration if you’re going to get the things that you deserve out of life. 

CHP: You’ve been a lecturer at UCSC for 36 out of the 40 years you’ve been at UCSC. Why aren’t you tenured? 

MR: Well, the University of California, like most modern universities, and in fact the whole corporate world, has been moving more and more away from permanent employees with security towards temporary workers. 

Currently about half the teaching in the UC system is done not by professors who are on the tenure track, but by lecturers and other non-tenured professors. Lecturers are sort of second-class citizens. Once you’ve taken a job as a lecturer, it’s very difficult to get the university to even consider you for a tenure track job. 

I was originally offered a job as an assistant professor on the tenure track system, but at the time Dean McHenry called me up and asked me if I would be willing to take a job as a lecturer. And when he described to me what the job was, I said sure, I’d be willing to be a lecturer. I’ve never been on the tenure track. 

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at A Man & A Mission

Senior film student Adam Linkenhelt directs the scene for his short film, “Mirror Masturbator.” Photo courtesy of Josh James

Edan Mason, a Film 196A student, captures footage at Studio B in the Communications Building for his experimental film “Qualia.” His film, along with 21 others, is set to premiere June 12 at the Media Theater. Photo by Dylan Chapgier.

Students of Film 196, Senior Project in Film and Video Production, will soon be debuting their short films after a quarter’s worth of labor and love. 

“Each student is the sole author of their project,” said Larry Andrews, associate professor of film and digital media. “They write it, do pre-production, shoot it and edit in 10 weeks — it’s pretty amazing.”

The June 12 screening at the Media Theater will premier shorts from each of the 22 seniors who were accepted into the class after submitting portfolios of their work. According to Andrews, the class usually has only 16 to 18 students, but he said that there were a large number of deserving students this quarter. 

Fourth-year Jeff Ponchick will be screening his project “Zombirella,” a “funky psychedelic zombie movie.” While working on the film’s title sequence and mixing its soundtrack, Ponchick described his short as a satirical twist on the phrase “you’re so cute I could just eat you up.”

Despite spending the quarter producing a film about the dead, Ponchick explained that he wishes to continue to pursue filmmaking after he graduates because it’s what makes him feel the most alive. 

“It’s what I’m most passionate about,” Ponchick said. “I think it would be foolish of me to not follow it in some form.”

Andrews, who will become head of the film department in the fall, said that while this quarter’s projects are predominately narrative-based, there are also a few documentaries and experimental works.

Fourth-year Edan Mason will be screening his experimental film, “Qualia.” His project analyzes the relationship between sound and image based on the medical condition of synesthesia, in which a “crossing” of the senses is experienced. To accomplish this, Mason filmed different activities in front of a green screen, such as people playing handball, and used a computer program to translate the movement of the colors into audio. 

Mason described his experience in the class as one of his college highlights, thanks in part to his fellow students.

“This class has probably some of the most solid students that I’ve ever worked with in any academic environment. We’ve really put our blood, sweat and tears into this event coming up,” Mason said. “It’s a shame that the rest of my college experience hasn’t been like this class — a small group of self-inspired students really devoted to their work. It’s amazing how much great energy is generated by just a little bit of dedication.” 

~~~~~

The Film 196 screening will take place on June 12 from 7:30 to 11:00 p.m. at the UCSC Media Theater, M110. The screening is free and open to the public. 

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Seniors Prep Short Films for Upcoming Screening

But an April 26 Washington Post column by author and University of Texas professor of sociology Mark Regnerus, entitled “Say Yes — What Are You Waiting For?” seems to prove otherwise.

In the column, Regnerus writes a rambling tome about the joys of marrying at a younger age. I have nothing against Regnerus’s opinion that society should accept couples who choose to marry at a young age, rather than scoff at their choice. 

My problem lies with his reasoning, that a woman’s “‘market value’ declines with age.” Plainly, Regnerus argues that if women do not accept the diamond when ripe in their 20s, they can kiss happiness goodbye. After all, what man is going to marry an aging, infertile shrew when they can pop out a few babies with a barely legal wife instead? 

Regnerus believes that women are causing their own unhappiness by waiting to get married until after college is over and the career begins. This is contrary to men, whose “value” increases with their expanding resources, such as money and maturity. Specifically, he cites that “women’s fertility is more or less fixed, yet they largely suppress it during their 20s — their most fertile years — only to have to beg, pray, borrow and pay to reclaim it in their 30s and 40s.” 

Men too, Regnerus explains, run the risk of decreased fertility after 40, so women should jump at saving their chance to start a family while they still can. Regnerus wrongly assumes that women are just concerned with building a family and seems to be pushing women to revert back to a time when this was considered true.

Unfortunately, subtle sexism like this is not limited to newspaper columns. 

The Dell computer company recently launched a new website called Della, and has been facing backlash ever since. Della is aimed exclusively toward women, and features fashionable netbooks, a smaller, more affordable version of a laptop. 

The idea itself is cute; the sentiment is not. 

Whether intentional or not — and Dell has vehemently said not — the website belittles women, assuming that we will have no interest in buying a computer unless it comes with a floral motif and a matching Kate Spade carrying case. 

Della seems to be ignoring the actual computer and instead projecting an image of the line that they believe women will buy into — one punctuated by a flowered background and the script “Expand Your Life with Technology,” complete with a picture of a savvy 20something typing away on her netbook. Shouldn’t she be married already?

Furious comments on the feedback sections of Della’s website serve as proof that women are appalled at the company’s assumption that females cannot work on a normal computer. A section of the website called “Seven Unexpected Ways a Netbook Can Change Your Life” gave helpful uses for the device, such as finding recipes online, scheduling breaks into the day and finding workout tips for the gym. In response to these tips, one comment pointedly said: “I found these tips extremely helpful. I’m going to buy a Mac.”

Just when it seems that the world had evolved a little when it comes to sexism, here is another company trying to market to the idealized version of myself, and another presumptuous “expert” attempting to condemn my growth. 

In reality, it does not take much to reverse these sexist ideals. Companies like Dell need to realize that there is no need to create a separate market for women when the product is something so many are already buying. It adds insult to injury to assert that not only are women unable to be consumers in the same market as men, but that the market in which they can participate must be bubblegum pink and filled with flowers. As consumers, women need to stop buying into this industry. 

The same goes for Regnerus. As a public, we must cease to let sexist ideals remain the norm. It is time to forge our own paths, and let marriage (or the purchase of fashionable computers) come at its own pace. 

So while sexism has been somewhat downplayed because of the success of many remarkable women, it’s apparent that it still exists. All it takes is an ignorant individual to get the conversation started again. And I, for one, will not fall victim to it.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Sexism Still Prevails in 2009

Summer 2009 is almost here, and everyone knows what that means: people from all over the world will be stampeding to the beaches in Santa Cruz to enjoy some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in California. There is no feeling quite like the one you get when you are standing on the cliffs at Seabright Beach, looking down at the pristine white sands, beautiful people and deep greenish-blue of the ocean. 

What you probably don’t notice is the amount of trash piling up beneath the blankets and umbrellas. One of the largest threats to the health of our beaches is marine debris, which is trash that ends up in the sea either from land-based or ocean-based sources. In the past 50 years this problem has worsened due to the increased use of convenient plastic containers rather than reusable ones. Cigarette butts, plastic and glass bottles, aluminum cans and every other forgotten piece of trash left on the beaches of Santa Cruz every day by the throngs of visitors diminishes the landscape’s postcard perfection.   

We are not the only ones who have to deal with the consequences of marine debris. Every year, an estimated 100,000 birds, sea turtles, dolphins, whales, seals and other animals will ingest plastic debris or become entangled in it. Everything from lighters to small toys has been found in animals washed up on the beach, who were just trying to eat and survive. 

Plastic material is mainly responsible for the ongoing massacre of marine animals, forever floating around brightly-colored and appealing to hungry creatures. Americans each use about 200 pounds of plastic every year, and that number is predicted to become 300 by the end of the decade. With our reckless use of this long-lived petroleum product, it’s no wonder that the environment is suffering. 

By now, many people have heard of the horrifying North Pacific Gyre trash heap in all its plastic splendor: a mass of trash the size of Texas in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, containing an estimated 3.5 million tons of trash. There is not a better visual example of the consequences of our careless use of plastics than the garbage patch. 

The amount of trash on Santa Cruz beaches is staggering, but there are many dedicated locals who don’t mind cleaning up the mess. The annual International Coastal Cleanup Day happens every summer at beaches all over the world. Last year, over 3,000 volunteers cleaned up 10,200 pounds of trash off of the beaches in Santa Cruz County alone. Worldwide, people from 104 different countries picked up 6.8 million pounds of trash from their beaches, rivers and streams. 

The good news is that it’s not too late to diminish our impact on our coastal environment. The main action that we should all take is simply to use fewer plastic containers. Be aware of your surroundings on the beach, keep track of the trash that you end up with and make sure that you pack it up when you leave. If you smoke, don’t throw your cigarette butt away in the sand. These simple actions could save thousands of marine animals’ lives and keep the beaches in Santa Cruz looking beautiful. 

There are several organizations in Santa Cruz dedicated to keeping the beaches clean and looking for volunteers to help. Save our Shores has been organizing coastal clean-ups in communities of California for the past 30 years. Pack Your Trash is another agency promoting the health of the coastline with their anti-littering campaigns, and is located on Pleasure Point.

So when you trip down to the beach this summer, just remember to leave it how you found it — you’re not the only one enjoying the sun, sand and surf.

By Kathleen Mullen-Ley 
Fourth-year environmental studies major

~~~~~

We are eager to hear your opinions, so please e-mail editors@cityonahillpress.com. Letters should be around 250 words, and ideally will have to do with recent CHP content. We reserve the right to print, or not print, anything we receive.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Letters to the Editor

Photo by Alex Zamora.

Last week, I met a girlfriend at Lulu Carpenter’s for some coffee and much-needed gossip time. With the end of the quarter looming around the corner, “coffee and life” was our first choice for a stress-relief fix.

We sat at a table and decided to get a few hard-boiled eggs to share. Six eggs and 45 minutes later, we were left with a mound of eggshells and the conclusion that homework is overrated, men are dodos, and that we should seriously major in procrastination.

Since then, hard-boiled eggs have become our passion. Every time either one of us needs to vent, we simply split a bowl of eggs and peel every last one.

We needed a distraction, an activity to perform while our minds frantically traveled at the speed of light to list each and every one of our stresses, concerns and daily anecdotes. 

Our conversation was meaningful, but would it have been less memorable without the bowl of eggs to center our attention? 

The fact is that people as a whole need some kind of social activity to distract themselves from each other. “Multitasker” is the average American’s middle name, and with the onset of the digital revolution, focusing on one activity is virtually impossible. 

We have lost our ability to sit still and have a legitimate conversation with someone else. We always need to include a third-party distraction, from hookahs to beer pong, either to initiate the connection or at the very least continue it. 

Multitasking to prevent the risk of awkwardness has never been more fashionable than with our generation.

Now I would never be one to oppose whatever is en vogue. It isn’t really about multitasking — rather, it’s the idea that we try to avoid the potential awkwardness of a conversation without some sort of distraction.

Picture a group of college stoner boys sitting in a circle passing a bong around. Now take away the bong. You won’t typically find a group of college guys sitting in a circle, chatting about life without some sort of object of diversion.

As a woman, I can admit that we, unlike our male counterparts, can sit together in a circle and have long discussions. However, we still need the comfort of our cell phones, Blackberrys or laptops to keep us occupied. 

While these activities may seem perfectly normal to us, if we took a minute to step back and look at ourselves, we would probably look like a bunch of anxious sociopaths, furiously texting or lighting up cigarette after cigarette while attempting to maintain a decent conversation. 

We form and base the quality of our conversations on activities like smoking and drinking because those are things we like to do together. People can’t help but enjoy sitting in a circle passing the hookah hose from person to person.

So what ever happened to social interaction, as opposed to social distraction? If someone doesn’t drink coffee or spend all of their time on Facebook, do they miss out on social opportunities they may never get back? 

We use these activities to channel our anxious energy, but the real question is why do we feel so naked without them?

The answer is simple. There is nothing that scares us more than an awkward silence. By distracting ourselves with other activities, we allow those silences to slip by unnoticed. 

What we as a society consider awkward is actually what it means to be real. From our day-to-day conversations, we want to portray ourselves in a specific light. Feeling vulnerable or awkward immediately strips us down to the basics of who we really are. 

Our society’s obsession with not seeming vulnerable by constantly seeming busy is an epidemic. 

Renowned psychology professor Albert H. Mehrabian’s studies from the 1960s and ’70s show that in a normal conversation, words account for 7 percent, tone of voice accounts for 38 percent, and body language 55 percent of communication. Knowing that actions speak louder than words, we shield ourselves with tedious actions to avoid opening up to people.

True, opening up to people is scary, but if we turned off the televisions, put out the ciggies, and dumped out the coffee, we would be able to give each other the full attention we deserve. 

Although we face the harsh reality that we will always shield ourselves through certain social activities, these are the activities that will perpetuate both positive and negative conversations — and without those conversations, there would never be any change. Maybe the first step to fixing it is to talk about it. And doing so distraction-free may be a step in the right direction.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at From Hookah to Hard-Boiled Eggs

Illustration by Rachel Edelstein.

As the year comes to a close, the UC Santa Cruz arts department opens its studios with artists displaying their final projects. After working endless hours in their shops, students will be able to share their creations with other Slugs.

While all participating artists will only present their work on Friday, June 5, the open studio event will run in conjunction with the print shop’s 35th annual print sale. Artists will exhibit their work at the Baskin Visual Arts Center from noon until 4 p.m. in the Printmaking Studio. The print sale will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.

The artwork is not limited to a particular theme, but the artists have expressed themselves through various techniques including sculpture, print and digital media. The print sale will feature original pieces by artists using lithography, etching, woodcuts and even handmade books.

This will be the sixth open studio event and second printmaking sale in which Sarah Diaz-Bastin, an arts department assistant, has been involved. Diaz-Bastin said that the spring open studio is the biggest studio event of the year, outdoing fall and winter open studios because it features a culmination of all the artists’ work as well as the print sale.

“What brings the most people up here is the print sale. A lot of people like to bring home a little piece of art with them,” Diaz-Bastin said. “As far as UCSC is concerned, a lot of students come to see the pieces that require interaction and the installation outside.It’s a fun place to just kind of hang out for an afternoon.”

Along with the printmaking studio’s display, paintings and drawings will be in the painting studios and drawing studios respectively. Sculptures will be displayed in the sculpture studios, metal shop, and outside in the courtyard area.

“Some of the sculptures don’t necessarily fit inside and people will be able to see them,” Diaz-Bastin said. “A lot of people used recyclable materials, but there will be a lot of welded sculptures, bronze casting for bronze sculptures, and wood and fiber pieces.”

The annual print sale gained popularity as an event where student artists sell their prints to the UCSC public for low prices. 

“The print sale is a place where students can buy real artwork,” said Moon Rinaldo, co-manager of the print studio. “It takes a great deal of time to produce these prints, and you can tell that the artists have worked very hard.”

In the print studio, located on-campus at Baskin Visual Arts, students work for hours on end to produce their art pieces. Artists can often be found in the studio from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. most days. 

But the work of the artist is not over when the studio lights turn off. 

“I’ve spent probably 20 hours on this print already, just to get it to the stage where it can be printed,” said Kate Hopkins, a third-year Cowell student. “I’m selling what I’m working on right now, as well as two or three more editions [sets of prints].” 

The print sale is unique in that it allows students to buy authentic, handcrafted artwork at incredibly low prices. Students who make art marketed toward other students realize that low prices are necessary to fit their patrons’ meager budgets. 

The prints usually sell from $5 to $20 apiece. Of the profits, typically 80 percent goes to the artist, and the remaining 20 percent to the print studio to provide more supplies and resources for the artists in the future. 

“The art is handmade, and that makes it intrinsically valuable,” Hopkins said. “The time and effort that went into making these prints far exceeds the price. But we realize that students typically don’t have the money to buy art, and we as student artists will gladly take whatever we can get for our work.”

Many of the students are using the skills and techniques that they have acquired in their various art classes to complete their prints for the sale, layering different paints and patterns to create complex visuals. 

Bridget Henry, studio manager and technician, said that the entire printmaking studio will be covered in students’ prints, some scaling up to 3.5 by 5.5 feet.

“All prints are on individual sheets and the stuff is all hand-printed,” Henry said. “It’s not something you can pick up at Kinko’s.”

“I’m selling a few of my prints in the show,” said Sanna Kahan, a third-year Porter student. “I have taken Introduction to Printmaking and Lithography 1 and 2, so I have a lot of work accumulated from those to sell. This print right here is an homage to my hands.”

For student art aficionados, or even those just wishing for something with which to adorn their walls besides the typical beat-up posters, the print sale is a rare chance to obtain artwork at affordable prices, while the open studio offers a tantalizing glimpse into the world of art at UCSC. 

“Students need to come experience what the print studio and the art department supports,” Hopkins said. “We’re about fostering community, working with our hands, and creating art for everyone to enjoy.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Open Studios Open Doors and Minds

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Bleak Fiscal Prospects for Californians

Former UCSC Professor Michelle Chappel is now an award-winning musician. Photo courtesy of Michelle Chappel.

Her melodies were hand-delivered to the Dalai Lama, and she plans to send musical mail to President Obama by the end of the year. 

Two years after being voted “Most Inspirational Psychology Professor” at UC Santa Cruz in 1992, Michelle Chappel reached success overseas. Her self-titled debut album topped music charts, reaching No. 9 in South Africa. After trekking back and forth between music and teaching, in 1995 the beloved professor left UCSC to answer a personal calling and pursue a career as a singer-songwriter.

Chappel received her Ph.D. from Princeton University and taught at UCSC after leaving a teaching job at Santa Clara University. When she began teaching at UCSC, Chappel already knew music would ultimately take precedence.

“I came in to UCSC telling everybody I wanted to do music, and I was pleasantly surprised by how supportive everybody there was,” Chappel said. “A lot of students would come to my shows. That place really helped inspire me.”

Chappel played shows at various venues in Santa Cruz while teaching at UCSC, including the Catalyst Nightclub downtown. Students were very supportive of her music and she even played alongside former psychology major Vincent Charles, who was taking her physiological psychology class at the time. 

“She’s really nice, her whole teaching persona matches her personality,” said Charles, who graduated in 1996. “She’s outgoing and genuine. She is really cooperative and interactive to work with and a really good singer. I played guitar a bunch and I was kind of between bands, and she mentioned she wanted to gather some musicians and do a band thing and so I was like ‘Okay, I’ll check it out.’” 

Students frequently came to Chappel’s office hours for life advice, often about where to go to graduate school. 

“I always said, ‘Follow your heart,’” Charles said. “I realized many other professors weren’t telling them the same thing. After I’d done that about a thousand times, I ended up just thinking, ‘Why not just follow my own advice?’ That’s probably a big part of why my music is the way it is. I want other people to follow their hearts too, and be true to themselves.”

Chappel’s lyrics speak of finding hope and persistence in the midst of thorny circumstance. 

Her song “A Little Act of Kindness” was hand-delivered to the Dalai Lama and recorded on her new album “Shine.” All of the royalties for the song will be donated to efforts to free Tibet from Chinese rule. 

In 2008, Chappel won a Billboard award in the Americana/Folk category for her song “No Place Like Home.” She plans to turn the award-winning song into a global message of perseverance despite economic struggle.

Chappel will release her fifth album, “Shine,” tomorrow. For the release, tonight at Don Quixote’s International Music Hall in Felton, Chappel, her band, and a group of Stanford actors will begin to shoot the first scenes of a music video for “No Place Like Home.” 

The music video is based on a true story Chappel came across in San Francisco. She met a man making a documentary about a homeless man who overcame all odds and turned his life around, despite his position at the bottom of the economic ladder.

Chappel plans to base the plot of the video on the life of the homeless man and send the video as a gift to Obama when it is completed. 

“The whole point is I’m trying to give people hope,” Chappel said. “The homeless man had to hit the lowest low in order to realize he should change his life around. I think that might be what’s going on in this country too. Sometimes you need to hit a crisis to figure out what you need to do to lead a better life.”

On May 31, Chappel performed live on KPig radio. She played her song “Screw You Yahoo,” which became a YouTube hit last December, receiving over 17,000 views in one day. The song is a satirical bit that laments the automatic response of many companies to turn to layoffs whenever times are hard. 

“The first thing I was trying to do was make people laugh,” Chappel said. “I also wanted to raise awareness, because we have had this bad reaction to the bad economy, which is to lay people off, and I don’t think that’s the best solution. I’m not saying I have a better solution, but layoffs are really hard on people. They really hurt people and their self esteem.”

Christian Rorher worked with Chappel when she was a researcher for Yahoo. He has since left the company and now works as the head of a design team for real estate internet sites. 

“I can certainly identify with the sentiment of the ‘Screw You Yahoo’ song,” Rorher said. “One thing that that really impressed me about working with Chappel was [the] multidimensionality of her personality. She is very creative and also has a sharp research mind.”

Chappel has a feeling her music video message will reach the president, she said, and she hopes it will reach many others as well.

“I hope I can make a difference. I’m trying to make a difference,” Chappel said. “I’m trying to be my true self, and I’m trying to make a difference.” 

~~~~~

Chappel plays at Don Quixote’s International Music Hall tonight (June 4th) at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. 

Photo courtesy of Michelle Chappel.

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Converting Crisis to Change Via Creativity

After five seasons at UCSC, women’s basketball coach Nikki Turner, above, calls it quits and prepares to move to Cal State East Bay, a Division II school with more athletic funding. Photo courtesy of Nikki Turner.

Although some people may not like to admit it, the old adage “Money makes the world go ‘round” continues to ring true. 

The latest case-in-point is UC Santa Cruz women’s head basketball coach Nikki Turner, who after five years at UCSC is bidding adieu to Monterey Bay in favor of a head assistant coaching position with the women’s team at Cal State East Bay. 

Turner acknowledges that the tumultuous financial state of UCSC’s athletic program played into her decision to leave.

“I think that was definitely a part of it,” Turner said. “I mean, it’s [CSU East Bay], an athletically supported university — there’s money that goes into the programs and student athletes. I get paid as a full-time coach instead of having to piece together my position.”

She said that the fact that CSU East Bay is a Division II school was a major factor, as it has been her “long-term goal” to coach in that division and conference after having played and coached in it before.

Her departure continues a trend of UCSC coaches leaving for universities with better athletic department funding — the most recent being former men’s head soccer coach Dan Chamberlain — amid tough economic times for UCSC as a whole and the athletics department in particular. 

Turner’s decision has a big impact off the court, as she is also the assistant athletic director and sports information director for UCSC. As a result of her decision, the athletic department has decided to eliminate the position of assistant athletic director as a cost-cutting measure.

Although Turner acknowledges that negative effects may stem from this decision, she says there is a huge plus side: It will save more sports from winding up on the chopping block, a fate that has recently reached water polo. 

“[The athletic department] was told they had to make cuts to the budget again this year, and with me leaving it actually helped,” Turner said, “because they were able to cut that instead of having to hurt more teams.”

Coach Todd Kent, who is replacing Turner as the women’s head basketball coach, said that while he was aware of the financial problems at UCSC before accepting the position, he was not deterred by them.

“I’m aware of the issues and they were open and honest with me, but I’m not concerned — we can learn to work together and try to be as efficient as we possibly can,” Kent said.

Speaking from her position as assistant athletic director, Turner said that the public’s perception of the department’s fiscal issues has been more or less accurate.

“I wouldn’t say it’s in a lot of trouble — I think it’s just really struggling, which makes it really difficult to stay optimistic,” Turner said. “Your concern is how you’re going to maintain your program and not have your players and athletes feel the burden of the department and lack of funds. You’re just worried all the time, you’re wondering how you’re going to feed and house your players on road trips, and on top of that try to take care of yourself financially.” 

Junior Molly Davisson said she noticed that her coach was under a lot of pressure. While team members will miss Turner, they are grateful to be getting a coach who won’t have to deal with those added stresses, she said.

“All of us wanted to have someone in Coach Turner’s absence who had everything together … and [who would] not have to worry about having that as their full source of income,” Davisson said. “[We wanted] someone that didn’t have outside stresses so they could be more focused and less stressed.”

That someone is Kent, who comes to Santa Cruz after having spent the past two years as an assistant coach at Seattle University. Prior to that he spent 12 years coaching high school basketball, his most recent stint being a five-year period at La Salle High School in Yakima, Wash., where he compiled a record of 106-23. 

Putting thoughts about finances aside, Kent said his main objective for the upcoming season will be for the team to improve without high regard for the wins column.

“My overall goal is to get better each and every day in practice, and to create an atmosphere that’s physically and mentally challenging,” Kent said. “If we can do those things, the winning will take care of itself.”

Turner said that while her tenure as a head coach at UCSC was “a great experience,” the opportnity and the timing of the new position were too perfect to pass up.

“The people I’ve worked for have been amazing and it’s just been a positive place for me to be,” Turner said. “But it’s definitely time to move on.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Women’s Basketball Team Gets a Sub-in

Porter students Carly Frusciante and Louise Leong formed the band Teenage Galaxy together. The bandmates sport their signature tinfoil headbands. Photo by Alex Zamora.

With open mic nights any given day of the week, rock festivals such as Porterpalooza and Rock ’n’ Roll on the Knoll gracing the events calendar, and innumerable outlets to showcase musical abilities, it is no surprise that some talented bands have found their place at UC Santa Cruz.

Two such groups have already started to make their mark on the Santa Cruz music scene, gaining popularity among UCSC students and working their way through Internet fandom. For bands Teenage Galaxy and Animal Spirit, it is about making music and taking names. 

Animal Spirit

Composed of Porter first-year Devin McGuire and his girlfriend Coco Deza, a first-year  at San Francisco State, Animal Spirit is an indie-rock duo with soulful melodies and acoustic riffs. Both McGuire and Deza play guitar and share vocal duties in the six or so songs they have released to the public. 

“Animal Spirit was formed when I realized Coco could sing and write harmonies really well,” McGuire said. “She definitely has inspiration with amazing female singers like Kimya Dawson, Feist, Jenny Lewis and Broken Social Scene.”

McGuire gets his inspiration from a variety of sources, but most specifically cites his bandmate.

“[My inspiration] is a little confused right now, but I would have to say a big part of it is my love for Coco,” McGuire said. 

Animal Spirit is quick to shy away from any labels, describing their style as anything that sounds good to them. A favorite among Porter College residents, Animal Spirit gathered a fan base under the name Corduroy Clouds, but recently changed to their current name to reflect the changes and new direction the band has undergone since forming. 

Favorites among Animal Spirit songs include “Lull a Bye” and “Say Hi to Earth For Me.” 

“We can’t say for sure, but we might be adding drums and dropping the acoustic aspect, and just running with being a catchy, fun indie band,” McGuire said. “I love [our song] ‘In the Grass.’ Coco and I wrote it together, and it means a lot to us. It’s fun to play.”

The future looks bright for Animal Spirit, with a move back to San Diego (McGuire and Deza’s hometown) at the end of the school year to start their music careers. While they may no longer call Santa Cruz their home, the Spirit will live on. 

Teenage Galaxy

Take two Porter students, add a tambourine and a guitar and place a tinfoil headband on top, and you’ve formed Teenage Galaxy. 

Started by Louise Leong and Carly Frusciante, Teenage Galaxy came into being during a sweeps week episode of “All My Children.” 

“I wanted to watch ‘All My Children’ on Carly’s TV,” Leong said. “Our first song, ‘Erica Kane,’ was written in honor of the leading woman and fashion mogul of AMC’s fictional Pine Valley, Pennsylvania. It was truly the upstart of Teenage Galaxy.” 

Soap operas may have helped form the band, but it’s everyday life that keeps Teenage Galaxy — or TGax — fresh and full of new ideas. From dining hall food, to Harry Potter and a serious dislike for dementors, to funny stories and a love for love, anything is game for a Teenage Galaxy song.

“Everywhere and everything is a song, it’s the things we love and the things we do,” Leong said. “Carly will say something funny and I will say that it sounds like a song waiting to happen.”

Teenage Galaxy has amassed a following, signifying their fans’ support by making tinfoil headbands for audience members to wear at performances. Leong and Frusciante sell buttons displaying artwork and song lyrics, and hold impromptu shows on campus for the fun of it. 

“Hopefully we’ll just keep playing for fun whenever we can,” Leong said, “and continue to live long and prosper in the Teenage Galaxy.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Fresh Talent Finds a Home at Porter College

Illustration by Joe Lai.

The end of spring marks a time that many seniors either dread or embrace: graduation. 

For some, graduate school is around the bend, while others are looking to start their careers. At College Eight, no matter what students’ next step may be, they are asked to take into consideration more than just their future goals.

“Given the theme of College Eight, being ‘Environment and Society,’ I thought it was appropriate to bring [the pledge] to the attention of the college,” said Mike Kittredge, College Eight programs coordinator. “Then I brought it to the attention of our senior graduation committee last year and they decided to run with it and make it part of the College Eight commencement.”

Kittredge helped incorporate the Graduation Pledge Alliance (GPA) into College Eight’s commencement ceremony last year. 

The pledge that all College Eight graduates have the option of taking states: “I pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work.” 

For graduating legal studies major Ryan Estes, this pledge is much more than just an empty promise.

“I’m going to grow up to be a corporate lawyer,” Estes said. “So when I take this pledge I take it to not go join a company like ENRON or Washington Mutual, or go work for a company that’s going to go destroy all the rainforests of the world. I’m just talking about a sense of high moral standards.”

Currently, UCSC is the only UC campus to partake in this pledge and College Eight is the only college that has proactively worked to have its graduating class take the pledge.

Fourth-year environmental studies major Jessica Wackenhut believes that all colleges should be making their graduating students more aware of the pledge.

“I think it’s important for all colleges to do something like this because it is one of those things,” Wackenhut said. “Most of the colleges are engaged in social issues like globalization or social justice, so it’s important for everyone to be knowledgeable or take this into consideration when going into their future careers. They need to think about social justice and environmental issues and sustainability in general.”

College Eight’s incorporation of the pledge into its ceremony is unique, even for institutions that participate in the pledge.

“There’s not many [institutions] that actually incorporate the pledge into their ceremony,” Kittredge said. “The way we do it is that we ask students who have either taken it or plan to take it stand and be recognized by the audience.”

Kittredge recalls how he first learned about the pledge when he worked as clubs, activities and new student programs officer at Humboldt State University, one of the first institutions to participate in the pledge.

At Humboldt State, students would table in their quads to raise awareness about the pledge and inform other students about how they could take it. For College Eight seniors, taking the pledge is as easy as going online to the college’s commencement website. Estes and Wackenhut, both part of College Eight’s graduation committee, will also table at rehearsal and on graduation day to ensure that every senior who wants to take the pledge can and will.

“I feel like [students] are not really informed about it at all yet,” Estes said. “It’s only its second year, so only the graduating class hears of it actually. They might want to think about telling the freshmen when they first come in, that when they graduate they’ll have a chance to be part of the GPA.”

However, Kittredge stresses that the pledge is a personal decision and students will by no means be held accountable.

“It’s just a voluntary pledge. No one follows up with them to say, ‘You’re doing this and you’re not doing that,’” Kittredge said. “I think it’s more a statement of value, of someone’s individual values and choices.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at College Eight Graduates Pledge to Retain Ethics

Third from left, UCSC alumna Juliet Carpenter participates in a monthly creek clean-up in Kansas City, Miss. Courtesy of Juliet Carpenter.

When First Lady Michelle Obama gave her commencement speech at UC Merced earlier this month, she urged the 430 graduating seniors to give back to their community.

“Dream big, think broadly about your life and please make giving back to your community a part of that vision,” she said to the university’s first graduating class. 

Americorps is a federally funded program that allows students to do just that. It provides recent graduates with an opportunity to give back to their community by essentially working as free employees for nonprofit organizations.

Due to the downturn in the U.S. economy, Americorps is becoming a popular option for college graduates who may not be able to get a job immediately.

 Juliet Carpenter, who graduated from UC Santa Cruz in winter quarter as a history major, is currently working as an Americorps volunteer at Harvesters’ Community Food Network, a food bank in Kansas City, Miss. 

Carpenter decided to join Americorps because she did not feel like she could get a job that paid a salary straight out of college in the poor economy.

 “I did not want to go straight to grad school, so I thought that Americorps would be a good opportunity to get some real-life work experience,” Carpenter said.

Volunteers receive a modest compensation from the federal government for their year of service — a living allowance of $700 to $1,100 per month, depending on the location. In addition, they receive healthcare and a $4,752 education award or a $1,200 stipend. Even though Americorps positions do not promise a large income, they do allow students an opportunity to grow and build resumés in a tough economy.

“Right now I am learning more about data entry and maintaining a donor database, and I enjoy my department and truly feel how important this work is,” Carpenter said.

She eventually wants to earn a degree in public history so she can work for a historical museum, national park or nonprofit. She believes that her experience as an Americorps volunteer will give her the experience necessary to reach these goals. 

The program has grown drastically since President Obama passed the Recovery Act on Feb. 17, which gave Americorps $89 million in grants, enough to expand its volunteer base by 10,000 members. 

Christine Loewe, organizing and marketing coordinator at the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, says the Recovery Act allowed the organization to hire five new Americorps volunteers instead of just one.

“Essentially, we were told that we could have as many Americorps as we could afford taking on, because there has been a flood of new positions opening and money going towards Americorps,” Loewe said. 

Katrina Cope, an adviser at the UCSC Career Center, participated in an Americorps program in New London, Conn. after she graduated from UCSC in the mid-1970s with a B.A. in psychology. 

Cope felt that Americorps had a positive influence on her life and recommends it to graduating seniors.

“It is like doing a year-long internship — you get paid, you get health insurance, you are working like a professional and they do not have you doing grunt work,” Cope said. “They have you doing some real service for the community and you get to test your wings.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Year of Volunteer Service Opens Up World of Opportunities for College Graduates

At the end of Friday night Jackie Olin, the creator of the business Sustainabites Baby Food, was announced the winner of UCSC’s first Business Plan Competition. Photo by Morgan Grana.

“Do you know what’s in your food? What about your baby’s food? The average baby food sits on a shelf for two years before ending [up] in front of your child,” said Jackie Olin, one of seven finalists in UC Santa Cruz’s first-ever Business Plan Competition (BPC), as she presented her business plan to a panel of judges. “Sustainabites is a local, fresh and seasonal baby food company that will work to provide consumers with ‘farm-to-fork’ information, where you can trace your child’s food back to the farm.” 

Olin, a recent UCSC graduate, was not only a finalist but also the winner of the competition. After all seven teams presented their future companies and entrepreneurships, a panel of eight judges, — constituted of successful CEOs, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and lawyers from Santa Cruz and Silicon Valley — retired to a quiet room to decide on a winner. 

The Ringold Rotunda, where the reception was held, was anything but quiet. The event was a success in attracting people from the city, the university, and “over the hill.” Everyone mingled noisily in this ambitious and creative atmosphere, as students rubbed shoulders with CEOs and inventors.

Santa Cruz mayor Cynthia Mathews attended the event. 

“The energy, the excitement and the potential in this room is amazing,” Mathews said. “It’s everything we hoped it would be.”

As for Olin’s Sustainabites, Mathews said she is happy with the judges’ choice. 

“Our goal and motivation in this competition was to help a business that would stay and prosper in Santa Cruz,” Mathews said. “It’s a perfect match.”

The BPC was organized by a group of seven highly motivated UCSC students led by Eric Gonzalez, a recent UCSC graduate and former president of the University Economic Association. 

Divya Sharma is the co-chair of the BPC and a second-year majoring in business management economics and industrial engineering and operations research. 

“There have been some ups and downs, and I’ve loved every second of it,” Sharma said. “I’ve had students come to me and say that having this competition has changed the direction they were heading towards. It’s been a very rewarding four months, and the competition has far exceeded our expectations.” 

Although Sharma is transferring next year, this competition, she said, will be her lasting legacy at UCSC. 

Chancellor George Blumenthal said he was enthusiastic about the effort put into the BPC by the team of students. 

The competition represents “what we are as a university — encouraging students and their ideas,” he said.

“Who knows, maybe they’ll create the next Microsoft,” Blumenthal joked. “On second thought, maybe not something that big. Maybe just the next Google.”

With other teams boasting online services, video game programming, pharmaceutical compliances and biomolecular engineering, Olin said she saw herself as the local underdog. But in the end, her hard work was rewarded with a $12,000 jumbo check. 

“This is awesome,” Olin said. “Don’t ever worry about being the dark horse. This is it right here — this is what will enable us to stay in Santa Cruz. I have all the permits, the knowledge, the kitchen, everything lined up.”

Thanks to the competition, Olin said, Sustainabites will become a reality, and “you will see us in the farmers market two months from now.”

This premier BPC was an immense success, creating important partnerships and generating over $20,000 in funding and donations. BPC founder Gonzalez has big plans for the young competition as preparations are made for next year. 

“I hope it becomes a foundation for the university,” Gonzalez said. “The students here are entrepreneurial, creative and the best people I’ve ever met. They’re people I can count on to make a difference.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at First Business Plan Competition Concludes, UCSC Alumna Wins

Congressman Kevin Deleon and Victor Sanchez (left), the external vice chair for UCSC’s Student Union Assembly, discussed the drastic cuts at last week’s state budget hearing. Photo by Arianna Puopolo.

Twelve hours after leaving UC Santa Cruz, the caravan of student government officers and interns prepared to leave Sacramento behind. Hundreds of UC, CSU, and California Community College system (CCC) students filed out of the Capitol Building, clinging to the hope that legislators might heed their testimonies. 

“What is at stake here,” UCSC Student Union Assembly (SUA) external vice chair Victor Sanchez said to the budget committee, “is more than the future of our system of higher education, but that of the state of California.”

This public hearing, during which the public was allotted time to address a special budget committee, was scheduled in response to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s recent budget proposal.

The proposed statewide cuts would cut academic preparation programs; slash UC, CSU and CCC budgets; eliminate the Cal Grant; cut subsidized child care programs; release nonviolent prisoners one year early; eliminate the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Program; shut down 80 percent of California’s state parks and beaches; and reduce or eliminate various public healthcare programs.

Originally scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m. with comments from advocates of public healthcare for children, the hearing ran several hours late. Students and employees of California higher education systems formed a line obstructing any walking room in the halls outside the hearing facility. 

Of 11 UCSC SUA members present at the Sacramento hearing, only two had the chance to deliver their personal stories and pleas to the committee.  

UCLA student government representatives drove to Sacramento the night before the hearing to have their chance at the podium. Only one of the four who made it was able to address the budget committee.

UC San Diego students who flew up for the hearing chose to reschedule their flight home to accommodate the scheduling delays, only to ultimately miss the hearing when student testimonies were delayed until late into the 4 p.m. hour.

The chancellors of the CSU and CCC systems and UC President Mark Yudof addressed the committee before students entered the chamber.  

Yudof attempted to convince Chairwoman Noreen Evans, of the 7th Assembly District located near Napa, of the importance of protecting Cal Grants and warned against the overarching implications of such a budget cut. 

“This will be, in many ways, an unraveling of a master plan in terms of access research and all the rest of what went into that great master plan that California adopted about 50 years ago,” he said, referring to the establishment of the California Master Plan for Higher Education (CMPHE).

The CMPHE was developed in 1960 by a survey team organized by the UC regents and the California Board of Education. Its goal was to define the objectives of the UC, CSU and CCC and establish the admissions standards to be used throughout the UC system. Additionally, the CMPHE established that every Californian is entitled to higher education regardless of economic standing. 

This focus on accessibility to higher education for all Californians was central in Yudof’s argument against the cuts.

“The hardest hit is on the low-income families, with [annual earnings] under $60,000,” he said. “That’s just the reality of it.”

UCSC SUA treasurer Eric Piccolotti is a second-year feminist studies major affiliated with College Ten. He was one of several students denied the opportunity to speak at the budget hearing due to time restrictions.  

Piccolotti said he trekked to Sacramento because Cal Grants and curricular diversity are important to him, and he fears the implications of the proposed budget cuts to these areas.

“Education is a right for all Californians,” Piccolotti said. “These budget cuts are infringing upon that right.”

Olgalilia Ramirez is the director of the Office of Governmental Relations for the California State Student Association (CSSA) and an alumna of CSU Sacramento. She attended the budget hearing as a liaison for CSU students.  

“It’s important that students give their story, because they’re the only ones that can give that story and that is very valuable for the community to hear,” she said. “[It is also important] to get across the message that investing in students is an investment in California’s future economy and also our present economy.” 

Ramirez and Clais Daniels-Edwards, the legislative director of UC Students Association (UCSA), collaborated to organize students present at the hearing.  

As an indication of solidarity between California public higher education institutions, students wore yellow bands on their wrists, which they raised every time a fellow student said “California” during their testimony. 

Callin Curry, a UCSC first-year and SUA intern, relayed his personal story to the committee. 

With the proposed elimination of Cal Grants, and having come out of the California foster care system without family to help him cover the costs of a university education, Curry faces an ominous future. 

“With the government’s current proposal, a dream 19 years in the making [of attending a four-year university] is slowly being destroyed,” Curry said. “I have protested as I have watched higher education take those devastating cuts, with affordability and access decreasing exponentially. This current situation is one of the biggest threats to education.”

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at California Governor Proposes Catastrophic Cuts

Illustration by Rachel Edelstein.

A small group gathers in the unused conference room of a church in San Diego. The group spans generations and social boundaries — elderly men sporting political buttons on their suspenders, middle-aged mothers fielding calls from elementary school children, and teenage interns writing in spiral notebooks. 

“What have we all done this week to change the world?” asks Jan Atkinson, the leader of the group, who stands at the head of the table with her husband. 

A far cry from their hippie predecessors, members of Americans for a Department of Peace (AFDOP) combine political action and peaceful sentiment with the power of productivity. The group works toward the goal of creating a Cabinet-level Department of Peace in the United States government. 

The San Diego-based group is not alone in their efforts, however — a subset of larger umbrella organization the Peace Alliance, AFDOP and other like-minded groups fight for a peaceful future and legitimacy as a Cabinet department. 

A Renewed Fight for Peace 

Cultural anthropologist and activist Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

These words form the slogan of the supporters of House Bill HR 808, the bill proposing the establishment of a U.S. Department of Peace.

The Peace Alliance, which started in 2004, has been working to form the U.S. Department of Peace for the past two years.

“We are celebrating our fifth anniversary!” said John Parker, Peace Alliance’s media coordinator. “[The Peace Alliance] was formed by a group of committed citizens whose goal was to take the field of peacebuilding from the margins of the political and societal dialogue and bring it to its rightful place: central to our policymaking, investment and understanding.”

Peace Alliance members are quick to note that the movement is nonpartisan, further banishing the notion that peace is only a goal of idealistic liberals. Democrats, Republicans and third-party members alike represent the Peace Alliance, and stress the importance of political equality. 

A New Department for the U.S. Government?

Illustration by Maggie McManus.

For supporters of the campaign, the passage of HR 808 means change both domestically and internationally. 

Domestically, the new department would address issues plaguing national and local communities, such as drug and gang violence, violence in the school system, prison reform and domestic abuse. 

As an international institution, the department would work alongside the Department of Defense, as well as act as an alternative source of conflict resolution, and provide the president with peacemaking strategies for post-war stability. In short, the Department of Peace would not serve to replace the Department of Defense, but instead complement it. 

“Many people ask, ‘Don’t we already have violence prevention programs in government?’ There are some, but they are underfunded and lacking both leadership and collective strength,” Parker said. “A Department of Peace will research and develop resources at the local level to stem the tide of violence in this country.”

The spirit of nonviolent communication would transfer into the proposed Peace Academy. The academy would be modeled after the nation’s military academies to train students in peaceful conflict resolution. Upon graduating, these students would serve at posts here in the United States, or in centers of conflict around the world. 

The Peace Alliance employs a variety of methods to spread the word about HR 808 to virtually anyone willing to listen. Activists seek the support of celebrities, congressmen, politicians and average citizens to join the cause, through crafty campaigns and innumerable inspired events. Famous supporters include veteran journalist Walter Cronkite and  musical group the Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

Peace Alliance volunteers speak at schools and participate in letter-writing campaigns to local and national newspapers, as well as to politicians in their districts and states. The amount of publicity accumulated by these strategies has turned the heads of many.  With the passage of city council resolutions in favor of a Department of Peace, essay contests, a peace library, and a drag show entitled “war is a drag,” new ideas only continue to grow more creative. 

“We’re working across this country to raise awareness of peace-building legislation and programming,” Parker said. “This movement is blessed with the most active, smart, and passionate grassroots volunteers.”  

Much of the effort of the Peace Alliance comes through its sister branch, the Student Peace Alliance, which includes high-school and college students in nearly 100 chapters in over 30 states to date. The numbers are expected to keep growing nationally. 

Student Peace Alliance (SPA) activists campaign in the same fashion as Peace Alliance members, but fashion their efforts to also target a youth audience for support. Students involved with SPA have the opportunity to speak out on an issue close to their hearts while garnering the support to put a political idea into action.

These students place a great deal of effort into making their agenda be heard — the ‘Peace of the Pie’ campaign for Mother’s Day enlists volunteers to send their local district representatives slices of pie, along with a message encouraging the politicians to publically support the Department of Peace and HR 808. On Valentine’s Day, SPA volunteers sent Valentines to these representatives as another method to coax support. 

“It’s great being part of a fledgling movement that is still rapidly expanding every day,” said Student Peace Alliance intern Max Berwald, a first-year at San Francisco State University. “You’re closer to the political action and the people in power, and your ideas don’t just get lost in the crowd. They’re valuable and you are valuable.”

Looking to the Children

“Let there be peace, Yeah!”

Children huddle together in Jill McManigal’s backyard in Carlsbad, Calif., where they put their hands in the middle for a declaration of peace. As the Kids for Peace, these elementary-school students are part of something bigger than they can imagine. 

Kids for Peace was started by former elementary school teacher and mother-of-two Jill McManigal, along with high-school senior Danielle Gram. Both deeply involved with the Department of Peace campaign, McManigal and Gram decided to bring the messages of peace to students the same age as McManigal’s children. 

“We both had been inspired by a quote from Gandhi that [said] if we are to have real peace in the world, we have to begin with the children,” said Gram, now a second-year at Harvard University. “Kids for Peace started with a large goal and local action.”

Two years ago, Kids for Peace was only located in that Carlsbad backyard. Now a rapidly expanding worldwide organization, their mission statement reads: “To cultivate every child’s innate ability to foster peace through cross-cultural experiences and hands-on arts, service and environmental projects.” 

Kids for Peace members learn about other cultures through games, stories, songs and snacks, grabbing the attention of the children involved and teaching them about their friends across the world. The children not only learn about the kids in these different cultures, but spend time helping their new friends as well.

“[Kids for Peace] is doing a great thing,” said volunteer Corey Evans, a first-year at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. “By helping out the community, they are instilling in children many of the values that, if today’s adult had, would and will help shape a better future.”

In addition to the fun and games, the kids participate in letter-writing campaigns to local politicians and work to better their community. Kids for Peace hosts beach clean-ups with environmental lessons, organizes visits to senior homes and veteran centers, and in general, tries to spread their message.

A children’s playwright, McManigal directs the children in her chapter in plays and shows conveying the messages of the organization. The goal is about spreading the word, but letting children have fun while doing so. They help their world and become compassionate human beings while playing with their friends. 

Teenagers have also had the chance to help since Kids for Peace added high-school interns to the organization. These students work to put together and publicize events. They raise funding, watch over the children and show much of the same passion as those elementary students. 

“The events I worked on had a lot of energy,” Evans said. “Even the pouring rain couldn’t dampen our spirits on those days.”

The most recent endeavor of Kids for Peace is their new book, “Peace Through Our Eyes.” Compiled by children from around the world, the book is a collection of illustrations and messages of what peace means to them. The book is yet another extension of the service these children give to their community. 

“Kids for Peace is planting the seeds of peace for the future,” Gram said. “We hope the children who participate will learn valuable lessons about peace and conflict resolution that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. We hope they learn to value other cultures and see the beauty in all people. We hope they become future leaders and change our world.” 

For Kids for Peace, the Student Peace Alliance, Americans for a Department of Peace, and all other organizations under the Peace Alliance, working to realize the dream of a more peaceful future will remain their ultimate goal until HR 808 is passed. 

~~~~~~

Currently, UCSC does not have a Student Peace Alliance chapter. Students at UCSC can get involved with this campaign by visiting StudentPeaceAlliance.org to find out ways to join the cause. 

---- (C) 2011 City on a Hill Press. All Rights Reserved. View online at Give Peace a Chance