Volume 45 Issue 23 [04/14/2011]

Thursday, April 14, 2011Vol. 45 Issue No. 23

GRAFFITI FOUND IN PORTER P. 6 TWIP: ANIMALS OF THE CALIF. COAST P. 14 FUNDRAISER HELD FOR INJURED GIANTS FAN P. 9

Co-op Culture

2 | Thursday, April 14, 2011

Public Discourse

Compiled by Samved Sangameswara & Toby Silverman

“I would consider living in a housing co-op because I’m in a quad on campus and it’s so unaffordable. I’d rather live in a co-op.”

SINDY RAMIREZFIRST-YEAR, OAKESHEALTH SCIENCE

“Yes I would. I think it’s a really cool way to meet new people, live in a

consistent social environment and learn to live with different personality

types.”

DEVON FRYERFOURTH-YEAR, PORTER

COMPUTER ENGINEERING

“No, because it’s downtown and so far away [from campus]. And because our colleges already have themes. Also, a communal bathroom? That is not cool.”

JOANNA LOUIEFIFTH-YEAR, OAKESENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES/ECONOMICS

“Yes, I would. I think it’s worth living as a community. I think you

can accomplish greater things as a collective rather than individuals.”

ZACHARY WOLINSKYFOURTH-YEAR, COWELL

ANTHROPOLOGY

STAFF

EDITORS-IN-CHIEFRyan AyersJulie Eng

MANAGING EDITORSJulia ReisAlejandro Trejo

COPYMolly Kossoff, chiefLauren BalianVeronica GloverNicole HardinAlison KernRachel Singer

PRODUCTIONTess Goodwin, design directorRosa CastañedaHilli CiavarelloBreeze KanikulaSamved Sangameswara

CAMPUS NEWSRyan Mark-Griffin, editorSarah Naugle, editorLaurel FujiiAna NicasioArianna VinionEmiliano O’Flaherty-Vazquez

CITY NEWSNikki Pritchard, editorMikaela Todd, editorChelsea HawkinsMark RadBruce TranRosela Arce

SPORTSAsa Hess-Matsumoto, editorSamved SangameswaraEli Wolfe

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENTBlair Stenvick, editorMitchell BatesHannah Toda

COMMUNITY AND CULTUREMichael Mott, editorMikaela Todd, editorAysha BilalTyler Maldonado

OPINIONS AND EDITORIALSBlair Stenvick, editor

WEBTimothy Lindvall II, developerJenny Cain, editor

PHOTOGRAPHY/ILLUSTRATIONMorgan Grana, editorLouise Leong, editorMatt BobletRachel EdelsteinSal IngramMuriel GordonKyan MahzoufBela MessexNick ParisToby SilvermanMolly SolomonPrescott Watson

ADVERTISINGRyan Ayers, managerMalia BradleyAlex LattinLenny SobermanPrescott Watson

BUSINESSBrittany Thompson, managerTommy Palmer, assistant manager

MARKETINGRosie Spinks, manager

Public DiscourseWould you live in a housing co-operative?

Why or why not?

ABOUT US

City on a Hill Press is pro-duced by and for UCSC students. Our primary goal is to report and analyze issues affecting the student population and the Santa Cruz community.

We also serve to watchdog the politics of the UC adminis-tration. While we endeavor to present multiple sides of a story, we realize our own outlooks influence the presentation of the news. The City on a Hill Press (CHP) collective is dedicated to covering underreported events, ideas and voices. Our desks are devoted to certain topics: campus and city news, sports, arts and entertainment, and community and culture. CHP is a campus paper, but it also provides space for Santa Cruz residents to pres-ent their views and interact with the campus community. Ideally, CHP’s pages will serve as an arena for debate, challenge, and ultimately, change.

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TABLE CONTENTS

P. 4 UCSC Forms Demonstration Advisory Group by Emiliano O’Flaherty-Vazquez

P. 5 A Changing UC: British Abroad Student Shares His Storyby Sarah Naugle and Ryan Mark-Griffin

P. 6 Threatening Message Contained in Porter Graffitiby Sarah Naugle, Ryan Mark-Griffin and Mikaela Todd

P. 7 Event CalendarCompiled by Nikki Pritchard

P. 8 “We Are One” in Santa Cruzby Rosela Arce and Nikki Pritchard

P. 9 Santa Cruzans Show Solidarity for Bryan Stow at Fundraiserby Mikaela Todd

P. 11 Desalination or Conservation?by Bruce Tran

P. 12 New iPhone App Releases the Inner Vigilanteby Mark Rad P. 13 Half Marathon Full of Funby Eli Wolfe

P. 19 Reviews: “Tomboy” Brings Joyous Frenzy, “L.A.” Loses the Battleby Mitchell Bates and Arianna Vinion

P. 20 Silian Rail Plays Caffé Pergby Mitchell Bates

P. 21 Callan Hajosy Embarks on Non-Profit Trip to Tanzaniaby Mikaela Todd

P. 22 Cultural Arts and Diversity Fights to Secure Fundingby Tyler Maldonado

P. 24 Dessert in the Financial Desert: Watching the Food Networkby Blair Stenvick

P. 25 Editorial: Doubling of Tuition Unbearable for the UC

P. 26 Editorial: Two Parties, Too Little, Too Late

P. 27 Slug Comicsby Matt Boblet

Cover photo by Prescott Watson

P. 14 THROUGH OUR LENS

by Sal Ingram

P. 10 VETS SURFby Chelsea Hawkins &

Mark Rad

Kyan Mahzouf Sal Ingram

P. 18 UCSC SAYS GUTEN TAG TO SCHLITTENTAG

by Samved Sangameswara

Prescott Watson

P. 16 SLUGS COME TO NEST IN CO-OPS

by Michael Mott

Sal Ingram

of

cityonahillpress.com | 3

Table of Contents

Faculty, administration and students are attempting to better communicate information in the process of student demonstra-tions with the formation of the UCSC Demonstration Advisory Group (DAG).

In an email directed to the larger UC Santa Cruz commu-nity, executive vice chancellor (EVC) Alison Galloway detailed the formation of a new focus group. The group’s aim will be the examination of UC policy regarding student demonstra-tion and protest. Officially titled the DAG, the group is still in its infancy. However, Galloway, who co-chairs the group with Col-lege Nine and Ten provost Helen Shapiro, said in a phone inter-view she has an idea of where she wants the group to focus its energy.

“[The DAG] is here to look at the policies we have in place to interact with demonstra-tions, how they’re regulated, how they’re surveilled, what sort of limits are set, how the police are involved,” Galloway said. “Essen-tially, we’re asking, ‘How do we help the people who are forming the demonstration and help them get their message to the people who need to hear it?’ If the mes-sage doesn’t get through, then everyone’s time has been wasted.”

Though the formation of the DAG is partially a response to last year’s Kerr Hall occupation, Shapiro said the group has been in the making for a number of years.

“The former EVC was inter-ested in starting this,” Shapiro said, “but it’s been a combina-tion of a new EVC, a push from

students and faculty and general dissatisfaction about what hap-pened last year with Kerr Hall.”

Staffed by a mixture of faculty, students and administrators (all volunteers — none of the DAG members are paid for their participation), the DAG hopes to solidify UCSC’s approach to student demonstration.

“With a lot of the demonstra-tions last year, we felt that we [the UC] weren’t handling them as best we could,” Galloway said.

“There was a general sense that we needed to take a step back.”

Noah Miska, College Nine second-year and member of the DAG, agreed that the UC has done a poor job of handling student demonstrations.

“Students organize a dem-onstration in response to [the] administrators’ failure to address the top-down power struc-tures that govern the UC. If the demonstration is in any way disruptive, administrators call


Campus

New Group Examines Protest PolicyAdministration and students seek to inform decisions regarding future student demonstrations

Illustration by Rachel Edelstein

By Emiliano O’Flaherty-Vazquez

Campus Reporter

the police and/or make claims to discredit the demonstra-tors,” Miska said in an email. “This inflames tension between already perturbed students and administrators incurs signifi-cant expense for the university and, most importantly, fails to address the top-down power structures that govern the UC. Students then organize another demonstration, and the cycle repeats.”

The DAG is notable in that it is staffed primarily by faculty and students.

“This group is not adminis-tration-based,” Galloway said. “I’m the only administrator on staff.”

The group, Galloway said, is intended to gather information from students and other inter-ested parties to more clearly inform the UC on how to enact regulatory policy regarding demonstrations.

“We’d like to have a situ-ation where each group [the UC and the demonstrators] comes together with a better understanding of how the other works, where we don’t have to see each other as necessarily opposed,” Galloway said.

Shapiro also said the UC needs to reexamine its protest policy.

“The hope is to not simply react. We want to have people who are concerned about the campus sitting down and working towards a better com-munity,” she said. “That doesn’t

mean there won’t be differences, but our goal is to have a clear, fair procedure.”

Miska is apprehensive about the DAG’s future.

“I’m only tentatively opti-mistic about the outcome of the DAG. The group’s focus is on how to address demonstrations, rather than how to address the structural issues that motivate students to organize those demonstrations,” he said. “I think administrators should be asking more broadly contextu-alized questions, like ‘Why do students, staff and faculty have no say on who sits on the Board of Regents?’”

In the initial email to the UCSC community, Galloway made note of the fact that the DAG would attempt to review the policy on campus surveil-lance. In a later interview, she said the reasoning behind photography at demonstrations should be transparent.

“If photographs are taken at demonstrations, we want it to be clear why they’re being

taken, who gets to look at them, who has access to these photos,” Galloway said.

Shapiro also is in favor of increased transparency.

“Some policies are explicit, some aren’t,” she said. “We need to make it clear who’s in charge on the ground [during a dem-onstration.]”

Transparency seems to be the eventual goal for the DAG, but Miska says that he is doubtful of the group’s ability to change the structural causes of student protest.

“I think the best probable outcome of the DAG is that UCSC admins will be less likely to use police and the threat of physical force against nonviolent demonstrators,” Miska said. “The DAG is well-intentioned and is being formed out of genuine recognition that administrative responses to demonstration have been inappropriate. I just think that they fail to understand why those responses have been inappropriate.”

“We’d like to have a situation where each group [the UC and the demonstrators] comes together with a better understand-ing of how the other works, where we don’t have to see each other as necessarily opposed.”

—Executive vice chancellor Alison

Galloway

When Gareth Rees-White first started his courses in American studies at UC Santa Cruz during fall quarter, he was reading the likes of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Cormac McCarthy and William Faulkner — then in winter, Toni Morrison and Mark Twain. This quarter, he will be reading the Twilight series.

“In my first quarter there were loads of courses that sounded amazing,” Rees-White said. “Then in winter there were less, and this quarter I’m taking a class on vampires because it is my only option.”

An international student from England, Rees-White is studying American studies at UCSC as part of a year abroad program offered by his home “uni,” the University of East Anglia.

Rees-White knew that he wanted to attend a UC ever since visiting California on a family vacation while in secondary school.

“I was sitting on the beach with my sister in Santa Barbara and the volleyball team was practicing,” Rees-White said. “I remember thinking — this is a university?”

When applying to universities a year later, he chose American studies as his ma-jor because it offered the chance to study abroad in the United States. His abroad program dictates that he take 70 percent of his courses at UCSC in the upper divi-sion of the American studies department. Earlier this year, American studies faculty voted to suspend admission to the major as of July 1.

Citing the reasons for the major’s sus-pension, faculty said the needs of students were not being met due to the fact that only five professors were specific to the depart-ment and that other departments were spread too thin to lend adequate assistance. Department head Eric Porter said stu-dents already in the major should not have trouble completing their degrees, though according to Rees-White, that assurance does not include a wide enough selection of classes.

Rees-White chose Santa Cruz for its

natural beauty, iconic boardwalk and its American studies major. Of all the schools Rees-White looked into, only UCSC had an established American studies program, an aspect of the university that largely factored into his decision to attend. If he were ap-plying for study abroad this year, however, Rees-White could not chose UCSC because of the reduction of classes. Rees-White said that the suspension of the major will re-duce the number of international students at UCSC.

Since coming to Santa Cruz, Rees-White has fallen in love with the redwoods — and a woman. He refers to the latter as the most serious relationship he has been a part of, and says they already have plans to see each other after he goes back to England. De-spite self-professed poor skills, he says he is also equally infatuated with the extreme sport that put Santa Cruz on the map, surf-ing.

In his time at UCSC, he has made many friends, sharing British culture with them as he learns what it means to be an Ameri-can.

“I would like to think that I have influ-enced the culture a wee bit,” Rees-White said, “and it has definitely influenced me.”


Campus

A Changing UC By Sarah Naugle & Ryan Mark-Griffin

Campus Co-Editors

STATSName: Gareth Rees-White

Year: Third-yearMajor: American studies

Predicament: Suspension of American studies prevents new international students from arriving at the UC.

“In my first quarter there were loads of courses that sounded amazing, then in winter there were less, and this quarter I’m taking a class on vampires because it is my only option.”

—Gareth Rees-White, third-year American studies major

British abroad student last of his kind

Morgan Grana


Campus

Swastika Graffiti Contains 4/20 Threat

Porter College exclusively informed

Campus officials discovered graffiti on March 15 in a men's restroom in Porter College that included swastikas and the message, "Blood will be shed at UCSC 4/20/11."

UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal released a campus-wide email on March 17 that condemned the swastikas but did not mention the explicit threat. In his email, Blumenthal also mentioned anti-Semitic graffiti which had been discovered at McHenry Library March 14.

An email was released exclusively to the Porter College community March 18 that mentioned both the threat of violence on April 20 and the swastikas. UCSC director of public information Jim Burns ad-dressed the reasoning behind the distribution of the email to only a portion of the campus community.

“Whenever we discover graffiti of a threaten-ing nature … we consider an appropriate security and communications response,” Burns said. “That doesn't mean that we decide that communicating broadly about the specifics of each threat is always the best course of action.”

The university has not released details on what precautions it will be taking in light of the threat. Steve Clark, deputy chief of the Santa Cruz Police Department (SCPD), said that though it is typi-cal for the SCPD to be privy to threats, it was not informed of this particular threat.

Courtney Burt, a third-year Porter College com-munity assistant (CA), was surprised that Porter College was the only college on campus to receive the information about the violent threat.

"Porter is the only one privy to the knowledge?” she asked. “The whole school knew about the other [threat], so why doesn't the whole school know about this one too? That's not fair. Idle or not, it's a threat.”

Burt also expressed concern with the possible implications of alerting the entire campus commu-nity to such threats.

“Then again, we also lose a lot of resources with

the school taking it seriously,” she said. “I mean, there's money that does go into covering this.”

Though the graffiti found in Porter comprises two distinct parts — the threat and the swastikas — Ali Rawson, a third-year Porter student, asserted that the two are related because Adolf Hitler's birth-day also falls on April 20.

"Yeah, I think [the threat] could be a hate crime too, against Jews in particular,” Rawson said. “Hav-ing swastikas on Hitler's birthday, it's really insult-ing.”

The Santa Cruz Sentinel mentioned the graffiti in a March 16 article on the current investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR). UCSC Hebrew lecturer Tammi Rossman-Benjamin, who filed the complaint, said that the Sentinel article may have provided the necessary motivation for the university to send out the email addressing the swastika graffiti.

“Three days went by before the chancellor said anything,” she said. “Had it not been for the Sen-tinel article, he might not have mentioned it at all. Chancellor Blumenthal's response was too little too late.”

OCR is investigating an allegation that UCSC permitted anti-Semitism and created a hostile environment for Jewish students. Jim Bradshaw of the U.S. Department of Education Press Office confirmed the nature of the investigation, though he could not comment on specifics.

Rossman-Benjamin spoke of her concerns with how the university handles incidents of anti-Semitism, and cited the delayed response to this particular incident as an example of the university's questionable priorities in dealing with hate crimes.

“I'm very sensitive to the double standard the UCSC administration takes in response to anti-Se-mitic acts in comparison to say, anti-African acts,” she said. “The chancellor sent out an email con-demning the graffiti on Thursday, but the first graf-fiti was found on Monday. Why wait three days?”

By Mikaela ToddCity Co-Editor

By Sarah NaugleCampus Co-Editor

By Ryan Mark-GriffinCampus Co-Editor

An email sent exclusively to the Porter community provided further details of the swastika graffiti found in a men’s restroom in Porter. Chancellor George Blumenthal addressed the swastikas in an email sent to the entire campus community, but the email excluded details of the specific threat, “Blood will be shed at UCSC 4/20/11.” The following quotes are excerpts from the email sent to the Porter community.

“On Wednesday March 16, Porter College received a report that anti-Semitic graffiti had been found in a men’s restroom. The graffiti consisted of several swastikas and the phrase, ‘Blood will be shed at UCSC 4/20/11.’”

“Expressions of hate such as this have no place at UCSC. We abhor this behavior and extend our concern and support to all members of the Porter and campus communities.”


Campus

Event Calendar Compiled by Nikki PritchardCity Co-Editor

CAMPUSFRIDAY, APRIL 15

• UCSC Earth Week: Kick-off and rock climbing. Quarry Plaza, Bay Tree Bookstore. 12 to 4 p.m. Free.

SATURDAY, APRIL 16

• UCSC Earth Week: Younger Lagoon Restoration Work Day. UCSC Long Marine Lab. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free.

• UCSC Earth Week: Day Hike: Campus Secret Spots. Stevenson Knoll. 1 to 5 p.m. Free.

SUNDAY, APRIL 17

• Sports: UCSC Slug Run XI. East Field. 8 a.m. $10 for UCSC students, $20-25 for general public.

• UCSC Earth Week: Compost Workshop at PICA. PICE, A Quad UCSC Village (near base of campus). 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Free.

• Sports: UCSC women’s tennis vs. Mills College Intercollegiate Athletics. East Field Center Tennis Courts. 2 to 4 p.m.

MONDAY, APRIL 18

• UCSC Dining: Meatless Monday. Crown/Merrill Dining Hall. All day.

• UCSC Earth Week: Sunset Hike. Porter Squiggle, Porter College. 5 to 8:30 p.m. Reserve a spot: www.ucscrecreation.edu on the Wilderness Skills section.

• Lecture: W.J.T. Mitchell. “Seeing Madness: Insanity, Media and Visual Culture.” Digital Arts Research Center, Room 108. Free.

• UCSC Earth Week: Education for Sustainable Living Speaker Series (open to the public). UCSC Classroom Unit 2. 7 to 10 p.m. Free.

TUESDAY, APRIL 19

• UCSC Earth Week: Panel on Energy Security. College Eight, Academic Lecture Hall, Room 240. 6:30 to 9 p.m. Free.

• UCSC Earth Week: The Japanese Nuclear Disaster: Impacts & Implications (open to the public). Stevenson College Events Center. 7 to 9 p.m. Free.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20

• UCSC Earth Week: How Green is Green? Sustainability and the Cannabis Industry. College Eight Red Room. 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Free.

• Concert: 21st-Century Chamber Music, April in Santa Cruz. Music Center Recital Hall. 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Free.

• UCSC Earth Week: Stargazing with Cosmic Joe Jordan. College Eight Plaza to depart or Bike Path Knoll 8 p.m. or later. 7:45 to 10 p.m. Free.

• UCSC Earth Week: Outdoor Film Screening: “Bag It!” Behind College Eight Red Building between A & B Quads. 8 to 10 p.m.

CITYTHURSDAY, APRIL 14

• Concert: The Kris Special (L.A.). Streetlight Records, 4 p.m. Free.

• Exhibit: Showcase at Santa Cruz Mountain Arts Center. 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

• Concert: Barbara Dennerlein Trio. Kuumbwa Jazz Center. 7 p.m. $20 in advance, $23 at door.

• Lecture: Could Israel be both Jewish and Democratic? UCSC Social Sciences 2 Room 71. 7 to 8:30 p.m. Free.

• Concert: Gimme Shelter! Benefit Concert for Santa Cruz SPCA. The Crêpe Place. 8 p.m.

• Concert: Animal Collective plus Sun Araw. The Catalyst. 9 p.m. $30 in advance. Online sales only.

FRIDAY, APRIL 15

• Concert: Karla Bonoff/Nina Gerber. Kuumbwa Jazz Center. 7:30 p.m. $40 for Gold Circle, general admission $25.

• Concert: G. Love & Special Sauce plus Belle Brigade. The Catalyst. 9 p.m. $19 in advance, $24 at door. 21+.

• Concert: The Brothers Comatose, Space Buffalo, Billy Manzik. The Crêpe Place. 9 p.m. $8.

• Film: “The Truman Show.” Del Mar Theatre. 11:59 p.m. $6.50. Event repeats 4/16.

SATURDAY, APRIL 16

• Earth Day Santa Cruz (open to the public). San Lorenzo Park. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free.

• Dance Show: Bellydance Community Showcase hosted by Helene, featuring the Hala Dance Company. The Crêpe Place. 1:30 p.m. Free.

• Concert: Santa Cruz International Music Festival. Rio Theatre. 5:30 p.m. $25

• Sports: Santa Cruz Derby Girls Match. Harbor

Hellcats vs. Merced Rollin’ Roulettes. Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. 6:30 p.m. $10–23.

• Concert: Forest Song: The Classical Clarinet. UC Santa Cruz Music Center Recital Hall 7:30 p.m. $6 for students, $23 general admission.

• Comedy Show: Tax Relief Comedy with Will Durst. Kuumbwa Jazz Center. 8 p.m. $15 in advance, $20 at door.

• Concert: Yonder Mountain String Band. The Catalyst. 9 p.m. 21+. $20 in advance, $25 at door.

SUNDAY, APRIL 17

• Sports: Stand Up Paddling Socials. Kayak Connection. 9 to 11 a.m. Free with own gear, $20 for board and paddle.

• Concert: The New Pornographers. Rio Theatre. 8 p.m. $22 in advance, $25 at door.

MONDAY, APRIL 18

• Concert: Proverb Trio: Dafnis Prieto, Kokayi, Jason Linder. Kuumbwa Jazz Center. 7 p.m. $20 in advance, $23 at door.

• Film: “Time Bandits.” The Crêpe Place. 9 p.m. Free.

• Dancing: DJ Tom LG’s Sides Speakeasy Time Portal & Swing Dancing. 515 Kitchen and Cocktail. 9 p.m. 21+. Free.

TUESDAY, APRIL 19

• Concert: 7 Come 11. The Crêpe Place. 8 p.m. Free.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20

• Event: Comcast Spring Break at the Boardwalk. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free.

• Concert: Sweet Honey in the Rock. Rio Theatre. 7:30 p.m. $40 for Gold Circle, general admission $30.

Contact us at [email protected]


City

Local Workers Unite at County BuildingDemonstrators at April 4 events advocate for collective bargaining rights

PROTESTERS FROM the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers stand in solidarity with other union workers during an April 4 protest in Santa Cruz.

By Rosela ArceCity Reporter

On the 43rd anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, participants of “We Are One,” a campaign supporting workers’ rights, organized over 1,200 events across the United States and Canada.

The rally was a show of resistance against local, state and federal government legislation curbing union rights. In many states, such as Wisconsin and Rhode Is-land, public service workers are in danger of losing critical benefits.

In Santa Cruz, roughly 150 people gathered in front of the county building at 5 p.m. on April 4 to rally for collective bargaining rights and demand govern-ment action against union-busting. Cesar Chavez was honored at the Santa Cruz event in addition to King.

Community members at the rally voiced concern for state and federal bud-get changes.

“We are working to help [Gov.] Jerry Brown get a reasonable budget in Califor-nia,” protester Dorelle Rawlings said, “one that is not just cuts.”

Advocates of the movement were there to speak out against “well-funded, right-wing corporate politicians [who] are try-ing to take away the rights Dr. King gave his life for: the freedom to bargain, to vote, to afford a college education and justice for all workers, immigrant and native-born,” according to the “We Are One” organizing website.

County supervisor John Leopold said lawmakers need to return to their demo-cratic values and let the public decide on budget issues.

“It’s amazing to me that in Sacramento the Republican Party won’t even let you vote about whether you want to increase taxes or extend taxes,” Leopold said in an address to the crowd. “We should get a chance for the majority to express their will about how we would like to organize ourselves, tax ourselves and provide ser-vices for our fellow human beings.”

Among the supporting organizations present were representatives from the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, MoveOn.org, Democracy for America, Organizing for Santa Cruz, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 521 Region 2 helped plan the rally. Region 2 represents Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties, and had a solid presence at the event.

Walt George, SEIU Region 2 trustee, said the government needs to recognize corporations, and money mongers are to

blame for the financial downturn.“It’s not the workers who caused the

economic problems of our country,” George said. “Any workers should have the right to unionize. Our economic woes are not the faults of the unions.”

Santa Cruz vice-mayor Don Lane said the government must make it possible for the lowest paid workers to succeed and ensure economic health.

“Real prosperity starts from the ground up,” Lane said to the crowd. “A trickle-down approach must be rejected.”

County supervisor Leopold said the government needs to start taxing the rich and recognizing the importance of unions.

“In the time when unions were the strongest, our economy was the best in this country,” Leopold said. “A whole host of large corporations are not doing their part — they’re not paying taxes.”

Pointing to a local workers’ benefits issue, Doris Henry, Santa Cruz SEIU chapter president, said approximately 375 temporary city workers risk losing social security benefits because of a proposed shift to 401(k) plans.

“The city would be removing them from the basic safety net available to every other worker in America,” Henry said. “Let’s support our temporary workers to keep their American rights. If they lose theirs, are yours far behind?”

Vice-mayor Lane said the current economic model is unacceptable, and applauds those who challenge it.

“One powerful group in this coun-try has put forth the mistaken idea that cutting taxes on corporations and on the people who make the most money will save us,” Lane said. “But people across the country are actively rejecting this mis-taken idea.”

Nikki PritchardCity Co-Editor&

Toby Silverman


City

Giants and Dodgers fans alike were horrified when Bryan Stow, dedicated father of two as well as a dedicated Giants fan, was beaten savagely outside Dodger Stadium at the home opener baseball game on March 31.

Stow remains in critical con-dition as of April 14. Fundraisers have been held across the state to benefit Stow’s family, which is still recovering from the shock of the incident.

Hundreds of Giants fans and Stow supporters gathered at a fundraiser held at El Palomar restaurant in Santa Cruz on April 11 to show their support for the Santa Cruzan. Over

$25,000 in donations were raised. Danny Simon, friend and roommate of Stow, said he planned the event to show local support.

“I wanted a fundraiser to be done here so Bryan’s family and friends that he’s known since high school could come here,” Simon said. “I just wanted to do something so that everyone could come together and cel-ebrate here in town.”

Stow went to Soquel High School. Many of his friends came to the fundraiser to donate, buy raffle tickets, participate in the silent auction and watch the game in the back of the restau-rant. Early in the evening, Simon said he was happy to see all of the camaraderie.

“First we didn’t think there

were going to be enough people here to bid on things,” Simon said. “Now I’m afraid there are too many people. It’s crazy, and

it’s just started.”By 8 p.m., only one hour into

the event, hundreds of people had already stopped by. The entire event lasted a total of four hours. By the end of the night, over a thousand raffle tickets had been sold.

“Again, it’s the local com-munity of Santa Cruz coming out and supporting one of their own,” Simon said. “It’s what this town does.”

This is exactly what helped him secure donations for the silent auction and raffle, he said.

“Not one person told me ‘No,’” Simon said. “I came to many different places, people I knew or didn’t know, and everybody just said, ‘What do you need? What do you want? Is that enough?’ It was incredible.”

Kimi Hanson, manager of El Palomar, said she was glad to be able to help Simon with the event on behalf of Stow. She became friends with Stow after he and Simon frequented El Palomar many times in the past. Hanson plans on making a pri-vate donation from the restau-rant to the Stow family, which will be sent to them along with the funds raised by the silent auction and raffle.

“He’s a lifesaver and a family man,” she said. “Just overall a really nice guy.”

Santa Cruz resident Jonathan Nelson, who works with Stow at

Santa Clara Operations, attended Monday night’s fundraiser. He said he had already been to a similar fundraiser in Santa Clara, where he made a donation to the Stow family.

“Bryan is a great guy who would give everything he could to somebody to save their life,” he said. “So it’s just really ironic that something like this would happen to him. It’s really sad.”

He commended the Giants for bringing attention to the violence, calling them a “very classy organization.” He also praised the community for com-ing together to help out in light of the tragedy.

“We really feel for his chil-dren and for the family,” Nelson said. “This has been just phenomenal.”

Santa Cruzans Support Bryan Stow

Fundraiser held at El Palomar for family of Giants fan

By Mikaela ToddCity Co-Editor

Prescott WatsonSUPPORTERS THRONGED the auction tables at Stow’s fundraiser. Organizers sold shirts for Stow, printed with his paramedic license number, a yellow ribbon and the universal medical symbol.

“Again, it’s the local community of Santa Cruz coming out and supporting one of their own. It’s what this town does.”

—Danny Simon, roommate of Bryan Stow


City

Wounded Service Members Take

Santa Cruz by Surf Dedicated soldiers receive a week of recreational therapy

Surfers glide through waves, towels lie on the beach and wetsuits bob in the water as far as the eye can see. In Santa Cruz, boarders are always visible from the coast, buoying in the water.

Yet this week there was a new group of surfers at Cowell Beach. Soldiers — wounded service members of five differ-ent conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan — experienced local surf culture as part of Operation Surf.

This is the first time the event has come to Santa Cruz, after previously being held in Pismo Beach. Local donors funded the event and volunteers made it a reality. Santa Cruz businesses, like Richard Schmidt’s Surf-ing School and the Dream Inn, collaborated to provide lodging for around 15 service members and a week of surf therapy in the warm weather.

“What’s really nice [is] the support from the community,” Schmidt said. “The Crow’s Nest, I Love Sushi and Paradise Grill all gave food, and kids came out with signs on the last day saying, ‘Support Our Troops.’”

Participating soldiers came from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, a medical facility that works with Operation Comfort, a nonprofit philanthropy group that focuses on recreational therapy.

Operation Surf, founded by amputee surfer Rodney Roller, was organized by nonprofit Amazing Surf Adventures to pro-vide recreational surf therapy.

“[The service members] start-ed asking about surfing,” Schmidt said. “I told them to come out to Santa Cruz. We really rolled the red carpet out for them. It was very successful.”

Recreational therapy takes soldiers out of the medical cen-ter, gets them active in a sport, and fulfills their desire to go outdoors and get moving.

“[It’s] basically diversion therapy,” said Heather Miller, a therapist with Operation Surf. “It takes a sport or an activity that these guys enjoy doing and it takes away from the fact they’re working on their core, their muscle strength, their endur-ance.”

Trent Alexander Winstead,

a 19-year-old rifleman with the U.S. Marine Corps, was wounded in December and lost his right foot as a result. Operation Surf introduced him to surfing, which he described as “a workout and very therapeutic.”

“It was awesome to really feel the power of the waves,” Win-stead said.

Winstead said he was thankful for everyone’s hospitality and for the work of the event organizers, participants and volunteers. Vol-unteer Brent Edwards expressed gratitude and respect for young soldiers like Winstead in return.

“He’s a young Marine, and it’s just an amazing thing — the guy is just so tough and has such spirit,” Edwards said. “It really puts things in perspective.”

Edwards, who is a Marine veteran himself and has lived in Santa Cruz for 20 years, said he had it “good” compared to the young men, but that “you’d never know” the struggles that face the soldiers — all because of their spirit of resilience.

Some of the riders had never surfed before, pre-injury or not.

“We thought it [would] be

really challenging,” Schmidt said. “But they really exceeded our expectations. It was pretty inspiring.”

Riders chose between two sets of specially-made boards, the short board and the long board. Paul Lambert, 30-year-old military veteran, rode the short board.

“[It is] a lot more subtle than a soft [long] board. It’s easier to catch and easier to fall off as well,” Lambert said.

Some surfers were injured during Operation Surf, with at least one surfer getting a bloody nose from trying to stand on his board. Their surf instructors distributed a special reward for courage and perseverance.

“He got a ‘Purple Wave

Award’ for being injured in the way of surfing,” Schmidt said of the injured surfer. These awards were given out to the soldiers for their bravery in the face of cold surf.

By the end of the week, the soldiers were awestruck, hungry and tired, but the event was one that balanced health and relax-ation, focusing on recreational therapy while offering a week-long getaway in California.

Miller, who worked with the soldiers throughout the week, said they’re “healing but they’re happy.”

For her, the highlight was “seeing the looks on their faces, [and] seeing a one-legged surfer doing a handstand on a surf-board.”

By Chelsea Hawkins & Mark RadCity Reporters

SERVICE MEMBERS enjoyed a surf lesson organized by Operation Surf at Cowell Beach last Wednesday.

Photos by Kyan Mahzouf

OPERATION SURF offered roughly 15 service members the chance to learn from surf instructors over the course of the week.


City

City Council Moves Forward with Controversial Desalination Plant

Protection of endangered fish species in city water calls for new measures, opponents argue for alternative conservation methods

A SHOW OF HANDSfromSantaCruzansidentifiesthosewhosupportsearching for alternate methods of water conservation rather than building the proposed desalination plant.

Sal Ingram

By Bruce TranCity Reporter

The Santa Cruz City Council voted unanimously in favor of the Water Department’s Habitat Conservation Plan on April 5. The plan will result in the build-ing of a contentious desalination plant.

Water overconsumption has been an ongoing problem in Santa Cruz. Overconsumption threatens endangered species of fish, including the Coho and steelhead salmon species, in the San Lorenzo River and other northern coast streams. The city has postulated several solutions to this problem, including regula-tion of water uptake in local streams to create optimal living conditions for these fish.

In 2002, the National Marine Fisheries Service accused the city of violating the Endangered Spe-cies Act by harming fish popula-tions with a high level of water consumption. The Water Depart-ment formulated the Habitat Conservation Plan to protect these species of fish. The plan will take an agreed upon amount of water out of local streams. The

building of a desalination plant would provide an additional sup-ply of water to accommodate the city’s projected needs.

Desalination is not new to Santa Cruz. A year-long pilot program was taken on from 2008 to 2009 for a desalination plant at UC Santa Cruz’s Long Marine Lab, and was generally consid-ered a success.

In his presentation at the April city council meeting, Santa Cruz water director Bill Kocher emphasized that stream regula-tion is necessary for optimal fish population living conditions. He also said the introduction of a desalination plant is necessary.

“Desalination provides a safety net,” Kocher said. “Just knowing that we have it allows us to pull comfortably [from] the lake.”

The plant is projected to filter 2.5 million gallons of water a day, and is estimated to cost up to $99 million to install. It is expected to be in operation by 2015, and has the capacity to cost up to $130 million.

Kocher proposed the Habitat for Conservation plan, which was later approved. His plan has yet to be put into action, but will be

presented to NOAA Fisheries in the next step of the process.

Opponents argue that there are better alternatives to the installation of this plant. Finan-cial and environmental impacts are pressing areas of concern. Anti-desalination advocates are pressing for more sensible con-servation methods.

Rick Longinotti, a spokesman for the Santa Cruz organiza-tion Desal Alternatives, said the city should work to lower the demand for water, which is pro-jected to increase exponentially in the coming years.

“There is an alternative to becoming hooked on desal,” he said. “We need to set ourselves a goal to continue the downward trend in water use, rather than plan for expansion of water use.”

This predicted increase in water demand is due in part to an increase in student enroll-ment at UCSC. Longinotti said other college campuses have better models for water conser-vation.

“There is a building called

Oakes Hall at Vermont Law School that makes use of com-postable toilets, using an average of only 16 gallons of water a day,” Longinotti said.

Other alternatives include wa-ter exchanges with neighboring cities and water-neutral develop-ment plans.

Third-year environmental studies major Nick Evans attends

a sustainability class at UCSC. He said the installation of a desalina-tion plant would have various consequences for the environ-ment.

“Fish population and fish larva will be sucked into the pipes [and] large amounts of carbon dioxide will be released into the atmosphere,” Evans said. “People are blinded to the conse-quences. Installation of this plant will only serve as a Band-Aid-like situation.”

Evans pointed to Australia as an example of an effective model for water conservation.

“Australia has pursued conservation in an aggressive fashion,” he said. “I attribute the main catalyst of success there to [Australia’s] progressive push of social marketing. They realized that the public’s opinions and ac-tions don’t always line up due to factors that affect convenience.”

The Habitat for Conservation plan is still in premature stages, and it will take some time to finalize the plans. For now, the debate continues.

The plant is projected to

filter

2.5 milliongallons a

day and is estimated to

cost up to

$99 million to install.


City

SCPD Goes Mobile New iPhone app expands possibilities for local

law enforcement

The Santa Cruz Police Depart-ment (SCPD) recently released a new iPhone application to the Santa Cruz community. It is the first consumer-based iPhone application released from any city police department across the nation.

From 2009 to 2010, homicides and other crimes like burglary, robbery and aggravated assault saw a noticeable rise. With this new application, the SCPD seeks to curtail the rise in crime in Santa Cruz by giving users a mobile option to report crimes, making tip submission easy and mobile.

After downloading the free application from Apple’s App Store, users have access to the SCPD’s scanner feed, crime maps, new departmental blog, crime alerts and mug shots. Us-ers are able to submit anonymous tips when they see a crime com-mitted by simply sending a direct email to the police department through the application.

“This mobile application will give our community a remark-able amount of information in the palm of their hand,” said Santa Cruz police chief Kevin Vogel.

With over 50 million iPhones sold as of March 2010, the iPhone is one of the most popu-lar cellphones on the market.

“I see tons of iPhones every-where every day on campus,” said Kelly Watson, a Porter College second-year and iPhone enthu-siast.

Watson said she feels more able to help the community with SCPD’s new iPhone application, since she can now submit anony-mous tips and see photos of suspected criminals at all times.

Many people on campus have iPhones. The iPhone makes up 18 percent of the cellphone market, and a whopping 38 percent of the smartphone market in the

US. Santa Cruz has no fewer than nine cell phone stores in the immediate area. Students can even buy an iPhone at the UC Santa Cruz campus’ Bay Tree Bookstore.

The application was produced by EZ Axess, Inc. CEOs Kushyar Kasraie and Jamieson Johnson, both recent UCSC alumni, have been creating community-based applications together since they were students. Other applica-tions created by EZ Axess include UCSC’s campus map applica-tion, Kasraie and Johnson’s first creation.

“When we first started reach-ing out to UCSC, the idea of iPhone apps was still something

very new to people,” Kasraie said. Cody Delaney, a Porter

second-year, said he is most impressed by the forward thinking of the SCPD and the city of Santa Cruz.

“This could be cool,” Delaney said upon viewing the applica-tion. “This could be helpful.”

The SCPD has expressed an interest in open communication with the Santa Cruz community to successfully enforce the law.

“Law enforcement needs to make their information as trans-parent and readily accessible as possible to meet the expectations of our communities,” Vogel said. “It is an essential part towards ensuring greater access to our department. This easy-to-use

interface will provide an unprec-edented amount of information to the consumer, regardless of where they are in the world.”

The next move will be for the application to support the Droid platform as well other smart-phone application networks. EZ Axess plans to release this ver-sion over the coming months.

Kasraie praised the SCPD’s efforts to connect with the com-munity.

“We genuinely believe that SCPD has set a new standard in terms of transparency and com-munity engagement.”

“Law enforcement needs to make their information as transparent and readily accessible as possible to meet the expectations of our communities.”

—Chief Kevin Vogel,Santa Cruz Police Dept.

By Mark RadCity Reporter

Illustration by Louise Leong

With the crack of the starter pistol, the crowd of runners surged forward, signaling the start of the Santa Cruz Half Marathon. Lean, tanned professionals jogged alone, setting their stopwatches and adjusting nutrition packets harnessed to fanny packs, while groups of friends and families slowed down to laugh and wave at the cheering throngs of spectators lining the Boardwalk.

This year’s ninth annual Santa Cruz Half Marathon and 10K drew a total of 4,374 registered racers. This figure eclipsed last year’s total by over 1,000. Sunday’s competitors competed in either the half-marathon (13.1 miles) or the shorter 10-kilometer race.

Tom Cotton is the owner of Threshold Racing as well as Firstwave Events, the company that organizes the half marathon along with many other

California-based races each year. He credits the popularity of the half marathon to its scenic route along West Cliff Drive and through Wilder Ranch.

“The scenery is great,” Cotton said. “On the way back [from Wilder Ranch] you get to look down on the surfers, the lighthouse, and you can see the finish line.”

Cotton also noted the benefit of having a route that gives runners a clear view of the Pacific Ocean.

“In the last couple years we’ve seen whales,” Cotton said. “[There are] not many marathons you can do running and whale watching in.”

UC Santa Cruz professor Daniel Wirls, a nationally ranked racer who last year finished in 12th place overall in the half-marathon with a time of one hour and 20 minutes, said that the course was especially appealing to serious runners.

“This is a nice course because it’s reasonably flat and scenic and about a third of it ends up being on dirt, which is kind of nice,”

Wirls said. “Running 13 miles on pavement is actually pretty brutal.”

Wirls, who has been racing competitively since graduate school, maintained his regular training regimen the week before the race, doing one 10-mile endurance run per week along with three shorter runs that typically involve speed work or hills. Despite his rigorous schedule, Wirls said he had to be cautious about taking risks with his body.

“Once you get over 45 [years old], you’re just always worried that your body will betray you, in the sense that you’re a little tighter than when you were younger,” Wirls said. “So I think the challenge is not so much that I’m worried about not being prepared enough, it’s just will I be loose enough.”

Also racing was Amanda Philbin, a third-year who, prior to Sunday, had never raced competitively in a half marathon. Philbin said she only began

training seriously for the half marathon during winter break. Before that, she mostly used running as a stress reliever.

“I used a half marathon ten-week-long training program that I found online,” Philbin said. “I did my last long run early [last] week, about 11 miles, and some four-mile runs.”

Philbin said that she wrestled with a bout of anxiety the night before the race, but her desire to run calmed her nerves. As soon as she started running, Philbin said she was able to enjoy the exercise and the scenery.

“I loved it, this declining slope onto the beach — it was great,” Philbin said. “It was a very Santa Cruz flavored race — there were little boys with surfboards interweaving between the racers on West Cliff. Just another day in


Sports

Half Marathon Draws a Crowd9th annual race sees 1,000 more

participants than last year

Illustration by Louise Leong

By Eli WolfeSports Reporter

Santa Cruz.”Speaking before the race, as

he watched waves crash along the beach, Firstwave Events owner Cotton said maintaining the high quality of the course is vital for attracting runners. Cotton even donated money to the state department so they could afford to pay maintenance costs on the course trails in Wilder Ranch.

“We’ve just been trying to keep the consistency of high quality of the race going,” Cotton said. “As soon as something goes wrong, you hear about it. Runners are vocal about what they like and don’t like.”

Wirls, who placed 19th overall and second in his age group with one hour and 23 minutes, said Santa Cruz has an international cachet among athletes because of its races.

“For such a small town, we’re really known worldwide for our endurance athletic events,” Wirls said. “The triathlons, the running races, the swims... It really does bring people into town who otherwise wouldn’t have come.”

Speaking after the race, Amanda Philbin, who placed 302nd in the race and 23rd in her age group, said that competing for a numerical rank was worth far less to her than gaining a sense of personal satisfaction.

“I feel like I achieved my goal,” Philbin said. “It makes me want to keep running and actually, I would like to run a full marathon — maybe next year.”

4,37413.112

Registered runners in this year’s marathon

Length of the course in miles

Place UCSC professor Daniel Wirls came in

“I loved it, this declining slope onto the beach — it was great,” Philbin said. “It was a very Santa Cruz flavored race — there were little boys with surfboards interweaving between the racers on West Cliff. Just another day in Santa Cruz.”

— Third-year Amanda Philbin

Course Map1.Start at Beach Street by the

Boardwalk

Run along West Cliff to Natural Bridges2.

Go up Highway 1 and loop around the Old Cove Landing Trail

3.Retrace the trail back to the Boardwalk

4.

3 Miles

5 Miles

5 Miles


Photography

THROUGH OUR LENS

Words & Photographs by Sal Ingram

Those of us who are lucky enough to live in Santa Cruz are no strangers to natural beauty. However, our familiarity with this luxury can lead to a lack of appreciation and respect for the environment we get to be a part of. I wanted to take a closer look at the animals around the campus and city of Santa Cruz. Taking time to stop and admire the wildlife led to a greater respect for the beautiful area we live in. During this time, I took a trip down to southern California, where I found a big surprise! In the hills of Los Angeles, even exotic birds run wild. California truly is an amazing place.

ANIMALS OF THE CALIFORNIA COAST


Photography


Feature

The wall is plastered with bears. One is eating a human foot, while another holds a fish up like a trophy.

Live murals, good food and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros fill up the common room, as friends and strangers meet for the Chavez Art Show. This is the Cesar Chavez Co-op, where UC Santa Cruz and Cabrillo College students have been living for nearly 20 years.

Chavez is a housing cooperative in which residents share rent, eat meals together, and are responsible for upkeep of the house. One of the biggest in Santa Cruz, Chavez holds close to 30 members.

Events like Chavez’s Art Show used to be a lot more common, says UCSC third-year Chavez resident, Nick Golden.

Neighbor relations, zoning problems, debt and a fire in 2005 all affected planned events and membership at Chavez. But Golden says that Chavez is making a comeback.

“We’re definitely on the up right now, which is really exciting to see,” he said. “We’re still working out some kinks with getting the house back on track in terms of work shifts and making sure people do them, and getting it into a fully function-ing co-op, but it’s so much better than it’s been in the past.”

Housing co-ops are nothing new. The first housing cooperatives in the United States popped up in New York City in the late 1800s, initially serving the upper class. Eventually they became widely populated by union workers who didn’t want to live in the slums.

Since then, cooperatives have become a popular option for college students. Housing cooperatives have grown to over a million units across the country, accord-ing to the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA). NCBA is a resource for cooperatives of all types, such as food, credit unions, agricultural, business and

housing.Currently, UC Berkeley has one of the

largest network of student co-ops, with 17 houses and 1,300 students in the Berkeley Student Cooperative. Their network is solely focused on students, while most in Santa Cruz are open to anyone, including non-students.

Morgan Harris of the Food Not Lawns co-op off of Mission Street, said there are a lot of benefits for students living in coop-eratives.

“As we move off to college we tend to go through this extremely individualistic and often isolationist kind of phase, so the value of co-ops is that it gives you sort of this family to connect back with,” Harris said. “It may not be as deep as your blood family, of course, but in terms of a place for you to grow and love, you really can get that community and get grounded.”

Chavez and Zami! on Laurel Street are two of the largest co-ops in Santa Cruz.

A peek into co-op life

MEMBERS of the Cesar Chavez Co-op pose for a photo in their dining room.

THE WALLS of Chavez are regularly updated with artwork. The largest co-op in Santa Cruz, its spaces are canvases for many student artists.

A GUITARIST in Chavez’s dining room speaks with onlookers while he tunes his instrument.

LIVING TOGETHER IN SANTA CRUZ By Michael Mott Photos by Prescott Watson Illustrations by Bela Messex

“We are here to learn how to garden and to learn how to live sustainably. We’re fortunate — we’re

blessed enough to have this space where we can do that, [in which] we can work in and play.”

—Morgan Harris, UCSC alumnus


Feature

Meetthe

Co-ops

Cesar Chavez

Zami!

Food Not Lawns

12 Tribes Jewish

Art Co-op

What: Largest Co-op in Santa Cruz, housing almost 30 members. Also a member of the North American Students of Cooperation.

What: Sister house with Cesar Chavez and also a member of NASCO, Zami! takes pride in being a safe space and a center for social justice.

What: Food Not Lawns focuses on sustainable living, turning lawn space into gardens to grow their own food.

What: A co-op open to living communally, members don’t have to be Jewish, although Jewish holidays and customs are observed.

What: The most recent, members shoot movies, record music, paint and write, though more recently the house has been more musically inclined.

They’re sister houses, meaning they make up an organization called the Santa Cruz Student Housing Cooperative (SCSHC), colliqually known as “Chazam.” They work together on projects, from building chicken coops to writing co-op cook-books, and they also share a lease with a the North American Students of Coop-eration (NASCO).

NASCO, founded in 1968, is an organization that helps educate co-ops across the country. It holds an annual conference, the NASCO Institute, where it tackles common issues with co-ops. Part of the company, NASCO Proper-ties, also holds leases, and is working with Chazam to get its debt paid off and come back to its master lease. This is instead of the individual leases it has now, which provide a little more security for NASCO.

While individual leases give NASCO more financial security, NASCO is com-mitted to helping Chazam get back on their feet, and gain more local control with a master lease,

Daniel Miller, NASCO’s director of development and property services, said that NASCO is there to help.

“The whole idea behind NASCO Properties is to help the local co-op get the tools they need to run their co-op,” he said in an email. “We try to help them understand the process of starting a new non-profit, doing outreach to find new members in their community and run-ning their co-op legally and responsibly.”

Other cooperatives in Santa Cruz ei-ther own their house, or have worked out a situation with their landlord to allow a cooperative to exist. Food Not Lawns is one such co-op.

Ducks quack and chickens cluck be-hind recent UCSC alumnus Harris, who sits on a wooden bench in the garden behind Food Not Lawns. Holding a cup of tea, Harris said a love of sustainability and farming unites them.

“We are here to learn how to garden and to learn how to live sustainably,”

he said. “We’re fortunate, we’re blessed enough to have this space where we can do that, [in which] we can work in and play.”

The front lawn of the house, which sprouts off between Mission and Laurel, was completely dug up a few years ago and replaced with vegetables. In the back gar-den, greenhouses were installed and rows of lettuce, flowers and other plants grow. Food Not Lawns was founded by a group of UCSC students who had met at Pica, a green sustainability program based out of UCSC’s The Village.

Harris, who has been a member for a year and a half, will be teaching a Free Skool course this year, along with two of his housemates.

Free Skool, a community-driven educa-tion system loosely organized by residents of Santa Cruz, is all about free learning for anyone who wants it, by whoever wants to teach it.

“[As a co-op] we are teaching a lot of classes this quarter,” Harris said. “One’s about agroecology, horticulture and back-yard composting, and then there are other fun ones that we do.”

Food Not Lawns has between eight and 10 members, and only half are students. Harris said personal history and education are not necessarily relevant to living in a co-op.

“We just want passionate people who want to learn more about this kind of lifestyle,” he said. “They just have to have a willingness to learn and be an open com-municator, someone who wants to be part of a community.”

A death in the house, combined with zoning issues and member turnover, has brought down membership at Zami!.

Caity Fares sits on an old couch on the Zami! Patio. As music floats out of the house and holiday lights rest above, Fares remembers how they recovered.

“After all of the debt was brought to our attention as a serious problem, it was then that we started to come together and form a stronger collective, and you know, hold up the foundation,” she said.

In February, Chavezians and Zami!tes met to discuss the future of Chazam and the current state of their co-ops and their

master lease. Flying in from Chicago, Miller from NASCO attended the joint-house meeting, and said NASCO is there to help in a supporting role.

He said that their goal is that within a few months, Chazam will have a plan of action as to what they want to do, and how they want to handle city regulations that limit the number of members they can have.

“NASCO Properties sees what’s hap-pening now as a temporary step to try and help the co-op members get the tools they need to get back on track,” Miller said. “SCSHC has a mission to provide afford-able housing to students to make educa-tion more accessible to them ... NASCO Properties has a mission of helping local cooperatives fulfill their missions.”

City zoning laws limiting tenants create a number of problems for members of Zami!.

“The main issue is parking,” said Zami! resident November Skye. “We have to have a certain number of parking spots per person, and we’re looking into finding spots on the street that we can use.”

Two houses fill the property, along with a mini-barn and five cats. And the front house is sideways — Zami!’s main house once sat where the Louden Nelson Com-munity Center is now.

In years past, most people entered Zami! through the pink and purple gate on the side — to enter through the front meant walking into someone’s bedroom.

Now though, that space is a common room. Similar transformations occurred throughout the house after the enforce-ment of city zoning laws forced residents to turn bedrooms into common spaces.

After necessary structural renovations, city officials saw how residents were living in more rooms then zoned for and forced the co-op to reduce its number of tenants.

“We feel like we kind of kicked our-selves, because the reason we ran into trouble was because we were finally getting our shit together and getting the renova-tions done,” Skye said.

Skye, who changed his name upon coming to Zami!, says living in a co-op allows people to change — they get to decide who they are.

“Here, you stop having to work off cultural scripts, of ‘this is what people are supposed to want, this is what I’m sup-posed to do,’ and it lets people live their own lives,” he said.

Once, with members sleeping in tents in the backyard and a family of six in the house, residents of Zami! numbered over 30 people.

It was difficult organizing that many people, let alone the normal challenges of co-ops, said Skye.

Occupants at both Chavez and Zami! devote five hours of “love-shifts” per week, making dinner, cleaning bathrooms, man-aging membership, etc., and are working toward being a really “progressive space,” Skye said.

“We try to focus on dispersing skills,

Continued on p. 23

“We are going to die.”That was the conclusion

College Nine second-year Greg Gerschenson reached as he drove College Ten second-years Ahil Ponarul and Jon Tong to Alpine Meadows Ski Resort on Saturday, April 9. The trio were discussing their plans for Red Bull’s Schlittentag.

“Every possible scenario I can think of ends in all of us dying,” Gerschenson said.

Schlittentag, German for “Sledding Day,” is an event Red Bull holds at various ski resorts across the nation. Event par-ticipants build sleds from found materials and ride them down a course. Teams compete under team names reflecting their cho-sen theme. This year’s Schlitten-tag saw igloo-riding eskimos and three men in a tub tearing down the Tahoe slope.

One week before Schlittentag, Gerchenson, Tong and Ponarul decided they wanted to bring some UC Santa Cruz representation to the slope. While teams were not required to be affiliated with a college, the event was marketed towards university students. Consequently, a significant


Sports

Slugs Take on SchlittentagUCSC second-years participate in Red Bull’s “Sledding Day”

SECOND-YEARS GREG GERSCHENSON, AHIL PONARUL AND JON TONG hit the slopes in homemade sleds last Saturday at Red Bull’s Schlittentag event, hosted at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort.

Photos by Sal Ingram

By Samved SangameswaraSports Reporter

number of the teams displayed some form of school spirit.

Two days before Schlittentag, the trio started gathering sup-plies to make their sleds. Having started later than most, the group from UCSC said they did not have their eyes on one of the top three positions. Sleds at Schlit-tentag are scored on a 100-point scale, with 50 going to speed, 25 to creativity and 25 to style. Gerchenson said they were more concerned with just having a good time than with winning.

“Well, we’re going to enjoy ourselves,” Gerchenson said. “Maybe we’ll get best crash — that would be awesome.”

Another team led by UCSC second-year Samuel Bruns was slated to compete, but had to back out at the last minute due to a family emergency. This left Gerchenson, Tong and Ponarul with an extra sled and the idea of

splitting into two teams. Gerchenson decided to use a

plank of wood Bruns had found, attach skis and a beach chair to it and adopt the team name “Wait.. This Isn’t Cabo.” He completed the outfit with board shorts, a tank top and flip-flops. Unable to transport his entire sled from Santa Cruz to Tahoe, Gerchenson built it just minutes before he took it down the slope. Saying that his sled may not have been the best, he remained confident that he would be able to make it work.

“My sled is probably about 70 [percent prepared for the course],” Gerchenson said. “But I’m around 100.”

Gerchenson was the first person to register on-site at the competition, so he was given the honor of going first.

When constructing the sled, Gerchenson underestimated the

effect that all the duct tape he put on the bottom would have. The friction created by the layers of duct tape holding on the skis brought his sled to a halt before he reached the first jump in the course. However, after giving himself a few pushes, he was slowly but surely able to make it to the bottom.

“At least I can say I had the safest sled out there,” Gerchenson said.

Team Banana Swag, comprised of the banana-suit-clad duo Tong and Ponarul, had a little more success. Riding face-first on boogie boards rented from OPERS, they launched themselves down the hill separately because, as Tong said, “Two slugs are better than one.” Tong picked up more speed on the course and finished with a clean run. Ponarul trailed behind by a few yards and lost

his momentum before the last jump, slowly sliding across the finish line.

Neither team managed to place in the competition, as only the top three and best crash were announced. First place went to a golf cart mounted on snowboards and second was awarded to a Bat-mobile replica built and manned by the family of UCSC third-year Tessa Santos. Best crash went to a sled from Stanford that exploded into pieces when it hit the last jump. However, the failure to claim a prize didn’t bother Gerchenson.

“I didn’t expect [my sled] to be the safest sled,” Gerchenson said, “but at least I finished. And my sled didn’t explode like Stan-ford’s.”

And the trio is already looking forward to Schlittentag 2012. Gerchenson discussed contacting the Ski and Snowboard Club and having them make it one of their events in order to increase the UCSC participation. Ultimately, all three of the UCSC partici-pants said that the best part of Schlittentag was that it provided a unique, albeit slightly wacky, way to show their school pride.

“In the end [winning] didn’t matter,” Gerchenson said. “We went with an idea, executed it, and it went well. It was fun and I got to represent my school for a little bit.”

Meet the TeamsWait... This Isn’t Cabo

Team Banana Swag

Team Members: Greg Gerchenson

Sled Theme: A lost tourist

Sled Materials: Plank of wood, beach chair and duct tapeOutfit: Tank top, board shorts, flip flops and sun-glasses

Team Members: Ahil Ponarul and Jon Tong

Sled Theme: “Two Slugs are better than one.”

Sled Materials: Boogie boards from OPERS

Outfit: Banana suits and UCSC shirts


Arts & Entertainment

In Theaters and on Our iPods The latest in music and film reviews

Aaron Eckhart is easy to like. Perhaps it’s his boyish good looks, or maybe it’s his effortless charm. But, for an endearing actor who so memorably co-starred in the blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” this movie seems like a poor career move.

In “Battle: Los Angeles,” Eckhart stars as a grizzled marine staff sergeant forced to complete one more mission before his retirement. Eckhart lost men — good men — in past battles and struggles to earn the respect of his new platoon. Sound familiar? It probably should. Hon-estly, I could write a book on all the plot points “Battle: Los Angeles” has stolen from other movies.

After a strange meteor shower is revealed to be an alien invasion, Eckhart and his team of vaguely familiar B-list movie and television stars are assigned a

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ADMIT

ONE

ADMIT ONE

Illustration by Matt Boblet

“TOMBOY” BY PANDA BEARREVIEW BY

ARIANNA VINION

Lay down in the dark.Press play.Let the music become the world you

inhabit.This is the ideal way to listen to the

newest trance-inducing album by Panda Bear (aka Noah Lennox). “Tomboy” is a

musical odyssey into expanses of inorganic sound, droning beats and washed-out vocals.

“Tomboy,” Panda Bear’s third album and April 11 release, is not as much a step away from his most recent solo album, “Person Pitch,” as a development. “Tomboy” carries over the chorused echo vocals and watercolor-washed sound, but adds to it an awareness of dubstep and a darker, nebulous sound.

This growth is evident in the song “Slow Motion.” The beat and bouncing, dub-y bass synth anchor the swooping and fluttering of unnamable noises — chimes?

Kites? Mysterious beasts in the bushes? Though a bit over the top, the vocals stay synched simplistically with the beat, giving the ears a path to follow. The simplistic melodies and beats that serve as the focal point of “Tomboy” are the album’s greatest triumph. Without them, listeners would be lost in the woods.

Like its name implies, “Tomboy” is an album of dichotomies. It is unquestionably new music, taking advantage of the best in music technology, yet it has a nostalgic sound that ages it back to the Beach Boys in songs like “Surfer’s Hymn.” The song washes in as a grainy memory, as if you’re watching the seashore on Super 8, and culminates in a joyous frenzy of shakers, darting electric xylophone and a hymnal-sounding chorus.

While the surreal carnival of “Last Night at the Jetty” and the blood-pumping beat of the titular song “Tomboy” will most likely make it onto most listeners’ playlists, the quiet gem of the album is the eerie and contemplative “Scheherazade.” The piano and vocals on this track are the most organic elements on the album, and even they warp into rippled vibrato while ghostly chimes sound in the breath-like wind.

This is not a simple album. It can’t be quickly devoured. Savor its complex palette more with every listen. Preferably on nice speakers, and in chronological order.

“BATTLE: LOS ANGELES”REVIEW BY

MITCHELL BATES

mission to rescue civilians from a police station. Along the way, they meet Michelle Rodriguez of “Avatar” fame, who has again reprised her cross-movie role as, well, es-sentially just Michelle Rodriguez.

Unsurprisingly, this particular platoon of marines experiences unparalleled suc-cess during combat with the alien invad-ers, and eventually succeeds in destroying the aliens’ command center. What happens in between isn’t really important, but it involves a fair share of rigid, annoying dialogue and small-scale combat with various aliens.

The movie’s inexperienced director, Jonathan Liebesman, does have an eye for action sequences. But his decision to employ the ground-level, shaky, handheld camera approach to cinematography is too reminiscent of “Black Hawk Down” to make this film memorable.

I tend to like corny, over-the-top action movies, but “Battle: Los Angeles” is just another one of the rehashed, uninspired films that have recently plagued theaters. Four of my friends fell asleep during the movie, and I only toughed it out to write this review. If you’re going to see it at all, get really drunk first — it might make the experience a bit more bearable.

Illustration by Tess Goodwin


Arts & Entertainment

Drummer Eric Kuhn and guitarist Robin Landy are returning to the road as Bay Area instrumental group Silian Rail. The two will be touring to support the deluxe vinyl release of their second album, “Parhelion.” Santa Cruz’s own Caffé Pergolesi will be hosting their April 14 performance at 7:30 p.m.

The band has a history reminiscent of a quirky indie movie, one that would perhaps be perfectly scored by their music. Kuhn and Landy first met as pre-teens in North Carolina.

“We were both dating each other’s best friends at the time, but then we lost touch completely for years and years,” Kuhn said.

After leaving North Carolina to attend college at UC Santa Cruz in 2001, Kuhn honed his musical talents the Santa Cruz way.

“I did a lot of street performing down-town and on Pacific,” Kuhn said. “My friends and I would all go to the sidewalk and play percussion pieces.”

It wasn’t until several years later that Kuhn and Landy would cross paths again.

“I moved in randomly with one of Eric’s friends,” Landy said. “We ran into each other for the first time in years at his birthday, actually.”

A short time later they decided to form Silian Rail. The decision to create an in-strumental band came naturally, because, as Landy said, “neither of us can really sing.”

This musical format has its drawbacks. The use of a vocalist and song lyrics allows musicians to easily express different emo-tions, stories and beliefs, along with innu-merable other topics. A good instrumental band has to convey the same subject mat-ter without the luxury of a singer. Silian Rail tackles this challenge with enthusiasm

and skill that are in equal parts invigorat-ing and impressive.

The creativity found in their music is also reflected in their name.

“The name doesn’t mean anything,” Landy said. “It’s actually the name of a font from the movie ‘American Psycho,’ when they’re comparing business cards.”

This sense of whimsy has made the band a good fit for notable do-it-yourself, Oakland-based record label Parks and Records. The label is known for its eco-friendly approach to music production and for launching the careers of bands like the Velvet Teens and Xiu Xiu.

“We both relate to [Parks and Re-cords’] mission statement for sure. That

was a big motivating factor for us in working with them,” Kuhn said. “We’re both environmentally aware people and feel concerned for the impact people have on their natural environment. It was cool having a label that was about something, as opposed to just the process of putting out music.”

Parks and Records helped Silian Rail produce the limited edition orange vinyl version of their critically praised second album, “Parhelion,” which triggered the

band’s decision go on tour. Kuhn spoke of the fond memories he

has of UCSC and his history with the venue hosting the show.

“UCSC provides a really unique educational opportunity, and we’re really excited to be coming back to Santa Cruz as a town,” Kuhn said. “It’s a place that’s very supportive of music and very open-minded, which is always refreshing. I love

Caffé Pergolesi. I used to hang out in there all the time.”

Hiram Coffee, the booking agent for Caffé Pergolesi, offered a similar review.

“We love [Silian Rail] — they’re the sweetest people ever. I saw them play for the first time at a house show in Davis and they were great,” he said. “I’ve seen them play a couple times since and it’s just absolutely amazing.”

Silian Rail’s Instrumental

Tale UCSC alumnus set to rock Caffé

Pergolesi

“[Silian Rail] doesn’t mean anything — it’s actually the name of a font from the movie ‘American Psycho,’ when they’re comparing business cards.”

—Robin Landy, Silian Rail guitarist

Courtesy of Shannon Corr

SILIAN RAIL, pictured here in performance, will be playing in Santa Cruz on April 14.

By Mitchell BatesArts & Entertainment Reporter


Community & Culture

Community Chest

A closer look at some of UCSC’s finest

Illus

tratio

n by

Lou

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Leon

g

Callan Hajosy is a recent UC Santa Cruz graduate and Mer-rill College affiliate who stud-ied environmental studies and economics. Next month she will be embarking on a five-month open-ended trip to Tanzania as a representative of the non-profit organization One Heart Source, which helps educate people about HIV/AIDS.

CHP: Can you tell me a little bit about the organization you work for?Hajosy: I work for One Heart Source (OHS), a non-profit NGO that is based in Arusha, Tanzania. We run educational programs trying to break the generational cycle of transmission of HIV/AIDS.

CHP: How did you get involved with the organization? Hajosy: Forty-one schools nationwide are involved. I got involved because a good friend of mine from high school was one of the first volunteers to go over there. He worked there for

two years, told me about it, and I went last year. I was a volunteer there for eight weeks and then they asked me to go back as a program manager. That was after I graduated.

CHP: What pulled you into it and made you interested?Hajosy: I’ve always wanted to go to Africa. I was already going after school [to South Africa and Tanzania] and then I heard about [OHS], read their website and was just hooked on it. I thought it would be a really great way to travel and help and get involved.

CHP: Where will you be going in a month and what will you be doing there?Hajosy: I will be going to the vil-lage of Mateves, which is in Aru-sha, Tanzania, and I will be there for five months just running the summer programs. We also have programs in Zanzibar, so I’ll be running back and forth. We [volunteers] teach classes about three times a week, or however long they want us, and we also do community outreach pro-grams and community teachings. There’s an orphanage there, so we work there also. We teach about HIV/AIDS awareness, protection and empowerment.

CHP: Do you have any future plans?Hajosy: I don’t know, I have a one-way ticket right now, so it could end up being a while. Hopefully I stay involved. What I do right now when I’m not in Tanzania is recruit UCSC stu-dents and help them go through the application process, and also help them with pre-fieldwork. Right now I have five volunteers. I am so excited — I had my first dream of being back in Tanzania last night and I was like, “It’s time! It’s coming!” It’s definitely an adventure.

By Mikaela ToddCommunity & Culture

Co-Editor

Morgan Grana


Community & Culture

Saving Campus CultureStudent referendum seeks to shelter Cultural Arts and Diversity

THE CORE PLANNING TEAM in the campaign for Measure 49 meets to map out the next steps in garnering publicity and support for the measure (left). Carmella Cooper shares some of the positive experiences she’s had during her time with Rainbow Theater and AATAT (right).

Photos by Toby Silverman

By Tyler MaldonadoCommunity & Culture

Reporter

UC Santa Cruz’s Cultural Arts and Diversity (CAD) Center is seeking SUA sponsorship for a referendum that would charge incoming students a $5.25 fee on their tuition every quarter to support CAD and the campus programs it houses.

The measure is a response to recent budget cuts impacting campus programs. This fee would provide a lifeline to save CAD and its programs, which promote a fusion of art and culture.

Last Friday, the Student Union Assembly agreed to consider sponsorship of the referendum. Three days later, the CAD campaign committee began generating support for Measure 49: Cultural Arts and Diversity Fee, set to continue all the way through the elections period.

The referendum proposes applying this fee to pay for the central program’s functional costs, expected to increase as CAD implements its other goal of organizing many smaller orga-nizations, like Rainbow Theater and the African American The-ater Arts Troupe (AATAT), under one roof. As CAD absorbs these programs, funding will be needed

to ensure that CAD is able to maintain itself while keeping the groups from being completely cut from the budget.

“We know the first things to get cut are always the arts and programs that serve students of color,” said Sarah Fishleder, CAD alumnus and one of the main leaders of the program. “We want to expand to include other cultural organizations on campus that have performance aspects and ensure that these vital programs are not slashed due to budget cuts. These may include the Filipino Cultural Celebration, the Indian Student Organiza-tion’s Cultural Show, and the annual dance show put on by Los Mexicas.”

Based in Stevenson College, CAD currently houses Rainbow Theater and AATAT. Established in 1991 under director Don Wil-liams, AATAT works to create a stronger sense of identity and un-derstanding of African American culture at UCSC.

Three years later, Rainbow Theater was formed with the same goal in mind, breaking down walls that separate cul-tures and uniting them under a common mission of creative expression. Since their founding, Rainbow Theater and AATAT have performed for continuously packed crowds.

“When I come in and work, I

really put in my heart and soul to help these kids share their gifts,” Williams said. “I can only teach them some basic direction and leadership skills, but they’re the ones directing and making these plays happen.”

The measure includes three main aspects that the fund-ing would be directed towards, programming, equipment and staffing. The production of vari-ous cultural performances would take place in the Stevenson Event Center, as well as provide smaller organizations with rehearsal time and increase exposure of the many diverse groups in the CAD program.

Fundamental factors of a performance like lights, lifts, space, training, tech assistants and staffing costs would also be partially paid for with funds from the referendum.

So far, opposition to the bill seems relatively low. Camella Cooper, campaign committee member and a member of both Rainbow Theater and AATAT, discussed the responses to the bill.

“I [personally] haven’t experienced any opposition,” Cooper said. “I did hear that there was some from people that just don’t support culture and diversity programs on campus, but I haven’t heard of any big or grouped opposition.”

Measure 49The referendum would charge incoming

students a $5.25 fee on their tuition every quarter to support Cultural Arts and Diversity and the

campus programs it houses.

“When I come in and work, I really put in my heart and soul to help these kids share their gifts. I can only teach them some basic direction and leadership skills, but they’re the ones di-recting and making these plays happen.”

—Don Williams, director of Rainbow Theater and AATAT

In the event that the bill passes, Cooper hopes that these cultural and diversity programs will thrive on campus.

“Rainbow and AATAT showed me that through dif-

ferences you can be a commu-nity, not through similarities,” Cooper said. “The sense of community [is] there. That’s re-ally important when it comes to budget cuts.”

To vote on campus elections, go to

http://elections.ucsc.edu

May 11 - May 18Voting is from


Feature

LIVING TOGETHER IN SANTA CRUZ

CHAVEZ’S large community requires commercial-size refridgeration. Heidi Lieben piles cover crop in Food Not Lawns’ backyard greenhouse. November Skye, a Zami! resident, keeps his eyes on the co-op’s cats in the kitchen.

Continued from p. 17

especially across class and gender boundaries. It’s not OK when all the working-class people are doing dishes and all the middle class people are doing management positions,” he said.

A handwritten scrawl on the wall declares that the house was built in 1887. This kind of history is often the only way members can leave a lasting message in many co-ops, as houses change with every new generation of members.

“Every time we get new members, they ask about who we are and we get to decide that every year,” he said.

Co-ops provide a space in which communities can grow. Many co-ops tend to be par-ticularly appealing to students because they are also often affordable.

“It is cheap,” said Breeze Kanikula, a member of the 12 Tribes Jewish Co-op. “And that’s a great thing.”

Low rent costs come at a price, however, said November Skye, third-year resident of the Zami! co-op on Laurel Street.

“Part of why it’s cheap is because you’re doing five hours of maintenance every week,” he said.

Posters of James Dean and classic movies line the living room walls, along with the 12 Tribes’ mission statement, which reads, “[12 Tribes] is a home for anyone interested in living com-munally while exploring Jewish culture, traditions, and values.”

This means that while most are Jewish, it isn’t a requirement.

“I’m not, and neither are the treasurer and one of the other girls,” Kanikula said. “I do par-ticipate in the culture though. I like it, it’s fun. I used to go to Shabbat when I was a kid, with

my other Jewish friends.”Kanikula said that there are

certain things that their co-op does differently from others, though, being one of the few religious-based cooperatives in Santa Cruz.

“We do keep the fridge ko-sher and all of our dinner nights kosher,” she said. “We do have different pots and pans for meat and dairy.”

12 Tribes participates in the larger Santa Cruz Jewish com-munity.

“Every Friday we do Shabbat with Hillel and Chabad house,” Kanikula said. “Hillel is a house for Jewish UCSC students, and Chabad is a national organiza-tion, where a rabbi lives in the house with his wife. Shabbat is from Friday at sundown to Saturday at sundown, and we’re not supposed to work or use any electricity, just be one with God.”

The culture of co-ops is con-tinuing to thrive in Santa Cruz and has a promising future, as is evident through the creation of the Art Co-op in winter 2010. Their co-op is one of the smallest, with seven members, and was founded by two previ-ous members of the 12 Tribes. According to founding member Sarah Jaffe, the group has aspira-tions to grow as a co-op.

“We’re trying to have shows a few times a quarter, and we all help each other out [with each others’ art],” she said.

Caity Fares of the Zami! co-op said a that a lot can be learned from living in a co-op, considering that it is a space that enables the integration of many types of people to form a single community.

“It helps you to understand how every person is dynamic and important, how society tells you to be one way, but it’s im-portant to be yourself and learn from others.”

Photos by Prescott Watson

BECAUSE MEMBERS often dumpster dive, and bread has a long shelf life, toast has become a symbol of the Cesar Chavez Co-op. Members proudly display this insignia everywhere.


Column

I have a guilty pleasure. A very guilty pleasure. I think you know what I’m talking about. It started out in-nocently enough — I would watch once every couple

weeks last year, if that. But this school year has been stressful at times for me, and I’ve come to rely on it as a crutch. It’s come to the point where sometimes I prefer the company of the screen to real people.

Because, I hate to say it, but nobody can make me feel as good as the Food Network.

And who is anybody to judge me for that? In college — a world of dining halls, cups of noodles and reheated leftovers — just watching the careful preparation of a

beautiful meal can be a comforting experience. Moving away from home means leaving any sort of domesticity, and watching Ina Garten of “Barefoot Contessa” make potato salad and peach tarts became a replacement for helping my dad make spaghetti or tacos.

The Food Network became popular by showing hosts in their kitchens cooking meals of varying skill level and taste. But viewers like me tune in as much for the witti-cisms and encouragements the chefs serve up as for the food — it’s both virtual sensory satisfaction and emotion-ally soothing.

When Ina says at the end of every task, “How easy is that?” she’s talking about cooking, but I know she’s also transmitting a life philosophy that I can get behind. Despite all our problems, life is ultimately easy, as long as you don’t try to complicate it too much. Just put faith and integrity into what you do, and you’ll yield perfect cupcakes every time. Ina isn’t just a celebrity chef for me. She’s a second mother.

And now the television industry is trying to ruin that for me. Case in point: “Last Cake Standing.” Here’s how the Food Network’s website describes its new show:

“Eight talented pastry chefs face off in a cake competi-tion unlike any other. With crazy twists and eliminations looming each week, only one will prevail and take home $100,000.”

Competition unlike any other? Crazy twists? Elimina-tions? Only one prevails? When did my beloved Food Network become so apocalyptic? I’m pretty sure Ina wouldn’t approve of a world where anything “looms,” except maybe the scent of freshly baked lemon squares.

Seriously, I’m upset that such chaos and ferocity is coming to the Food Network, my one oasis of peace while flipping channels. Guy Fieri’s enthusiasm over every single cheesesteak he eats is enough excitement for me, thank you very much. I can’t bear the thought that reruns of “Last Cake Standing” might cut into my time with the Neelys or Paula Deen. But although I’m saddened, I can’t say I’m surprised.

After all, competition shows like “Cupcake Wars” and “Iron Chef ” are already popular on the Food Network, and TLC’s “Cake Boss” takes the proverbial cake when it comes to high-octane baking. And there’s a reason all these shows are happening right now.

“Last Cake Standing” and shows like it are the perfect recession entertainment for a cou-ple of reasons. It’s senseless escapism for sure — watching people have to walk their eight-layer cakes through swamps isn’t going to trigger real-world worries for anyone. But at the same time, the competi-tions to make money and earn jobs are plot lines people can understand and relate to now more than ever. It’s their lives unfolding onscreen, except fun and delicious.

The shows are also putting a new spin on luxury. They’re taking cake, something so banal and familiar to people of all class-es, and making it the star of the show. But this ain’t your grandma’s cake, unless your grandma routinely takes Adderall. The whole point of baking in these shows is to create something so mammoth, so unusual and so stunning that it can serve as both a dessert and a

conversation piece at a party. It takes cake decoration way beyond frosting and into the realm of construction. If you can dream it, there’s a way to make a cake that looks like it.

Just about everyone has had the experience of baking a cake, so the shows are accessible in that way. By combin-ing the common task of baking with the exciting new design elements, “Last Cake Standing” and “Cake Boss” can be exotic without being arrogant, unpredictable but not condescending. In these tough times, nothing beats entertainment that is both glamorous and universal.

So although I prefer the comfortable Hamptons home on “Barefoot Contessa” to the crazy competition of “Last Cake Standing,” I understand the latter’s necessity at this time.

We’re a nation of consumers, and TV is where people go to both see their own lives and live out their fantasies. We’ll have our cake, and we’ll watch it, too.

Let Them Watch “Cake Boss”The Food Network’s changing lineup has more to do with the economy than taste buds

By Blair StenvickOpinions Editor

“Competition unlike any other? Crazy twists? Eliminations? Only one prevails? When did my beloved Food Network become so apocalyptic? I’m pretty sure Ina wouldn’t approve of a world where anything ‘looms,’ except maybe the scent of freshly baked lemon squares.”

Illustration by Muriel Gordon


Editorial

The Final Blow to the UCCalifornians need to join together if the UC system is to survive

Illustrations by Rachel Edelstein

This looming threat, though a speculative comment made by Gov. Jerry Brown in a speech last week, becomes more and more of a potential reality for UC students and Californians with each day that passes and an all-cuts budget remains the likely option for Brown to sign off on.

Brown just traveled to Riverside to rally Californians into pressuring four state legislature Republicans to al-low tax extensions to be on a June ballot, and thus allow Californians to vote on the matter. If the extensions do not make it on the ballot, or if Californians do not vote for them, the extensions will expire and the UC will likely face a $1 billion cut to its operating budget.

Such a cut, Brown speculated, would mean that stu-dents in the UC may see a twofold rise in their tuition. Brown also mentioned campus closures as a potential way of coping, if the tax extensions are not enacted.

The behavior of the Republicans in the legislature is abhorrent. They are not doing their job, which is to let the people of California vote.

The fact that doubled tuition is even a possibility for the UC system is absurd. Such a move would have devastating impacts. It is understandable that cuts need to be made to every facet of the state — and as hard as it is to face, even to the UC system — but to make this kind of cut would be detrimental and extremely shortsighted. Cutting $1 billion from the UC would not be just a cut. It would be the elimination of the public institution.

For students in the UC system and families supporting their children in the system, this would not be an issue of needing to save more, work more or taking out more loans — it would force many students to drop out. If enacted, students in the UC system would be trapped into paying private school tuition, despite the fact that they

enrolled at a public institution. Brown’s statement that closing some campuses would

be another possible solution is also shortsighted, for a number of reasons. Closing down any UC campus would make entrance into the UC system that much more dif-ficult, flooding more students into state universities and community colleges — schools that are also receiving im-mense cuts. This would not be a solution to anything. It would be deflection, moving the problem to another part of the state’s budget.

Furthermore, any closure of a UC campus would mean thousands of employees without jobs. A closure to uni-versities of that size would overwhelm the state with more unemployment.

Either move — closure of some UC campuses or dou-

bling tuition — violates the objectives that this beautiful system was founded on: affordability, accessibility and the advancement of knowledge. While each of these facets of the UC have been jeopardized in the past few years as dramatic raises in student fees and tuition, increases in class sizes, and the reduction in number of teaching assis-tants have been implemented, these two moves would be a complete affront to the more than century-old system.

There has been a disillusionment with placing blame for the absurd climbs in student fees, for the forced

furloughs, for the laying off of numerous employees, for the increased class sizes and the decreased accessibility, but blaming will not be a means for saving the UC. We all need to rally the state into providing more funding for higher education and to push the Republicans to let Californians vote. After all, it is our system.

We cannot keep blaming just Yudof, UCOP and the chancellors and looking within the UC for a solution — the fact remains that the state has all but stopped invest-ing in higher education. The solution cannot be found in parading to chancellors’ and vice chancellors’ homes and blaming just the higher-ups in the UC system. The solution must be found in all of us: in our parents, our neighbors, our family friends, in Californians. The disillu-sionment must end. Everyone contributes to this system,

and if we want to save it, we all must take part in that. We must join forces rather than splinter.

If this system is going to be saved, all Californians need to rekindle their sense of ownership and pride for the system that once had international prestige — the UC is all of ours, and Californians need to remember that.

Like one editor's grandmother said to her husband when she first saw the library at UCSC, “This is ours, we support this, and can you believe that?”

That is the attitude that will save the UC.

We all need to rally the state into providing more funding for higher education and to push the Republicans to let Californians vote. After all, it is our system.

Looming Consequences

If the state legislature does not allow tax extensions to be on the June ballot...

The UC will likely face a $1 billion cut to its operating budget and...

Students may see a twofold rise in their tuition or the closure of a UC campus.

"Double tuition."


Editorial

Shut Down, But Not Out...Regrettably

Threat of government shutdown underscores the problems of partisanship

On Friday, the U.S. government narrowly avoided shutting itself down, coming to a consensus on a national budget just shy of the midnight dead-

line. While the Obama administration praised Congress’ stop-gap measure as being exemplary of bipartisanship, nothing could be further from the truth.

In the midst of waging three wars overseas, one of the harshest recessions in U.S. history and overwhelming unemployment, a near-shutdown underscores the absence of bipartisanship more than anything.

Our system of two-party politics has become so divisive, so fiercely combative, that compromise across the aisle has become the exception rather than the rule. A step in any direction from either party to bridge the gap is pounced upon by the other. If you are in support of teachers’ unions, for example, you must hate students. If you favor healthcare reform, you must be anti-Medicare, anti-Medicaid and anti-doctor.

The common response from the public in reaction to a deadlocked Congress is to simply do away with the bad apples. In other words: it is not Congress that is to blame, it is the politicians we’ve elected to it. But this attitude fails to recognize that the problem originates not in our repre-sentatives and senators, but in our very institutions.

Divided government is not a problem exclusive to the Obama administration. In fact, the butting of heads between the presidency and Congress extends as far

back as the Kennedy era, deadlocking then on domestic issues such as Medicare, federal aid to education and civil rights. Since then, there has not been a presidency that has not had to combat Congress at some point during its administration.

The problem is split-ticket voting. In the United States, voters are allowed to cast separate votes for members of Congress and the president. Additionally, voters are al-lowed to vote more frequently on members of Congress — one-third of Congress’ senators every two years, the entire House every other year — than on who is presi-dent. Add to that the development of high expectations we put upon the presidency, coupled with the disap-pointment of not being immediately gratified.

The result: two years for a president to not only solve the nation’s problems but produce noticeable and indis-putable results as well. That, or we put the other guys in Congress. We are an impatient, insatiable lot.

Split-ticket voting is not a problem in the Westminster parliamentary system. We would not see a government shutdown, for example, in Britain, where a vote of no confidence can undo a legislative body locked in dis-agreement. Under this system, voters entrust a legislative body to appoint their executive, as opposed to letting the

populace do so.

Not even in other presidential systems, such as in Latin America, are there typically provisions for a com-plete government shutdown. In 2008, Brazil’s government services continued operating despite Congress’ rejection of a budget proposed by the Brazilian president.

Unlike Brazil, the United States has gone out of its way to work failure into its political infrastructure. It is only through the 1884 Anti-Deficiency Act that the United States binds itself to shutting down when Congress fails to appropriate funds. When the government spends more time squabbling than doing its job, we all face the consequences.

Naturally, this has not been the first time the United States has seen a government shutdown, either. Since 1980, we’ve seen the government shut down five times, the last being in 1995. The threat of a government shut-down will only become more and more precarious as the federal government becomes more involved with every-

thing — imagine, for example, our soldiers’ paychecks frozen mid-

conflict and a centralized healthcare system closed

off to the public.Our political

system has turned the displacement and furlough of hundreds of thousands of government employees

and services into a negotiating tactic — one at

gunpoint, for that matter. Change, a value once plastered

across so many red and blue Obama campaign posters across America,

is what’s needed now in governance. Bipartisanship is not something that can

simply be asked for. In politics, “out of the goodness of one’s heart” is

either sarcasm, a fantasy or a lie. Be it an institutional, electoral or policy change, without the in-centivizing bipartisanship, the nation will run itself into ruin.Truly, “only in America.”

“A step in any direction from either party to bridge the gap is pounced upon by the other with tooth and nail.”

Illustration by Muriel Gordon


Who the Hell?!

Slug Comics By Matt Boblet

“Health science majors don’t have social skills.”SIMON STOKES

SECOND-YEAR, KRESGEHEALTH SCIENCES

Documents

Volume 45 Issue 23 [04/14/2011]