Santa Cruz Removed from Harm Reduction Bill
When a news article naming Santa Cruz County as a potential safe drug consumption site reached the attention of the Board of Supervisors, board members were shocked. Within days, before any committee or awareness meeting could be formed, city activists filled the mailboxes and voicemails…
Restoring the Santa Cruz Mountains
Nine months ago Cal Fire’s helicopter No. 106 was flying to an unrelated call when the pilots spotted smoke coming from the mountains below. A structural fire had sparked from the Loma Chiquita and Loma Prieta roads and spread rapidly, drawing response teams from across…
Food Allergies on Campus
Coming into college, firstyears worry about a lot of different things — getting along with roommates, difficult course loads and homesickness. But for me, as a student with food allergies and intolerances, eating safely was my number one concern. My first experience with the UC…
Crafting Social Change
In the rooftop sculpture garden, a shamisen plays as a storyteller, Megumi, recites Japanese folklore. In the silent room next door, expressive photographs of Native Americans from California tribes cover the walls. In the first-floor atrium, orchestra music fills the space. The 3rd Friday Festivals…
The Struggles of Modern Migration
A man deported and trapped in a country foreign to him, a woman bound in servitude to her employer — these stories echoed within the Museum of Art and History (MAH) as experts engaged in conversation with the community on what it is to be…
Modernizing the Classics
Experimental music is an undefinable art form pushing boundaries and transforming music within classical and electronic genres. The genre is broadly considered to be music that goes against the traditional style in composition and performance and often incorporates mechanical and electronic elements. Indexical, a record…
Memorial Held for Michael “Mike” Mears
Over 50 people gathered in front of Santa Cruz City Hall on April 11 to remember the life of 53-year-old Michael “Mike” Randell Mears, who died of hypothermia on Feb 17. He was found unconscious on Potrero Street with a body temperature of 70 degrees…
Confronting Racism and Gentrification
Alejandro “Alex” Nieto, a 28-year-old security guard and devout Buddhist, was eating a burrito on the top of Bernal Heights Park when four police officers surrounded him. They had gotten a call that a Latino man in a red jacket was “starting trouble.” Hands still…
A Wall Across Quarry Plaza
Across the West Bank, hundreds of checkpoints are restricting the travel of thousands of Palestinians — children are late to school and commuters have to drive through windy side streets. On March 9, 7,000 miles away, 30 students brought a mock checkpoint to UC Santa…
Laborers: the Unspoken Narrative
A mother and daughter push against loose mud to haul a ship up a river. A stooped woman shoulders a bale of hay. These frozen figures in resin prints and tapestries line the walls of the Museum of Art and History (MAH) — an homage…