Price Gouging of COVID Vaccines Prioritizes Corporate Greed over Public Health
Capitalist greed strikes again. As both President Biden and Governor Newsom plan to end their respective state of emergencies for the COVID-19 pandemic on May 11 and Feb. 28, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will nearly quadruple in cost as the shots transition to the commercial…
If It Feels Good, Wear It
I work at a not-so-conventional boutique in downtown Santa Cruz. Walk in, and you’ll find paper-white walls, a speckled tan linoleum? floor, and black metal racks filled with clothes curated from Oakland to Uruguay. It would be boring, if not for the bright clothing and…
Love: What We’ve Got to Do With It
An orange sea washed over the steps of the California State Capitol. Students several years my junior, adorned in orange shirts, glasses, and hats, held up handmade signs as they rallied for proper relationship health education. This “Orange Day of Action,” named after the signature…
University, Pay Us More Than Fifteen-Fifty
Santa Cruz’s current minimum wage is $15.50. That’s $11.94 short of the minimum amount needed to cover living expenses for a resident of the country’s second most expensive place to live. Although California’s minimum wage was raised 50 cents to $15.50 as of Jan. 21,…
How Do We Learn Past the Letter?
At UC Santa Cruz, grades matter — but the process doesn’t. Universities seek to inspire change and educate the bright minds of the future by challenging young people to think critically. UCSC was founded with that mission in mind, offering a unique grade-less pedagogy. Students…
Traffic Jam on Heller Drive: How UC Santa Cruz is Failing Commuters
Between unpredictable buses, the infuriating parking pass lottery, and the limited number of ParkMobile spaces available around campus, the current transportation situation makes everyone’s lives harder. It’s only going to get worse if UC Santa Cruz carries out its expansion plan while not providing adequate…
Words Fail. Santa Cruz Needs More Than Presidential Acknowledgement.
For those struggling on the frontlines of natural disaster, the arrival of the nation’s president should mean that everything is going to be alright. But following President Joe Biden’s visit to the county on Jan. 19, few were left with an improved sense of support…
Slug Points Are Flawed. Here’s How We Can Fix Them.
First-year Beyoncé Retana says she’s a picky eater. It’s one of the reasons why she doesn’t go to the dining hall as often as her peers. As a dorm resident, she is required to buy a Slug Points meal plan from the university. With a…
Santa Cruz: Beautiful, Hill-filled, and Highly Inaccessible
Walking up Cardiac Hill seems manageable — for the first ten seconds. The next ten seconds drive fatigue through tired legs. The following ten seconds strain the lungs as the heart pumps more blood throughout your body. Navigating the hills and valleys of the UC…
Back in Print Two Years Later: What the Return of Campus Publications Means to Me
On Wednesdays, we’d watch the sunset from the Press Center patio, scarf down takeout from Tam’s, and gather around our desktops as newspaper pages were laid out by Ella Apuntar, our then-production manager (and to me, an absolute wizard). I joined City on a Hill…