Funding Under Scrutiny
Planned Parenthood is under scrutiny for donating fetal tissue for research purposes, including the development of cures for illnesses including Alzheimer’s and AIDS. Many politicians, social groups and other anti-abortion activists are fighting to defund Planned Parenthood. While reproductive rights advocates believe laws should adapt...
Canonization of Junipero Serra Alienates Native Americans
On Sept. 24, Pope Francis stood in the Washington D.C. Basilica and made history by canonizing Father Junipero Serra, thus making the 18th century Franciscan friar the first saint ever declared on U.S. soil. During the mass, Francis spoke to the “misinterpreted legacy” of Serra,...
Why the Tuition Freeze is Not Enough
A small victory was won for in-state UC students on May 13. Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to increase state funding has delayed a tuition increase for the next two years, which assures that students won’t have to brave a tuition hike next fall. With the...
UC’s Contradictions About Student Activism
UC Santa Cruz has spent 50 years touting itself as a bastion of radical politics tucked between the redwoods. Its slogan, “The original authority on questioning authority,” can be seen on banners attached to street lamps and plastered on buses up and down Highway 17....
Stevenson College Night Followed by More Cultural Insensitivity
While Stevenson has a deeper history of cultural insensitivity and racist incidents than the other colleges, this event is a part of a larger issue on this campus.
‘Urban Renewal’ Destabilizes Established Neighborhoods
It’s hard to overlook the changes in sights and sounds of Highland Park, a neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles. Walking through the community in 2005 would have meant listening to the conversations of locals chatting about work or family, being enticed by the smell...
Safety Concerns Go Unaddressed by Administration
In 2011, there was one on-campus intimidation incident and one vandalism incident characterized by sexual orientation bias. In 2013, there was another on-campus vandalism incident that was also characterized by sexual orientation bias. These crimes are all recorded by UCSC’s Clery Act Report, which will...
Movement needs support, direction — not cynicism
If various UCSC-related Facebook pages, The Santa Cruz Sentinel’s recent editorial (“UC highway protest: How not to cultivate solidarity” on March 3) and the publication’s comments section are representative of the public reaction to the six undergraduates who formed a blockade on Highway 17, then...
UCSC Prioritizes Research Over Teaching
UC Santa Cruz continues to grasp at prestige as a research university, but has largely neglected research’s counterpart — teaching. In the 2013-14 academic year, a group of 55 individuals formed the Planning Task Force (PTF) to brainstorm what would become “Envision UCSC,” a strategic...
Vacant Desk Should Be Thoughtfully Filled
Only 40 percent of Americans trust mass media to report the news accurately and fairly, according to a September 2014 Gallup poll. Jon Stewart gave us a reason to trust again. After 16 years as lead anchor, Stewart, a pioneer of political satire news reporting,...