A Pillar of Resistance: What is a Legal Observer?
“You’re essentially signing up to put yourself in a risky situation,” explained Skyla Tomine, a fourth-year UC Santa Cruz student. The decision to put yourself in harm’s way is not an easy choice to make. In the homestretch of an undergraduate degree, Tomine could devote...
UCSC’s AI Council is at a Crossroads
Over the past three years, generative AI has gone from an illicit homework helper used by students to a technology embraced by higher education institutions. Last year, the California State University system entered multimillion-dollar deals with multiple companies including OpenAI, Amazon and Nvidia to embed...
Community Through Tradition: Celebrating Lunar New Year at UCSC
A warm glow radiating from red lanterns, the wafting smell of peanuts and dried fruit, loud festive music filling the College Nine/John R. Lewis Multipurpose Room — this is the scene of Lunar New Year at UC Santa Cruz. Students filled the room on Feb....
The Irish in me, the American in you: Trinity Student Perspectives on the U.S. Political Crisis
When I stepped onto Air Canada Flight 800 to Dublin on Sept. 3, 2025, I stepped away from a country in shambles. I stepped away from federal troops being sent into LA and Chicago, a preliminary release of tens of thousands of Epstein-related documents and...
Students Report Harsh Conditions at UC-owned Hilltop Apartments
The Santa Cruz housing market is difficult enough for experienced renters. But for many students, standard requirements like earning three times the rent, having strong credit, or providing a rental history pose a major challenge. “In a town where a lot of people don’t want...
Who Gets to Have an Education?
The first time I took the loop bus down Heller Drive, it stopped at an apartment complex with such dilapidated exteriors that I couldn’t understand why UC Santa Cruz hadn’t repaired them yet. A group of kids boarded here, their feet swinging from seats too...
The Maker’s Market: Uplifting Student Creatives
For student-owned small businesses, opportunities to showcase their work are vital to their career growth. For Shelby McCleary, a second-year UC Santa Cruz student, the Makers’ Market was a learning opportunity. “I don’t really know how to run a business. I don’t really know how...
UC Prime Central Coast Set to Open in 2027
The Central Coast is facing one of the worst medical professional crises in California. Despite the region spanning from Santa Cruz to Ventura county, it has only two hospital residency programs. For many UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) students, a scarcity in medical facilities means having...
Relieving Food Insecurity During a Pandemic
There are 146 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and two associated deaths in Santa Cruz as of May 13. One in five adults and one in four children in Santa Cruz County are food insecure, according to a study that was conducted by the Second Harvest...
Just be Yourself
Everyone wants to be liked, but what if one’s fear of not having control over that leads to serious health effects? How does one regain the strength to find happiness and acceptance in themselves physically and mentally? For UC Santa Cruz third-year Maris Degener, the answer...