UCSC has eliminated a discounted health care plan for its employees, and staff are now being forced to choose between a cheaper plan that excludes physicians under the Sutter Health Network and an inclusive plan that is 150 percent more costly. Some 60 percent of the employees are affected. They are now faced with a dilemma: switch plans or switch physicians.
School District Tackles Disparities
There’s no doubt that there is inequality in California’s schools. Some serve wealthy communities and have plenty of money and parental involvement to give already affluent kids a top-notch education. Others serve more impoverished communities, where parents are unable to help out or make donations to fund extra-curricular activities. Often, as in Santa Cruz, the two types of schools exist side by side in the same school district.
PRFF: Catalyzed By Katrina
Many immigrants to the United States have had the experience of not understanding that they were really and truly American until that moment when someone suggested otherwise. Such a moment might be seen at the end of Leo Chiang’s documentary A Village Called Versailles, one of the highlights of this year’s Pacific Rim Film Festival, which kicks of Friday and offers free films through next Wednesday.
Pacific Rim Film Fest: Triste Tropics
For years, the relationship between the United States and the Mariana Islands could be called “give and take”; the islanders gave and the United States took. Vanessa Warheit’s The Insular Empire: America in the Mariana Islands is an exploration, among other things, of what the U.N. describes as “The Guam Question.”
Rhode Island Artist Wins City Commission
About 10 years ago, Santa Cruz City Council passed an ordinance that said 2 percent of the cost of every public project be set aside for public art projects. According to the ordinance, the money cannot be transferred to the general fund, so the council has decided to go ahead with two large public arts programs. Rhode Island artist Brower Hatcher will receive $200,000 to create sculptures for two new roundabouts, planned but not yet built, for the intersections in front of the Municipal Wharf and Depot Park.
Woman Sues City Over Son’s Death
UCSC student Benjamin Quaye had just been ejected from a pub for fighting. He was visibly drunk and staggered along the street, trying to make his way home. Then he tripped, fell down a gully, hit his head and died. His body was discovered the next morning by a jogger. Now Quaye’s mother is suing the city for $2 million, claiming Santa Cruz police are responsible for his death.
Santa Cruz Poets, Santa Cruz Inspiration: Debra Spencer
In this week’s installation, a paean to downtown Santa Cruz in “I Plan to Grow Old at The St. George Hotel.”
The Exhibitionist: Stan Welsh
Stillness fills the room, the palpable stillness of long waiting, of deep thought, of a tremulous breath in the face of unfathomable power. The gallery is vast and unobstructed, the art on the walls restrained in palette and tone: quiet elegance belying a radical nature.
Morning Benders Go Long
One of the truisms of the Internet era is that the traditional album is dead: thanks to iTunes, piracy and mp3 blogs, we’ve become a singles-crazed culture without the patience for a sustained 60-minute listening experience. Sales figures bear this theory out. Nevertheless, many artists continue to quixotically advocate for the album form, presenting cohesive sets of songs that can only be truly appreciated as a whole.
County Rail Line Misses Key Deadline
Santa Cruz County’s Regional Transportation Commission admits that it is in a tough position. It failed to meet its target to sign a contract with Sierra Northern Railway by yesterday’s 5pm deadline. Sierra Northern Railway had been selected as the operator of the tourist train that would run along the line, making it eligible for state funding. According to the commission’s deputy director, Luis Mendez, a contract with a train service provider must be presented to the state by Nov. 3 in order to qualify for $10.2 million in state funding for the project.
