Valentine's Day Action at UC Santa Cruz protesting: Student Fee Hikes and No Raises for Workers in 2 Years, while UC Executives were paid $2.4 Million and the Chancellor's Partner was Given a $192,000 Job. In attendance were members of the Student & Worker Coalition for Justice, AFSCME Service Workers, CUE Clericals, and other campus unions.

(14 Feb, 2005) Santa Cruzans for Responsible Planning (SCRAP) held a press conference this morning at the wharf announcing their petition-drive kick-off. If the group can acquire at least 4,000 valid signatures, the "Coast Hotel" issue will be placed on the ballot for a city-wide vote. Speakers/supporters included at least a half-dozen former SC Mayors.

On February 14, Santa Cruzans for Responsible Planning (SCRAP), a local grassroots organization backed by former Santa Cruz Mayors, held a news conference at the entrance to the Santa Cruz City Wharf. This was the official kickoff for a community-wide referendum campaign to halt the single largest development since UC Santa Cruz.

The proposed development calls for a 270 room hotel, 6-level parking garage and a 23,000 square foot Conference Center.

Opposition to SCRAP's referendum campaign includes the developers (of course!), current employees of the Coast Hotel who would like to have more work in the winter months and SEIU Local 415.

The UC Regents, those compassionate overlords who love students and UC employees almost as much as they love nuclear bombs and money, are at it again, spending money they “don’t have� for “the good of the university.� The Regents quietly created a new $192,000 management position for the longtime partner of our new chancellor, Denice Dee Denton.

The privatization of public education has become a closer reality throughout the years, as UC, CSU, community college, and K-12 students have seen brutal attacks on their education. For the 2004-2005 school year, undergrad students were hit with a 14% increase and graduate students with a 25% increase in tuition. For the 2005-2006 school year, undergrad students might see a rise of another 8% and grads a 10% increase in tuition; there is a 3% general fund increase as well.