The UCSC chapter of The Feminist Majority hosted the Santa Cruz March for Women's Lives on April 16 to support the national March for Women's Lives in Washington D.C on April 25, marking the largest collective pro-choice event in the past decade. Different organizations from all across the nation are participating in the March, including N.O.W. and The Feminist Majority.

The pro-choice march is meant to combat conservative legislation that has been milling through congress in the past few years and publicize important causes that are in dire need of attention. Such legislation includes the partial-birth-abortion law, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act (UVVA), and The Cupid Project.

The Santa Cruz March for Women's Lives began with a rally at 2:00 p.m. at Porter Meadows where students gathered before marching through the theater arts center, by McHenry library, and on to the Quarry Amphitheater for speakers and musicians at the main event.

Photos and Audio: Your Body is a Battle and Trouble in Paradise

[ Women's Reproductive Rights Continue to Crumble I Indybay's Womyn page ]

Sahar Saba, a soft spoken young woman, stood firmly as darkness fell. She spoke of the hell that is her home; where 'everyone has a story to tell’ about a sister, a brother, a parent, or a child who was tortured, raped, killed; sometimes before their eyes.

She repeated several times that the problem of fundamentalism persists in Afghanistan. That RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, sees the persistence of fundamentalism as the major problem for women, children, and the Afghani culture in general. That the US attack and presence has done little to improve the situation, that indeed the situation has gotten worse under the US supported warlords.

Audio: Rockin' the Boat: Interview with Sahar Saba

[ Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan I Afghan Women's Mission ]

What I saw at the March 23rd, 2004 Santa Cruz City Council meeting made me feel ashamed to live here. Council rejected 46 affordable apartments slated for an empty lot at High and Cardiff. Developer Maynard Manson intended to build studios for workers, students and people with disabilities. Instead, Council gave in to privileged homeowners who live nearby. This article focuses on homeowner prejudice and city council equivocation.

On March 25, supporters of Loreto Arizpe and all youth in prison rallied in front of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse to send a clear message to Bob Lee, the District Attorney for Santa Cruz County. The message is that the California Youth Authority (CYA) will only make problems worse and that Loreto is ready, willing, and able to make very positive contributions to his community.

Bob Lee may be well on the way to pushing Loreto Arizpe deeper into the Injustice System by sending Loreto to the California Youth Authority, directly contradicting his public statements. On February 22, Lee stated that Santa Cruz County would join the CYA ban and that "...while there are no local offenders 'in the pipeline' for sentencing, the county is prepared to use other programs and detention facilities...to house sentenced offenders until the CYA hearings are completed and recommendations made."

Loreto's sentencing was scheduled to take place during the rally, but has been postponed to a later date.

Audio: Speak Out for Loreto Arizpe and All Youth in Prison!!

[ rally announcement and background information: Say No to the CYA! I Critical Resistance ]

Local parents are worried about the safety of their children.

Since the School Board’s decisions to close Branciforte Elementary and to cut the transportation budget, families are wondering how their children will get safely to schools 2-3 miles from their homes.

Many of the Branciforte students live in the neighborhoods surrounding Grant Street Park. In all three scenarios presented to the School Board these students are now in the Delaveaga attendance area. There is currently no safe route for these children to walk or bike to their new school. Many families are unable to drive their children to school, and without the transportation funds formerly available, there is no money for buses.

How stupid are the Americans? Why are they fooled by their government's energy policy?
Many Links to renewable energy web sites.

first meeting of the quarter!!! 8pm in Porter C002 (underneath the hungry slug) all are welcome!

Thursday, 9/29 at 8pm

So we are right at the tail end of Summer Quarter. I hope you went to lots of classes, learned a lot, and had a great time. We did.

A sister publication to UCSC's DisoGuide is now out! The SBDisoGuide can also be found on the web at sbdisorientation.org

Call out for Santa Cruz DIY New Year's Eve parade and party