The intensity of Michael McEvoy.

In response to the budget crunch at the University of California, UC President Mark G. Yudof and the 10 campus chancellors believe they have developed a solution—or at least a start.
The UC Office of the President (UCOP) is calling it “Project You Can.” On Oct. 23, President Yudof announced the plan, which should expand money for student scholarships. He hopes to raise $1 billion in private funding over the next four years, more than double the amount they have raised over the past five.

But is it possible?

Sacred Craft Expo may tap Santa Cruz as the next surfboard hub

Nothing is quite as thrilling in a surfer’s life as that first blush of romance with a new board. Within those mysterious curves lie the potential to escape the self-consciousness of the daily grind, to fly free, to walk on water. Coaxing performance out of the template, rocker, foils, rails and tails is the job of the shaper, and translating those raw elements into a final three-dimensional shape is part science, part art and more than a little alchemy. Shapers are the high priests of this addictive union of man and nature; masters of a craft—a sacred craft.

For the past few years, director Scott Bass has paid tribute to boards and their foam messiahs by organizing the Sacred Craft Expo, housing a transcendent display of board-building genius under one roof for thousands to enjoy twice a year—Ventura in the spring and Del Mar in the fall. The most recent festival of foam in Del Mar honored Dick Brewer, the principle driver behind the shortboard revolution and mentor to multiple world-class shapers in their own right. Given a voice, who might Santa Cruz nominate as their local shaping master?

A large humpback whale bone surfaces on Santa Cruz County beach

You never know what you will find in the sand at the beach--just ask Santa Cruz resident Jay Chartrand. On Nov. 30, Chartrand took a visiting Canadian friend on a stroll along the shoreline of Greyhound Beach, seven miles north of Davenport. The pair were scouring the sand for sea shells when they came across the top of something large and mysterious. “I said ‘Is that a pipe? No, it’s a whale bone!” she says. “We were looking for shells and stuff, and we found this huge bone.” She and her Canadian friend (quite the welcome to California, eh?) began digging around the whale bone, soon realizing just how large it was. They estimated it to be over 10 feet long. After snapping some pictures, they backed away from the bone and its far-reaching stench and called the authorities, who said the bone was the remnants of a humpback whale that washed ashore in 1993. Thanks to Jay for sending in these photos and sharing her story.

In desperate attempts to avoid coming down with the formidable H1N1 flu this winter, folks are slopping on hand sanitizer and avoiding anyone with the sniffles. To keep it from spreading like wildfire throughout their campus, Dominican Hospital has announced they will be screening “all who enter its facilities” for H1N1 starting this week, according to Communications and Marketing Director Mike Lee. In addition, they will be restricting visitors to 16 years of age and up (no germy kiddos allowed) and restricting access to two entry points.

Low-income children in Santa Cruz County received a gift from the feds this holiday season: a $2 million grant awarded to the Child and Family Development Programs (CFDP) through the American Recovery and Investment Act. The grant will be used to expand the CFDP’s Head Start and Early Head Start programs, which currently serve 451 low-income children in Santa Cruz and Watsonville. The grant will allow for 130 new service slots, starting February 2010. The CFDP is a component of Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center, and is a national, government-funded effort to provide early childhood education and family support services.

UCSC -After approving an ominous 32 percent student fee increase at their Nov. 18 meeting (see goodtimesantacruz.com’s Slug Report for more info), the UC Regents have announced that they are kicking off a massive system-wide private fundraising drive to give back to the students. Project You Can, as it is called, aims to raise $1 billion in donations—more than the 10 UC schools have raised over the last five years for undergraduate, graduate and professional student support. The regents hope the drive will help them make amends with the thousands of UC students and faculty that have been protesting their financial practices as of late.