Water restrictions will be lifted for Santa Cruz City water customers as of Nov. 1. The restriction that was put in place in May of this year limited outdoor irrigation to two days due to three consecutive dry winters for California. The goal of these restrictions was to reduce the demand for city water by 15 percent, therefore preserving our local reservoirs. Santa Cruz City water customers have saved 14 percent of water since the restrictions were put in place and although the ban will be lifted, a water conservation Representative for the Santa Cruz Water Department, Clara Cartwright, still encourages customers to “continue using water wisely.”

UC Santa CRUz has been nominated for the honor of  Most Vegetarian-Friendly College, a contest run by Peta2, the “world’s largest youth animal rights organization.” UCSC is one of 32 nominees in Peta2’s fourth annual contest, chosen for its outstanding selection of vegan and vegetarian options in school dining halls and restaurants. To vote for UCSC, visit peta2.com/college.

UC President Mark Yudof announces that all UC campuses are trying to raise $1 billion in the next four years for student financial support systems. UC campuses need fundraisers to support student’s access and affordability to a higher education due to the continual rise in tuition fees and ever-deepening budget cuts. UCSC is attempting to help their students by fundraising through the UCSC Parents Fund, which directly benefits UCSC students, the Undergrad Scholarship Fund, the Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship Fund and the Graduate Students Fellowship.

In the top story of the unfinished E.C. Rittenhouse building on Pacific Avenue, UC Santa Cruz students and staff gathered along with community members to welcome Technical Director Mark Henne of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios back to Santa Cruz.
Henne received his Master of Science from UCSC in 1990 and began working for Pixar in 1994. The UCSC Baskin School of Engineering invited Henne to speak about his involvement with the film “Toy Story” and coordinated the event with Nextspace.  
The lecture was part of UCSC’s Pixar week, which will also feature documentary “The Pixar Story” Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009 at 7 p.m. at the Del Mar. The week will conclude with a speech by Ed Catmul of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios at the UCSC Music Recital Hall Friday, Oct. 23, 2009 at 3 p.m..
“People ask what my favorite Pixar films are, and ‘Toy Story’ is definitely at the top of the list,” said Henne, who has also worked on “WALL.E,” “Monster’s INC,” “A Bug’s Life” and “The Incredibles.”  “There is nothing like the making of the first ever Pixar film.”

The Amgen Tour will lay its finishing line in Santa Cruz once again
At a press conference held at Bicycle Trip on Soquel Avenue on Thursday, Oct. 22, Mayor Cynthia Mathews officially announced that Stage 3 of the Amgen Bike Race, the race's only coastal route, will be finishing in Santa Cruz.
"We are delighted to be bringing this international race back to Santa Cruz... it elevates the sport of cycling and our cycling industry here to the national stage where we belong." says Mathews.
Matt Twissleman, chairman of the Santa Cruz Local Organizing Committee, says he was pleased with the decision to move the race from February to May of next year.  "We see this as a huge positive," says Twissleman. "The weather's gonna be great in May."  He went on to say great weather is not only better for cyclists and spectators but also opens up the state geographically.  "Now they can bring it to the Sierras... it's going to be longer and harder," he says.
The race will have eight stages and last from May 16 to May 23, coming to Santa Cruz on the 18th.
Karen Kefauver, social media chair for the event in Santa Cruz, will be posting information about the race on Twitter under the name TOCSantaCruz, and urges people to join the Facebook page "2010 Amgen Tour of California - Santa Cruz Stage 3."  More information can also be found at amgentourofcalifornia.com.

UC Santa Cruz Arts Chancellor David Yager and Artistic Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz Marco Barricelli were pleased to announce that SSC will survive another season. After concerns that the program would be unable to balance its 2009 budget, the theater group is preparing for its 29th season.  Yager and Barricelli held a conference call at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct.13, 2009 to announce the good news. Visit goodtimessantacruz.com for more about this and other UCSC updates in GT’s newest blog, News from the Hill, which will dole out university-related news and features each week.

Look around the rink at any roller derby practice and you’re bound to see women of various ages, usually mid-twenties through mid-forties, and it will be safe to assume that the majority have experienced a coming-of-age event in her life, whether as part of a cultural, religious or familial celebration, or a more casual social event. Ask enough questions at the right time during an after party and you’ll hear details of bat mitzvahs, quinceañeras, confirmations or sweet-sixteens. Dig deeper, or buy a round of shots, and you might hear about other rights of passage that might not include members of the immediate family, guest lists, or places of worship, but may have necessitated covert activity, recovery time and/or bail.

What these momentous events usually have in common is that they generally take place before the age of reason (I’d like to think that’s approximately twenty-six), and that they change the participant into wiser women, when all is said and done and the dust eventually clears.  Look around the rink again. Out of the forty or so women skating, there are twenty or so who are facing yet another coming-of-age event in her life, at a later age than any of them ever expected: her first roller derby bout. In front of people. Real live people. Strangers, friends, family, co-workers and neighbors. And she’ll be wearing less clothing than she might wear to bed.

An opportunity for green businesses to share ideas

Local green entrepreneurs are uniting for the first Santa Cruz Green Business Camp on Oct. 22. The conference brings local small and medium-sized businesses together to share ideas and perspectives on achieving a green economy. Conference organizer and consultant for Sustainability Works, a company that helps monitor and manage sustainability performance and offers sustainability workshops, Matthew Marichiba stresses the importance of green businesses gathering and discussing their ideas. “The underlying intention is to crank up the local green economy, and the unconfrence format is a perfect way to spark the conversations that need to happen,” he says.