SLUG REPORT > Flight machines fueled solely by human power are hard to come by these days. But last Saturday, Nov. 10, San Francisco’s McCovey Cove welcomed a carefully selected 35 teams that tried their hand at human-powered flight. This year’s event was the 10th anniversary of Red Bull’s Flugtag, which in German, translates to “Flying Day.”

Since 2002, teams have jumped at the opportunity to launch their homemade human-powered flying machines off a 30-foot high flight deck in San Francisco. This year, however, was a noteworthy one for Santa Cruzans because a team of UC Santa Cruz classmates and friends competed. Their team, When Slugs Fly, represented our Surf City and the university by dressing up in banana suits and performing a skit prior to pushing their giant banana craft (with the pilot onboard) into hopeful flight.

“It’s such a challenging and fun concept—creating a theme, building a craft and executing it [skit and all],” says Greg Gerschenson, pilot of the When Slugs Fly team.

The big news of the night was President Barack Obama’s re-election. He received 74.7 percent of the reported votes in Santa Cruz County. His challenger, Mitt Romney, received 21 percent of local votes.

California had some notable wins and losses, as well. Although things were not looking good for Proposition 30 last night, the governor’s tax initiative pulled through and is now reported to have passed with 53.9 percent of the vote. Four other propositions emerged victorious—35, 36, 39 and 40—while the rest, including Proposition 34, which proposed repealing the death penalty in California, failed. Sixty-three percent of Santa Cruz County votes counted as of this morning were in favor of Prop. 34.

Santa Cruz County showed a high level of support—65.6 percent—for Proposition 37, which would have required the labeling of genetically modified foods. However, the proposition failed to pass statewide, garnering just 47 percent of the overall vote.

The Coldwater Classic makes waves in Santa Cruz

Local pro surfer Nat Young, who was awarded the Wild Card to compete in this year's O'Neill Coldwater Classic competition at Steamer Lane the day before, wowed spectators' and fueled Santa Cruz pride on Thursday, Nov. 1, when he came out on top during his heat against 11-time world champion Kelly Slater. It made for an exciting start to the 10-day event.

On Wednesday, Oct. 31, the 21-year-old went up against 11 other surfers, including locals Bud Freitas, Noi Kaulukukui, Adam Replogle, Josh Mulcoy, Randy Bonds, Shaun Burns, Josh Loya and Jimmy Herrick, to compete for an O'Neill Wild Card, which is designed to place more Santa Cruz locals like Young in the contest. The other Wild Card was issued to Jason “Rat Boy” Collins.

Can you match these baby photos with the Santa Cruz City Council candidates?

Even city council candidates were babies once. Five of the eight people running for four seats on the Santa Cruz City Council submitted photos of themselves as youngins—Jake Fusari, Cece Pinheiro, Pamela Comstock, Cynthia Mathews, and Micah Posner. Take a look at the photos and try to guess which is which. Then, scroll down to check the answers.

Gov. Jerry Brown visits UCSC to urge a yes vote on Proposition 30

With just over a week to go until the election, and the fate of Proposition 30 at stake, Gov. Jerry Brown stopped by UC Santa Cruz this morning, Friday, Oct. 26, to urge UCSC students to vote yes on the ballot measure. Brown's dog, a Pembroke Welsh corgi named Sutter Brown, is meanwhile making campaign appearances elsewhere in the state.

Prop. 30 is Gov. Brown's way of asking voters to approve temporary increases in sales tax and income taxes on top earners in order to avoid $6 billion in cuts to public education. The cuts will be automatically triggered if Prop. 30 does not pass.  

One thing’s for sure—clean clothes will never go out of style. Maybe that’s why Classic Vapor Cleaners, located at 285 Water St. in Santa Cruz, has been serving the public’s dry cleaning needs since 1911. To the untrained eye, it may be difficult to truly see the changes in dry cleaning technologies since then, but Classic Vapor says it has kept up with the latest and highest level of technologies and customer service.

“Our business model and commandment is really to educate ourselves, our staff, as well as our community,” says the fifth, and current, owner of Classic Cleaners, Pamela Whittington.

It is Santa Cruz’s longest continuously operating cleaners, and is celebrating its 100-year anniversary today, Wednesday, Oct. 24, by welcoming the people of Santa Cruz to enjoy a celebratory glass of champagne, hor d’oeuvres, and networking opportunities at their store.

This seasoned dry cleaning business encourages visitors to tour their facilities and learn about their adoption of more environmentally minded practices over the years, such as their EPA Certified Green Cleaning Processes.

Tales from the Democrats' debate viewing party

If you like being in a large room full of Democrats who support President Barack Obama, the newly remodeled Hotel Paradox on Ocean Street was the place to be on Wednesday night. About 400 people gathered for a “debate watch party” sponsored by the Santa Cruz County Democratic Central Committee (DCC) and the local Obama for America campaign organization. Although the crowd was mostly attentive throughout the debate (which was projected on a huge screen with a good sound system), there was a live, on-going audio barometer of approval and disapproval with periodic yells and applause mixed with boos and hisses. At the end of the debate, reactions were mixed.

Comments from the crowd following the debate seemed to be generally reflective of disappointment with Obama’s performance. This reporter overheard comments like “Obama played it a bit too cool, he missed some real opportunities to hit back,” and “Sadly, Romney came across more human than usual … Obama wasn’t at the top of his game.”

SLUG REPORT > UC-championed Onward California tour highlights the university’s contributions to society

On Tuesday, Oct. 2, Onward California will be stopping over at UC Santa Cruz’s Quarry Plaza as it snakes its way around the Golden State. A traveling stage to showcase the UC’s contribution to society on a state, national, international, and personal level, the campaign is working to re-vamp public visibility and attract stronger financial partnership.  

Documentary-flavored clips on the campaign’s website include three of UCSC professor of astronomy and astrophysics Steve Vogt (pictured) working in the UC Lick Observatory, demonstrating how the telescope uses light particle detection to locate distant, potentially inhabitable planets.

“This is the only job I’ve ever had,” Vogt says in one of the videos. “But why would you want to work anywhere else?”

SANTA CRUZ > The eight candidates for Santa Cruz City Council sat on a panel on Thursday evening, Oct. 4, at the Louden Nelson Community Center while moderator Rick Longinotti grilled them about their stances on the proposed desalination plant.

Longinotti, a spokesman for “Yes on Measure P” and advocate for alternatives to desalination in Santa Cruz, questioned each of the candidates regarding their positions on desalination. At one point, tensions ran high and one candidate—Richelle Naroyan—abruptly departed the forum saying she was uncomfortable with the format of the meeting. Mayor Don Lane, who is among the candidates, also spoke out, saying the format frustrated him due to the amount of time the moderator took to speak against desalination, while candidates were given no more than two minutes to respond.

Local teen rallies for increased epilepsy awareness

Epilepsy affects 65 million people worldwide and is the fourth most common neurological disorder in the United States, according to the Epilepsy Foundation’s (EF) website. Despite the prevalence of the condition both in the United States and in the world, the website argues that “epilepsy is among the least understood of major chronic medical conditions.”

Monterey Coast Preparatory School student Samantha Hampton agrees, and hopes to change this. The local teen has epilepsy, and is taking strides to improve awareness about the condition.

In an effort to spread the word, she decided to become an advocate for the Northern California branch of EF. “I wish to help anyone with epilepsy and want to raise as much awareness as possible,” she says. “Knowing that I could help make a difference in someone’s life, [which] includes raising awareness, [gives] us hope that people might finally understand and accept it.”