Evelyn Castle, a third-year health science major at UC Santa Cruz, has been awarded a $10,000 scholarship by the Strauss Foundation to support her work improving the healthcare system of Nigeria. Last year, Castle spent three months helping create Nigeria’s first electronic medical records system, providing both physicians and policy makers with up-to-date information on patients and procedures. With the scholarship, she plans to return for six months and expand the electric EMR system to seven general hospitals and five primary healthcare centers—creating a network of healthcare information sharing and a database that will help NGO’s and policy-makers respond to critical public health needs.

The first Hemp History Week began on May 17 with a slew of events across the nation—and a few in Santa Cruz—aimed at educating people on the deep roots of hemp in American history and the stigmas the useful crop faces in modern times. Participants are sending postcards to the president asking him to legalize hemp, which became illegal to grow in the United States starting with the Marihuana Tax Act that passed in 1937. To learn more about the history of hemp and to hear how Santa Cruz celebrated the week, read the full story at goodtimessantacruz.com in the Fresh Dirt Blog section. Visit hemphistoryweek.com for more information about Hemp History Week. 

Santa Cruz celebrates the long and windy history of hemp
Can the same raw material produce all types of paper, healthy soaps, durable houses, omega-3 rich ice cream, stylish clothes, and bio-diesel? Would it be possible to do it organically and sustainability, with no pesticides and considerably less water? Well, yes, it’s very possible--just not here in the United States.

Here in Santa Cruz, a town well educated in marijuana, seemingly little is known about hemp. While hemp and marijuana are both plants of the Cannabis genus, hemp can’t be smoked like marijuana. Most hemp contains 0 percent Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana. Some contain, at most, 0.3 percent THC, while marijuana contains anywhere between 6 percent to more than 20 percent THC. So, to any doubters, you can rest assured that marijuana smokers will not be setting hemp T-shirts and soaps ablaze in their backyards in hopes of getting high.

Community Agroecology Network (CAN)’s week of events features Darling Betsabe Campos Rayo of Nicaragua

If you’re part of the 54 percent of the American population that drinks coffee, it’s likely you had a cup this morning. But how likely is it that you also pondered about the hands that produced your cup of coffee, and questioned how it came to end up in your hands?

Community Agroecology Network (CAN) is a Santa Cruz-based organization that encourages consumers not only to ask these questions, but also to answer them. They collaborate with small coffee farmers in Central American communities to research methods to grow sustainable coffee and create an alternative and more direct market in which producers receive a fairer share of the profits. To help jumpstart the dialogue between coffee consumers and coffee producers, CAN will be hosting a series of events this week, May 10 through 14, featuring Darling Betsabe Campos Rayo from their partner community in Matagalpa Nicaragua.

One GT reporter shares a first-hand account of Saturday night’s riotous events
My Saturday night started peacefully enough—studying at a cafe, and later deciding to take a walk with a friend. Around 11 p.m., as we returned to Pacific Avenue from our stroll to the Wharf, we heard the murmurs of a crowd and went to see what the commotion was about. The first thing I saw was a shattered shop window next to Lulu Carpenter’s, and two guys in sweatshirts pulling a mannequin out through the broken glass, smiles on their faces. On Lulu’s outside patio, a grown man in a business shirt and tie was seated in a chair, clutching his face and crying. A shard of glass, it appeared, had hit him in the eye and roughly 30 people were gathered around watching while someone poured milk over his face in an attempt to expel the glass.

John Laird, a Santa Cruz Democrat, former Santa Cruz Mayor and former Assemblymember for the 27th District, announced his bid for the State Senate 15th District on Monday, May 3 at Rio Del Mar Beach. Abel Maldonado (R), who formerly held the seat, resigned April 27 after being appointed to Lieutenant Governor. In his speech, Laird maintained his commitments to opposing offshore drilling, restoring California’s public education system, and protecting state parks. Laird also criticized Governor Schwarzenegger’s plans to hold a special election on June 22, which will cost taxpayers $2.5 million, an amount which, according to Laird ,“would save the job of 24 teachers.”

Many days have passed since several hundred May Day marchers took over Pacific Avenue. A few of them flaunted their own anarchist ideals, smashing storefront windows, tagging downtown walls with phrases like “Destroy What Destroys,” and even setting fire to the Caffe Pergolesi porch. Boarded-up windows are now seen throughout downtown, as police

continue their investigation into who was responsible for the vandalism. Earlier this week, the FBI was called in to investigate. Was it an act of true anarchy? Or was it unnecessary violence? What took the police almost an hour to respond? Continue to send us your thoughts at [email protected]

Assemblyman Monning discusses state affairs at Town Hall meeting
With local unemployment hovering around 15 percent and social and educational services being cut left and right, Assemblyman Bill Monning stood in front of a crowded Town Hall meeting Thursday, April 30 and delivered the news that the hard times are not over. “The wave that has hit California that we call the Recession is rooted in the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression,” he said, “and we are still trying to find our way out of that.”

Monning went on to attribute many of the problems that California faces to the difficulties in raising revenue and passing the budget, both of which require a two-third vote in the assembly and senate (California is the only state with a two-third requirement for both passing budgets and raising revenue). This means that when the state found itself with an unforeseen deficit of 35 percent last year, (that’s $60 billion less than expected in 18 months) spending couldn’t be adjusted or revenue raised—and before you knew it California was handing out IOU’s to its employees.

On Friday, May 7, the City of Santa Cruz will be opening a new bike and pedestrian path connecting the San Lorenzo River trail system to the Tannery Arts Center and Harvey West area. The 700-foot section, which goes under the overpass of Highway 1, is an extension of the existing pedestrian/bike path that runs along the levees of the San Lorenzo River from the Monterey Bay. Those feeling daring enough to brave the bike lane of Highway 9 will now be able to ride continuously from Henry Cowell State Park to the mouth of the San Lorenzo River near the Boardwalk. For the rest of us, the new path creates a safe way to cross Highway 1 and expands access areas for bikes and pedestrians within Santa Cruz.