SANTA CRUZ > Nonprofit aims to unleash potential from the inside out

Ami Chen Mills-Naim’s approach to individuals seems well suited to Santa Cruz.  As co-founder and education director for the Center for Sustainable Change (CSC), Chen Mills-Naim drew on philosopher Sydney Banks’ studies to design a very “human,” yet rare, approach to access the universal “core of peace” found in all people, and to improve communities from the “inside-out.” The center’s mission was recently bolstered by a $100,000 grant from the Kellogg Foundation, which they have used to help open a new location, and to continue spreading their services nationally.

Chen Mills-Naim’s goal is to help individuals with psychosocial distress to realize their own inner strength and capabilities as a method of finding relief—a drive that began for her via personal experience. As a young journalist in the ’90s, Chen Mills-Naim was intrigued by new medical discoveries that claimed they had “found the answer” to psychological issues exhibited in individuals. The answers to these “problems,” according to big national magazines, were prescription pills.  

The CSC offers more holistic, natural alternatives that that focus on healing the harmful views that people hold of their own selves, and how those translate into their daily lives.   The center, as explained in detail on their website, offers a range of services including one-on-one intensive consulting, leadership retreats, research projects, and couples’ and family consulting. All of center’s actions employ Dr. Banks’ three principles, which boil down to the idea that through showing individuals how to view themselves from a better perspective, they are able to live a more peaceful and rewarding life.

SLUG REPORT > Daniel Sheehan wraps up UCSC lecture series

Drawing on a lifetime of “progressive litigation,” Harvard-trained civil rights attorney Daniel P. Sheehan concluded his four-part public lecture series on Thursday, May 31. For those who missed it, the series is slated to run online beginning this fall. If you’ve ever wished you had an insider’s perspective on Iran-Contra, this isn’t a series to pass up.

A veteran of legislation in cases ranging from the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal to the Iran Contra Affair and the Greensboro massacre, Sheehan has been offered his insights on government covert action via a class at UC Santa Cruz that ran during the 2012 spring quarter.

Sheehan was the first to challenge the Reagan-Bush administration’s illegal and covert sale of weaponry to Iran to fund the Contra war against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

“The case is actually a chronological story of the ’60s,” says Sheehan. “It’s an attempt to shine a light on a lot of the issues of that generation—it goes from 1968 to Iran-Contra [1986].”

An animated speaker, Sheehan makes even the finer points of federal legislation evocative and thought provoking.

SANTA CRUZ > Sanctuary Exploration Center lights up with art

A one-ton whale tale and an enormous arctic glass mural are the latest sculptural additions to Santa Cruz’s coast.  

The new Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center at 35 Pacific Ave. unveiled its two featured public art pieces on the evening of Tuesday, May 29. In anticipation of its grand opening in July, the center invited contributors and locals alike to a lighting ceremony in honor of the construction of the center, which will aim to provide an outlet for learning and discovering more about our waters and coast.

The event invited the artists of the two pieces to speak about the processes involved in constructing the center’s main works. “Fluke,” a life-sized whale tail cast from bronze, sits near the main entrance to the center, inviting visitors to touch and experience the piece firsthand. “The texture of the [whale] itself is really intriguing,” explain artists Scott Constable and Ene Osteraas-Constable of Wowhaus studio. “How it will change over time with weather and with use is intended ... [it] is something really exciting to see. This has truly been our favorite public project to date.”

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY > New autism center opens in Aptos

Although nearly one in 88 children are being diagnosed with Autism, quality services aren’t necessarily becoming easier to find.  

The I Can Too! Learning Center, a division of Trumpet Behavioral Health (TBH) in Aptos hopes to address this locally. The center is wrapping up construction, and, upon its opening early this month, will begin work to provide Santa Cruz County with a group of professionals who can teach and care for families with Autistic children starting early on in their development. According to Camille Summers-Godfrey, Santa Cruz head teacher for TBH, providing intervention and educational services at a young age for children with developmental delays is imperative to progress and can lessen the need for greater assistance later in life.

SANTA CRUZ > Coalition delivers 8,800 signatures in an effort to place desal amendment on November ballot

The Right To Vote On Desal coalition rallied in front of Santa Cruz City Hall on Tuesday, May 29, at 12:45 p.m. to deliver 8,800 signatures to city officials for processing.

The signatures were gathered in order to add a Charter Amendment to the November ballot that would guarantee the Santa Cruz community the right to make the final decision on the construction of a controversial desalination plant.

Since mid-February, volunteers have been gathering signatures from city voters in an attempt to hit the 5,400-in-180 days requirement to qualify the initiative for the November ballot. At 8,800 in 120 days, they have far exceeded requirements.

SLUG REPORT > Venus will soon pass in front of the sun

It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the world of astronomical events. First we had the partial solar eclipse on May 20, and now we’ve got Venus swooping in front of the sun on June 5. The transit of Venus in front of the sun is something not slated to occur again until 2117, so block out some time on June 5 to stare at the sun (using filters and common sense, of course).

A public viewing station will be set up at the Porter Wave sculpture, or the Porter “squiggle” as nearly everyone calls it, on the UC Santa Cruz campus. Telescopes equipped with the proper filters will be available at 3 p.m. Additionally, Lick Observatory will be hosting viewings from 2 - 8:30 p.m.

A series of lectures by UCSC professors and lecturers have been presented on campus, aimed at covering a variety of topics relevant to the upcoming transit. Ranging from the exploration of Venus via spacecraft to comparisons between life-supporting Earth and the acidic atmosphere of Venus, the talks focus on expanding public understanding of the importance of the event.

 SANTA CRUZ > How one local is moving past his foreclosure

Local Ken Foster exemplifies the harm that can be done by just one foreclosure. After his ecological landscaping business, TerraNova, began “flat lining” in 2008, Foster says he took some risks to save his business, ultimately at the cost of his home. In order to meet business expenses and make payroll, he fell behind on mortgage payments, beginning more than two years ago. Facing default and foreclosure, Foster began what would be more than two years of struggle with Chase Bank on his qualifications for a loan modification so he could keep his home with reduced income.  

SANTA CRUZ > Resource Center for Nonviolence gets new digs

Beats from local band Ancestree and the scent of falafel filled the halls of 612 Ocean St. on Sunday, May 20, during the Resource Center for Nonviolence’s open house at the new location. Visitors mingled among freshly painted hallways lined with volunteer sign-up sheets, fare-trade olive oils, scarves from the Middle East, and what may well be the largest collection book written or inspired by Gandhi on the West Coast.

The open house was celebrating the RCNV’s move into what once was the Christian Science Church on Ocean Street. The new building is reportedly a much better space for the organization, which is dedicated to promoting peace and social justice through the principles of nonviolent social change.

SANTA CRUZ > Judge dismisses charges against two activist journalists

Two more of the “Santa Cruz 11” have had all charges against them dismissed. During a half-hour hearing on Monday, May 14, Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge Paul Burdick dismissed the charges of trespassing, vandalism and conspiracy against Bradley Stuart Allen and Alex Darocy, which stemmed from their alleged involvement in the November 2011 occupation of a vacant downtown bank building.

A group “standing in solidarity with Occupy Santa Cruz” illegally entered the building, located at 75 River St. and leased by Wells Fargo, and, over the following three days, hundreds of people visited the site. Santa Cruz police watched the scene and, in February 2012, the District Attorney charged 11 people with trespassing, vandalism and felony conspiracy.

Allen and Darocy have argued they were at the occupation as independent journalists. Local mainstream journalists also seen entering the building were not charged, including a Santa Cruz Sentinel photographer—a fact discussed by Burdick in court.

SANTA CRUZ > New information kiosk aims to help people navigate Santa Cruz

What’s the closest beach? How do I get to the Museum of Art & History? How far is the Mystery Spot? Is there a good breakfast spot around here?

“If we weren’t here, who would you ask that question [to]?” says Chip, the Downtown Association executive director who goes by one name, with a grin.

“We have so much information that we’re just waiting to give out,” chimes in Kim Luke, the Downtown Association communications director. The two are standing inside of the new Downtown Santa Cruz Information Kiosk, an info hub that is now open in front of the New Leaf Community Market on Pacific Avenue.