May
7
2008
“Food waste is a constant issue that we deal with,” says Steve, one of the managers at Ortega Dining Commons.
As many may or may not already know, the dining commons on campus waste food and while the amount of waste is not recorded, it definitely ranges from meal to meal. The dining commons are an all you can eat buffet for students that pay for meal plans. Because of this system, there will always be food wasted unfortunately. The dining commons try to limit this waste based on numbers. For example, say that on April 30th of 2007, 718 people ate at Ortega. For April 30th of 2008, Ortega would plan their meals around this number. Because of the all you can eat system, which means as long as a student is in the dining commons they can get as much food as they want, Ortega would gauge the numbers for approximately 100 more people. These numbers are actually fairly accurate and while the dining commons hopes to run out of food at around closing time, there is usually still food that gets thrown away and wasted.
The waste is not all doom and gloom though. While the system does make it so that there is always waste, the dining commons finds uses for the food and tries hard to limit the waste. Green waste is used for compost; if any food can be used in another meal such as chicken for a chicken caesar salad the dining commons will do this (The re-useable food is only rolled over for one meal for obvious sanitary reasons). During long holidays, food that is non-perishable, such as canned foods, are donated to food agencies. As a student and an employee of the dining commons, I’ve always wondered why can’t I help limit the waste? I’d love to take home extra pizza or chicken. I have a fairly empty and lonely fridge hungry for a bit of food. As many might guess, it is mostly a liability issue, which makes some sense once explained. Read more
May
7
2008
On Friday, May 2 from 12 to 2pm scores of queer and ally partners engaged in a mass wedding at Storke Tower. Vice Chancellor Michael Young officiated the annual ceremony. This was the 19th anniversary of the first Queer Wedding. The event was hosted in parts by the Queer Student Union and F.U.Q.I.T (Friendly Undergrad Queers in it Together).
Participants in the wedding received wedding certificates, rings, and cake. All sorts of partnerships were recognized from gay to lesbian to bisexual to heterosexual, as well as other kinds of gender and sexual orientations. Some marriages were even between more than two people.
The event celebrated the queer community and established their place as fellows who deserve equal, and not separate, treatment. Many participants were displaying pride shirts, buttons, stickers and colors. The plaza itself was decorated to match the festivities. The event acted as a way for partners to publicly display their presence to the community and help create understanding. For some, the wedding was also just a fun event that did not necessarily focus on political gains, but individual affections and feelings. Several partners had dressed up in wedding gear or nice clothing.
The event was one of the last events in a week-long celebration of Queer Pride week. Other events of the Pride Week included student and professional drag shows, dances, rallies, sexually informational workshops, mixers, socials and a Pride Festival in Anisq’Oyo Park.
Same-sex marriage is still illegal in the state of California – and every other state except Massachusetts – although California is currently one of the most liberal states granting rights to civil unions. The Supreme Court is currently reviewing a case that could allow extra-heterosexual marriage in California. The hearing started on March 4th, and is scheduled to end on June 2nd, although a decision could be reached before then. The Supreme Court is reviewing a case from the Appellate court that had overturned a lower court’s decision that banning marriages based on gender or sex was discriminatory. Many reactionary conservative bills trying to place restrictions on same-sex couples have failed; some did not receive enough signatures to become propositions and Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed others that did pass. Read more
May
7
2008
Normally I’d try to avoid any show with cheesy, awkward love scenes, but it worked for the 17th annual Pilipino Culture Night last Saturday. This was the first time I’ve ever been to PCN and it had some excellent highlights towards the end. The money from this show went to an organization called GABNEt, which is a Philippine-US women’s solidarity mass organization working for women’s rights around the world.
May
7
2008
Most people agree that the majority of human beings are attracted to the other sex and gender (gender is a social construct and sex is biological). According to most statistics, only few people are attracted to their own sex and gender, which leads some people to ask why homosexuality, bisexuality or other queer kinds of “deviant” sexuality exists. But the real question that should be asked is why heterosexuality exists at all. Read more
May
7
2008
It is not unheard of for a few people to preside over the concerns of the many. As a matter of fact, that dynamic is what our great democracy hinges on. In order to elect our Commander in Chief, it only requires 51% of however many American citizens decide to get off of their butts and vote. The same is true of the AS Elections that swept over our fair campus recently and have since left considerable ripples and waves of doubt throughout those political parties involved. The boisterous OPP bagged the vast majority of available positions, an outcome that is leaving Student Voice constituents with a bad taste in their mouths. Some talk of an OPP/RHA conspiracy, others of misrepresented campaign rules, and still others of discrimination and bias and god-knows-what-else. Whatever is the root of the controversy, a sad fact remains: few Gauchos either know about this nor do they seem to care. Read more
May
7
2008
The man who once drunkenly proclaimed “BFK for life!” while displaying knuckles freshly tattooed with the letters “B-U-M-F-I-G-H-T” is now leading an entirely new movement on behalf of the thousands of homeless people across the nation.
Rufus Hannah–formerly known as “Rufus The Stunt Bum” of the underground phenomenon “Bumfights”–joined a panel discussion on the evening of April 29th in Embarcadero Hall entitled “Faces of Homelessness”. The event was hosted by the UCSB Community Affairs Board (CAB) in order to help replace existing stereotypes with a better understanding homelessness. Read more
May
7
2008
Raza College Day: El Congreso Reaches Out to At Risk Students
by Benjamin Wood
posted in News | 0 Comments
Over 800 high school and junior high students from diverse communities descended on the UCSB campus for RazaCollege Day, a outreach event of workshops,performances, expression, and inspiration on April 19.
Students from as far away as Fresno and San Bernardinobegan arriving as early as eight a.m. for a pandulcebreakfast in front of Campbell Hall. There, they were serenaded by a son jarocho group. Upon registration,they received free tee-shirts bearing an image of aPre-Columbian statue and were welcomed by volunteersfrom El Congreso, the sponsoring organization that carried out the event. Despite the inevitable traffic jams that prevented a few busloads of participants from arriving on time, the day got off to a spirited start.
May
7
2008
In a month full of new releases from some familiar faces (Ashlee Simpson’s Bittersweet World, Mariah Carey’s Einstein borrowed equation E=MC²) the month of April clearly belongs to the ladies. The end of the month clearly belongs to the Queen of Pop herself, Madonna and her new disc, Hard Candy.
After 2005’s disco-themed ruckus Confessions on a Dancefloor, Madonna reinvents herself, collaborating with duo Timbaland and Justin Timberlake, as well as Pharrell Williams and Kanye West for a more youthful, hip-hop sound that tones down the electronic, beat heavy stylings her fans usually expect. Read more
May
7
2008
A group of pranksters on Facebook have helped start a worldwide “Carrot Panic Buy” for May 15th at around 2pm. Those participating will flock to markets and buy carrots en masse. All forms of carrots are accepted targets of the event: bunched, baby, canned, frozen and for those desperate some suggest that processed carrot soup even counts. The Facebook group–“On May 15th Everyone Needs to Go Out and Panic Buy Carrots”–explains that the aim of this mass action is to cause a temporary global shortage of carrots. The Facebook group icon–a man holding a lobster–epitomizes the intent of the event: meaningless random fun. The global group so far has close to 230,000 members from places including the UK, Australia, France, Canada as well as the US. Read more
May
7
2008
On Saturday May 3, UCSB held its annual Relay For Life, a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society in which teams of ten walk around Drake Track for twenty-four hours. In order to participate, each team must raise at least $100, through pledges and donations, although many teams collect much more.
On the day of the event, each team pitched tents and set up camp in the middle of the track, where they spent the entire day. The teams assigned their members to walk in two-hour shifts throughout the course of the twenty four hour event.
Throughout the day the Relay Event Crew, clad in red shirts, entertained the walkers with a variety of musical entertainment and games, such as the cupcake walk and the three-legged race.
This year UCSB was represented by teams from many student groups on campus. Many fraternities and sororities and the athletic trainers from Robb Gym had campsites on the inner green of the track. The residence halls were present as well, with RHA, Anacapa, and Santa Rosa dorms walking for cancer research.
The day opened under the banner of purple and white balloons where a young cancer survivor named Becca sang the first song of the ceremonies. She began by telling her story of her battle with cancer. At the young age of sixteen, her doctors found a rare form of cancer that would soon spread to her lungs if left untreated. Becca sang an original song, “Through the Fire,” that she wrote during her battle with cancer. Her voice and her message seemed to resonate with the participants.
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