CAMPUS
Fourth-year global studies major Anthony “Tony” JianQian Tsang passed away on Wed., Feb. 15, the Office of Student Life announced in an email on Friday. Tsang attended Flower Mound High School near Dallas, Texas before coming to UCSB.
Students at the University of California Washington Center protested a Monday night forum that featured Ben Angle, a media buyer for President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. Approximately 20 attendees peacefully protested by holding signs that read messages such as, “Everyone is Welcome Here,” “Your salary was paid for by violence,” and “No Trump.” Following the protest, UCDC students hosted a teach-in regarding race, discrimination, and U.S. immigration history. The teach-in was mainly facilitated by UC Berkeley student Sangaree Jain and included a discussion of the “discriminatory immigration policies and enforcement enacted by the Donald Trump administration, with reference to how it is connected to previous discriminatory or unjust policies,” according to the event advertisement. “We could not allow someone who worked on the Donald Trump presidential campaign come speak in the same building where we invested with our student fees, work, and live,” said fourth year Chican@ studies major Alejandra Melgoza, a UCSB student at UCDC who helped organize the teach in.
The UC Board of Regents approved Gary May as the new UC Davis chancellor on Thursday. May, the current dean of the Georgia Tech College of Engineering, said, “I am honored that the president and the regents have entrusted me with the responsibility of leading UC Davis.” May will begin serving as the chancellor on August 1. In February, after selecting May as the new UC Davis chancellor, UC President Janet Napolitano stated, “Gary May is a dynamic leader and an accomplished scholar and engineer with a passion for helping others succeed.” Current UC Davis chancellor Ralph Hexter will serve as the interim chancellor until May’s term begins.
ISLA VISTA
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors met Tuesday to discuss possible changes to the Isla Vista Festival Ordinance, a law that prohibits “musical activities” later than 6 p.m from Oct. 24 through Nov. 4, as well as April 3-5, 10, 11, and 12. The proposal discussed modifies the law to include the dates April 1 through 12 that fall on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays. The Festival Ordinance differs from the current Noise Ordinance, which is active Sunday through Thursday after 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday after midnight.
COUNTY
Officials decided to disconnect the emergency pumping barge at Lake Cachuma due to the lake’s rapid rise after recent rain storms, Noozhawk reports. Earlier this month, the storms dropped over nine inches of rain into the reservoir’s watershed. The floating pumping barge was built as an emergency water transportation device in order to deliver water through the Santa Ynez mountains to the South Coast, in light of the drought. Water is now gravity-fed through the Tecolote Tunnel, so the barge is no longer needed. As of Monday morning, Lake Cachuma was recorded as 46 percent full.
Approximately 300 people gathered at the Santa Barbara Sunken Gardens last Tuesday to protest Trump’s recent vow to cut funding for Planned Parenthood. Several ministers and locals were in attendance to voice their opinions in opposition of the recent talks of overturning Roe v. Wade and limiting reproductive rights. Congressman Salud Carbajal, a former Planned Parenthood board member, pledged to oppose any effort to roll back 40 years of abortion rights in the United States, the Independent reports.
NATIONAL
Engineers began to shut off water flowing out of the damaged Oroville dam on Monday, allowing officials to finally see the erosion damage, SFGate reports. Acting Director of the California Department of Water Resources Bill Croyle stated that crews plan to work aggressively on cleanup and repair before more rain storms hit and necessitate turning back on the spillways. The spillway will be turned off for the next few days.