Social Sciences
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California’s $20 fast food wage yields higher prices, fewer jobs, more automation
On Wednesday, University of California – Santa Cruz released a real world appraisal of how the $20 mandate has affected owners and employees of fast food franchises. Stephen Owen, an economics lecturer, and a team of undergraduate helpers visited and studied more than 100 outlets in Santa Cruz and the Central Valley and came away with data…
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Detrás de la ‘ensalada del mundo’: la dura realidad de los trabajadores del Valle de Salinas
El informe es resultado de una colaboración de cinco años entre el Instituto para la Transformación Social de la Universidad de California en Santa Cruz y el Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño (CBDIO).
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‘I wish I could push ChatGPT off a cliff’: professors scramble to save critical thinking in an age of AI
Megan McNamara, who teaches sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz and created a guide for faculty across disciplines to deal with AI-related academic misconduct, noted that “cultural” differences in the humanities versus Stem disciplines, or in qualitative social sciences versus quantitative ones, tend to shape faculty members’ responses to students’ use of AI.
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Bay Area gas prices spike following Iran conflict
Nolan Higdon, a political history professor at UC Santa Cruz, says the numbers spell potential trouble for the Trump administration. “The Trump administration is going to have some serious difficulties in the midterms keeping the House or the Senate,” Higdon said. “And if this economy persists, this could be an issue as late as 2028.”
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Big cats, bigger protections: Santa Cruz County mountain lions now listed as threatened
Few people have tracked that tension more closely than UC Santa Cruz wildlife ecologist Chris Wilmers, who leads the long-running Santa Cruz Puma Project, a partnership between the university and the state. He called the listing “the appropriate thing to do,” emphasizing that it’s a long-overdue course correction for a species becoming gradually boxed in.
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Were Neanderthal men the Romeos of the prehistoric world?
Lars Fehren-Schmitz, an anthropology professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the study, says he’s not surprised to see potential evidence of mate preference in Neanderthals, given its prevalence in human history.
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UCSC students develop website to support Seabright small businesses amid Murray Street Bridge overhaul
As the Murray Street Bridge overhaul disrupts Seabright traffic, students from University of California, Santa Cruz step up with a new website to spotlight local shops and keep the neighborhood thriving.
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Central Coast faces doctor shortage with plans for new medical school
UC Santa Cruz, in partnership with UC Davis, is addressing this issue with expansion of the PRIME program in which students will receive classroom training at Davis and clinical training on the Central Coast. Grant Hartzog, Executive Director of UC Santa Cruz’s Global and Community Health program, said, “Let’s start fast but small. So we’re…
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Government shutdown, immigration demands and midterm politics collide as funding fight continues
Political historian Nolan Higdon of the University of California Santa Cruz said shutdown fights often become battles over public perception.
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I grew up in an education desert but made it to UCSC
Ava Thornock grew up in Amador County, an education desert without a local college or regular internet access. She made it to UC Santa Cruz, where she is studying biochemistry.
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California mountain lions are now considered ‘threatened.’ But only in certain regions
“If we want to maintain mountain lion populations in these coastal regions, then we’ve got some work to do,” said Chris Wilmers, a professor of wildlife ecology at the University of California, Santa Cruz and lead investigator of the Santa Cruz Puma Project.
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What one company’s shift towards data centers says about Imperial County’s lithium industry
Chris Benner, a professor of sociology and environmental studies at UC Santa Cruz, comments on challenges to Imperial County’s emerging lithium industry.