Social Sciences
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CZU Lightning Complex fires weren’t first of its kind, UC Santa Cruz researchers say
As factors including climate change increase fire risk, collective land management and risk mitigation will be key to avoiding massive fires, said UCSC professor of anthropology Andrew Mathews, who led the research team.
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What Dreams Really Are
Distinguished professor emeritus G. William Domhoff speaks about his new book “Dreams, Sleep, and Consciousness.”
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‘They’re torturing me’: ICE uses solitary confinement to scare people into self-deporting
Craig Haney, a UC Santa Cruz psychology professor and solitary confinement expert, described social isolation as a “psychological toxin.” He said solitary confinement can cause depression, anxiety, hopelessness, the atrophy of social skills, and in more severe cases, hallucinations, cognitive impairment and PTSD. “It’s cruel because it hurts people,” Haney said of solitary confinement. “It’s…
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Redistricting battles and primary fights reshape political landscape ahead of midterms
Nolan Higdon, a political history lecturer at UC Santa Cruz, said the redistricting push will make things more difficult for Democrats but may not be a decisive blow. “A lot of this redistricting is attempting to cut into any lead Democrats may have in the general,” Higdon said. “But this could be something that backfires…
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Popular Miyawaki reforestation method lacks evidence, study finds
Reforestation expert Karen D. Holl, a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in the U.S., who wasn’t involved with the study, told Mongabay that she has personally heard the Miyawaki method mentioned in meetings about tropical forest restoration strategies as a promising approach to enhance carbon and biodiversity. This despite the method being,…
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Looking to DNA for answers as climate change outpaces California wildlife’s ability to evolve
“It can be helpful, but it’s not a solution unto itself,” said Karen Holl, a distinguished professor of environmental studies at UC Santa Cruz. “What should be prioritized is reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
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‘How can that be’: Man died of thirst in Louisville jail
“I wish I could tell you that this is the first time I’ve ever heard this story, but it’s not,” said Craig Haney, a psychology professor at the University of California Santa Cruz who has studied the psychological consequences of confinement in jail and prison for decades.
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More of the men being deported now have lived in the U.S. for years
“It rips apart the fabric of the family,” said Regina Langhout, a psychology professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz who has published studies about the effects of deportation on families. “The material and psychological effects can be felt years and years later.”
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Map Shows California Five Guys Locations Closing Amid Layoffs
In a study of the impact of the minimum wage increase, University of California, Santa Cruz economics lecturer Stephen Owen said in March that there’s been more interest in fast-food jobs, but less demand for workers because of the higher cost.
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Apple at 50: How Cupertino’s tech giant changed what technology feels like
When Apple unveiled the App Store in 2008 with 500 apps, it helped launch a new economy, said UC Santa Cruz lecturer Nolan Higdon, who studies the tech industry. Tech companies had struggled to make money from the internet after the dot-com bust, but the App Store and the iPhone’s booming popularity fueled an explosion…
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How the K-shaped economy explains why it feels like we are in a recession
Some economists, like Pascal Michaillat at the University of California, Santa Cruz, pay special attention to labor market indicators to get a better sense of whether the economy has entered a recession. Michaillat said he looks at labor market data because this is the same data you’d want to use to look at whether we’re…
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Misinformation swirls online following White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting
Nolan Higdon, a professor of political history and media education at UC Santa Cruz, says several factors have created this environment. He noted that the “media diet” from legacy journalism, independent media, and social media influencers often prioritizes content that appeals to a divisive nature.