Author: Public Affairs

SANTA CRUZ, CA–From the upset victory of Democrat Loretta Sanchez over incumbent Republican Congressman Robert Dornan in Orange County to the passage of Proposition 209, Latinos had a lot at stake in the 1996 elections. The Chicano/Latino Research Center at UC Santa Cruz is hosting a panel discussion entitled "Lessons from the 1996 Elections for…

A celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life may rightfully honor the civil rights leader for possessing "greater courage and sense of sacrifice than most of us," said Harvard University scholar Cornel West in a recent UCSC lecture. But, he added, his legacy is better viewed in the context of an ongoing struggle for social…

The Stevenson Program on Global Security Winter Colloquium continues on Monday, February 3, with a talk by Jonathan Fox, associate professor of Latin American and Latino studies, on the topic "Taking Stock of the World Bank’s ‘Sustainable Development’ Reforms: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." The colloquium is held from 3:30 to 4:40 p.m.…

Harry Berger, professor emeritus of literature, is the author of a collection of Shakespeare essays called Making Trifles of Terrors: Redistributing Complicities in Shakespeare, which is being released by Stanford University Press at the beginning of February. The book was edited by UCSC alumnus Peter Erickson (who earned a Ph.D. in literature in 1975). A…

A memorial service for Kenneth V. Thimann will take place on Saturday, May 3, at 10 a.m. in the Crown College Dining Hall. More details will be announced in the coming months. Thimann, who died January 15 at the age of 92, was one of the world’s leading botanists. His career spanned more than 50…

Two retired UCSC professors are enjoying the limelight as subjects of "festschrifts." Frank Barron of psychology and Michael Soule of environmental studies have each had volumes dedicated to them. Festschrift is a German word for a volume of writings by different authors that is presented as a tribute or memorial. The tradition, which has been…

For psychology professor Aida Hurtado, Proposition 209 was a wake-up call. Voters approved the statewide ballot measure to eliminate affirmative action programs in government and education in part, she believes, because they were operating in an information vacuum, and she takes some responsibility for that. "As academics, we failed to join the public discourse, and…

Jacqueline Nassy Brown Assistant Professor of Anthropology Jacqueline Nassy Brown is interested in cultural constructions of race and identity in black Europe. She has conducted extensive ethnographic research with black residents of Liverpool, England, and her work on racial identity encompasses theoretical issues of space, place, and power. Brown also examines the racial and gender…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–UC Santa Cruz Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood will discuss the questions "If Thin Is In, Why Are So Many People So Fat?–Obesity: Bad Genes or Bad Behavior?" from 7 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, February 13, at the Museum of Art and History at the McPherson Center, 705 Front Street, Santa Cruz. The talk…

Counseling psychologist Gary Shoemaker of Merrill College was given an award of appreciation for service to the Northern California Training Directors at its recent conference, hosted by UCSC’s Counseling and Psychological Services. Planning for the 1997 Women at Work Retreat will begin at a meeting on Wednesday, January 29, from noon to 1 p.m. in…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–Since mid-1993, researchers in the laboratory of UC Santa Cruz chemist Joseph Konopelski have tried to construct an intriguing substance harbored within the tissues of a tropical marine animal. The substance may be a potent weapon in the fight against cancer. But there’s a problem: Less than a thimbleful of the material exists,…

SANTA CRUZ, CA–Chefs from some of the area’s finest restaurants will donate their services on Sunday evening, February 2, for the Friends of Long Marine Laboratory Gourmet Dinner. This annual culinary extravaganza raises money for Long Marine Lab’s public education programs, including the popular "Window to Discovery"; emergency marine-mammal care; research awards for UC Santa…