Thursday, November 18, 2010

Vol. 45 Issue No. 9

13 15
PEOPLE PEPPER-
ARRESTED SPRAYED

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OFFICERS
8 FEE
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THROUGH OUR PENS P. 10 WHAT WOODY MEANS P. 13 EXPLORING THE PARANORMAL P. 14

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FACT:    UCSC’s  69%  acceptance  rate  to  law  school  is  higher  than  the  national  average  (67%)!
FICTION:    The  other  31%  need  to  give  up  their  dream  of  attending  law  school.

Monterey  College  of  Law

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FACT:    Law  school  tuition  will  likely  exceed  $120,000  for  a  J.D.  degree.  
FICTION:    You  have  no  alternative  if  you  want  to  go  to  law  school.

Monterey  College  of  Law  tuition  for  students  enrolling  in  Fall  2011  will  be  $60,200  for  the  entire  

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4000  and  ask  for  Dean  of  Admissions  Wendy  LaRiviere.
 Thursday, November 18, 2010
STAFF
Editors-in-Chief
Jenny Cain
Public Discourse
Arianna Puopolo
At what point is education not worth the cost?
Managing Editors
Rod Bastanmehr
Julia Reis Compiled by STEPHANIE MEADE & MOLLY SOLOMON
Copy
Melinda Széll, chief
Molly Kossoff
Mimi Stroud
Grace Watson

Production
Hilli Ciavarello, design director
Rachel Adams
Emily Chisholm
Tess Goodwin

Campus News
Julie Eng, editor
Ryan Mark-Griffin, editor
Rosela Arce
James Austin “I’d never take out loans ... If I didn’t have the “It depends on how you value education. Some
Dana Burd
Rosa Castañeda money and family support I have now, I wouldn’t people think you can get the same amount of
Kara Foran go [to university], because I wouldn’t want to be in education for cheaper at a Cal State.”
debt.”
City News
Sarah Naugle, editor
Rosie Spinks, editor KELLY CHIARONI BRITNY MONTANO
Nicole Pritchard FOURTH-YEAR, MERRILL THIRD-YEAR, KRESGE
Susan Sun PSYCHOLOGY POLITICS
Mikaela Todd
Rosanna Van Straten

Sports
Joey Bien-Kahn, editor
Natalia Equihua
Asa Hess-Matsumoto

Arts and Entertainment

Alejandro Trejo, editor
Veronica Glover
Chelsea Hawkins

Politics and Culture

Blair Stenvick, editor
Stephanie Meade
Maja Vojnovic
“Fuckin’ now. I have so much anxiety. There are “When [the education] doesn’t pay off later in life.
Web
Timothy Lindvall II, developer six spots left in a class I absolutely need. The cost It gets to a point when we pay exorbitant fees for
started not being worth it about two years ago.” education that isn’t that great. Is it about getting a
Photo/Illustration high-paying job or about getting knowledge?”
Rachel Edelstein, editor
Morgan Grana, editor
Isaac Miller, editor GABRIELA RADERS NICK VOLLONO
Andrew Allio FOURTH-YEAR, KRESGE THIRD-YEAR, PORTER
Scott Haupenthal, videographer SOCIOLOGY LITERATURE & PHILOSOPHY
Louise Leong
Bela Messex
Nick Paris
Molly Solomon
About Us
Rosanna Van Straten City on a Hill Press is produced by and for UCSC students.
Patrick Yeung Our primary goal is to report and analyze issues affecting the
Prescott Watson
student population and the Santa Cruz community.
Advertising We also serve to watchdog the politics of the UC administra- Contact
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cityonahillpress.com 3
 Thursday, November 18, 2010

Table of Contents
5 Pistol and Pepper Spray: 13 Arrested At Regents Meeting
by ROSA CASTAÑEDA & ARIANNA PUOPOLO

6 Students Rally Against 8 Percent Fee Increase

by ROSELA ARCE

7 Event Calendar
compiled by TESS GOODWIN

8 Going Loopy for Loopfest

by SUSAN SUN

9 Theater Troupe Shows the Odyssey of PTSD

by ASA HESS-MATSUMOTO

10 Through Our Pens

by CITY ON A HILL PRESS ILLUSTRATORS

Nick Paris

12 Put Down Your Kindle, Pick Up the Paper

by ROSIE SPINKS

13 Getting Personal about America’s Most Unlikely Icon

by BLAIR STENVICK

14 Supernatural in Santa Cruz

by JULIE ENG

17 Editorials: Unfair Cuts to Childcare

&
18 Graphics the Key to Stopping Smoking
&
Video Gamers Prove Themselves Philanthropists

19 Who the Hell Asked You?!

Illustration by Bela Messex

Cover photos by Rosanna Van Straten, Molly Solomon and Prescott Watson

4 cityonahillpress.com
Thursday, November 18, 2010
13 Arrested at
UC Regents Meeting
Tensions rise before proposed
fee increases are put to a vote
By Arianna Puopolo & Rosa Castañeda
Editor-in-Chief Campus Reporter
Anticipation hung in the air at the UC
San Francisco Mission Bay conference
center while students and workers demon-
strated in opposition to proposed fee hikes
and a two-tier pension program.
UC President Mark Yudof dismissed
allegations of inefficacy of UC Office of
the President presented during the public
comment period at the Nov. 17 regents
meeting.
“Despite what you’ve heard the drop
out rate has been flat,” he said. “This idea
that [the Blue and Gold Opportunity
Plan] is a sham is nonsense.”
Meanwhile, outside the conference
center, spectators, activists and journalists
tried to access the public meeting. How-
ever, new protocol for regents meetings
put a stop to the process of credentialing
reporters, giving police officers the author-
ity to deny entrance to anyone.
UCOP director of media relations
Peter King blamed a San Francisco
Chronicle article for this change.
King said reporters displaying press
passes and abstaining from participat-
ing in any demonstrative actions will still
be afforded the appropriate rights in the
event that police dismiss protesters.
Inside the conference room, UC
Student Association president Claudia
Magaña urged the regents to avoid impos-
ing another fee increase.
“Fee increases are no longer an option,”
she said. “We have given too much.”
Magaña presented student testimoni-
als as evidence of the negative impact of
student fee hikes.
Student regent Jesse Cheng and stu-
dent regent designate Alfredo Mireles Jr.
agree that it is the state’s and UC’s respon-
sibility to provide quality higher education
to its own residents.
“The thing about alternative revenue
is that it does give up this idea of public
education,” Mireles said. “It seems impos-
sible to have more students, fewer classes
and the non-residential students not
pushing out California students.”
Yudof denies this.
“We’re not privatizing,” he said. “My
problem is the state legislature doesn’t
want to fund the Master Plan.”
After the public comment session, an
estimated 300 protesters assembled out-
side the building.
UCSC student organizer Brian Malone
accused the regents of being apathetic.
“They’re not even pretending even a
Campus
little anymore that they care,” he said.
One group of protesters attempted
crossing the police line by overwhelm-
ing a single police officer stationed at the
conference center’s stairway entrance from
the parking garage.
UCSF police chief Pamela Roskowski
reported that the officer responded to
the advances of the crowd by drawing his
baton. Peter Haul, a UC Merced student
took possession of the baton and struck
him on the head with it.
Haul was charged with assault with a
deadly weapon.
Roskowski said that after the officer
recovered his baton, he drew his gun when
the crowd continued to advance toward Molly Solomon
him.
PROTESTERS CLASHED with police outside the UC regents’
By the end of the day, 13 people were
meeting yesterday. The regents met to discuss a proposed fee
arrested. Roskowski said seven of those
increase and faculty pension plan.
detained were UC Berkeley students and
one student each was arrested from UC
Santa Cruz, UC Merced, UC Davis and
Peralta Community College. Two more
people were also arrested.
Fifteen people were hit with pepper
spray and four police officers were report-
edly injured.
“There was excessive force used — this
is the way the UC maintains power over
students,” Malone said.
UC Berkeley student Victor Mendez,
among the 15 pepper-sprayed, said he was
both pleased that this dispute would merit
the attention of the regents and media
outlets.
“I hope this gets better and by better I
mean I hope we shut this shit down,” he
said. “So besides my burning face, I feel
fucking incredible.”
Roskowski declined criticism of UCSF
PD and SFPD of using excessive force.
“I have no information to tell me pro-
tocol was not followed,” she said.
In the last open session of they day, a
joint committee of the UC Board of Re-
gents approved an action item to change
“student fees” to “tuition” that will be voted
on Nov. 18.
Student regents Cheng and Mireles ex-
pressed concern about the hastiness with
which the motion was passed.
“It’s a significant change to the Master
Plan and although we’ve been paying what
feels like tuition for years now, it merits
notice, and it’s disappointing,” Mireles
said. “Those of us who believe in the Mas-
ter Plan still think there should be fees,
not tuition.”
cityonahillpress.com 5
Campus
Students Rally Against
Fee Increase
Administration forms demonstration
advisory group
By Rosela Arce
Campus Reporter
On Tuesday, members of the UC com-
munity continued to rally to attract the
attention of the UC regents, who will vote
on a fee increase and workers’ benefits to-
day. This came a day after UC Santa Cruz
administration sent out a campuswide
e-mail about forming a Demonstration
Advisory Group that will make recom-
mendations about campus responses to
demonstrations.
The potential 8 percent fee increase
would amount to an additional $822 per
student, annually if passed. Changes in
workers’ benefits include a proposed in-
crease in the amount employees contribute
to their retirement plans and a gradual
reduction in retiree health premiums.
“I’m worried about my pension, but I
need to work,” said a dining hall employee
as marchers attempted to hold a sit-in
inside the University Center.
The worker and his fellow employees
tried to close the entrance shared by the
University Center and the Colleges Nine
and Ten Dining Hall when protesters
attempted to enter. Some students posi-
tioned their bodies in front of the door to
keep an entrance open.
In a campuswide e-mail, Alison Gal-
loway, campus provost and executive vice
chancellor, said that the DAG will address
the responsibilities of demonstrators and
the consequences for participants who
violate campus policy.
“I would like to see faculty, students
and staff represented on this committee,”
Galloway said in the e-mail.
Inside the temporarily closed building,
a server and a dining hall patron attempt-
ed to speak out against the demonstrators’
actions. Their voices were drowned out by
the shouts of protesters.
After the group left the attempted
sit-in at the University Center, it began
heading toward the final destination,
Quarry Plaza.
“Hit the street!” students yelled out.
6 cityonahillpress.com
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Several people flowed onto the road,
almost not noticing the TAPS bus that
nearly struck them.
After being halted for about two and
a half minutes, another TAPS bus driver
shared his view on the situation.
“I’m in solidarity with what’s going on Molly Solomon
right now,” said the TAPS driver.
Some of the marchers stormed into the STUDENTS GATHERED in protest of the budget cuts to be discussed today at the
bus. “Out of the bus and into the streets!” UC regents meeting. The rally took place on campus on Tuesday.
they said.
Fourth-year Merrill student Elena
Pasquez, a participant in the event, com-
mented on the turnout.
“It’s just disappointing to see the lack
of student turnout here, because this
is something that affects everyone, not
just students — workers, faculty, TAs,”
Pasquez said.
In contrast to last year’s November
demonstrations, which drew hundreds,
Tuesday’s rally began slowly with a crowd
of about 40 gathered in the Porter Quad.
“If they’re not going to come to the
protest, we’ll bring the protest to them,”
said a woman in command of the bull
horn.
Demonstrators turned the rally into
a march, as the group advanced up to
Kresge, hoping to gain recruits.
Nestor Rivera, fourth-year Kresge
student and the organizing director for
Student Union Assembly, attended the
event. He said that the event is closely tied
to aspects of his position and viewed it
optimistically.
“People are still here,” Rivera said. “It
was a good turnout.”
The march halted at the intersection in
between Quarry Plaza and Cowell. Some
students blocking the road began playing
with a soccer ball and a hacky sack.
A young woman got a hold of the
loudspeaker before the group disbanded.
“Let’s have a clap,” she said. “Let’s pat
ourselves, and go to UCSF tomorrow.”
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Event Calendar
CITY
Thursday, Nov. 18
• Art: Near and Far Photography Show. Santa
Cruz County Office of Education. 9 a.m. to 4:30
p.m.
• Educational: Body Worlds Vital Exhibition.
Tech Museum, San José. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. $17
students. Through May 2011. Tickets available at
tickets.thetech.org.
• Concert: New Almaden Trio. Kuumbwa Jazz
Center. 7 p.m. $12 in advance, $15 at door.
• Presentation: City of Santa Cruz Draft Climate
Action Plan. City of Santa Cruz Council Cham-
bers. 7 p.m. Free.
• Film: “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.”
Regal Cinema 9. 8 p.m. $5.
• Concert: Slightly Stoopid. The Catalyst. 8:30
p.m. $25.
• Concert: Hobo Nephews of Uncle Frank,
Wagon Wreckers, Sioux City Kid & The Revolu-
tionary Ramblers. The Crêpe Place. 9 p.m. $10.
Friday, Nov. 19
• Concert: LA Riots, Donald Glaude, Mr. Tyler
Jackson, Keltec. The Catalyst. 8 p.m. $22.
• Concert: Birdhouse, Grand Lake, Matador, Jer-
emy Lyon. The Crêpe Place. 9 p.m. $8 in advance,
$10 at door.
• Film: “The Shining.” Del Mar Theatre. 11:59
p.m. $6.50. Event repeats Nov. 20.
Saturday, Nov. 20
• Concert: Mike & Ruthy, The Shalants, Virgil
Shaw, Kites & Crows. The Crêpe Place. 8 p.m. $8.
• Concert: Eliquate, Rec League, Profel Inc. The
Catalyst. 9 p.m. $6 in advance, $8 at door. Ages 21
and up.
Sunday, Nov. 21
• Performance: Poet/Speak Open Poetry with
featured reader Daniel Yaryan. Santa Cruz Public
Library Meeting Room. 2 to 4 p.m. Free.
• Concert: Na Palapalai, Ka Nalu. Kuumbwa Jazz
Center. 5:30 p.m. $26 in advance.
• Concert: Blazing Steels: Amee Chapman & the
Velvet Tumbleweeds, featuring Carolyn Sills. The
Crêpe Place. 7 to 10 p.m. Free.
Monday, Nov. 22
• Concert: Ray Brown and the Great Big Band.
Kuumbwa Jazz Center. 7:30 p.m. $15–20.
• Film: “The Princess Bride.” The Crêpe Place.
8 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 23
• Film: “Warren Miller’s Wintervention.” Rio
Theatre. 8 p.m. See warrenmiller.com for tickets.
Event repeats Nov. 24.
• Concert: 7 Come 11. The Crêpe Place. 8 p.m. to
12 a.m. Free.
• Concert: Rasta Cruz Reggae Tuesdayz. The
Catalyst. 9 p.m. Cover charge up to $5. Ages 21
and up.
Wednesday, Nov. 24
• Benefit: 2nd Annual Santa Cruz Derby Girls’
Event Calendar
Turkey Bowl. Boardwalk Bowl. 6 p.m. $99 for
three games and shoe rental.
• Concert: Tater Famine, Junior Boogie. The
Catalyst. 9 p.m. $5. Ages 21 and up.
CAMPUS
Thursday, Nov. 18
• Educational: Haiti Day. Upper Quarry. 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
• Presentation: “What I Learned at Straight
Camp.” Journalist Ted Cox. UCSC Secular Stu-
dent Alliance. Media Theater. 7 p.m. Free.
• Play: “Holy Ghosts.” Theater Arts Experimental
Theater. 7 to 9 p.m. $12 general, $11 seniors and
students. Event continues through Nov. 21. See
arts.ucsc.edu for additional show times and tickets.
• Performance: Poetry Slam. College 10 Café
Revolución. 9:30 p.m. Free.
Friday, Nov. 19
• Performance: Mixed Nutz! Theater Arts Main-
stage. 7 to 9 p.m. $14.75–$32.50. Event continues
through Dec. 5. See arts.ucsc.edu for tickets and
additional showtimes.
• Concert: A Ceremony of Carols. Music Center
Recital Hall. 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. $6–10.
• Performance: The Rocky Horror Picture Show
with Slugs in Fishnets. Porter College Dining
Hall. 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tickets on sale in front of
Porter Dining Hall and in Quarry Plaza.
• Dance: “Dance for Peace.” UCSC Merrill Cul-
tural Center. 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. $3 in advance, $4
at the door. Proceeds go to the Genocide Interven-
tion Network and its civilian protection.
Saturday, Nov. 20
• Sports: Rock-Paper-Scissors Tag Team Compe-
tition. Merrill Cultural Center. 4 to 6 p.m. RSVP
to mkbates@ucsc.edu by Nov. 19 with name of
players and team.
• Benefit: Fall Brawl Video Game Festival. Porter
College Dining Hall. 4 to 10:30 p.m. $5 entry fee.
• Performance Benefit: “Shakespeare’s Labors
in Love.” Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Theater Arts
Second Stage. 6:30 to 8 p.m. $50.
• Concert: Kresge Music Co-op Concert Rock
On! Kresge Town Hall. 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. Free.
Sunday, Nov. 21
• Performance Benefit: “Shakespeare’s Labors
in Love.” Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Theater Arts
Second Stage. 1:30 to 3 p.m. $50.
• Concert: Jazz Ensembles and Big Band. Music
Center Recital Hall. 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. $6–10.
Monday, Nov. 22
• Benefit: Meal Plan/Flexi Dollar Drive. Dining
Halls/SVC website. 1 to 2 p.m.
• Discussion: “A Conversation with Michael
Scherer.” White House correspondent for TIME
Magazine and UCSC literature and creative writ-
ing alumnus. Kresge Seminar Room 159. 5 p.m.
Free.
• Performance: Poetry Slam. Cowell College
Fireside Lounge. 8 to 10 p.m. Free.
Compiled by Tess Goodwin
cityonahillpress.com 7
Arts & Entertainment
Live Loopfest Event Hits Santa Cruz
Layers of ambient beats
reverberate back and forth across
the walls of the room as the
sound waves resonate through
the audience. Psychedelic videos
project onto the white backdrop.
The sounds escalate, climbing
their way to a musical peak, and
then gradually zone out into the
distance, fading into an eventual
silence. The artist stands up and
takes a bow. The next artist takes
the stage and begins to play
beautiful folk music, adopting
the unusual combination of a
banjo and a violin bow.
This is Loopfest.
Last month, Rick Walker
hosted his 10th annual Loopfest,
a live digital looping festival.
Seventy artists came out from 17
different countries to perform
in three different cities over the
course of nine days. Four shows
took place in Santa Cruz occur-
ring from Oct. 13 through 17.
Walker, a longtime friend of
and familiar face in the Santa
Cruz music community, plays a
huge role in spearheading the
movement of bringing live digi-
tal looping out of obscurity.
“Part of the reason why I
started this festival in the first
place was that I was really ex-
cited that there’s this new mode
of communicating,” Walker said.
8 cityonahillpress.com
Local music festival attracts artists from around the world
By Susan Sun
Arts & Entertainment Reporter
Electronic music has been
around since the advent of syn-
thesizers in the 1960s. Aided by
technology, music looping came
into play around the same time.
It generally uses repetitions of
sounds, layered on top of each
other to create a complex rhyth-
mic sound texture.
“When digital looping came
out, what it did was that it
completely freed the musician to
either think of new sounds, or
to re-contextualize their instru-
ments,” Walker said. “Looping
freed us to start thinking more
about sound and rhythm over
anything.”
From 1999 to 2000, Walker
hosted around seven small-scale
festivals in Santa Cruz at What
Is Art, featuring 35 artists, 30
of whom had never played live
before.
“Everyone was in their closets.
I felt like I wanted them to get
out and do it,” Walker said. “And
since then, tons and tons of
artists have put records out and
are out there performing their
music.”
Many of the performing art-
ists who fell under the umbrella
of Walker’s new interest are
newbies who had the talent, but
not the opportunity, to perform
in front of a live audience.
Photo Courtesy of Rick Walker’s loop.pool
“It’s wonderful to come out
here and be with other Loopers,
because I am the only one out in
Finland doing this,” said Finnish
performance artist Mir-0.
In fact, all 70 artists travel
from all across the world entirely
on their own expense. None
of the artists are paid for their
performances.
“People think I’m crazy out
there, and then I come here and
suddenly it works,” Mir-0 said.
Digital musical looping is
widely applicable to any genre
of music, and serves simply to
expand an artist’s selection of in-
struments and rhythms, thereby
generating a huge variety of
musical sounds that have never
before been produced.
“With a tape loop, you’re free
to use all kind of sounds that you
would not normally use,” Walker
said. “I can basically make a
Thursday, November 18, 2010
whole drum set using Frisbees.”
Walker said he will not host
another Loopfest next year be-
cause of the work it demands.
“It’s just a tremendous
amount of work,” he said. “I
haven’t been able to produce any
of my own music because it just
takes up so much of my time.”
Although Walker will not be
putting on the event next year,
he hopes that it will happen. He
said the Loopers are determined
to make it work.
“Loopfest will continue on
next year,” said Scott Erickson,
a member of the audience at
Loopfest. “This event was put
on through a collaborative group
effort. Most of these people here
have contributed something
to the putting together of this
event. That’s not going to stop.
This is Santa Cruz we’re talking
about.”
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Modern Odyssey Offers a Sobering Message
Play tells veterans’ story
of post-traumatic stress disorder
By Asa Hess-Matsumoto
Sports Reporter
Since when has the Odyssey had a
zombie fight scene, watermelon iconogra-
phy and a bathroom setting?
At a glance, Ailin Conant’s “Nobody’s
Home” bears little resemblance to its at-
tributed origin, possessing only a handful
of scenes that immediately recognizable
as a throwback to Homer’s epic. But if all
one were looking to find from “Nobody’s
Home” were a simple remake, the point of
the show would be missed altogether.
Over the course of just over an hour,
the London cast guides the audience
through an emotional tale of one soldier’s
story of reintegration. Will Pinchin, actor
and co-writer of “Nobody’s Home,” plays
the role of Grant, a soldier come home
after having served three tours of duty
in Afghanistan and who also — quickly
made apparent — suffers symptoms from
post-traumatic stress disorder.
Easily becoming lost in his own
trauma-induced nightmares, the piti-
able character Grant represents the
many PTSD victims of the wars in the
Middle East. Grant’s inability to readily
discern reality from nightmares severely
strains his relationship with his wife,
Penny, played by co-writer Dorie Kinnear.
Through the dynamic between Grant and
Penny, the show makes it brutally and
painfully clear that Grant’s journey home
is far more than just a trip overseas.
“When we first began working, we
were just looking to modernize ‘The Od-
yssey,’” director Ailin Conant said. “But
the show was a little too abstract, and it
wasn’t until we started to integrate veter-
ans into our work that the show became
as well-polished as it is.”
“Nobody’s Home” was the brainchild
of Pinchin, Kinnear and Conant. They
said contributions made by wartime
veterans, who have worked alongside the
troupe, give the show its hard-hitting
edge. In workshops facilitated by veteran
Erin Maxon, the trio sought help from lo-
cal Santa Cruz community veterans in an
effort to better represent the people the
characters symbolized.
“We are telling a pertinent story that is
not ours, and we are getting an immense
amount of support in doing it,” Conant
said.
The troupe was at first very hesitant to
meet with the veterans because of the fear
that the story would misrepresent it. For
Will Pinchin, “Nobody’s Home” is meant
to convey a sense of hope for those suffer-
ing from PTSD. The last thing Pinchin
wanted to do was offend the very people
whose collective stories the troupe tells,
he said.
Arts & Entertainment
“Those whom this story belongs to
have good reason not to want to share it
with us,” actor Will Pinchin said. “The
Odyssey is a safe story. It’s been told time
and time again. The scary bit that’s never
been addressed in a show is the traumatic
part of the journey home, the PTSD bit.”
Veterans who come to see the show
along its tour through San Luis Obispo,
Calif. and Hamilton, NY will appreciate
the cast’s dedication to attend to the ​
Nick Paris
devil in the details. From corrected shifts
in combat posture to proper about-face “NOBODY’S HOME,” directed by Ailin Conant, is a modern-day rendition of
maneuvers, Pinchin has taken in as much Homer’s Odyssey. In the place of protagonist Odysseus’ is Grant, a U.S. soldier
as he can to better his performance on who has returned from fighting in Afghanistan. Grant’s journey, as he struggles
stage. with post-traumatic stress disorder, takes on new meaning.
“There are certain things ingrained in
the body of a soldier that, quite frankly, typical satisfaction of a triumphant hero fortune to good and bad men as it pleases
I don’t have,” Pinchin said. “The veterans returned home in Ithaca. There are no him. Hardship he sent to you, and you
have been invaluable in just correcting obvious suitors to be driven out, no divine must bear it.” By this token, the show
my behaviors that are second nature to interventions deus ex machina, but just comes into its own as a tragic and true
them. The details may seem superficial, the saddening realities of PTSD. story of confusion, loneliness and despair,
but the transformation one sees [as a As Homer once said, “Zeus metes out but not without hope.
result of ] incorporating
them makes them truly
critical.”
From Grant’s distrust
of his psychiatrist to
Penny’s inability to
emotionally connect
with her husband, the
show highlights the
problems of PTSD. The
lack of understanding
on behalf of all parties
puts Grant in a helpless
position. And while the
show very clearly and
directly addresses the
problems brought about
by PTSD, its ending
message is relatively
ambiguous, although
not absent of hope.
“In our last session
with the veterans, we
spoke directly about
what we thought the
answer should be, and
how we could bring that
into the show,” actor
Dorie Kinnear said.
“I want to say that it’s
about working together
to overcome this hor-
rible condition. People
who suffer from PTSD
will likely have to deal
with it for the rest of
their lives, and the best
solution I can think of,
being Penny, is just be-
ing there for Grant.”
“Nobody’s Home,”
as a modern Odyssey,
does not end with the
cityonahillpress.com 9
 THROUGH OUR PENS
Illustration Thursday, November 18. 2010

by Rachel Edelstein by Louise Leong by Bel

by Louise Leong by Rachel Edelstein

10 cityonahillpress.com
 Thursday, November 18, 2010

Illustration
la Messex by Rachel Edelstein

by Louise Leong by Patrick Yeung

cityonahillpress.com 11
Column Thursday, November 18, 2010

Your Kindle May Be Convenient,

Your iPad Sleek,
But My Crinkled Magazine Is Better
By Rosie Spinks
City Editor

The New Yorker magazine and I have

a routine. Whenever I have both the
time and the $5.95 in my wallet to spare
for a copy, I enter a mental commitment
to read the entire issue, because
anything less would be somewhat of an
underachievement.

I dutifully work through 10-page articles about for-

eign aid agencies, get lost in short stories that I forget
are actually fictitious, read about uptown gallery open-
ings that I will never be cool enough to go to, and smile
at the subtle yet smug humor of its famous cartoons.
My affinity for The New Yorker is indicative of a
particular attitude of mine. The belief that yes, technol-
ogy is great, but no, I don’t need any more of it in my
life. Often, it makes me feel like somewhat of a luddite,
putting me at odds with my more tech-savvy peers.
But there’s something about my New Yorker exer-
cise that brings me a kind of satisfaction that cannot
be replicated in any other format. Turning the text-
laden pages with the knowledge that I really should
be reading for a class, wiping the crumbs off the page
as I eat my burned toast, and, most of all, reveling in
the unmistakable pleasure of taking the time to read
something that’s actually in print.
Yes, I use Gmail and Facebook, and I’ve gained an
unquantifiable amount of knowledge from the Google
search box. I am aware of the incredible impact that
the Internet has had on my social developmental and
educational life, as well as my status as what my father
calls a “digital native.” But no, I don’t like it when my
friends are searching something on their iPhone while Illustration by Rachel Edelstein
we’re having a conversation, I don’t want to know every
thought that exits in your head via Twitter, and I do
think it’s sad that an over-reliance on spell-check has It’s not surprising that our generation has developed this dependency
diminished my peers’ ability to spell words like “conscien- on technology, as it echoes the consumer culture we grew up in.This
tious” and “maintenance.”
It’s not surprising that our generation has developed idea — that more is more, bigger is better and instant gratification
this dependency on technology, as it echoes the consumer trumps delayed satisfaction — reigns supreme.
culture we grew up in.This idea — that more is more,
bigger is better and instant gratification trumps delayed
satisfaction — reigns supreme. But with this ever-in-
creasing stream of global data, we’re simultaneously losing sense of direction to find your way around or talked to a app that calculates the number of steps until your next
some things: a familiarity and appreciation for simpler living, breathing librarian while researching a paper? How latte is not making your life better — but rather, making
pleasures, an awareness of local knowledge, and perhaps about taking the time to write a note to send to a friend, you duller. How about looking at a real map, or reading a
even a portion of our common sense. or making yourself unreachable for an entire day? These real book, or buying a real newspaper in which you might
It’s not that there isn’t room for both the print and activities may seem blasé in a world of e-mails, tweets and actually stumble upon a whimsical or thought-provoking
digital media in the modern world. The quality of a piece apps, but they’re all things that have been done by human piece of local journalism that can’t be found on the Huff-
of journalism remains intact regardless of the format. But beings long before there was a place known as Silicon ington Post?
technology’s offer of unlimited options and immediate Valley. For now, I will stand in a crowd of a few. And when
access to any publication or information source doesn’t Technological progress is good. I am not advocating I see that smug person sitting next to me and my New
supersede the value of reading something in print. There a life of Internet abstinence or a reliance on the Dewey Yorker, who appears unable to complete a full article
is a tactile and time-tested value attached to this activity Decimal System for all of our informational needs. But because his or her iPad/Kindle/fill-in-the-blank device
that technology simply can’t replace. the benefits we accrue from these technologies are not provides too many options, I will smile to myself and do a
When was the last time you used intuition and a good unlimited. There is a point at which one more iPhone quiet, though revolutionary act: turn the page.

12 cityonahillpress.com
Thursday, November 18, 2010
What I Learned from
Woody Allen
More than just a filmmaker,
he’s an inspiration for any cynic
By Blair Stenvick
Politics & Culture
I
f there were a movie about your
life, which actor would play you?
It’s a question we’ve all come
across at some point, and usually I
just give some smart-ass answer like
“Miley Cyrus” or “Betty White.”
But when it recently came up in
conversation among my roommates,
I had just seen “You Will Meet a
Tall Dark Stranger,” and I had to tell
them the person whom I think would
be most appropriate as yours truly:
Woody Allen.
OK, so we’re not the same gender, and he’s at least
50 years older than me. But Woody understands me the
way nobody else, in show business or otherwise, does.
With his awkward looks and cynical views, he’s the actual
embodiment of a theme Hollywood loves to make crappy,
unrealistic movies about: the underdog story. Woody
Allen is no charmer, and his paranoia and constant
questioning of “what it all means” keeps him from being
what anyone would describe as a natural people person.
But he managed to make it big in comedy and film
while staying true to himself, using his wit, and most
importantly, his word. My idea of a fun evening is staying
in and writing this column, so you can imagine how
inspiring Allen is for me.
I was 16 when I first watched “Annie Hall,” the story
of a relationship that doesn’t work out but sparks dialogue
about the pointlessness and paradoxes of relationships
and life in general. The friend I viewed it with reacted
negatively. He saw it as just a self-indulgent, whiny movie
about two neurotics. Maybe that’s true, but that’s also
exactly why I liked it. My parents had divorced a year
earlier, and I had turned bitter and exasperated with life
before reaching voting age. The experience of watch-
ing my family, the only constant in my life, split in two
exacerbated the usual angst any teenager will go through.
Being a teenage girl who had a head with plenty of opin-
ions inside it, and a mop of impossibly thick, frizzy hair
on top of it, didn’t help things. I didn’t think anyone could
understand me, but then I found my cinematic soul mate
in Woody Allen.
Here was the most honest piece of cinema I’d seen —
it is the story of Alvy Singer and Annie Hall, but it is also
the story of my parents and the story of me. It also hap-
pens to be hilarious. The sarcasm Allen uses to eviscerate
things he, and I, don’t like — Hollywood’s mentality,
pretentious intellectuals, suburbia — inspired me to hold
out hope in high school that, sometimes, it’s the kids who
mutter witty comments under their breath, rather than
the ones who run down the hallways yelling moronic
mottos, who succeed. Woody Allen essentially legitimized
anxiety and cynicism. I spent the next few years covering
most of the Woody classics and his recent flicks, which
brings us up to “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger.”
Allen’s most recent effort is by no means his best work,
but it’s still a treat. I enjoyed watching it because, like all
his films, it struck a near-perfect blend of intelligence and
entertainment. “Stranger” opens with the narrator quoting
Shakespeare: “Life is … full of sound and fury, signifying
nothing.”
Cut to the story of Helena, a woman in her mid-60s
whose husband, Alfie, has just left her and plans to marry
a prostitute, Charmaine. The plot is a classic Allen set-up,
full of characters who aren’t sure what they want but tend
to gravitate towards the opposite of what’s best for them.
The film wraps up with the same quote it began
Opinion
Illustration by Patrick Yeung
with, although I’m not sure the whole thing didn’t mean
anything. There is poetic justice, in that the person who
ends up happiest in the end is Helena, the most inno-
cent of the characters. However, most of her happiness is
based on illusions, so maybe the only things that matter
in life are the things that don’t exist. Looking back on
all the bad things I’ve gone through in my life, I realize
that most of them were done to me instead of by me, so
I can relate to the feeling of having no control over one’s
life that prompts Helena to solicit the advice of a fortune
teller. Having watched my parents suffer the effects of
infidelity and having gone through it myself, it was ca-
thartic for me to watch all the damn cheaters receive their
due, even if it wasn’t realistic.
Let’s go back to another Allen classic, “Hannah and
Her Sisters.” Woody plays Mickey, a suicidal man who
finds solace in the movies.
“I’m watching these people up on the screen and I
started getting hooked on the film. I started to feel, how
can you even think of killing yourself, I mean isn’t it so
stupid?” Mickey tells his friend about a trip he took to
a theater at his lowest point. “Look at all the people up
there on the screen, they’re real funny, and what if the
worst is true? What if there is no God and you only go
around once and that’s it? Well, you know, don’t you want
to be part of the experience?”
The pains of growing up and learning lessons the hard
way caused a lot of stress in my life, but as long as there
are people like Woody Allen out there, I still want to be
part of the experience.
cityonahillpress.com 13
Feature
Rising interest in ghosts prompts investigation of Santa Cruz’s spooky history
By Julie Eng
Campus Editor
“You know how when someone stands
close to you, you can feel it? It’s like that.
Or it’s a static energy-type feeling, that’s
what makes your hair stand up,” Nancy
Bowmen described.
The co-founder of Paranormal Zone
TV (PZTV) is certainly qualified to
describe the presence of a ghost. Since she
predicted her father’s death at the age of
nine, Bowmen has had numerous experi-
ences with paranormal entities, including
witnessing two full-body apparitions and
developing a personal relationship with
Sarah Logan of the Brookdale Lodge, one
of Santa Cruz’s most famous ghosts.
For Bowmen, investigating supernatu-
ral activities is not just a job but a deeply
rooted passion that is evident in her
willingness to express her belief in ghosts
with an emphatic “yes.” Her interest can
be traced back to a paranormal incident
from her childhood.
“I was sitting on the lawn with a
girlfriend and I was picking at the grass
— but you know, when you’re … doing
something mundane, and you kind of
go blank in your mind?” Bowmen said.
14 cityonahillpress.com
SATAN
“In a heartbeat I got this little message. I
couldn’t hear a voice but it was like a mes-
sage, telepathically, saying, ‘Your father is
going to die.’ And a week later, he passed
away. I really think it was what you would
call your guide which prepared me. I
looked at my girlfriend and told her, ‘My
dad’s gonna die. My dad’s gonna die.’”
Since then, Bowmen’s interest in the
supernatural has evolved from a hobby to
a profession. She worked individually as
well as with various ghost hunting organi-
zations before joining PZTV as a co-
founder. Though the group doesn’t operate
specifically within Santa Cruz County,
they are among the many paranormal in-
vestigation groups throughout California
that have come to the area to search for
its famous ghosts. The town does have its
fair share of paranormal investigators —
Bowmen’s colleagues at Santa Cruz Ghost
Hunters share the field with the Santa
Cruz Paranormal team, and haunted hot
spots in the region have attracted investi-
gators and researchers for years.
Santa Cruz’s ghostly history goes back
as far as Native American legend, and the
stories of an Ohlone tribe curse have en-
dured to this day. However, it’s the Brook-
dale Lodge that really put the county on
the map. The hotel, which was originally
built in 1870 as the headquarters of a
lumber mill, was host to stars like Mari-
lyn Monroe and mobsters in its heyday.
Brookdale was named the most haunted
place in California by Haunted America
Tours, and has appeared on numerous
TV shows. In addition to Paranormal
Zone TV, it’s been featured on “Unsolved
Mysteries” and “Sightings,” and is believed
to be host to 49 individual entities. One
of Santa Cruz’s most famous haunts, the
lodge has put Santa Cruz on the radar of
the increasingly large number of people
interested in the paranormal.
According to recent polls, the number
of Americans who believe in ghosts is on
the rise. In 2003, a Harris Poll online sur-
vey put the number at 51 percent. This is
up significantly from a 1978 Gallup poll,
which found only 11 percent of respon-
dents saying they believed.
Maryanne Porter, co-founder of Santa
Cruz Ghost Hunters, weighs in on the
skeptical side, but a lifelong fascination
with all things paranormal has led her on
her current mission: to track down the
ghosts of Santa Cruz.
“I wouldn’t say I don’t believe,” Porter
said. “I am skeptical when we do inves-
tigations, because I don’t want to believe
every little bump in the night is a ghost.
I go into it with an open mind. But I do
have beliefs, I definitely do, that there is
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Illustrations by Bela Messex
something more out there — we just can’t
see it with the naked eye.”
Porter had already investigated 12
of the city’s famous haunts before she
joined fellow Santa Cruz County resident
Deena Smith to form their group. Though
they have received requests to investigate
anomalies outside the county, Porter said
the group has no plans to travel because
“there’s enough here.”
The city’s history is rich with ghosts
and unexplained phenomena, though
some of the stories have deeper roots
than others. Geoffrey Dunn, local author,
historian and UC Santa Cruz graduate
and former community studies lecturer,
has high standards for authentic Santa
Cruz ghosts.
“I’m sure you can get other people who
might say something different — and God
bless them — but for me, I stay away from
what I see as that fluffy, haunted history in
favor of real history, and real ghosts, that
linger over the community,” he said.
Long pauses punctuate Dunn’s stories
as the fourth-generation Santa Cruzan
digs deep to recall the stories he said
everyone knew — “if you were local.”
Dunn recalls several ghosts that have
their origins in local history, but the ones
that pique his interest most are the victims
of Santa Cruz’s bloody history with mi-
Thursday, November 18, 2010
nority residents.
“The ghosts that I feel haunt Santa
Cruz are those of the two Californios who
were hanged off the Water Street Bridge,”
he said. “For me, that has always been a
haunted place.”
This oral history, which Dunn has
documented in his writings on the area,
was the last lynching of Californios —
natives of Spanish, Mexican, Indian or
mixed heritage — in Santa Cruz. In May
1877, Francisco Arias and José Chamales,
both suspected of murder, were hanged
from the Water Street bridge by amob of
Santa Cruzans. The two men were given
an opportunity to say their last words and
take a final shot of whiskey before they
were killed.
This, Dunn says, exemplifies the
“vigilante activity and oppression against
newcomers here, particularly people of
color,” that took place in California in the
second half of the 19th century.
“[There is] a history of what was a very
real genocide against the native peoples
here,” Dunn explained. “So I do believe
that that real history haunts this com-
munity, and in many ways defines the
community.”
One specific aspect of this history is
the abuses Native Americans suffered at
the hands of missionaries.
“Particularly at the Santa Cruz Mis-
sion, the treatment was pretty bad,” he
said. “There were some evil padres there,
and I think a lot of people consider the
city and particularly Mission Hill to be
haunted because of the treatment of those
native peoples.”
At least one local legend tells of the
hanging of one of the mission’s priests by
the Native Americans after he allegedly
raped a woman. His ghost is said to haunt
the area.
Like Dunn, Jennifer Nelson of Santa
Cruz Paranormal (SCP) doesn’t deal with
“fluffy” ghosts.
“It isn’t so much that we’re looking
for ghosts, or spirits, or the stereotypical
bare-footed woman dressed in white,” said
Nelson, a recent UCSC graduate and co-
founder of SCP. “It’s the idea that people
seem to be experiencing things, and seem
to be experiencing kind of a similar de-
scription of things. So what we’re looking
for is not necessarily ghosts or spirits, but
the perception [of them]. What can we
see, what can we analyze, and what are
people experiencing? And what is the dif-
ference between the two?”
Nelson and co-founder Christian
Sacoolas began their careers as ghost
hunters somewhat on a whim. In her
third year at UCSC, Nelson and Sacoolas
entered the SyFy channel’s national “Pair-
anormal Contest” on its last day in an
effort to forestall a homework assignment
for a few more hours. Though both had
long been interested in the paranormal,
neither had much experience with ghost
hunting beyond watching the station’s
most popular show, “Ghost Hunters.” The
couple put together a short video, which
was judged by The Atlantic Paranormal
Society and SyFy “Ghost Hunter” co-stars
Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. The video
was assessed on the basis of the team’s
passion for paranormal research, group
chemistry and their understanding of
investigation techniques.
The couple won the competition and
was dubbed the “Next Great Ghost-
Hunting Duo.” With the title came
$10,000 worth of ghost-hunting equip-
ment, which the team unwrapped en
route to their first investigation. Among
the group’s new tools were an infrared
camera system, a security system used to
catch anomalies, and HD Sony cameras
with night shot. The group christened
their brand-new equipment with a night
in a haunted house in Santa Cruz County
— and they have the footage of a self-
opening garage door to prove they weren’t
alone.
“The notion of what these people are
telling us they’ve experienced, that’s defi-
nitely running through your head when
you’re sitting in that room by yourself and
there is something that’s supposed to have
happened, like a … really loud banshee-
esque scream, that can get unnerving
sometimes,” Sacoolas said.
Bowmen acknowledges that not all
ghosts communicate in a friendly manner.
Treating the dead with the respect ordi-
narily reserved for the living is an impor-
tant aspect of Bowmen’s beliefs regarding
ghost hunting, and a key ingredient in
successful communication with spirits.
“It’s just like me talking to you,” she
said of how ghosts often communicate.
“And that’s why we say, have respect, these
are people too. You don’t want to go into
somebody’s house and just start yelling at
them. You wouldn’t like that if somebody
did that to you. They’re people.”
Though she warns against provoking
ghosts or getting involved with negative
spirits, Bowmen says interacting with
ghosts is not usually a scary task.
However, she emphasizes the impor-
tance of exercising caution. Recalling an
investigation at the Brookdale Lodge of a
room believed to be inhabited by an Ital-
ian ghost, Bowmen describes how a fellow
ghost hunter was injured by a spirit after
calling out culturally offensive taunts.
“He heard something screaming in his
Feature
ear,” she said. “Then it punched him in the
eye and hit him in the back of the head,
and he went down on his knees, weeping.
And he’s a big guy, 6-foot-2.”
Another well-known piece of Santa
Cruz history spawned an enduring ghost
story and leads Dunn to mention the
UCSC campus first when listing haunted
spots in the town. The death of Henry
Cowell’s daughter Sarah on the original
property several miles above campus is the
source for a story used to frighten Cowell
College freshmen to this day.
Gabe Arden, a third-year psychology
major from Cowell, remembers hearing
the story at a Barnstorm Production. Ac-
cording to Arden, Sarah’s ghost haunts the
Barn Theater, and actors have to thank her
“or else bad things will happen.” Similarly,
a Myspace profile for the theater build-
ing cites the presence of the ghost of
Sarah Cowell, but refers to her as Henry
Cowell’s wife.
Arden has the facts mostly right,
though key details have been lost over
many retellings since the school opened in
1965. Dunn points out that the “Haunted
Meadow,” which Cowell students have
visited in years past as a rite of passage,
was not the actual scene of Sarah’s demise.
And a Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper
clipping from the day of the accident re-
veals she was a passenger in a cart and fell
to her death when the vehicle hit a rock.
While a 1976 term paper housed in the
Special Collections of McHenry Library
shows the Cowell story in its various re-
tellings over the years, no factual record
Continued on p. 16
cityonahillpress.com 15

Spooky Santa Cruz
Feature
Continued from p. 15
exists of the rumored ghosts of
Porter College.
According to fourth-year
literature major Peter Hunter,
there is a good reason for the
lack of documentation of Porter’s
ghosts. Though the stories have
withstood the test of time, some
important details cast their ac-
curacy into question.
“The old rumor was that
someone jumped off the then-
nonexistent fifth floor of Porter
A Building, and that said student
supposedly haunted that floor
thereafter,” Hunter said in an
e-mail. “This was a myth only
believed by those outside Porter,
because anyone who knew any-
thing about Porter at that time
knew that A building had only
four floors.”
He remembers a similar
rumor concerning the basement
level of B Building, also known
as “the batcave,” where “a student
apparently ended their life in
its seldom-used bathroom, and
haunted it thereafter.”
While the rumors of campus
ghosts remain unproven, one
of Santa Cruz’s paranormal hot
spots draws visitors from across
the country hoping to catch
a glimpse of its most famous
boarders. The Brookdale Lodge, a
historic hotel a few miles outside
the city, houses up to 49 individ-
ual paranormal entities, accord-
ing to the numerous investigators
who have paid the landmark a
visit.
Among them is Paranormal
Zone TV co-founder Bowmen,
who has cultivated a personal re-
lationship with the lodge’s most
well known paranormal resident.
A little girl named Sarah Logan
who is said to have drowned in
the indoor creek of the hotel’s
restaurant has been seen and
heard by numerous witnesses,
but none except Bowmen claim
Sarah knows them by name.
“Investigators call out, ‘Sarah,
Nancy’s here,’ and then on the
recorder you hear ‘Where’s
Nancy?’ all excited,” Bowmen
said, laughing. She adds that she
often brings toys for the girl, and
proudly says that Sarah always
communicates.
Far from sounding scared,
Bowmen speaks affectionately
of Sarah Logan, almost as one
would of her own — living —
children. “I love it when she talks
to me,” she said.
16 cityonahillpress.com
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Though her belief in ghosts
has been long-standing, Bowmen
said her changed religious views
have been more recent, and partly
a result of her work in the field.
While some owners of haunted
homes opt to keep the spirit
around, others require special
efforts on the ghost hunters’ part,
which can mean a religious ritual
for the Paranormal Zone team.
Bowmen describes the need
for a blessing to remove “dark”
spirits, those who won’t leave
when asked.
“I do believe there is a god,
or whatever you want to call it, a
higher power,” she said. “You do
need to call on it for protection
when you do an investigation,
and you can call on it to help
clear [a ghost].”
Whether or not the resident is
welcoming of a ghostly inhabit-
ant, Nelson of SCP says that
receiving more information or
validation of the spirit’s presence
can help provide closure.
“People are scared to talk to
each other about it, and then we
come in and we find very odd
things similar to their experi-
ence,” Nelson said. “It helps them
to recognize and accept what’s
happening to them.” Although
Nelson acknowledges that there
are naysayers who dismiss any
stories regarding the paranormal,
she says that people should not
be discouraged to come forward
with their experiences.
“‘Do I think that it’s Satan or
demons or spirits, or is it great-
grandma?’” asked Nelson. “You
know, I’m not sure. But do people
feel creeped out, or scared in
the house? Yes. We want to hear
their stories. We want to reach
them where they’re at. You’re
not crazy — this is happening to
multiple people.”
Like Nelson, Bowmen seeks
to provide explanations for the
supernatural experiences that
increasingly large numbers of
people have recognized and
taken an interest in.
“If you understand it, and you
know that ghosts won’t hurt you,
they’re just people, they’re like
us, it just gets in your blood,” she
said. “You just gotta go out there.
It’s like a rush. But at the same
time, our curiosity is getting us.
We want to know what it’s like.
We want to know what’s on the
other side.”
Thursday, November 18, 2010
State Makes Parents Bear the Cost of Childcare
Eliminating funding for childcare an inadequate way to free up funds
California is struggling.
Financial woe and unemployment have overrun the state. In hopes
of closing the gap in the state’s deficit, the governor included in his
state budget numerous cuts to state-funded programs, including state-
aided childcare.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed in his May Revision to
eliminate $1.2 billion in subsidized childcare services and CalWORKs
Stage 2 and 3, programs that had a $2.3 billion budget. The cuts will
eliminate subsidized slots for approximately 174,000 children.
The logic of this particular cut — “Let’s fix the financial crisis by
increasing unemployment rates” — is ludicrous.
There are 659,561 children under the age of six in California who
come from single-parent families with a parent in the labor force.
Nearly 200,000 children receive care through the CalWORKs pro-
gram, the program that Schwarzenegger has significantly cut. This
effectively leaves thousands of parents without childcare overnight and
many more in the future.
Schwarzenegger made the cuts last month and the impacts were
supposed to go into effect Nov. 1, giving parents only a month’s notice.
However, a lawsuit was filed at the end of October against the
California Department of Education, successfully petitioning to post-
pone the date. Families receiving their care through the program will
Editorial
Illustration by Rachel Edelstein
now have until Nov. 23 to figure out where to send their children or
whether they can continue to be members of the work force.
On average, the annual cost to send an infant to full-time care at a
center is $11,580. For a 4-year-old, it’s $8,234. The annual cost for full-
time care is $7,937 for an infant in a family childcare home and $7,180
for a 4-year-old. Any way you slice it, child care is expensive — 42 per-
cent of the median income for a single parent, female-headed family to
be precise. This percentage goes up with each child requiring childcare.
 Furthermore, not just families will be affected. The cuts are expect-
ed to impact 62,000 childcare providers as well. Fewer children will be
enrolled in childcare, because their parents can no longer afford it.
To take aid away from childcare is, for many families, an unemploy-
ment sentence. With the burden of thousands of dollars in childcare
costs suddenly entirely on their shoulders, families are placed in an
unfair and irresolvable predicament: Do they choose to leave their jobs,
or leave their children home alone? And where will these families turn
to when they have no means of income? The state. It’s a vicious cycle.
Kudos, Schwarzenegger, you figured out a way to eliminate $1.2
billion from the budget. Too bad that number is completely negated by
the hundreds of thousands of jobs you are potentially costing, and the
years of fiscal plague you are tacking onto the state of California.
cityonahillpress.com 17
 Thursday, November 18, 2010

Graphic Labels
Editorials

Will Save Lives

New warnings on cigarette packages,
an important step

C
igarettes are detrimental to the health of smok-
ers as well as those around them. Over the course
of several decades, this statement has moved
from controversial claim to clear, indisputable fact. The
government knows it, society knows it, and even tobacco Illustration by Louise Leong
companies acknowledge it in the form of warning labels
on their products.
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved
adding images to the currently text-only warnings on
cigarette packages. This is a smart tactic to make potential in the world to reduce smoking. The British government which could include pictures of dead bodies, is that
cigarette buyers think twice. has limited television and print ads of tobacco products. they’re excessive, prohibit the free market, and are an
California is one of the few states with anti-smoking Uruguay recently passed a law that would make warnings example of the government babysitting society. But
ads, and we had the second lowest percentage of adult cover 80 percent of a cigarette pack’s surface. Indonesia is poisonous substances often have intense warning labels
smokers in the United States in 2006. We can infer working on a law that could completely ban cigarette ad- — and, with over 4,000 harmful chemicals, cigarettes are
that although people already know the health risks of vertising, and issues of packaging and storefront displays definitely poisonous.
cigarettes, being periodically reminded of these risks in are coming up all over Europe. Health leaders from 171 Furthermore, secondhand smoke can cause serious
graphic ways can help reduce the number of smokers. nations will meet in Uruguay this week to consider an health damages, so these labels protect the innocent vic-
Spreading the reminder from a few states to the entire anti-smoking treaty. It would behoove the United States tims of cigarettes. Freedom is key to our society, but when
country would be a positive step. to lead the rest of the world by example. an individual’s actions harm others, the government has a
The FDA’s proposal coincides with efforts elsewhere The strongest argument against the warning labels, right to intervene.

Gamers: Not Just

Couch Potatoes
Fall Brawl gives students a
positive way to give back
to the community

Illustration by Rachel Edelstein

V
ideo games are usually seen as time wasters: You
sit down, kill some baddies, save the princess
and escape from your thoughts. However, video
games are now being used in a variety of new ways such
as education and scientific research, and, this week,
Porter College is using video games in a whole new
way: to help give to a good cause and an underprivileged
community.
The Porter College Fall Brawl is a video game
tournament being held at the Porter Dining Hall on
Saturday Nov. 20. All the proceeds will go to Child’s
Play, a charity that donates DVDs, video games and toys
to hospitalized children during the holidays.
For just $5, participants can end up spending up to 12
18 cityonahillpress.com
hours playing either Super Smash Bros: Brawl or Super
Street Fighter IV. The organizers of this event have
found a way to make donating time and money easy,
rewarding and fun.
This is a superbly innovative and positive way to give
back to the community.
The “gamer” community has various negative stereo-
types, such as being antisocial or lacking a sense of reali-
ty — but these thoughts are untrue and this event proves
it. It’s bringing together a gaming community that real-
izes that there’s more to the world than high scores and
bonus levels. Video games have always been considered
communal. Their origins are firmly entrenched in the
arcades of yesteryear, and, though it was once seen as a
only hobby for children and men, it is now becoming
fully realized that everyone plays video games.
Video games are one of the fastest rising of art and
entertainment mediums, rivaled closely by comic books.
It’s smart and modern to take this pastime and find ways
to utilize its entertainment factor to contribute to a good
cause.
Maybe you have no interest in playing video games,
or maybe you have homework, like the majority of
the student body. That’s understandable. But if you’re
interested in the cause, you can donate on the Fall Brawl
website: www.portervgf.org/fallbrawl.
Follow the links, go to the event and feel good about
yourself.
Thursday, November 18, 2010

Who the Hell?!

WHO
THE “Cho Chang, ’cause Harry couldn’t get her.” “Snape or McGonagall ... McGonagall, because

HELL
— powerful woman? Come on. Plus, she could
teach me a little transfiguration.”
ALEX MATHEW ALEX PONTING
FOURTH-YEAR, CROWN FOURTH-YEAR, COLLEGE NINE
COMPUTER GAME DESIGN BIOCHEMISTRY

ASKED
YOU?!
Which Harry Potter character is “Sirius Black, ’cause his evil Azkaban [wanted]
poster was a turn-on. And he can turn into a
“Ron, because of the red hair. There’s something
about gingers.”
the most bangable? dog.”
MORGAN CULBERTSON ALMA DE CASTRO
SECOND-YEAR, COWELL FOURTH-YEAR, OAKES
POLITICS POLITICS & GLOBAL ECONOMICS
Compiled by Chelsea Hawkins & Morgan Grana

cityonahillpress.com 19