Morning Lookout: UCSC tops for female leaders; end in sight for school masks?
Greetings, Lookout friends! It’s Tuesday, Feb. 15, and a sunny day is ahead for Santa Cruz County, with high temps from the mid-50s into the lower 60s.
It’s an education-heavy morning:
- A new ranking has UC Santa Cruz tops among 130 U.S. research universities in terms of female leadership.
- UCSC could be affected by a court ruling that UC Berkeley must cut enrollment by a third after a court-ordered freeze.
- And K-12 students across the state will be wearing masks through at least Feb. 28, with California health officials reassess COVID-19 conditions at the end of the month.
We’ve got all that and then some in today’s headlines:
UC Santa Cruz first in U.S. for female leadership
With more than a third of the campus’ deans and tenured professors being female, UC Santa Cruz — and its female chancellor, Cynthia Larive — leads the nation in gender diversity, according to a new ranking. Lookout’s Hillary Ojeda has the details.
➤ MORE UCSC NEWS: Appellate court ruling a victory for UCSC in Student Housing West project, but two lawsuits ongoing (Lookout)
Quick Take
Kaiser Permanente has partnered with systems change agency SupplyBank.org to disperse donations of sanitizing wipes, N95...
Court could force UC Berkeley to cut 3,000 undergraduate seats
The court-imposed freeze could have implications for other UC campuses, including UC Santa Cruz. Find out more from our partners at the Los Angeles Times.
➤ MORE FROM HIGHER EDUCATION: Find all of Lookout’s coverage in one place
➤ SERVING UP HOT, NEW JOBS: See all the most recent listings here.
- Snap Hand (Counter & Kitchen) at Snap Taco
- Director of Operations at Homeless Garden Project
- Facilities & Safety Director at Second Harvest Food Bank
California school mask mandate will remain in place through at least Feb. 28
State health officials will reassess COVID-19 conditions at the end of the month before making a decision on school masking rules. More here from the Times.
➤ MORE ON MASKS: Masks off again: Santa Cruz County to align with state as Omicron tapers off (Lookout)
Avocado spat with Mexico puts California farmers in spotlight
Trade groups are pressing for a quick resolution after the United States banned avocado imports from Michoacán following a threat to a U.S. inspector there. The Times maps out the impact.
Signs indicate Russia could be seeking to dial back tensions in Ukraine crisis
Russia says it will move some troops back from the Ukraine border to their garrisons, apparently telegraphing a lowering of tensions with the U.S. and NATO. Get the latest update here.
➤ FROM MONDAY: U.S. relocating embassy from Ukraine’s capital amid fears of Russian invasion (Los Angeles Times)
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Around the county ...
➤ Santa Cruz resident Alix Wilkinson posts DNF in fast, tricky women’s downhill at Beijing Games (Santa Cruz Sentinel)
➤ Housing identified as key for new vision of Watsonville’s downtown (The Pajaronian)
➤ Second battery malfunction in less than six months reported at Moss Landing power plant (KSBW-TV)
That’s it for today. If you’re enjoying our coverage, please tell your family and friends about our Lookout Newsletter & Text Center, where they can sign up for all the newsletters and alerts we offer. You can also keep tabs throughout the day by bookmarking our website and following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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Have a great day!
Will McCahill
Lookout Santa Cruz
