Lookout’s new affordability and equity reporter, Grace Stetson, has lived in Seattle, Chicago, Brooklyn and the Bay Area. She had never seen the Santa Cruz housing market firsthand until she had to deal with it herself — somehow she survived to tell. Even if just barely.
UC Santa Cruz
Posted inEducation
UC admits largest, most diverse class ever, but it was harder to get accepted
The University of California admitted its largest, most diverse undergraduate class ever for fall 2021 — but it was harder to get in as a record-shattering number of applicants vied for access to the renowned public research system, according to UC data released Monday.
Posted inEducation
A ‘forever hike’ on UC tuition: Regents will vote this week on a fees escalation shelved by the pandemic
Thursday’s vote could allow UC campuses to raise tuition every year, indefinitely — despite receiving extra state cash. Student groups are outraged and key lawmakers oppose the move, but UC says it needs more money and that financial aid will blunt the hit to students.
Posted inEducation
Tokyo, here she comes! UCSC student becomes first athlete from school to head to Olympics
UC Santa Cruz student Isabelle Connor will be representing Team USA at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, set to begin July 23, as part of the group rhythmic gymnastics team — a first in the school’s history.
Posted inEducation
California lawmakers tout big college spending, but key items get zero dollars this year
Lawmakers say their budget deal with Gov. Gavin Newson will expand enrollment at public universities and create a debt-free grant. But those items aren’t getting a dollar this coming year. Instead, bill language says the money will come next year. Other major investments are in this year’s budget, though.
Posted inEducation
UCSC digital artist channels fire, Chinese history in award-nominated VR project
A devastating 1938 blaze in his hometown of Changsha, China, was the jumping-off point for the latest project from MFA candidate Haoran Chang, whose virtual-reality work imagining a capitalist exploitation of traditional fire therapy is a finalist for a BAFTA award.
Posted inEnvironment
Lockdown-emboldened mountain lions ventured farther into urban areas, UCSC researchers say
UCSC researchers who have tracked pumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains for years saw that the big cats started moving closer to, or even into, more densely populated areas within days of shelter-in-place orders taking effect last year.
Posted inEducation
Graduate student researchers at University of California seek union representation
Across the University of California, teaching assistants and tutors are unionized, but graduate student researchers are not. That could soon change after organizers filed more than 10,000 signed union authorization cards with the California Public Employment Relations Board last month.
Posted inEducation
From groundskeeper to graduate: Katharina Pierini takes scenic route to UCSC degree
Katharina Pierini first enrolled at UC Santa Cruz in 1994 before life drew her away from her studies. Now a groundskeeper at the university, she is earning her bachelor’s degree this weekend — completing a path she set out on 27 years ago.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
UCSC grad student’s video game makes ‘speech magic’ for children with cleft palate
Jared Duval and the team behind SpokeIt are harnessing language software to provide speech therapy for children with cleft lip or cleft palate with an accessible game coming soon to Apple devices.