March 17, 2010 4pm -7pm Cocoanut Grove
How To Santa Cruz is both the title of this year's business fair and a social media marketing initiative the Chamber has developed to give members the opportunity to engage in a rich social media experience. Each Business Fair participant has been invited to contribute to a collection of online articles on how to survive and thrive in Santa Cruz... information to their potential customers, visitors, and other businesses can find and contribute to.

Each article (text, video, or PowerPoint) utilizes the emerging marketing power of "authentic" communications and makes use of integrated social media – connecting the Article to related Facebook and LinkedIn sites and a Twitter feed. More importantly, the article becomes a searchable object that will return the information that users a searching for when they a looking for it.

Participants in the March 4 UCSC protests share their stories
“I am a language teacher!” UC Santa Cruz Italian lecturer Giulia Centineo screamed into the loudspeaker during a March 4 protest at UC Santa Cruz. Centineo held the microphone up to her lips and addressed the crowd, her hand trembling, perhaps out of nervousness or simply passion. “For years the administration has been shoving down our throats the idea that students are clients. No, students are students! I don't sell Italian! I teach Italian!”

Our intrepid reporter follows up on newly implemented parking fees

March has arrived and, with it, new downtown parking fees. From the talk about town and the impassioned comments in response to Good Times’ Feb. 18 article, “Pay to Park,” it appears that Cruzans are up in arms over the charges.

I spoke with Les Gripkey, who created a website in response to the parking fees that provides the contact information for city council members and some “Free Parking Talking Points” (gripkeys.googlepages.com/parking). A Boulder Creek resident who regularly shops in Santa Cruz, Gripkey says his main goal in starting the page is to dispense information.

How does the proposed “gas tax flip” affect local transportation and how does it fit in to current budget negotiations?

The “gas tax flip” proposed as part of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s budget would eliminate the sales tax on gas and, instead, increase the excise tax on gas resulting in a 5 cent per gallon price reduction at the gas pump. However, the end result would have a devastating impact on local transit: an estimated $6.5 million annual loss to the Santa Cruz Metro Transit District. This 20 percent decrease to Metro’s budget would require a reduction in the number of bus routes offered, a reduction in the number of Para Cruz shuttles, which transport people with disabilities, and the loss of more than 200 union jobs that include health benefits. 

Local program collects used sharps and old medicines

What does one do with that medicine cabinet full of expired aspirin bottles, ancient antibiotics, and other colorful capsules whose origins are long forgotten? What is the proper way to dispose of used syringes? While tossing these items into the trash or flushing them down the drain may be a common response, such impulsive disposal methods can actually harm Central Coast residents and natural habitats.

Why one local surfer wants to put the ‘Aloha’ back in surfing
Denise Garcia began surfing as a child growing up in Santa Cruz County. She got serious about it around the age of 16, when she and a friend bought a longboard to share. They would walk from their homes in Soquel to Pleasure Point, taking turns carrying the board on their heads.

Now 29-years-old, Garcia is a seasoned surfer and Pleasure Point veteran. But as much as she loves Santa Cruz and its waves, a recent life-changing experience has put local surf culture into question for Garcia—what she once accepted as a competitive and aggressive tradition she now fears is facing a dangerous departure from everything it claims to stand for.

The president recently repeated his campaign pledge to repeal the Pentagon’s “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy that bars openly gay men and women from serving in the military. Do you agree?

The “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” policy is wrong, plain and simple. And it’s wrong for a lot of reasons.

Let’s start with some practical issues. We may be wrapping up our misguided occupation of Iraq, but at the same time we’re increasing our armed presence in Afghanistan. I remain opposed to our presence in those countries, but I find it curious to reject soldiers during wartime for their sexual orientation.