Sex Drive?
At some point, you become too old for hatchback hanky-panky.
Month: August 2007
International Antarctic Conference at UCSB
Hiding out on the bottom of the world, Antarctica has long lived in the far recesses of public interest-garnering rare attention for its radical weather patterns, penguin occupants, and occasional exploratory tragedy. However, the continent’s relative anonymity has changed in recent years, and the ever-increasing and irrefutable realities of global warming have helped the world’s fifth-largest continent surge to the frontlines of public discourse on climate change.
Gevirtz Study Examines Fiscal Impact of Dropouts on State
Until now, the issue of high school dropout rates had never been assigned an economic value. Last week, the California Dropout Research Project (CDRP)-an arm of the Linguistic Minority Research Institute (LMRI) at UCSB’s Gevirtz School of Education-released the findings of a study on the fiscal impact high school dropouts have upon the state of California.
Measure A Draws Fans, Detractors
Proponents of Measure A, a proposition that would move Santa Barbara’s city council elections from odd- to even-numbered years, kicked off their campaign Tuesday. Those against the measure, meanwhile, continued to voice their belief that the measure would be bad for Santa Barbara.
Back in Session
THe kids in the hall: Dr. Mark Capritto, pictured here just after the last bell on the first day of school, replaces Paul Turnbull as principal at Santa Barbara High School. District attendance was down though not as much as feared in the current declining enrollment reality. The secondary district reported 9,618 kids-down about 700 from last year-and the elementary reported 5,592 students, down about 220 students from last year.
Mental Health Gets Axed
In a case of toxic trickle-down, county mental health officials now find themselves pressed to find $1.4 million to fund a successful program that keeps mentally ill homeless people off the streets. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger axed funding on August 25 as part of Sacramento’s convoluted and dysfunctional budget dance: In order to get the Republican votes needed to pass his budget, the governor agreed to cut $700 million from the $145-billion budget.
Shallow Waters for Steelhead?
Natasha Lohmus is worried about the trout. Formerly a game warden and now an environmental scientist with California’s Department of Fish and Game, Lohmus has reported three pumps in Montecito creeks because she suspects they are drawing off more water than the endangered Southern California Steelhead can spare.
Wilco
America’s best and hardest-working rock unit played a fitting, elegant, and raucous swan song to summer last Sunday night under a silvery full moon at the Santa Barbara Bowl. It took a few tunes to get going-that whole rapport-with-the-crowd thing getting in the way at the start of the set-but after a dulcet set by popster balladeer Richard Swift, who delivered a half dozen songs in a Harry-Nilsson-meets-Elvis-Costello-like tone, Jeff Tweedy (in great voice) and the revised Wilco lineup opened with two lyrical offerings from the lush new album, Sky Blue Sky.
Wanda Jackson Remembers Elvis
Not content with being a pioneer of country music, Wanda Jackson decided to throw caution to the wind and embrace the wild new discipline of rock ‘n’ roll in the 1950s. While Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley received public praise, Jackson fought for recognition in the confines of a male-dominated genre, and is now widely heralded as the First Lady of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Eat Locally, Eat Well
This September is officially “local eating” month. The challenge is to eat food grown within a 100-mile radius of home, while enjoying the process and, indeed, eating well.