October 2013: Classes, Training, & Community

Healthy Mondays in the Dining Hall

Are Mondays a tough day for you? Come check out Healthy Mondays--where all health breaks loose--at a dining hall near you. Don't forget to celebrate the end of the week with us at Farm Fridays, where fresh and local ingredients are always on the menu. For an updated list of Healthy Monday and Farm Friday locations, check out the website.

Join the Kresge Natural Foods Co-op

The Kresge Community Natural Foods Co-op is a non-profit student-run food store located on the south side of Kresge College. It has been a Kresge College tradition for over twenty years, supporting small farmers, the UCSC Farm Project, and the Kresge Organic Garden. While anyone can buy food at the Food Co-op, members receive a discount. Come in for groceries, lunch, snacks, hot coffee, tea, or just to spend time with your friends. Hours: Weekdays 9 AM - 6 PM


October Seminars Offered with Common Ground Center
The Common Ground Center, located in Kresge College and promoting social and environmental change, is offering seminars throughout October.  There will also be a Common Ground Open House and World Cafe on October 21st from 6:30-9:00 PM in the Kresge Seminar Room. To learn more about Common Ground and the seminars they offer, check out their website and subscribe to their newsletter here.  


PowerShift Youth Conference: October 18-21

PowerShift is an influential youth conference that brings together more than 10,000 young, passionate people from across the United States to stop fracking, divest from the fossil fuel industry, and build a clean energy future to address the climate crisis. It aims to create a shift in our nation's political systems and energy systems (both power systems) - thus, a "Power Shift." The conference is in Pittsburgh during October 18-21, and is being held in this region because participants plan to demonstrate on the doorsteps of large companies promoting fracking in the region. You can register for the conference here and can contact David Shugar (dshugar@ucsc.edu), who is a regional coordinator for this event and can help answer questions and provide funding opportunities for registration, travel, and accommodation.

TAPS seeks to connect with Electric Vehicle (EV) drivers
Interested in learning more about electric vehicle charging developments planned for UCSC? Want to know of potential electrical shutdowns at Core West? Transportation and Parking Services is wanting to be in better touch with our electric vehicle user community at UCSC – please send an email to tabuika@ucsc.edu to be added to the list of current electric vehicle users. Learn more about UCSC's current EV accommodations on the TAPS website.

Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf Tours
This 30-minute guided tour offers insights into one of the longest wooden piers in the United States. The Santa Cruz Wharf extends a half-mile out to sea in a dynamic and truly marine environment.Seymour Center docents lead tours of the wharf every Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. year-round. Tours are free and open to the public. Meet at the Wharf Stage behind Olitas restaurant.  For more information about this project, check out the Seymour Center website here. 


Two Environmental Engineering Classes Offered for Fall

Looking for an extra class and love sustainability?  College Eight and Electrical Engineering are offering two sustainability-related classes:  EE80S, Sustainability Engineering and Design, MWF, 2-3:10; and CLEI 150A, Sustainability Praxis in the Built Environment, TTh, 4-6 PM. Sign up now on the MyUCSC portal if interested!

C2C Fellows Sustainability Leadership Workshop

Bard's C2C Fellows sustainability leadership workshop is coming to the Boston area in October!  C2C Fellows believes that young leaders in business and politics can change the world. Current students and recent college graduates are invited to attend the C2C Fellows Sustainability Leadership Workshop at Bentley University in October. Graduates of C2C workshops are eligible for partial scholarships to CEP’s master programs in environmental policy, climate science and policy, and sustainable business, as well as scholarships for follow-on leadership trainings. Encourage young leaders you know to apply today. The cost of the weekend trainings is $30 (including food, and lodging for those traveling over an hour).

Sierra Institute California Wilderness Program
Through the Sierra Institute's California Wilderness program, UCSC students and peers from UC Davis and Humboldt State spent the summer quarter backpacking around the state, studying the human-nature relationship through lenses of psychology, philosophy, and literature, letting nature to be the classroom. Read about their adventures on the Sierra Institute blog, and find out about future for-credit program opportunities at their website.


Sustainable Utility Networks of California Seeks Interested Students to Join

The proposed Sustainable Utility Networks of California (SUNS California) is seeking students interested in joining design teams.  SUNS California will be a new institute affiliated with UCSC, to be based in a zero net energy building on land adjacent to Long Marine Lab.  The Sustainability Engineering and Ecological Design (SEED) group, which is participating in this effort, is seeking students for Fall Quarter and beyond who would like to contribute to this unique effort.  We are planning to convene five working groups (faculty and students) on: Facility Design; Land Use; Transportation; Site ecology & protection; and Regulations and legal issues.  For more information, please contact Ronnie Lipschutz at rlipsch@ucsc.edu.

The 2013 California Sustainability in Higher Education Conference

Students and staff from UCSC came together at the Sustainability Conference that was held in Santa Barbara over this past summer. They attended presentations that each described the new sustainability innovations occurring at other universities throughout California. We shared a couple of our campus's projects including the Greenwashing Training Tool that was implemented over the past year. Go sustainability slugs!