Education

  • Poll: Majority of Californians Value the Coast, Even as They Move Farther From It

    November 18, 2016 /

    Time, cost and transportation were among the barriers cited by respondents. The Field Poll also found that African Americans were among those less likely to visit the coast, with 33 percent saying they visit less than once a year and citing an inability to swim as the key factor. Families earning more than $60,000 were also more likely to visit more often than families earning less than $40,000.

    california  California Coastal Act  coast  environment  environmental justice  ocean  spotlight  
  • #IfICouldVote: Looking to the next wave of youth voters

    November 7, 2016 /

    Part of the problem is indifference, said 16-year-old Cheng Vang, a student at Buhach Colony High School in Atwater. While this election cycle has been full of turmoil and drama, many of his friends and classmates don’t regularly follow politics and therefore don’t feel a personal connection to any of the issues on the ballot. If the voting age were lowered to 16, however, Vang said youth would be more likely to pay attention and start forming consistent voting habits.

    elections  spotlight  voting  voting age  youth  
  • We’Ced Weighs In: 13th and the Road to Mass Incarceration

    October 31, 2016 /

    Modern incarceration has become a privatized business due to the 13th Amendment. However, mass incarceration is just a fancy term for a modern day slave trade that produces JCPenney clothing and vanity plates for the DMV. Today’s world activists are being arrested and killed, just as people were in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. If we are to follow Trump’s perfect America, we will fall back into the hatred-filled time of the 60’s.

    13th  Ava Duvernay  documentary  mass incarceration  slavery  spotlight  
  • Parents air concerns, hopes for LCAP funding in Merced City School District

    October 19, 2016 /

    LCFF goals include increasing student test scores and English comprehension, providing clean, safe and secure learning environments and increasing parent participation. Parents are also supposed to have a say in how local schools carry out their LCAP, a goal Corchado and other local advocates say is essential for Merced families. “All the parents we work with have always wanted to participate in their kids education. They’ve always wanted to get involved in the school but they just didn’t know how,” she said.

    BHC. Education  Cultiva La Salud  LCFF. LCAP  PIQUE  SAT  spotlight  
  • ‘It’s on us’: UC Merced students take control of voter registration efforts

    October 14, 2016 /

    “It’s really important that the communities who are disenfranchised and have been ignored for so long, turn out and vote. They have power and they can help make a change,” said Brenda Gutierrez, organizing director of Associated Students of University of California, Merced (ASUCM). The 20-year-old university student spent a majority of her summer going door-to-door in Merced County to help spread the word about several ballot measures and campaigns this year. Her work was part of the ASUCM external office “We Vote” program, a statewide initiative across the UC campuses aimed at getting students more involved in elections.

    ASUCM  elections  SALE  spotlight  Student voters  uc merced  voter registration  voting  
  • A Child of Incarceration

    September 22, 2016 /

    Everyday my dad is in that jail, I fear he may die because of harsh treatment prisoners are subjected to. This month inmates in prisons around the country, including where my dad is incarcerated, went on a hunger strike to protest the cruel treatment they receive. I wanted to go on hunger strike too, but my mom says that I am too young. She has joined the strike for me and has not eaten since September 9th.

    hunger strike  incarceration  jail  prison  Schools not prisons  spotlight