UCSB Bites - November  2006 

Political Bites

For the love of God, please let this election be over.  The political ads are driving me insane!  Whoever wins, their governance cannot be as bad as merely  listening to the lying bastards that write the ads.  

UCSB Non-Judgmental Bite

Why is it that the Nexus published an article about the volunteers who were cleaning up IV after the Halloween debauchery but somehow could not seem to find a photo of the amount and extent of the trashing that is all too commonplace in IV.    At least last year they provided a photo (albeit shot to downplay the scope of the mess).   A total of over 700 arrests and citations in IV made it a "successful" Halloween.   What would an unsuccessful one look like?   Over 40 people went to hospital for alcohol poison.   Overall, it was a classic demonstration of what the juveniles at UCSB/IV like to refer to as "responsible partying."   Oh, and were are all the photos of the arrests, fights, barfing, and EMS doing it work around IV during Halloween.  It must be that the Nexus has more important thing to show photos the "fun" that is taking place in IV.  Maybe they don't want their Mom to see it. 

UCSB Judgmental Bites

The Sheriff's office  claims  it spent $250,000 to police Halloween.  Add to that the hospital, ambulance, human costs, and the total is astronomical.  Student groups need to stop whining about  the lack of funding for  "worthy causes" until they stop blowing huge amounts on Halloween.  

Apparently unable to sponsor enough free booze, drugs and music to manufacture a serious protest regarding the Cedarwood Apartments, the "activists" have reluctantly moved on (after the tenants took a couple of months rent as payment to move).   Looks to me like the residents of Cedarwood were looking for a commercial solution and the "activists" were looking for headlines.  Who caused the Cedarwood evictions?   More students, more demand, more middle class money drives rents up.  If UCSB and SBCC lowered the number of new students admitted, there would be fewer people looking for housing.   Therefore, rents would be lower.  Here endth the lesson.  If you want to find the culprit for the evictions, just look at increased admissions – continued growth from UCSB and SBCC caused the problem.  Or, would this simple answer not be as much fun as blaming the greedy landlords and whipping up racial divisions?  If you want to protest someone, try Yang.  The real estate owner is merely responding to market conditions in IV – a one sided (ever increasing demand) market created by UCSB and SBCC.   One more thing: Has anyone even looked into how many of the UCSB faculty own investments in IV real estate?   

Respectfully submitted,

Banjo Reams