Could racial tensions be seething beneath the surface of UCSC. Some school officials are worried that they are after an image of a noose was found scrawled on a bathroom door in the Earth and Marine Sciences Building. The image was accompanied by the words “lynch” and “San Diego,” the latter a reference to racial tensions at UCSD two weeks ago. That began when a group of white students hosted a “ghetto-themed” party. African American students, who constitute a small minority on the campus, held a protest, and just a few days later a noose was found hanging from a light fixture in the campus library. Chancellor George Blumenthal responded in a web post, saying, “This incident is deeply disturbing. I want to be clear: There is no place on this campus for racial intolerance or hate of any kind.”
The tension is leading up to the planned Day of Action on March 4, during which students throughout the UC network will protest budget cuts to higher education throughout the state. Protestors say that African American and other minority students will be the most disenfranchised group of the various campuses as a result of the cuts. Student activists say that the campus will be shut down on Thursday, and that students and their supporters will gather in downtown Santa Cruz that afternoon to protest the proposed cuts.
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