Daniel Christensen, Vol. 6 No. 1, 1977-07-13
The Black Panther party is a very important aspect of history and it always stands out to me due to how well known it was and what topics were covered because of them. Not to mention, it is widely talked about around Berkeley and that is why I believe it is important enough to discuss in further detail. Racism is still a widely talked about topic and is an issue, efforts such as this made it possible for racism to be talked about and pushed back against. Racism still exists in some forms which is why it is relevant. In addition, many issues were swept under the rug by officials, so being aware of history through all forms can reveal the truth and teach individuals how to be open-minded and filter out what people say. To ensure history doesn’t repeat itself we can address and cataloguing important points in history such as this on which is why it stood out to me as I believe this article is very important and still relevant to some degree. Knowing about it for the sake of knowing why it is talked about a lot at Berkeley doesn’t hurt either.

Vannessa Olague De La Cruz, Vol. 10 No.4, 1981-08-26

Many people refer to teens as kids. If they're not over 18, they're still under-age and still a "kid" yet there are some highschool seniors that graduate at the age of 17 and come to college underage. Even though they're living alone and being on their own they still need housing. However, in 1991 they wanted to pass a law that denied and/or gave landlords the rights to discriminate against children meaning that if a family is looking to move into an apartment is looking for somewhere to stay, the law would give the landlord the right to deny them housing simply based on the fact that they have children with them. These families will be denied a essential part of survival which is shelter. This is wrong given that families with children are the people that most need housing to support their family and keep them safe.

Leslie Veliz Vol. 8, No. 7, 1979-10-23

The reason I chose this newspaper over the others I have collected metadata from is because this newspaper has topics that are relevant to today. In the section “Schools Dish Up Rotten Turkey” reveals that at least one of Berkeley’s public schools had contaminated food. To reap maximum profit, interstate laid off a few food service works and thus consolidated various school site kitchens. Unfortunately, many schools, specifically public, face these problems. The section titled “Avenue Cop Misbehaves” was especially interesting to me. Officer A. Garcia stated “People’s Park is not a public place” is quite ironic. Day-to-day activities residents are engaging in are being labeled as criminal. People such as George Kauffman oppose Garcia. Lastly another section titled “Chief Cries About Police Budget” describes how Washburn disagreed with almost every cut. One cut specially was the “crimes against women unit”. Final budget decisions were made without input from BPD, Berkeley Police Department. This result raise the question, how can we trust those who protect and serve to actually do their job?

Alejandro Amaya Zavala Vol. 7, No.23, 1979-06-06

Interview with Jennifer Miles, a woman who worked with a subcommittee investigating the death of Karen Silkwood and the broader topic of nuclear safety. She starts off by giving a short description of the nuclear fuel cycle program. She describes how Karen Silkwood was working at the Kerr-McGee plant when she noticed that quantities of plutonium and uranium were missing. Karen Silkwood noticed many safety violations, like ripped suits and untrained employees, and when employees were tested were found to have levels of radioactivity so high that they would not only shorten their lifespan by 15-20 years but would also basically be guaranteed to give them cancer. Karen Silkwood started to gather all of this evidence for her union, (Oil, Chemical and atomic workers union aka OCAW). Someone caught wind of Karen Silkwood doing this, so small amounts of plutonium were put into her food, trying to scare her away or to make her too sick to continue her investigation. On her way to an interview with a New York Times Reporter and an OCAW official, she was run off the road and killed.

Goe Vang Vol. 7, No. 13, 1979-01-10

History is literally repeating itself. After the overturn of Roe V. Wade it is not surprising that this has happened in the past before. However the fact that this happened in 1978 and up to date is pretty upsetting. Abortion were legal in 1973 by the Supreme Court but federal laws made it increasingly difficult to obtain an abortion at clinics. This has been going on for years and now that I’m seeing it myself has made me feel so disappointed in humanity. The N.O.W, the National Organization for Women speaks out about abortion after many events that have occurred. Women have been assaulted at clinics and even died from receiving a DIY abortion. It’s more alarming that abortion was hated so much to the point that terrorism occurred. Abortion clinics in several states were burned and bombed. It’s really upsetting. We’re in the 20^th century and yet history is repeating all over again.

Kaden Pedro Vol. 14, No. 7, 1985-10-09

Two southern civil rights activists, Evelyn and Albert Turner were at the time indicted and then acquitted of the alleged voting fraud. This trial was speculated to have just been a way to intimidate black voters and registration voters though. This attack came quite recently with the substantial decision of giving African Americans the ability to vote occurring 20 years before this. Regrettably, these instances were far from rare with West Alabama being a breeding ground for the intense struggle of disenfranchisement along with black empowerment, especially from a political standpoint. This is extremely interesting because of just how much of the southern population is African American. Through a statistic like this, you would have the majority of the political power there but that would be false due to instances like this constantly occurring. When people are arrested for speaking their mind politically it brings unwanted and unwarranted attention causing a huge stagger in votes from the African American population basically scaring them out of the polls. Even after all the human rights push of colored people the corrupt nation still finds a way to disrupt any unity or chance at prosperity we have. It is especially captivating to see that news articles are actually reporting these events though showing that leftist movements weren’t scared of how the atrocities were being committed no matter what the repercussions were.

Alisa Karesh Volume 13, No. 2, 1984-07-25

This article discusses the results of the Women's Poll back in 1984 and how women voting can change the election outcome. What the Women's Poll shows specifically is the opinions of women regarding different topics. It shows how a lot of women back in 1984 were for the "nuclear freeze," wanted to decrease "military spending," wanted less U.S. "involvement in Central America," and more "federal support for child care." These findings support that there is a clear link between the beliefs of a certain group of people and their age, gender, race, religion, etc., and this article specifically supports the link between a person’s sex and their beliefs. If one is interested in learning more about the opinions of American women during the 1984 election, this article would be able to provide such information.

This article also supports how critical it is to take the opportunity to vote, since just “one person [changing their] vote in every precinct…” can change the outcome of the elections. As I have learned in my U.S. Government and Politics class back in high school, unfortunately, though, voting is still hard for some communities since some are located too far from a place where they can vote, some simply don’t have the time because of work, and some vote according to their close ones’ beliefs. This article reminded me of our current voting situation and how it is important to continue working toward making voting accessible to more communities and motivating people to vote because everyone’s voices matter.

Armando Gutierrez Vol. 5, No. 7, 1976-08-06
This article by the Gray Panthers Nursing Home Committee tackles the issue of the needs of the elderly (specifically those who are low-income) and is accompanied by a political comic which helps visualize the issue. In 1976, over 1 million individuals over 65 years in the United States were living in senior living centers due to being poor and unable to take care of themselves. Organizations like the then Gray Panthers confronted society’s mistreatment of the elderly population and the lack of funds for social services. In this article, the Gray Panthers visited six different elderly nursing homes. There were a significant amount of problems within each. Some of the major problems within are understaffing, lack of adequate training, and lack of privacy and investigations. At the time, the best ways to help were visiting patients at nursing homes and reporting complaints. This is still relevant, as according to the National Bureau of Economic Research reports that a “50-year-old has a 53% to 59%” chance of ending up in a nursing home. Nursing Home Abuse Justice reports that “24.3%” of nursing home elderly reported at least “one instance of physical abuse” (Johnson 2021). The problems within nursing homes and the mistreatment of the elderly population (especially low-income and disabled elderly) continue today.

Citlali Gonzalez Vol. 3 No. 1, 1974_07_03

This article is so interesting because what we once thought of as the past still continues to be our present. The native americans have been here since our founding, an integral part of our history yet we deny them their rights as founder of thai country, shunning them into similar to a third-class citizens, some might argue that they aren’t even considered citizens but similar to a international persona with a visa, a protection that can be taking away. These people should be given full priority but as a means of hiding away dark history they isolate the natives on reserves, where they themselves are located, yet still dare to criticize them and state that they are the problem. I truly believe that if more people were aware of this injustice more action would be taken, more lives would be saved.

Adrian Castillo Vol. 1, No. 2, 1972-08

This excerpt from the volume on the passage of Affirmative Action reminded me of the inclusion UC Berkeley has and strives for. Berkeley has implemented programs, such as the Educational Opportunity Program, to help students of color and those from low-income areas be accepted into the university propelling them into a better education and work opportunities afterward. It was interesting to see that affirmative action had affected the university because of how long ago this decision was made. It feels as though Berkeley has had a history aiding minorities and women, although this decision was not made by them, but by the public. The public has always been involved in these policies here at UC Berkeley, meaning it would be correct to say that they have led the history of inclusivity that the institution is known for, part of which includes this program adopted by the Berkeley City Council in 1972.