Another article by Noozhawk, this time in the form of a Letter to the Editor.
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[Note: The following is a letter sent May 15 from UCSB faculty members to the office of Santa Barbara Mayor Helene Schneider.]
Dear Mayor Helene Schneider,
We are a group of UCSB faculty in support of the fossil fuel divestment campaigns sweeping universities, cities, churches and other institutions right now.
There have been resolutions passed by both the UCSB and SBCC student senates to have their campuses divest from the fossil fuel industry, and there is a campaign now among faculty at UCSB to call on our faculty Legislature to do the same.
Some of us have been in contact with organizers from the group 350 Santa Barbara, who say they have been in communication with you about fossil fuel divestment.
It is our understanding that you told them the City of Santa Barbara divested long ago. We think it would make a strong statement to publicly state that the city has already divested and will not invest in any fossil fuel companies in the future, that you support these recent campus divestment initiatives and that you hope other local institutions will consider divesting as well.
It is in the interest of the economy, the public’s health and general welfare, and our globally shared environment that we support these divestment initiatives wherever they may continue cropping up.
Great changes start with small steps. Please join us in taking those steps now. The whole world is waiting.
Sincerely,
John Foran, Sociology
Elisabeth Weber, German
Harold Marcuse, History
Ruth Hellier-Tinoco, Music
Paul Spickard, Asian-American Studies
Aranye Fradenburg, English
David Lopez-Carr, Geography
Lisa Parks, Film and Media Studies
Greg Mohr, Environmental Studies
Marc McGinnes, Environmental Studies
Casey Walsh, Anthropology
Raymond Clemençon, Global and International Studies
David Cleveland, Environmental Studies
Catherine Gautier, Geography
Aashish Mehta, Global and International Studies
Veronica Castillo-Munoz, History
Celia Alario, Environmental Studies
Rita Raley, English
Chris Newfield, English
Sharon Farmer, History
Stephanie LeMenager, English
Jeffrey Hoelle, Anthropology
Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi, Sociology
Aranye Fradenburg, English
Leila Rupp, Feminist Studies
Stephanie LeMenager, English
Richard Appelbaum, Global and International Studies
Patricia Clancy, Linguistics
Nancy Gallagher, History
Claudio Fogu, Italian
ann-elise Lewallen, East Asian Languages
Eileen Boris, Feminist Studies
Maria Charles, Sociology
Howard Winant, Sociology
Bruce Bimber, Political Science
Celia Alario, Environmental Studies
Barbara Harthorn, Feminist Studies Arturo Keller, BREN School
Catherine Nesci, French
Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval, Chicano Studies
Bodo Bookhagen, Geography Julie Carlson, English
Mary Hancock, Anthropology
Mayfair Yang, Religious Studies
Diane Fujino, Asian-American Studies
Tim Cooley, Music
Grace Chang, Feminist Studies
Roberto Strongman, Black Studies
Kum-Kum Bhavnani, Sociology
350 Santa Barbara 