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California Voices

Viewpoints from across California

About

California Voices aims to broaden our understanding of California by convening discussions and fostering dialogue that advances solutions. We will spotlight voices of those directly impacted by policy or its absence and are a forum for guest commentaries, staff columns and contributors.

Meet the Team
Yousef Baig
California Voices Editor
Denise Amos
California Voices Deputy Editor
Dan Walters
Columnist
Jim Newton
Jim Newton
Contributor
Pedro Rios
Contributor
Robert Greene
Robert Greene
Contributor
Commentary
A modest proposal to deregulate NCAA sports
William L. Rukeyser, former reporter and communications specialist: College football and basketball players are hard workers and deserve to the paid that way. Unfortunately for the vast majority of them, the teams they currently work for are as close to the majors as they'll ever get and the system is intent on denying them the pay day they deserve. Many will leave the halls of academe without a degree and without a future. They deserve better.
By • July 21, 2019
Commentary
California’s new Public Utilities Commission president must lead us to a gas-free future
Gladys Limón and V. John White, California Environmental Justice Alliance: Under Marybel Batjer’s leadership, the California Public Utilities Commission must prepare California to move beyond gas. Creating an equitable, safe and secure phase-out of gas in coming decades will be no small feat. But Batjer has demonstrated she is not afraid of taking courageous action and shaking things up.
By • July 18, 2019
Berkeley, California, USA - October 15, 2016: University of California entrance sign on the corner of Oxford Street and Center Street at Berkeley, California. Over 150 years old, and with many Nobel Prizes winners (they even have reserved parking spots for them), the campus serves almost 40,000 students within an open green space.
Commentary
UC Library’s hasty implementation of a complex plan means academic researchers lose
Daniel Marti, RELX parent to Elsevier: Elsevier proposed a series of arrangements that would contain costs for the University of California, achieve the objectives of the Academic Senate and provide students, faculty, researchers and medical professionals with uninterrupted service to the research platform that supports their work. UC Library negotiators rejected all offers.
By • July 17, 2019
Commentary
In California, we long ago ended the ‘War on Coal’
Jan Smutny-Jones, Independent Energy Producers Association: If there is a war on coal—as President Trump claims—it’s long been decided in California and most of the West. In 2008, coal comprised 18.2% of California’s electricity mix. By 2018, that number had fallen to 3%, with virtually all the coal coming from a single plant in Utah.
By • July 16, 2019
Commentary
Forty years of lies stigmatizing ‘teenage pregnancy’ are enough
Mike Males, author of “Teenage Sex and Pregnancy: Modern Myths, Unsexy Realities”: From the 1990s to 2017, the birth rate among California teens fell by a staggering 80%. Why did this happen? Ignore the interest groups clamoring for credit. The reason is not sex education in California or contraceptive programs in Colorado. Teens themselves are reducing births, especially those involving adult partners.
By • July 14, 2019

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