The Buzz 10.03.24

FREE SPEECH

National Media Literacy Week was already on our calendar for Oct. 21-25, but now it’s official. On Tuesday, Oct. 1, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution proclaiming those dates as National Media Literacy Week in Monterey County. “Media literacy can promote civic engagement and social justice by empowering individuals to use media to raise awareness and advocate for change,” the resolution states. There is a dark side acknowledged as well, part of the motivation behind declaring this occasion: “Misinformation and disinformation pose a significant challenge, and potential harm.” But that’s where the benefit of trusted media – and the ability of the public to discern credible sources from misinformation and disinformation – comes in: “Media literacy training is essential to a healthy society.” Events for the week will be organized by the Monterey County Media Literacy Coalition, of which the Weekly is a member, along with the Monterey County Office of Education, Monterey County Free Libraries, UC Santa Cruz History & Civics Project and more.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“There is a real Elfland. Only part of it survived.”  – Jen Ghastin, a Salinas teacher who recently published a novel set in a wooded refuge at UC Santa Cruz (see story, montereycountynow.com)

GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK

GOOD:

Since the Pajaro River levee was built in 1949, floodwaters have breached and devastated the town of Pajaro and surrounding areas multiple times, most recently in 2023, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate. Talks to rebuild the levee have remained just that over the decades, until now. On Wednesday, Oct. 2, officials celebrated the groundbreaking of the Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project, which is expected to provide 100-year flood risk reduction to the area by constructing levees and improvements along the lower Pajaro River and its tributaries. The first section being built is in Watsonville, along Corralitos Creek, where there are currently no levees. In late 2023, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Pajaro Regional Flood Risk Management Agency signed a cost-sharing agreement for the $599 million project.

GREAT:

That Hartnell College goes above and beyond in serving Latino students is already well known locally. Now, the college’s efforts are recognized nationally, one of 17 colleges to be awarded the “Seal of Excelencia” on Oct. 1 by the Washington, D.C.-based group Excelencia in Education. The recognition is for institutions that go above and beyond to serve Latino students – and can demonstrate that their efforts are working. In the 2023-24 school year, 83 percent of Hartnell’s 12,000 students were Latino. And those students are succeeding: In the 2022-23 school year, Latino students had a 74-percent course success rate. Hartnell was recognized for its efforts to serve the student community’s needs, including by offering bilingual services; the Mi Casa program to support undocumented students; and creating campuses in mostly Latino communities such as Castroville and Soledad.