STUDENT CAREER SITE

I’m a student at UC Santa Cruz working on a project called CareerLoop—a student-led site we built to help other students and community members explore career paths, salaries and growth data across 25+ majors.

You can check it out here: careerloop.app/degrees.

We created this because so many students (ourselves included) felt lost in that “what now?” stage after college. Our goal is to make the process of discovering meaningful, sustainable careers more accessible—starting right here in Santa Cruz.

I’d love to share this project with Good Times readers, maybe through a short community feature, resource mention, or inclusion on your site. Since Good Times has always highlighted student stories and local innovation, it would mean a lot to have your support in helping other UCSC and Cabrillo students discover this resource.

Thank you for the incredible work you do spotlighting what makes Santa Cruz such a vibrant, connected community.

William Zhao | Santa Cruz

HELP VETERANS

Fundraising is underway to help local veterans keep a beloved 35-year Santa Cruz Thanksgiving tradition alive. Every year, Veterans for Peace and Friends of Thanksgiving host a free holiday meal at the Veterans Memorial Building for anyone in the community who is unhoused or struggling to make ends meet. A GoFundMe has been created to help cover the cost of food, supplies, and music so everyone can enjoy a warm meal on Thanksgiving Day.

Here is the link to the GoFundMe: gofundme.com/f/bfcxav-santa-cruz-community-thanksgiving-dinner

Kirsten Mitchell | Communications Associate

PLEASE FIX THE TRACKS

I’m writing to ask and argue for a fix for bike crashes at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk railroad crossing to improve bicyclist safety and reduce the likelihood of getting stuck in the tracks. Too many people are getting hurt. I hate to think how many bicyclists have been injured over the years.

Can we put in a level crossing with no joint? It seems like we only need like literally 25 to 50 feet of it.

After hearing for years about/from people who have been hurt there, shaking my head, and being careful to cross at a 90° angle and slow way down every time I go across, the issue became much more personal to me in the last month or so.

A close friend crashed her bike and injured her foot and was crippled up and is just now walking okay, and yesterday my partner crashed her bike on the way home from beach volleyball and broke her foot and will be in recovery for the next four months or so according to the doctor.

Literally everyone who I’ve talked to since my sweetie crashed either has done it too or knows someone who has.

Something like this seems pretty straightforward to implement (compressible rubber flangeway filler.

While we were waiting for a CT after the X-rays showed broken metatarsal bones, the guy sitting next to us said his wife reinjured her ACL there when she crashed on her bike several years ago. I told a friend what happened and she said she crashed there years ago too. My colleague just called to give well-wishes and when he found out where it happened he said his wife crashed there too!

My partner told her volleyball teammates what happened and many of them also replied with stories about injuries and crashes. I shudder to think how much pain, suffering and lost productivity that single  crossing has caused. I think we can do better than this for our locals who use the bike path more and more to work, shop and play.

See more here: robsonforensic.com/articles/bicycle-rail-track-crash-expert

Andy Ritchie | Santa Cruz

ED NOTE: Add me to the list of people who got hurt biking on those tracks. Thanks so much for pointing it out. (Brad)

ONLINE COMMENTS

PINBALL WIZARD

I’d love to visit your spot! I’m a pinball player from the ’80s!

I only own one machine: “Old Chicago.” I am in Vallejo, but if we ever get down to Santa Cruz, I’ll make sure to stop by to play all your machines!!! I wish you all the best in your new journey and am sure you will be successful!!! Angryasianchef aka Rob Wong | Goodtimes.sc