UC-Santa Barbara Dance Team

A Jewish University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB) student body president who was left hateful messages declaring “Zionist not allowed” near her office stated emphatically on social media that “we’re not going anywhere.”

Tessa Veksler issued the statement on Monday night following the discovery at the school’s Multicultural Center of over a dozen messages, written on placards, calling her a “neutral ass b—,” as well as saying “resistance is justified,” “you can run but you can’t hide Tessa Veksler,” and “get these Zionists out of office.” In marker, someone else graffitied “Zionist not welcome” on the door, just inches away from a mezuzah.

“I am floored by today’s events. I am deeply upset by the blatant antisemitic messages displayed at UCSB’s Multicultural Center (we see the irony, right?),” Veksler said in an Instagram post. “This is dehumanizing and rooted in antisemitism.”

She continued, “This incident is not an isolated event but rather a culmination of neglecting to adequately address the implications of such speech and actions within our university. UC Santa Barbara must not remain complicit in the targeting, intimidation, and discrimination against its Jewish students. Silence perpetuates discrimination against Jewish students.”

The Algemeiner has asked University of California-Santa Barbara to comment on this story.

Tessa Veksler is a fourth year political science major who was elected in April 2023 as president of UCSB Associated Students (AS), making history by becoming the school’s first ever Shabbat observant student body president. At the time, she told The Algemeiner that becoming president was always a “far-distant” goal of hers. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, from which her family emigrated in the 1990s, compelled her to run.

she dropped her burrito (-_-)

New camera test shots

Graduated yesterday ✨

@stephanieswain

what is the best way to find the full transcripts of speeches by presidents? is there a site that you use for that sort of research?

Yes, there are two particular sites that I tend to use whenever I'm researching speeches or Presidential messages and they are both excellent sources.

The American Presidency Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara is an invaluable resource. The UCSB site has archived hundreds of thousands of speeches, press conference transcripts, messages, and declarations from every President in American history. It's amazing how much information they have available for researchers, and how easy they've made it to navigate the site and find specific speeches or documents. As an example, f you felt like finding the transcripts for the 200+ press conferences that Herbert Hoover did while he was in office, UCSB's American President Project has them ready for your reading pleasure. And they don't just provide easy access to the major speeches that Presidents made while in the White House. You can find transcripts of quick remarks that Presidents made from train platforms during whistle-stop campaigns or radio addresses or signing statements. It's really an indispensable resource for researchers of the Presidency.

The Miller Center at the University of Virginia also has an incredibly useful website with archives of Presidential speeches, but also in-depth essays and features about the Presidency and each of the Presidents. There are extensive oral histories on Presidents dating back to Jimmy Carter, with fascinating insight from scores of people. And the Miller Center has also created a site within their website focusing on the tapes from the White House recording system that eventually helped bring down Richard Nixon. Nixon wasn't the only President who secretly recorded conversations in the White House, and there are tapes available from Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson, as well as Nixon. Instead of having to search for those recordings at each of those Presidents' respective Presidential Libraries, the Miller Center has made it possible to search their archives for all of those Presidential Recordings. In most cases, they've also helpfully provided transcripts as the tapes are frequently difficult to clearly understand.

Those two sites are pretty much perfect for Presidential history researchers, particularly if you're seeking transcripts of speeches or Presidential messages. I'd also strongly recommend checking out the Presidential Library websites if you're researching someone who has a library. In my opinion, the Presidential Library system is one of the treasures of the National Archives and a treasury of research potential. Almost all of the 15 Presidential Libraries in the network officially maintained and operated by the NARA have extensive research materials that can be accessed online.

Danger Dayger

#DLG

Christmas Eve at Coal Oil Point by Glenn Beltz Via Flickr: Nikon F6, Ektar 100, Tamron 150-600mm lens.

2/15

Library of the First Recordings of Music Ever Made, Courtesy of the University of California-Santa Barbara

“Before MP3s, CDs, cassettes and vinyl records, people listened to … cylinders. First made of tinfoil, then wax and plastic, cylinder recordings, commonly the size and shape of a soda can, were the first commercially produced sound recordings in the decades around the turn of the 20th century.

The UCSB Library, with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Grammy Foundation, and donors, has created a digital collection of more than 10,000 cylinder recordings held by the UCSB Library. To bring these recordings to a wider audience, the Library makes them available to download or stream online for free.

This searchable database features all types of recordings made from the late 1800s to early 1900s, including popular songs, vaudeville acts, classical and operatic music, comedic monologues, ethnic and foreign recordings, speeches and readings.”

blessings Up (•mysterious meeting•)