The Daily Nexus looks back at this year’s highlights, from Nobel Prize winner Shuji Nakamura to the May 23 memorial events that were illuminated by blue LEDs that Nakamura invented.
Materials and electrical and computer engineering professor Shuji Nakamura was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics on Oct. 7 along with Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano for the invention of the first blue light-emitting diode (LED). McLane Brown/Daily NexusApproximately 5,000 students gathered at Storke Plaza on Oct. 8, 2014 for a “Come Together: Remember, Reconnect, & Unite” concert to promote a safer community in commemoration of the six students who lost their lives during the events of May 23 last year. UCSB Alumnus Jack Johnson performed at the event along with several student groups and artists.Lorenzo Basilio/Daily NexusThe Associated Students Program Board hosted alternative rock band Young the Giant in the Thunderdome during a rained-out Halloween night on Oct. 31, 2014. The band performed in adult diapers and bibs, donning costumes to immerse the audience in the spirit of the iconic Isla Vista party weekend. Lorenzo Basilio/Daily NexusStudents held a rally on Nov. 20, 2014 against proposed tuition hikes by the University of California Board of Regents, which called for an annual 5 percent increase in tuition over the next five years due to a lack of state funding for the UC. Stephen Manga/Daily NexusAssemblymember Das Williams introduced Assembly Bill 3 (AB 3) to the California State Assembly on Dec. 1, 2014 to create a Community Services District (CSD) in Isla Vista to provide infrastructure and increased resources to the residents of the community. Stephen Manga/Daily NexusThe Isla Vista Tenants Union (IVTU) announced the beginning of a campaign on Jan. 20, 2015 to provide financial assistance to five households allegedly evicted from Abrego Villas on 6754 and 6764 Abrego Road in I.V. in Oct. 2014. Kenneth Song/Daily NexusBeta Theta Pi and Phi Sigma Kappa fraternities lost their charters during the 2014-2015 school year in December and February, respectively, due to various charges concerning alleged violations of university policy. Paris Cullen/Daily NexusStudents for Justice in Palestine (SJP) installed a mural wall in the Arbor on April 6, 2015 leading up to an A.S. Senate decision on whether to pass a resolution calling for the university to divest from businesses profiting from alleged human rights violations in Palestine. Lorenzo Basilio/Daily NexusTwo UCSB students were hospitalized after a domestic disturbance which resulted in shots being fired at Sabado Tarde Road on May 11, 2015. Two suspects, 19-year-old Jose Guadalupe Gutierrez of Goleta and 22-year-old James Joshua Taylor of Lompoc, were arrested and booked for charges including attempted murder, robbery and participation in a criminal street gang. Lorenzo Basilio/Daily NexusThe annual end-of-the-year Extravaganza concert put on by the A.S. Program Board brought performers Bad Rabbits, AlunaGeorge, Joey Bada$$, Madeon and headliner Miguel to Harder Stadium on May 17, 2015 for a six-hour-long music festival dedicated to a mixture of popular and upcoming artists. Alex Messick/Daily NexusStephen Manga/Daily NexusStephen Manga/Daily NexusA group of students headed by survivors of sexual assault Alejandra Melgoza, Lexi Weyrick and Melissa Vasquez staged a 13-hour sit-in of Chancellor Henry T. Yang’s office from May 13, 2015 to May 14, 2015 to demand specific policies to improve the handling of sexual assault cases, concluding the night with a signature from Yang ensuring the enactment of 13 sanctions in favor of survivors. Lorenzo Basilio/Daily NexusUniversity administration, Associated Students and several student groups held May 23 memorial events illuminated by Shuji Nakamura’s blue LED lights to unify the community and commemorate the six lives lost in the events of May 23 last year. Lorenzo Basilio/Daily Nexus
*Correction: A previous version of this article stated professor Shuji Nakamura was a colleague of Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano. They are co-recipients of the Nobel Prize, but have never worked together; thus, they are not colleagues.
