Men’s Basketball

The Lumberjacks opened their season with a pair of non-conference victories over Western Washington University and Simon Fraser University as part of the CCAA/GNAC Challenge on the campus of Cal State Dominguez Hills this past weekend.

The squad started things off on Friday by squeaking past Western Washington 70-69 off a pair of late free throws by junior Jaden Edwards with three seconds remaining in regulation. The 6’4” guard scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to record his first double-double in a Lumberjack uniform. AJ Sims scored a team high 17 points off the bench to lead a balanced offense that saw four ‘Jacks score in double digits.

Head coach Tae Norwood talked about the team’s effort in a postgame press release and described how excited he was with the season start.

“I thought our guys were resilient down the stretch,” the coach said. “We overcame a five-point deficit with less two-minutes to go in the game. Their effort was a microcosm of who we are as a unit. We preach toughness, selflessness and a commitment to excellence. Tonight, I learned a lot about this young team. They refused to quit!”

Norwood’s squad capped the weekend with another close victory on Saturday, overcoming a small halftime deficit to defeat Simon Fraser University 63-59.

A stout Lumberjack defense headlined the victory, with the team holding Simon Fraser to just a 38.6% field goal percentage and a measly 22% from beyond the 3-point line. Edwards recorded another double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the ‘Jacks in both statistical categories.

“I thought the key to tonight’s win was our resiliency and depth,” Norwood said. “John (Riddick), Amari (Green) and Alonzo (Washington) gave us a much-needed spark off the bench.”

The Lumberjacks (2-0, 0-0 CCAA) return home for their first official game at Lumberjack Arena in nearly two years with another non-conference match against Lincoln University on Saturday, Nov. 20.

Women’s Basketball

Michelle Bento-Jackson’s squad traveled to Seattle to play a pair of non-conference games on the campus of Seattle Pacific University this past weekend. The Lumberjacks dropped both contests, losing to Western Washington 56-68 on Friday, Nov. 12 and dropping a nailbiter to Seattle Pacific, 52-54 on Saturday, Nov. 13.

Coach Bento-Jackson attributed Friday’s loss to a lapse of defensive concentration.

“There were pockets of time where our defense was fairly solid,” Bento-Jackson said. “However, it is a 40 minute game. We need to fully understand the importance of each and every possession and can not afford mental lapses in our defensive execution. Overall, we had too many careless turnovers and our offensive execution struggled.”

Citlaly Davalos scored 16 off the bench to lead the Lumberjack offense.

Saturday’s game saw the ‘Jacks go on a 10-2 run to take the lead 52-51 with two minutes remaining. However, Seattle Pacific’s Hailey Marlow nailed a jumper to put the Falcons back up 52-53. The Lumberjack’s next possession came up short and the team was forced to foul. A free-throw by Kaprice Boston sealed the loss for the green and gold.

Once again, Coach Bento-Jackson preached execution as part of the team loss.

“We put ourselves in a position to win the game,” the coach said. “Unfortunately, we had quite a few mistakes with execution down the stretch. It is the first time this team has experienced end of game situations and we will absolutely learn from this.”

The team (0-2, 0-0 CCAA) remains on the road with a midweek matchup against Dominican University on Wednesday, Nov. 17 in San Rafael, CA.

Women’s Crew

The Lumberjacks traveled to Foster City, CA to participate against strong Division I competition at the Head of the Lagoon. The squad raced in four different categories: Collegiate 4+, Novice 4+, Collegiate 8+ and Novice 8+. For many on the roster, it was their first taste of collegiate rowing competition.

Head coach Matt Weise said he was impressed with the race results, and stressed the importance of getting out aggressive early on.

“Stepping on the gas at the beginning of the race was the goal of ours heading into this race,” Weise said. “The experience piece is what we’re missing as for most of our rowers this is the first time being in this environment. I am extremely pleased with how we performed this afternoon.”

Both collegiate teams finished 8th in their respective categories, while the Novice 4+ squad placed third. The highest placing Lumberjack team of the weekend was the Novice 8+ team who placed second behind UC Davis.

Humboldt State Volleyball concluded the 2021 campaign this past weekend with a pair of home matches on Thursday, Nov. 11 and Saturday, Nov. 13. The team dropped both matches, losing in four sets on Thursday to Cal State Dominguez Hills and in three straight sets on Saturday to Cal State Los Angeles.

Saturday’s final home match also stood as Senior Day, as the Lumberjacks celebrated their five graduating seniors before the game: outside hitter Christa Pilgrim, middle blocker Jasmine McNeal, libero Carla Crespo, outside hitter Lenox Loving and outside hitter Hannah Cantrell.

For head coach Kelly Wood, it was good to be able to send her seniors off after a difficult year on the court.

“It’s always one of the most challenging days of the year, your final day of season,” Wood said. “No matter how it ends, it’s just so emotional and difficult because you’ve had so many of these girls in your program for so many years and you just develop strong relationships with these kids.”

Coach Wood also said she was proud of the resilience her team showed throughout a long, tough season.

“I was just so impressed with the resiliency of our older girls,” the coach said. “They stay positive. They kept working hard. We all stayed unified as a group and I was just really impressed with the way they handled this season.”

For senior Iibero Carla Crespo, the memories she made at Humboldt on and off the court will remain.

“I’ve definitely made some of the best friends in my life,” Crespo said. “I’ve learned so much, just from the community and volleyball, and I’ve met just so many amazing people. I would never ever ever take it back.”

Senior transfer Hannah Cantrell also said how rewarding the experience at Humboldt was.

“I went to the University of Montana before this,” Cantrell said. “But Humboldt was always the dream. I love it here. When I was a kid, I used to come up here and visit, and in high school I was always like, ‘Oh I wanna go to Humboldt State!’ I ended up transferring here and I don’t regret it one single bit.”

For many of the seniors, having the opportunity to compete and finish their career at home in front of fans after so much Covid uncertainty made the moment extra special.

“With the Covid year, it was kinda like, ‘ok, maybe that was the last one,’” Cantrell said. “It’s kinda been touch and go for a minute their. I’m just so grateful I got one last season with the crowd, with the fans, with the girls and with our coaches. We weren’t really expecting at the beginning of the year to even have a crowd. It was kind of a surprise, and it wouldn’t have been the same environment without them at all.”

The team finished the 2021 campaign with a final record of 3-18 and 2-16 in conference play.

Humboldt State has presented the initial movement to officially change HSU into California’s third polytechnic university. On Nov. 9 the California State University Board of Trustees met to discuss the name change of Humboldt State University to California State Polytechnic University Humboldt, or Cal Poly Humboldt. If approved by the trustees at the next meeting in Jan. 2022, the name change would be effective immediately.

Starting in Jan. 2021, HSU began a self study program to decide if they had the qualities to fulfill the role as a polytechnic university. President Tom Jackson expects the turning of HSU into a polytechnic to assist in stimulating the economy of Northern California. Currently HSU is the largest employer in the area, boasting $495 million annually.

On June 25 Governor Newsom and the state legislature designated $433 million in one time funding for facilities as well as $25 million in recurring operating costs to help transform HSU into a polytechnic university. At the November board of trustees meeting Provost Jenn Capps, President Tom Jackson, and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs Sylvia Alva presented an item to officially request the name change of Humboldt State University. The action will be taken in the January 2022 Board of Trustees meeting.

A polytechnic university is one that embraces a learn-by-doing approach. This allows students to apply learned concepts in preparation for careers. It includes natural and applied sciences, technology, engineering, and also focuses on liberal arts curriculum. According to Jen Capps, HSU will be a different kind of polytechnic university.

“We don’t deem to replicate the excellence at Pomona and San Luis Obispo,” Capps said. “But strengthen our expertise in sustainability and traditional ecological knowledge, and social justice and who we include and not who we exclude.”

Within the first seven years of becoming a polytechnic, HSU projects to bring up the enrollment to 11,000 students, nearly doubling the current enrollment numbers. This has been a key goal since the recent years have seen steadily declining enrollment numbers.

HSU plans on hiring more diverse staff and faculty to increase inclusion. Another objective for the university is increasing tribal partnership with the thirteen tribes in the surrounding areas. The university offers education to the tribal populations to help them grow and flourish. Both the university and the tribes will work together to fuse their knowledge of science and the environment to help support the community.

The board of trustees seemed generally supportive of the HSU name change, although they did have key questions for the presenters. Questions posed addressed student housing concerns, giving back to tribes, supporting higher education in tribal communities, as well as strategies to improve enrollment.

Although many questions are yet to be answered, trustees were overall supportive. One trustee, Adam Day, voiced his support of the polytechnic change.

“It just makes so much sense for so many reasons,” Day said. “The special place this campus holds in that physical geographical location. Historical issues, the economic issues, social economic issues, environmental and ecological. Your campus is so unique.”

With the incredible amount of money designated to the school and the immense pressure to properly create a new polytechnic, HSU president Tom Jackson seems up for the challenge.

“This is a huge responsibility,” Jackson said. “HSU will be deliberate and respectful and responsible and forthright as we accept the investment by the people of California in this incredible university and the emerging region. This is our moment.”

There will be a virtual open forum held by Provost Jen Capps and Chief of Staff Sherie C. Gordon on November 19th at 10:00AM. This is an opportunity for students, staff, faculty and members of the community to share their thoughts and ask questions about the upcoming changes. Register for the Zoom meeting in advance, online. If you have further questions call or email poly@humboldt.edu or 707-826-3300.

Humboldt State women’s basketball team came out victorious in their pre-season exhibition game against Southern Oregon University at Lumberjack Arena on Friday, Oct. 29, with a score of 75-67. The ‘Jacks started strong, racking up 20 points by the end of the first quarter to lead by six.

Freshman starter Jadence Clifton played well early, leading the team with nine points by the end of the first half and 14 points overall. Sophomore forward Madison Parry and junior guard Julia Iman followed shortly behind Clifton with 13 points each by the end of the game. Junior guard Sharon Roldan ended with 10 points and Senior Ashley Taylor Peralta totaled 12 points for the ‘Jacks.

Southern Oregon University kept the pressure on the ‘Jacks with a twenty-two-point comeback in the second quarter, giving the Raiders the lead. The visitors would control the game for most of the second and third quarters, ending the third quarter with a score of 54 – 48.

Roldan helped narrow the score with a 3-pointer bomb from the corner of the court a little more than halfway through the final quarter. Roldan also netted two free throws, closing the gap 58 – 60 with a few minutes left in the fourth quarter. A pair of free throws by Parry only seconds later tied the game 60 – 60 with five and a half minutes remaining.

The squad played solid defense in the final minutes of the second half, forcing the Raiders to battle against the shot clock in multiple attempts to make clean breakaways to the hoop.

Clifton drained a 3-pointer in the final 45 seconds of the fourth quarter, sealing the deal with a leading score of 71-64. The Raiders attempted to claw their way back to victory with a couple of final shots, but overall fell short by eight points with a final score of 75-67.

The women’s basketball team travels to Seattle, Washington on Friday, Nov. 12 where they play against Western Washington University. Both Humboldt State men’s and women’s basketball teams will lead a public ‘tip-off’ event to celebrate their upcoming seasons on Monday, Nov. 1 at Lumberjack Arena.

This weekend a tangle of costumes and limbs could be found in Arcata’s music venues. Local bands played experimental indie, psychedelic cumbia, punkadelic gutter blues, disco jams, and some mosh-worthy crust punk sounds. The collective of sound kept show-goers dancing through the Halloweekend.

Since the pandemic, Arcata music venues have been quiet without the familiar sounds of local bands. As pandemic life becomes second nature, the music scene has adapted. Bouncers check for vaccine cards and IDs to keep showgoers safe. Halloweekend marked the occasion for a music scene revival. In the past few weeks shows have started happening again. This weekend brought the music scene back from the dead in true Halloween fashion.

On Friday at The Siren’s Song Tavern, the bands Over Yonder, Biomass, and Horse played the start of the Halloweekend. Over Yonder is a punkadelic gutter blues band local to Humboldt, Biomass is a psychedelic sound collective bringing riffs to the people, and Horse brought the mosh-worthy punk noise and got everyone moving.

On Saturday, Pablo Payaso fought the rain and played psychedelic cumbia for Dia de Los Muertos celebration. The event was planned with Centro Del Pueblo, a local community organization. Later in the night, Pablo Payaso played at Blondies. The band started playing together this past summer, and now they have the opportunity to get back into venues and play live shows. Connor West plays for Pablo Payaso and is glad to see the return of Arcata’s music scene.

“The music is back, it’s sad that it was ever gone,” West said. “Blondies has always been a hub for up-and-coming bands. God bless Blondies. They’re back in business, same as Richard’s Goat, and some house shows are going on too. It seems like everyone is coming back.”

Playing in both Pablo Payaso and in Over Yonder is Eduardo Gutierrez. Gutierrez plays a wide spectrum between two bands’ genres, bringing swampadelic sounds to Over Yonder and singing for Pablo Payaso’s cumbia sound.

“I’m stoked about [music] coming back,” Gutierrez said. “It had kinda displaced me for a bit when there was no music. I’m glad we are able to figure out a way to play where everyone is safe and comfortable. Keep supporting local artists. I love being able to uplift each other in this community in all forms of art.”

Horse played with Pablo Payaso and Over Yonder on Saturday and revived the nostalgic Blondies mosh. The fresh band is made up of Arcata locals and HSU alums, much like the other bands in the lineups. Brayden O’Brien donned their Halloween getup and messy eyeliner to lead the punk band.

“It’s a very welcoming and supportive community here, if you like to make noise there’s always a way to do it,” O’Brien said.

On Sunday, Medicine Baul, Biomass, and Dream Honey played a show to close the weekend. Dream Honey played experimental indie blues through the rain. Skye Freitas welcomed a familiar crowd that made the show feel especially nice.

“The music scene is super supportive here, which makes performing and creating comfortable and I love that,” Freitas said. “All around acceptance and hype for all different genres of bands on the scene. Another thing to love is the eclectic variety of bands in the area.”

Arcata welcomes its eclectic artist back again to fill venues with their collective sounds. Venues like Humbrews, Richard’s Goat, Blondies, and Arcata Theatre Lounge are hosting shows again. Support your local bands and listen to some good jams.

From Nov 1 through the 12 Full Cycle Compost and WRRAP are teaming up to offer a pumpkin pickup to Arcata residents for free. You do not have to be a customer of Full Cycle Compost to reap the benefits of their service. As long as you sign up on their website to notify them where to pick it up, they will take the pumpkin off your hands.

Full Cycle Compost is a recently established co-op where five individuals bike around the city to pick up people’s food and plant scraps to turn into compost. Once they pick up the scraps, they turn it into compost at the Jacoby Creek Land Trust farm and the Jardin Santuario.

Their mission is to keep local food waste out of the landfill and to feed the local food web with healthy and nutritious soil and vegetables. Tobin McKee is a worker-owner there and helped establish the business with Morgan King from WRRAP. McKee is a Humboldt native who starts up new co-op’s but fell in love with the business so much he decided to become an owner.

McKee stated that 30% of landfill mass is made up of material that could have been composted. More waste means more unnecessary trips to the landfill for the trucks picking them up, which is not beneficial to the environment.

“When you take out your garbage, ecology picks it up, then takes it to a processing facility, and then they put it on a big truck that drives to Medford and all the food waste can’t compost in the landfill,” McKee said. “It rots and decomposes which releases a lot more methane than composting.”

The offer originally ran till Nov 5 but has since been extended. Now you are able to enjoy an extra week with your festive creations.

Starting in January a new law will be enacted that requires all multifamily dwellings and businesses to compost their food waste. Unfortunately Arcata does not have a composting facility due to the high cost so Full Cycle Compost is doing what they can to support the community.

“It’s gonna be a lot more hauling than we’re used to, but we’re going to do as many trips as it takes to pick up people’s pumpkins.”

Squeals of children and classic Halloween anthems resounded through the streets of the Arcata Plaza last Sunday. The streets were blocked off from traffic and packed with art vendors celebrating the weird and the wonderful of Arcata’s art scene.

The local cover band, The Dead Drops, played classic spooky bangers from the center of the plaza while adults and children alike danced and sang along in costume. The band played from 11am to 4pm, serenading the audience as they enjoyed the local food vendors surrounding them.

Art vendors brought a particularly interesting and strange array of creativity this year. From tarot card readers to exotic jewelry, the art vendors matched the Halloween spirit to a T.

One vendor brought a healthy dose of strange, with jewelry made from “ethically sourced” animal bones. Desert Lilies Bazaar is run by artist and belly dancer Ania Vogel. Vogel asked her mother Lia Sullivan to run the booth for her while she was busy performing.

Sullivan was dressed in a full witch costume and was sporting some of her daughter’s unique jewelry.

“This is half of a raccoon pelvis, so you look at her jewelry and they’re all from real bones, ethically sourced,” Sullivan said.

Art vendors weren’t all that was in store for Arcata residents on Sunday. A line stretching down the street waited in anticipation for the inflatable haunted house set up in the general store parking lot right outside of the plaza.

Families enjoyed a host of different activities including face painting, a dunk tank, and several other classic parade activities. The Humboldt State Marching Lumberjacks band gave a rousing performance that filled the crowd with lively energy and reverberated across the city.

It was a refreshing feeling to watch the streets of Arcata come alive with joyous celebrations given the last year and a half of turmoil and isolation. From the children trick-or-treating to the college students showing off their elaborate costumes, this year’s Halloween celebration was a rousing success.

The Mad River Levee trail was surprisingly calm. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves and a friendly elderly woman was walking her dog. It was a jarring sight given this was the scene of a violent murder only a week ago. A month before that, another man was murdered in an especially brutal fashion another mile away.

On September 11, 2021, the first body was found. He had been stabbed multiple times and received blunt force trauma. His name was Eugene Steven Segal and he was found on a trail off of Hatchery Road near Mad River.

On October 10, 2021, the body of Levi Harold Hernandez was found on a trail near the Mad River Levee and Taylor Way. His death was ruled a homicide, but the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) has yet to confirm how he was murdered. Both Hermandez and Segal were known to be living a transient lifestyle.

The HCSO released a press statement addressing the murders and why they can’t release all the information regarding the deaths to the public.

“Autopsies have been completed for both victims, however, cause of death information is being withheld pending the ongoing investigation,” said the HCSO.

The two murders happened to people with similar status in very close locations. However, the Sheriff’s department has yet to officially link the two murders. It is possible that they are unrelated.

“Despite the close proximity of these cases in location and date of discovery, investigators have not officially determined a connection between the two incidents at this time,” said the HCSO.

There are still people camped out on Mad River despite the recent attacks. Talking with a resident couple, it became clear that this situation did not surprise or startle them.

Dorothy and Mike are a middle-aged couple with a camp set up by Mad River. Neither one of them had heard of the murders despite the fact that they are camping so close to the scenes of the crimes.

“I’m not worried at all, not with her around,” Mike said referring to his german shepherd napping by his side.

“If someone comes around I’ll hit him in the head with something big, I have things to protect myself you know,” said Dorothy.

The HCSO has multiple tips on how to enjoy the river trail while continuing to stay safe, such as staying on defined trails, informing a friend of your location before going out on the trails, and keeping one’s phone out of view.

The problem with these tips is that they are not for the people who are being targeted. While the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office tells the public to take self-defense classes and avoid listening to music too loud, people with no option but to camp out on the river bank are left in the dark. It is concerning and disheartening that the people living on the river have not been sufficiently warned. The investigation into these two brutal murders remains ongoing.

Anyone with information regarding the alleged murders are urged to contact the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Division at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip Line at (707) 268-2539

A government isn’t a government without its constituents. No different is our own student government without us. Since the adoption of COVID guidelines and social distancing, participation numbers within the Associated Students organization have continued to decrease. Many of the positions within the organization have remained vacant and policies going into effect are voted on by only a small portion of the overall student population.

“We’re trying to make a change,” Rosa Granados, External Affairs Representative and a major in social work, said. “We just need [students’] assistance to show up and to be there as a vote when these policies are being made.”

Student housing, food access, and mental health are always hot topics being discussed in these policies, Granados expressed. All of these issues, she noted, being present in the many different committees spread out across the AS.

Malluli Cuellar, Legislative Vice President and a major in political science, further explained that these committees are like smaller boards within the organization. Each one is uniquely centered around their own mission or topic, such as sustainability, diversity, bylaws, and more. These committees are also open to any student of any skill level and background to participate in without formal election. It is through the presence of everyday students working within these committees that many of HSU’s important events and policies come into being.

“The nice thing about our committees is that typically they are meeting biweekly,” Cuellar said. “So compared to the Board of Directors it tends to be a smaller time commitment. It’s a really good place to start!”

The AS itself is headed by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors are a predominantly student-elected group of fellow HSU students who work as the connecting mouthpiece between student and faculty relations as well as oversight members within the previously mentioned committees. The Board is currently made up of 18 positions, of which half still remain empty this late fall semester.

“We represent the students,” Chase Marcum, Student Affairs Vice President and a major in anthropology and international Studies, said regarding the AS as a whole. “And we represent our fellow peers, in creating a healthy and positive environment for their educational pursuits, creating and effecting change that they want and desire.”

This ability, Marcum explained, to represent and advocate for the needs and desires of HSU students, was the common factor among all the board members interviewed that had inspired them to first apply.

“All these programs that I’ve utilized,” Granados said. “Student athletes, mental health services, food services, and even housing service have helped me be here getting my degree and so I really want to be in spaces where I can advocate for [them].”

The chance to make a change through the AS was not only the catalyst for each member’s initial application but also is the reward that has kept them coming back semester after semester.

“It’s one of those positions and roles where, yes, it is extremely time consuming,” Marcum said specifically in relation to his position. “But at the same time it gives back tenfold!”

“It’s a labor of love,” Cuellar said, adding after Marcum. “If the amount of work that you’re putting in meets how rewarding the work is to you it’s really sustainable.”

Not all members expressed that working with AS has been all work and no play though. David Lopez, Administrative Vice President and HSU student majoring in cellular/molecular biology, expressed that it is the students who join that dictate how much work they wish to take on. They do this by the positions or amount of committees they choose to dedicate themselves to. In his words, it’s a low risk environment to make high risk impacts.

“There is a place in AS for anyone who is able to give any amount of dedication to it,” Lopez said. “It’s a buffet, an endless buffet! You get to choose however much you want to put on your plate.”

No matter what type of student you are, no matter your major, or what year you may be, AS wants to hear your voice and to get you involved.

“We don’t need you to be the best student leader,” Cuellar said. “We don’t need you to have the skills yet. We’re going to help you and empower you with those skills. As long as you have that spark within you to keep you motivated, that’s all we’re looking for!”

The best place to get started if you are interested in getting involved with AS is to visit their website at https://associatedstudents.humboldt.edu/ and to send an email to hsuas@humboldt.edu to get connected with the members themselves.