In the lonely strip of land that is the North Coast, Arcata is famed for being a haven for tolerance and relative diversity. Cal Poly Humboldt in particular is a shelter for people of all creeds and beliefs. However, it isn’t immune to hatred.
According to the University Police Department, an unidentified suspect vandalized the sukkah set up on the UC quad with an anti-semitic message at around 1:30 pm on Oct. 9. The sukkah, set up for eight days during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, symbolizes the Jewish people’s dependence on God. No update on the suspect has been reported.
Student response was immediate. The rabbi for the Jewish Student Group, Chabad took the sukkah down immediately when they realized what had happened. Members of the club were disappointed. President Noach Guttman, who had attended a Jewish private school his whole life, said it was his first time experiencing anti-semitic hate speech ever.
“I’ve only found interested people,” Guttman said. “They [say things] like, ‘Hey man, I like your yarmulke.’ I’m like, sweet… I was just disappointed that this happened the day after the largest Jewish massacre since the Holocaust [referring to the Oct. 7 bombing of Israel by Hamas]. That’s what upsets me the most.”
Despite the act of hatred, Guttman does not have plans to return the favor.
“I hold no hate for this person whatsoever,” Guttman said. “I truly believe they’re just misinformed… the sukkah has no connection to the state of Israel. It’s a solely Jewish structure… if they understood the gravity of Hamas murdering [about] 1,400 people, I feel like they would have the respect to not say a message like this.”
Guttman believes that the university has done a good job at supporting the Jewish Student Group through this time, with staff reaching out to Guttman and other Jewish students. Administrators worked with the rabbi to craft the email sent out on Oct. 10.
“In keeping with Cal Poly Humboldt’s commitment to maintaining the safety of our campus community, the University has a zero tolerance policy for acts of hate or discrimination against anyone, no matter who you are and where you come from,” said Associate Vice President of Student Success and Dean of Students, Mitch Mitchell. “The incident is an unfortunate reminder that world events often impact our students. We are fully committed to supporting them in any way we can and I want to encourage all students who may need additional support to use the resources that are available to them on campus.”
Despite repeated efforts to contact other members of the group, no other members would respond to requests for comment. However, Guttman said all other members of the club he’s talked to feel similarly disappointed, but appreciative of the community’s support.
“I’ve always been very active about my Judaism,” Guttman said. “I’m very vocal about it. And this is definitely not going to stop. If anything, it’s going to make me louder. You know, I’m still always going to wear my yarmulke. We’re still going to hold our Jewish events. We’re hoping to do a candlelight vigil within the next week or so. This is not going to [distract] us at all. We’re strong people. If anything, I’m hoping it’ll make us stronger.”
At midday on Thursday Oct. 5, a student hunched over a table, drawing a spiked boot splattered with blood, the front of Art B plastered with posters behind her. Phrases like, “Don’t make students your ATM,” and “Shame on you, CSU,” stood in stark contrast with the dark wall. A clear voice rang across the quad below, calling out to passersby. The air buzzed with the day’s unusual heat, becoming charged with urgent words and the smell of free coffee, drawing the eyes and noses of students to three folding tables, specifically the people behind them.
These were organizers from the California Faculty Association – the labor union for CSU faculty – and the Students for Quality Education, a student-led organization for education rights across the CSU system. They were there in response to the CSU Board of Trustees’ vote to raise tuition. This demonstration was also intended to promote the CFA’s upcoming rally on Oct. 19, where they plan to protest further. People were encouraged to enjoy refreshments, grab union merch and help make posters. Among the organizers present was Humboldt CFA President Marisol Ruiz.
“We’re forgetting that this is a public university, publicly funded. It’s not a private institution and we need to stop treating it like a private institution,” said Ruiz.
Ruiz explained that the CFA’s goals are a halt on tuition hikes as well as better pay and working conditions for faculty. This protest comes on the heels of long-standing grievances regarding what the CFA says is inequitable pay for faculty. According to Ruiz, the CSU has the money to fund education and pay its employees fairly without the need for tuition hikes, yet has strayed from the path of education as a public good.
A board bearing the words, “How Much Do You Owe?” was propped up against a planter in front of the tables. Students had scrawled their answers, the numbers going as high as $100,000.
Also present behind the tables was SQE chapter head Mary Mangubat. According to Mangubat, outreach by the SQE has been quite successful this semester at getting people engaged, because the tuition hike affects not only students but the entire CSU ecosystem.
“When they hear our admin makes a million a year, but students are in 100k debt,” said Mangubat. “They’re gonna want to be involved.”
SQE was founded in 2008 as part of the CFA and holds weekly meetings Fridays at 4 p.m. in Nelson Hall. Mangubat described them as fighting for an equitable, accessible education that is free from discrimination and debt.
Making a poster at one of the tables was Erika Ospenson, an environmental science and management major. Ospenson only found out about the outcome of the Board’s vote that morning from a friend in SQE and is now left with doubts about the cost of her education. She plans on attending the rally on Oct. 19 and is interested in getting more involved with SQE.
“Something I learned today is that I will get halfway through a degree and then not know if I can actually finish it because of the tuition hikes,” said Ospenson. “I’m already barely making ends meet and [only] able to pay my rent in a rent-controlled situation.”
The tuition hike has rattled the CSU system here and across California, but chapter president Ruiz believes that students and faculty are in this together.
As far as I’m aware, there are only two women on motorcycles that regularly park on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus. I am one, and the other is Marilyn Koch, a jewelry and small metals instructor at Cal Poly Humboldt. She rides a 2014 Kawasaki Ninja 250 named Trixie and has been riding for 13 years.
I think it’s a shame that only two women on this campus ride, mopeds aside. We’re talking highway-legal bikes. A lifelong goal of mine is to inspire other women to ride and claim their freedom. Koch is also in favor of other women riding.
“I’m so pro-women riders because I don’t understand why it’s such a male-dominated activity,” Koch said. “This is an activity that should be void of gender. Everyone should be on a bike.”
Koch has always had an affinity for two-wheeled machines.
“I’ve always thought motorcycles were just really badass,” Koch said.
Prior to riding, her taste in men was the more rebellious type, especially those with motorcycles.
“I realized instead of looking for a guy on a bike, why couldn’t I just be that badass person myself?” Koch said.
Koch decided to take a motorcycle safety course and get her license. California Highway Patrol and other riding schools offer the California motorcyclists safety program all over the state. Koch spoke well of the program because it not only provides everything needed to learn, including a motorcycle, but it also gives riders the knowledge and confidence they need to ride safely.
“I highly encourage anyone that’s even interested in riding a motorcycle to take one of those courses,” Koch said.
Koch spoke of how the course is a great option for women especially.
“Generally, if you’re a guy, you maybe know somebody that has a bike or you’re a little bit more interconnected with the riding circle,” Koch said. “A lot of the female riders I’ve noticed are just so disengaged from that community.”
Koch noted that the exception to this stereotype is women who find groups such as The Litas Humboldt, who are only one part of a worldwide collective of women riders. They allow women of any riding level to join. Being part of a riding group is a great way to learn and become more comfortable riding and having fellow women to ride with can boost confidence.
I joined The Litas Humboldt in Dec. 2022, fulfilling my dream of several years. Part of the reason I came to Cal Poly Humboldt was because of The Litas. Being part of an all-ladies collective makes my heart soar; it’s like having a bunch of sisters to ride with. Erin Taylor, cofounder of The Litas Humboldt, once referred to that experience as ‘wind sisterhood’. There’s no other feeling like it.
Sometimes, men come up to me on my bike and say that I’m a badass. It feels good to hear it, but I can’t help but wonder if they would say that to another man. Koch shared a similar sentiment.
“When I get on my bike and I see people sort of staring at the bike… wondering who the owner is, and then realizing that the owner is a lady, they’re always somehow mystified as though it is even cooler that it’s a lady and not a guy,” Koch said. “It tickles me, but it also disappoints me. Why is it so astonishing for a lady to have a motorcycle?”
My dream is to have a bunch of girls on motorcycles riding to school. It would be so cool to see other motorcycles with scrunchies and pink bandanas on their mirror stems in any of the many Cal Poly Humboldt motorbike parking areas. I could talk all day about yass-ifying Harleys and other makes, but I digress, we need more women on two wheels.
I would greatly encourage anyone that’s thinking about getting a motorcycle to take the motorcycle safety course, and for any woman that rides to join The Litas Humboldt at thelitas.co/humboldt and on their Facebook page.
This is an extended version of the story that was published Friday, September 29. This version was printed on Wednesday, October 4.
It was a misty Friday morning in Arcata. Fewer than 20 people met in person to discuss the budget reform for funded student groups on campus. Tensions were high and budget cuts were higher.
Faced with a deficit of more than $500,000, the Associated Students (A.S.) met to make huge cuts to student programs. There were over 20 funded program cuts that were approved.
A $500,000 deficit heightened the tensions between A.S. and core funded student groups on campus. With thousands lower in enrollment numbers than originally projected by the university, it left a sour taste in the mouths of everyone whose budget was about to be cut by thousands of dollars.
Associated Students Administrative Vice President (AVP) Andres Olmos facilitated the discussion for the necessary cuts of the budget. According to Olmos, because of lack of funds, they are essentially starting from the ground up with the bare minimum of only wages for student workers. That still leaves them over budget. The revenue is much less than predicted in the spring due to the high enrollment projections made by the university.
The original revenue number was $786,000. Using A.S. reserve funds, the number would have been $865,000. According to Olmos, the financial office told A.S. to get to $750,000, meaning the total number of funds cut were $528,717 because the approved budget when the university thought enrollment would be much higher, a whole $1.2 million.
A screenshot of the finalized budget of the funded student programs. The left column is the original budget approved in spring and the right column is where the budget is now.
Olmos acknowledged that it was important to A.S. that student workers were able to keep their jobs, and that the main priority was keeping each budget at least at their current wages, only so students could continue to survive.
Over 20 student groups like cultural centers, service organizations and more, saw cuts that ranged anywhere from $2,500 (Drop-In Rec Open Gym) to $186,498 (A.S. General Operations).
Some individual budgets were getting cut entirely because they have trust funds that they can survive on for the year; others were biting their nails to try and get more than just enough to pay student workers.
“The money that is now allocated to us is strictly for wages,” Isabela Acosta, the Fiscal Coordinator for the Women’s Resource Center said in an interview after the A.S. meeting. “Not for supplies and hospitality or events.”
A.S. President Samuel Parker said that the university told A.S. in the beginning of September that they would need to cut the budget. With less than a month to make the adjustments, it was difficult.
“It was pretty difficult to have to deal with in such a tight time frame,” Parker said. “Also we have a very limited amount of people at the moment, so it is hard to get the adequate amount of communication out to everyone to let everyone know and have them chime in with their perspectives.”
Marketing and Communications Director of News and Information Aileen Yoo said in an email statement that the budget office had informed A.S. about the budget shortfall on Aug. 30.
“One of the reasons for the budget deficit had to do with fee revenue estimates being lower than anticipated due to enrollment growth being more modest than initially anticipated during budget planning last spring,” Yoo said. “This led to needed adjustments to many of our budgeted operations across campus, including our main Operating Fund as well as our fee supported areas, such as AS.”
The Eric Rofes Queer Multicultural Resource Center (ERC) approved budget for the 2023-2024 school year was $42,500. It was cut to $30,000 after Ascher Marks, the fiscal director for the ERC, and AVP Olmos talked. Olmos told Marks that the ERC employees might not be able to work over summer and winter breaks.
“We cannot really consider that because our bills don’t stop during winter and summer break,” Marks responded. “We need to be working over the breaks because this is our job and how we make money.”
Other organizations like the Women’s Resource Center are struggling to do anything except pay their employees.
“We can’t buy menstrual products,” Acosta said. “Our sole responsibility as a resource center is to provide menstrual products for campus.”
Acosta explained that due to a law passed in California in 2021, that the university should be stocking the bathrooms with menstrual products, but they have not been.
“Our school should be [providing] menstrual products because of California Bill 367, which makes California public institutions required to have free and accessible menstrual products, and the school has not instilled this bill,” Acosta said. “So we have basically been taking out large portions of our yearly budget to provide menstrual products for campus when it is not even our responsibility to do so.”
Yoo responded to this in an email statement.
Photo by Kae Dennert. Ella Moore, Rose Co-Director, raises her hand during the A.S. meeting on Friday.
“This [law] has been funded previously by the university, through Student Health & Wellbeing Services and other institutional resources, with staffing resupply support through the Office of Student Life and other university departments. The Women’s Resource Center provided additional supplies and locations and has done so since before the bill was passed. A group of those folks plus Facilities Management are now meeting to streamline the process and ensure funding and coordination of effort.”
When asked about the backstock of menstrual products and when the center could possibly run out, she said that if they were to stock every bathroom regularly they would run out by next week. With the stock they have (about 20 boxes of pads, 100 menstrual cups and 18 boxes of tampons), she is hoping they will make it to the end of the semester.
Some organizations still have enough to sustain for the year, like the Waste Reduction Resource Awareness Program (WRAPP). The Program was cut by $9,200 leaving them below the A.S. recommendation of only wages, yet they remain optimistic.
“We are so excited to have $44,000,” Ella Moore, Rose Co-Director said. “It means we are going to be able to pay our employees and [have] a little wiggle room for basic operations.”
The Social Justice, Equity and Inclusion Center will still be open after their $16,500 cut. Frank Herrera, the Center’s Coordinator, is optimistic despite the small funds. Herrera said that the primary goal is to keep student staff, the secondary is to have high impact events. He understands that budgets change and the Center just needs to be more intentional with events.
Aside from the difficulties cutting a budget by this much, Parker is proud and optimistic, particularly of AVP Olmos.
“There were a lot of factors that made it pretty difficult for everyone. I am very proud of everyone for managing to pull it off.”
On a typical cold and rainy night in Arcata, students gathered into the John Van Duzer Theatre where Grammy award-winning bassist, Stephen Lee Bruner, known as Thundercat, brought the heat to campus. With a mix of funk, jazz, R&B and psychedelic bass noodling – eccentric doesn’t begin to describe the night.
Tickets for the show sold out within two hours of going on sale to the public, and to people’s surprise, last minute tickets were sold the evening of the performance. For Thundercat’s third time back to the Van Duzer, Cal Poly Humboldt’s Center Arts expected a full house with a seated capacity of 862.
Eager for the show, the crowd began gathering in the lobby half an hour before the doors opened at 8:30 p.m. Upon entry, people were greeted by a vivid blue light and fog in the air. Behind the haze stood a giant blown up medieval style tower with a cat head. Known as “Cats Lair,” this stage set up was a reference to the 1985 anime, “ThunderCats.”
The concert was promoted as a seated show, but as soon as the band took the stage, some people stood in front of their seats while others raced to the front. Most people on the balcony remained seated until the very end of the night when the entire house gave Thundercat a standing ovation. The energy was high, but not enough to solicit a mosh pit. Folks mostly swayed throughout the night.
Thundercat took the stage around 9 p.m. with his iconic six string Ibanez bass guitar, and was backed up by Dennis Hamm on the keys, with Justin Brown on drums. Between songs, Thundercat entertained the crowd with relatable banter and even attempted to kickflip a Tech Deck from the crowd. While he talked to the crowd, fans could be heard meowing around the room.
Photo by Carlina Grillo. Thundercat playing in front of the “Cats Lair”, a giant blowup tower referencing the 1985 anime “ThunderCats”.
It was quickly made apparent that anime has a grip on Thundercat and has influenced many aspects of his life. During the first half of the show, he asked the audience how they felt about anime. As the question was followed by loud cheers, he decided to play the song “Tokyo.”
“I’m gonna slow this one down too,” said Thundercat. “I’m gonna sing this one real slow, so you can understand what it was to be me at 18 years old in Japan.”
The song described Thundercat’s time in Tokyo with an ode to his lifelong love for anime.
“I went to the dentist and he gave me a toy / it was Dragon Ball-Z, a wrist-slap bracelet / Goku fucking ruined me,” sang Thundercat.
Afterwards, he followed it with his song “Dragonball Durag.” He mentioned that it was his first time playing those songs back to back, and even exclaimed to Hamm, “Write that down!”
“You don’t have to like my video games or my comic books / But baby girl, how do I look in my durag?” sang Thundercat.
During the second half of the performance, Thundercat took a moment to honor musicians he’s proud to have worked with who have passed away. He specifically mentioned rapper Mac Miller, Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and concert promoter Meghan Stabile.
“To know Meghan was to love her,” Thundercat said.
Whether an anime lover or not, concert-goers left the Van Duzer feeling electric. Tobin Thornton, a freshman studying chemistry at Cal Poly Humboldt, had never been to the Van Duzer before and had zero expectations for the night.
“I don’t really know what I was expecting, but I had a very good time. I do feel like I got put in a microwave, but in a good way,” Thornton said before rating the show a solid nine out of ten.
Sam Schulman, a music lover and community member, expressed his gratitude for Thundercat coming to Arcata to share his music.
“I was mind blown by his artistry and how good he is at playing the bass. It was so cool,” Schulman said. “I didn’t really know what to expect going into it and I know he has regular-amount-of-time songs, but he was extending a lot of them and jamming a lot. Which was really cool to see.”
Lexi Takaki, a graduate student in the social work program, described her night as awesome, and felt very lucky to get one of the last minute tickets.
“Thundercat is a world renowned musician that is like none other, so it was kind of surreal to see him on stage,” Takaki said. “I feel like at a lot of shows at the Van Duzer, it can be really mellow or people are kind of awkward, and I feel like tonight everyone was really feeling it.”
Cal Poly Humboldt made its annual Security Report under The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act public. The report details crime statistics that have occurred during the past three years, from 2020 to 2022.
The Jeanne Clery Act was signed into law in 1990. The act is a consumer protection law meant to provide transparency to the public around campus crime policy and statistics. Nicki Viso became the Clery Director in February 2022, heading up the Clery Compliance Team which is composed of representatives from many Cal Poly Humboldt departments.
The crimes reported are sorted into four categories based on where they happened. These include reported incidents on the general campus, on campus residencies, non-campus locations affiliated with the school, and public property near or adjacent to the campus.
There were no hate crimes reported during the three year stretch of 2020 to 2022 in the report. While there were no reports of murder or non-negligent and negligent manslaughter, there was a large increase in rape cases, from two incidents in 2021 to 11 in 2022. There were also increases in incidences of fondling, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, arson, and other crimes. Some were small increases (like robbery from zero to one case) and some were larger (like weapons law violations from three to seven).
The Clery Compliance Team noted these increases in the report. August 2022 was the point that campus opened fully, with an increase of people on campus and returning to in-person classes as the reasons. Another change the team cited was that Comfort Inn in Arcata, currently housing students, was included and classified under “Non-campus Property.”
It’s important to clarify that any allegation that fits the criteria of a specific crime and occurs within the geographical locations specified by the Clery report are included. Not every crime statistic included in the report is proof that a crime definitively happened. Furthermore, crimes are recorded under the year they’re reported, even if they occurred a previous year.
The Clery Act Report is available on Cal Poly Humboldt’s Clery Act Compliance webpage, as well as information to help understand it.
Faced with a deficit of more than $500,000, the Associated Students (A.S.) met Friday to make huge cuts to student programs. The Womxn’s Resource Center saw a large cut of $25,850, Diverse Male Scholar Initiative was reduced by $29,340 and Recreational Sports Clubs were cut by 50%, now left with $15,000. Those were three of the over 20 funded program cuts that were approved.
It was a misty Friday morning in Arcata, specifically in Gist Hall room 218, where fewer than 20 people met in person to discuss the budget reform for funded student groups on campus. The meeting was called to session at 10:03am. Tensions were high and budget cuts were higher.
A $500,000 deficit heightened the tensions between A.S. and core funded student groups on campus. With thousands lower in enrollment numbers than originally projected by the university, it has left a sour taste in the mouths of everyone whose budget was about to be cut by thousands of dollars.
Associated Students Administrative Vice President (AVP) Andres Olmos facilitated the discussion for the necessary cuts of the budget. He stated that because of lack of funds, they are essentially starting from the ground up with the bare minimum of only wages for student workers, which would still leave them over budget. The revenue is much less than predicted in the spring due to the high enrollment projections made by the university.
Olmos acknowledged that it was important to A.S. that student workers were able to keep their jobs, and that the main priority was keeping each budget at least at their current wages only so students could continue to survive.
The approved 2023-2024 funded student programs budget sat at $1,278,717, and because of the lack of funding they needed to get to $750,000. Over 20 student groups like cultural centers, service organizations, and more, saw cuts that ranged anywhere from $2,500 to $186,498. Some individual budgets were getting cut entirely because they have trust funds that they can survive on for the year; others were biting their nails to try and get more than just enough to pay student workers.
The original revenue number was $786,000. Using A.S. reserve funds the number would have been $865,000. The financial office told A.S. to get to $750,000, meaning the total number of funds cut were $528,717.
The Eric Rofes Queer Multicultural Resource Center (ERC) approved budget for the 2023-2024 school year was $42,500 and was reduced today to $30,000 after exchanges between Ascher Marks, the fiscal director for the ERC and AVP Olmos.
“We still need to work over the winter and spring break,” Marks said over Zoom.
“Like I have stated to other organizations,” Olmos said, “you guys might have to reconsider working through winter break and summer break, so I apologize for that.”
“We cannot really consider that because our bills don’t stop during winter and summer break,” Marks responded. “We need to be working over the breaks because this is our job and how we make money.” In the end, the ERC’s budget was reduced by $12,500.
Some organizations still have enough to sustain for the year, like the Waste Reduction Resource Awareness Program (WRAPP). The Program was cut by $9,200 leaving them below the A.S. recommendation of only wages, yet they remain optimistic.
“We are so excited to have $44,000,” Ella Moore, Rose Co-Director said. “It means we are going to be able to pay our employees and [have] a little wiggle room for basic operations.”
A more in depth story will be printed this week on Wednesday, October 4.
Being in your I-don’t-give-a-f*ck (IDAGF) era means that you do what you need to do for yourself. For me currently, this means I’m showing up to class in the same outfits every week, or pressing snooze on my alarm and committing to wearing pajamas all day. It’s giving low effort although I’m still on top of school and work because, “that’s what really matters,” as my Grandma would say.
I love clothes, thrifting, design, etc., but who am I trying to impress when I’m running to The Depot during a ten minute break? I’m tired of dressing up for the one cute guy in my class who doesn’t even know my name (yet). I’m done wasting a good outfit on a day when I’m sitting in one classroom for multiple classes back to back. Being as thoughtless as I am when it comes to my daily appearance takes a lot of work though. It takes a sense of style, confidence, and a certain je-ne-sais-quoi you would only know from hitting rock-bottom, possibly even multiple times.
When I say hitting rock-bottom, I mean a struggle you have had in life that you learned from. Something that taught you a life lesson, brought a growth opportunity. No judgment to the people who have never been to therapy, but working to improve yourself is super important. It’s a time when you focus on loving yourself, owning your flaws, and working to improve yourself however that looks for you. It’s also hot, so if you have never been to therapy I highly recommend taking advantage of the free resources campus provides. Focusing on your personal growth brings you a third-of-the-way to thriving in your IDGAF era; the second part is being confident. Luckily… you’ve had some time now to work on yourself, learned a life lesson or two, gained some emotional maturity, and are feeling happy with how far you’ve come.
The turning point for me was my junior year of high school. It was the third high school I went to, so during the first week I took advantage of the fact that I was the new kid. Being my bold self, I ran for treasurer with no one even knowing my name. I didn’t win, but it was still fun to just not take it too seriously, break down my walls and be confident in who I was. Some may say that was actually the beginning of my IDGAF era.
The missing piece to being successful in your IDGAF era is having a sense of style. Like I said, I’m an outfit repeater and wear the same exact things every week. Not to brag, but I do consistently get compliments on my eight dollar sweatshirt and the t-shirt I thrifted that has a huge hole in the armpit. Maybe it’s the low standards of Arcata, or maybe I’m just delusional, but all you need is some style to pull off being low effort and presentable.
Once you’ve reached this point, you can truly enjoy the world around you. You have prioritized yourself, grown emotionally, and gained confidence allowing you to be successful in the other aspects of your life. You also look cute and are the mysterious person someone thinks about after seeing you walk to class. So be free my little birds, get help – because if you’ve read this far you need it, and I wish you a pleasant journey finding your successful low effort lifestyle. If you are in need of emotional and mental health support, please reach out to Counseling & Psychological Services at humboldtcaps@humboldt.edu or call 707.826.3146 to sign up for free mental health/counseling services through TimelyCare.
Two-and-a-half miles north of campus stands the seven-figure “temporary solution” to Cal Poly Humboldt’s current housing crisis. However, this fall semester did not bring the thousands of additional students that had been expected, and 331 bed spaces remain vacant in the on-campus dorms. Despite the difficulties presented by living out of a hotel room, students spoke – mostly – positively about life at the Comfort Inn.
Cal Poly Humboldt’s lease agreement with the Comfort Inn commenced on Aug. 11 and will expire May 12, 2024, for a total of 275 nights. The 49 rooms at the hotel cost the university $100 per night. By the end of the lease, the university will have paid $1,347,500 to the Comfort Inn.
During normal hotel operations, the city of Arcata charges a ‘transient tax’ of 10% the cost of the room. With the university’s lease, the city of Arcata will not earn its normal 10% tax from the Comfort Inn for the 275 nights that students will call it home. Representatives from the city of Arcata were not immediately available for comment regarding the loss of tax revenue.
Given the fact that 331 empty bed spaces remain vacant on campus, the Comfort Inn lease could appear like an ugly $1.3 million stain on the university’s management of funds, but perhaps that’s not fair. Enrollment was expected to jump by 2000 students this fall and the university had an obligation to plan for every scenario. Additionally, the university allowed students who were accepted this fall to defer enrollment until next spring, creating a potential housing shortage come spring. The Comfort Inn lease was kept as an insurance measure by the university.
“To meet the needs of our students and prepare for a possible influx of more students, the university provided the option of living in university-managed off-campus bridge housing like the Comfort Inn,” said Aileen Yoo, Director of News & Information in a statement. “It’s meant to be a temporary solution as we move forward with building additional housing facilities over the next several years.”
In spite of the price tag and lower-than-predicted enrollment, the university kept the Comfort Inn as a housing option, in part because they had to. They had advertised the hotel as a housing option for many students.
“We also sought to honor the fact a number of students specifically chose to live in the Comfort Inn, even when offered the option to move back onto campus,” Yoo said. “Continuing our contract allows us to not only plan for the future, but to reduce uncertainty and disruption of housing locations for those students.”
Importantly, all students currently housed at the Comfort Inn are there by choice.
“Students who are currently residing in the Comfort Inn have chosen to stay there, even when the university offered them the opportunity to move back on campus and live in residential halls,” said Yoo.
Neither Sherie Cornish Gordon the Vice President of Administration & Finance, Donyet King the Senior Director for Housing & Residence Life, nor Steve Relyea the Executive Vice Chancellor responded to interview requests.
The money spent is particularly concerning on the backdrop of the recent CSU tuition hike. Regardless, the students of Cal Poly Humboldt that have been caught in the crosshairs of the university’s rapid expansion, should be the number one priority. Happily, it seems that students now housed in the Comfort Inn are quite content, one might even say they are… (relatively) comfortable.
“It’s not a shitty place, it’s really not. People are like, ‘Oh that sucks you guys are living there,’” said Luis Castro, a student living in the Comfort Inn. “I’m like, ‘No, it’s chill. It’s our own thing.’ In my opinion it’s better than living on campus.”
In fact, there are a number of notable benefits to life in the Comfort Inn that students are stoked on.
“It’s quiet. You don’t have the loudness of the community on campus,” said Dylan Harrison, another student who resides in the hotel. “We have our own community here. We have breakfast every morning. We got a pool downstairs if I want to go swimming, or go to Jacuzzi. We have our own laundry as well.”
In addition to the jacuzzi and laundry, students housed at the Comfort Inn have cleaning services twice a week, free breakfast, and gated parking. Still, there are drawbacks to making a hotel room a home. Namely, the absence of a kitchen. Fortunately, the university has crafted a creative compromise for the students living without a kitchen.
“They got a deal with this diner called Pepper’s and we use our meal exchanges there, or flex money,” Harrison said. “If I want a burger, instead of going and getting a burger that some student made on campus, who just wants to get paid – I could go to a diner where these people want to make burgers. And they like making burgers. And they got good burgers.”
In addition to top notch burgers, students are relishing the first floor snacks provided by the hotel.
“If you want to get something to eat – let’s say you want snacks on campus – then you have to go to the marketplace and pay for it. And here you just go downstairs and just get a yogurt that’s already stocked,” Castro said.
Naturally, the perks of life at Comfort Inn must be weighed against its inconvenient undesirable location miles from campus.
“There is a little bit of a disconnect, socially, you know, between big events that are going on [on campus]. But, I mean, the people that I have met here are pretty cool,” said Andres Arteaga, another student resident of the hotel. “Seeing as it’s my first year here, I did actually really want to be on campus. I do like the vibe on campus, but at the same time, It just feels like our own area here in this section of the town.”
All things considered, the situation seems decent for students living at the Comfort Inn, but it is far from an ideal college housing arrangement. Directly across the street from the Comfort Inn stands, ‘The Grove,’ a hotel recently converted to a homeless shelter. Behind that, in an undeveloped stretch of land that backs up to highway 101, a small community of homeless folks have put up shop and don’t appear to be leaving anytime soon.
“It’s like a 15 feet deep pool and 20 feet diameter wide and there’s tarps and there’s like, people just living over there,” Harrison said. “It’s crazy. You see it off the 101, they’re always burning fires. There’s a lot of people over there. You hear them at nighttime, [and] they’re always screaming.”
Logistically, it appears the university has set students up for success with multiple options for transport to the campus grounds. Working in tandem with Arcata Mad River Transit, the university created a new route that runs 7am to 10pm to transport students, for free, to and from the campus. The bus does not run on Sundays, but students have the option to call the University Police Department for a ride at any time, if need be.
“I take the bus to school,” Harrison said. “There’s three options every hour. If you miss all three buses, you’re a dumbass.”
While COVID-19 regulations have become more lenient at Cal Poly Humboldt, many students are still contracting COVID-19 and are unsure of where to find resources.
EG.5 (Eris) is one of the newer variants of COVID-19 in the United States, known for being highly contagious. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) predicts that Eris made up about 24.5% of COVID cases in the U.S. over the last two weeks. The second most common variant, FL.1.5.1, made up about 13.7% of cases.
Currently, the data on the number of student COVID-19 cases and which variant students are contracting most often is unavailable.
Dobby Morse, a graduate student in English who lives on campus, contracted COVID-19 in mid-August. They initially tested negative and assumed they weren’t contagious despite their symptoms.
“After like the third or fourth day, there was this burning lump in my throat and I couldn’t speak,” Morse said. “So, I went to the health center to try and get help and they tested me there. They said I had [COVID-19] and I had to go into lockdown.”
Because they were living with a roommate, Morse stayed in a quarantine room in the Cypress dorms for six days with one bedroom, a bathroom, and a mini kitchen with a broken stove. They tested again five days after their visit to the health center and had a positive result.
“I tried to extend my room for a couple more days, but the housing person said that I wouldn’t be contagious after 10 days,” Morse said. “But there’s internet health websites that say you can be contagious for up to 20 days.”
According to the CDC, those with moderate or severe COVID-19 should isolate for at least ten days, but those with a severe case of COVID-19 may still be contagious and need to isolate for up to 20 days.
Many students believe that precautions still need to be taken in regard to COVID-19.
“I don’t think people are as aware of it or as concerned about it as they should be,” Morse said. “Because I did have one person be like, ‘Oh, you have COVID[-19]? But I’m not scared of COVID[-19],’ and kind of got in my face.”
Emma Kral, a senior at Cal Poly Humboldt, contracted COVID-19 a week after moving into the dorms. COVID-19 left her unable to prepare for her classes, disrupting the beginning of her semester and leaving her feeling tired and unsettled. She was able to get a rapid COVID-19 test from one of the health vending machines on campus, and wants to see students and faculty taking more precautions.
“I think masking should be a lot more common on campus,” Kral said. They also thought more ventilation in classrooms would be helpful.
Many students aren’t aware of the vending machines on campus that carry COVID-19 rapid tests or the resources available in the Health Center. Some students said that they want to see more free masks available around campus. Most frequently, students requested that the school take an active role in addressing the rising number of COVID-19 cases among students and listen to student feedback.
Photo by Griffin Mancuso. The Student Health Center on campus.
According to the Cal Poly Humboldt website, students who are symptomatic can make an appointment at the Student Health Center to see a medical provider. If you are unable to get to the Student Health Center, 2-packs of rapid COVID-19 tests are available in health vending machines for $20 each.
Free 2-packs of rapid COVID-19 tests are currently available to all students at the Student Health Center, but students can only get one pack of tests at a time.
The Student Health Center currently does not provide COVID-19 boosters, but students can sign up for an appointment or find walk-in clinics near them on myturn.ca.gov. Locations in Arcata and Eureka that have the updated COVID-19 vaccine are Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy and Rite Aid. Safeway locations currently have a limited supply of the updated COVID-19 vaccine.
The Lumberjack reporters made multiple attempts to contact Jennifer Saford the Executive Director of Student Health & Wellbeing Services, Mira Friedman the Lead for Health Education and Medical Clinic Support Services, Aileen Yoo the Director of News & Information, and Grant Scott-Goforth the Communications Specialist, through email and in-person, but all were unwilling to provide a comment on COVID-19 tests and resources at this time.
Covid Vending Machine Locations:
Nelson Hall East (across from Goodwin form)
Gutswurrak Student Activities Center (1st floor by the Depot)
Jolly Giant Commons (3rd floor next to housing cashier)
College Creek Mail Room Lobby
Creekview Dorm Lounge (must be a Creekview resident to access)
After a spring semester that saw The University Police Department’s force spread so thin that single-officer patrols were a norm, they have recently hired two new dispatchers, promoted an officer to sergeant, and hired one new officer. While slightly better than before, the department’s staffing issues have forced many members of its small team to still work long hours with few days off. Despite the successful recent hirings, the department remains without a permanent police chief and ever-cautious in its search for a new one. The still understaffed force has had to rely on its committed team working overtime to remain functional.
As many students will have been made aware of through the UPD’s advisory emails, it has been a hectic start to the fall semester. The last two weeks have seen an uncharacteristic barrage of criminal activity on our typically peaceful campus among the redwoods. From “Suspicious Bags Found in Wildlife & Fisheries Building” to “Trespassing Arrest at the Children’s Center” and a tragic “Collision That Injured Student” at one of the campus’s few intersections which left a student in critical condition, this has been an unusually chaotic start to the semester.
Throughout this spring semester, Lieutenant Peter Cress filled the role of police chief in addition to his normal duties as lieutenant. Currently, Fernando Solozano, a retired police chief from Long Beach, has stepped in as interim chief until a permanent one is finally hired.
Unfortunately, a timeline for the hiring of a permanent chief is difficult to nail down with so many factors at play. Even if the perfect candidate showed up on Harpst street tomorrow, they’d still need to go through a full background check, potential recertifications and additional police academy training (depending on where they transferred from). So, it will likely be exactly a while-longer before Cal Poly Humboldt has a permanent police chief.
On top of all that, hiring a police chief for a university – especially one as unique as Cal Poly Humboldt – has a number of additional hurdles as compared to your average city police department. Most notably are the Clery Act and Title IX federal civil rights, which affect police operations on a university campus distinctly from those at a typical city police department.
Moreover, the bureaucracy of a college campus means that a very unique skillset and experience is necessary to perform the job tactfully.
“The CSU system has its own challenges in different ways. It’s not just a police department in a town where you can go to your mayor and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ We have our presidents and we have our chancellor, so we have lots of different steps… What would be nice is if we had somebody who is familiar with the CSU system, who is eager to grow a police department, and comes in with knowledge, all those things,” Martin said before adding, “we’re not looking for a unicorn, but I mean, kind of we’re looking for somebody who can do all of that.”
The chief of the police sets the tone for the entire department, Martin explained. They look fifteen years down the line and act as captain of the ship, adjusting course towards innovation and progress. The fact that the department has been absent a chief for so many months and remains not only functional but reliable, serves as testament to the unwavering dedication of each member of the department. Importantly, though the search for a permanent police chief remains a top priority for the department, they are not rushing the process and will not pull the trigger unless the fit is perfect.
“Our VP [Sherie Gordon] has a very set criteria of what she wants to hire. She just doesn’t want to settle. She wants somebody who’s going to do justice to the police department and our campus,” Martin said.
Martin’s explanation for the still vacant chief position hinted that perhaps having no police chief is better than having the wrong police chief.
“It’s about finding somebody who wants to be here, who is willing to put in the work,” Martin said before continuing, “Somebody who’s progressive, understands what we’re trying to do here. And we’ve struggled at finding a very qualified person that can slide into that role and help our police department grow.”
This spring saw the lean department frequently functioning with only one officer on duty at any given time.
The recent new hires have eased that strain slightly but they’re currently still running some single person patrols, as they are having trouble finding qualified officers.
Aware of the mounting need for more personnel, the UPD have put together an incentive package and have hired a firm to recruit nationwide to find fitting candidates. A common theme in talking about the difficulties in hiring was UPD’s emphasis on hiring the right candidate. They are not interested in hiring just anybody so that they have additional boots on the ground. They’ve got to be the right boots. And of course, this is Humboldt – they’ve got to have the right vibe.
“We are not just filling boxes and trying to put a cop in a seat just because I need a number. I’ve got people who are willing to come here,” Martin said. “We just want people who are going to be a positive addition to the police department and how they interact with our community and how they’re willing to change and how they’re willing to grow.”
“We are looking for the right people to be a part of that police department as we grow,” Martin emphasized.
Remaining a community based police force appears to be a top priority for the department when considering new hires.
“Our community as a whole is more laid back,” Martin said. “100% we want to be able to be part of that culture.”
The understaffed department has relied on its indomitable staff to keep the peace on campus.
“It’s been the staff. The staff is really the reason that we’re still moving forward and getting stuff done,” Martin said. “A lot of overtime for different people, a lot of hours are being put in and everybody’s just still getting the work done.”
Martin put in about thirty hours of overtime last month, with this month’s overtime hours quickly racking up. Impressive as that is, dispatcher Jennifer Gomes’ work schedule borders on super-human.
“I have, technically, one full day off this month. My normal schedule is day-shift Sunday through Wednesday,” Gomes said. “But I’m covering graves for the second half of the week right now, and then my one day off for the week is the day that I rotate back to day shift. So, I sleep all day to try to accommodate coming back to day-shift.”
With two new dispatch trainees set to complete their training in October, respite is on the way. The dispatch ‘family’ will be back to three days off per week with just one dispatcher role left to fill. An unsung hero of Humboldt, Gomes explained her reasoning for weathering the recent tough times at the UPD.
“Everybody’s pulled their weight, come together kind of as a family and just pushed through the staffing issues,” said Gomes. “Just push through the hard times here, we’re all coming out of it.”
With millions upon millions being put toward Cal Poly Humboldt’s expansion, it seems the unstoppable force of dollar-driven change is also working overtime here in Humboldt county. Change is a comin’.
“As our faculty and our staff grow, there are gonna be different expectations as we modernize our campus and in the directions that we had. So, we’re also gonna have to keep up,” Martin said. “We want to maintain that same service that we’ve had, we want to be able to have these conversations. We want to be able to play pool with our students and whatever events and be accessible and always there. And that’s one of the things we look for when we’re trying to hire people.”
The new marine biology major provides students the opportunity to gain practical, hands-on experience in ocean and marine habitats. They will study different organisms and a diverse selection of marine ecosystems, such as salt marshlands and beaches.
First-year, first-time students will also be enrolled in Rising Tides, a year-long program of science and general education courses and activities specializing in the Humboldt and Trinidad bays.
Photo by Griffin Mancuso. A collection of microscope slides.
Sean Craig, a professor at the university for 23 years, explains the need for marine biology professors and lecturers.
Currently, there are only three professors teaching marine biology classes, according to Craig.
“We asked for a new faculty member for our new marine biology major but we didn’t get it,” Craig said. “We only got a chance to replace one of our faculty who retired and left.”
“Starting in the spring there will be four because we are able to replace the one who left,” Craig said.
According to Craig, the university always had a marine biology program, but after becoming a California polytechnic now with the transition you can now declare in marine biology as a major.
“The fact that [marine biology] is now a major it rings more bells and connects with more people, especially people applying to Humboldt,” said Craig.
“Our marine biology major already borrows heavily from other marine majors, especially oceanography and fisheries,” said Craig. “I think it would be good in the future to have all us marine scientists to pull together and decide on things together to make an impact.”
“I think there are a lot of misunderstandings of the ‘marine biology major’ because really, at least at the moment, firmly in the biology department there are only 3 faculty at the moment teaching marine biology,” said Craig. “Like saying we got the best restaurant in the world off the highway, but we don’t have a sign.”
Craig expresses great discernment and feelings about the lack of professors teaching marine biology.
“Our biggest problem, which is a long term problem, we have been clambering for years for faculty,” Craig said. “All students benefit better from support systems, tutors and writing center help. All of that is better with more numbers.”
It is not unusual for a professor in marine biology to have 55 students. 55 students that need those professors help to figure out what classes to take, or what to retake, especially during registration. This is frankly a lot of students for one professor.
“It’s a problem, we don’t have enough faculty to do a good job of advising and providing opportunities for students,” says Craig. “We are handicapped, we can’t keep up with students increasing and with the faculty decreasing.”
“We were promised a new faculty member and we haven’t gotten that, yet,” said Craig. “We’re all going to have to work together to get exposure and make connections.”
A really cool and fun thing that you can do as a marine bio major is go on the Coral Sea, which is a research vessel and is 91 feet long. It’s parked on the docks in Eureka in the Woodley Island Marina, and is a wonderful platform for learning. It is the only vessel of its kind in size in California that is devoted to undergraduate education.
“The vessel itself is in pretty good shape, but the engines not up to standards in terms of output of different particulates in the air, so there is a major problem there, and to solve that problem so many of our faculty and Associate Dean are working together to, as part of the poly tech transformation, purchase a new brand new vessel that would be better in multiple ways. Eventually I hope there will be a new version of the Coral Sea,” said Craig.
“Now we have a major, we have a 91 foot research vessel that students can go on cruises for, we have a marine laboratory where students can learn about live animals like crabs and octopus under a dish in a microscope,” said Craig. “Thanks to Cal poly tech, we got new microscopes for the marine lab. Many before dated back to the 1950s, so the new facilities after the Cal poly transformation makes our marine biology department even better.”
Photo by Griffin Mancuso. Several bay pipefish swimming through seaweed.
Kaci Dodd, a junior who changed her major to marine biology this fall, aspires to work in marine conservation or scientific diving instruction. She expressed excitement about marine biology having its own program at CPH.
“Now that they’ve added it more as a major, there’s definitely been more classes and more opportunities — which is super exciting — instead of just having biology with a marine concentration, “ Dodd said. “But I feel like what really attracts people to the marine biology program at this school is how hands-on it is with the equipment that they use and the professional element.”
Dodd recalls her experiences learning how to use new technology and gear on the Coral Sea.
“One of my favorite things in the biological oceanography cruise… It was an otter trawl, “ Dodd said. “And it pretty much was a huge net that went along the water column and collected all the fish or whatever was in that water column. And so we saw a lot of fish, some squid, that was really cool.”
Dodd also recommends that any student, marine biology major or not, should try the field techniques class taught by Daniel O’Shea.
“It was just like, so fun — fun to be on the boat and meeting the crew that works on the boat, how to work on the boat, and be a cruise assistant,” Dodd said. “And after that class, when you pass, you’re able to actually become a cruise assistant and work on the boat with cruises and classes, like that is really cool.”
Marine biology students, along with other majors, analyze marine organisms at the Telonicher Marine Lab, located in Trinidad and home to various marine species and preserved specimens. The lab is open to the public on weekdays, and students also travel there for class labs and research.
Photo by Griffin Mancuso. Zoology major Kyle Bailey looking at a cross section of a flatworm.
Kyle Bailey, a junior and zoology major who wants to pursue a career in animal husbandry, described his experience with the marine biology classes at Telonicher Marine Lab.
“I’m taking invertebrate zoology right now… the class we’re taking is a crossroads for several different majors,” Bailey said. “I’d say the majority are marine bio, but there’s a couple of us who are just general zoology, wildlife, there’s a few others in there.”
Bailey elaborated on what sets classes at the marine lab apart from other biology classes.
“The main difference between the lab now and from intro zoo is looking at live specimens,” Bailey said. “It’s super cool to see how these animals would actually look living and we have the sea table to look at stuff. It’s a big difference to see what these animals would look like living as opposed to mush in a jar, which I think is a super fun experience.”
On September 13th, the CSU board of trustees approved a tuition increase of 6%, every year, for the next five years. In effect, this will raise tuition costs by $1,940 in the 2028-2029 school semester as compared to tuition in the 2023-2024 semester. CSU cites inflation, the rising cost of living, and a lack of rising tuition rates as reasons for the compounded 6% increase over the next five years. For their part, students cite inflation, the rising cost of living, and six figure salaries for upper level administrators as reasons for their frustration with the tuition increase.
In defending the hike in tuition, CSU states that inflation has grown by 39% over the last twelve years while tuition has only increased by 5%. CSU expects a whopping 860 million in revenue in the five years post tuition hike, with 280 million being put towards financial aid.
Among the top priorities for the millions being brought in from the tuition include: expanding the work of the CSU’s Graduation Initiative, providing non-loan financial aid to assist students, increase in salaries for faculty and staff, and infrastructure projects.
Crucially, the tuition increase will cease at the end of the 2028-2029 school year. Tuition will remain at those rates unless the board of trustees votes again to increase.
CSU states that their current budget revenues are not sufficient to sustain current operations. The six-figure salaries of many CSU employees stoke the flame of frustration for students struggling to afford their education at the current tuition cost.
Prior to the increase being approved, it was heavily opposed by students, staff and faculty across the CSU system. In Long Beach alone, the CSU unions CSUEU, Teamsters 2010, and the CFA protested the tuition increase alongside the student-led rights group, the Students for Quality Education (SQE) outside of the Chancellor’s office where the tuition would be eventually decided. SQE member, Jackie Barrett, laments how the higher-ups in the education system generate thousands of dollars in income, yet the CSU persists they need more funds to sustain itself and pay its workers.
“They say that they need the tuition increases so they can pay faculty and all this stuff,” said Barrett, “But the new chancellor with all of her benefits such as housing, car allowance, after all of that she makes almost a million dollars a year. And campus presidents make anywhere from $250,000 to $500,000. [CSU] say they don’t have the money, but they definitely have the money. It’s just not in the right places.”
Even here on Humboldt’s campus, President Jackson’s salary was raised 14% from last year making his salary $396,150 with a $50,000 housing stipend.
Marisol Ruiz, President of the CFA Humboldt Chapter and Professor, noted the possible ramifications the tuition increase could have on the upward mobility of CSU students in the future.
“We know what [the tuition increase] means,” said Ruiz. “The students are going to have [higher] loans and what is that going to do? That’s going to make [students] indebted, that’s going to take away freedom to be wherever [students] want to be, and to do whatever [students] want to do. [Loans] affects your freedom to move,and it affects your freedom to have better opportunities.”
Total revenue for Cal Poly Humboldt’s parking services stands at $942,513.09 in parking permit fees and $236,564.81 in parking fines and forfeitures for the Fall 2022- Spring 2023 semesters, thus far. A grand total of 2,137 parking spaces with nearly 6,000 students enrolled this fall, makes parking on campus a carefully coordinated charade for students commuting to campus. With a negligible number of additional students enrolled this fall compared to last fall, and a thousands less than the university’s enrollment number of nearly 9,000 in 2015, parking on campus is not a new issue. Pending infrastructure projects, funded by the university’s recent transition to become California’s third polytechnic university, promise more parking spaces in the near future. However, the current parking problem persists as a daily frustration for many Lumberjacks.
Students are fed up with the lack of parking options, particularly after spending $157.50 per semester for a parking pass.
“It’s a mess. I feel like I’ve spent a lot of money on my parking pass to not be verified. And I’m always late to class trying to find a parking spot. So it’s kind of frustrating,” said Jada Willis, a third year psychology major.
Likewise, third year art major Somerset Dwyer is annoyed with the daily scrimmage for a parking spot.
“I think it’s really silly,” Dwyer said. “I have a parking pass but half the time I can’t find parking on campus and then have to pay for a meter.”
The lack of parking on campus directly affects students’ ability to succeed academically.
“My first year here, I had a parking permit and half the time if I couldn’t find parking.” Dwyer said. “I would just skip class because it was super frustrating to find it.”
Importantly, parking on campus is not always an issue. It comes down to timing. Essentially, any weekday between 8:00am and 5:00pm, you’re unlikely to have an easy go of locating an available spot. Still, one always has the option to enjoy less pillow time and leave earlier, as computer science major Jaztin Marasigan pointed out.
“It’s really hard to find parking within certain hours,” Marasigan said. “But if you come early, like if you can get an early class, get morning classes, you’re definitely finding a spot.
Everybody has something here at noon. That’s when you’re gonna have difficulty parking.
It’s a skill issue. You know what I mean? Like, okay… come early.”
While an early departure is an option for some, it is inconvenient and undesirable for most.
“I skipped a shower two mornings in a row just to get parking here,” said senior Tim Skaggs.
In the near future, multiple, multi-million dollar infrastructure projects promise to bring more parking spaces to Cal Poly Humboldt. The Library Circle Student Housing, Health Center, Dining and Parking Facility (total project budget $175 million, planned opening August 2026)is slated to add 500 parking spots. The Campus Apartments Housing and Parking Facility (total project budget $110m, planned opening Summer 2027) should add 500 new parking spots.
Assuming there are no construction delays, Cal Poly Humboldt will have 1000 new parking spots by Summer 2027.
It remains to be seen whether these new spaces will be enough to ease parking difficulties at Cal Poly Humboldt. With the school aiming to increase enrollment to 7,000 by the fall semester of 2024, it’s difficult to imagine that parking on campus will be an effortless endeavor anytime soon.
Importantly, there will be some casualties along the road to more parking on-campus. The new infrastructure projects are set to be built where the ceramics and sculpture labs, Bret Harte House, Campus Apartments, Warren House and ‘Building 20’ currently stand. Regarding the planned relocations of the to-be-torn-down labs, the university states on their ‘Future Infrastructure Projects’ webpage that: “Ceramic and Sculpture Labs will need to be addressed in long term planning. The Feasibility study for this project has yet to begin. And general scope is still being developed.”
A statement released from the university’s director of news & information, Aileen Yoo, on Sept. 19 reads “With significant infrastructure projects such as these, plans are often fluid. Based on the completed feasibility study for this project, the Ceramics and Sculpture labs will be relocated to Jenkins Hall, which is also being remodeled.”
The same press release details potential plans for an off-campus parking lot, or ‘surface parking’ for ‘about 1000 stalls’ in lieu of an on campus parking facility.
“Parking structures are extremely expensive and such an investment should only be considered when all other cost-effective and sustainable transportation options have been implemented,” Yoo said via press release.
The off-campus location for said parking lot is still undecided, but is planned to include bike parking and a shuttle service.
Cal Poly Humboldt’s transportation and parking services department declined to interview regarding the current parking situation and future parking options. Future, grandiose structures – or surface structures – yet unbuilt and/or unpaved, the reality remains that students pay $157.50 per semester for a parking pass that doesn’t ensure a parking spot.
“I feel like it should be kind of guaranteed parking. But, it seems like, you know, even if you pay for that you don’t really you don’t get the full benefits of the amount you’re paying for just because you don’t always get the parking that you need,” said wildlife conservation major Justin Salazar.
The planned infrastructure projects promise additional parking space but will also lead to the demolition of some of the school’s oldest buildings.
“I’m taking sculpture right now, and I know that they’re tearing down the sculpture and ceramics studios to build parking lots and more buildings,” said Dwyer before adding. “That doesn’t seem like a solution either. It’s taking away lots of resources from the school and from the students. But obviously, more parking is needed.”
Call me a conservative, but making this statement in Arcata of all places is bound to get me into some trouble; I don’t want to see your feet. Yes, we’ve made plenty of jokes about it in the paper and it is a topic of discussion on various platforms like Yik Yak and Cal Poly Humboldt confessions, but I am someone who feels very strongly about this subject. Far enough to get a crop top stating “I support shoes” on it.
Let me explain a few things first: I’m not a foot hater. I wouldn’t say I’m appalled by bare feet or find them disgusting, nor do I have an issue with the anatomical structure of a bare foot alone. I do, however, have an issue with the time and place in which they are presented, which seems to be 24/7 in Arcata. No shoes, no shirt, no service? Never seen a sign like that here aside from Dead Reckoning Tavern (shoutout to y’all). I kiss the ground of the establishments that display those signs when I’m back home. In the figure-of-speech way – kissing the ground is unsanitary, which is why your raw foot skin should not be on them.
I will turn a blind eye to bare toes in select places. A few examples include the beach, the pool, and, hell, even the community forest. I get the whole ‘earthing’ thing making you more connected to the Earth’s energy, and how your shoes constrict your feet yea-yea-yea – but how much positive Earth rays are really flowing through the third floor of the library, or the human feces riddled streets of California? Don’t even get me started on seeing shoe-less folks in the health center. I guess I can sometimes get behind the stripped soles movement, but only if you’ve ingested a handful of psychedelics and are questioning all of your moral beliefs.
Basically, what I’m getting to is public enclosed settings should be off limits for the flashing of phalanges. I’ve seen way too many toes mingling under group tables in the library, and don’t remind me of the woman’s toes gripping the corner of a barstool cushion at Everett’s. Have y’all ever heard of plantar’s wart or athlete’s foot? Like, seriously, I get it that everywhere has germs and gross things, but I can promise some of y’all bare feet boosters are tucking those dusty things right into bed with you every night.
Listen, as long as you’re scrubbing those babies good before bed and when you enter a home, I guess I can’t go too far with my opinion. Just please keep them out of public places! Slap a pair of tevas or sandals on and call it a day. I’d say my support of body autonomy ends at the bare feeters of Arcata, California.
Hundreds of miles from Humboldt county in Long Beach, dozens of people are rallying against the decisions of the Chancellor’s and the Board of Trustees that hold the fate of our communities’ future outside of the headquarters of the California State University (CSU).
What the CFA is fighting for
The California Faculty Association (CFA) is one of six CSU Unions present across the 23 campuses. The CFA focuses their support on staff that work directly with students such as lecturers, coaches, and counselors.
The other unions are the CSU Employees Union (CSUEU) who support staff that provide essential services to students such as those in admin, the Union of American Physicians and Dentists, Teamsters Local 2010 that supports skilled trade workers such as painters and carpenters, the student union UAW 4123 and finally, the Academic Professionals of California (APC) which provides support to campus staff that work with students outside of the classroom such as financial aid and residence life.
Currently, the unions are collectively bargaining, and they are fighting for many of the same things. The CFA is campaigning on two main fronts, better wages and financial compensation, as well as better workloads and support to faculty
Wages
The CFA is asking for a 12% general salary increase. Cal Poly Pomona CFA member and associate professor of Political Science Marc Scarcelli reasons that although a 12% increase may seem like a lot, it’s essential to keep wages fair as the inflation rates increased 8% since the last bargaining session between the CFA and the CSU.
“If your wage increases don’t keep up with inflation, your wages are actually going down,” said Scarcelli, “and so if you think about it, we have to threaten the strike just to break even if we’re not actually fighting for more. We’re fighting just to break even. We [got a 3% pay raise] at a time when inflation was over 8%. What we got is effectively a pay cut.”
The CFA is also hoping to raise the salary floor for lecturers. Chief Steward of the Humboldt APC Chapter Tania Marin-Zeldin feels that this proposal is needed to help faculty with their standard of living.
“To hear that some of our members have two jobs because they can’t afford to have a decent living and provide for their families, that’s the sad part,” Said Marin-Zeldin. “We shouldn’t have to have two jobs. We shouldn’t have to be barely living, paycheck to paycheck.”
Freshman Evaluator and Union Representative of the APC Sierra Farmer hopes that having more competitive wages could help with retention of workers within the CSU system. She explains that because of what feels like unfair wages, many CSU workers, including alumni, leave because they can’t live comfortably with the wages provided.
“We lose good employees in the Cal State system,” Said Farmer. “We have lower wages than the UC’s and the community colleges. So we lose really good people to the other systems all the time because they don’t make a living wage.”
Another financial goal to increase fair wages and combat inflation resulting in pay cuts, is the unions fighting for yearly step-raises within the CSU system.
Better support for staff and faculty
To also help with retention rates for faculty and staff, especially counselors, Professor and CFA President of the Humboldt Chapter Marisol Ruiz notes that better policies surrounding tenure and more long-term contracts can help with the feeling of stability for employees.
“We want [counselors] to get three year contracts,” said Ruiz. “When you’re in a [year-long contract], you’re in a precarious situation. You don’t know if you’re getting your job back or not, so people sometimes don’t want to stay. We’ve had a hard time getting good counselors to stay. We need to offer them better [contracts], where they will be more likely to stay due to better conditions.”
On top of contracts, the unions want there to be more fair workloads for faculty, as well as better ratios between students and faculty. Ruiz remarks on the importance of a healthy ratio between students and faculty.
“We want to give [students] more attention,” said Ruiz. “We want to lower class sizes, and focus on [student’s work]. But the [CSU] just wants to cram everybody in. The more care that we have for our students, the better they will do in their classes and the more effective they will be as [learners] and we want that. ”
Beyond workloads and wages, the unions are also wanting to ensure more gender equity on campuses by providing bathrooms and changing facilities that people can feel safe with no matter their gender. They also want better paid parental leave and more lactation stations for parents across campuses.
Process of Union Bargaining and Current State of Negotiations
Every few years, each of the unions on the CSU campuses reopen their contracts with the CSU to bargain. This year’s cycle is unique as it was delayed due to COVID, and instead of bargaining in a staggered way, every union is negotiating their contracts at once. As of the writing of this article, every union aside from the CFA is still at the bargaining table. The CFA has declared an impasse with the CSU since they did not come anywhere close to an agreement, and has moved onto the fact-finding stage. Faculty Rights Chair for the CFA Humboldt Chapter and Lecturer in the Philosophy Department Loren Cannon explains the process
“Fact finding is where [the CFA] and [the CSU] produce information and argumentation as to why our proposals are good. [The CSU] will probably try to produce information that says, ‘Oh, we just can’t afford it.’ [The CFA] will produce information that says, ‘well, actually, you can.’ We could go back to bargaining somewhere in the middle here, but if we don’t have any agreement at that point, there might be collective action.”
If the mediation following the fact finding stage again fails, the union can then vote on to take action, such as a strike. If the CFA does decide to strike, it will likely be in early November as of the time of writing this article. Scarcelli notes that a few within the CFA are looking forward to a chance to strike.
“In terms of willingness to strike, I talked to a lot of my colleagues and honestly, they’re not just willing, they’re eager,” said Scarcelli. “Colleagues all over the place are chomping at the bit like, ‘when do we get to strike,’ because they’re pissed. They’re just furious. You know, when our incomes are effectively going down. And then we keep seeing that they give appalling raises to university presidents and the Chancellor.”
CSU Response
In a video message and written statement from interim Chancellor Jolene Koester, she affirmed that the CSU is committed to fair pay and compensation for faculty and staff. The CSU has proposed a salary step structure for faculty and staff in the CSU’s to reach 12% over three years, however the increase will be 5% in the first year. The CFA has rejected this and declared impasse following the offer. The CSU leadership say they will be challenged to meet the proposals of the CFA and other unions throughout the CSU.
CFA flyer
Why Faculty are Fighting
With the CSU rejecting some of the union’s requests, many within the union are becoming more frustrated, especially with the wages that the CSU higher-ups and presidents are making. Ruiz notes that on average, after the average CSU president’s salary and allowances for their car and housing, they generate more income than the governor of California.
“I do not think it is acceptable for us to have a housing allowance for anybody who’s making $300,000. it’s not right, when our students are homeless and are living in cars, and we don’t even pay a living wage to lecturers,” said Ruiz. “ How [is the CSU] getting all this money for car allowances? How are you getting a housing allowance? How are [CSU presidents] being provided for? And our students are not? Your job is not as important as the governor of California, let’s put back the money where it needs to go.”
Farmer also notes that her yearly wage barely compares to Humboldt President Jacskon’s yearly housing allowance
Overall, the unions and their members such as Scarcelli are working towards better compensation and working environments to continue supporting students in their journey of creating a better future for themselves.
“We do what we do because we love education,” said Scarcelli. “We love our students. It would pain me to skip classes, but I will, and I find most students are very receptive to our cause.”
Sam Armanino was a freelance videographer, editor and photographer who made his living doing what he loved. He wasn’t afraid to put himself in critical positions for his video work, which made his content stand out. A Cal Poly Humboldt journalism graduate and former Lumberjack Editor in Chief, Armanino used the skills he learned in school to chase down his dream. Armanino created content for outdoor sports such as climbing, mountain biking and skiing. He was truly living his dream, but sadly on Aug. 31 Armanino passed away from a mountain biking accident.
Sam Armanino was truly one of a kind, both in the sense of his creativity but most importantly in how he treated others around him. It did not matter whether he knew you his whole life or one day, Armanino made people feel comfortable, always giving his utmost respect and attention. I remember the first day that I met him, meeting at my brother’s apartment in Arcata, getting ready to go surf. He was so stoked on learning how to surf, buying a fresh longboard and questioning my brother and I for advice that we might have for him. Instantly fitting into the deep bond that I share with my brother, Armanino fit in like family instantly, being silly and pestering me with jokes while flaunting his huge infectious smile. That was Sam.
He dove into new adventures head on and did the same with learning about those around him. Armanino strove to pull as much as he possibly could out of life, learning more about the people he stumbled upon, their stories and what interested them. He was the embodiment of a humble soul, killing people with genuine kindness and curiosity. I interviewed Sam for a class project in Fall 2022 where he described what drove him into journalism.
“I found journalism and I saw that as something that was really important,” Armanino said. “I really liked talking to people and connecting with people and I have always been a big fan of media. And so my initial thought was to combine recreation administration and the love of the outdoors with journalism.”
Photo courtesy of Mark McKenna. Sam Armanino (center) standing with other photographers.
Vicky Sama, an emeritus professor in the journalism department at Humboldt State University and Armanino’s former advanced video production professor, described how Armanino used his kind energy in and out of the classroom.
“Sam brought positive energy to the classroom and just about everywhere he went,” Sama said. “He combined his passion for the outdoors and journalism and created a career doing what he loved most. He had such a great and young career and so much promise. I’m absolutely crushed to know he is gone.”
Sam was the type of person that would scream louder than you for your accomplishments, a recurring theme that can be seen in many of the videos that he created. A passionate creator and cameraman, Armanino can be heard howling for joy while filming his friends. He was genuinely happy for you. I remember hearing him playfully shouting as I rode waves past him. Few people possess the infectious joy that Armanino embodied. He legitimately wanted to see the people around him succeed and be the best version of themselves, encouraging people to test their abilities.
Sam lived his life to the absolute fullest, chasing powder days while backcountry skiing and blistering down mountain bike trails. Dedicated to being in the outdoors, chasing the beauty of nature and doing everything he could to avoid a typical desk job. Being outside with his friends was where he belonged and he made a living pursuing his dream of capturing people doing amazing things outdoors. Armanino detailed his desire to thrive and create his own path and how pursuing his dream as a freelance videographer made him happy.
“I think it’s been a really good way for me to kind of avoid the stereotypical 9 to 5 world, which I just don’t think I could thrive in, that I didn’t thrive in,” Armanino said. “So I think it’s been like a really good creative way to kind of create my own path.”
Armanino was not a typical human being that could be bound to an ordinary career, he was a special breed. His adventurous personality drove him to creating beautiful content and friendships. His friends point to Armanino’s ability to create light in life through his corny jokes, absurd noises, goofy faces and bubbly laugh. He surely has left a positive mark on this planet and will be sorely missed by many.
Kind words from those who knew Sam
Vicky Sama – Emeritus Video Production Journalism Professor
Sam was a talented photographer and editor and he would often visit in my office where we would talk about how he could make a living doing the things he loved such as videography, skiing and mountain biking. He made it happen. He was living the dream. He was full of life. It’s so sad he’s gone.
Mark Mckenna – Photojournalism/Video Production Professor
I will miss those random calls or texts for advice or just to see how I was doing. I will miss seeing the latest instagram post where he nailed it. I will miss him being able to share with current students his talent and passion for life. He was so full of light. I will try to always remember that smile filling up my classroom and his words of encouragement to his fellow students.
Andrea Juarez – Advising Professor for El Leñador
Sam was a wonderful student and human being. He was kind, easy going and laid back, but no doubt, he was dedicated and serious about his craft. He was eager to learn and try new things. Sam was bold and dared to live as he believed, especially with regard to his love of the outdoors. He certainly knew how to capture beauty with his photos and videos, yet it was his spirit and zest for life that captivated those who knew him.
Garrett Purchio – Librarian at Cal Poly Humboldt
Sam was truly one of a kind. He was incredibly passionate about journalism and his positivity was unmatched. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Sam and I will miss him dearly. Sam, thank you for your kind spirit and generosity.
Javier Rojas – former LJ Managing Editor & El Leñador EIC
Ask anyone and they will tell you that Sam was the nicest and most genuine person they ever met. He was one of a kind and will be missed by so many people. Love you Sam.
Miranda Hutch – Class of 2016
He had a perfect balance of drive and adventure. He had a passion for his work that cannot be learned. You just have it. And Sam had it. It’s not fair that the world won’t get to see what else he could have done with more time.
Katelyn Peakes – Class of 2017
I will miss his random yelling and super sick air guitar skills… He created a career following his passions and was living life to the fullest which we could all aspire to. There was simply no way you could be in a bad mood around him. A great human being and an amazing friend… Much love Sam!
Austin Anderson – Class of 2017
My experiences with Sam will always act as a lens through which I see life; always looking for the good, the fun, and of course for what’s right. Sam’s energy was infectious and if you could key into his wavelength, it truly was a portal to a better place. So sad to see him go, but so proud to have been his friend.
Carmen Pena-Gutierrez
Thank you for being better than kind, more than genuine, and too much of a force to be described in words. Thank you, Sam. Rest easy.
Zachary Sibek
Sam not only met life’s biggest moments with a fearless smile, he was present in the quiet moments. Truly absorbing life and ultimately embodying an example all of us can work towards. Rest in Peace Sam. You are loved and you are missed so dearly.
Tessa lance
Sam was one of my first friends at humboldt, he made me feel like I was in the right place. I’ll never forget his ridiculous smile and over the top wave whenever he skated by and am so grateful for all the beers we shared. I love you Sam.
Anne Maher
I will always remember Sam for his exceptional drive to live life exactly the way he wanted to. He truly loved life, and moved through it with unbounded positivity and creativity.
Theater students are outraged and frustrated after Troy Lescher, an associate professor in Cal Poly Humboldt’s theater arts department, has been cast in this semester’s theater production of The Life of Galileo. The casting decision has faced fierce opposition from students within the theater program, who argue that it undermines opportunities for aspiring actors, and raises questions on inclusivity and fairness in casting.
By casting Lescher in the role, the students argue that the department has removed the opportunity for a student to gain valuable learning experience in a leading role. It’s the last straw in a series of decisions and experiences that the students believe have left them unprepared for the world of professional theater.
Lescher declined to be interviewed, but provided a statement in response to his casting.
“When faculty artists and student artists collaborate… students have opportunities to develop knowledge and skills in realistic ways, preparing them for the diverse production experiences they will encounter after graduation. As a member of The Life of Galileo ensemble, I look forward to applying my professional training put and experience to help strengthen student learning; promote learner success; and bring a special and relevant story to life on the university stage.”
Rumors of the casting spread before it was officially announced at the theater program’s “Welcome Back” event on Aug. 24th. Several disgruntled students showed up to challenge the casting decision. Miah Carter, a senior in the program, was among these students.
“We just wanted to, first and foremost, make sure that all the students who are in this program and attending were aware that this is not something that benefits college students,” Carter said.
At the event, the students asked why Lescher was cast before auditions were held. Linda Maxwell, the theater program leader, did the bulk of the responding. One reason for Lescher’s casting was the scope of the lead role.
Cindy Moyer, chair of the Department of Dance, Music, and Theatre, said that Lescher has spent his summer working on the part, and asking a student to put that breadth of work in half a semester isn’t feasible.
Maxwell and Julie Eccles-Benson, the co-director of the show, declined to be interviewed.
Maxwell spent a large part of the meeting blaming the students’ frustration over not being able to audition for the lead role.
“Yeah, I’m mad,” Carter said. “Mad I’m not getting the education I’m paying for, not because I wasn’t cast as the lead in a show. Look at me. I’m a young Black woman. I was never going to be slated to play as Galileo himself.”
Carter wasn’t surprised at the results of the encounter.
“We pretty much expected them to give the reaction they did and the excuses they did,” Carter said. “They didn’t really want to hear us out, which didn’t surprise me.”
Carter suggested that if the faculty knew The Life of Galileo was going to feature a lead role too bulky for a student, they should have chosen a different show that catered more towards student interest.
According to Moyer, the justification for casting a faculty member over affording the opportunity to a student boiled down to how the role of Galileo was too large a workload for a student to handle and how Lescher’s casting afforded an opportunity for collaborative learning.
“For Galileo, the theater faculty thought carefully and felt that this play provided an appropriate opportunity for students to learn by working side-by-side with a professional actor,” Moyer said. “It may be several years before students will get this valuable and exciting opportunity again.”
Ash Quintana, a theater major in his senior year, felt that the faculty had taken away students’ agency. He said that taking away the students’ choice pampers them and doesn’t prepare them for professional theater, where they’ll often have to multitask between theater and work.
The students didn’t accept the collaborative learning rationale provided by the department.
“When it comes to acting, you learn more by doing than by watching somebody,” Quintana said. “If you want a student to learn, put them in that role, and have the resources to guide them to success, instead of just assuming they can’t do it on their own.”
Lescher’s casting is the latest in a series of controversial choices for theater program students. The program once had a season selection committee for choosing future shows, including both faculty and students, but in recent years only two students, including Carter, were on it.
“It was pretty easy for them to dismiss what we were saying,” Carter said. “I do think they made a little bit of effort to be like ‘oh yeah, here, you’re making some good ideas,’ but it never felt like they were actually considering what we wanted to do.”
The season selection committee was disbanded by the fall semester of 2022. The faculty provided no reason why. During that same semester, they emailed a survey to students, to gather their opinions on shows the faculty had already selected for consideration. Many students only recognized Into the Woods, the show slated for Spring 2024, out of four faculty-selected shows.
In Spring 2023, an email announced an in-person show selection meeting. Only one student attended. Carter explained that students didn’t want to bother showing up when they weren’t going to be heard or meaningfully included in any way.
The other big issue theater students have faced is the recent glut of “no-prep” auditions. “No-prep” auditions require no preparation going in, and often involve theater games and activities where the director(s) will cast or send callbacks to performers by judging their contributions. Out of the past five semesters since coming back in-person from the Covid-19 pandemic, four of them have been non-traditional or “no-prep.”
“I’ve been to a couple of those,” said Zoe Estelle Rose, a child development major. “Nonsense, they’re just nonsense auditions. They don’t prepare you for anything.”
When an audition announcement is made with the words “no-prep” attached, many students audibly groan. They don’t feel that actors who attend these auditions are being taught anything useful regarding professional auditions.
“We’re going to graduate and go off and try to audition for a real production,” Carter said. “And we’re going to fail immensely. And when they ask us where we trained, we’re going to say ‘I went to Humboldt where they did no-prep auditions and we could just show up and get casted if we were silly.’”
In Quintana’s advanced acting class this semester, he noted that many students asked to learn how to audition and recite monologues.
“The school is not teaching us how to do that,” Quintana said. “We are not going to be cast in professional shows in the real world.”
Moyer said that these nontraditional auditions have been the result of selected directors, but that in the future the department will address this concern and make sure the students get more professional audition exposure.
The concerned students are speaking out because they don’t want new students to transfer to the department unaware of the issues they’re facing. Both seniors mentioned they wouldn’t have transferred to Humboldt’s theater program if they’d known that going in.
Maxwell has started meeting with the frustrated students to open up a dialogue for making the theater program more inclusive, and cut down on the communication divide between faculty and students going forward.
“I feel like I’m getting a lot of examples of what not to do in a theater program,” Quintana said. “I personally haven’t had too many opportunities to fully learn theater. I’ve been here for two-and-a-half years, and I’m not really going away with that much.”
Here is Lescher’s full statement: Thank you, Jake, for wanting to share additional context and insight on theatre-making within the Cal Poly Humboldt Theatre Arts (TA) academic program. As a TA Major who has acted on our stage several times, you can attest to the frequency of TA Faculty serving in major creative capacities on mainstage productions. Project-based learning is one of the central components of performing arts education within the Department of Dance, Music & Theatre. When faculty artists and student artists collaborate as choreographers, composers, directors, designers, dancers, musicians, and actors, students have opportunities to develop knowledge and skills in realistic ways, preparing them for the diverse production experiences they will encounter after graduation. As a member of The Life of Galileo ensemble, I look forward to applying my professional training and experience to help strengthen student learning; promote learner success; and bring a special and relevant story to life on the university stage.
As the sun was setting on the Eureka Waterfront, a few people in their boat called out to the festival-goers on the shore. Through shouts across the water, they requested some weed to enjoy on their aquatic cruise. One kind gentleman was more than happy to oblige and passed along a joint to one of the boatmen who swam to shore on his boogie board. This was just one of many instances of communal actions and feelings present at the 2023 Cannifest, which ran from Sept. 9th-10th.
For the first time since the pandemic, a cannabis-centric festival returned to Humboldt county with the three-day celebration of the plant and the culture surrounding it through Cannifest. Primarily run and organized by Joe Moran and Steve Gieder, the festival was a hit to those who love to spark, smoke, eat and other methods of enjoying weed. There was no lack of colorful and engaging sights with plenty of music, food, art, activities and of course, cannabis.
Day 1
For some, the Cannifest celebrations began not in Humboldt, but on Friday, Sept. 9th in San Francisco. The Roast and Toast bus tour aspect of Cannifest was helmed by the founder of Humboldt Cannabis Tours, Matt Kurth. He acted as the group’s tour guide, spouting fun facts about the surroundings, as the bus reenacted the pilgrimage many people took following the San Francisco Summer of Love in 1967.
Photo by Andrés Felix Roméro. Snail-Nail Dab Company representative shows off his dab rig that is powered by his Bigfoot statue.
“There’s always a group of people where mainstream society doesn’t work for them,” said Kurth. “Because Summer of Love only lasted three months and fell apart, some of the people still wanted to find a new way of living because they needed it. So, they started the Back to the Land Movement, leaving the city and going to try to find new ways of living out in the country. The first cheap land was northern Mendo and southern Humboldt, that’s why [the people] stopped there”
The bus made stops at Santa Rosa dispensary OrganiCann and the Hopland restaurant Rock Seas. At these stops, the passengers happily shared their buds with each other. The passengers ate lunch and took dabs with fruit pairings to enhance the turpentines. Self-described gonzo journalist Cameron Hussain described the desire for community that many of the passengers and cannabis lovers carry, and the importance of accurate representation of the cannabis community.
“We are contributing to the narrative of the culture just by being here,” said Hussain. “[The community has] been so long underground, we are hungry to connect and enjoy this plant we all love.”
The bus made its final stop for the day at the Red Lion hotel in Eureka so that the passengers could get ready for the first true party of the weekend, the Cannifest Gala at the historic Eureka Theater. At the Gala, there was cannabis history trivia, the winners of the Cannifest competitions were announced, and the night ended with performances by local artists such as Flow J. Simpson, Eli Fowler, and Object Heavy.
Day 2 and 3
Event Highlights
The Cannifest Festival properly kicked off Saturday, Sept. 9th. Even for any seasoned festival goers, it would be difficult to experience everything the venue and 50-plus booths had to offer. The backdrop of the Eureka Waterfront was soothing to those wanting to enjoy delicious, diverse food from taco trucks and soul food booths with a calm breeze. A favorite by many was a locally owned Native women business, Frybread Love, which offered fry bread topped with lettuce, sour cream, ground beef and chili beans.
Besides people sitting and laughing while eating, many community aspects of the event were present thanks to the constant sharing of cannabis between everyone. Everywhere you looked, there were smiling people passing smoking blunts and joints. Plenty of booths offered free dabs to anyone who came by. One gentle soul only known by Big L was rolling free blunts for any passerby to enjoy.
Photo by Andrés Felix Roméro. Festival-goer dressed as a stoner icon, Towlie from South Park, enjoys quality time with his class piece.
The ability to enjoy the event was diverse. Those with a Sativa high could enjoy the music and dancing, and those with an Indica low had plenty of comfortable seats to enjoy. Katie Dalmasso attended Cannifest after just returning from Burning Man, and remarked how the festival was great to reset following the hectic desert festival.
“What a beautiful way to decompress, coming to a cannabis festival right after [Burning Man],” said Dalmasso. “It’s kind of the same feeling [as Burning Man] but more relaxed, everyone getting together as a community and having fun and supporting each other.”
In many aspects of cannabis culture, feelings and desires for healing are present, which was case-and-point with the arts at the event. Many who were dancing at one of the two stages looked carefree and happy in their outfits that were peak Humboldt. Festival-goers were treated to music by Hip-Hop legendary duo Dead Prez, and Grammy-award winning Reggae rapper Kabaka Pyramid.
Healing and Community Aspects
Besides music, plenty of other art forms were present. There was a series of amazing murals painted with a variety of different techniques as part of an art competition centered on social justice. Other amazing mediums included dancing, paintings on large canvases, and a glassblower doing his work live. There were plenty of activities to participate in, such as massage chairs, yoga and even a mobile barber.
Not suprining to Humboldt and Cannabis culture, the event was welcoming not just to bipeds, but to our four-legged canine friends. As diverse as the arts were in Cannifest, dogs of all breeds and sizes accompanied their owners. One individual brought his best friend Roscoe, and also found healing and solace through cannabis culture following a tumultuous childhood, was Jake “Big Jake” Lawrence, a judge for Cannifest and the founder of the non-profit MedVets.
“My parents used to sell methamphetamine to the cops, I grew up in hell-on-earth, [what] I’ve been through makes most grown men cry,” said Big Jake. “This entire community is part of my larger family. It’s really about the community and supporting the community as a whole that helped [Cannifest] actually exist.”
These feelings of hegemony, community, and love was the endgame of Cannifest founder and executive director, Steve Gieder.
“I think it’s important [we have events like Cannifest] because of so many reasons,” Said Geider, “but one of them is bringing people together socially. The way that we do things like dancing, eating and partaking [in this community]. When people dance together and get loose it takes us back to being primal. It brings us back to who we really are as people and can be and can be an opportunity for people to get comfortable expressing themselves in all these different ways, and that helps us learn and grow together.”
If you have driven through Eureka, you have probably seen at least one spectacular mural along your travels. The beyond life size artwork peeks out from historic buildings all the way to bridge pilings, overpasses, park benches and sidewalks. The Eureka Street Art Festival is a week-long event where local and international artists transform public spaces into an immersive art experience for the community.
The quaint coastal town of Eureka boasts a historic district known as Old Town that’s nestled by Humboldt Bay. Old Town is filled with Victorian era architecture and a variety of art galleries, unique shops, bookstores and a myriad of locally crafted fare. Art installations and murals have become part of the Old Town ambience since its designation as a California Cultural Arts District.
In 2017, The Black Faun Gallery commissioned two large murals to be created in Old Town. The buzz and interest in the new murals had created an opportunity for further art tourism to the area. Seeing an interest from the community, Michelle Cartledge, Swan Asbury and Jenna Catsos created the Eureka Street Art Festival the very next year.
“We saw a desire for murals in the area and we realized that this could really benefit the community,” said Catsos. “We work to make sure that everyone who passes through Eureka can see themselves in the artwork that we present in the city.”
The festival just completed its sixth year and has added at least 100 new murals to Eureka since its induction. Catsos says one of her passions is to help develop the next generation of mural artists locally, as well as artists of other media transferring their skills into becoming a mural artist. The festival website has information on how to apply to be an artist as well as an apprenticeship program.
Photo by Maranda Vargas. ‘Tortured Beauty’ by Artist Tony Diaz for the 2021 Eureka Street Art Festival.
Local artist Tony Diaz of Ripe Mind Productions has created several murals for the festival. Diaz graduated from Humboldt State University with a degree in the Arts, with printmaking and graphic design being his focus at that time. It wasn’t until later that he would transform his printmaking skills into a new passion of painting murals. Diaz created his first mural for the 2019 Eureka Street Art Festival. After the first mural, his interest snowballed into a career.
The vibrant mural titled ‘Cruising for a groovin’ featured in this year’s festival was one of Diaz’ creations. Diaz invited his fiancé and younger sister to be on his painting crew for the event. The larger than life mural took the crew a week of ten-hour days to complete. Diaz as a college student was uncertain if he was going to be successful having a career as an artist.
Photo by Maranda Vargas. ‘Cruising for a Groovin”painted by Artist Tony Diaz for the Eureka Street Art Festival.
“It’s all about putting yourself out there and just really not giving up,” Diaz said. “If you really want to do it, you’re gonna find that you can make as much money if you just take the leap, and sometimes it’s great to take the leap.”
The Eureka Street Art Festival commissions both local and international artists to create murals throughout Eureka. The mission of the project is to create accessible art while enlivening public spaces, revitalizing the community and attracting art tourism to Eureka.
The murals from this year’s festival have all been completed and are ready for your viewing pleasure. You can find pictures of past murals along with a map of all murals and the names of the artists on the Eureka Street Art Festival website.
A giant stood on LK Wood. It was twice the height of the men around it, armed with a massive hammer and a demonic scowl. It pointed with a long, curled finger at every soul underneath its gaze, framed by a wooden wig and caterpillar eyebrows. It was a judge, and judge it did.
Photo by Alex Anderson | Members of the carpenters union placed a tall judge statue in front of the Cal Poly Humboldt entrance sign to protest Calyco
“Judgment day is coming,” it said. “Shame on you. Shame, shame, shame!”
No ogre was laying waste to Arcata. It was built as a protest by Local Carpenter’s Union 751 against Clayco, one the companies in the running to bid on the Cal Poly Health, Housing and Dining Infrastructure project, also referred to as #PLY106. The Union and their main goal is to bring the company’s legal issues and history of malpractice to the attention of the campus committee that awards infrastructure projects, and to the community in general.
THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
Construction on the Housing, Health, and Dining building is set to begin fall 2024. The new facilities include a new health center and dining hall, and will be able to house roughly 450-500 students. The facilities are planned to be operating by August 2026, or summer 2027 at the latest. The direct construction will cost at least $108.9 million and the guaranteed maximum budget is $131.9 million. The winning contractor will be announced in October of this year.
MALPRACTICE AND WORKING CONDITIONS
In a legally fact-checked letter from Union Local 751 to the CSU Board of Trustees, there is a list that cites Clayco’s history of legal issues due to allegations of malpractice. Clayco has been a defendant in at least 22 cases since March 2000. Since 2010, they have had at least 17 OSHA violations brought against them, resulting in fines around $81,336. Clayco’s legal issues include an active investigation by the Federal government concerning allegations of violating worker’s rights and harassment of union members, a pending case concerning allegations of wage theft, and a wrongful death lawsuit concerning a worker’s death that was settled last year.
OSHA Citation against Clayco documents details on Kirk Smith’s accident
In August 2017, Kirk Smith, an employee of the subcontractor Watson Companies Inc., fell 35 feet to his death while working on the construction of an Ulta Beauty warehouse in Fresno CA. The fall was a result of a weakened roof not being fixed for employees to safely work on, as well as a lack of warnings concerning the stability of the roof. Smith left behind a wife and children, who then sued Clayco along with Ulta and Watson for wrongful death in April 2018. Clayco, along with the other defendants in the case, eventually settled with the Smith family for $5 million in 2022. Attorney Brett D. Beyler, representing Smith’s family, wrote in the court settlement document that the incident was entirely avoidable.
“On August 9, 2017, Kirk Smith (the decedent) arrived at the Project,” Beyler wrote in the settlement document. “He was directed by Watson [Companies Inc.] foreman, Mr. Rabideau, to cut out the membrane and insulation on top of the metal decking. As Mr. Smith was cutting the membrane and insulation out with a hand knife, the weakened metal decking gave way like a trap door, causing Mr. Smith to fall nearly 40 feet to his death. This incident was entirely avoidable. Unfortunately, due to the negligence of Clayco and NDBS [National Design Build Services], Mr. Smith is no longer alive.”
WAGE THEFT
Decision by US District Judge John Mendez gives background info on allegations of wage theft
Clayco is currently in an active case regarding wage theft. These allegations are brought forth by labor rights organization, The Workforce Defence League (WDL), representing laborers who worked on Amazon Fulfillment Centers in Sacramento and Tracy who say that they have not been compensated for their overtime work or use of their own tools in the construction project.
According to the WDL, the laborers worked 58 hours a week and were promised $20-24 an hour. They weren’t fully paid for their regular or overtime hours, and they didn’t receive their work breaks and only got one meal break. They also didn’t get compensated for the missed breaks.
HARASSMENT OF UNION REPRESENTATIVES
NLRB charge against Clayco for allegations of harassing Union members
Clayco is also under current investigation by the federal government for allegations of violating workers’ rights as well as harassment of union representatives. Two separate documented charges brought against Clayco by the National Labor Relations Board were filed as recently as November 2021. They claim that the contractor unfairly fired a subcontractor from their position, and attempted to prevent the Carpenter’s Union from conducting their activities by barring them from Clayco properties and instructing Clayco employees to limit contact with Union representatives. Additionally, videos on the Local 751-run website, Claycofails.com, show alleged harassment of Union organizers. One instance alleges that a Clayco foreman followed and videotaped an organizer.
“[Clayco] interfered with the exercise of protected rights by firing a Union signatory subcontractor when Union Agents tried to access the site,” one document read.
“[Clayco] interfered with the exercise of protected rights by calling the police when the Union tried to access the job site, surveilled and videotaped Union agents and ordered workers not to talk to the Union,” according to the other document.
CLAYCO’S RESPONSE
In an email, Clayco’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications Sarah Green forwarded a statement from Clayco’s legal team. The statement said that Clayco is the target of a campaign of Union harassment. The statement made the case that the Union has no legal right to access any Clayco properties and that the Union’s ultimate goal is to get Clayco to sign a collective bargaining agreement with them.
“Since 2021, [Union members] have filed 11 unfair labor practice charges against Clayco with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB),” according to the email. “8 out of these 11 charges have either been withdrawn or dismissed, and the remaining three charges will go to hearing in October [2023]. Nor does the [Union] report that the NLRB matters arise from the [Union] and/or its members attempting to forcibly enter two Clayco California projects despite having no legal bona fide right to enter those projects – resulting in them having to be removed by police.”
Labor Counsel for Clayco, Andrew Martone, adds that no one affiliated with Clayco has brought charges against the company through the National Labor Relations Board, and that any Federal investigation against Clayco is a result of Union actions only.
“No Clayco employee and no employee at any Clayco worksite has filed a complaint with the NLRB,” said Martone. “Charges brought are by the [Union], and they don’t represent any Clayco employee.”
Court document provided by Clayco that has been given a red flag by Westlaw
Green also stated that the Union has been misleading in their campaign.
“The [Union] misleads the reader to believe OSHA citations were issued against Clayco that were in fact issued to other entities,” said Green, “and reports OSHA Citations without informing the reader that OSHA found no violations existed.”
However, Lumberjack reporters were able to find OSHA violation documents concerning the death of Kirk Smith. Clayco shared a court statute with Lumberjack writers that documented tactics by the Union. However, the statute was labeled as “amended, repealed, superseded, or held unconstitutional in whole or part” by Westlaw, a legal research company. Unfortunately, since Lumberjack writers were unable to gain further access to Westlaw files, we are unable to say why it was labeled as such.
UNIVERSITY INVOLVEMENT
Lumberjack writers reached out to Procurement Specialist, Addie Dunaway of Contracts and Procurement department of Cal Poly Humboldt, as well as Humboldt Director Planning, Design & Construction, Kassidy Banducci of the Facilities Management Department. Both expressed a desire to comment, but were limited in their ability to speak as the bidding process is still active. Any comment on Clayco’s involvement from Cal Poly Humboldt staff and admin could violate legal obligations, as well as compromising fairness to the other three potential contractors.
University documents confims that Clayco, Sundt, and Swinerton are three companies on the shortlist for the #PLY106 contract. A fourth potential bidder is currently unconfirmed. The Union has also sent a letter to the Board of Trustees concerning Sundt’s history of malpractice.
Communications Specialist with the News and Information department, Grant Scott-Goforth, shared some information on the infrastructure project, though he was unable to comment on any allegations brought against potential contractors.
“The Committee remains diligent in their work towards a fair and equitable evaluation process governed under the provisions of the law in the state of California,” according to a statement released by the University. “Cal Poly Humboldt is committed to its responsibility under California regulations for public work projects and the better good of the construction industry. Any information regarding the performance or behaviors of proposing firms will be considered against CSU policies and State regulations.”
UNION AWARENESS
Union Organizers from Local 751 spread awareness to the campus community about where their money may be going—especially the funds that students give to the school as part of their tuition.
“How has a contractor with this history got this close to a major project?” said Harvey McKeon, a field representative for the Union. “Which, at the end of the day, is [funded by] public money, and it’s also by extension student’s money, and [the students] should have some sort of control and say over how that money is spent.”
The organizers from Local 751 want to make it clear that although they are a union, their endgame isn’t to try and have a union-backed construction company be awarded the contract. Rather, they want to ensure that a company with multiple legal issues and allegations of malpractice isn’t able to gain a foothold in the community and public works projects, and to try and create a better and safer working environment for all laborers.
“As a union, our recent track record has been to lift standards for workers whether they’re union or non-union,” McKeon said. “The reason why we are seeking to generate awareness about Clayco is because we want to draw attention to what Clayco does to workers that we don’t formally represent, but we care about their working conditions.”
Beyond a desire to bring Clayco’s past and current legal issues to light and try to create safer environments for workers, some organizers such as McKeon feel a personal responsibility to ensure a safe working environment for both contractors and the community at large due to their personal experience as a worker without union support. The union also wants those at Cal Poly Humboldt that awards infrastructure projects like #PLY106 and potential contractors that there must be precedence for companies rooted in ethics.
“I’ve been in jobs before I was a labor union organizer where I didn’t have anyone looking out for me because I wasn’t in a union, and I don’t think that’s a reason why you shouldn’t have people not look out for you,” McKeon said. “We’re trying to represent [all laborers] even if they’re not currently union members. It’s like trying to plant a tree whose shade you may never sit in.”
Editing note:
On Sept. 6, this article was edited to clarify that Clayco’s Vice President of Marketing and Communications Sarah Green shared Clayco’s statement from legal team with a reporter via email. The statement made the case that Clayco is the target of a campaign of Union harassment and that the Union has no legal right to access any Clayco properties and that the Union’s ultimate goal is to get Clayco to sign a collective bargaining agreement with them.
The article was also edited to remove reference to a contractor who’s bid on the project could not be confirmed.
By Peyton Leone and Carlina Grillo and Christina Mehr
The California State University Board of Trustees will vote on the Multi-Year Tuition Proposal on Sept. 13. If passed, tuition at all CSU campuses would rise by 6% for five years starting fall 2024 until fall 2028.
On Thursday Aug. 31 Cal Poly Humboldt’s Associated Students held a meeting to inform students about the tuition increase proposal. There were more than 30 people in attendance.
Photo by Jillian Wells. Students and staff gather at the Tuition Increase Town Hall on Aug. 31.
“The 6% increase covers all of the different levels of education,” said Amber Blakeslee, Executive Director of Finance and Budget at Cal Poly Humboldt. “So that’s undergraduate, credential and graduate student tuition. It also covers in-state tuition, out-of-state tuition, and the graduate business professional fees.”
For example, the proposal would raise the tuition rate of an in-state full-time undergraduate degree from the current $5,742 to $7,682 in fall 2028, a 34% increase over the first five years. This does not include the fees for each campus, which vary. This semester full-time student fees at Cal Poly Humboldt totaled $2,170.
The CSU system is funded from two main sources: tuition and state funding.
CSU reported in a document titled the “Sustainable Financial Model Workgroup Report” that there was a nearly $1.5 billion gap between money the system received and the costs to keep the CSU system running in 2021-2022.
The same report concluded that “even with aggressive assumptions about increases in-state general fund and tuition” would not be enough to close the gap.
The California State Student Association, a nonprofit group representing nearly 500,000 CSU students, unanimously voted to oppose tuition increases according to AS president, Sam Parker.
“The proposal lacks measurable outcomes, a clear termination date, and fails to articulate plans for generating other revenue sources,” CSSA said in a July 11 press release.
According to the Multi-Year Tuition Proposal, 60% of students at the CSU system would not be affected by increases. Their attendance is covered by the Cal Grant, Pell Grant or tuition waivers.
The proposal notes that increases will exceed the maximum Pell Grant award by over $280 by the 2028-2029 school year, and that Cal Grant may not rise to cover tuition raises into the future given.
Photo by Jillian Wells. Peggy Metzger, Director of Financial Aid, (left) addressing questions by Nova Presley (right) at the Tuition Increase Town Hall on Aug. 31.
“It discourages me from even wanting to continue through school,” said sophomore Sonny Buckner after the town hall meeting, noting that affording school and finding housing were affecting his time as a freshman. “…I barely even passed all my classes. It’s ridiculous that these are the things I have to put my priorities on when I came here to be a student.”
Three new individuals with years of experience in education and community service have been selected for the roles of Dean of Students, Dean for the College of Extended Education and Global Excellence, and the Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Success. Hailing from all corners of the nation, these leaders are here to accept the challenge to provide support to the academic institution and its community from their respective roles and offices.
Dr. Mitch Mitchell – Dean of Students
Fresh Dean of Students (DOS), Dr. Mitch Mitchell, began his position in Spring of 2023. He made his first major appearance in his role in the commencement ceremony. Mitchell wants to provide support to the students in any way he can to ensure their best chances of success.
“[My focus is] anything outside of the academic environment,” said Dr. Mitchell. “What students are thinking, what they’re passionate about, what they’re feeling, what they’re doing. I help cultivate whole students that are holistic that can go out and make a difference in this world.”
Dr. Mitchell wants to focus on supporting and expanding cultural centers on campus such as ITEPP and Umoja, as well as ensuring that this community is safe for students to be able to get their education and enjoy themselves.
“My goal is to make Cal Poly [Humboldt] the best place to live, learn, and thrive,” said Dr. Mitchell. “It’s ok to be your authentic self and be different. You’ll find people here that are part of your community here, so this is a place for everybody.”
Dr. Mitchell came of age with many of the odds stacked against him.
“I grew up with a survivor mentality,” said Dr. Mitchell. “I grew up in [Washington] D.C. during a tumultuous time, the height of the crack epidemic and it was the murder capital.”
Dr. Mitchell credits his introduction to higher education and the guidance of his fraternity brothers to smoothing out his rougher edges, and for providing a space where he felt safe to be his authentic self.
A lover of the outdoors, Dr. Mitchell wanted to come to Humboldt due to the lovely nature in the area. When he first visited Humboldt in Spring of 2023, he fell in love with the energy of the area. He noted that it wasn’t just the redwood backdrop, but the people of Humboldt that added to his love of this community.
“From the moment I stepped into Humboldt County, I felt the energy and people pouring into me.” said Dr. Mitchell. “When you come here and you feel the energy and you feel the love, it changes you, and you realize the difference from [other communities] is that it’s really an oasis here.”
From his first visit to the campus in April 2023, many noted his sharp suits and outfits, many of which have the school colors. When asked about his style, Dr. Mitchell explained that dressing sharp is essentially in his DNA.
“Fashion is an art form and a way to express yourself,” Dr. Mitchell explained. “It’s like music, it’s like painting. I will say that the [artform] is in my bloodline. My grandfathers on both sides were really some fly people. My father specifically had monogram collared shirts with his initials on them. I would say [fashion is] in me, and it’s on me.”
Dr. Cindy Bumgarner – Dean for the College of Extended Education and Global Engagement
Photo courtesy of Cal Poly Humboldt.
Coming off a position as Assistant Vice Provost for the Division of Undergraduate Education at UC Berkeley, Dr. Cindy Bumgarner became the Dean for the College of Extended Education and Global Engagement (CEEGE) on July 1st.
Dr. Bumgarner and her office focuses on supporting international students and students who study abroad through Global Engagement by offering immigration service support and academic counselors. On the side of Extended Education, Dr. Bumgarner supports graduates in their professional career, as well as students that are returning to their degree following a hiatus.
“I would imagine that some [students] just had life circumstances or needed to go out and do some work,” said Dr. Bumgarner, “or had something happen in their family, and they just really want to get back and complete their degree.”
On top of this, Dr. Bumhgarner and her office are working on developing certificates from the college such as one in IT. Although she has many tasks, she is excited to rise to the challenge. It’s this opportunity for growth and previous vacations to the Humboldt area while teaching at CSU Chico that drove Dr. Bumgarner to take up a position on this campus.
“[Humboldt] was a spot for me to cool off [from Chico in the summers], but I got to know the community and always sort of paid attention to what was going on the campus,” Dr. Bumgarner explained. “So the idea that I could bring a bunch of knowledge and positively contribute to a campus trying to reaminge itself just really appealed to me.”
Dr. Bumgarner is no stranger to intensity, challenge, and being under pressure. In her early college days, Dr. Bumgarner competed in Division I basketball for Indiana State University. It was this time as an athlete that she developed tenacity to prepare her for future challenges.
“The piece I learned from sports,” said Dr. Bumgarner, “is that when you set some goals, even if they’re not fully defined, if you know, ‘I want to help more, I want to do more, I want to contribute more,’ that can lead you in interesting ways.”
These lessons helped her as she was working on her undergraduate degree as well.
“In the educational process it was transformative to me,” said Dr. Bumgarner. “As a young poor kid, to realize that this undergraduate degree was going to completely change my life, and it did.”
Dr. Chrissy Holliday – Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success
Photo courtesy of Cal Poly Humboldt.
The honor of being Cal Poly Humboldt’s newest Vice President goes to Dr. Chrissy Holliday. Although she began her term in the position in January this year, this is her first fall on the Humboldt campus. In her role as the Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success, she is leading the team behind admissions, and continuing to support students that choose Humboldt as their campus to study.
“[We] make sure that our current students have the best experience they possibly can,” said Dr. Holliday, “and they successfully get to graduate and have their careers after that.”
Currently, Dr. Holliday is focusing on the growth of the new Cal Poly, and ensuring the infrastructure is available to sustain that growth. By renovating housing and dining, she aims to improve students’ overall academic experience. Overall, Dr. Holliday wants students to feel at home on the Humboldt campus, similar to how she felt at home in the community when she arrived at Humboldt.
“[Humboldt] feels like home,” said Dr. Holliday. “I want our students to have that same feeling. A lot of what we’re doing is looking at everything from recruitment all the way through graduation and asking, ‘how can we make this a better experience for our students?’”
Dr. Holliday is originally from North Carolina, just outside of Charlotte. For most of her education career, she has been steadily moving westward, working at South Carolina and then Colorado. The opportunity for challenge and growth at Humboldt pushed her to come to Arcata.
“[Cal Poly] Humboldt is poised for growth and greatness in a very different way than most higher-ed institutions right now,” said Dr. Holliday. “It really is the opportunity to be part of something different to help strategize how we serve all students in California.”
Besides professional reasons, Dr. Holliday also had personal reasons to take up a position at California’s newest Cal Poly.
“This place spoke to me a lot,” Dr. Holliday said. “I came here, smelled the ocean…growing up in the South, I had spent a lot of time on the coast. I told my husband that [Humboldt] smells like home.”
Outside of Dr. Holliday’s professional life, Dr. Holliday has a love for the horror genre. Her passion began with books through authors such as Christopher Pike and Stephen King. Her husband later helped to develop a fondness for horror films. One of Dr. Holliday’s favorite horror villains is Damien Thorne of The Omen.
In addition, Dr. Holliday is also an avid fan of music and concerts. One of her favorite experiences with live shows was seeing Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform at the same music festival. Dr. Holliday’s personal favorite show to date was Five Finger Death Punch. Even today, Dr. Holliday tries to make time for music.
“I’m going to one of my bucket list shows later this fall,” said Dr. Holliday. “I’m going to go see Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper!”
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