This past year, an estimated 152 native Tule elk died at Point Reyes National Seashore. This was the result of the elks’ one predator: local ranchers. For an area that is home to some of the richest biodiversity in California, this is dangerous news for both the elk and the environment.

In Humboldt County, the Roosevelt elk roam free and plentiful throughout the Redwood National and State Parks. The largest of the seven herds of this subspecies in the park amounts to 250 elk – about the same amount as the entire population of Tule elk in all of Point Reyes. The large, healthy population of Roosevelt elk provides a stark contrast to the dwindling numbers of Tule elk. Even though the elk population of Humboldt County is not at risk, declines in endemic Tule elk are sure to affect the entirety of biodiversity in the state.

The Tule elk lived alongside the native Coast Miwok peoples for thousands of years until the late 1800s, when European settlers stole the land of the Coast Miwok and decimated the elk. The herd rapidly became endangered. In the 1970s, however, the Park Service were able to fully restore the native Tule elk herd to Point Reyes. Unfortunately, greed and carelessness reared their heads again about eight years ago when the local ranchers agreed to put up elk fences in the area. These fences block the elk from accessing food and water sources and have led to the deaths of nearly half the herd.

Laura Cunningham, the California director of the Western Watersheds Project, is a native grass ecologist whose organization was part of the original lawsuit to perform an Environmental Impact Statement on the ranches of Point Reyes. Cunningham explained the direct effect the fences have had on the Tule elk.

“The 8-foot-tall elk exclusion fence that traps Tule elk within a ‘zoo’ on Tomales Point to keep them out of cattle pastures, actually is contributing to a drought die-off of Tule elk,” Cunningham said. “They cannot migrate out to find water and better forage, and about 150 elk have already died, from a recent National Park Service survey. The park refuses to provide water or supplemental nutrition to these trapped elk on the narrow spit of land with poor water sources. Meanwhile, ranchers have been sinking new wells and pumping more water to their cows, to keep them from colicing of dehydration during this drought.”

Point Reyes is known for its picturesque beaches, lagoons, marshes, estuaries, and forests and is the only National Seashore on the West Coast. One can visit the area and expect to see an abundance of wildlife, plantlife, and many, many cows, creating a glaringly obvious contrast between untouched nature and the destructive agriculture of the area. Behind this juxtaposition of nature and destruction is a long and sinister history between ranch expansion and the National Park Service.

Skyler Thomas, the creator of The Shame of Point Reyes film and blog, believes the National Park Service is not managing the park appropriately.

“At this stage the mismanagement of the park is so ludicrous that one can’t even claim they are struggling to balance the challenge of having ranching and wildlife in the same place,” Thomas said. “What we have been observing is an absolutely blatant bias in favor of the ranchers… Point Reyes could be a living classroom for scientists to observe firsthand how the Tule elk interact with the soil, plants, rocks, even other animals. No studies like that are taking place even with the non captive herd, which should tell you something about the mindset of the park staff. For the Tule elk themselves, being held captive is likely a drawn out death sentence for the herd.”

The war between ranching and the environment has only gotten worse. Last year, Point Reyes National Seashore released their General Land Management Plan. This plan grants 20-year leases to ranchers, allowing them to diversify their operations by expanding their ranches and adding new animals to their businesses. Most notably, the plan allows for the culling of native Tule elk. This means that the Park Service has agreed to kill a certain amount of the herd each year. “Protecting the natural world” is a slogan on the homepage of the National Park Service’s website. This statement reeks of hypocrisy.

Local environmental activist Ken Bouley believes the National Park Service has violated public trust.

“[Ranching] impoverishes the land, causes barren monocultures, invites invasive species, displaces habitat, and pollutes the waterways,” Bouley said. “It significantly reduces biodiversity. Ranching always does this, and if you hear any greenwashing about ‘regenerative ranching,’ ‘carbon farming,’ etc., reach for your wallet; it means don’t trust it. All they ever mean, as far as I can tell, is that it is possible to somewhat mitigate impact on the land. The studies are usually from the agriculture industry, or universities who receive a lot of money from the agriculture industry.”

Point Reyes National Seashore is one of the most biodiverse regions in California – a state that’s already a biodiversity hotspot. According to the National Park Service’s website, “Over 45% of North American avian species and nearly 18% of California’s plant species are found in the park, due to the variety of habitat and uniqueness of the geology.” Within the seashore, there are around thirty federally-listed threatened or endangered animal species and six threatened or endangered plant species. A critical part of this intricate ecosystem are the Tule elk. The irony of the National Park Service preaching these facts online and then proceeding to commit this shameful act against the fragile ecosystem is striking.

Matthew Polvorosa Kline is a local wildlife photographer who has been documenting the Pierce Point Tule elk herd for the last twelve years.

“This [California coastal prairie] is the most species-rich grassland type in North America,” Polvorosa Kline said. “In Point Reyes, you can find remnants of this severely diminished habitat type in areas where cattle are prevented from going or restricted from heavy grazing, and where the invasive grasses that ranchers planted stop. I’m not the only one who believes that this endangered habitat type would be far, far better with native grazers like the Tule elk. Consider a key plant species like eelgrass or an ecosystem like marine eelgrass meadows and the incredible amount of biodiversity found within them. There are concerns that agriculture runoff is potentially affecting healthy eelgrass meadows through eutrophication of waterways.

Diana Oppenheim, founder of ForElk.org, an independent organization in support of saving the Tule elk, said it’s especially important to keep the elk alive in Point Reyes. An unfortunate irony lies in the fact that out of the twenty-two herds who exist throughout the state, the Point Reyes herd is the only one that is not allowed to be hunted.

“The National Park is some of the most protected land in the world,” Oppenheim said. “And there are supposed to be higher protections there for the elk. I think it is a really important thing to keep them alive in Point Reyes because this is the place where they should be safest, yet the Park Service is now planning on shooting them.”

Six thousand cattle graze in Point Reyes National Seashore. There are now less than three hundred Tule elk in that same area. Biodiversity is being ripped from the earth and in its place lies the decaying carcasses of elk. This ratio of agriculture to native wildlife represents a mucher larger existential threat at hand. The planet simply cannot afford the extinction of any more species.

“Extinction is forever,” Oppenheim said. “This is the Tule elks’ second chance. We should be protecting them at all costs, not shooting them to protect industry.”

Humboldt State Track & Field’s condensed regular season came to an end this Saturday with a flurry of season and personal bests at the OSU High Performance Meet on the Campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis.

In an HSU Athletic Department press release, Head Track & Field Coach Sarah Ingram praised her team’s individual performances.

“Across the board in all events, athletes achieved new personal bests time and time again,” Ingram said, “The different meets also offered a wide range of competitive experiences and very different levels of competition, offering lots of learning experiences for our mostly young team.”

Among the top Lumberjack competitors on the men’s side included freshmen Henry Hagen and Paul Domingue, as well as sophomore transfer Aris Valerio.

Among a field of high quality Division I schools, Hagen and Domingue held their own, with 5th and 4th place finishes in the men’s 110 meter-hurdles and triple jump events, respectively. In the middle distances, Valerio raced to a 14th place finish in the uber-competitive 800 meter run. Valerio’s time of 1:53.46 currently ranks him 9th among division II athletes in the West region and 71st nationally.

On the women’s side, sophomores Grace Kasberger and Joy Hano lead a young women’s squad in their respective events. Kasberger, a multi-event specialist, raced to a personal best time in the 800 meter run with a 24th place finish. She followed it up with a 21st place finish in the high jump. Hano finished the 100 meter-hurdles in 13th place.

Ingram also praised her squad’s resiliency in the face of a unique road schedule, which saw no home meets and involved extended periods on the road.

“I am really proud of how our team rose up to compete this year despite the many challenges they’ve had with COVID throughout the last year,” Ingram said. “This season has taught us all about resiliency and gratitude. We’ve all come away having learned more about each other and ourselves, and created invaluable team memories.”

The squad alternated its competitions at various sites in Oregon, traveling between Ashland, Salem and Corvallis, rather than returning home and having to quarantine after each individual meet, as per county and state health guidelines.

“As a coach, I am so grateful for my talented and dedicated staff, our administration that’s supported us to make this happen, and of course the athletes. It’s all about the athletes, and it’s so fulfilling to see them come away with personal growth and team success,” Ingram said.

By Jasmine Younger

Humboldt State University’s men’s basketball guard Victor Mijas, who some may know as Slick Vic, took on his senior year facing the challenges of COVID-19. The pandemic swept the nation by storm in 2019, leaving athletes across the world questioning whether or not they would be fortunate enough to see a 2020-2021 sports season. As luck would have it, they did – Humboldt State men’s basketball team was given the go-ahead to have a season.

This season, the Jacks endured extra precautions for COVID-19, they played every game away and overall went 4-5 for the season.

“When we started in August, we had to quarantine for 14 days before we started to get into the gym,” Mijas said. “In September, we actually started to get into the gym, but we were separated into pods of two groups of nine players for practice and when we were actually about to start scrimmaging and play against each other, Covid got really bad again and we all had to go back home. We practiced for two weeks and then started to play games, so it was hard for us to get in shape. Most of the teams we played were already playing a long time before us so their chemistry was better. And I think we could’ve been way better if we had more time to practice.”

However, the challenges presented by COVID-19 were not the only obstacles Mijas has had to overcome. When Mijas first started playing basketball at the age of six in Brazil, he was told that he would not make it far in the sport that he had such a deep love for.

“When I was young, a lot of people said to me that I would never go to the under 12, under 13, or under 17 team,” Mijas said. “But I knew what I was capable of and I never let those comments push me down.”

Mijas was devoted to the game and determined to make an impact on the sport itself and on others. He worked hard to make Brazil’s under 12, under 13, under 17, under 19 teams, and to pursue his collegiate career. He has had a powerful role in encouraging his teammates and exuberating confidence in the team that shows that they will come out stronger after a loss or any obstacle that comes their way.

“Something I learned from Vic was to always trust myself in anything I do,“ Sophomore forward Isaiah Hughes said of his teammate Mijas. “I once asked Victor how he shoots so well and he told me ‘I shoot every shot like I know it’s going in because I know I’ve made the same shot thousands of times.’”

Mijas has proven to not only be a confident, slick, great, and devoted athlete, but also a genuinely good person on and off the court. He has had the ability to create connections with every person who has crossed his path throughout his journey. One of the strong connections he created was with Humboldt State alum and former Jacks teammate, Zachariah Christian. Christian found great admiration for him and his journey.

“What I admire most about Slick Vic is definitely his story – leaving his family and country at a young age to chase his basketball dream and to get to where he is now is really remarkable,” Christain said. “Vic is going to be a pro after his collegiate career ends and how far he has come is really admirable.”

Mijas started every game this season and wrapped up his senior year having 104 points with the Jacks. However, this was not the end of Mijas’ basketball journey, but simply a chapter within the chronicles.

“I plan to keep on playing basketball until I can’t,” Mijas said. “My passion is to keep playing basketball and achieve my goals and dreams.”

1. The Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary

The Arcata Marsh is one of the easiest places to walk around and see staggering amounts of birds. Birders have spotted over 300 species of birds in the Arcata Marsh. You’ll see geese, ducks, cormorants, and a large amount of those little birds that stick their bills into the mud. The marsh is good for biking, walking, jogging, or sitting in your warm car in the parking lot by Klopp Lake and watching those birds dig around in the mud while avoiding all real contact with the outside world.

2. Behind the Eureka Target

I swear this is a good place. The Eureka Waterfront Trail has a convenient entrance right by Target that leads out onto a series of walking bridges extending out over parts of the Humboldt Bay mudflats. The section of the trail between the Eureka Slough and Samoa Bridge is ideal for spotting herons and shorebirds. The trail also has a great view of the bay. On a nice day you’ll be able to see the Arcata Marsh on the opposite shore.

3. Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge

This one’s a bit of a drive from HSU. Just off the 101 and a bit south of College of the Redwoods is a network of paths, sloughs, and creeks that make up the southernmost tip of Humboldt bay. The refuge has a visitor center, boat trails, and a designated hunting area if that’s your thing. The day before writing this I saw egrets, osprey, and cormorants from the Hookton Slough Boat Launch on the south side of the refuge.

4. Wherever your currently are

If you’re in Humboldt County and you go outside, it won’t be long before you see a bird. There’s nothing wrong with sitting outside for a bit and waiting for the birds to come to you. Aside from the crows, gulls, and vultures you probably see all the time, you might get a glimpse of a hummingbird, chickadee, junco, goldfinch, or any number of birds hanging out of passing through Humboldt. The best part about this method is you can just look out of a window and stay warm.

Author Bio: Jen is a Humboldt County local with a family more enthusiastic about local wildlife than they are about basic needs like eating and sleeping. After a childhood full of getting dragged out to cold places at unreasonable hours, Jen is sharing their hard won knowledge of how to experience nature in the least miserable way.

Welcome to the Humboldt Coast, home of nudibranchs, crabs, and of course, whales. The water we know to be so cold is actually a large reason why the whales are here in the first place.

Claire Till from Humboldt State University’s Chemistry Department concentrates on the research of trace metals in marine environments and investigating their impact. She believes it’s important to realize our cold water has a purpose.

“We also get some really cold water that gets brought up from deep and with it, it often brings iron,” Till said. “And then when iron comes up to the surface, a bunch of phytoplankton start growing and then the whales have learned that there are going to be big phytoplankton blooms off our coast and they come by and eat. So the iron is really kind of the catalyst in a lot of places that lead to more phytoplankton growing and more whales.”

These elements in the food chain are extremely important to the ecosystem and its inhabitants. Without one, the ecosystem could change very quickly.

Matthew Hurst from HSU’s Chemistry Department studies trace metals and nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems. He believes climate change could have an affect on the good trace metals.

“The good trace metals, they are being affected by climate change because how the wind blows affects the way in which these metals can be brought up to the surface or it would perhaps change the pH of the ocean which would change the way these micronutrients can be acquired by biology,” said Hurst.

Till worries the whales will lack food when climate change causes temperatures to rise.

“One of the big things I’m worried about with climate change and the ocean is there’s not going to be as much mixing of the ocean water because the surface water is going to be heated more than it is currently and that will make it stay on top of the ocean and be it less inclined to mix with deep water,” said Till. “Usually the nutrients are coming from deep… so if we aren’t having as much mixing we aren’t going to have as much nutrients coming to the surface ocean and we aren’t going to have as much phytoplankton and that could be a problem for whales not getting enough to eat.”

Not only are the whales not getting enough to eat, but they aren’t receiving enough nutrients either.

“Whales eat the phytoplankton and incorporate all kinds of elements including the iron into the whales bodies,” said Till.

On the other hand, there is such a thing as too much trace metals, which scientists refer to as heavy metals. One of the concerns is mercury.

“I would be most concerned with mercury,” said Hurst. “I would say although others exist and are present in the ocean, mercury is extremely toxic and bioaccumulates in the environment and given that whales are at the top of the food chain, they have elevated concentrations in their body and we probably don’t quite understand how it’s affecting them.”

Heavy metals are from pollution, mainly caused by human beings and coming from coal and other fossil fuels. NOAA Fisheries reports pollution as one of the most common threats among species of whales, some including heavy metals.

“This pollution is in the runoff, it’s in the rivers going into the ocean, but it’s also deposited through the air,” said Hurst.

Now studies are being performed to understand what this means for whales and other marine mammals.

“When they do find whales that are dead, they measure the elemental content of their tissue and again, at least in terms of mercury, it’s extremely high given that it bioaccumulates,” said Hurst.

All around the globe whales are being found stranded with toxic heavy metals in their tissues, but research is still needed to understand the damage it does.

The semester has officially come to a close. With 16 weeks under our belt, it’s time to release the anxieties, nerves and emotions that have inevitably been pent up inside of us. Stress does our bodies and our minds no favors and can create disease.

This is your non-doctor — but supportive nonetheless — student advice on how to combat stress while decompressing from the semester.

1. Get adequate sleep

What college student doesn’t love to hear the “S” word? Many of us have spent countless nights cramming for tests, writing papers or going down a rabbit hole of YouTube videos in an attempt to further procrastinate the homework assignment we’ve been putting off for far too long. Well, rest assured (pun intended) you can spend your mornings sleeping in and going to bed before midnight if that’s your fancy.

2. Yep, you guessed it… Exercise

Physical movement does wonders for the body and the brain. Making an effort to get your heart rate up daily will improve stress levels as it releases endorphins which can help improve symptoms of anxiety or depression. If you’re not keen on the whole exercise thing just yet, try starting with something gentle like yoga. It’s perfect for beginners and your body will love you all the same. Also, don’t underestimate walks in the forest. Especially after a fresh rain. Petrichor, am I right or am I right?

3. Binge a TV show

No, really. I think it’s okay to go out on a limb here and suggest finding a binge worthy tv series this summer. Stress relief doesn’t always have to be what we think it’s supposed to be. We love a good veg out on the couch with a good series as much as the next person. And guess what, it’s totally fine. Pick something light hearted, preferably funny and kick your feet up. Laughing truly is a kind of therapy after all.

4. Journaling

Putting thoughts to paper, especially anxiety ridden ones, can help us to move through the emotions surrounding those thoughts more easily. It doesn’t have to be any award-winning journaling or anything like that. The more we practice and get in a routine of sitting with our thoughts the easier it becomes to face them head on. Especially as they are presenting themselves to us.

5. Cut the caffeine

This one hurts, but that extra cup of cold brew isn’t doing us any favors. It’s beneficial to give our bodies a chance to rest and reset rather than further enabling it to be dependent on stimulants. This summer opt for iced teas if possible.

It’s important to address stressors in our lives and to know when our bodies are under distress. More importantly, we need to know how to calm it when it is. It’s no secret that long-term stress can lead to unwanted health conditions.

Hulu’s latest true crime documentary series, Sasquatch, was quite fittingly released April 20. The crime was a triple homicide in mid-1990s Laytonville. The victims? Three employees on a cannabis farm. The lead suspect? Bigfoot.

The mysterious ape committing a gruesome crime that left three dead is certainly not a claim anyone can ignore. Certainly not investigative journalist and viewpoint of the series David Holthouse, who was working at a Mendocino cannabis farm when a man came in the door in a state of disarray, claiming that “a Bigfoot” had brutally murdered and dismembered three field workers. Any person with an ounce of skepticism would have to look into such a claim, and Holthouse was no exception. Surely the man was lying about what he’d seen, or Sasquatch had been framed in some kind of R-rated Scooby Doo scheme involving Old Man Henderson in a rubber mask. While I won’t spoil the series, the results of the investigation, or even whether or not they find the Bigfoot that did it, it does lead into an interesting line of questioning. How common is sincere belief in folk legend, and what darker sides does such belief have?

Willow Creek’s own self-proclaimed Bigfoot agnostic, bookstore owner Steven Streufert, is an expert on Bigfoot, as well as the cults of fascination that develop around the creature. Streufert personally takes a more scientific view of cryptozoology than many, one focused on evidence before drawing conclusions.

“It’s kind of like there’s a competition, on one side, to be the most scientific and rational person you can be, and try and present yourself like you are a scientist,” Streufert said. “And most of them aren’t. Most of them are amateurs like me, I mean, I’m not a scientist. We, those of us in my group, try and conduct what we call citizen science, essentially treating it like studying wildlife in Bluff Creek. We have had trail cameras set up since 2012, recording 24/7 all year round, monitoring for Bigfoot, ostensibly. You know, we don’t get Bigfoot on those cameras. However many years it’s been, nine years this year, we have not gotten a single concrete Bigfoot image.”

However, not all put proof before belief. True believers take an almost religious fervor to Sasquatch hunting.

“We’ve got a lot of blurry, weird things that if we were hoaxers or believers in magic we could put forth and say, ‘these are Bigfoot, well that’s a Bigfoot,’ like all you got to do is post the blurry weird ones on Facebook or whatever and suddenly you have a million people telling you you’re great, you’re special,” Streufert said. “And that’s almost more rewarding than the truth. Of course, on the other side of things, some people are just fucked up and crazy to begin with, or they’re drugged on the attention and fame it gets them and they start to believe the weird and magical. If you wrote a book on the weird and magical, it would outsell the book on the critical and rational a thousand to one. People want to believe in monsters and mysteries.”

Some Bigfoot believers are willing to bend the fabric of reality to accommodate their belief. To them, Bigfoot is not just meat and bone like any animal, but something of a legendary creature akin to a unicorn or dragon, or even an extraterrestrial or divine being. And why shouldn’t a mythical creature have mythical powers?

Streufert himself has something of a feud going with Bigfoot hunter and true believer Matthew Johnson. Johnson claims to be to Bigfoot what Dr. Jane Goodall is for chimpanzees, and reports numerous Bigfoot encounters around the Pacific Northwest. He and his followers believe that Bigfoot’s species is made up of highly advanced extradimensional beings that create portals to come through to Earth for short visits. Through his purported visits with what he calls “the Forest People,” Johnson has learned that their planet is dying and the Bigfoot spirits need help coming through to our world. Streufert has been a critic of these theories and has received death threats from adherents. He has even had shots fired at his bookstore.

No connection between the gunfire at Bigfoot Books and the Streufert/Johnson feud has been proven, and no charges have been filed. Still, Streufert does not rule the possibility out.

People are willing to threaten and perhaps even act based on Bigfoot beliefs. The intra-community drama calls to mind the often violent disagreements between religious sects. Bigfoot belief is much closer to a faith than a genuine science. It is less about what you can prove than what you want to believe.

Assuming a strictly anthropological perspective, Bigfoot is unlikely to exist. Great apes diverged from monkeys around 30 million years ago, and hominins diverged from the great apes between 5 and 7 million— too late for a hominin or ancestral ape to appear in a Pangaea-era North America. If we imagine Bigfoot as closer to humans than chimpanzees, humanoid cousins such as Neanderthals only migrated as far as Europe and Asia before dying out approximately 40,000 years ago. Humans themselves only reached the Americas about 33,000 years ago. By all accounts, there is no way that another hominid could exist unknown in the Pacific Northwest without having been introduced as an invasive species within the past five centuries.

Despite knowing this, I do want Bigfoot to be real. Despite knowing logically that there is no way a dinosaur survived to modern times in a Scottish lake or that an enormous moth can predict bridge collapses in West Virginia, there is a part of my brain that wants magic to be real. I want to believe that people come back as ghosts when they die rather than accept that people are gone. I want to believe that disappearances are the result of an alien conspiracy to take us to the stars rather than face the brutal fact that those people are buried in a shallow ditch somewhere. I want to believe that not only is there a wild ape man living in the woods behind my home, but that he is kind, and intelligent, and he would never tear three people limb from limb. The truth is, though I very much wish I did, I don’t believe in magic. There are things we cannot explain, but the truth will never be as fantastic as we hope.

Humboldt State University has changed its rules around commencement ceremonies and will now allow students to bring two registered guests along with them.

Previously, the separate colleges had separate ceremonies and only students and faculty were allowed, with the ceremony being livestreamed for peoples families. Now, a couple of guests per student will be able to attend one of the multiple ceremonies that will be celebrating students’ graduation.

The change was made possible by the loosening of COVID-19 safety guidelines which are being seen across the country. As vaccines become more available, more counties are starting to move out of the most restrictive of threat tiers. While there are still significant risks, positive cases in California have fallen significantly and as a result, more campuses feel secure allowing for larger gatherings.

While people will be allowed to attend, according to Humboldt State University’s Communications specialist, Grant Scott-Goforth, there will still be significant safety precautions in place to ensure that students, staff, and family are protected from infection.

“There are still a lot of safety requirements the University and participants must follow, including conducting a wellness self check before attending, wearing a face covering at all times, maintaining six feet of social distancing, and more,” Scott-Goforth said. “We’re also filling Redwood Bowl to only about 10-15 percent of capacity, which is well within the guidelines. The timing of the decision coincided with the county moving to a less restrictive tier and our confidence in the fact that we were seeing lower disease transmission across the state.”

The opportunity to bring in guests to the ceremony is a welcome bonus for a lot of students, many of whom are feeling worn down after the consecutive graduation years of restrictions and lock downs.

This move also comes not long after Humboldt State University has changed the rules regarding travel, allowing students who are living on campus to travel within the state without a 14 day quarantine period afterwards.

Graduating senior Jesus Flores said that he is happy with the school’s decision, and that this is something students really needed following the hard couple of semesters.

“I think that allowing two guests per person is amazing because many students have been struggling to stay motivated this past year and having that support from their family and cheering them on for their hard work,” Flores said. “This is what students need right now and following CDC guidelines will ensure that students, like myself, are celebrated while doing it safely.”

While two guests is limiting, it still presents the opportunity for students to bring their parents who also want to commemorate their child’s achievements in person. With the restrictions on travel and guests, students living far away from their families lacked ways to come together and if they were living on campus may not have been able to see each other over the last winter break before the spring semester.

Graduating HSU senior, Jourden Lamar, said that he is happy that he and other graduating students will be able to walk and celebrate with their families.

“I’m very appreciative that we have the opportunity to walk in person and bring guests,” Lamar said. “I wish we could bring more than two people, but all around I’m happy that I get to spend this moment with my parents.”

Pride Month is just around the corner and students are excited to celebrate. Each year in June, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people are fully represented and celebrated.

Humboldt State has a club called Queer Student Union that welcomes all HSU students. Their mission is to create a safe, open and confidential atmosphere where persons of all sexual and gender identities can gather.

Bonnie Anthony is part of the Queer Club at HSU who’s not only celebrating Pride Month in June but also her birthday.

“I’m excited to meet up with some other queer (and vaccinated) friends during Pride Month,” Anthony said.

Gay pride is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people as a social group. During the month of June, cities around the world celebrate gay pride by holding events, parades and gatherings in honor of the LGBTQ+ community. Whether you consider yourself part of the community or just an ally, all genders and sexual identities come together to celebrate the equality and love for the gay community.

“I used to go to local pride events every year before COVID,” Anthony said. “I always had a good time and felt like it was an inclusive, chill environment to meet other people.”

Robin Brown is a member of the LGBTQ+ community who feels safer and overall happier when they are around other members.

“I love seeing so many different parts of the community all together at Pride, such as younger queer kids attending their first Pride or older queer couples who have been celebrating for years,” Brown said.

Brown’s relationship with their friends and family hasn’t always been super accepting, however, they are trying. They expressed how much the HSU community has made them feel more welcomed.

“The Queer Student Union Club has helped me during quarantine,” Brown said. “Things can get lonely not being able to see my in real life friends often, so it’s nice to be able to talk to people like me online.”

Miranda Asch is also excited about Pride Month and all of the festivities. She is looking forward to making lemon bars which are the official dessert of bisexuality.

“I haven’t been to an actual parade but I’ve been to pride festivals, it’s pretty cool,” Asche said. “There are lots of booths set up with resources, giving out free stuff, and people bring their dogs and I get to pet them.”

Though there are still those who discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community, Asch has been fortunate enough to find acceptance from those around her.

“I’m lucky enough to live in a supportive environment where I could just come out casually by talking about a crush I had on a female video game character,” Asch said. “I feel like coming out to myself was the hardest part since I kinda just brushed off crushes I had on girls for years since I also got crushes on boys.”

With the progress made with the COVID-19 vaccine, Pride events this year are likely to return to some form of normalcy.

“My favorite thing about Pride Month is seeing all the passion from the community,” Asch said. “People make art of all kinds and it’s so exciting to see. Oh, and making homophobes mad.”

On April 27, California State University Chancellor Joseph I. Castro participated in an open forum during his virtual tour of HSU where he answered questions from students, faculty and staff.

HSU was the the Chancellor’s fourth stop on his pursuit to visit all 23 CSU campuses in his first year. The forum was directed by HSU’s Provost Jenn Capps and Lisa Bond-Maupin, Special Assistant to the President.

“This open forum session is a chance to connect with our campus community and with you directly,” Capps said to Chancellor Castro before introducing him to the audience. “So that we can ask you questions to get a sense of your vision and priorities, as well as enable us to be able to inform and meet the unique needs of our campus community.”

Bond-Maupin began reading off questions from the audience. One question regarded students and faculty who express concerns regarding the recent announcement about mandating vaccines in the fall.

“In my opinion, both the CSU and the University of California, two of the largest public University systems in the country could actually play a key role in moving California and the country toward herd immunity,” Castro said in response.

He said that the Cal State Student Association, along with many faculty and staff, have been asking about a policy mandating vaccinations for the upcoming semester to ensure safety and to move forward to repopulation on campuses. However, Castro said that there will be opportunities of exemptions for religious reasons and special circumstances.

The audience then asked what Castro plans to do to support Hispanic Serving Institution designated campuses to effectively invite and serve Spanish-speaking families.

“As a Latino, I am so happy that 21 of our 23 campuses are HSI’s and I’m hopeful during my tenure as Chancellor, the last two will also become HSI’s to make us an all HSI system,” Castro said.

He believes that universities play such a consequential role in our society and is proud that the CSU is setting curricular standards with the new ethnic studies requirement.

“We’re going to take a break from peppering you with questions and ask you to share whatever aspects of your own journey to higher education and to the Chancellor’s office that you would like to share with us,” Bond-Maupin said.

Being the grandson to immigrants from Mexico, Castro said that he was the first to attend college. He has dedicated his life to being in the university setting, whether it’s through teaching, researching or being an administrator. Castro then expressed his excitement for the Chancellor’s office to receive the Polytechnic Study from the school, and thinks HSU has a lot to offer the CSU system.

The forum closed out with Castro speaking about the assets of sustainability and how other CSU campuses can learn from HSU’s initiatives.

“I think it positions Humboldt State in a real strong way going forward with your programs location where you can really be a beacon for that work, not just in our system, but nationally,” Castro said.

Through a press release sent out on April 26, HSU announced their projected plans to gradually welcome employees back to campus over the next several months.

HSU said in the press release that the repopulation plan is still being finalized and will be released once the university receives more guidance on the CSU’s recent announcement to require immunization for the fall.

Plans to repopulate campuses across California comes in response to Governor Newsom’s April 6 press release where he announced that California will fully reopen its economy on June 15.

This is assuming that two criteria are met: vaccine supply is sufficient for California residents 16 years or older who want to be vaccinated, and hospitalization rates are stable and slow.

“With more than 20 million vaccines administered across the state, it is time to turn the page on our tier system and begin looking to fully reopen California’s economy,” Newsom said in the press release. “We will need to remain vigilant, but the light at the end of this tunnel has never been brighter.”

Although California aims to fully reopen in June and end California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, Newsom said that mask wearing indoors will remain, as well as testing and vaccination verification requirements in certain settings.

The light for HSU students also appears bright, especially for those who are a part of clubs or activities that have yet to return to an on campus setting.

“We do anticipate being able to offer more student activities in the fall,” HSU’s Communications Specialist, Grant-Scott Goforth, said. “What exactly that will entail isn’t known yet, but we’ll be working with Clubs, CenterArts, Center Activities, the Cultural Centers, Rec Sports, and other groups to facilitate safe, in-person events.”

This will largely depend on the current state of the pandemic come fall, as well as the state and county guidelines at the time.

The president of HSU Volleyball Club, Raul Roman, said he’s stoked about the university’s decision to work with club sports for a gradual return this upcoming semester.

“I really didn’t have anything else to take my mind off school or personal issues,” Roman said about not being able to play sports this past year. “As my team practices late at night, it would motivate me to get through the day.”

He said that the return of club sports and activities could mean an increase in productivity within a lot of students. Many athletes felt upset, angry and confused that they weren’t able to play their sport this past year.

Roman said that club sports have utilized their media platforms and sharing information regarding their sport with incoming high school students to recruit new members for their roster.

The Men’s Volleyball Club have found ways to stay connected with their current teammates by having monthly meetings that discuss club updates, uniforms/practice layout, as well as playing virtual games to bond as a team.

Next semester is looking to be a step in the right direction toward repopulation on campus, but Scott-Goforth said that the fall schedule is finalized, so there will not be any additional in person classes added. There will also still be a 2-week period of all virtual classes at the beginning of the fall semester.

For the 2021-22 school year, classes will begin virtually on Aug. 23. In person instruction will then begin on Sep. 7.

On April 22, the Humboldt County Planning Commission Board voted 5-2 in favor of the proposed eight acre industrial sized cannabis farm. At-large commissioner Brian Mitchell, and Fifth District commissioner Peggy O’Neill dissented from the majority.

The farm is set to be constructed on the former site of the Simpson Lumber Mill, a 38 acre plot of land between 27th street and Foster Avenue.

The special meeting held by the Planning Commission was for additional public comment on the project after the March 18 review of the project was overwhelmed with public comment that exceeded the Zoom meeting’s 100-person threshold.

The large number of callers came with concerns about what this project could mean for the 900-plus Westwood neighborhood residents living within a half-mile radius of the site. Community members felt as though these neighbors will be most affected by the farm’s odors, greenhouse fan noise, increased traffic and possible pollution.

Joan Edwards, an Arcata resident that lives on 27th street, said in a letter to the editor for Mad River Union on April 21 that the neighborhood feels as though having an industrial sized cannabis grow just outside the city does not promote the kind of image Arcata needs to grow both professionally and sensibly.

“Our town used to be known for HSU, its liberal politics, and for its art scene,” Edwards said. “To be known for allowing one of the biggest grows in the state just outside the city limit does not promote the kind of image Arcata needs to grow both professionally and sensibly.”

The Sun Valley group originally announced that the project would take up 23 acres, about a quarter of the size of HSU. The cut back in land came as the Humboldt County Growers Alliance rejected the plans, saying that they are only permitted to issue 8 acres of land per individual grower, including the necessary space for nurseries.

Tristan Strauss is the CEO and co-founder of Headwaters, a data-driven bulk cannabis supply company that is partnered with Sun Valley and Arcata Land Company LLC on the project.

“It’s an economic argument for the project to create viability and year round jobs,” Strauss said at the April 22 meeting in response to concerns with the environmental impact of using a limited amount of solar. “With mixed light facilities, we’re continuously cultivating 365 days a year.”

Strauss said that there will be 80 full time employees that will operate the farm year round. These employees would work in both mixed-light greenhouses and light deprivation structures, along with 30,000 square feet of nursery.

Many residents believe that the project should undergo an environmental impact report to help ease concerns of Arcata residents.

“If you’ve read all of the facts thoroughly given by folks against the project, it clearly indicates that at least an environmental impact report should be conducted,” Peggy Proctor, an Arcata resident and public commenter at the meeting said.

She said that by conducting the test, the commission could ensure that they are listening to the over 600 people who have signed petitions and other Arcata residents who have expressed concerns over the past month.

The commission ultimately approved a negative declaration of environmental impact, rather than requiring a full environmental impact report (EIR). However, they added two conditions for the project before passing it: that trees must be planted around the property to mitigate public disturbance and for them to enroll in PG&E’s “Power+” program, which will provide 100 percent renewable energy.

The cannabis farm is projected to be the largest cannabis farm in Humboldt County and fifth largest in the state of California.

The CSU system has instituted a new guideline for the fall 2021 semester: all students and staff are required to be fully vaccinated before arriving on campus.

The move comes as schools begin loosening restrictions due to COVID-19 and anticipating a return to in person classes. The hope is that each campus will be able to provide most classes in person, while still allowing many students to telecommute if need be.

While vaccine rollout has been slow, HSU has distributed vaccinations for staff in the past months and recently has begun vaccinating on campus students as well. However, both would be expected to update the mandatory immunization they are required to get before coming to campus. While public roll out of vaccines has caused some confusion, many CSU campuses have vaccination sites running for whomever they are serving.

Hazel J. Kelly, public affairs manager for CSU’s department of strategic communication and public affairs, says that while the guidelines have been announced, how exactly the CSU system will handle their implementation and help students get their appointment is still being worked out.

“The CSU’s COVID vaccination policy is still under development and many of the details are still being worked out,” Kelly said “While there is no certainty at this point as to when the requirement would be put into place, the CSU would be able to provide guidance to students in need of a vaccination.”

The push would mean vaccinating more than 1 million people across California at CSU campuses. The CSU system is taking this step alongside the University of California who has implemented the same policy. The plans are largely contingent on full approval of any of the vaccines and will be implemented either before the beginning of the semester or as soon as there is an available approved vaccine.

In a press release on April 21, CSU chancellor Joseph I. Castro stated that widespread vaccinations have massively curved the spread of COVID-19 and are vital to returning to normalcy after a year of lockdowns.

“The state of California has been a leader in the administration of COVID-19 vaccines, and Californians receiving a vaccine has led to significantly reducing the transmission of COVID-19 in our state,” Castro said “Continued vigilance will further mitigate the spread of the disease that has radically altered our lives over the past year.”

After a year of Zooming in for everything, many students are eager to return to full in person classes. This move and the other steps to return to campus will allow students a more normal experience.

Cohl Mascitelli, incoming HSU student for the class of 2025, says that he supports the move and that it doesn’t affect his plans to come on campus.

“I totally agree with it since many vaccines are now available to the public,” Mascitelli said. “It doesn’t affect me because i’m fully vaccinated. I think if students want to push for a more normal semester with most in person classes, this is the way to go.”

President Tom Jackson revealed in an article to Times Standard on April 2 that Humboldt State recently received approval from the CSU Board of Trustees to develop an interdisciplinary cannabis program.

Jackson said that it comes as a response to student demand for a program in cannabis studies at the university. The curriculum would study the intersection of cannabis and society through a number of areas: wellness, compliance, law, business, ecology and more.

The department of academic affairs said through HSU’s spokesperson, Grant Scott-Goforth, that the university is planning to try and get the program ready by the start of the Fall 2022 semester.

“While it’s gotten tentative approval from the CSU trustees, all new degree programs have to go through a curriculum development process with HSU, the Chancellor’s Office, and HSU’s regional accreditor, WSCUC,” Scott-Goforth said.

The university said that cannabis has a significant cultural and economic impact in the north coast. Being the only institution in the region, HSU feels that they must be responsive to the needs of the Humboldt community.

Scott-Goforth said that unlike the handful of cannabis programs that currently exist across the nation that focus on mainly plant chemistry and biological science, HSU’s interdisciplinary cannabis program would also focus on the relationship cannabis has with the community and the natural environment.

Connor Evans is in his final year at HSU, studying Forestry (Soils), and feels like HSU has real potential to establish a presence in the current small world of cannabis academia.

“Humboldt is an epicenter for cannabis that yearns to be studied,” Evans said. “So while there are a few other schools that have programs like this, I really feel Humboldt has the opportunity to create something here that can become a staple of how to run a strong, meaningful cannabis studies program.”

Evans said that if HSU were to distinguish studies across the nation, a cannabis degree from the University would be meaningful and many people would be attracted to the program. He also said that the large amount of people in Humboldt that are connected to cannabis in some way could benefit from a local program that progresses the legitimacy of the industry.

In addition to the benefits that the local community could seek, Evans said that some current students on campus, especially first years, would most likely consider switching majors if they were able to get meaningful credentials. He said that students in many departments at HSU aim to go into the cannabis industry after graduation.

Humboldt County residents aren’t the only ones excited about the possibility of a cannabis degree program in the CSU. Nicole Elliott, the senior advisor on cannabis for Governor Gavin Newsom, feels as though a program that studies the different aspects of what is expected of California during the decriminalization and legalization of cannabis would be beneficial to many communities across the state.

“California is well served to have curriculum developed that examines these complexities, and once established, our communities will be well served to have within them CSU alumni working to share and refine this knowledge,” Elliott said.

She said that it is important for people to learn about the collective efforts of California during the transition to a regulated cannabis market, relating to all aspects of the environment: communities, economies and mother nature.

“Given this region’s global recognition for cannabis cultivation knowledge and culture, Humboldt State University will be the place students choose to attend for a rigorous interdisciplinary cannabis studies curriculum,” Scott-Goforth said.

April 15 marked the four year anniversary of Josiah Lawson’s murder, and two days later his mother Charmaine Lawson returned to Humboldt to hold a four mile run, coat drive, and supply giveaway in his honor.

The run went up G Street with one mile for each year that the Josiah Lawson case has remained unsolved. Charmaine Lawson has been holding memorials in remembrance each year, but was unable to travel to Humboldt last year due to COVID-19.

Josiah Lawson was a student at HSU when he was murdered at an off campus house party in April 2017. In the wake of the incident, the Arcata Police Department was widely criticized for its poor handling of evidence, slow response, and the lack of public information. Charmaine Lawson has pushed continually since then for further inquiries and for a resolution to the now four-year-old case.

Information has been slow to come in and APD continues to urge people to come forward if anyone has any relevant information on the case. Part of that effort is a reward for any information that leads to the arrest of whoever murdered Josiah.

According to Andre Ramos, a mentor of Josiah’s and friend of the Lawson family, the reward has been raised to encourage more people to come forward with new information.

“We want to bring justice by identifying the responsible party. As a form of encouragement, Charmaine has increased the reward to $100,000,” Ramos said. “If there is someone that is willing to provide the necessary information to complete the arrest and conviction of the responsible parties, they will be rewarded $100,000.”

Charmaine Lawson has received widespread support from many Humboldt residents who sympathize with her frustrations with the slow and ineffective response of Humboldt County’s public officials.

People who attended the vigil on April 17 were given free coffee and bagels, one of 100 backpacks full of supplies including toiletries and warm clothing, free coats, and packages of hot food from the Arcata Mutual Aid society. The event also featured multiple speakers from the Lawson family and friends from around the area.

Karpani Burns, an Arcata resident and an attendant at the vigil, says that she is very happy that Charmaine can come back up to Humboldt.

“I think that this is a beautiful thing because Charmaine couldn’t come up last year,” Burns said. “So it’s great she can be back with friends and family.”

The case caused controversy on the HSU campus as well, as many students felt as if they were not being listened to in their concerns or kept updated on the case and that the slow trickle of information is racially motivated. The university has worked with the police for the investigation and has continued to work to ensure the safety of students.

According to Douglas Smith, Coordinator of the AACAE, the HSU faculty has taken steps to listen to students and their concerns.

“When considering safety, since being on campus as staff I have personally been in several spaces, as the BSU and Brothers United advisor, where students had the ear and attention of administration,” Smith said. “In those conversations, information was exchanged, concerns were received, then action was taken. There is room for improvement, and a large part of that includes hiring and retaining Black faculty and removing curriculum that harbors white supremacy.”

After several months of deliberation, Capital Public Radio has taken over managerial control of KHSU and expects to resume hosting local programming and internships.

The move comes two years after KHSU was massively cut back, firing most employees, ending the volunteer program, reverting to national broadcasts, and leaving its future very much up in the air. Since then, KHSU has not had any local programming and has broadcasted national feeds of NPR and BBC.

The initial decision to cut back KHSU came as a surprise to many, particularly the employees of the station itself who were not told ahead of time that most of them would be laid off. The administration had fired all but two of the people working there. They both stepped down soon after.

After briefly running simulcast with NSPR, the station began running entirely national broadcasts and has not done any local programming since, citing NPR and BBC as their most popular broadcasting.

Phil Wilke, general manager of North State Public Radio, says he also was unaware of the decision to cut most of the station, which was made while NSPR and the HSU administration were in talks about a partnership to help produce more content.

“We had been in initial talks with Frank [Whitlatch] and the university administration, with Chico state, and with Cap Radio on a proposed partnership,” Wilke said. “But it hadn’t gotten far beyond the ‘Hey how are you doing, this is great in concept’ phases, so there was no real proposals on the table, we were just getting to know each other.”

With the current deal, Cap Radio and NSPR will provide the managerial resources to run the station while HSU keeps the station’s licensing rights. While not much is set in stone, the station hopes to explore how they can give students a greater role in the kind of on air programming that KHSU will be producing in the future.

According to Frank Whitlatch, HSU’s VP of Advancement, this arrangement is similar to one in other colleges.

“In essence, what the university did is hire Cap Radio to be the general manager and handle some of the staffing for our radio station,” said Whitlatch. “That’s the simplest way of explaining what we’ve done. A sort of similar arrangement is in place with Cap Radio and Chico.”

Currently there is not going to be any classes that have direct student involvement in the KHSU station, but if everything works well, they will begin to bring in volunteers and interns, as they did before, in addition to possibly giving students more of an active role.

Longtime former KHSU volunteer Tim Warner who hosted “The Buck Calhoun Show” for 18 years, heard the plan to move forward with Capital Public Radio but urges the university to consider the link that the station has provided to the community that went away following the sweeping cuts at KHSU in 2019.

“The administration needs to realize what an important bridge the radio station was to the community and to not burn that bridge,” Warner said. “Importance of HSU in this community, and the importance of this community to the college should not be underestimated.”

Warner also stressed the role of having local programming that does reflect the diverse community that Humboldt County embraces.

“I think that changing out a local community point of view to a very generic white liberal NPR-style programming will exclude a lot of student and community voices,” Warner said.

Cap Radio and NSPR intend to begin conducting market research into exactly what kind of content they could start running. In a press release from HSU, Cap Radio’s general manager Jun Reina said that the research will help them provide audiences with stronger programming.

“With the results of this research as our guide, we will evolve KHSU’s on-air and digital programming and will be able to ensure stronger resources to improve audience services,” said Reina. “This includes uninterrupted access to national programming from NPR, BBC and APM.”

Humboldt State is continuing to offer students and faculty vaccinations.

In the past week, the university has received 504 doses of vaccines, including the first dose of Pfizer and second dose of Moderna.

According to Public Information Officer Grant Scott-Goforth, the university expects to receive mostly second doses after this week.

“The requirements for receiving vaccines is changing and vaccines will be allotted from the State of California through a third party administrator, Blue Shield,” Scott-Goforth said.

HSU has given out 1,950 vaccine doses so far and continues to encourage everyone to receive their dose as long as they are eligible.

Michele Stephens is the Humboldt County Public Health Director.

“We are so thankful to those members of our community who waited for their turn, and now it’s here,” Stephens said. “We encourage everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible, so we can all spend time with friends and loved ones safely and protect those under 16 who can’t yet get vaccinated.”

Currently, HSU is offering a limited amount of vaccinations to students who are immunocompromised.

Humboldt County Public Health has opened eligibility for vaccines to any resident 16 and older. Students interested in a vaccine should sign up using the MyTurn system set up by the state of California.

Find more detailed information on the HSU website.