On Dec. 6 student activist groups gathered at the quad to collect supplies for the migrant caravan that is assembled along the U.S-Mexico border. ­­Nathaniel McGuigan, minister of communication for the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and biology senior, helped spearhead the event.

“We are out here collecting donations that will be sent down to the border to support the migrant caravan coming from Honduras and other countries,” McGuigan said.

The donation drive was put on by members of PSL, Earth Guardians and Moviemiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MECHA). McGuigan said that the donations will be driven to southern California and given to the Border Angels, a volunteer non-profit organization advocating for human rights along the U.S-Mexico border, on Dec. 16.

The caravan includes people from a variety of Central American countries. Members of the caravan first started their journey north around mid-October. President Trump infamously sent 5,200 troops to the border just before the midterm elections to “secure the border and make America safe.”

However, the way the federal government has been handling the migrant caravan is one of many reasons people showed up to support those coming to the U.S. Annie Bond is double-majoring in art education and studio arts and showed up in the quad to support the migrants.

“Everyone deserves a place on Earth and we are pushing them out of their countries through corrupt political practices,” Bond said.

Bond believes countries need to expand to be a global community because of the problems of climate change. A recent report from the World Bank Group found that by 2050, “over 143 million people…could be forced to move within their own countries to escape the slow-onset impacts of climate change.” The report also highlighted that “the poorest and most climate-vulnerable areas will be hardest hit.”

Human rights advocate Jack Nounnan said he came to show support for migrants and to protest the federal government’s family separation policy.

“The event is a vendetta against [the government] taking away children,” Nounnan said.

Early this year, it was reported by major news outlets that the federal government had separated 2,654 children from their parents. The family separation policy has ended, but a family detention policy is still in place. Bond and McGuigan believe that U.S. policies are contributing factors to why people are fleeing Central American countries. Bond thinks the U.S. needs to do more to help migrants coming here.

“We can’t keep being separatists,” Bond said. “It’s important to show solidarity because it is the foundation of humanity and community. At the end of the day [solidarity] is the end-all-be-all of why community exists.

People can contact Simone McGowan of Earth Guardians if they would like to drop off donations anytime before Dec. 16

srm830@humboldt.edu

Humboldt State Women and Mens’ basketball team travel south as they look for victories in their second and third conference play

They will match-up against Cal State San Marcos and Cal State San Bernardino.

The Lady Jacks (3-1, 1-0 CCAA) started off their conference play on Nov. 23 in Rohnert Park with a 68-56 victory over the Sonoma State Seawolves.

Junior Madeline Hatch led the team with 26 points, and lifted a career best with eight of those shots being three pointers.

The Lady Jacks were not going down without a fight in their first conference game. After a two point trail in the third quarter, HSU fought for a 23-2 run, and it paid off with a victory against the Seawolves.

Junior guards Alexia Thrower and Tyra Turner showed dominance as well on Friday night. Thrower finished with 19 points and 11 boards, and Turner with eight points and six assists.

Although the Lady Jacks traveled back home with a victory, the men’s team did not. In a tough game against the Seawolves, the Lumberjacks (3-3, 0-1 CCAA) lost with a final score of 69-66.

Due to the lack of completed shots, the Lumberjacks trailed 38-20 at halftime.

The second half was a little more exciting as the Lumberjacks found their footing and connected on 51.6 percent of their shot attempts. Senior forward Justin Everett and senior point guard Kameron Curl each led with 16 points and senior Calvin Young II followed with 11.

On Thursday, Nov. 29 the HSU women’s team will play San Marcos at 5:30 p.m. and the men at 7:30 p.m. Both teams will play San Bernardino on Saturday, Dec. 1, women at 1 p.m. and men at 3 p.m.

The number of deaths in the Camp Fire have increased to 85 people as of Nov. 26 with 993 people unaccounted for. More than 150,000 acres have burned with 18,804 structures destroyed.

The Woolsey Fire has burned nearly 100,000 acres and destroyed 1,500 structures. The Woolsey fire is now 100 percent contained as of Thanksgiving day.

CAL Fire has stated the Camp Fire is the deadliest fire in California history and Woolsey the eighth most destructive.

Cal Fire firefighters are not the only ones fighting the many fires burning in California. Alexandra Powell, public information officer for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said as of Wednesday November 21, there were 594 inmates and 66 CDCR staff members deployed to assist with wildfires around California.

“All inmates receive the same entry-level training that CAL Fire’s seasonal firefighters receive, which includes both classroom and field training,” Powell said.

There are 43 conservation camps, or fire camps, in 27 counties in California. Powell said these camps are minimum-security facilities that house 3,700 inmates who qualify for the fire camp program. There are three fire camps that are a part of the Humboldt-Del Norte Fire Unit: Eel River and High Rock Conservation Camps in Humboldt County and Alder Conservation Camp in Del Norte County.

“When not fighting fires, inmate firefighters perform conservation and community service projects,” Powell said. “They work Monday through Friday for eight hours a day performing a wide range of duties.

Powell said there are 96 inmates housed at High Rock and 91 at Eel River. The CDCR, or California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, states there are 109 inmates at Alder. California criminal defense attorneys, Greg Hill and Associates, said that every fire camp has at least 85 firefighters ready to fight fires.

High Rock, established in 1954, is one of the oldest conservation camps in California. Eel River has been active in since 1967 and Alder opened in 1961.

According to the CDCR website it is estimated Eel River Conservation Camp provided cost avoidance in excess of $1 million per year to the taxpayers of California.

“Taxpayers spend a yearly average of $81,458 per inmate,” Powell said. “Which covers things such as health and dental care, food, housing, as well as education and other rehabilitative opportunities while serving their time.

Powell said fire camp inmates earn an average of $2 a day, with an additional $1 an hour when fighting an active fire.

According to Glassdoor, the average base pay for a CAL Fire firefighter is $63,174 a year. The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee’s second demand during the recent nationwide prison strike was to immediately end prison slavery. They called for all persons imprisoned to be paid prevailing wages for their labor.

“Inmates who volunteer to serve their sentence in a fire camp also receive additional time off their sentence,” Powell said.

The pay for inmates at fire camp is high compared to other prison labor. According to a 2018 CDCR report, depending on skill level an inmate will make $0.08-$.37 and hour. Powell said to be transferred to a fire camp an inmate must volunteer and have a minimum custody status.

This status is based on inmates’ good behavior in prison, conforming to rules within prison, and participation in rehabilitative programming.

High Rock and Alder Camps have college and other education course support and Eel River has music appreciation programs and gardening projects. All three have substance abuse meetings.

“Each volunteer inmate is evaluated individually to ensure that all those selected for the fire camp program are willing to be team members with nonviolent behavior, even if their original conviction was for a violent crime,” Powell said.

Powell said since 1983 there have been six deaths of fire camp inmate firefighters as a result of injuries sustained while actively working on containing a fire. She said the families of inmate firefighters may file a claim for death benefits in the event that the inmate dies from work-related injuries.

According to The Marshall Project, closest relatives are informed of loved ones’ deaths through voicemails, text messages and letters and can take anywhere from days to weeks to be notified, if at all.

“Just as with any job in prison, each inmate firefighter is entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for injuries sustained during work, and/or if those injuries result in proximate death,” Powell said.

Visit https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Conservation_Camps/ for more information.a

California’s most deadly wildfire is still burning

The Camp Fire roared through the town of Paradise, California and decimated everything in its path and continues to burn.

California has just experienced its deadliest-ever wildfire. The fire may not be as destructive as it was a couple of days ago, yet many Californians must now face the accumulation of toxic and hazardous smoke that plagues the very air that we breathe.

The powerful blaze has destroyed over 10,000 homes, and claimed over 70 lives, with over 1000 people still missing. The 150,000 acres that burned sent fine particles into the air which has created the danger that many in the heavily affected areas are facing. Currently these impacted areas have the worst quality rated air in the world.

Brian Mistler is the executive director of student health and well-being at Humboldt State University.

“The wildfire smoke that is filling the air is a mixture of gases and fine particles from burning trees and other plant materials,” Mistler said. “This smoke can hurt your eyes, irritate your respiratory system, and worsen chronic heart and lung diseases.”

The areas that are heavily affected by the smoke are mostly south of Butte County. The air in areas like San Rafael, Oakland, and Vacaville are considered “very unhealthy” along with the Sacramento area considered to be “hazardous” by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Young children, older adults, and those with asthma or with heart or lung conditions are heavily at risk.

The North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District uses the EPA Air Quality Index range to inform people to the quality of air they are breathing. 0-50 is considered good. 51-100 is considered moderate and requires sensitive individuals should limit outdoor use. 101-150 is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups and requires those groups to reduce heavy outdoor exertion. 151-200 is considered unhealthy and sensitive groups should avoid all outdoor exertion. 201-300 is considered very unhealthy and states everyone should avoid prolonged outdoor exertion. Anything higher than 300 is considered hazardous and states everyone should avoid going outside.

Debra Harris is the North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District’s burn program coordinator. Harris said that because of winter conditions temperature inversions are affecting the disbursement of smoke across the state. These conditions are dragging the smoke from Butte County down to the bay area.

The air quality for Eureka is listed at 81, which is moderate and only those with serious health conditions should seek to limit going outdoors.

Not only is the Camp Fire in northern California affecting everyone in the state, but the Woolsey Fire in southern California has also made an impact on hurting our air quality.

Harris said that since last week, “better air” is being brought down from the northern winds.

Recent developments have once again pointed to poor management on part of PG&E as the cause of the Camp Fire. According to PG&E officials, they experienced an outage on a transmission line on the morning of Nov. 8 near the town Pulga, which is where the fire is believed to have started.

Jeffery Kane is an associate professor of fire ecology and fuels management at HSU. Kane believed more can be done to prevent devastating results from wildfire.

“The more fuel there is to burn, the more smoke you will get,” Kane said.

Fuel is regarded as what makes the fire so devastating, because like a car that burns gasoline, fire uses wood the same way. The dry conditions that California has faced also lead into making this “fuel” drier as moisture usually slows down the burning process.

“We have too much fuel in some areas, and when you have more homes surrounded by vegetation, those homes are surrounded by fuel,” Kane said.

The wind played a factor in both the northern and southern California fires. Kane added the fierce fire was a product of fierce winds and high heat. During the fires, 30 mph winds were recorded, which allowed the Camp Fire blaze to consume almost a football field every 3 seconds.

In the coming days, rain is in the forecast for California, which is a godsend for the blazing fires but there are new fears for disaster from mudslides.

“We need the rain to help with these fires,” Kane said. “But we need to build better homes, and make them fire resistant so that we do not have another blaze that turns homes into rolling dominoes.”

California authorizes local harm reduction services to begin operating

In 2011 Brandie Wilson lost a friend to heroin overdose. Then she lost another, and another. By 2013 she had lost six friends to overdoses and decided to do something about it.

Wilson graduated from Humboldt State University with her masters in sociology and created Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction, or HACHR. She said there was only one government-managed needle exchange run by Humboldt county. The demand exceeded their capacity.

“We have a large rural area with an extremely large drug use,” Wilson said. “There was more need than one program could handle.”

In October the state authorized HACHR to operate. They can now increase hours of operation and broaden intended outreach programs.

“It takes a lot of work to truly make a safe space for the people that come here,” Wilson said. “And they may never have known what a safe space is.”

Wilson started emailing everyone she knew involved with drug policy and was awarded a grant to start an organization. HACHR has been at its current location in Eureka for 18 months, and Wilson said they service between 90-150 people a week. She said there are groups against their services but the controversy elevates their work.

“At least it has the entire community talking about an issue that has been shoved in the shadows the past 40 years,” Wilson said.

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, there are more than 115 people in the U.S. that die from opioid overdose every day. An estimated 2 million people suffer from substance abuse disorders related to opiates.

According to California Public Health Department data, from 2014-2016 Humboldt County had the second highest rate of overdose deaths in California’s 58 counties.

Avert, one of the leading global information and education organizations on HIV and AIDs, states harm reduction programs aim to prevent the spread of infections and viruses by providing easy access to sterile needles.

According to Avert, worldwide benefits of harm reduction services have been proven with countries like Switzerland, the UK, and Australia reducing the number of new HIV infections among intravenous drug users to zero.

“We have the highest rate of hepatitis C on the west coast,” Wilson said.

The program coordinator for HACHR is Jessica Smith. Smith earned her masters in sociology at HSU and started working in 2017. She oversees the building and volunteers, helps build programs and does training out in the community with safe injection.

“Brandie came to one of my classes and made me cry, so I wanted to try it out,” Smith said. “I’ve been here ever since.”

Smith said harm reduction was a term that was thrown around, but she didn’t know what it was until working at HACHR. Smith said she feels connected to the work she does because her mother had a history with substance abuse. Smith said the community shares with each other and sincerely look out after each other’s safety, and and the work at HACHR is rewarding every day.

“I get to step back and be very genuine with other people,” Smith said.

Harm reduction programs like HACHR rely on volunteer based work to help them stay operating. Angelica Flores-Cruz, a senior in sociology and CRGS at HSU, volunteers twice a week with HACHR. She has been with HACHR since last spring semester and said her eyes have opened to other fields to work in when she graduates.

“It has gotten me to think about marginalized groups, that’s what I study a lot in classes,” Flores-Cruz said.

Flores-Cruz said her favorite part at HACHR is working in the exchange room, where she distributes clean syringes, snorting and fentanyl testing kits, and cleaning supplies. At first, work was intimidating for Flores-Cruz because she never had experience with drugs, but she said it was easy to get comfortable.

Flores-Cruz said the people that use HACHR services are misjudged and forced to go through systemic barriers due to poverty. In the exchange room, Flores-Cruz said she enjoys listening to people who simply just need to vent and talk to feel better. Flores-Cruz said she will use what she learned at HACHR and spread the ideas when she moves back to Long Beach after graduating.

“It may seem small spending four hours rolling cotton but really it’s big,” Flores-Cruz said.

Brennen Duck took an oath to defend this country from all enemies foreign and domestic.

“And right now our president is acting as a domestic enemy,” Duck said.

Duck, an Arcata community member, joined more than 20 people at Humboldt State University’s quad on Nov. 8 to protest against Donald Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general.

This protest was part of a nationwide protest organized by Common Cause, a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. They are concerned that Whitaker will interfere with special counsel Robert Mueller’s more than one-year-long investigation on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Former Attorney General Jeffrey Sessions, who Trump had fired hours after the 2018 mid-term elections, recused himself from Muller’s investigation. That means that Sessions was unable to make any executive decisions on the investigation. Now that Sessions is gone, Whitaker has the power to end the investigation.

Protesters are especially worried Whitaker will interrupt the investigation because he had previously written an op-ed condemning it. The protesters with Common Cause demanded that Whitaker also recuse himself from the investigation so that Mueller can continue his investigation without any interference.

“It’s really hard to imagine that they’re getting away with being corrupt when [Whitaker] made statements opposing the investigation,” protester Joan Dixon said. “It’s quite devious.”

Political science junior Alex Fallman took the helm of the protest and relayed a speech to the group of protesters given to him by Humboldt Congressman Jared Huffman.

Fallman read Huffman’s letter on his support for the protesters and made a call to action demanding that Whitaker recuse himself from the investigation.

After being at the quad for 15 minutes the group of protesters then traveled to Arcata Plaza. Fallman said there were speakers in Eureka and Arcata Plaza at the same time.

“I’m a little disappointed in turnout,” protester Kyla Hock said. “It’s ok though, it’s a good movement to support.”