Category: News
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Midterm Elections in Humboldt County
By Alex Harris and Sebastian Lindner
Voters share their thoughts on the Nov. 6 election.
Where do I go, what do I do, or who do I vote for? These were questions pondered by perspective voters who showed up or thought about voting in the Nov. 6 midterm elections.
Many who lined up at polling stations or mailed in absentee ballot votes were first time voters. HSU student Yesnia Celis said she sees this vote as empowering.
“I feel like it’s really important and it’s like a really crazy and emotional experience for me,” Celis siad
Celis is not only a first time voter but also represents many who do not have the privilege to vote. She frames this as her reason for voting on Nov. 6 and why she votes in general.
“My reasoning (for voting), was that I have friends who are immigrants,” Celis said. “They do not have a say in this, so I am representing them.”
Similar to Celis’s intent, HSU senior Maddy Tervet believes she is voting for something greater than herself. Tervet also said this is a big turn-around from the last election
“There is a lot at stake with this election because of all the turmoil after the last,” Tervet said. “I think it’s a time where we’re seeing more people interested in voting and in politics.”
Victor Ahumad, a senior psychology major at HSU, also took some solace in the voter turnout.
“I’m excited to see a huge rise in this year’s voter turnout,” Ahumad said.
Although many had their own reasons to show up to the polls not everyone had the resources to make it there. The North Coast People’s Alliance, saw this problem and decided to help, in the form of a voter van. The voter van took people to and from the elections office in Eureka from HSU’s library circle.
Tamara McFarland, a volunteer van driver from the North Coast People’s Alliance, said many were ecstatic to see this resource on campus.
“Everyone was so happy they were giving us high fives and thumbs ups,” McFarland said.
Although some resources were provided for people to attend the elections, some like McFarland felt as though all voters were not 100 percent prepared for the elections.
“I think especially the propositions were confusing,” McFarland said. “But there has been some good conversation (between students) happening on the bus.”
Some were not as lucky as those who had these conversations and thusly felt woefully unprepared. Humboldt State student Atalia Cohen, said even when her friends had an election party the night before to research some of the candidates and propositions, they all still felt confused.
“I did not feel at all prepared,” Cohen said.
Although Cohen felt like her vote was important, she explained that she did not receive a sample ballot through the mail or any information even though she was supposed to be an absentee voter.
“I never received anything in the mail,” Cohen said. “I feel like it was even difficult to read all the information that was even presented online because it’s made to actually make you feel confused.”
Though some felt confused or mislead on what to vote for, many still believed in the importance of their vote.
Humboldt State students and friends Ashley Martinez and Vanessa Echevarria were sparked to go to the polls. Martinez voted in order to combat some of the politics that she saw as toxic in her hometown of Inglewood, California.
“Our mayor has been raising the rent in the city, along with pushing for the new (NFL) stadium being constructed which we don’t want,” Martinez said.
Martinez and Echevarria are apart of a large group of people who were either convinced to vote by friends or something that was affecting them personally.
“Ashley said to me, ‘quit complaining and go do something about it, go vote,’” Echevarria said. “So, I decided to go out and do something about it.”
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Local Measure 2018 Election Results
This page was updated with results on Nov. 7 at 3:55 p.m.
Some results may not reflect the final results for a few days or weeks due to mail-in ballots being accounted for. Final tally will be determined around December.
Measure H:
The county voted 73.66% yes, 26.44% no
Measure H is a tax that increases the cost of hotel taxes by 10% for those who wish for occupancy at any hotel located at blue lake. The funds will go to the city’s general fund, with an predicted annual revenue of $19,000.
Measure I:
The county voted 48.10% yes, 51.90% no
Measure I is a tax increase for the city of Eureka, it would increase the city’s sales tax by %0.25 in order to fund local roads for 20 years. The predicted annual revenue would be $2.2 million
Measure J:
The county voted 48.10% yes, 51.90% no
Measure J is to continue a tax increase for the city of Rio Del, it would maintain the 1% city sales tax until December 2024. The predicted revenue would be $245,000 annually, with the purpose to fund general city purposes.
Measure K:
The county vote voted 51.56% yes, 48.44% no
Measure K is a county initiative that would make Humboldt county a ‘sanctuary county’, meaning that local law enforcement agencies cannot work with ICE to detain illegal immigrants from the Humboldt county.
Measure L:
The county voted 66.39% yes, 33.61% no
Measure L is a bond that would allow Cutten school district to sell up to $4,000,000 in bonds, it would need %55 of the vote in order to pass the ballot. The intention of the ballot is to fund improvements to the school such as constructions, school safety, and improvements on technology for educational purposes.
Measure M:
The county voted 37.84% yes, 63.16% no
Measure M is an initiative to prevent any modification or removal of the statue of president McKinley on the Arcata Plaza. After a vote from the Arcata city council voted 4-1 for the removal of the statue, measure M was launched with many residences signatures to allow for the voters to have a say on whether the statue should be removed.
Measure N:
The county vote 69.27% yes, 30.73% no
Measure N would allow for the Northern Humboldt Union High School District to issue and sell up to $24.0 million in bonds in an aggregate principal amount with an interest rate not exceeding the legal amount. NHUHSD would also need to provide financing for specific types of school projects that the money would be used for. This would allow, but not limited to, repairing broken parts of the school’s infrastructure, allow to expand school facilities, and modernize classroom’s.
Measure O:
The county voted 71.94% yes, 28.06% no
Measure O would continue with the tax increase that was voted in 2014 by a rate of %0.5, the funds from measure O would be used for general county purposes. The predicted annual rate with the passing of the measure would generate $12 million.
Sourced from Humboldtgov.org
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2018 California Proposition Results
There are currently 97.2 percent precincts reporting. Here are the proposition results for California.
Information sourced from https://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/ballot-measures
Proposition 1 Bonds Issues $4 billion in bonds for housing programs and veterans’ home loans.
Proposition 2 Bonds Authorizes state to use revenue from millionaire’s tax for $2 billion in bonds for homelessness prevention housing
Proposition 3 Bonds Issues $8.877 billion in bonds for water-related infrastructure and environmental projects
Proposition 4 Bonds Issues $1.5 billion in bonds for children’s hospitals
Proposition 5 Taxes Revises process for homebuyers who are age 55 or older or severely disabled to transfer their tax assessments
Proposition 6 Taxes Repeals 2017’s fuel tax and vehicle fee increases and requires public vote on future increases
Proposition 7 Time Authorizes legislature to provide for permanent daylight saving time if federal government allows
Proposition 8 Healthcare Requires dialysis clinics to issue refunds for revenue above a certain amount
Proposition 10 Housing Allows local governments to regulate rent on any type of housing
Proposition 11 Labor Allow ambulance providers to require workers to remain on call during breaks paid
Proposition 12 Animals Bans sale of meat from animals confined in spaces below specific sizes
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Dialogue on safety continues
Charmaine Lawson holds an important meeting with Chancellor
Charmaine Lawson and HSU student advocates held a meeting on student safety on Nov. 4 with California State University board of trustees chair Adam Day, and Chancellor of the CSU Timothy White.
Charmaine Lawson is the mother of David Josiah Lawson, a criminology major at HSU, who was murdered at an off-campus party April 15, 2017. Josiah Lawson’s case remains unsolved and his murder has prompted students to raise issues of safety and support on campus, particularly for students of color who move to Humboldt and are unfamiliar with the area.
Lawson said the meeting was to allow the students to express to Day and White their experiences and concerns involving safety on and off campus, poor housing conditions on and off campus and funding of multicultural centers which provide stable, reliable and safe sanctuary for students of color.
“This is the opportunity where we get our voices heard,” Lawson said before the meeting.
Charmaine Lawson met Day at a CSU board of trustees meeting in Long Beach. She asked him to be her guest at Humboldt to talk about safety for black and brown students.
Charmaine Lawson said White wasn’t originally going to attend the meeting but he arranged his schedule just so he could make it. She said her son did not have safety at Humboldt and wanted Day and White to hear directly from students the problems they have on campus.
“We want to make safety top priority for new students,” Lawson said.
Attending in support of Lawson was lead staff for California Faculty Administrator’s Statewide Council for Affirmative Action Audrena Redmond and CFA Associate Vice President of Affirmative Action North, Cecil Canton.
Redmond said there hasn’t been enough action since Josiah’s death and it was very important that Day and White came to the meeting. She said if this was the first they listened to the student concerns of safety and support on campus then the line of communication is broken somewhere in the CSU.
Redmond said responsibility is starting to be taken after the treatment of Lawson during a board of trustees meeting where a police officer stood behind her holding his gun belt.
“Policing of black bodies especially toward a grieving mother is inhumane,” Redmond said.
Deema Hindawi, active member of M.E.CH.A and employee at the Multicultural Center, was one of the student advocates to express their concerns on continuous problems at HSU that has not been fixed. She said there is no point in calling UPD for help because they take too long and most students of color don’t even feel safe around them. Hindawi said the Multicultural Center at HSU is a reason why people of color are staying here but they are underfunded and have no professional staff that overlooks the center.
“As students we run the center,” Hindawi said. “We need professional staff but that’s not something the university is giving us.”
Hindawi also addressed the safety of students and said she doesn’t feel comfortable walking over the Sunset Ave bridge because there aren’t any lights. She said she sometimes doesn’t leave school until midnight and feels it’s necessary to carry a stun gun for safety.
“I have been hearing that the bridge will have lights since I was a freshman,” Hindawi said. “I’m a third year now.”
Active member of Students for Equality and Education and M.E.CH.A at HSU Nathaniel Mcguigan addressed the poor quality of on-campus housing and said students are forced to live in poor living conditions. Mcguigan said the campus dorms are too expensive and there are problems with mold and bed bugs.
“I would like to see improving conditions of on-campus housing,” Mcguigan said.
Cecil Canton was positive after the meeting and said it appeared Day and White were actually listening and staying present. A major problem Canton said is the disconnect from campus and community. He said the campus doesn’t see their nexus with the community until there is a negative action that takes place.
“The community is in the campus and the campus is in the community,” Canton said.
Canton said campuses have to ask themselves how they can work together with community. He said problems of safety for faculty, staff, and students are at all CSUs. Canton knows proof is in doing and action is needed.
“We can’t afford anymore deaths at Humboldt, or any CSU’s,” Canton said.
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Congressional Election Results 2018
Election result updates for the House of Representatives and Senate
This post was last updated on Tue. Nov. 6 at 11:43 pm.
28 seats not called.
5 seats not called.
2 Independent Winners: Bernie Sanders in Vermont
Angus King in Maine
Information being sourced from the New York Times, CNN and NPR.
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Midterm 2018: Races to Watch
Election Day is upon us, here are some of the important measures on the ballot
Today is Election Day for the Midterm 2018 session. A number of measures are up for vote locally but two of them have been hotly debated.
Measure K, if passed, would prohibit local law enforcement from cooperating with any federal immigration officials or immigration detainers. The measure would also protect undocumented residents from being arrested at their home between the hours of 12 a.m. to 8 a.m., from being arrested near a school, hospital or other medical facilities.
Measure M, if voted down, would allow the City of Arcata to remove the McKinley statue in the Arcata Plaza. The statue has been at the center of a number of debates at City Council meetings, and nationwide, and was even recently vandalized.
On the ballot for the statewide ballot are a number of propositions. California propositions one, two, three, and four all deal with the issuing of bond money for a variety of projects. These include housing for veterans, the homeless, water-related infrastructure and children’s hospitals.
The most popular propositions are six, seven, and 10. Propositions six deals with repealing the 2017 fuel tax, and has recently brought Governor Jerry Brown out to campaign for keeping the tax in place. Proposition seven would allow Californians to do away with daylight saving time. Proposition 10 would allow local governments to implement rent control as they see fit. Proposition 10 has been wavering in its popularity as of recently with a defeat looking like quite the possibility.
According to realclearpolitics.com there are 38 congressional seat races that are labeled as “toss up.” They have gathered polling data from the New York Times, Siena College and University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies polls and offer the results on their web page. Some of the “toss up” races are in California.
Six of the closest congressional races to watch in California will be Districts 10, 25, 39, 45, 48, 49 and 50. The 50th district is currently represented by Duncan Hunter. Hunter was recently indicted on a number of charges including conspiracy and the mishandling of campaign funds. The polls have Hunter up three points, but with the indictments weighing heavy on the incumbent’s conscious and the voters’ minds, his future is up in the air.
Some of the candidates to pay attention to across the nation will be Karen Handle, Steve King, Greg Gianforte, Peter King, and Dave Brat. All of these candidates are Republicans running in areas where Trump won the 2016 presidential election, but are polling at unusually low numbers for incumbent candidates.
Handle beat John Ossoff in a closely watched special election in June 2017, and is running in Georgia where early voter turnout is soaring. Steve King of Iowa has recently lost funding from a number of big name donors. Gianforte infamously body slammed a reporter and Dave Brat was a tea party insurgent who took down a long standing incumbent in 2014.
Other races to pay close attention to are the Senate race in Texas between Beto O’Rourke and Ted Cruz, the Florida governor race between Ron DeSantis and Andrew Gillum, and the Georgia governor race between Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams. If Abrams wins the governor race, she will be the nation’s first black female governor.
Look for local live coverage on our Twitter and Instagram feed @hsulumberjack
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Final fall for football
Jacks fall short of winning last home game ever
The Humboldt State Lumberjacks lost the overtime coin flip and started with the ball, with pressure to make it to the end zone. The offense stalled, and third string senior quarterback Brenden Davis was flagged for intentional grounding. The 15-yard penalty and loss of down forced senior kicker Jose “Pepe” Morales to attempt a 37-yard-kick. He missed the crucial overtime kick.
Possession flipped and Azusa Pacific ran eight plays for 29 yards setting up their kicker Jacob Hall for the game-winning 13-yard field goal.
Quarterback Brenden Davis finished with 68 yards and completed 60 percent of his passes. Three quarterbacks handled snaps after starter Joey Sweeney left the game with a potential head injury.
“Senior year, last game at the Redwood Bowl, I got an opportunity and I was ready,” Davis said. “We didn’t get the win. Mistakes were made but the effort was there on every play and I believe we closed this thing out right.”
The loss pushed the lumberjacks to 1-8 overall and 1-6 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
The opening drive was quickly halted when Azusa Pacific intercepted Sweeney’s pass down the sideline. Azusa led a 10 play, 43-yard march into the end zone. The four minute drive was capped off by a three-yard run by Azusa running back Aaron Baltazar.
The Jacks were shut out in the first quarter but came alive in the second, finding the end zone twice. Head coach Damaro Wheeler decided to go for it on 4th and goal, trusting the offense.
Quarterback Sweeney read the defense and handed the ball off to senior running back Tyree Marzetta who jumped into the end zone. The Jacks first touchdown drive lasted 17 plays with an exciting fourth down finish. Marzetta carried the ball a season-high 24 times and has had four touchdowns in the last three games.
“When there was anything available in the run game I tried to do my part and contribute,” Marzetta said. “Shoutout to our offense, the offensive line, receivers, and our third string quarterback Brenden Davis. His back was against the wall and he didn’t fold.”
Sweeney was thrown to the turf by two Azusa Pacific defenders in the second quarter on a 3rd down play and left with an apparent head injury. Second string quarterback Andrew Tingstad replaced Sweeney and found the end zone from 8 eight yards out on a designed quarterback keep with 45 seconds left in the half.
Tingstad was also injured on a two-yard run play in the third quarter and did not return to the field.
Coach Wheeler thought the injuries were unfortunate but believed in the preparation of the team through practices and film, especially for his quarterbacks.
“Next man up,” Wheeler said. “He [Brenden Davis] wasn’t nervous and the moment wasn’t too big for him, [going forward] we have to game plan for him.”
The second half was all defense as both teams did not allow the other to run into the end zone. The Jacks defense was led by linebacker Demetrick Watts, who recorded a team-high 13 tackles. On a fourth down play with 6:37 left, Watts laid a hit on the Azusa Pacific running back and stopped their drive, giving the ball back to Humboldt’s offense.
Two other linebackers, Moses Finau and Connor Cox, both dished out big hits and brought down Azusa Pacific’s quarterback Tyrone Williams Jr. The play of the day was made in the secondary, when redshirt sophomore safety Adam Herrera intercepted WIlliams Jr. and took it back 32 yards into Azusa’s territory to give the Jacks a shot to win..
“I listened to coach,” Herrera said. “He said if the dig comes, to look for the post and the quarterback threw it straight to me. I was taking it to the crib and nowhere but the crib. I wanted to hit that open field.”
The Jacks didn’t come away with a victory but the fans cheered and gave a standing ovation to HSU’s last football team. After the game, quarterback Brenden Davis and running back Tyree Marzetta talked about how much the team meant to them and how honored they felt to have a community that never failed to come out and support.
“It’s a real home field advantage out here, we couldn’t ask for a better fan base,” Davis said.
“It’s emotional for me. I’ve never been a part of a team like this. I’m grateful to be a Lumberjack,” Marzetta said. “It’s sad it’s over because I love this place and I appreciate Humboldt for all it is.”
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HSU mourns the loss of student lost at sea
Coast Guard suspends search for Humboldt State student lost at sea
On Oct. 29 Humboldt State freshman Keymaan Stringer from Los Angeles, was swept away by a sneaker wave around 4:30 p.m. at the North Jetty in Eureka. Stringer has not been found.
The U.S. Coast Guard and a variety of other first responders were notified of the incident around 4:32 p.m. on Oct. 29 and then searched for Stringer. According to the Coast Guard News’ release the search for Stringer was suspended around 9:50 a.m. on Oct. 30.
HSU student Keymaan Stringer was seen dancing and singing on the quad during the HSU’s fall preview on Oct. 26. | Photo by Dajonea Robinson “The Coast Guard and partner agencies searched approximately 160 square-nautical miles for 16 hours in a continuous effort to locate the man.”
Singer’s family has created a Go Fund Me campaign for the search and recovery of Stringer in response to the U.S. Coast Guard suspended search.
Screenshot from Barbie Nichelle’s go fund me page. For those in need of support Humboldt State University Counseling & Psychological Services at 707.826.3236 As for staff and faculty who may need support there’s the Employee Assistance Program at 707.443.7358.
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Art behind bars
Local artist brings rehabilitation programs of creativity to Pelican Bay
Julie McNiel began her career teaching drawing classes at College of the Redwoods. Today, she has a new set of students she instructs in visual arts, inmates at Pelican Bay State Prison in California.
McNiel said she learned about local artists teaching inmates at Pelican Bay in 2003 and thought it was an amazing idea. That idea followed her for a decade.
In 2014, she was referred to the William James Association by her colleague from the College of the Redwoods’ art department. She was offered an artist’s contract to teach at Pelican Bay.
“I look at the prison in a completely different way now,” McNiel said.
McNiel is now the leading artist for the Arts in Corrections program. As lead artist, she acts as the liaison between the artists, the prison, and the William James Association, making sure there is communication between them.
“Creativity is everywhere, especially in prison,” McNiel said. “This program allows opportunity for those on the inside.”
The William James Association started the Arts in Corrections program in 1977 in with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations and the California Arts Council. The program is now in all 35 California prisons.
According to their website, their philosophy behind creating the art program is “based (on) the belief that participation in the artistic process significantly affects a person’s self-esteem and general outlook on the world.”
Visual arts teacher Julie McNiel and two of her students show off their art at Pelican Bay State Prison in California. | Photo by Peter Merts (Courtesy of Julie McNiel) “Going through art classes, they’re more likely to attend other programs like GED and enroll in college,” McNiel said.
McNiel said the program lost all its funding because of the 2008 budget crisis. A pilot program was proposed in 2014 and has been expanding ever since.
McNiel said when the art program started, there were only three artists teaching one workshop. McNiel said there are now art classes every day of the week.
Including McNiel, there are five contracted artists: Janessa Johnsrude and Zuzka Sabata with Dell’Arte International, Cecelia Holland who teaches creative writing, and Dale Morgan who teaches guitar.
“There has been an overwhelming experience of people saying these programs are very much needed,” McNiel said,
The co-founder of the Dell’Arte Prison Project, Janessa Johnsrude, leads a physical theater ensemble at Pelican Bay. She said they teach awareness to body, availability to change and adaptation, and responsiveness in present moment.
Johnsrude said the prison environment isn’t conducive to be open with emotions, thoughts and feelings, but bringing in theater gives an outlet for performing.
“If you give them a chance to grow they will,” Johnsrude said.
Johnsrude teaches five different classes twice a week. In the two and half years she has been at Pelican Bay, she said she has seen significant changes in her students, and by participating, they are investing in something positive.
“The data available for those participating in arts programs shows it reduces recidivism,” Johnsrude said.
Johnsrude said the students come to escape the humdrum of incarceration, and by doing that, they discover something unexpected in the theater program. In her classes, students work on writing components, monologues, actor training, course work in play and theatrical form in ensemble.
“The main goal is offer a space for people in Pelican Bay to express themselves,” Johnsrude said.
Dell’Arte Prison Project’s other co-founder, Zuzka Sabata, said the Arts in Corrections program became the ideal model after choosing a selection of professionals and creating a positive impact. She said the participation helps people cope with being incarcerated and leads to having less behavior problems while in the system.
“The arts program has become the model exemplified across the country,” Sabata said.
Sabata said the challenges of the program is facilitating support within the prison for rehabilitation. It isn’t a clear system with new programs to help the staff organize themselves. Sometimes staff may be willing to facilitate, but their superiors may not be.
She also said there are negative responses from the community that reflect the ignorance of the positive impact the program brings due to social prejudices. Sabata said too many people have the idea that a mistake makes someone permanently a bad person, and that isn’t the case.
“If we don’t acknowledge the stigmas attached to incarcerated individuals it is more challenging to shift from incarceration to a free person,” Sabata said.
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From gang culture to inmate advocate
2018 Distinguished Alumni Visits HSU
Eliberto “Eddie” Ramos barely escaped the street-gang violence of his east Los Angeles neighborhood only to return and work in the criminal justice system.
Ramos, a psychiatric social worker for Los Angeles County, earned his BA in sociology at Humboldt State University in 1999. Ramos went on to earn his Master’s in Social Work from the University of Southern California.
On Nov. 1 Ramos was presented the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award at HSU. He later gave a presentation on his journey from growing up in the gang culture to becoming an advocate for inmates with mental health and substance abuse issues.
“For me it’s a great experience seeing the two sides of where I came from,” Ramos said. “And now I’m working with the law in order to help the system.”
Ramos grew up in East LA and participated in the gang culture at an early age. He said the culture had been around for 60 years by the time he was born and his whole family was involved. Ramos said it’s hard to wake-up and leave it behind when everyone around you is living it.
“At that age you’ve already lost so many people you ask yourself ‘whats left for me’,” Ramos said.
Ramos caught a break from the street violence and crime when a counselor suggested he go to Pyles Boys Camp at the age of 14. The camp, which is nestled among the redwoods in Sequoia National Park, is a program to motivate at-risk or disadvantaged youth. Ramos credits the camp as paving the way for him attending HSU.
“At the boys camp I had a place to learn how to get along with other people,” Ramos said.
Retired sociology professor, Jerry Krause, said he had Ramos as a teacher’s assistant in his prison and society class. The field experience for the class was to travel to Pelican Bay State Prison. Krause said he had Ramos lecture the class sometimes because he could vividly describe the environment that inmates would be coming from.
“He was so attentive and would always sit in the front row,” Krause said. “You could see his eyes light up.”
Retired HSU sociology professors, Jerry Krause and Betsy Watson, pose with Eliberto “Eddie” Ramos after he was presented the 2018 Disinguished Alumni Award on Nov. 4. Ramos escaped the gang culture and now works in criminal justice in LA county. | Photo by Tony Wallin Krause said the key in changing life trajectories is with peer relationships. He said it takes people like Ramos to help people with similar situations and backgrounds. Krause said what helps is he has noticed more students are coming from urban areas to Humboldt and studying behavioral science.
“Since I have retired it has become much more diverse in Humboldt,” Krause said.
Retired sociology professor, Betsy Watson, was the department chair of the sociology program when Ramos was a student. She had Ramos in a couple of classes and said he had great intuition and could read people very well. She first noticed him when she thought she saw two “gang bangers” walking pass her, only to find out they were students and one was Ramos.
“I tried to convince him he was as smart as he was,” Watson said.
Watson said the department was most relieved when Ramos would return back for the fall semester. They were relieved he was alive. She said they knew what kind of environment he was returning back to and couldn’t imagine what the parents were having to go through in the neighborhood. Watson said since Ramos was a student at HSU a lot more students have been enrolling with backgrounds where they are exposed to danger. She said the diversity is important.
“Once you study the culture of someone else you learn your culture so much more,” Watson said.
HSU alumni, Eliberto “Eddie” Ramos, gives a presentation on his journey from gang culture to being an inmate advocate on Nov 1. | Photo by Tony Wallin Ramos said the future of rehabilitation lies in therapeutic programs. He said the most successful are peer support programs where people can connect with each other because of shared similar experiences and backgrounds.
Ramos works on alternative sentencing and rehabilitation plans for adult offenders. He said he works as the bridge between the courts, the community, and the clients within the Los Angeles criminal justice system.
“Find your purpose,” Ramos said. “It may take 10 or 20 years to find but it’s out there.”
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Voter van comes to the rescue
The first ever voter van at HSU will be running on Nov. 6.
During the Nov. 6 midterm elections there will be a free “voter van” for HSU students running all day long.
This van will offer free rides from HSU Library Circle to the Humboldt County Offices of Elections in Eureka and back to HSU. Vans are scheduled to leave on the hour from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will be coming back from the elections office every hour starting at 11:30 a.m.
HSU student, Nathaniel McGuigan is the regional Mecha co-chair of Northern California. McGuigan said that both Mecha and the North Coast People’s Alliance lent a hand to set the voter van in motion.
“Each organization came up with individual ideas,” McGuigan said. “Mecha [developed] the student side and North Coast People’s Alliance developed it on the community side to get people to vote and register to vote [conditionally].”
The voter van idea came about from the California state law that now allows voters to register the same day as elections, known as conditional voting. According to the California Secretary of State’s website:
“Conditional Voter Registration is a new safety net for Californians who missed the Oct. 22 deadline to register to vote or update their voter registration information for the Nov. 6, General Election.”
There’s only one office in Humboldt County that offers conditional voting. That’s at the Humboldt County Offices of Elections in Eureka. McGuigan said that the voter van is aimed for students who have not registered but want to register and vote on the same day.
“This election cycle it is available for students but in other election seasons it will be available for everyone else,” McGuigan said. “This is currently a trial run.”
Carrie Peyton-Dahlberg is the vice chair of the steering committee for the North Coast People’s Alliance and had a big part in putting this together.
“We’re hoping to increase voter participation and get as many people as possible to get to the county elections office to vote,” Peyton-Dahlberg said. “We want to help people to vote because it’s important.”
McGuigan said that Mecha wants to help students get their voices heard. He said that he knows everyone does not have access to a vehicle which is essential for students whose polling place is not on campus.
“We wanted to not only provide a voice but a mechanism that students can use to exercise their voice,” McGuigan said. “Voting is just one step in the political process in creating change, it is something that everyone can participate in no matter your political stance.”
For more information please visit:
https://ballotpedia.org/Voting_in_California
https://humboldtgov.org/2343/Conditional-Voting
https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voter-registration/conditional-voter-reg/
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A brave voice against bullies
A mother and daughter take action against racist bullies in middle school
While many sixth graders went to soccer practice or hung out with their friends, Sadie Shelmire, a local African American sixth grader from Sunnybrae Middle School, educated people on her personal experience with racism in school.
“Ever since I moved to Arcata, I have been stared at,” Shelmire said. “I could be walking down the street with my dad and a group of girls will just walk by staring.”
Microaggressions like this are exactly why Shelmire and her mother, Director of Student Life and Affairs at Humboldt State Tanza Triggs, held a conference on Oct. 29 entitled “Loving the Skin I am in: My Story.”
The conference was framed as a talk show. Triggs asked questions to Shelmire about her experiences, and then after the floor would be open to the audience’s questions.
Triggs said that while she came up with the idea for the event, her daughter’s experiences as well as growth and maturity while dealing with racist bullies inspired her.
“I wanted to show her that I was proud of her because I saw over the course of the six years how she changed personally,” Triggs said.
Shelmire feels she has gone through a lot over the course of those six years. She moved from a town in Missouri, where the majority of the community is African American, to Humboldt County where the majority are white.
“I am not sad or angry,” Shelmire said about the predominantly white community. “But I am a little uncomfortable.”
Humboldt’s predominately white community is reflected in its education systems. This is something that both Triggs and Shelmire said is detrimental to the experience of African American and minority students.
“There wasn’t any African American teachers,” Shelmire said. “I couldn’t really go to someone who had the same struggles as me growing up.”
These struggles were mostly in the form of racist comments by bullies from Shelmire’s school.
Triggs said people have called Shelmire poop, n*****, and other derogatory names. These problems stem from the student’s homes and many parents need to be held responsible when it comes to admitting to these problems.
“Not only do they get (influences) from YouTube but they are also getting it from their parents,” Shelmire said.
Triggs and Shelmire said students need to be the facilitators of understanding race and its history. Race education should be ran like sexual education or food programs. They believe schools should provide funds to teach children deprived of an education or experience with minorities or children of a different ethnicity.
“We provide children with food because we know they might not get it at home,” Triggs said. “So why not address this problem too?”
Shelmire’s discomforts and experiences revolve around how her teachers don’t discipline the student bullies.
“They then would send us to the principals office, and then they had to apologize and say what they did wrong,” Shelmire said.
Shelmire said that this does not address the problem because the student who was verbally assaulted has to sit in class with their bully.
“After someone just (verbally) racially assaulted you, would you really want to go back to class with them,” Shelmire said. “Especially if kids around you heard it and would stare after.”
Shelmire inspired many to share their story, including Trinity, a 13-year-old African American girl from the Trinity County area, who was racially bullied to the point of being homeschooled by her mother Judy. Trinity shared similar concerns as Shelmire in regards to how teachers have been insensitive or ineffective when dealing with this type of bullying.
“They don’t really do anything ever,” Trinity said. “The kid is forced to apologize but usually you know it’s not genuine and they’re not even sent to detention.”
Trinity also said this mistreatment of the situation creates distrust between the student being bullied and the teacher.
To Shelmire and Triggs, this problem should not be internalized by the children who are bullied, but be dealt with by the institutions and parents who placate these racist bullies.
“When you go to a teacher and they don’t handle (racially charged bullying) well and it keeps happening,” Trinity said. “You will not go to the teacher and you just have to deal with it yourself.”
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Diversity on the Plaza
Diversity Day aims to create dialogue of race between HSU Cultural Centers and Arcata locals
Arcata’s typical Saturday morning farmer’s market looked more cultured than usual on Oct. 27 during Diversity Day, an event hosted by We Are Your Community and The Campus and Community Dialogue on Race.
Janaee Sykes, the lead student associate for the African American Center for Academic Excellence was tabling in Arcata plaza to reach out to the community.
Sykes talked to the people of Arcata and said she had some interesting conversations with the locals.
“You never know what people can take away from a three to five minute conversation,” Sykes said.
Sykes represented one of the many multicultural organizations invited by We Are Your Community, a continuing project created by Amy Mathieson last year for her master’s degree in social work.
Mathieson said she created Diversity Day to get multicultural clubs from Humboldt State to “build bridges with the community outside of campus.”
Mathieson said she wants to create dialogue with people outside of HSU so that they are more accepting of the different cultures the school brings.
Some of the multicultural organizations in attendance were the Latinx and African American Centers for Academic Excellence, the Black Student Union, the Global Connection Club and the People of Color Group from Outer Space Arcata.
The Global Connection Club performed a dance for the Arcata community.
Parents and children read from the “Book Tree,” where books dangled from a tree like floating fruits.
“All of the books are from different cultures, and there are free books for kids to take,” Mathieson said.
(Photo by Michael Weber) Father Steve Spain is reading a book to his son Oliver Spain, age 4, in Arcata Plaza on Oct. 27. The “Book Tree” was prepared by We Are Your Community for kids and parents to read culturally diverse books. People also interacted with “The Umbrellas of Understanding,” a semi-private place to have a free conversation.
(Photo by Michael Weber) Two people have a private conversation under the “Umbrellas of Understanding” in Arcata plaza on Oct 27. Volunteer for Sanctuary Campaign Brenda Dirks-Perez attended Diversity Day to promote Measure K. Measure K is a local ballot measure that promotes changing Humboldt County into a sanctuary county.
Dirks-Perez said the farmer’s market doesn’t normally allow political campaigns to set up at Arcata plaza, but an exception was made for them on Diversity Day. Dirks-Perez said she is grateful that Mathieson could mediate with the North Coast Grower’s Association.
(Photo by Michael Weber) From left to right: Brenda Dirks-Perez and Lisa Pelletier for the measure K sanctuary campaign are tabling in Arcata Plaza on Oct. 27. They were invited to Diversity Day as an exception to the farmer’s market rules that ban political activism. Dirks-Perez’s husband Willie Dirks said political freedom of speech is important for “making a law protecting diversity in the community.”
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Better safe than sorry
Humboldt State University holds its Second Annual Safety Week
This week marks the second annual Safety Week held on the Humboldt State University Campus.
Put on by the Risk Management and Safety Services at HSU, this week is to further inform and engage students about safety both on and off campus. Safety Week’s kick off date starts Oct. 29 through Nov. 2.
This year’s safety week will include a total of eight events held throughout the HSU campus. Prior to this year’s safety week there were only seven events listed. This year, two new events are offered to students: concussion and traumatic brain injury, along with a stress management seminar.
Kimberley Comet, Director of Risk Management and Safety Services at HSU hopes to obtain more student participation than last year’s Safety Week.
“Last year’s Safety week was impactful, but did not get enough participation,” Comet said. “With the addition of these two new events, we hope to get students further educated and interested with on and off campus safety.”
The concussion and traumatic brain injury presentation will highlight signs and symptoms of concussions, along with best practices for recovery and return to activity. There’s also a discussion of short and long-term consequences of mismanaging concussions. The stress management seminar will discuss sources of stress, stress responses, and have the chance to practice stress management tools.
In addition to the two new events added, disaster preparedness for the Disaster Service Worker, fire safety and portable extinguisher use, biomechanics, bloodborne pathogens training, home hazards, disaster preparedness 101, and active shooter events will be available for students to attend.
Before attending the week’s events, students must register prior to attending the event to reserve seating.
For every student that attends an event, a punch card will be provided and stamped. Those who gets their punch card stamped three times will enter a raffle and have the chance to win an emergency safety kit.
For more information go to: training.humboldt.edu or call 707-826-5711.
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1.4 million available to close equity gap
Graduation initiative gives students a choice on how money will be spent
Humboldt State University’s Student Success Alliance is sitting on base funding of $1.4 million from the Graduation Initiative 2025. Created by the California State University, G.I. 2025’s purpose is to increase graduation rates in the CSU system.
On Oct. 25, HSU Associated Students held a forum asking for student’s input on how the $1.4 million should be spent.
AS graduate representative Maddie Halloran said she attended the forum to give a better understanding on what the G.I. 2025 is.
“The GI 2025 is distributed and allocated to 23 CSU’s,” Halloran said. “The money can be used for many things, like to fund programs here at HSU.”
The forum began with a presentation of what the G.I. 2025 was, and ended with a discussion from students and faculty deciding what the remaining $1.4 million will be used on.
There were six categories the money can be distributed toward: academic preparation, enrollment management, student engagement and well-being, financial support, data-driven decision making and academic barriers.
AS president Jazmin Sandoval, spoke with students and faculty during the discussion panel to ask which aspect should be funded.
“Personally I’m more passionate in funding ‘Student Engagement and Well-Being,’” Sandoval said. “I think it’s important for students to be more outgoing especially for an isolated area like Humboldt. It’s a basic need.”
During the discussion panel of the forum, many ideas were presented for where the $1.4 million should be spent. One of which was informing students of what programs are available for students, as students don’t know that there are programs for students interests.
HSU student Nico Smith V was very pleased with the discussion panel.
“Having this out reach is needed,” Smith said. “There should be a bigger turnout for something like this, but this panel is a step of the right direction.”
According to the Humboldt Student Success Plan created in 2016, CSU’s want to increase the amount of graduation by 2025. With six year graduation rates increasing by 56 percent, four-year graduation rates increasing by 30 percent, two-year transfer student graduation rates increasing by 38 percent , and four-year transfer student graduation rates increasing by 79 percent.
HSU has until Nov. 15 to inform the CSU board of trustees on how they will spent G.I. 2025 money and how they’ll spend it in the future.
Lisa Castellino, Associate Vice President of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, presented data showing that HSU is on the right track of increasing the graduation rate each year. However she points out that there is still an issue of closing the ‘equity gap.’
“It’s not acceptable that students coming from lower income homes have a lower chance in graduating than those coming from higher income homes,” Casellino said.
This issue means a lot to Sandoval.
“The CSU’s are accepting more diverse students but those students are not graduating,” Sandoval said. “This is a problem that needs to be fixed.”
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Sheriff discusses Measure K
Centro Del Pueblo holds forum between Sheriff and community
Humboldt County’s Sheriff William Honsal remained the only one who openly opposed Measure K after leading advocates held an open forum to discuss immigration and public safety.
“If you pass Measure K it will give a false sense of security,” Honsal said.
Elizabeth Phillips of Centro Del Pueblo, a non-profit organization that first proposed the idea of a sanctuary measure for Humboldt County, mediated the forum of five panelists on Oct. 24.
Some of the panelists included the author of Measure K, Erik Kirk, as well as Humboldt State University students Anayeli Auza and Monica Garcia. The community audience and panelists support the ballot measure, with the exception of Honsal.
“There’s a large number of community members who need safety,” Phillips said. “People need sanctuary to live.”
Phillips said the forum with Honsal was needed because the media was publishing misleading information about Measure K. She said California’s state sanctuary law, SB 54, and Measure K are portrayed as the same in the media.
The County Administrations Office reported false information involving costs of Measure K and The Times Standard has since had to make corrections on their misreporting of Measure K.
Phillips said in the heart of true political debate and policy change, they wanted community members to be able to ask the sheriff questions.
“We thought an open forum would be great way to bridge communication,” Phillips said.
Throughout the forum Honsal said Measure K would protect violent criminals and restrict the level of security.
However Kirk, the lawyer who wrote the measure, said that nowhere in the writing does it prevent law enforcement from arresting criminals.
Kirk said the measure would actually encourage the undocumented community to reach out to law enforcement involving crimes committed. Kirk said Measure K isn’t just about immigration policy, its about values.
“Immigration Laws are basically a form of Jim Crow laws,” Kirk said.
Kirk said if passed, Measure K will be the first immigration measure passed by ballot and not legislation. Kirk said the measure is to keep criminal law enforcement separate from immigration. He said being an immigrant doesn’t make you a criminal and the measure will help people on a local level. He said the more that sanctuary measures pass, the more federal government will pay attention to them. Kirk said Humboldt County could be the first of many for passing such a historical measure.
“We want continuity,” Kirk said. “Measure K will build trust.”
Honsal said the Sheriff’s department doesn’t communicate with anybody but violent felons when involving undocumented citizens and they don’t communicate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement upfront. He then contradicted his statement by saying certain situations are reserved for working with ICE agents such as drug trafficking.
Kirk argued if the crime involves drugs then why doesn’t the sheriff work with the DEA instead of calling ICE. Kirk said if a citizen is arrested and serves their time they return home but for the same crime an undocumented citizen will get an extra punishment from ICE. Kirk said the sheriff is not a judge or jury.
“Deportation is not a solution, just a punishment,” Kirk said.
Scholars Without Borders student peer mentor Christina Molina Ceja said coming from a family of immigrants you see this issue differently. She said Honsal’s comments didn’t seem genuine and appeared scripted.
Ceja said if he had more engagement with the community he could have created a healthier space for dialogue. Despite the sheriff’s decision to oppose Measure K, Ceja said she has witnessed an increase of support for Measure K.
“This is a big topic and a lot more people are for it compared to a month ago,” Ceja said.
Phillips said we shouldn’t wait until people are half-decimated to bring policy change. The 6,000 signatures needed to get Measure K on the ballot has greatly increased in support. Phillips said policy comes with little steps where people want change and feelings of the community are all out in the open.
“We need heart, we need soul,” Phillips said. “That is what will change America for the better.”
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An attempt at rent control
Proposition 10 rally held near Humboldt Property Management
Humboldt State alumna and chairman of the Green Party Kelsey Reedy is an unexpected candidate for someone affected by homelessness. She is one of many in Humboldt county facing this prevailing issue.
“I worked full-time and couldn’t afford housing,” Reedy said. “Even when I was a student I had to live in McKinleyville or Eureka because I couldn’t afford housing in Arcata.”
Reedy works full time for multiple non-profits in the Humboldt area and is a part of the many community members and students affected by high rental prices. Reedy said those who have housing now might be affected by any extra bill or cost, which can undermine the situation and result in losing housing altogether.
“I was just barely making rent before,” Reedy said. “So now that I had another bill I couldn’t afford rent anymore.”
On Oct. 24 the Green Party and Humboldt chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation held a rally near the Humboldt Property Management building in support of Proposition 10.
Prop 10 would repeal the contra hawkins act and allow for future rent control to be voted on. Eric Rydberg, a local community advocate, participates in a rally to gain support for Prop 10 in Arcata on Oct 23 2018. | Photo by Tony Wallin Prop 10 is a California proposition that will allow county boards to regulate and implement rent control. This is a direct challenge to the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995.
Although there are many complicated stipulations within the law, one of the main supporting arguments of the Costa-Hawkins act was that it would increase the incentives for developers to build more housing, thus flooding the housing market. This, in theory, was supposed to make renting cheaper as there would be more competition.
Local community advocate and candidate for McKinleyville’s Community Services District Board of Directors Eric Rydberg, feels that is simply not true.
“Since (the passing of Costa Hawkins Act) we have seen that California’s housing problems can be sourced to it,” Rydberg said.
Rydberg said the Costa-Hawkins Act was billed by Democrat and Republican politicians as something that it was not.
“They sold it as something that will allow us to build more (affordable) housing,” Rydberg said. “We can see they are not building more low income housing and are building more luxury condos and apartments.”
Rydberg explained how he thought that gentrification compounded with income inequality has made situations in different counties across the state similar in regard to the rental housing crisis. Rydberg says this is why we need to have local counties regulate the tenant and rental market crises.
“What this is doing is just giving municipal governments the opportunity to take a look at it and make decision for themselves (the community),” Rydberg said.
Many advocating for yes on Prop 10 say it is a way to facilitate a conversation between landlords and tenants to come to the best understanding on what to do about rent control.
Roger Tuan, an HSU student and local community advocate for yes on Prop 10, said this is a way of keeping what many consider the characteristics of Humboldt within the community.
“Part of the charm of this place is that its is not Portland, Seattle or San Diego,” Tuan said. “We have our own unique characteristics here.”
Tuan said this comes from the cohabitation of students, landlords, community members and small time businesses. He said he fears that gentrification and over priced rental markets will chip away at Humboldt and Arcata’s community and supposed charm.
“They’re here as landlords but also here as part of the community and hopefully there is something about this community that they love and think is worth protecting,” Tuan said.
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Cultural appropriation is not culture appreciation
Student continues project to educate others on cultural appropriation
Scattered throughout Humboldt State University are signs of student activist holding a simple message: My culture is not your costume.
There are 17 signs total, mostly staked throughout the library and quad areas. Each one features a number of student activists and leaders addressing costumes and other offensive representation of their cultures.The project is the brainchild of Deema Hindawi, a junior majoring in Criminology and Justice studies. Hindawi adopted the idea from a project started at Ohio State University. Last year the Multicultural Center printed out the OSU flyers and spread them throughout HSU, but this year Hindawi and the MCC decided to use students from HSU.
“We were trying to get student leaders because these are people that you see a lot,” Hindawi said. “You see their faces a lot, you see them doing different actions.”
The flyers are staked with the permission of the university. Hindawi and the MCC felt that the message was important because of the unrealistic representations featured in caricaturized costumes.
“You are taking someone’s culture and you are just twisting it in any way you want,” Hindawi said. “You are not taking into account what it actually is. You’re just taking what you think is cool and twisting it. You are simplifying something that is actually a lived life.”
Last year over half of the signs were missing when Hindawi went to retrieve them at the end of the event. Some of the signs this year have turned up missing, as well as one that was vandalized.
“Facilities is supposed to send an email to clubs or us, saying that they took them down, but we haven’t heard anything,” Hindawi said. “We had one poster that within a day of being put up, it was vandalized. They took the poster off the stake and they wrote on it.”
The sign was by the rock art installation at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the art quad.
The message written on the sign was incoherent: “Which culture this? What is the point? Stay opened mind (sic).”
This vandalism and the missing signs have not dampened Hindawi’s spirits. She plans to host a discussion alongside MCC Coordinator Tania Cubas on Monday Oct. 29 from 11 a.m. -12 p.m. in the Goodwin Forum in Nelson Hall.
The discussion will focus on cultural appropriation versus cultural appreciation. Hindawi said the main difference between the two is understanding the context in which certain dress ware is used and to use it with respect of that culture’s values.
“Cultural appropriation is when you take a culture and you make it what you want. You dress the way you want, you act the way you want within that that culture. You don’t really know what is going on, you are just taking it.”
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Seismic Retrofitting a Seismic Pain
The Humboldt State Library and Theatre Arts building are undergoing a seismic retrofit starting from fall 2018 to summer 2019. The retrofit is meant to strengthen the steel and concrete structures.
Effective Monday Oct. 15 many popular roads surrounding the Theatre arts building and the library are now closed for construction. Humboldt State students share their thoughts on the library and Theatre Arts seismic retrofit detour.
For more information please visit https://facilitymgmt.humboldt.edu/capital-projects
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Week of Remembering Josiah
Charmaine Lawson travels to CSU campuses with SQE and CFA
It has been 18 months since the death of Humboldt State University student David Josiah Lawson. His murderer still walks free and case remains open.
Charmaine Lawson, Josiah Lawson’s mother, spoke at Sacramento State on Oct. 15 on a panel with Justice for Josiah committee member Jill Larrabee, and Courtney Wagner, the director and editor of “Unsolved Hate,” a documentary of Josiah Lawson’s murder.
Sacramento State was one of many campus stops for Charmaine Lawson during “Week of Action,” an event put together by Students for Quality Education to remember Josiah and discuss safety and the CSU’s accountability of Josiah Lawson’s murder.
Twenty-one of the 23 California State University campuses participated in “Week of Action.” Lawson was invited to CSU San Francisco, Sacramento, Pomona and Fullerton.
“I never thought I’d be sitting here right now,” Charmaine Lawson said, “We have gotten so much attention because of students.”
Charmaine Lawson has also gained support of the California Faculty Administration. Charmaine Lawson said CFA has been amazing in the effort to hold the CSU accountable for Josiah Lawson’s murder and to better protect students.
Charmaine Lawson (center) said she has been greatly supported by students and CFA in trying to hold CSU accountable for the murder of her son, David Josiah Lawson, who was a HSU student. Charmaine was in Sacramento on Oct. 18, 2018 and has travelled to four other campuses during Weeek of Action. | Photo by Tony Wallin Charmaine Lawson said that the CFA is helping by making postcards for people to sign, asking Humboldt County DA Maggie Fleming to excuse herself from the case.
“CFA has been instrumental in their action plan and their resources,” Charmaine Lawson said.
Charmaine Lawson told the crowd of CSU faculty, students and parents that she has had resistance from city officials, law enforcement and HSU administration since the beginning of the case.
For months, when the case was being first investigated, Charmaine Lawson said Lt. Todd Dokweiler told her she could only speak with police chief Tom Chapman. Charmaine Lawson said that Chapman was telling her false information and has since resigned from the police force.
“Chapman lied by saying San Jose and Eureka were helping with the case, but none of that was true,” Charmaine Lawson said.
Charmaine Lawson said Arcata City Manager Karen Diemer, defended Chapman when she confronted her about Chapman’s lies.
“She defended the presence of the city instead of exposing the city for what it really stands for,” Charmaine Lawson said. She said Diemer needs to go next.
When she tried to contact HSU President Lisa Rossbacher about her son’s murder, Charmaine Lawson said she never got a response. She said she called her twice and has yet to get a call back. Rossbacher’s resignation as HSU’s president is effective June 30, 2019.
“Lisa Rossbacher hasn’t even called me to offer her condolences,” Charmaine Lawson said.
Jill Larrabee, Justice for Josiah committee member, Margarita Berta-Avila, CFA president at Sac State, Charmaine Lawson, mother of Josiah Lawson, and Raul Tadle, faculty at Sacramento State University on Oct. 18. | Photo by Tony Wallin Sacramento State CFA president Margarita Berta-Avila said one of the problems with the CSU system is recruiting potential students of color without informing them all the details of their possible future environment. The details that aren’t shared include the amount of students of color admitted and how isolated the area may be. Berta-Avila said there should be institutional policy guaranteeing new students will graduate and be safe.
“It shouldn’t be when someone is killed that change occurs,” Berta-Avila said.
Berta-Avila said the CFA got involved when Charmaine Lawson met with CSU Chancellor Timothy White. Berta-Avila said that when Charmaine Lawson stood in front of CSU administration to speak of her son’s murder, a police officer walked behind her and put his hand on his gun. Berta-Avila said that was the moment when CFA had to pursue action.
“The violation doesn’t stop — it continues off campus,” Berta-Avila said.
Jorge Quintana, a leader of Students for Quality Education at Sacramento State, said there is a difference between recruiting and having available space. Quintana said CSUs don’t hold safe spaces for students of color. Quintana said moving forward means addressing the shortcomings of the university regarding safety and to make sure protocol is followed.
“It is CSU’s responsibility to keep us safe,” Quintana said.
Quintana said if the HSU president didn’t call Lawson and CSU hasn’t done anything to help, then this is clearly an issue for students of color. Quintana said CSU hands are tied now that a student has died. Quintana said this is when educating students is needed.
“Whats most important is to remember Josiah,” Quintana said.
Quintana said CSU only cares when students are only doing good, but once they’re off campus or even struggling they stop caring. He said they have a choice on who gets admitted and who stays, but don’t have a choice of being students of color.
“Systemic racism and micro aggressions are happening all over CSU campuses,” Quintana said, “There are more police officers than counselors.”
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Student Assistants laid off after department merge
4 Housing and Residence Life maintenance student assistants have been laid off
Editor’s Note: It should be noted the Lumberjack’s News editor was a laid off student assistant.
Computer Science major, Zach Pole, was laid off before this fall semester. The rest of his coworkers lost their jobs as well. Pole said the money he earned paid for everything, such as his housing, phone bills, school necessities and the braces he once had.
Pole worked part time for Housing as a maintenance student assistant for two years. Pole soon found out the work given to him wasn’t what he was supposed to be doing.
Director of Housing and Residence Life, Stephen St. Onge said over the past five years, the number of Housing and Residence Life maintenance student assistants has decreased. There used to be 10 student assistants, then six, then four, now none.
“The student assistant’s job was to assist the tradesperson,” St. Onge said. “Students can carry tools, and help support the person doing the work, but they can’t be doing the work themselves.”
However student assistants did more than assisting the tradesman.
“As silly as it sounds, we weren’t supposed to change a light bulb, or touch any tools,” Pole said. “Randy Davis was going to strictly enforce that. He saw we wouldn’t be doing anything, so he laid us off.”
Randy Davis is the current Facilities Management Manager.
Over summer, Facilities and Housing merged into one department. The Associate Director of Housing Facilities, Steve Mackenzie, was previously in charge of the student assistants.
After Mackenzie was fired, Davis took over as the Facilities Management Manager. Along with Davis’ new position came the responsibility of student assistants.
“Technically yes, student assistants were doing jobs they weren’t supposed to be doing,” Davis said. “They were making screens and changing light bulbs where there’s potential arc flash, and electrical safety issues.”
English major, Kaitlin Stanfield worked as student assistant for maintenance for less than a year. She completed work orders, fixed vacuums, looked at heating units and de-lofted beds.
“We weren’t supposed to use any tools like drills,” Stanfield said. “But we could make screens, all we had to do was saw frames.”
Stanfield said she wasn’t given a straight answer to why she was let go. Initially she was told there wasn’t enough money in the budget.
“I have also heard we weren’t needed,” Stanfield said. “I also heard that Randy Davis, the guy in charge, didn’t want to deal with us.”
Davis said he didn’t fire student assistants because he didn’t want to manage them. He fired them because Housing was not complying with the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Stephen St. Onge said student assistants weren’t laid off due to a budget issue, but rather a health and safety issue.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement is a contract between employees who are a part of a union and the employers. There are 13 different types of union, each with their own unit under the agreement.
The type of work student assistants were doing was unit six work. That work is meant for tradesmen, which includes electricians, plumbers or carpenters.
“Tradesmen came to me saying, ‘now you’re in charge’ what’s going to happen moving forward?” Davis said. “We have student assistants doing our work, and they shouldn’t be doing our work.”
Under the Housing’s and Residence Life job descriptions, it states student assistants working for maintenance can use drills, saws, hand tools and ladders.
The job description contradicts the reasoning behind management’s decision to fire the student assistants.Despite management saying student assistants weren’t supposed to be doing unit six work their jobs didn’t end immediately. Before their last day, management told them to change batteries for each key carded door.
“We have these students through August, we will use them to do our planned work,” Davis said.
The doors included every entrance door and room door in the residence halls. Each battery took ten minutes.
“A few thousand battery change outs needed to happen. They used minimal tools. They probably shouldn’t have been doing that,” St. Onge said. “Personally I wasn’t concerned about safety for using a screwdriver.”
St. Onge said the union has a powerful voice, but insists that firing the student assistants wasn’t a union decision but a management decision.“It’s not the student assistants fault, they did nothing wrong,” St. Onge said. “Facilities had no student assistants working in area six, in Housing we had four. We shouldn’t have had any.”
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Consent project a reminder of empowerment
Check-It’s eighth annual event promotes empowerment and support
The Consent Project, a seminar session at Humboldt State University on Oct.16, was hosted in an effort to create a more consent and survivor centric campus.
Stands with activities and campus resources were set up in the Kate Buchanan Room for students of all genders to participate in.
Juliet Kallen, pure health educator, set up a “self-care pack” stand, filled with salts, aromatherapy herbs and facial masks.
“We let you do what you want,” Kallen said. “We offer products that help take care of the body, because that is important.”
Dalia Rivera, another pure health educator, set up a stand called the “community mural” where students can write and draw what is consent to them.
“For me, consent is good communication with your partner,” Rivera said.
The Campus Advocate Team was also at the event to offer help for people who are victims of sexual violence.
Haydee Carrillo, bilingual client advocate for CAT, contributed to the project by describing some of the things that CAT does for students.
“We offer free 24/7 anonymous calls for those who were victims of violence,” Carrillo said. “Title IX gives us the ability to help students of all genders.”
Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education. Regardless of gender identity, students have access to resources like CAT to help them if they are victims of rape and sexual violence.
According to the Clery Act posted by Humboldt State campus police on Sept. 5, there have been two cases of dating violence and one case of domestic violence that occurred on campus in 2017.
“This is a space for victims to be listened to,” said community outreach coordinator for CAT Paula Arrowsmith. “With all this news that’s been coming out lately, it has victims fall silent, and never speak of their abuse and struggle.”
At the end of the seminar, an hour was dedicated for the students who are survivors of sexual violence. An open mic was allowed for survivors to speak of their abuse and their trauma.
“It’s brave to come up to strangers and tell of your abuse,” Arrowsmith said. “For those who don’t come up tonight because you’re afraid, you’re also brave for listening.”
For those who need help dealing with sexual violence, domestic violence, stalking, and/or sexual harassment, call or visit these organizations:
CAT’s 24 hour Hotline: (707) 445-2881
TTY Line (M-F 8:30-5:00): (707)-443-2738
