Category: News

A veteran community at HSU

By | Charlotte Rutigliano

With a strong sense of community, the Student Veterans Association (SVA) have been helping student veterans since 2008.

SVA President James Lamping said that the club is about creating an atmosphere and peer to peer support for veterans, dependents, and active service members on campus.

“We having monthly meetings to help create a community on campus for veterans,” Lamping said. “This kind of club can help with a veterans transitions back to civilian life.”

Navy veteran and Environmental Science major Heather Navle-Stierley said that when she got out of the military in August of 2015, she had very little support.

“The SVA has helped me transition into student life,” Navle-Stierley said. “Military life was all I had ever known since I was 18 years old.”

Navle-Stierley, who is also acting SVA vice-president said that she has always felt welcomed and not judged for being a combat veteran with little civilian life experience.

According to Kim Hall, Veterans Coordinator as of Fall 2017, there are around 740 veteran affiliated students on campus, ranging from veterans, dependents, and active service members.

“We have around 180 veterans, 585 dependents, and a handful of active duty service members,” Hall said.

Air Force veteran and marketing major Myra Hallman is one of 22 registered members of the SVA. She said that being apart of SVA gives her a way to contribute to the community in different ways, and it helps polish her leadership and time management skills.

According to Hallman, the SVA recently ran a supply drive to help the families in need down in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

“It’s a small way to help those in need,” Hallman said.

Hallman said that she feels very fortunate to have an opportunity to work with some of the best and brightest student veterans at HSU through the SVA.

According to Lamping, the club here on campus is part of a larger national organization called Student Veterans of America.

“Student Veterans of America helps campuses nationwide create community resource centers,” Lamping said. “We’re opening up one here in Library Room 55, within the next few weeks or so.”

According to Lamping, the SVA will be going to San Antonio, Texas during the winter break for the Student Veterans of America conference, which brings together thousands of student veterans from across the country.

“We’ll being driving an RV there and back,” Lamping said. “The RV is gonna have a big HSU and SVA logo on the sides.”

Lamping and Hallman said that they will be documenting the entire trip and sharing the clubs journey on social media as part of a marketing campaign for Student Veterans of America.

“We’ve been talking to the marketing and communications team about taking over the Instagram page for the trip,” Lamping said.

Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Celebrating Dia de Los Muertos

By | Charlotte Rutigliano

As a little girl in México, MultiCultural Center Liaison Joselin Dorado would celebrate Día de Los Muertos by contributing to her school’s altar, and on Nov. 2, she would go on processions to the cemeteries with her mother or other family members to visit their late ancestors’ graves, take them flowers and spend time “eating with them.”

Día de Los Muertos is a colorful celebration that dates back over 3,000 years, that is celebrated from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2. Día de Los Muertos, which translates to Day of the Dead, is a celebration of friends and family members who have passed away.

According to Dorado, the “altares,” or “altars,” are one of the most traditional ways to honor late loved ones.

“The altars include pictures of loved ones and Flores de cempasúchil (the Mexican marigold),” Dorado said. “The flowers are believed to attract their spirits because of their aroma.”

Dorado said that altars might also include the favorite food or drink of the people being honored. If a child is being honored, the altar might have their toys. Candles are also placed on altars to help the spirits of loved ones find their way back to the light.

Psychology major Carolina Gonzalez-Estolano said she is fortunate that she has never lost a family member or close loved one, but she still celebrates Día de Los Muertos.

“Growing up, we would always go to events at cemeteries,” Gonzalez-Estolano said, “or we would go to family homes for dinner and celebrate the lives of loved ones.”

According to Dorado, Día de Los Muertos has become more commercialized over the years, and traditional celebrations differ from town to town. It’s celebrated mostly in rural areas by the indigenous peoples of Mexico, while in the United States, Chican@s or the Latinx communities view the day as a take-back or connection to their roots.

“Día de Los Muertos can have a deep significance,” Dorado said, “but it’s a tradition that gets lost in big cities (specifically talking about Mexico).”

According to Gonzalez-Estolano Día de Los Muertos are often confused, though they are different holidays celebrated in different ways.

“Nowadays, Halloween is associated with dressing up, scary things, candy, and trick or treating,” Gonzalez-Estolano said, “Día de Los Muertos is about remembering your loved one, appreciating them and the people they were.”

Thursday, November 2, 2017
The fight for David Josiah Lawson’s justice continues

Community members expressed frustration with the progress of the Lawson case at a community meeting held by Arcata City Council on Oct. 26.

The second of six planned community sessions was held to provide Lawson case updates and discuss student safety. Humboldt State University students and faculty and Arcata community members filled the D Street Neighborhood Center expecting answers.

Arcata Police Department Chief, Tom Chapman gave updates on the Lawson murder case. Chief Chapman said APD has recruited Tom Parker, former FBI agent “to objectively review the case…considering the complexities and subtleties.”

Chapman said forensic evidence testing results have been received, yet APD is “a couple months out from ability to do testing on the last, outstanding piece of evidence.”

Limited information was provided due to the confidentiality of the case.

Community members urged for more transparency with the current process of the investigation and activism on behalf of the city.

Students of HSU voiced concerns of student safety both on campus and in the community.

Humboldt State University President, Lisa Rossbacher said “we [HSU] are working in conjunction with the city to ensure we have a safer environment for students.”

“By hearing stories of students feeling threatened… give city insights of how to provide safety for students.” Rossbacher said.

Chief Chapman urges students to come forward with any safety concerns, as well as suggestions for community involvement.

Friday, October 27, 2017
HSU releases 2017 crime report

By | Charlotte Rutigliano

With the goal of being open, honest, and transparent, HSU has released their annual crime report. The report includes incidents that happen on the general campus, in the campus residence halls, non-campus locations, and public property.

The report has been released as part of the Clery Act that was signed into federal law in 1990. The Clery Act requires all federally-funded institutions to release their campus safety information. This report covered all incidents that were reported to the University Police Departments over the last three years.

“When crimes do happen, we are faithful about reporting them,” President Lisa Rossbacher said. “We owe it to our students and their families.”

University Police Chief Donn Peterson said that this report gives people the opportunity to see whats going on at the University.

The 37-page report summarizes the different offenses that have had a report over the last three years. The crime statistics section of the report indicated that there no reported cases of murder, manslaughter by negligence, incest, or statutory rape.

Over the last three years, there has been a total of five or under cases reported for robbery, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking.

The highest reported offenses over the last three years were either liquor law offenses or drug law offenses.

“Our numbers are a little higher than other campuses,” Rossbacher said, “but we do have policies in place to help lower those numbers.”

According to the crime report, the number of liquor law referrals on the general campus and in campus residence has gone up significantly since 2014. On campus, referrals jumped from 19 in 2014 to 87 in 2016. Campus residence referrals went from eight in 2014 to 83 in 2017.

Rossbacher said that while alcohol is allowed on campus, only students who are 21 and over can drink, and only if they’re in their dorms. They can’t be in the common areas.

While drug law offenses have started to go down since 2014, the numbers are still high. On campus, both general campus and in the residence halls, there have been over a little over a thousand drug law referrals in the past three years.

According to Peterson, there is a full-time staff member within the University Police Department that checks the daily calls and reports every day.

“It’s a system of checks and balances to make sure all of the reporting is accurate,” Peterson said.

Peterson said that the Clery reporting process continues to evolve. By the time the next report is released, there will be a dedicated team which will involve more stakeholders throughout the University and a director hand picked by President Rossbacher.

The stakeholders that will be involved in this new team would be representatives from University Police, Housing, Athletics, Title IX, Risk Management, Student Health, Student Conduct, Dean of Students, Public Information, International Programs and Campus Counsel.

Vice President of Student Affairs Wayne Brumfield said he is working closely with Cheryl Johnson, Executive Director for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to get students’ opinions on campus safety.

“We’ve started these forums in early October,” Brumfield said, “we want to listen to students and get their perspective.”

From this forum, the main student concern about safety on campus was lighting. There are a few spots on campus that students don’t like to be because of how dimly lit the area is.

Brumfield said that after these forums, which are proposed to continue into the spring semester, he will be working with the city of Arcata and the university to see what can be done to make sure students feel safe both on campus and in the community.

“When students feel safe on campus, they’re in a safe learning environment, which is something that helps with retention rates,” Brumfield said.

If you are interested in sharing your thoughts on campus safety there are three forums left for this semester. Oct. 31 in the JGC Rec Room, Nov. 13 in the College Creek Great Hall and Nov. 27 in the JCG Rec Room and forums are at 6 p.m.

Friday, October 27, 2017
Campus and community dialogue on race

By | Charlotte Rutigliano

Next week marks the 19th annual Campus Dialogue on Race held at Humboldt State University.

According to Kumi Watanabe-Schock, library media coordinator and CDOR committee member, the event started in 1998 from an initiative presented by former President Bill Clinton to get colleges and universities talking about race.

“Over past years we’ve only held events on campus,” Watanabe-Schock said, “this is the first year we’re holding events both on campus and in the community.”

Each year, the CDOR has had a different topic of focus. This year, the event focus is, “Beautiful Struggle: Love and Care in the Time of Hate and Violence”.

The different workshops presented will include cultural appropriation vs. cultural appreciation, the Asian American experience and needs, a digital storytelling workshop, and a black and blue dialogue.

There will also be several film screenings and discussions throughout the week. Films covering topics from American revolutionaries to students promoting institutional equity.

Watanabe-Schock said that the committee takes around a year to plan, and start planning the next year’s events as soon as the current year finishes.

“We get input from people on and off campus to see what workshops we should cover and what keynote speaker we should get for the following year,” Watanabe-Schock said.

The events start on Monday, Oct. 30 at 11 a.m. with keynote speaker Melina Abdullah, professor and department chair of Pan-African Studies at California State University Los Angeles.

To get the full schedule of next weeks events go to humboldt.edu/dialogue/#schedule.

Thursday, October 26, 2017
Uncomfortable identities explored

An event is only defined by its memory or lack thereof. The two-day symposium (Un)Comfortable Identities: Representation of Persecution at Humboldt State University examined the effect of persecution on memory, identity and culture of ethnic groups. The convention held on Oct. 20 and 21 addressed topics of race, sexuality, religion, disability, and gender.

HSU professors and scholars from across the nation presented research and studies in various disciplines pertaining to displacement, persecution, and memory.

Organized by United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM,) the event is part of an ongoing outreach to bring Holocaust studies into North American education via symposia, lectures, and workshops.

Since attending a faculty program hosted by USHMM, Humboldt State Critical Race and Gender Studies (CRGS) professor Maral Attallah and Native American Studies instructor Kerri J. Malloy have been working to bring this type of event to HSU.

“We wanted this to be an opportunity to develop relationships for HSU student internships, for research, and for more faculty to participate in these seminars,” Malloy said.

W. Jake Newsome of the USHMM says this event has been in the works for almost two years. “[Symposiums] are tailored to the local community, so they can be more impactful,” Newsome said. Speakers were selected per panel to complement each other both by USHMM and HSU.

“We worked closely with [Attallah and Malloy] to bring on leading experts on race, identity, and activism,” Newsome said. “We brought in educators from across the country to talk about some of the challenges, strategies, and rewards of teaching topics students might find problematic.”

Ramona Bell, CRGS associate professor at HSU spoke on the persecution of black athletes. “I wanted to show today that they are change agents,” Bell said. “They are resilient and not passive.”

Bell says that getting these topics to be talked about starts with “a realization of your own code of ethics.” Whatever the issue might be, “do you care?” Bell said.

The event was open to the public and brought together an audience of local community members, students, and faculty. “Even if this is happening at Humboldt, it’s benefiting a much larger audience,” Malloy said.

Thursday, October 26, 2017
One dollar forward two dollars back

By | Curran C. Daly

Humboldt State has spent more money that it has made in each of the last seven years. This tradition of deficit spending has led to the implementation of a three-step process to address the deficit and reinvest in the university.

The university is currently in the early stages of planning Phase Two of the budget re-organization. Where Phase One looked to make changes that could be implemented quickly, Phase Two is tasked with making more systemic changes. A January letter from President Rossbacher’s cabinet to the University Resource and Planning Committee outlined the different aspects of the budget reduction plan.

“To start, we are focused on Phases One and Two to reduce the University’s expenditures by 5 percent to address the deficit,” said the letter. “If any funds remain, begin strategic reinvestment.”

Instead of making horizontal cuts, in which every department gets cut 4-5 percent, the Provost’s office is looking at making vertical cuts in which some departments take larger cuts than others. How large a cut a department will be asked to make depends on potential cuts identified within departmental budgets.

“We are looking at a 5 percent efficiency,” said Provost Alexander Enyedi. “But we told the colleges to look at 2 percent.”

The effort to balance Humboldt’s budget is not as simple as increasing enrollment. Even when Humboldt’s enrollment reached its peak in the 2015-2016 academic year, the school still overspent its revenue by $700,000. Humboldt State currently spends more money per full-time equivalent students than any other similarly sized campus in the California State University system. What reached $15,810 per student in the financial year of 2015-2016 is expected to reach $17,904 for the 2017-2018 financial year. This has created an expected deficit of $1,600,000 for the 2017-2018 Academic year.

Phase Two is now tasked with getting Humboldt State’s budget to a point where the revenue exceeds the expenditures for the first time in nearly a decade. Still early in the planning stages, Dean for the College of Professional Studies Manohar Singh is still not able to say exactly what cuts to expect.

“We have not identified any specific things because we are right in the beginning of that process,” said Singh. “We are looking at photocopying for example, we are looking at how many papers we print, we are looking at how many telephone lines are in the college, so maybe there are some sources of savings there.”

The largest component of Humboldt State’s expenditures is spent on salaries and wages. What comes out to $67,000,000 takes up 50 percent of Humboldt’s expenditures for the 2017-2018 year. Salaries and wages take up a large part of the budget. There is a possibility that cuts could impact faculty positions.

“We are also very conscientiously looking at every individual as a human being, so it’s not like we are going to go out and say ‘alright one, two, three, four are out,’” said Singh. “It is going to be a very, very sincere, conscientious effort to respect everybody.”

One way the school is currently saving money is the elimination of vacant positions. This has lead to the elimination of the position of Dean of Research and has cut down on the number of available custodial positions on campus.

The university is focused on making budget changes that will lead to a more efficient budget that does not negatively affect student experiences on campus.

“What we want to do, is we don’t want to impact students,” said Provost Enyedi.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017
A campaign for things unseen

By | Charlotte Rutigliano

At HSU, one in ten students have a disability. Most have a registered disability that is non-apparent.

According to Kevin O’Brien, director of Student Access Services and Student Disability Resource Center, approximately 80 percent of disabilities are non-apparent. This includes chronic health issues, learning disabilities, attention deficits, or psychological disorders that are not immediately obvious.

“Because disabilities aren’t always apparent, we want to get the word out about this,” O’Brien said. “There’s more than just visual disabilities.”

This is the first year the Student Disability Resource Center has done this specific campaign. According to O’Brien, past years have been much more dramatized.

“There was one year that some professors were in a wheelchair for an entire day,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien said that they try to do something like this campaign every year in the month of October because October is Disability Awareness month.

The Student Disability Resource Center partners with Tri-County Independent Living center to put on the campaign.

“We try and encourage self-advocacy for students,” O’Brien said.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Mondays are no longer meatless

No more Meatless Mondays. They will now become Pollo-pescetarian. HSU Residence Hall Association decided last Monday, Oct. 9th by a unanimous vote to incorporate white meat into Monday’s dining services, and add more vegan and vegetarians options throughout the week to compensate. Chicken, turkey and fish will now be served at the J cafeteria on Mondays.

Students getting food from the J cafeteria on a meatless Monday. Photo credit: Ahmed Al-Sakkaf

“We came to a vote last week, instead of one whole day for vegetarian and vegan options, we’re going to incorporate it more throughout the week,” Destiny Mendoza, sitting President, said.

Meatless Monday is an international movement that launched in 2003. Its goal is to reduce global meat consumption by 15 percent. In Spring of 2015, about 700 HSU students signed a petition in support of Meatless Mondays. RHA then voted to implement Meatless Mondays at the J starting Fall 2015.

Ron Rudebock, director of Dining Services said that the foot traffic in the J has dropped by 15 percent on Mondays compared to compared to other weekdays.

RHA National Communication coordinator Nicole Laureano said that besides the dip in sales at the J on Mondays, dining services didn’t see an increase of sales anywhere else on campus.

“The big question was where are people [students] going to eat? Are they not eating? Are people starving themselves? Or leaving campus in order to get what they want?” Laureano said.

The J food servers behind a counter waiting to serve students. Photo credit: Ahmed Al-Sakkaf

Many students around campus dislike Meatless Mondays at the J cafeteria. Cynthia Godinez, a student coordinator who works at the J cafeteria, hears students complain and express their frustration about Meatless Mondays.

“Students come in and they literally roll their eyes and scoff because they hate Meatless Mondays,” Godinez said. “People complain about Meatless Monday all the time… I hear it, I hear it.”

A large amount of the food served on Mondays is dairy-based and contains a lot of cheese, making it hard for students who are lactose intolerant to eat at the cafeteria.

“They [students] want to see less cheese,” Mendoza said. “We had Ron from Dining come in and we told him to lay off the cheese.”

Godinez thinks that the food served on Meatless Monday isn’t healthy as it contains large amounts of fat.

“You’ll think something like Meatless Monday is healthy, but it’s not healthy, it’s all cheese. It’s very heavy greasy food,” Godinez said.

Harrison Cole on a meatless Monday making a salad at the J cafeteria salad bar. Photo credit: Ahmed Al-Sakkaf

With the dip in the number of students going to the J on Mondays, a lot of food went to waste said Godinez.

“A lot of food goes to waste because of Meatless Mondays,” Godinez said. “We [Dining services] waste a bunch of food, we waste a bunch of money.”

Last year, chefs from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) visited HSU and suggested changing Meatless Mondays to include some meat. This was to avoid steering students away from the J on Mondays and avoid making them feel excluded.

The changes made are open to reevaluation and change.

“If this is not the solution then we’ll reevaluate,” Mendoza said, “it’s not set and stone. Nothing is set and stone.”

Saturday, October 21, 2017
Open Access Week escape room

By | Charlotte Rutigliano

Imagine a mad scientist is trying to take over the town, and you and your friends are the only ones who can crack the code and stop him.

In an upcoming escape room simulation presented by the library for Open Access Week, students can do just that.

According to Kimberly Stelter, first-year experience librarian, this four-day event is about giving greater access to students.

“Open Access Week is about opening up a number of resources they have access to,” Stelter said.

According to the Open Access Week website, the global event is entering its eighth year and gives the academic and research communities the opportunity to continue learning.

Stelter said the library is wanting to students to become more familiar with this information in a fun way.

“It’s about learning and teaching in a different way, ” Stelter said. “I love games for learning, it’s gamifying education.”

This skillshop takes place Monday, Oct. 23 through Thursday, Oct. 26 at 5 PM. Registration is still open.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Convenience costs

By | Curran Daly

Getting food on campus is convenient for students, yet comes with an additional price. Humboldt State Dining food is more expensive than food bought at Safeway in Arcata and WinCo in Eureka.

Chris Bautista has been at Humboldt State for three years and eats on-campus for the convenience.

“Some things are expensive, but some things are not,” said Bautista, while holding a three dollar cupcake. “Eating here is more convenient so I just eat here.”

Graphic by Curran C. Daly

Humboldt State is far from the cheapest option for food in the area. When compared to Winco and Safeway, Humboldt State is almost always the most expensive option for many quick grab options for food.

Humboldt’s beloved Yerba Mate teas are $3.39 on campus when paying cash versus $2.22 at Winco and $2.49 at Safeway.

Director of Dining Services, Ron Rudebock, wants students to know that due to Humboldt’s small size compared to national chains the price we pay for food is higher.

“Safeway and Winco beat our prices,” said Rudebock. “At Winco, sometimes, we can find things for sale at a cheaper price than we can buy them wholesale.”

Humboldt might not be able to beat all the prices of other local retailers, but the money spent at HSU stays at HSU. Rudebock also wants students to understand all the places that their money goes after they spend it at an on-campus location.

“Food sold on campus helps pay for operating costs of the UC Center,” said Rudebock. “Money spent here on campus stays on campus.”

According to the 2016-2017 Fiscal Budget for the University Center, Dining’s annual intake from food sales of more than 12 million dollars accounts for 74.8 percent of total revenue for the University Center. Despite the large in-take, Dining’s gross profit is only around $700,000 after paying for food cost, employees, and other operating costs.

While Dining contributes the most amount of money to the University Center’s revenue, it also must pay its many student employees who make up the majority of HSU Dining’s staff.

“We only have 28 full-time employees between our various locations,” said Rudebock. “Without student employees, we couldn’t operate.”

The excess money from the Dining’s revenue goes towards keeping prices down across campus for other University Center organizations such as Center Arts, Center Activities, and the Student Rec Center.

Ameer Abdullah, a transfer Recreation Major, believes that keeping food affordable is key when serving the college community.

“It’s college it should always be affordable,” said Abdullah. “The food should be better if we are paying so much for it.”

Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Luck has nothing to do with it

By | Michelle Meyers

On Friday the 13th, people flooded into the doors of the Sangha Tattoo Studio to make a decision that will stick with them forever on the unluckiest day of the year.

HSU students Sara Graves and Jordan Kovalcikova-Gillgren stood among the crowd lined up outside the studio that led out of the building.

Graves and Kovalcikova-Gillgren said that they have been trying to attend a Friday the 13th event for quite some time – anywhere, anyhow. So after hearing about the event, they lept on the timely tattoo opportunity.

“None of the tattoo shops seem to be doing this,” Graves said.

The Sangha Tattoo Studio was offering a “flash sale” on Friday the 13th themed tattoos. The tattoo’s that were part of the sale were listed on three sheets of art, called “flash sheets,” for customers to choose from. One of the sheets cost a total of $20, with the price included a $13 tattoo plus a seven dollar tip for the artist. The other two flash sheets included art that cost $31 and were slightly larger. In addition to the tattoos, Sangha also offered $31 nostril piercings.

Graves and Kovalcikova-Gillgren went to the studio without any firm ideas as to what piece of art they would choose. When they arrived, they were impressed with the art.

Kovalcikova-Gillgren decided on two tattoos from the flash sheet, a geometric design and a dagger. Graves decided on going with a pair of dice.

Tattoo apprentice, Paige Sinicrope prepares the art for Jordan Kovalcikova-Gillgren’s tattoo Photo credit: Michelle Meyers

“I don’t know, that’s pretty dicey,” said tattoo artist Justin Love, when Graves picked out her tattoo.

Love is a native of Humboldt County and has been tattooing for 3 years.

When it was time to place the art, Graves turned to Love for a professional opinion. Love pointed to a spot on the back of Graves’ calf, directly above her heel. After Graves was set on the placement, Love instructed Graves to stand on the table so that he could place the stencil for the pair of dice.

“This is fun, I wasn’t expecting to stand on the table,” Graves said as lifted her arms in the air.

“We’re having a lot of fun here,” Shawn Christensen said, an artist at Sangha Tattoo Studio.

Sara Graves smiling while artist, Justin Love prepares his materials Photo credit: Michelle Meyers

Christiansen came to Humboldt from Nebraska to get a tattoo at Sangha Tattoo Studio back when it was Old Growth Tattoo. Yet, after getting his tattoos there, he never left.

“Tattoos made me want to tattoo,” Christensen said.

Over in the other booth, Love finished Graves tattoo, and she sat up on the table to take a look. When Love asked Graves how she felt she looked down at her new art, smiled, and said, “It looks so good!”

“Good doesn’t cut it, I want it to be great,” Love said. Graves laughed, and said, “It’s great.”

Because on this Friday the 13th at Sangha Tattoo Studio, luck has nothing to do with it.

Sangha Tattoo Studio is located at 1806 4th St. in Eureka

Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Indigenous People’s Week at HSU

By | Robert Brown

The American Indian community of HSU hosted the 24th annual Indigenous People’s Week from Oct. 9 thru Oct. 16, with many free events held on campus.

The eight day event began on Monday, Oct. 9, with a celebration on the Quad. Throughout the week, workshops, film screenings, a community-building reception and cultural sharing events were held around campus. Professors of the Native American Studies program hosted the event, as well as guest speakers from the Seventh Generation Fund, and Native American activist YoNasDa LoneWolf Hill.

Children gather on the Quad at Humboldt State University during a protest that began Indigenous People’s Week Oct. 9-16, 2017. Photo credit: Robert Brown

An Indigenous Voices Forum titled, “Columbus, The Doctrine of Discovery and Indigenous People’s Rights,” hosted by HSU Professor Cutcha Risling Baldy, and Lorna Bryant from Race Beat on KHSU was held in the Kate Buchanan Room on Wednesday night. HSU Professors Marlon Sherman and Kayla Begay, Chris Peters and Tia Oros-Peters of the Seventh Generation Fund, and Cynthia Boshell of the Environment and Community program at HSU took part in a discussion on the Doctrine of Discovery and how it continues to impact society to this day.

“Columbus is a figment of people’s imagination,” Oros-Peters said. “He is a construct of a dominating colonizing society that’s become a caricature of what the aspiration of colonization is. He is used as a weapon against people’s minds and their capacity to think freely.”

“Columbus is part of this nation’s origin story, Columbus Day is really a celebration of White supremacy, Christian superiority, the genocide of indigenous people. The state needs to erase indigenous people in order to legitimize its claim of sovereignty over us.”

A reception was held on campus Thursday to honor Native American women who have notoriously been murdered at more than 10 times the national average. Participants were asked to wear red in honor of the missing and dead indigenous women.

“Indigenous women have remained for more than 500 years, the most targeted, exploited, trafficked, raped, murdered, tortured, brutalized, and torn apart group of people on the face of this planet,” Oros-Peters said. “We are the embodiment of Mother Earth. The assault against indigenous women is how they treat the Earth. We are the echo of the Earth within our bodies, and she within us.”

“Columbus began the sex trafficking trade in America, he gave women away as slaves and prostitutes,” Sherman said.

Also on Thursday, a conversation with YoNasDa LoneWolf Hill was held in the Behavioral & Social Sciences building. Hill is a Lakota and African-American activist, speaker, and published writer of social and environmental justice issues. She was adopted and raised by Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam.

“The truth is coming out, and the truth hurts, everyone is looking at the truth. There is a separation of good and evil taking place at this time,” Hill said.

“Women are at the heart of this movement, as mothers, we feel pain, we bear pain when we give birth,” Hill said. “Even if you’re not able to give birth, you still feel it in your blood. It’s all in everything that we are made of as women. In this way, we connect with and feel Mother Earth.”

Monday, October 16, 2017
Consent is the word

By | Lauren Shea

Brave students walked up to the podium to share their story in front of supporters of a culture of consent.

HSU students attended The Consent Project 2017 in the Kate Buchanan Room on Oct. 10 to talk about consent and listen to survivors of sexual violence.

The Consent Project is an event held through the Check It program to talk about what it means to consent, what consent looks like, and how to communicate consent though choices and actions. The project aims to create a culture of consent and reduce the harm caused by sexual violence. The event provided a place to educate students and the community about consent and provide community resources. It also provided a place where survivors of all genders of sexual violence could speak out about their story.
Photo credit: Lauren Shea

This year’s theme is the Seasons of Change. One of the event coordinators, Skye Peredo, talked about the meaning behind the name by describing how seasons change just as people do.

The event provided many resources such as the North Coast Rape Crisis Team, Check It, the Women’s Resource Center and the Multicultural Queer Resource Center. The event provided food and drinks as students engaged in conversations about consent and the importance of self-care. Arts and crafts were supplied for students to create crafts and build a comfortable and creative environment.

The second part of the night shared a space where survivors talked about their story on consent. Survivors shared their gratitude for programs such as Check It and The Consent Project that encourages a consent culture where people can talk about sexual violence. It also encourages people to support each other and educate people in hopes to reduce to harm caused by sexual violence and the lack of clear consent communication.

Students talked about consent culture during the event and the importance of caring for yourself. Elissa Rodriguez, a junior at HSU studying English, gave her thoughts about the importance of self-care and mental stress breaks.

“I advocate a lot to my friends about self-care,” Rodriguez said. “I think we go through so much stress and taking the time even if it’s just a little bit of time to recuperate before getting back to what you need to do is really important.”

She also talked about her experience with the consent culture being built at HSU.

“I feel like there is always more room for improvement,” Rodrigues said. I feel like people are still afraid to talk about sexual violence because if they weren’t, we wouldn’t need events like this. Not everyone is involved as they should be.”

Alex Heart, a sophomore at HSU studying Geology, talked about the influence that Check it and the Consent Project has on new students.

“I think the school does really well on educating freshman that come from all walks of life about consent,” Heart said.

Jonathan Salinas, a senior at HSU studying Spanish, talked about his experience with consent culture at HSU.

“I definitely think there is a lot of work to be done about creating a consent culture here,” Salinas said. “But I think events like this gives students on campus the vocabulary to have the conversations. I think there is that fear to talk about these topics, but at the same time empowers people to have these discussions.”

Monday, October 16, 2017
Adventure in aquaponics

By | Charlotte Rutigliano

On a warm Friday afternoon, student volunteers help trim eight different varieties of basil leaves for a study headed by undergraduate Fisheries Biology major Bryan Lester.

Lester is studying which strain of basil grows the fastest using this aquaponics facility, he completed his second trial on Friday. The stains grown in the study are dark opal, holy, Italian large leaf, lemon, lime, spicy globe, sweet Genovese, and Thai.

Fisheries Biology student volunteers trimming basil leave to be weighed Photo credit: Charlotte Rutigliano

A study he might not have been able to do without the help of Coast Seafoods, Hog Island Oyster Co., and Taylor Shellfish. According to assistant professor of Fisheries Biology Rafael Cuevas Uribe, past donations from Ameritas faculty ran out this past summer.

“The donation we received from these local businesses will help run the facility for about a year,” Cuevas Uribe said.

Since HSU starting leasing this facility, which belongs to the Humboldt Bay Harbor District, around two years ago Cuevas Uribe and the student volunteers have grown pak choi, lettuce, cilantro, chard, spinach, arugula, kale, and cabbage.

Cuevas Uribe started this program to help teach students about what aquaculture is and how to maintain and grow in a system like this.

“Aquaponics is an educational tool,” Cuevas Uribe said, “students often run their own research projects, like what Bryan is doing.”

According to Cuevas Uribe, aside from evaluating growth rates of plants, one of the other student-run research projects was evaluating the growth rates of the fish by changing their diets. A diet that normally consists of pellets made from fish meal, fish oils and other types of oils.

“This study evaluated the growth and feeding habits of the white sturgeon,” Cuevas Uribe said, “the students gave them a fish-free organic diet, and the results from that study were presented at a national conference.”

According to Cuevas Uribe, they get the white sturgeon from a fish farm in Galt, Ca.

“We have about 80 sturgeons that are 2-years old,” Cuevas Uribe said, “and another 400 sturgeons that are a few months old.”

Cuevas Uribe said that the fish are separated by their biometrics or their size, and student volunteers like senior Fisheries Biology major Alexis Harrison come down to the facility once a day to check on the water quality of the fish.

“We come down to check the oxygen levels, the temperature, the pH levels, ammonia levels, nitrite levels and nitrate levels,” Harrison said.

According to Cuevas Uribe, the fish help circulate the water for the plants. The water from the tanks the fish are held in is filtered by a polygeyser bead filter that holds bacterias that have nutrients the plants prefer.

“It’s a very symbiotic relationship,” Cuevas Uribe said, “even the waste drained from the filter, is strained and reused as soil for the plants.”

Cuevas Uribe said that everything that is grown at the facility is either taken home by the student volunteers or donated to the open community garden or the Food for People food bank in Eureka.

Lacy Ogan communications manager with Pacific Seafood, a company who has hired several HSU students as interns to work with the company because of this facility. Ogan said that companies are dedicated to the success of this program.

“They are in the process of helping to find a long-term funding source,” Ogan said, “so their resources can be focused on increasing internship programs.”

Friday, October 13, 2017
HSU compost goes to landfill

UPDATED: 6:00 p.m. on Oct. 16

More than six weeks worth of compost went to a landfill. That’s after the composting contract HSU had with the Local Worm Guy ended and wasn’t renewed. All compost materials which ends up in the compost BiobiN vessel will be sent to landfill, as there is no alternative in sight.

HSU bio bin located near the Jolly Giants Commons. | Ahmed Al-Sakkaf

Last year, the university signed a $14 thousand contract with The Local Worm Guy farm to divert all the food waste the campus generates. All campus-generated compostable material is deposited to the 20-cubic-yard composting bio bin that was installed a year ago near the Jolly Giant Commons. When the bin is close to full, it’s then hauled away by Recology Arcata to be dumped at the worm farm. The university pays Recology around $80 per haul.

Last August, the owner of the worm farm Lloyd Barker informed HSU that he wouldn’t renew the contract with the university.

“It’s probably one of the harder decisions that we’ve had to make as a business,” Barker said. “With the challenges we faced last year we’ve had to take a step back and look at exactly what we need in terms of our business development to be able to offer that service again.”

The volume and the type of material that is generated on campus is challenging from a composting perspective. The challenges his business was facing from the university’s material didn’t leave him an option.

Organic food wastes inside the bio bin. | Ahmed Al-Sakkaf

“HSU is really a big feather in someone’s cap, it’s a really important customer for us, but right now it’s really hard to offer them the service we want to be able to offer them,” Barker said.

The university has a small scale composting facility called the Earth Tub. The Earth Tub is run by Waste-Reduction & Resource Awareness Program. WRRAP compost food waste they collect from student-run coffee tables, departmental break rooms and zero waste events, food waste that is not sent to the biobin where the majority of the organic waste ends up.

For organic waste to compost, it requires a consistent balance of carbon to nitrogen ratio. The ratio is around 25 to 30 parts of carbon to every one part of nitrogen. The compost material generated on campus mainly consists of heavily water saturated food type materials with very little carbon. Besides the imbalanced ratio of carbon to nitrogen, the university’s compost material tends to have a lot of garbage in it, such as F’real milkshake cubs and other noncompostable plastic bags from dining kitchens.

Organic food wastes inside the bio bin. | Ahmed Al-Sakkaf

“We end up with a lot of those pre-made milkshakes in a little plastic cups. We end up with probably 50 of those milkshake containers, and up to 150 pieces of recycles and garbage from the cafeteria per load,” Barker said. “We’ll also end up with big bags of stuff from the back of the house. It caused us a lot of problems and issues along the way.”

Last year alone, the worm farm composted over 200 cubic yards of HSU’s material that weighed about 97 tons. The university paid a total of $64 per cubic yard to divert this food waste from landfill to compost.

HSU is mandated by California’s AB 1826 law to compost. The law currently requires businesses that generate four cubic yards or more of organic waste per week to arrange for organic waste recycling services. Organic waste includes green waste, landscape pruning and wood waste. The university generates over seven cubic yards of organic waste per week.

“We are a state agency. We need to be compliant with this law,” said Morgan King HSU’s Sustainability and Climate Action Analyst.

Neither the university nor the county has the infrastructure or the appropriate facilities to compost large amounts of organic waste. Until the county builds a facility that can accept HSU’s food wastes, the university has no option but to try to work with the local worm farmer to resume their agreement.

Katherine Rodriguez scraping off leftover food into a compost bucket. | Ahmed Al-Sakkaf

“We’re kinda stuck. We need to haul it out to someone else who is a professional and can compost it,” said King. “He [Barker] can’t take our stuff and there’s no one locally besides him that would take this amount of food waste.”

Both the university and The Local Worm Guy view this as a temporary setback until they are all ready to resume their cooperation and resume their work.

“The Local Worm Guy is working on his side to be in a better position to take our food waste, and on our side, we are working on making our material more acceptable,” said King.

Prior to signing this contract with the local worm farmer, HSU didn’t have a large-scale composting program in place. Madi Whaley, the WRRAP program manager, said that before last year parts of the food waste generated on campus was diverted to a local hog farmer for pigs to eat.

“It is unfortunate,” said Whaley. “It’s a real shame that the compost is going to the landfill instead of being diverted to a composting facility.”

HSU prides itself on having a great food recovery system. This past summer, HSU won the Innovative Waste Reduction Award at the California Higher Education Sustainability Conference. The composting program HSU had in place partnering with Barker was a significant factor in winning the award. A factor that isn’t in place now.

Friday, October 13, 2017
Tools for student wellbeing

By | Charlotte Rutigliano

After being in development for over a year, Executive Director of Student Health & Wellbeing Services Dr. Brian Mistler, Health Educator Ravin Craig, and a team of peer health educators have created an interactive online tool to guide students toward a healthier lifestyle and habits as well as campus support services.

Mistler said that the interactive wellbeing map is to help students make connections, find a community and start building a healthier lifestyle at Humboldt State.

“Health is not a linear process, there is no start or end on our journey to build positive relationships with our body and community,” Mistler said.

According to Mistler, the team intentionally designed the introductory quiz to target the primary health and wellbeing-related obstacles in a way that was approachable and helpful to students from top to bottom.

“The BuzzFeed-style quiz is an easy entry point that most students are comfortable with,” Mistler said.

The wellbeing map is broken down into nine different topic areas; health and identity, physical health, sexual health and consent, adulting skills, alcohol and other drugs, mental health, health and wellbeing services 101, relationships and belonging, and food, nutrition, and housing.

According to Mistler, the modules focus on frequently identified health concerns, such as a sense of belonging, sexual health, friendships and romantic relationships, nutrition and food, trouble relaxing, financial wellness and much more.

“Each topic area is a map to get students connected to the resources they need to be successful at HSU, though it isn’t designed to list all of the student support services on campus,” Mistler said.

Students can access the online tool by visiting wellbeing.humboldt.edu

Thursday, October 12, 2017
Freedom to read

For the fourth consecutive year, the Humboldt Center for Constitutional Rights and the Humboldt University Library came together to celebrate freedom of speech with a read-out of banned books on Oct. 4.

Community members and Humboldt State University students gathered to read their favorite “dangerous” books.

From classic literature to children’s books, titles such as “The Grapes of Wrath,” “The Kite Runner” and “Where the Wild Things Are” have been banned or challenged by various schools and public libraries for reasons such as profanity, explicit or sexual content and controversial themes.

The American Library Association gathers a yearly list of banned books and keeps record of any challenges against the inclusion of books in libraries or school curriculum.

Senior at HSU, Erika Delos Reyes, 32, says many of these banned books were introduced to readers as children. Delos Reyes, a Communication major, read an excerpt of a favorite book of hers, “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes at the read-out.

HSU alumnus Donald Forrest read part of the 1959 short story “The Time of Her Time” by Norman Mailer. Forrest says at 12 years old, this was the first piece of “dirty” literature he ever found in a banned place – his dad’s sock drawer.

“It’s an artifact of a time; of defiant misogyny,” Forrest said

Tommy Woodruff, a 20-year old junior, attended the read-out because he was interested to see the different banned books. Woodruff said it was interesting that so many children’s books have been banned, such as “The Lorax” and “And Tango Makes Three,” a book about a family of two male penguins based on a true story.

“It’s ridiculous, you can’t hide information from people,” Woodruff said.

The exhibit on banned books is on display at the HSU library until Monday, Oct. 9.

*Marcy Burstiner, faculty adviser of The Lumberjack is the Chair of Humboldt Center for Constitutional Rights.

Thursday, October 12, 2017
Word on the Street: LA County replaces Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day

By | Ian Benjamin Finnegan Thompson and Sarahi Apaez

Los Angeles has made Indigenous Peoples Day an official county holiday. In this video we ask students on the Humboldt State University campus their thoughts on the recent decision by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors to observe the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day.

Monday, October 9, 2017
Word on the street: Free community college bill

Question: What do you think of Assembly Bill 19? Could it ever be implemented at a four-year university?

Trent Diederic, a senior majoring in Finance says AB 19 could get more people in college, but they would still struggle financially. Photo credit: Lora Neshovska

“It could be counterproductive. The people who are already on the fence about college would have to keep paying after that first year. At a four-year university, it would be very expensive. Housing and food would still be difficult to find.” – Trent Diedrich, 22, Finance, Senior

Senior Sarah Grover says it is pointless to make only the first year free. Students would still have expenses in the following years. Photo credit: Lora Neshovska

“If people can live closer to home and still have that ‘freshman experience,’ it could be good encouragement, but freshmen are the largest group to drop out. It makes no sense for just the first year to be free. After that, you still have to work to survive.” – Sarah Grover, 21, International Studies, Senior

A Business major, Zac Alfers says community college is definitely the less expensive route, so AB 19 would get more people in school. Photo credit: Lora Neshovska

“I wish I went to community college, it’s the less expensive route. Money puts people off about college. It would get more people in school. I can’t see it happening at four-year university though, they like their money too much.” – Zac Alfers, 23, Business, Senior

Stephanie Souter, HSU senior says having more education equality would better the country as a whole. Photo credit: Lora Neshovska

“Even if it was free, there is still a lot of hard work and dedication that goes into school. But then again, if more people were educated, that would bring up our entire country.” – Stephanie Souter, 21, Psychology, Junior

Friday, October 6, 2017
California Senate pushes for free tuition

By | Charlotte Rutigliano

Assembly Member Miguel Santiago urged Governor Jerry Brown to sign a Assembly Bill 19 (AB 19) on Thursday, Sept. 27, in Los Angeles. AB 19 would give free tuition to community college students.

AB 19 would allow the California Community Colleges to waive fees for first-time students, and full-time community college students for one year. The bill would boost enrollment and graduation rates, expand access to financial aid and decrease student debt. Additionally, AB 19 would support California’s businesses by addressing the shortage of college-educated workers that are needed to sustain the workforce.

Francisco Rodriguez, Chancellor of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), started the press conference saying they want to change the narrative of public education, an often misunderstood and forgotten branch of higher education.

“The two-year system of California Community Colleges and others around the country have received unprecedented attention because of the role that community colleges play to fuel the economic engine of this country and of California,” Rodriguez said.

According to Rodriguez, the LACCD serves some of the poorest students in the nation. 85 percent of LACCD students are non-white, and half of the students live at or near the poverty line.

“In Los Angeles, where we have a plethora of educational options, we have amongst the lowest rate of participation for adults in higher education,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez quoted a recent study from the Public Policy State of California report, “California needs 1.1 million [graduates] with bachelor’s degrees by 2030 to keep up with economic demand. More college graduates means very clearly, higher incomes better economic mobility, more tax revenue and less demand for social services.”

“The idea of tuition-free community college programs has been spreading across the nation,” Rodriguez said. “California is leading the nation with the idea of universal access to higher education.”

Santiago said education should not be a privilege for the few who can afford it, education is a right that should be free.

“When you leave our education system and you have the tools to compete in the 21st century, you shouldn’t have to be in debt for a decade or two, just because you got a quality education,” Santiago said.

Santiago said that the bill would not be a giveaway. It would be an investment in the students, and that students will benefit from being full-time students. Almost 12 community colleges have signed on to support the bill.

“California has the 6th largest economy in the world. There is no reason why we should not prepare the 21st-century workforce,” Santiago said. “When we’re already behind a million degrees that are much needed to get our economy moving forward and to get it stronger.”

Friday, October 6, 2017
Local Buddhism School Consecrates New Buddha Statue

By | Robert Brown

“The statue we are unveiling is known as the second Buddha,” resident teacher Ven. Khenpo Ugyen Wangchuk said.

The statue will be consecrated at a special ceremony held Thursday, Oct. 5, from 9:00 am. until 11:00 am. at the Ewam Ku Sum Ling school in Kneeland.

Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche will be teaching a weekend mind training intensive called Yogi Dharmarakshita’s “The Peacock’s Neutralizing of Poisons,” transcending ego interference to discover true happiness at the Arcata Veterans Hall Saturday, Oct. 7 and Sunday, Oct. 8 from 10:00 am. until 4:00pm.

Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche is the founder and spiritual director of Ewam International Centers, which has several locations around the world. He was born into one of the oldest families in Tibet and was recognized in early childhood to be the reincarnation of the Gochen Tulku.

“Rinpoche was captured in Tibet and imprisoned for 10 years by Chinese soldiers,” the owner of Kneeland Ewam Ku Sum Ling school, Amri Padme said. “It turned out to be his greatest opportunity and a positive experience because he was imprisoned alongside several other master teachers that shared their wisdom and practices with him. He also learned how to have compassion for the soldiers that captured him.”

Resident teacher, Khenpo Ugyen Wangchuk is an advanced level monastic originally from Bhutan and has studied Buddhism since the age of 7. He received a Master’s degree in Buddhist Philosophy from the Nyingma Institute Taktse. In 2006, the title of Khenpo was conferred upon him, which is the equivalent of a PhD.

“All Tibetan teachings are about mind training, the transformation of the mind, the true nature of the mind,” Ven. Wangchuk said. “How we can change our mind from difficulties and suffering and reach true happiness.”

Ven. Wangchuk offers teachings for free on a variety of practices in many different places from Trinidad, Mckinleyville, Arcata, HSU, and Kneeland. At some gatherings, the teachings are more basic. At the school, people that have been practicing Buddhism for 10-15 years come in order to go deeper into more advanced teachings.

“In the Western world people are focused on material things bringing happiness,” Ven. Wangchuk said. “Material things will not bring inner happiness, and ends up creating suffering.”

Buddhism originally started in India and spread to many different countries such as Sri Lanka and Thailand, which created the common teachings. It then spread to Korea, Japan, China, and Vietnam, creating the uncommon teachings. When Buddhism reached Tibet, the Vajrayana teachings were created, becoming the most advanced level in Buddhism.

“The Vajrayana teachings help to transform the ordinary mind into the extraordinary mind,” Ven. Wangchuk said. “The mind is the king of our life, whatever our mind thinks and believes, our bodies will follow. The mind is the leader of everything.”

“There is a teaching for everything,” Padme said. “There’s a different teaching for every individual really, that’s the really beautiful part about the Vajrayana tradition. Some people might not like ritual type practices, some might have a hard time just sitting on a cushion and meditating. For every type of person, there is a different practice that will more attract them and be more beneficial to them, so there’s something for everyone.”

Anyone interested in attending any of the events being held this week can go online to http://www.EwamKusumLing.com or call (707) 599-4997. In addition to the upcoming classes being offered, there is a free Shamatha group meditation at the Arcata Veterans Hall every Thursday from 6:00-6:50 pm.

“I’ve been practicing Buddhism for close to 15 years,” Attorney Paul Warner said. “The meditation practice and Buddhist view really assist with gaining a center of awareness and not becoming distracted by all of the worldly concerns. It’s a paradox, we think we have to stay busy and be on top of things, but sometimes just making space and taking time and centering, things flow much more easily.”

“I used to have to go to Colorado, Southern California, or Leggett for teachings,” Warner said. “Now we have a local center here in Humboldt which is really nice.”

Wednesday, October 4, 2017
Defending the title

By | Charlotte Rutigliano

According to Recreation and Administration professor Gen Marchand, the challenge started in 2013 with only about 10 participating schools. This year, there are 92 colleges and universities across the nation participating in the challenge.

“Last year was the first year HSU participated, and we won,” Marchand said.

HSU won about three thousand dollars worth of North Face camping gear. Any HSU student can rent the gear for free, minus a small cleaning fee.

Marketing professor Nancy Vizenor said events like this are really great for HSU, and that it’s good for both students and the school to be involved in a competition like this.

“So many of our students are attracted to HSU because of the amazing outdoor experiences,” Vizenor said, “so if potential students who enjoy time outdoors see that HSU is apart of this challenge, they may feel sure that the university will offer experiences they desire.”

Students preparing to hit the water. Photo credit: Charlotte Rutigliano

Marchand said there is an outdoor for everyone, that going for a walk in the park is the same thing as mountain biking.

“There’s a point system that has many layers,” Marchand said. “Most things are either five or ten points, but you get more points for being in groups, or participating in school-sponsored activities.”

Activities like last Sunday’s Paddlefest, a school-sponsored event that took place at the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center in Eureka.

Students preparing to hit the water. Photo credit: Charlotte Rutigliano

The event allowed students and community members to use paddle boards, kayaks and canoes for free. Each person who logged their activity on the Outdoor Nation app gained ten points for participating in a paddle sport. Center Activities also set up hammocks, which would add an additional five points. Participants also gained more points for either having three or more people in the photo, sharing the post on either Facebook or Twitter, and indicating that it was a school-sponsored event.

Students who have signed in and are waiting to get on the water. Photo credit: Charlotte Rutigliano

Because of Paddlefest, HSU was able to pass CSU Sacramento and move into third place, with the point total currently at 86,314. HSU is trailing behind second-place Texas Woman’s University by almost seven thousand points.

You can join the challenge by downloading the Outdoor Nation app. The challenge ends on October 15th.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017