The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Category: Opinion

  • New Netflix series ‘Thirteen Reasons Why” sparks controversy

    New Netflix series ‘Thirteen Reasons Why” sparks controversy

    By Erin Chessin

    Last month, Netflix turned Jay Asher’s New York Times Bestseller, “Thirteen Reasons Why”, into a popular new series, but not everyone is excited about the outcome. The show has received high ratings and critical acclaim for its cinematography, but people are having different interpretations based on whether they read the books prior to watching the series. Those who have only watched the series are not grasping the brutal struggle with mental illness compared to those who read the books–the extreme differences between the series and Asher’s 2007 novel are apparent.

    The biggest changes are within the main character’s portrayal, Hannah Baker, something fans of the book are displeased with. Netflix’s “Thirteen Reasons Why” tells the story of a high school teenager, Clay Jensen, who finds a box of tapes mysteriously on his doorstep one day. He listens to the tapes, which turn out to be a recorded suicide confession from Baker, who committed suicide two weeks prior. There are thirteen tapes, each are meant for a specific person who contributed to her decision to take her own life.

    Grace Hall, a freshman environmental science major at HSU, is disappointed to see various differences between the series and the novel she admires.

    “The series portrayed the story a lot differently,” said Hall. “People are watching it and are not having the right discussions about it later.”

    Hall believes Baker is depicted as “whiny” and “a drama queen” in the series, which is not the same character she remembered from the book.

    “It doesn’t highlight the fact that she has a mental illness,” said Hall. “In fact, it’s never even mentioned that she was depressed.”

    Some argue Netflix changed too much within the plots, characters and storytelling. For example, the story is told by Jensen in the TV series, whereas Baker narrates all thirteen episodes in the novel. Also, Jensen and Baker are not close in the book, but they are undeniably friends in the series.

    Taylor Walters, a freshman business major at HSU, did not read the novel and said she did have a good impression of Baker’s character.

    “What I gathered from the show was that she blamed everyone else for her problems when she was the one who caused them,” said Walters.

    Walters said the issues that Baker dealt with are common and happen to a lot of teenagers.

    “Watching this made me angry,” said Walters. “These are things that happen to a lot of high school kids.”

    HSU senior and environmental science major, Andie LeDesma, is upset with how Baker is portrayed on the show.

    “Because they didn’t mention that the girl had a mental illness, I wouldn’t be surprised if people said she was whiny or overdramatic,” said LeDesma. “A person who has depression is going to react differently to bullying versus a person who doesn’t have depression.”

    LeDesma believes it is important for Netflix viewers to be aware of the main character’s mental illness, otherwise the story gets misconstrued.

  •  Enough talking, time for action

     Enough talking, time for action

    By | The Lumberjack Editorial Board

    It should not have taken the murder of David Josiah Lawson for the City of Arcata and the HSU community to take the threats of safety to our students of color seriously.

    City of Arcata, HSU, Lawson is not your only failure. For every year students of color are denied simple amenities like housing based on their skin tone, for every semester a minority student feels ostracized and forced out by the community, and for every day a minority student is afraid to walk down certain streets, the City of Arcata, and Humboldt County, and HSU have all failed.

    The community has a tendency to ignore concerns deemed uncomfortable, like discussing racial tension. Sure, we talk. At HSU we have many race talks, annual social justice summits, and quarterly forums addressing racial discrimination. But talking is not enough.

    The Lumberjack is calling upon HSU to institute new offices devoted to community integration and student safety within the community. It is time to act, not again wait to react.

    Talking, alone, doesn’t address the problem. It does little more than create a short-term unresolved conversation about an issue that continues from one generation to the next.

    Racial discrimination in our community is recorded, protested, and still left unchanged. We have been conversing for years now. It is time for HSU and the community to stop shying away from the real struggles people of color in the community face. We must call out discrimination when we witness it and make a firm stance against discrimination.

    Despite eye-witness testimonials, Josiah’s killer Kyle Zoellner is not charged with a hate crime. Zoellner does not need to be crucified as a radical white supremacist, but we can at least stop ignoring the systematic racisms that corrupts police departments and communities.This was no simple assault. This was a racially motivated attack.

    Too often change follows tragedy, instead of the other way around. Murder shouldn’t have been the cause that made the community pause and realize the harsh reality of living as a minority in an isolated region, low in diversity. The bubble HSU has long fought to exist in has been irrevocably popped.

    *Updated 4/27/2017

  • A procrastinators guide to research

    A procrastinators guide to research

    Mastering research papers

    By|Domanique Crawford


    We are about two weeks from finals and despite your major, I know you have a research paper of some sort due. Your professor has been warning you for weeks now that the paper is due soon and like the typical procrastinator, you have decided to wait the last minute to write four or more pages of research.


    But hold on, you realize you can’t BS this paper like you have done all of the others. Research papers have built-in BS detectors. Parentheticals, citations, works cited, and those pesky little things called annotated bibliographies keep even the sturdiest of procrastinators on their toes.  To those of you who think you still have time to finish the complete, grammatically clean research paper, you are fooling yourselfs.


    Have no fear; I am going to share my secret tips with you that well help you at least BS as much as you can before actually having to dig deep and produce real work.
    You know how the professor will casually mention the librarians and how they can help your research? And then they actually bring in a librarian to show you how to use the database and answer any questions you may have.


    You go through this every semester.  You sit there, half listening to the conversation, wondering why you have to go through this same presentation in every class that requires a research paper.


    Well… that’s cause you need to pay attention. No. No. Actually, listen. My number one tip is to utilize those Liberians. They really know what they are talking about. Not only will they help you refine your topic to perfection, but they will also introduce you the library database. The database pops up legitimate sources instantly. Usually with the citation already laid out on the side in MLA, ALA, and Chicago, which you need to take advantage of because these new budget cuts to the library are no joke. These lazy boy tactics might not be so readily available in future semesters.
    I don’t know why people always hype up noodle bib as the go to citation generator. Yes, noodle bib provides a template, but you have to type in the information manually. Don’t nobody have time for that.

    Let me introduce you to tip number two. Eat, drink, breathe Son of Citation Machine. Lets face it, nowadays most of our sources come from the World Wide Web. Son of Citation Machine lets you put in the URL and will generate the source for you. If you don’t actually know that a parenthetical is, don’t worry Son of Citation Machines has your back on that as well. For the old school book users, it’s all good. The site includes all forms of media citation. Just plug in the ISBN number and Wala! A citation is made.


    Do you get confused about fragmented sentences, overuse of commas, or which, which, is witch? Don’t even waste your time trying to figure it out. Tip number three is a free handy tool called Grammarly.com. If you are anything like my brother who can comprehend the most complex mathematical formulas but is stuck taking a GRE class for credit that requires grammatical proficiency that just seems to escape him, then Grammarly.com will be your best friend. Not only does it point out the mistake and how to fix it, but it explains the error and how to correct it in the future.   


    Ummm … Who was it that said think smart, not hard?

  • Perception, bias, division and expression  

    Perception, bias, division and expression  

    By|Joe DeVoogd

    Hippy.  Redneck.  Sheltered.  Blow-hard.  Egg-headed.  Bat-shit.  One word can say it all:  Perception: how one views itself in relation to the other.  Labels inform our reality and that fact all too often goes unconsidered in our day to day.  It’s about time we revisited the whole subject in a time of such political inhospitality.  

    I can’t speak for everyone, but I don’t leave my front door thinking everything I know is wrong.  I like to think that my assertions are adequately rationalized.  Yet, presented with information that stands to challenge those assertions, it becomes far easier to dismiss than to discuss.  Perhaps this because we never want to be wrong, or maybe it’s the product of our binary sense of morality.  Let’s try not to get wrapped up in an epistemological quandary.  What we believe informs greatly our identity, how we express ourselves, how we present ourselves, and more importantly who we place our confidence in.

    We humans are creatures of curiosity.  When we don’t understand something, we seek to understand.  Man’s need to root out the truth, whatever the cost; to build upon a body of knowledge passed down for generations is how humanity moved out of the Dark Ages and into enlightenment.  There are those, however, who merely seek validation and not truth.  The types of people who will defend a demonstrably wrong idea just because it aligns with their philosophy. One will come up with a hypothesis, and run with it without testing it because the conclusion feels good.  This is called bias, and of this crime we’re all guilty.

    While we dispense arguments that don’t fit our world view, we can also discount the people that pose such arguments based on how they present themselves.  Is it just a coincidence that people in cliques tend to dress similarly?  You may see a die-hard conservative wearing Birkenstocks, but would that align with his identity?  Probably not.  In fact such a choice would likely estrange him from those who think like him, and lump him in with the “incorrect” thinking people.

    We all work from the bias of our perceptions.  It doesn’t matter what political stance you may take.  Prejudice can be applied socially as well as racially.  It’s happens when we stop perceiving others as complex sentient beings and start thinking of them as manifest attitudes, expressions and practices that run contrary to our personal point of view.

    We do it with our media as well. At least 35 percent of adult Americans say they get their news feed from social media. And Facebook and Twitter are perfectly designed for the cherry-picker in everyone.  The algorithm behind these sites learns what you pages you should subscribe to for the “news” you like, the people you will want to follow, and dismiss everything else.  This positive feedback effect, a by-product of our comfortability within our info-spheres, is further galvanizing the political ideologies further apart from each other, narrowing our perceptions.

    You may say that distancing yourself from people and news outlet that don’t fit your view is a win win.  The problem is that while this improves our ability to defend the ideas we agree with, it appears to dull the human instinct of healthy skepticism, and this has led to fanaticism on both sides of the aisle.  Find me a moderate politician that people can get excited enough about to win the White House today.  I’ll wait.

    The perfect storm hits when our perceptions of one another and our biases lead us to express our division from each other.  I don’t think I need to tell you that freedom of expression is increasingly becoming a touchy subject.  With violent protest breaking out between the far-right, and the far-left, snafus like the XL pipeline, Republican lawmakers are drafting anti-protesting legislation in 18 different states; abridging the liberty to express oneself freely and peacefully.  Our own president, has condemned protesters and equated news outlets like CNN and the Washington Post to tabloids.  You may argue that they’re trying to enact those laws to limit general disruption and destruction of property.  I get that.  Here’s the rub.  After these states enact these laws, what will happen when the political pendulum swings the other direction?  The right will want to express themselves peacefully, and they won’t be able to.  It’s not leveling the playing field, it’s repressing dissent, and that is an exercise in thought control.

    Ultimately we need reach out to one another, and indulge in other points of view occasionally.  Where we cannot reconcile our differences we must still seek to respect one another as people.  It benefits nobody to berate and lambaste people for the way they identify or how they express themselves.  If you ever catch yourself saying ‘Liberals are ____’ or ‘Conservatives are ____’ remind yourself that these are biased perspectives .  (Besides you haven’t met them all, have you?)

  • Women in Weed

    Women in Weed

    Cannabis industry take over

    By|Megan McDaniel

    It’s not just about blunts and babes when it comes to women in the cannabis industry. It’s about hard work, courage, strength, and determination of working in a field dominated by men. Surprisingly there are multiple cannabis companies in Humboldt County ran by women, who grow, harvest, and cultivate, all by themselves.

    It’s not easy to identify a woman grower since most of them don’t drive around in lifted trucks and flaunt their wealth. Instead most of them are everyday moms who have a special green thumb. The cannabis industry isn’t for every woman. The industry mostly operates on the black market which means pay is under the table and one may never know when it’s going to come and if it’s going to be the correct amount owed. 

    There are many cases that aren’t talked about where woman have been kidnaped, sexually assaulted, and even killed when they thought they were just going to trim in the hills. Brandie Wilson, co-founder of Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction which focuses on reducing harm through education and advocacy. Wilson also created Harm Hill Reduction to teach people how to be safe when working in the hills. This program gives tips like ask what the drug and alcohol policy is on the hill, bring friends, drive yourself, and tell someone in town where you are. People don’t realize the real risks they take going to an unfamiliar hill.

    The misconception that women are only trimers in the industry is not true. Companies like Space Gem Candy, Sarkara Cannabis Confections, Honeydew farms, Arcana Delights, and Humboldt Harvest are examples of companies owned and created by women. These women are healers  focused around providing clean medicine for all their patients. Most of these companies hire  women to help package, design, and distribute which keeps the local economy flowing. Woman get disrespected and not taken seriously in the industry which needs to stop. They have proved that they are strong and smart enough to work in the fields.

    Humboldt County even has it’s own Women’s Cultivating Community, “Women helping women, working together with the love for the cannabis plant to heal the community.”  The group has been together since 2015, and has expanded ever since. One of their supporters and promoters is our local dispensary Humboldt Patient Resource Center. The cannabis industry wouldn’t be where it is today if it weren’t for the females in our community.

    Woman make up a huge part of the cannabis industry which shouldn’t be taken for granted. So before you hire a woman to work for you remember she’s human too and has bills to pay.

     

  • HSU cultivation 

    HSU cultivation 

    More than a 4/20 education

    By | The Lumberjack Editorial Board

     

    What is the first words that come to mind when you think of Humboldt State University? While it should be environmentally-conscience, often HSU is associated with marijuana culture.


    Don’t let this issue’s dedication to 4/20, the nationally celebrated marijuana day, fool you. Although Humboldt county is a main hub of cannabis production, HSU isn’t as accepting of marijuana culture as our reputation suggests.

    HSU may not actively promote this image — But HSU doesn’t do a thing to stop it either. Students come here thinking that the cannabis culture of Humboldt County will extend to HSU’s campus. Students are shocked when they get fined, suspended or even expelled for possession of cannabis.


    Sure the HSU Student Rights and Responsibilities policy states that under federal law the sale or possession of marijuana are felonies carrying prison terms of seven years or more, but hey… HSU is located in the Emerald Triangle- the largest cannabis-producing region in the U.S. HSU collects on the persona of an accepting weed culture; a culture that attracts new students.


    HSU’s conflicting views on marijuana was witnessed with the treatment of Christina DeGiovanni, a former HSU student and founder of Emerald magazine. In 2012, DeGiovanni was arrested for possession of marijuana sales, and being armed in the commission of a felony.  

    De Giovanni states in her first letter from the editor that the negative and ostracizing treatment she faced from HSU and the community during her trials encouraged her to start the magazine that embraces the stereotypes associated with cannabis users.  


    Not all look to weed culture as positively as Humboldt residents. Critics reject HSU as a serious academic university because of the casually flaunted 4/20 culture. While we are known for our Green initiatives, we are still mocked for being influenced by the marijuana industry that throttles Humboldt County.


    If we want to be taken more seriously as a top University to potential students, we have to do more to address the stereotype that HSU is only about the weed. It attracts students to an area where they feel they will be welcomed into the throws of Humboldt Counties cannabis culture, often a risky and even dangerous endeavour.

    Yes, Humboldt County heavily thrives on the Marijuana industry but HSU is more than just a community of growers, trimmigrants, and stoners. It is irresponsible and flat wrong for a university to benefit from a generalization about its campus, while simultaneously ignoring and demonizing that generalization. Weed: Either love it or hate it HSU.

  • HSU’s 4/20 Fame

    HSU’s 4/20 Fame

    Exaggerating stereotypes of Humboldt and it’s cannabis culture

    By|Domanique Crawford

    “Are you going to Humboldt just so you can smoke weed?”

    My friend- who for none-embarrassment purposes we will just call Jane- asked me when I announced what school I was transferring to.

    Jane’s reaction wasn’t surprising or even uncommon. Anyone I mentioned my school choice to immediately connected HSU with the thriving cannabis industry in Humboldt County. This became an annoying phenomenon, to say the least.

    Some people where even scandalized by my choice of schools, and would jokingly [I’m pretty sure] say that I had to be careful or else I will stumble across a weed farm in the Redwood forest and get shot. My friends and family members, had dramatic interpretations of the HSU student and community lifestyle assuming that anyone in the county is either involved in the weed industry or is a pothead.

    Before I started to attend, I carried some of those crazy misconceptions about HSU being all about cannabis with me. Outside of Humboldt County smoking marijuana was this taboo thing that you did behind closed doors. I was a little ashamed to mention that I was attending HSU just because of all of the stoner stereotypes that captivate HSU image and the quickness people immediately associated HSU to marijuana.

    I don’t know if it’s because of the 21 century’s obsession with legalizing weed, or the fact that HSU is within the Emerald Triangle, but HSU’s 420 friendly attitude pushes to pass the university’s green initiatives and its well-celebrated environmental science programs. People were not interested to hear that I was attending HSU because of its affordability and I respect the strong student force of social activism. Everyone felt the need to reduce HSU cannabis industry that surrounds HSU and not on what makes HSU a great university.

    Being inside of the Humboldt community brings on a new understanding of the marijuana industry located here. Residency of the community isn’t only a collection of people consumed with running marijuana organizations. In fact, marijuana is medicinal staple product, like talking about aspirin.

    Despite what people may believe, the county isn’t overrun with homeless stoners trying to sell weed. The industry is taken very seriously and enacted in a professional manner.  You have to get a doctor’s recommendation and everything.

    There is the occasional trimmigrant who will stop you on the street to ask you if you want to buy marijuana, but a simple no will have them moving on their way. Students shouldn’t feel ashamed of attending HSU and when someone attempts to reduce our university  to nothing but cannabis culture, correct them with whatever motivates you to attend HSU.

     

  • Defeating deficits and defunding students

    Defeating deficits and defunding students

    By | The Lumberjack Editorial Board

    When the word deficit gets tossed about in a college environment, you already know that the students are going to get the raw end of the deal once it’s time to make up for losses.

    One of HSU’s greatest marketing tools is that they can advertise affordability over other campuses. With a plan that implements a 5 percent tuition fee increase by fall 2017 and $5 billion cut to higher education in the proposed 2018 federal budget, the cost of education for the Humboldt State student is rising. Students can’t afford to handle the consequences of a $6 million budget deficit.


    There are two problems with the University Resources and Planning Committee’s [URPC] plan to balance the budget. Phase one and Phase two. Both phases are set to make students suffer.


    Phase one is an $800,000 cut from personnel. These cuts are no doubt going to start with eliminating student jobs. Outside of the Humboldt State [HSU] campus, finding a job in the small town communities of Humboldt County is near impossible.

    Student workers depend on HSU to provide accessible jobs. Dismissing student jobs will devastate the student economy. Not only are university employers more willing to accept first-time job seekers, the faculty and administration understand the stress of maintaining a student schedule that outside employers don’t.


    Although the athletics department accounts for nearly $1 million of the deficit, the UPRC hasn’t yet revealed a plan to fix athletics budget. A monitoring system for athletics has been put in place by President Rossbacher, however no concrete changes to athletics have been proposed. Colleges glorify the sports life and hesitate to make budget cuts to a department that draws in money.


    However, the athletics department carves out a big chunk of the deficit, and yet, the administration is quick to cut funds to our student financial support and academic programs. The URPC’s phase two is a tentative plan set to cut funds from instructional/academic colleges, student services, administration costs, and Information Technologies.


    We have eight years of an increasing deficit, a growing student housing crisis, and rising issues of food insecurity: And HSU wonders why there is a declining student enrollment rate.

    HSU administration may not want to comment on the challenges facing our university, but students are smart enough to do the research, and it is evident that our college is in need of a reality check.

     

  • Catching senioritis

    Catching senioritis

    A disease afflicting 90 percent of seniors

    By|Chelsea Medlock

    After midterms are submitted, seniors at universities and colleges may suffer from senioritis. Symptoms of senioritis include laziness, short temper, irritation, and high stress rates. Senioritis is so important to discuss because it marks a pivotal point in the lives of young adults. Senior status students now have 100 percent control over setting where and what their occupation, shelter, and lifestyle standards will be.

    For some, senioritis is finally settling down with family.

    “I will give birth to my daughter this August after I graduate. I have a great support system as I watch all the beauty unfold”, Nicole Campos.

    College and university will change the lives of student across the world this May. Campos plans to spend more time with her new family in Humboldt County now that she will no longer be a college student.

    Other issues began to take priority before students can walk across the stage. College is a business that does not make education cheap or easy to pay for. Constant increase in annual tuition can be expensive while you work on making it to the finish line. Every college student’s experience varies and some are better than others. Making it important to recognize the causes of senioritis and combat them.

    “We are all in the same boat struggling to succeed, whatever it means to “succeed” I’m just not ready for Sallie Mae to take money I don’t even have yet.”, says Josh Allen, Environmental Science.

    Money becomes the main factor in solving most students issues through senioritis.

    “The cloak of the beauty of college dissipates and you realize diplomas don’t make a huge difference when it comes to hard work, but thinking it will,  is naive.”, says Roger Ezri.

    Ezri, a Brookyln, New York naive will return to BK shortly after getting his degree in Biochemistry and Botany because he has outgrown Humboldt. He never wants to move back in with his parents  and is working on getting his own housing and new job.

    Talk to you advisor if you believe you have symptoms of senioritis this year.

     

  • Defunding women’s rights

    Defunding women’s rights

     

    By|Domanique Crawford

    Don’t spit on my cupcake and call it frosting, don’t urinate on my leg and tell me it’s raining, and don’t make laws restricting my access to healthcare and claim it’s to protect my taxpayer money.

    On March 30, Vice President Mike Pence cast a tie-breaking vote on a measure that effectively defunds Planned Parenthood [PPFA]. The new legislation allows states to withhold federal funding from PPFA and other healthcare programs that provide abortion services.

    Congress first had to agree to rollback on Department of Health and Human Services rule established under the Obama administration that prohibited cutting funds from Title X family planning grants to community health centers because they offer abortion services.

    Despite what the new administration thinks, these programs are not secret baby killing factories. In fact, abortion services are only 3 percent of PPFA’s total services according to the PPFA fact sheet. Regardless of your feelings on abortion, defunding health clinics like PPFA means limiting women’s access to affordable healthcare.

    More and more the Trump administration and state lawmakers seem to be passing laws restricting women’s right under the guise of de-funding abortion services. When clearly, this is another strike against women’s right to equality.

    Even if critics of clinics like PPFA, are afraid of these programs using taxpayer money to fund abortion services, they could just as easily form greater stipulations and regulations monitoring the usage of such resources rather than then simply defunding it. As usually seen with this administration, they defunded another program without a clear plan in sight for all of the low-income people rejected healthcare services by the bill. An attitude that says the Trump administration doesn’t actually care about what happens to women.

    Lawmakers are using a highly controversial issue of abortion to push laws that subjugate women and classify us as second class citizens unable maintain our simplest values. The right to govern or own bodies.

    Pro-choice is simply your right to choose. I respect pro-lifers decision to have a child despite the physical harm the pregnancy can cause the mother, the mental and physical conditions of the baby, and the determination to have a child despite the circumstance of conception through natural conception or through sexual assault.

    I don’t condone pro-lifers forcing their ideals on the rest of us by threatening our access to healthcare. Pro-lifers are free to make that choice for themselves. However, to enforce those options on someone else is barbaric. What’s worse, is punishing women who depend on these Title X services for access to pregnancy care other than abortions, contraceptives, STD/STI testing and treatment, etc.

    If the government were really worried about protecting taxpayer money rather than restricting women’s right, then they would have installed greater measures that guarantee taxpayer money isn’t going towards paying for abortion services. That is what regulatory agencies are for.

     

  • A letter to the non-racist people

    A letter to the non-racist people

    by Alexandria Hasenstab

    Congratulations on not being racist! We know resisting your natural instinct to be racist is no easy task. You deserve to be acknowledged for all the non-racist things you do.

    Do like Drake, Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar? Everyone knows that if you enjoy black performers you can’t possibly be racist. You might even try becoming knowledgeable about black culture. Everyone is copying style, dance, words and music from black culture anyways. If you’re able to name all four aspects of hip hop culture, but you’ve never shown support for the black community, it’s okay, mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery.

    Maybe you eat tacos or even venture out and try mexican candy, you know, the spicy kind. Afterall, if you enjoy aspects of another race’s culture, then you’re not racist.

    And if you went so far as to acquire a friend that is a different race than you, then you get double points. They might not be your best friend, maybe they’re a friend of a friend who you would never hang out with one-on-one, but hey, it counts.

    Have you ever told an Asian person they should be better at math or piano or karate? I mean come on, that’s not racist, those are positive stereotypes.

    Maybe you’ve walked by a Muslim person and didn’t put your head down in an extremely awkward manner, maybe you even managed a smile. Well pat yourself on the back cause you deserve it.

    Do you like to make negative comments about white people? That’s okay because reverse racism doesn’t exist, so we can forget about individual people’s feelings.

    You’ve used the hashtag #alllivesmatter? Of course it wasn’t to take the focus off an oppressed group and make it about yourself, it’s because you truly so not racist that you care about everyone equally. It’s so unfair to focus on one problem at a time. I mean how can we ethically have a breast cancer awareness month when all illnesses matter.

    You slept with a person of color? You are definitely not racist. Everyone knows that having sex with someone and then telling everyone about it is the ultimate sign of respect.

    So once again, congratulations on not being racist. Go on and tell the world, because nothing says “I’m not racist” like repeatedly telling people that you’re not racist.

     

    Sincerely,

    Your conscience

     

    P.S.

    You might not be racist because racism is a social system, not an individual’s characteristic, but you are most likely prejudice. All sarcasm aside, we have to acknowledge our own prejudice in order to become more open-minded and accepting people. You should not be congratulating yourself for not being blatantly racist. Becoming defensive when prejudice is brought up will not make you less prejudice. Claiming that you are not racist will not make you less prejudice. Admitting that you are prejudice and being conscious of what factors have caused you to be prejudice is the first step to change.

     

  • Letter to the editor: published memes

    Letter to the editor: published memes

    Dear Editor,

    As I sat down Sunday to read the latest issue of The Lumberjack, I was dismayed at the end of the paper. The meme on page 11 of the Wednesday March 22 print was demoralizing. It serves as an excellent example of reinforcing negative racial stereotypes. A meme image was printed with a stereotyping context giving a drug dealer type feel with a caption of broken grammar. It read, “Yall got any more of that Spring Break?” as an attempt at humor. It’s bad enough that this made it to print at all. It’s worse that it appears right next to an article titled Act Like a Man: Reinforcing Negative Gender Roles by Dominique Crawford directly on the previous page!

    I hope I was not the only person to spot this obvious disgrace. The meme promotes the same type of demeaning stereotype thinking that is discussed in Crawford’s article, the only differences being that it involves race rather than gender roles and it uses a light hearted meme setting rather than common verbal expressions. I feel disgusted as this paper is a representation of Humboldt State University, the school I attend and have a strong connection to, and the editors allowed this to be printed. This simply promotes racial labelling that goes back through this country’s long history, a complex history inarguably tainted throughout with many past and present examples of discrimination and propagation of racial hierarchical structures.

    Please work more diligently in the future to prevent such content from getting to print. I write this not seeking to patronize, condescend, or humiliate those involved. I hope this letter may open people to a new perspective on the fine line that, unfortunately but so often, exists between humor and offensiveness.

    Sincerely,

    Ian Osipowitsch

    HSU Junior

  • Letters from Pelican Bay

    Letters from Pelican Bay

    When I first got interested in the criminal justice system, I began following community leaders throughout the nation who were involved in the reform movement. One person I began following was Glenn E. Martin, founder and president of JustLeadershipUSA and a formerly incarcerated individual. JustLeadershipUSA is an organization committed to cutting the U.S. correctional population in half by 2030. Their mission is to empower the people most affected by incarceration to drive policy reform. One of their biggest campaigns was #closeRikers, which was a battle to close Rikers Island, New York City’s main jail complex. It is a facility notoriously known for its brutal treatment and violation of human rights. As Kerry Kennedy, president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, stated, “Rikers Island is a whirlpool of poverty, incarceration, and injustice.”

    Throughout Rikers Island history, there have been many cases and controversies regarding conditions and treatment. One case involved Kalief Browder who was arrested for stealing a backpack. Since he was underage during his arrest he was placed in solitary confinement for his ‘protection.’ After serving 3 years, he was released without charge, but it was clear his incarceration had took a toll on his overall well being. He failed his first suicide attempt shortly after his release. Unfortunately, after a second attempt he ended his life.

    While his case is not reflective of all cases, it does serve as an example of the faults at Rikers Island and in our criminal justice system as a whole.

    After years of advocating, organizing, and protesting JustLeadershipUSA celebrated a victory this past Friday, March 21, when New York City’s mayor Bill de Blasio vowed to close the facility.

    “It will take many years. It will take many tough decisions along the way, but it will happen,” de Blasio said at a City Hall press conference.

    While no specifics were given, Mayor de Blasio did say it would take roughly 10 years to close the detention facility and it would require reducing the jail population.

    So why does something that happened across the country matter to us?

    Personally, it serves as inspiration and on a larger scale it provides a model for us to follow. California currently has 123 county jails which are used to house inmates awaiting trial or those who are sentenced to one year or less. Our jails like many across the nation are overcrowded with mentally ill inmates or people awaiting trial simply because they cannot afford bail or solid legal representation. Over 12 million people funnel through our jails annually and if California is rethinking prisons, it must rethink jails.

    Right now, the goal of majority of criminal justice reform advocates along with JustLeadershipUSA is to cut the incarcerated population in half by 2030. That is going to take some serious coalition building and community organizing which the citizens of New York engaged in. Reducing incarceration in jails and prisons requires addressing homelessness, education, public benefits, employment, and the stigmatization of formerly incarcerated individuals. If New York can successfully close down its largest jail, then California can begin to close down its local jails.

  • Editorial: Promising free education

    Editorial: Promising free education

    By | The Lumberjack Editorial Board

    Hope is in sight. Despite the new Presidential administration’s barrage of legislation that raises the cost of higher education, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). re-introduced the College for All Act.

    Sanders’ 2015 dream of tuition-free education came a step closer to reality. Along with Sanders, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representatives Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) presented the bill on April 3.

    Although a glimmer of hope exists, we still have to be wary of the reality of the state of politics. The power has changed hands from Democrats to Republicans. Democrats passing legislation with a Republican House and Congress seems unlikely. Republicans are flexing their power by enacting their educational standards and repealing any policies adopted or created under the Obama administration.

    As promised, the College for All Act makes all community colleges tuition-free and offers free public tuition at four-year colleges and universities for students earning less than $125,000 a year. The bill calls for the federal government to pay 67 percent of tuition subsidies, leaving state and tribal governments to cover the last third of the cost. The bill also looks out for students already struggling with student loan debt.  The bill cuts the government lending rate for new undergraduate borrowers to 1.88 percent and refinances loans for existing borrowers at lower rates as well.

    Republican and Democratic views on our education system are counterproductive. The current GOP’s proposed budget cut of $9 billion to the Department of Education eliminates chances for low-income students to earn a college education. These policies snatch the money away from students while the College for All Act gives it back with interest.

  • My Jeff Corwin Experience

    My Jeff Corwin Experience

    By | Ali Osgood

    Super-star naturalist Jeff Corwin walked out onto the stage at HSU’s Van Duzer Theatre to a cheering and excited crowd. Immediately, the child in me bubbled over and I was thrown back to my younger years when the world was for exploring and Jeff Corwin was showing me how. This particular evening would be very similar, only my childhood hero would be talking less about exotic animals and instead be tackling climate change.

    Corwin visited HSU this past Saturday as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series: Tales From the Field. He is an emmy award winning television host and wildlife biologist who has been on the Discovery Channel, CNN, Disney Channel, NBC, Animal Planet, and even the Food Network. Currently he is the host of the television show “Ocean Treks”, but he is best known for his show in the early 2000s, “The Jeff Corwin Experience”.

    I grew up watching Corwin travel the world talking about wild animals and nature. I have looked to him for guidance as an adult conservationist, and he has inspired my wonder for the natural world. I had been looking forward to seeing him in person for the first time in my life, and anticipated he would give the crowd something to walk away with.

    “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors,” Corwin said. “We borrow it from our children.”

    Corwin spent over three hours talking and answering questions about his career and his concerns on climate change. He reminded the audience of the dangers it poses to our planet. But unlike so many climate change talks I have witnessed, Corwin had a sense of optimism despite the alarming figures he shared.

    He used multiple examples of endangered species to move through his points. He profiled species that were on the brink of extinction that recovered because of the efforts of humans. Corwin seems to believe that with the right amount of passion and scientific approach that humankind can slow climate change and save wildlife.

    “We can do amazing things,” Corwin said. “I don’t think conservation is about politics. You can look at incredible conservation stories, successful and disastrous, that happened from both [political parties].”

    Throughout the evening Corwin took the audience through his life as a television host. I have always loved the energy and sense of humor Corwin has brought to his adventures, and to hear about what was going on behind the scenes was very special.

    The charismatic television host spoke for about an hour before taking questions from the audience. As the night pressed on, he continued taking questions until he had answered every last one, over 25 personal questions. Corwin did an excellent job combining inside facts about his life while inspiring his audience to continue defending the environment.

    “The best thing you can do is begin in your community,” Corwin said. “Find some level of passion in whatever you do.”

  • Letter to the editor: cruel & unusual punishment

    Letter to the editor: cruel & unusual punishment

    Dear Editor,

    The bill of rights is only partially followed according to the intention of the founding fathers. The freedom of speech is followed. So is the right to bear arms ( thanks to the NRA ). But the right not to be given cruel and unusual punishment is not being followed. Ask anyone who has been to prison if cruel and unusual punishment was meted out to them, and you will get a resounding yes from them. The Supreme Court does not legislate from the bench. Cases must be brought to them for them to make a ruling. The Constitution is a living document, and what was cruel and unusual in 1780 is different than what is cruel and unusual in 2017. Lawyers must bring a case regarding the right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment to the Supreme Court. A person sent to prison for a short term can be murdered in prison. It happens. Is that cruel and unusual punishment to subject a person in prison to death? All it would take to end cruel and unusual punishment would be for a Lawyer to bring a case about cruel and unusual punishment to the Supreme Court, and get a ruling. Clearly the prison system is delivering cruel and unusual punishment to prisoners. Ask anyone who has been in prison if they received cruel and unusual punishment. Their answer will be yes. That is my opinion, and my plan to fix the problem, if anyone else agrees with me, tell someone, write letters, emails, make phone calls. Exercise your right to free speech. That right is respected and observed. Let’s respect and observe all of our rights. Remember, the power for the Government to exist comes from the people. Let the Government know that we want all of our rights protected, not just a select few.
    Philip T Feraru

  • Editorial: Where is our President?

    Editorial: Where is our President?

    By | The Lumberjack Editorial Board

    Oh where, oh where, oh where in the world is Humboldt State University President Lisa A. Rossbacher? President Rossbacher has been at best unavailable, and at worst dismissive and non communicative with The Lumberjack. The Lumberjack works to engage with and provide a voice for the HSU community.

    By deciding not to engage with The Lumberjack, Rossbacher is deciding not to engage with her campus community.
    As the president of Humboldt State University, Rossbacher is in charge of supporting the campus community. A key component of delivering that support is communicating with and being available to the campus media.

    Just like any governmental official, Rossbacher is held accountable to the public through the media.

    The Lumberjack has time and time again reached out to Rossbacher for comments on the ongoing athletic deficit, the recent tuition hike, and even parking with not one response.

    The Lumberjack is not only a media outlet but a mandatory class for all Journalism majors. Shutting out The Lumberjack also shuts out the 40 students who take the class every semester from having an opportunity to complete well-sourced, informative stories.

    In doing this, she fails to reinforce HSU’s mission to support its students educational opportunities.
    Failing to communicate with the media distorts the facts, it leaves people confused, and it fails to promote transparency — the chief responsibility of a community’s leader.
    On occasion, we students gather and sing, shout and even march to support the issues that are important to us; however, the one thing that has been missing during all this time is the voice of our university leader President Rossbacher.
    The Lumberjack staff would like to hear from President Rossbacher. The student body deserves a chance to hear from the president within the pages of its own, historic newspaper.
    We need a president that is present.

    One that shows up for the student body not only in making policy, but in communicating what steps, if any, are being taken to protect students and Humboldt State University’s values.

  • Letters from Pelican Bay

    Letters from Pelican Bay

    by | Tania Mejia

    Last week, the Sociology Department hosted the Criminal Justice Dialogue, which was a week full of events covering issues related to incarceration. This years topics included the impacts of incarceration on the family, employment and housing barriers for those with a criminal background, the importance of education, juvenile and reentry stories, and it ended with a community roundtable discussion. I had the privilege of attending each discussion, and I must say, what a week! There was a lot to learn from each presentation, but I was most moved when discussing education on the inside and outside.

    Kintay Johnson, assistant director of Extended Opportunity Programs and Services at College of the Redwoods, was one of the speakers at the event, and to say the man is inspiring is an understatement. Johnson is a charismatic, kind hearted and devoted member to his community. Five nights a week he visits Humboldt County Jail where he teaches college prep courses and plants or waters the seed of higher education in inmates’ minds.

    Prison University Project also joined the discussion and shared information about their mission, goals, programs and the impact they have had. Their mission is to provide college preparatory courses and higher education programs to people incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison. They have successfully created a network of teachers and volunteers who offer over 300 students 20 courses each semester in the humanities, social sciences, math, and science, as well as intensive college preparatory courses in math and English.

    In their presentations and in thinking about my prison pen pals I could not help but come back to the notion that knowledge is power, and that sharing knowledge is powerful. I also could not help but think of how taken for granted our college experience and resources are. The students who skip classes for unimportant reasons,or in professor terms ‘unexcused absences’, leave during class breaks, sit in their seat browsing the internet, scrolling through their phones, and completely disengaged from what is being presented to them come to mind. Personally, I do not care and trust me I have been guilty myself. After all, we are all choosing how to maximize our time while at this institution, but when I think about people in an institution that cages and locks them up with little access to education, that is when I care.

    I talk and write to inmates who would love the opportunity to sit in a classroom setting, exchanging ideas, and sharing their own. I will never forget something one of my pen pals once shared which was along the lines of I grew up knowing where Pelican Bay State Prison was, but not Humboldt State University. Moving forward we must end mass incarceration and begin a mass education movement. A movement that ends the school to prison pipeline and creates a prison to school pipeline.

    The need is there. Compared to other states California has one of the highest recidivism rates, and we know prison education reduces recidivism. A study funded by the Department of Justice found that people behind bars who participate in educational or vocational training are 43 percent less likely to return to prison once released. Yet, a report by the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates it costs an average of about $71,000 per year to incarcerate an inmate in prison with, but only $2,437 of that amount goes to academic education, cognitive behavioral therapy, and vocational training!

    What is most alarming is that compared to prison inmate costs, California is only spending roughly $8,000 to $11,000 per student pupil. I would argue education should be free, but until then we must help those who face many more barriers than those in the ‘free world’ do. I encourage everybody to take their education and skills beyond the outside to the inside, and look to organizations like the Prison Education Project, Prison University Project, Teach in Prison, and more. If there are no existing organizations in your area contact the facilities community resource manager or lieutenant and propose a class or program. If education lowers recidivism, then we need to educate and empower those behind bars to ensure they do not return, cost taxpayers money, and in the future we can allocate those funds towards higher education.

  • Act like a man

    Act like a man

    Reinforcing negative gender roles
    by|Domanique Crawford


    During Women’s History Month, there always seems to be a resurgence of  phrases circulating that hold the theme “act like a man.” These phrases express that woman should work to be more aggressive and rude rather than their usual sweet selves. These type of quotes are a disservice to both man and women.
    This kind of quote reinforces typical stereotypes facing males and females. That women are not as smart and as strong as men, that we are emotional homebodies. For men, these quotes install the idea that they always have to be in charge and always need to maintain strict control of their emotions.
    One of the popular quotes circulating the web is “look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a boss.” I have no idea when this quote started popping up. However, when I first read it, it instantly made me angry. One of those moments when blood rushes to your eyes and your heart starts beating to such dizzying speeds that if you don’t calm down, you are likely to pass out. It took me a while to dissect every single reason this particular phrase irritated me. 
    I’m not even going to touch on the little girl remark because the heart attack would be imminent. As to the rest, act how you want to act and think for yourself. If someone hates you for it, then they are not worth your time. These type of negative comparisons reinforce the idea that you have to adhere to certain gender roles and ultimately defeats the point such phrases are trying to inspire; to encourage women to feel free to be themselves no matter the judgment we face. 
    Each decade, women seem to do more and more to become more “manly”. Back in the day, the focus was on obtaining the status man held not conforming or adhering to specific gender roles. For the generations of women, this meant different things. In the 1920’s, women worked for the right to vote. In WWII, women were sent to work in factories. Shortly after this time, women allowed to be enlisted personnel in the military and never have we, in any of these situations, allowed ourselves to be seen as anything other than women.
    Women changed how the world looks at work relations, family relations, reproductive rights, and human rights. Women have brought about stability in a world that seems to be forever changing. We should celebrate our past and present achievements and not get caught up in false equivalencies that are counterintuitive to our goals. 


  • Editorial: Cutting College

    Editorial: Cutting College

    The Trump budget rejects low-income students

    By The Lumberjack Editorial Board

    The 2018 Trump administration budget is an utter catastrophe for college students. If you thought a 5 percent tuition fee increase was worrisome, well, look out. The cuts to the Department of Education alone will have you rethinking the decision to attend college altogether. 
    While the White House is holding up the promise to increase defense funding, the budget slashes programs that help college students. When you analyze the full impact of these cuts, things aren’t looking pretty for the low-income students.
    The budget slashes funds for the Federal Pell Grant, also known as FAFSA, by $3.9 billion. FASFA is the largest federal grant program according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The FAFSA program helps students and families making less than $40,000 a year. Because the FAFSA is a grant, students don’t have to repay the money or incur student loan debt. 
    Students count on the FAFSA to not only help with educational costs but also for their livelihood. For some, the Pell grant can mean anything from affording school supplies or food, to housing. Without the aid of FAFSA low-income students aren’t left with many options to fund their education and seek a better life. 
    If you were hoping to find help through the other programs within the educational system, unfortunately, the cuts don’t stop with FAFSA. In the Trump budget, the Department of Education stands to lose a total of $9 billion. The reductions concentrate on all of the programs intended to support low-income students. The budget eliminates the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program – another federally funded grant programs meant to help low-income students. The budget also reduces funding for the Federal Work-Study Program allocation and various college scholarship programs for both STEM and humanities majors.  These aren’t even the cuts that are going to cut funding to primary education. 
    College students with children are most impacted by the proposed cuts to federally funded after-school programs. The cut eliminates $1.2 billion from the budget allotted to the 21st century Community Learning Centers program which is responsible for before-and-after school programs. 
    On top of all of these cuts, the passing will mean that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos will succeed in getting taxpayers to fund charter schools and private school vouchers. The budget adds a $168 million for charter schools and puts away $250 million for “new private school choice program.” 
    If this Trump budget proposal is an initial outline for what could be, students and future generations should worry about the affordability of higher education. Without education, the low-income are left to rot in the bottom of the barrel. America was and is made great by the ability for those without money to become educated and seek the same life as those born into privilege. Taking away the only way many low-income students are able to attain education is paramount to erasing the American dream and replacing it with chains. 

  •  Attempts at a ‘Fake’ out

     Attempts at a ‘Fake’ out

    The new administration feuds with the media

    By| Domanique Crawford 


    You know Larry, right?
    Larry is the man you decide to take a chance on even though his past is sketchy. Larry says he respects woman but cheats on every woman he’s had a relationship with. Larry says he’s not racist but all immigrants are criminals here to steal jobs from hard-working Americans. Larry professes to be one of those hardworking Americans, and yet he’s never worked a hard day in his life. You don’t believe Larry but he sings his own praises with such frequency that you compare his actions to his words and find him lacking. You begin to question Larry. So Larry decides to break it off and tell everyone that you are just a crazy ex-girlfriend.
    President Donald J. Trump is the news media’s Larry except, this Larry is the Head of State, chief executive, and the legislative leader. 

    Every president’s approach in how they try to handle the media is unique. However, there has never been such a determined effort from the white house to discredit news organizations.
    Delegitimizing the media doesn’t stop the watchers from watching. It just makes us more suspicious. The media is considered the watchdog of the government and a tool to keep the public informed. The new administration’s consistent and unwarranted assaults on the media just make journalist more motivated to fact check every accusation they make and encourages the people to be more vigilant in watching both the press and the white house alike. 
    The new administration’s ploy is to make the media outlets that don’t favor them just another crazy ex- girlfriend, to discredit them in having some kind of crazy conspiracy to sabotage the president. 

    The media outlets that don’t fall in line with promoting the new administration’s agenda is classified as fake. The Media’s job is to report fairly and accurately on the facts. 
    Fake news used to be defined as purposely distributing knowingly false information. However, with every appearance of the Trump administration the term “fake news” is any negative news coverage on the presidency and the new administration. 
    The term is thrown around casually in a deliberate attempt to confuse the public. However, it is not the word of the media that has to be constantly checked for propagating false information. 

    From day one with his proclamations of the biggest inauguration crowds ever, to Kellyanne Conway’s criticisms of poor reporting on the non-existent Bowling Green Massacre, Trump and his administration contradict themselves on a regular basis.
    Larry may be able to confuse his short circle of friends that is dazzled by his performance but he is not able to hide the facts- alternative or otherwise. 

  • Editorial: What’s in your coverage?

    Editorial: What’s in your coverage?

    GOP presents the American Health Care Act

    If you are worried about obtaining health care insurance, well… you should be. After House Republicans faced a firestorm of criticisms for hiding away on the Hill to hash out their healthcare reform policies, Republicans finally introduced their version of health care reform last Monday, March 5. 
    The potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act, more popularly known as Obamacare, would leave college students at a disadvantage. We are still allowed to piggyback off of our parent’s insurance (if they have it) until we are 26 years old. However, for those who can’t, this measure creates additional expenses for college students. 
    As college students working in Humboldt County earning a minimum wage of $10.50 per hour, the possibility of affording health care coverage under the GOP’s American Health Care Act is unlikely. Obamacare tried to secure affordable healthcare for all and is by no means perfect, but instead of taking the time to fix the deficiencies, Republican’s “Obama-lite” healthcare system is wasting time and money.  
    While we are waiting for the new administration to learn the ins and outs of health care law, millions of people are at a standstill wondering how they are going to get and stay covered. 
    The bill wasn’t released with an analysis from the Congressional Budget office, and even conservative republicans are worried about the negative impact the measure could cause on the economy. The bill notes four key changes that shifts the fiscal burden from the government back to the people: Refundable tax credits, health saving accounts, block grants, and high- risk pools. These fiscal policies might sound like a dream solution — to those who can afford it. 
    Refundable tax credits is money the government is willing to give back to you. The problem with these credits is that they are based on age unlike Obamacare’s income-based regulation. Age does not dictate the severity of medical care cost. A refundable tax credit is insufficient cushion for the unexpected cost. Under this new bill, young adults are considered the less in need. The bill states just $2,000 are credited to individuals under 30 years of age.
    The new bill risks denying millions in coverage with its proposed block grants that would provide a fixed amount of money to states for their Medicaid programs. A fixed block of money that doesn’t rise with inflation, meaning that states might not be able supply coverage at the amount they have in the past.
    The GOP also sliped in a provision that would defund Planned Parenthood [PPFA]. At least 60 percent of Planned Parenthood patients use Medicaid or some other type of government based insurance according to PPFA. This means that if the program is defunded, all of these women would lose access to affordable health care. 
    Although people with pre-existing conditions will still be protected under the new bill, they will potentially have to pay more if they want to be insured. Insurance agencies will be allowed to increase the premium of those with pre-existing conditions while everyone else’s insurance rates are reduced.
    On top of all these new policies that would drain young adults pockets, the new bill includes a penalty for people who let their insurance lapse. The bill allows insurance agencies to raise their premiums 30 percent. This makes it hard for people to even try to regain coverage after losing it. All of these methods have been tested, tried, and found to be lacking in effectiveness. Obamacare was enacted in the first place as a solution to these problems. 
    While Obama care extended coverage to over 20 million people, the GOP’s health care plan seems to be ripping coverage out of the average American’s hands. The new healthcare reform bill may as well read: The poor, low-income, and persons with pre-existing conditions need not apply. 

  • Letters from Pelican Bay

    Letters from Pelican Bay

    By| Tania Mejia

    In August of 2016, the Department of Justice [DOJ] made an announcement claiming it would begin phasing out the use of private prisons. I clearly remember coming back to school and a number of people sharing their excitement and asking my personal thoughts on it.

    I would start off by saying yeah it was a great thing, but our number of private prisons was miniscule to the total amount of state and federal prisons in our nation. So while it seemed like a great accomplishment, federal private prisons only made up about 8% of our incarcerated population and in the end of December 2015 only housed 22,660 inmates according to an inspector general report. Also, this did not include state private prisons, which similar to our federal government are in the low percentages. I personally thought it would be a greater accomplishment had it been in regards to immigration detention centers, considering about two-thirds of them are privately owned. This is where it is worth mentioning, simply because it is called “detention center” does not mean it is not a prison. 

    Following the DOJ statement, stocks for private corporations such as Corrections Corporation of America, now Core Civic, and GEO Group, formerly Wackenhut,  plummeted. It seemed those who prioritize profits over people were concerned about the future of their investment. But this was not a clear win, and with such companies donating to Trump’s campaign it was expected that the fight was not over. Most recently, the Trump administration announced it will not uphold former Former Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates’ memo and that we will continue and increase our use of private prisons.

    The reason this is so concerning starts with looking at the models in which companies as CCA and GEO operate in. To ensure maximum capacity and profits, contracts are introduced where states are required to keep a certain percentage of beds full.  What are the problems with private prisons? Culture of violence, poor unsanitary conditions, health care, food, operational conditions, sexual abuse, If crime rates have been down in the past decade, how do we account for such usage of these facilities?

    Some contracts require 90 to 100% occupancy, which means if states don’t provide those numbers, they have to pay these companies for the unused beds. If not, increase the criminalization of everyday life. 

    Private prisons did not exist before the early 1980s when U.S. states and the federal government needed a solution to overcrowding in public prisons. But between 1990-2009 the number of people in private prisons increased by a massive 1600 percent. The business model of these companies essentially depends on locking up more and more people up.

    In its 2010 annual report to shareholders, CCA stated, “The demand of our facilities and services could be adversely affected by the relaxation of law enforcement efforts, leniency in conviction or parole standards and sentencing practices or through the decriminalization of certain activities that are currently proscribed by our criminal laws.” Because of these concerns, private companies spend a lot of money lobbying for policies which will benefit their pockets.

    How can we stop the use of private prisons? Unfortunately, we now have a president who is going to make any effort nearly impossible. But we know private prisons spend a lot of money on lobbying politicians there is hope. They all support governors, state legislators, and judges, which we all have a say in. This requires digging into local and state politics.

    I would encourage everybody to read “My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard” by Shane Bauer for Mother Jones. We have vulnerable populations in these facilities including juvenile and immigrant detainees. The problem spreads beyond America into countries like Africa, Australia, and more.  Our nation’s prison system is a failure on its own. Prioritizing profits over people does not serve community, families, and society, but only those who are invested.

    Any Orange is the New Black fans will be somewhat familiar with the problems that follow when public institutions turn to for profit companies. Fun fact, Management Correction Corporation (MCC) piggybacks off the real private prison company Management Training Corporation (MTC).