03.22.23

The Lumberjack

STUDENT BODY TO REACH 12,000 BY 2027, NO ENROLLMENT CAP PLANNED

by August Linton and Dezmond Remington

A CPH student population of over 14,000 people is possible by Fall 2027, according to the University Resources and Planning Committee. At a March 7 budget planning meeting, the committee showed projections based on current application and enrollment rates. Increases in enrollment are not limited to the far future. The University Resource and Planning Committee’s (URPC’s) baseline estimate for Fall 2023 enrollment is 7,449, and the high-end estimate is 8,068. CPH’s current student population as of Spring 2023 is only 5,739.

This far-outstrips the projected enrollment increases in the Cal Poly Prospectus released by the University amid the polytechnic transition.

Enrollment statistics are important to University administration, but also to the CSU system as a whole. If the University enrolls less students than

it’s funded for, the budget received from the CSU system is cut. For the 2023-24 school year, if enrollment doesn’t hit 6,843 students, the university stands to lose $3-3.4 million in state funds.

The quota for the 2024-25 school year is 7,071, and for the 2025-26 school year it’s 7,223.

Under-enrollment is not a problem unique to Cal Poly Humboldt.

The CSU is 7% under-enrolled, which is new to this year. Humboldt has been con-

sidered under-enrolled for years, but according to Amber Blakeslee, Executive Director of Finance and Budget, the past year has seen the first year-over-year growth in a while.

Provost Jen Capps fielded questions from incredulous members of the university community, many of whom asked about the already overstressed housing capacity of Humboldt County.

Housing issues are at the forefront of university discourse following February’s controversy about on-campus housing availability and subsequent protests.

Community revives Indigenous seafaring craft

by Valen Lambert

Mind’s Eye is more than just a charming cafe in the center of Ferndale’s downtown. It’s also home to the Manufactory, a makerspace that cafe-goers can watch through glass as artists and craftspeople work on projects. Right now, there is a community at work building a 27-foot-long Unangan canoe called a nigilax̂

Longtime woodworker Marc and his wife Leah Daniels are the owners of Mind’s Eye Manufactory and Coffee Lounge. For several years, Marc Daniels has been collaborating with Unangax̂ to host apprenticeships on the crafting of iqyax̂, or the traditional kayaks of the Unangax̂ people of Alaska’s Aleutian islands. However, this nigilax̂ build is something entirely different.

The nigilax̂ has not been built in the nearly two centuries since Russian fortune seekers invaded Unangax̂ villages, enslaving the people and cutting off all chances of escape by destroying their nigilax̂ fleet and anyone with the knowledge to build one. Two centuries

later the Daniels, Unanga dants, Wiyot Tribe members, and other non-Native community members are putting together the missing pieces.

Some Russian invaders sketched pictures of these boats in the ship’s log. In a few instances, actual draftsmen were on board these invading ships, documenting some of the details of how these vessels were put together. Some of this information was found in the least expected places.

Marc Daniels was doing some work with the Museum of the Aleutians, which had retrieved 1,500 year old kayak parts that some mummies had been buried with.

“But then there were these odd parts,” says Daniels. “And turns out, after looking at them for a while, we realized that they were nigilax̂ ribs from that era 1,500 years ago.”

The project and its materials have the blessing and approval of the Wiyot. The wood was combed from beaches in Humboldt and Alaska, like the 27-foot-

Raw suffering and misery on two wheels, all the way to paradise

150 miles on a motorcycle in a storm is no picnic

by Dezmond Remington

When the time came to contort myself into a freezing ball of misery in my wet sleeping bag on my trail mix pillow in the shittiest new tent Gold Beach’s finest outdoor store had to offer, I was more than ready to end the whole damn thing and go home.

I figured a camping trip on my motorcycle up the Oregon coast would be the best way possible to spend my spring break. Ocean views, cheap campgrounds, and my lust for just getting the hell away from everything for a little while was just about all I needed to convince myself that it would be fun. And it was—for about the first ten minutes I was on the road. It was raining out there, raining like I’d better quit

and build an ark instead.

Riding motorcycles in the rain is a good time, to be sure, but good god is it dangerous. Not to mention uncomfortable. And soul-draining. Doing something that is dangerous and uncomfortable and soul-draining for any amount of time is hard, let alone for hours on end. By the time I got to Crescent City, I was a wreck, and thanking God I didn’t get into one as well. I drank three cups of coffee and ate a stack of wimpy pancakes at the Denny’s, all the while getting sideyed by the poor waitresses who would have to clean up the ankle deep puddle my leather jacket and jeans left on their polyester chair covers. I dumped out an inch of standing water

from both of my boots in the bathroom and almost had an aneurysm trying to force myself to put them back on. They squished every time I took a step and leaked more water than a dollar store fish tank. It took everything I had to swing an anemic leg over the saddle and go north.

The scenery on the southern Oregon coast is unparalleled—except by the scenery in the middle of the coast and the scenery on the northern part of the coast—and that was the whole reason I had set out on this journey in the first place. It was a killing blow to my morale when I realized I was too cold and sopping to enjoy any of the reasons I was riding the motorcycle in the first

place. Very little provided me joy on the desolate and throat-ripping run from Arcata to Humbug mountain—not the cartwheeling delight of tipping a 432 pound machine so close to the ground I could’ve kissed it while blasting around a cliff corner at mach jesus, not a king’s view of the infinite churning sea off to my left, not even the pleasure of being back in my home state for the first time in months. I was in for a very long day.

long Sitka spruce now serving as the base of the nigilax.

Photo courtesy of Mike Ferguson | The skinning of the nigilax̂.

The Lumberjack

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:

AUGUST LINTON

MANAGING EDITORS:

ANGEL BARKER

CAMILLE DELANY

NEWS EDITOR:

DEZMOND REMINGTON

LIFE & ARTS EDITOR:

NINA HUFMAN

SCIENCE EDITOR:

HARRISON SMITH

SPORTS EDITOR:

JAKE KNOELLER

OPINION EDITOR:

CAMILLE DELANY

PHOTO EDITOR:

ALEX ANDERSON

COPY EDITOR:

JASMIN SHIRAZIAN

LAYOUT EDITORS:

AUGUST LINTON

ANGEL BARKER

CAMILLE DELANY

NINA HUFMAN

DEZMOND REMINGTON

WEB EDITOR:

ANGEL BARKER

DELIVERY DRIVER:

JASMYN LEMUS

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER:

AUGUST LINTON

FACULTY ADVISER: DEIDRE PIKE

CONTRIBUTORS:

AUGUST LINTON

DEZMOND REMINGTON

VALEN LAMBERT

ANDRÉS FÉLIX ROMERO

NINA HUFMAN

HARRISON SMITH

JAKE KNOELLER

JASMIN SHIRAZIAN

ELI FEATHERSTONE

ALANA HACKMAN

Mission Statement

The Mission of this newspaper is to fairly inform and share the stories of the Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community. We strive to report with accuracy and honesty. We hold ourselves accountable for errors in our reporting. We invite all readers to participate. Views and contents of The Lumberjack are those of the author and not those of Cal Poly Humboldt. Unsigned editorials appearing in the Opinion section reflect a majority opinion of the editorial staff. Advertising material is for informational purposes and is not an expressed or implied endorsement of such commercial ventures of The Lumberjack, Associated Students or Cal Poly Humboldt.

CONTACT US: CONTACTTHELUMBERJACK@ GMAIL.COM 707-826-3271

Vote YES

The Fee Referendum

For Student Association

Dean of Students candidates vie for position

by Andrés Félix Romero

Prospective Dean of Students candidates made their intentions heard through forums and Q+A sessions held on March 7 and March 8.

One candidate, Ryan Griswold, was recently the Dean of California Maritime Academy, leaving the position in July 2022.

Griswold expresses a passion for working with students across institutions, especially at Cal Poly Humboldt.

“In terms of connections with the student population, I’m not going to say that this is different for me than a lot of institutions, because my passion for working with students really is universal. That’s not to say that the population isn’t different here,” Griswold said. “Every campus has its own demographics.”

Griswold recounted a story about a previous institution he worked at,

where he and student volunteers came together to help students around finals using what he says is his love language: food.

“I have this tradition wherever I work, I like to find a way to incorporate food into things. We would get one of the industrial kitchens on campus, and we would bake banana bread for six, eight, or nine hours,” Griswold said.

“Then we would take 200 loaves of banana bread and give it out to students at about 11 o’clock around finals.”

Other candidate Micah Mitchell is currently the Assistant Dean of Students and Case manager for Winston Salem State University.

Mitchell emphasized that to build that relationship, faculty must listen to student voices to understand how they are impacted by admin decisions.

“[Myself and other leadership are]

doing stuff, we’re changing stuff, and trying to support stuff,” Mitchell said. “But if I’m not knowledgeable of what [the students] are going through, it’s gonna be hard for me to effectively support you.”

Mitchell also showed concern over the impending growth of the student population, and if campus resources can match the needs of those students. He is also conscious of overloading the current staff with the stress of supporting more students.

“The growth is great,” Mitchell said. “But going too fast is dangerous. Do we have the institutional support to support the changes? Because if not, we’ll have this influx of students, then have an influx over the inability and strain our system. So how can we grow and sustain and maintain at the same time…we can’t expect the same staff to

expand and do more work with regard to doing that. So I think it’s about… people getting the resources and figuring out how we can successfully support the growth.”

Student and Indian Tribal and Educational Personnel Program (ITEPP) representative Mazacuauhtli Burrola wants whichever candidate that gets the job to integrate themselves into the campus community. Burrola wants to see this through the future DOS being open with their communication; by setting up methods to hear student voices such as dropboxes and a phone number to the dean of students publicly displayed on campus.

“You want to be our DOS, then you better move into my fricking house,” Burrola said. “You better be standing there in the quad. This is not a game. Our lives are at stake here, our futures.”

Journalism students win 31 awards at state-wide conference

by Editorial Staff

For the second year in a row, El Leñador, Cal Poly Humboldt’s bilingual student publication, won a First Place Best of Show award at the 2023 Associated Collegiate Press Spring National College Media Conference in March. The paper also took third place in the ACP People’s Choice category and staffers went on to win awards in 16 more categories judged by the California College Media Association. Five of those were first place honors given for photographs, newspaper design and editorial cartoons.

Karina Ramos Villalobos, editor-in-chief of El Leñador for the 20212022 academic year, won 10 awards this year – one more than the nine she carried away last year. Villalobos graduates in May. She’s been on the El Leñador staff for six semesters.

“It still feels like a shock to win 10 awards, this was a community effort,”

Villalobos said. “This is clear recognition that we deserve to be in this industry. We deserve to share our stories that we know best. These awards are for my Salvadoran community, my parents and all my mentors, friends and peers. We did this collectively.”

Villalobos attributed the paper’s success to El Leñador adviser Andrea Juarez. She said she has seen her writing, photography, video and design skills grow significantly through her student media experience.

“El Leñador has felt like a full time job as a student,” Villalobos said. “It’s fueled my passion for local journalism forever.”

Jessie Cretser Hartenstein, assistant journalism professor at Cal Poly Humboldt, gave two presentations at the ACP conference: “Where have all the journalists gone? Declining enrollment: understanding the issue and

exploring solutions” and “Beyond the newsroom: journalism scholarship & creative activities.”

This year, 20 students attended the journalism conference in San Francisco. They attended workshops, led roundtable discussions on bilingual journalism and reporting on transgender communities. Students also networked with professionals and peers.

“The ACP conference provided a whirlwind of opportunities for students to explore their journalistic passions,” Cretser Hartenstein said. “Our students showed up excited and left inspired. Getting 20 students down to San Francisco to attend a national con-

ference was no easy task, but it was totally worth it. Experiences like this will stick with them forever and THAT is how we support student success.”

Lumberjack adviser Deidre Pike said she was bursting with pride over the accomplishments of Cal Poly Humboldt’s student media teams.

“Our students are remarkable thinkers, writers, editors and visual storytellers,” Pike said. “They work long hours every week to make sure the campus is informed. They are becoming well prepared to go out and make media as a profession.

FROM PAGE 1

Questions from the crowd juxtaposed the planned increase in enrollment with pre-existing capacity issues.

“I think that the communication about the plans for housing for next year got off on a bad foot,” Capps said. “Really, the university is incredibly committed to trying to solve problems and create relationships with things like hotels and landlords in different places within the community just to facilitate additional housing options.”

Some inquired whether the university is planning on instituting an enrollment cap to limit the strain of excessive student population increase.

“We can’t put in an enrollment cap per se,” Capps said. “That’s in direct conflict with [the CSU’s] mission of accessibility…. If you meet these eligibility requirements to gain acceptance into a campus, you’re in.”

Capps said she thinks there are other constraints that will end up limiting the University’s capacity to accept more students, or at least the capacity for those students to be in-person.

The URPC also showcased a draft

of its budget priorities for the coming years. It notably did not explicitly reference additional funding for the already overburdened Student Disability Research Center (SDRC.)

Members of the crowd pointed this out, asking how the University planned to accommodate more students without the accompanying mental health infrastructure.

“The SDRC is an example of the structure that we need in order for the people that are coming here to be comfortable,” said Jim Woglom, a member of the URPC. “To be able to live the best possible life in relationship to their educational journey.”

Capps said that the usage of Cal Poly-related funds is often limited to specific sectors.

“For the $25 million in ongoing funds to support our transition to polytechnic, the biggest earmark is in order to fulfill a promise is to stand up a lot of new academic programs,” Capps said.

“That’s how we received the money, right?”

Photo courtesy of Griffin Muncuso | Student journalists pose with their awards at the CCMA Conference in San Francisco on March 11.

Ring in spring

Celebrate the spring equinox

by Nina Hufman

Monday, March 20th marked the spring equinox, the point in the year where daylight hours are equal to night hours. From now until the summer solstice, the amount of daylight will continue to increase, and will take up a majority of the day until the fall equinox.

The spring equinox is celebrated in many cultures both past and present. The longer days of spring and summer are a time of renewal, fertility, and possibility. Anyone can take advantage of the effects of the spring equinox. Here are a few ways to celebrate.

1. Clean your space. It’s called spring cleaning for a reason. Get rid of stagnant energy and unwanted items. If it’s warm, open a window and let in a spring breeze.

2. Go on a walk. Appreciate the warmer weather. Pick some seasonal flowers and dry them; connect with whatever nature surrounds you.

3. Bake using seasonal ingredients. Lavender, lemon, eggs, ham, mint, and honey are just some ingredients that can be incorporated to symbolize spring.

4. Create a seasonal shelf. Make a space to put flowers, crystals, herbs, or other objects that feel like spring to you. You can even collect these items on your walk.

5. Plant a garden. Sow something that you can reap the benefits of. Plant herbs, flowers, vegetables, and fruit that you can appreciate all spring, summer, and into the fall.

6. Journal and set goals for yourself. As nature renews itself, so can you. Set intentions for what you want to accomplish in the warmer months.

The most important part of celebrating the spring equinox is doing something that allows you to appreciate all that the season has to offer. Connection with nature and the cycles of renewal are at the core of the celebration.

PARADISE

FROM PAGE 1

I stopped about 10 miles from Gold Beach on a little turnout with a nice view of the ocean to put some life back into my veins. That’s when I found out that my tent, the one thing I was absolutely depending on, had grown legs and left for someone that would treat it a little better somewhere between there and Crescent City, a whole hour and a half back from whence I came. I gagged and a few tears were pulled from me, but I was numb all over and that was about all I could muster up. I left the bike running and I stripped off my gloves. I put my hands as close to my exhaust as I reasonably could without charring myself, not that I would’ve minded too much if it meant they’d finally be dry. I started calculating how long it would take me to make it back down to Arcata or even all the way to my parent’s place 250 miles up and over. Common sense has never really been my strong suit, however, so I just mounted the machine again and found my way to a store where I could buy a tent. It had mesh walls, and they were paper thin to boot, but it had a rainfly and maybe it’d keep me a little dry. Forcing myself to buy that tent for a ransom of a whole $65 nearly broke me. I was too tired to try strapping it to my bike, especially seeing what had happened to the last tent I tried that with. I used all of my strength and forced it into my backpack, where it stayed until I made it another 20 miles to the nearest campground.

I skirted my way past the park rangers and found a site hidden from the road in the hiker-biker section. I was not the kind of biker they were talking about, but I was far, far past caring. I would have done just about anything then for a warm meal and a dry space, any dry space at all. If the opportunity presented itself, I would have pulled a DiCaprio and slept in a horse just because it would’ve been out of the rain.

The whole day I had been completely fixated on busting out my brand new stove and fresh new isobutane gas pod and whipping up some oatmeal, something nice, warm, filling, creamy—the adjectives don’t matter. It just had to heat me up. I dug out my lighter and tried to light the stove. The flint wheel–round and round and round she goes! Where the flame is, nobody knows! FUCK! And that was it! I wish someone had just hit me in the head with a sledgehammer and I could’ve passed out for the night instead. I ate trail mix

CANOE

FROM PAGE 1

Traditionally, bull seal skin is used, but this nigilax̂ will be constructed with a ballistic nylon material. The vessel will hold eleven paddlers in addition to another ten to fifteen people.

The project has been bringing together Wiyot members and non-Native Humboldt community members, as well as distant Unangax̂ who have come to Ferndale for the build. For Mike Ferguson, an Unangan, working on the nigilax̂ has been a way to connect with his ancestry.

“It feels like the start of a potentially really deep journey,” says Ferguson.

“I think there’s many deep stories to explore; some of that has to deal with healing trauma for my family.”

Ferguson met another Unangan on the build who turned out to be a cousin he hadn’t met, solidifying the feeling that this project was powerful.

Leah Daniels finds the communal effort of the build deeply rewarding.

furiously because I could not wait any longer just to get something in me. I headed over to the main campground to see if I could filch a lighter from someone else and maybe get a little fire going, something to dry my clothes out a bit and remind myself why I thought this would be fun in the first place. I found a guy in a giant van with some aliens and other assorted swirly colors on the side who very generously let some rando use his lighter. This was no small act of kindness. My hair had been in the same braid the whole day, more of a breaker box in the basement of a tweaker’s house that’s been raided for copper than a braid. I looked insane.

I attempted to light a few pieces of the paper I’d brought for tinder. It smoldered and didn’t catch. I tried a few more times. All it did was dissolve. It too had been brutalized by the weather; not wet enough to disintegrate completely, but not dry enough to light. I went through an entire notebook, screaming violently at it while I took gasoline from my tank and sprinkled it on the paper. Not even my reckless bit of environmental degradation would work. I ignored my losses and in a final stand, brought a book and my sleeping bag to the campground shower, where I spent three hours hanging my sleeping bag up and reading in a vain attempt to dry it out. By the time midnight came around, I just gave up and went to bed. My sweatshirt, which had been under my leathers, was more pond than pillow. All I had was a fat sack of trail mix. It was lumpy, but my head was indeed off of the ground and somewhat level with my body. I laid there naked in my sleeping bag. Every inch of sticky, smooth, cushy padding stuck directly to

orifices which didn’t need the attention. I shivered and whined my way through the night in my pathetic sleeping bag in my tent without any real walls, trapped in my mind, which offered no escape.

The park ranger woke me up too early for my tastes and made me pay the fee for staying the night. I was too groggy to argue. All I wanted was out. I packed up my stuff as fast as I could and booked it to a laundromat.

LydiAnna’s laundromat was half an hour and an eternity north, but dear god was it worth it. I entered it seeing nothing but black and white, and emerged an hour later floating in vivid pastel. I was finally dry, and I could start having fun.

The rest of that day completely made up for the last. It was gorgeous. The sun was out, and I rode through the prettiest stretch of coast in the entire world, the 30 mile strip south of Yachats. Cliffs rise straight from the ocean, looming over clean sand. Every breath there scrubs away the rotted innards inside. It was paradise. No other word would do. Every corner was an opportunity to rejoice. Every ocean vista was prettier than the one before it. Every second there was a new reason for me to smile. I finally felt as if the whole trip was justified, every puking moment from the day before compensated.

I don’t think long haul motorcycle trips are for everyone. They can be dangerous and brain-shattering. They can hurt. But goddammit if you are tough enough to battle murderous weather and handle the stress and sheer crushing pain of a day’s ride in the homicidal saddle, then you should. It’ll be worth it.

Graphic by Nina Hufman

Photo courtesy of a stranger | Dezmond Remingtonposes on his 2008 Kawasaki KLR 650 on March 14 near Yachats, Oregon.

Top: Photo courtesy of Mike Ferguson | Marc Daniels teaching people lashings on the lower stringers

Bottom: Photo courtesy of Mike Ferguson | Nigilax̂ builders collecting driftwood for paddles at the beach with blessings from the Wiyot.

Top: Photo courtesy of Mike Ferguson | The frame of the nigilax̂, composed of Sitka spruce.

Geology students travel to Death Valley

by Harrison Smith

Since 2003, the CPH Geology department has been bringing students to various geologically significant sites across the western US during a marathon spring break field trip. This year marked the twentieth anniversary of Geology 110: Field Geology of the Western United States, uninterrupted by even the pandemic, and the retirement of veteran geology professor Mark Hemphill-Haley.

At 8am on March 11, all twenty members of the 2023 Geology 110 expedition met at Van Matre Hall weighed down with our camping gear to load into the four vehicles that would be our homes for the next two solid days as we drove to Death Valley.

The Bonanza King Formation is a massive bed of carbonate rock that constitutes much of the boundary between Nevada and California. It is visible in many places across both states, but at Point of Rocks, it dominates the landscape. There, tilted beds of Bonanza King carbonate cut through the terrain like the ribs of a dead giant, draped in loose alluvium that slants down to the desert flats.

The footing on the ridge was treacherous. Skree slid under my feet as I moved up the slope, conscious only of the $500 Brunton Compass in the case at my belt

and the possibility that I might drop it in front of everyone. I looked down, and, deciding that the bed at my feet was good enough, knelt to remove the Brunton from my belt case. In the protection of my big straw hat, I carefully lay the edge of the compass flush on the top of the carbonate bed, tilting it this way and that in a futile attempt to find the striking angle of the bed. It was exhilarating to finally be practicing a geology skill in the field. We were learning to measure the striking angle of a rock bed, which is the compass heading at which it cuts the ground, and I was determined to find it myself. In conjunction with the dip, which is the angle at which the bed descends into the ground, strike-dip measurements of rock beds and faults provide a picture of what’s going on under the surface. Finally, I set aside my pride and looked around to find Michelle Robinson, geology alum extraordinaire, who was down the ridge helping another student.

“Michelle, can you help me with this strike?” She smiled. Of course– this trip was all about learning. Each one of the students I spoke to about our experiences on the 2023 Death Valley trip said something similar.

“It was a little difficult to ask questions, but as soon as you understand

that no one is judging you, it’s a perfect open environment,” third year geoscience student Jane Martinez said.

My experience was the same– at first, I felt in awe of the older students. They seemed to know exactly which questions to ask at each of the stops we made along the way, but I never felt too intimidated to ask my own questions. Every interaction was a reminder that science is not a competition, but a collaboration.

“At first, I was pretty shy too, but I just liked the fact that some of my upperclassmen helped me out with terms that I didn’t know and they were always giving me information on the simplest questions, and I really appreciated that,” said Daniel Abel, a third year geology major. “If I’m with someone new, I’m going to help them out as much as I can with the information that I have, so that they can get better and smarter with geology.”

This trip was an extremely valuable experience in that it allowed geology students to form bonds with their peers.

“I feel like I made a lot of really good

friends over the trip and it’s kind of hard to do that sometimes,” Abel said. “I really appreciate that.”

Mark Hemphill-Haley has been associated with Humboldt’s geology department for decades, first as a student and then as a professor.

“The thing that excited me about geology when I first came to Humboldt was the enthusiasm that the department and the students shared about learning geology, and the depth of knowledge of the faculty and their excitement,” Hemphill-Haley said. “I think at Humboldt students in general are a little different than some other universities. You know, it’s a little harder to live here in some ways. So I feel like people that are here really want to get their life’s worth out of the programs. And so I just think that the students are special.”

Trips like Geology 110 and the connections made during those trips are what make Humboldt special. “The thing that I’ve noticed from when I was an undergrad to students now is, we’re still the same,” Hemphill-Haley said.

SPORTS Humboldt softball is a team on and off the field

by Jake Knoeller

Spring break was an eventful one for the Cal Poly Humboldt softball team. After winning a non-conference series 3-1 at home against Central Washington University, they then hosted Dominican University of California in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday, winning 5-0 and 8-0. This led them into the important conference series this past weekend at home against San Francisco State. It didn’t get off to a good start for Humboldt as they lost both games by one run on Friday.

“I think everyone knew we should have beaten that team the first two games,” said pitcher Alyssa Smokey.

There was undoubtedly a different energy in the air on Saturday afternoon, as the Lumberjacks knew the pressure

was on them to redeem themselves.

“I think everyone’s energy changed the morning we walked in, everyone was more focused,” said Smokey.

The Jacks came out much stronger, putting on a show and winning 9-3 and 11-1 to split the season series.

In the first game, Shelby Shanks had two runs and two hits, while Katlyn Gifford had two hits and two RBI. Smokey led Humboldt’s hitting with three hits and took home the pitching win. In the second game, Shanks and Gifford had three RBI each, Micaela Harris scored three runs, and Ciera Pyle had three runs and two hits. Gaige Garcia took home the pitching win.

“The senior leadership definitely had an impact on us winning because after the games on Friday, our seniors kind of talked to us,” said catcher and outfielder Julia Rivera. “They focused on the positives of it rather than the negatives, which I think is a big thing with our team.”

Rivera also mentioned how the team played to have fun on Saturday rather than to win, and this helped them play their game the unique Humboldt way.

“If you can trust your teammates off the field, then your relationship on the field is gonna be totally magnified in a way,” said Rivera. “Compared to the rest of the CCAA, we’re different in a good way.”

The team’s resilience they have shown as of late is something that has been built in and taught by their coaches.

“This year has thrown us a lot of curveballs,” said head coach Shelli Sarchett. “We talk about it often as taking those curveballs and making them your pitch.”

Smokey was named CCAA player of the week on Tuesday after an impressive statline over the last few games.

“It’s an honor, like there’s a lot of good girls out there and I’ve played against some of the best,” said Smokey. “I couldn’t have done it without the rest of my team.”

Sarchett mentioned Smokey’s continuing high effort in practice as a factor in her recent performances.

“She’s been really pushing herself and it’s starting to come into fruition for her and for us,” said Sarchett.

A series away from home against Sonoma State, the team ranked first in the conference, approaches for the Lumberjacks on Friday and Saturday at Seawolf Softball Field in Rohnert Park. Humboldt plays Friday at 1 P.M. and 3 P.M. and Saturday at 12 P.M. and 2 P.M..

“I think Sonoma isn’t gonna really know what’s coming in because we’ve worked hard to get to where we are now,” said Rivera. “Sonoma’s gonna be good competition but it’s also gonna be a learning experience for us to pick up on how the top teams play and how we can mimic them in certain ways.”

Humboldt is currently ranked eighth out of ten after having to play some very tough teams in the conference so far, and they are looked at as the underdog in this game. However, this gives them a nothing-to-lose mentality that can take teams a long way.

“When you play with that mindset, it really encourages you to have fun,” said Rivera.

Photo courtesy of Elliott Portillo | Alyssa Smokey prepares to throw a pitch against Dominican University of California.

Left: Photo courtesy of Giorgio Vitti |Students walk through the beautiful Monarch Canyon, where we saw some of the oldest rocks in Death Valley.

Right: Photo courtesy of Mark Hemphill-Haley | Professor Brandon Browne pointing out the a small fault in the beautiful Noonday Dolomite. Visible is the distinctive boudinage pattern in the marble, caused by the taffy-like stretching of the rock.

Photo courtesy of Regina Khoury | Steve Tillinghast theorizing with the class about the history of a vertically-tilted bed in Death Valley’s Mosaic Canyon.

Humboldt’s heinous healthcare

Navigating the rural healthcare dilemma

by Valen Lambert

Humboldt is a quaint place – too quaint to have reliable healthcare. My experience with the healthcare infrastructure here has been ridiculous compared to the more populated places I’ve lived.

This isn’t to say that our healthcare workers aren’t working hard. In fact, they’re overworked because there is a shortage of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physicians. Up until 2020, a California state regulation limited one physician to supervise no more than four NPs. With Humboldt’s shortage of physicians, this law directly im

pacted our health care centers’ ability to hire more NPs, resulting in a lack of health care workers. However, in 2020, AB 890 was passed, allowing NPs to work independently without physician supervision if they meet the required criteria to provide sufficient care. There are people who disagree with AB 890, believing that it will not serve people who need more specialized, significant care.

Despite the passing of AB 890,

Humboldt is still recovering from its shortage of healthcare providers. It is apparent in the way that I have to wait two months for a doctor’s appointment, and in how I was turned away from urgent care because they had already met max capacity by noon.

I am one of the 36% of people in this county who get their health coverage through the government funded Medi-Cal. Another 30% get support through Medi-Care, which is for seniors or people with disabilities. That means over half of Humboldt’s population is vying to be seen by the few primary care clinics that take government issued insurance, most of which often aren’t accepting new patients because they’ve reached capacity.

I got lucky and was able to find a provider taking new patients, but it doesn’t surprise me that my appointment for a first visit was scheduled to be two months away. I was hoping to get a referral to a physical therapist for a shoulder injury. What would I do if I had a really pressing issue?

The urgent care in Humboldt is a nightmare. If you’re lucky to get there before they’ve reached capacity for the day — in which case you’d have to come back the next day — then you’d be waiting three to four hours to be seen. This in no way reflects the hard-working personnel of these facilities, but is a side-effect of understaffed rural healthcare systems.

If you look at the reviews for the urgent cares and hospitals in Humboldt, they tend to get a lot of negative reviews and low star ratings, usually for wait times and inaccessibility. I’ve never been one to care much about reviews but when it comes to my local hospital, that’s something I’m sure we’d all prefer to read positive reviews for. Arcata’s local Mad River Hospital unfortunately has two-anda-half stars on Google reviews, mostly from people waiting several hours for walk-in care at the emergency room, giving up, and eventually driving to St. Joe’s in Eureka, which has even less stars.

Thankfully, here on campus we have the Student Health Center. It’s decent, cheap, and won’t have you waiting hours on end while your bone is popping out of your skin and you’re bleeding out on the curb.

Don’t even get me started on trying to find a dentist in Humboldt that takes Medi-Cal. The only dentist office that does is in Eureka and is usually not accepting new patients. Many folks with Medi-Cal have to go to Redding or Santa Rosa to get the dental care they need. You best believe I’ve been flossing since I’ve moved here.

I love Humboldt, but my experience with healthcare here has been disheartening. What does it take to bring more health practitioners to Humboldt? How do we fix this problem? I’m wearing my helmet, seatbelt, taking all my vitamins, being so safe I’d make my mother proud – I sure as heck don’t want to be delusionally waiting around for acute care.

Jasmin’s Corner

My boyfriend cheated on me, but he told me about it and said he was sorry. Should I stay with him?

Are you kidding? You have a reason to leave a man! Don’t be stupid, you should be celebrating! We are too young and too hot with too many options for you to be considering staying with a loser who so obviously does not care about you.

His actions speak louder than his pitiful apologies, and I promise you – the grass is greener on this side. He wanted to, and he did. He didn’t choose you; it’s time to choose yourself. Or, if you’re feeling vengeful, stay with him and cheat on him with one of his family members, best friends, or even the coworker he hates. Just kidding… kind of.

Really though, the respect in the relationship is clearly gone; his respect for you, your respect for him (hopefully), his respect for the basic concept of monogamy. Do you think if you stay, he’ll respect you any more? Do you think you’ll respect yourself?

As always, you can ignore me. Swallow your tears and pride, ‘forgive’ him, and wait for the day he comes back to you with chlamydia – and a new apology.

xoxo, Jasmin

Rest in peace Napoleon, the best newsroom dog

Unofficial LJ mascot, emperor, little dog running away from me. You will be sorely missed, thanks for skeeping around while we put the paper together every week.

SPRING HOROSCOPES

by Alana Hackman

PISCES

This spring will be a great reflection period for you. You can reflect on your finances as well as your ability to turn any party into your own per sonal pity party. Stop telling your friends you wanna go out on the weekends. Liar.

AQUARIUS

I did not smoke enough weed to keep the creative juices flowing at this point. You’re super weird and stuck in your individuality complex all times of year. So I guess just keep being you, Aquarius.

SAGITTARIUS

It’s finally your season to enjoy these six weeks of bliss as your acquaintances decide to ignore your hissy fits and need for constant validation. All in the name of your birthday season. It won’t last for long, but bask in it while you can.

ARIES

It’s finally your season to enjoy these six weeks of bliss as your acquaintances decide to ignore your hissy fits and need for constant validation. All in the name of your birthday season. It won’t last for long, but bask in it while you can.

VIRGO

You’ve had no problem sticking to your New Year’s resolution, but it seems to be whittling away at your soul each box you check off on it. It’s only March and that notes app list of work-related goals can wait until the later months of the year. This is Humboldt, not corporate America.

CANCER

Spring time is a time of rebirth and new beginnings. Stop the sulking and overthinking. Life is only miserable because you hold on to every single bad thing anyone has ever done to you. It’s really not that deep.

TAURUS

You’re finally taking the first steps out of your depression cave of a room this spring. Time to hit the ground running and start plotting on your next conquest. Romantically or not, but we can all assume it’s romantic this time.

CAPRICORN

The Aries new moon seems to have had the opposite effect on you than on most. You feel like you’ve been put in a jail cell this spring equinox, but maybe that’s where you belong. You have been nothing but a menace to society as a whole these past few months.

LEO

This spring you should set aside some time for yourself. You have been nothing but an attention seeker during these previous winter months. You will not find any love comparable to your platonic relationships on Tinder.

LIBRA

‘Tis the spring cleaning season. You should definitely delete those 3,000 photos of your ex. I guess you can upload them to a flash drive if you really care enough, but I don’t really trust your mental stability right now to do that.

SCORPIO

It’s never too late to set some spring intentions. Your mental health will unfortunately never be where it was three years ago, but dealing with it with a Marlboro Golds prescription is not the way to do it. Grandma cigarettes.

GEMINI

You need to free yourself from your mommy issue complex this spring. I know the adult world is just far too hard for someone as helpless as you. Time to unlatch from your destructive winter cycle and get back up on your two feet, alone.