Osprey Spring 2013

Osprey

Search & rescue Jed Medin saves lives after beating cancer

Living with mold page 16 It’s gotta be the shoes page 44 Chemical Trips page 50

Spring 2013

A student-run magazine of Humboldt State University

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What’s SUP? Recycle MANIACS Living with mold Complexions of Humboldt State University Pansexual: An unknown identity Search and rescue Guarding the coast is no cruise

34

The long way home

38 42 46 48 50

The art of nudity It’s gotta be the shoes Keeping it green Chemical trips Hoop healers

Cover photo: Jed Medin stands next to lime stone stalagmites in Samwell Cave on March 18. | Michael Nystrum osprey/ spring 2013 / 5

:haW路s SUP?

Veteran and standup paddleboarder survives cancer and the waves Written & Photographed by Brandon Peterson osprey/ os o spr prey ey/ sp sspring pri ring ng 2 2013 01 0 13 / 8

Tim Haywood and his dog Cali-G paddle around Humboldt Bay on March 4. | Brandon Peterson

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n New Year’s Day 2012, a winter swell had presented the right conditions for a wave that seldomly breaks inside of Humboldt Bay. Tim Haywood, 49, heard news of the swell and decided it was the right day to go after his lifelong goal of catching a wave. Equipped with his GoPro camera and stand up paddle board Haywood set out.

“It’s a whole different ball game out there on moving water,” Haywood said.

Haywood ended up catching his Àrst wave and uploaded the experience on YouTube. He attributes that day to giving him the conÀdence to take his stand up paddleboard, known as SUP, to most of the local surf spots in Humboldt County. Haywood regularly posts videos from his SUP adventures, not shying away from sharing the wipeouts too.

“I have gotten my butt handed to me at most of the local surf spots,” Haywood said.

Initially, Haywood started stand up paddleboarding in 2010 because he wanted to get in shape for surÀng. He fell in love with the sport and want-

ed to share it with people. Haywood researched the SUP industry in Humboldt County because he was interested in starting a tour and training company based around the growing sport. With help from a friend, Haywood started All Out SUP and purchased a few boards. Next, he completed an instructor certiÀcation course through the World Stand Up Paddleboard Association.

“SUP inspired me to reach further in a lot of different ways,” Haywood recalled.

Haywood explained his obsession with the beauty of paddling around Humboldt Bay and watching the abundant wildlife, but something was sticking out like a sore thumb.

“Paddling made me see trash that I never had the eyes to see before,” he said.

Haywood began cleaning up the bay one piece of trash at a time, volunteering at a number of cleanups where he even removed two discarded bicycles on his SUP. In 1982, the 19-year-old Haywood was a Seaman in the Navy aboard the USS Moosbrugger

Tim Haywood enjoys the view from his board in Humboldt Bay on March 4. | Brandon Peterson

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stationed in the Caribbean. During a daily shower he noticed soreness in his groin. Doctors on the boat didn’t have the right medical equipment so he was sent to Charleston Naval Hospital. The day Haywood arrived they surgically removed his testicle and tested it for cancer. The results came back

ans coming back from Iraq. He believes it can be a great therapeutic tool for vets with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“It requires a lot of focus so you can get out and get your mind off your problems,” Haywood said.

Three years ago Haywood rescued his three-

“I have gotten my butt handed to me at most of the local surf spots.” -Tim Haywood, standup paddleboard surfer positive, and over the next month, 23 of his lymph nodes were removed because the doctors feared the cancer was spreading. After losing 70 pounds during the next year of chemotherapy, Haywood won his Àght against cancer. The 31-year cancer survivor is enthusiastic about the physical and mental health beneÀts of SUP. Haywood wants to share the “stoke,” as he describes it, with veter-

legged canine companion, Cali-G, from Miranda’s Animal Rescue. The two have shared a passion for SUP and Haywood takes her on his board, but only on Áat-water trips.

“If you’re feeling like you really want some action there are waves in the ocean and rivers all over,” Haywood explained. “SUP is great because it can be whatever you want it to be.”

Tim Haywood ends his SUP session at Oyster Beach on March 4. | Brandon Peterson

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M RECYCLE AN I RecycleMania competitors raise awareness about waste reduction Written & Photographed by Jonathan Harper

T

hree Humboldt State students, Corinne Krupp, Molly Shae, and Kimberley Clark, pick through the tons of paper trash, food waste and debris at the Humboldt Waste Management Authority looking to Ànd recyclables among the garbage. The smell of debris permeates off their gloves.

“We want people to see this because nobody’s really seen this stuff before,” said Juliette Bohn, Waste Management project manager. “It was on your plate, it was in your fridge yesterday and now it’s on our Áoor.”

As Krupp, Shae and Clark

continue to sort through the muck, their boots sink further into the stench of the compost.

Behind them bulldozers carry mounds of waste back and forth from a never-ending ocean of trash. Finally, the last of the trash, recyclables and food-waste are gathered, tallied and recorded—39,520 pounds of waste.

RecycleMania kicked off Feb. 3 as HSU competed in an international contest to see which school can reduce and recycle the most on-campus waste. During the 10-week competition, more than 525 other colleges from across the United States and Canada

compete in different categories.

The main prize for the winner is bragging rights along with a small, recycled trophy. Clark, the project lead for RecycleMania and the multimedia editor for HSU’s Waste Reduction and Resources Awareness Program, said that the purpose of participating goes beyond winning.

“We’re never going to take that trophy because we’re not big enough of a campus or we don’t have the stats to bring that trophy here,” Clark said.

“But that’s not why we do it.

We do it to increase awareness.”

During RecycleMania, the re-

From left to right Corinne Krupp, Kimberley Clark, Juliette Bohn and Molly Shae separate food waste at Humboldt Waste Management Authority on March 5. | Jonathan Harper

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A N I CS sults are calculated each week by the Humboldt Waste Management Authority and then given to Morgan King, sustainability coordinator of Plant Operations on campus.

“When you throw one thing away at a time you don’t really think about how much it adds up,” said Chelsea Nelsen, a student member of Waste Reduction and Resources. “The importance of RecycleMania is about giving people the opportunity to see the statistics, the pounds, the percentages of what’s happening with our waste.”

By mid-April, Humboldt State ranked 62nd among all schools nationally— beating out larger schools such as Stanford, UC Berkeley and UC Davis.

Whether or not “I’ve gotten to the point where HSU brings home the gold seems I say that’s such a beautiful foodto mean very little to the students. waste pile today,” Bohn said.

HSU RecycleMania results

Final rank: 62nd Total pounds recycled: 98,720 Week 1 Week 2

Week 3

Week 4 Week 5

13,240 12,460 13,880 10,360 11,000

9,780

15,020

12,980

lbs

lbs

lbs

lbs

lbs

Week 6 Week 7 Week 8

lbs

lbs

lbs

HSU recycled 181 metric tons, the equivalent to taking 35 cars off the road.

Compiled from recyclemanics.org osprey/ spring 2013 / 13

Living with mold Photo illustraion made by Jeremy Smith-Danford

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Humboldt State·s mold problem in Campus Apartments Written & Photographed

by Jake Wetzstein

M

anoa Cubos struts to his room on the sunless side of Campus Apartments, affectionately known as “The Dungeon.” He opens his gritty, sliding glass door and the smell of old, musty carpet wafts from his dorm. The ceiling of his bathroom has yellow chickenpox.

“That’s mold?” Cubos said. “I didn’t even know that was mold.”

Mold can be a health hazard for anyone, especially those suffering from asthma or allergies. Generally speaking mold is present in every home in Humboldt County according to Tim Freeman, Associate Director of Humboldt State University’s Housing Department. He says students living in the three of the oldest residences on campus, The Hill, Campus Apartments and Cypress, have the highest risk for mold exposure.

Campus Apartments is 41-years old.

It has 54 units. Most of them are split by a shared kitchen. The Osprey found mold in 21 of the rooms, usually on the ceilings of the bathroom or the adjoined closet.

The worst cases we found were three Àstsized patches of mold in the tiny craters and peeks of a living room ceiling.

HSU’s Housing Department recommends that students in Campus Apartments keep their heater and bathroom fan on with windows cracked to mitigate mold. Housing provides residents with bleach-based cleaners to eliminate surface mold. In severe cases, custodial staff cleans the mold and temporarily leaves a dehumidiÀer. Freeman said there are about 25 service requests every semester osprey/ spring 2013 / 15

Above: Daniele Napoli can see the mold around her sink as she brushes her teeth on March 31. Bottom left: Mold grows in and behind Napoli’s toilet.

Bottom middle: Mold grows around the bathroom fan in Campus Apartments on March 8. Bottom right: The hole above Jimmie Stuckey’s showerhead on March 8. | Jake Wetzstein

for mold cleanup in campus housing.

At least two bathrooms in Campus Apartments have holes in the bathrooms from work being done on the plumbing. One covered with a piece of painted wood; another with plastic duct-taped over it.

Jimmie Stuckey lives in Campus Apartments.

His bathroom has a square-foot hole in the ceiling above the showerhead. It’s partly covered with painted wood and sagging because a screw is missing. “Yeah, water comes out of that hole,” he said.

Freeman suggested that the holes resulted from work not yet completed because the area needed to dry. He acknowledged that maintenance staff may osprey/ spring 2013 / 16

have forgotten to Ànish the repairs.

“We rely on residents to call us back,” said Freeman. “Maintenance should keep notes on all this stuff.”

According to Housing and Dining Agreement, the cheapest Campus Apartment is about $650 a month.

“We inherited the building three years ago from a property management company,” said Freeman.

“When we inherited that building it was a frickin’ disaster. It’s still is a disaster.”

Freeman says there are no plans to renovate the whole building because it’s leased by Housing

) from Plant Operations. However, every summer Housing renovates the worst rooms. Freeman says that lack of funding prevents maintenance from making every requested repair. He must choose the most imperative problems, such as outdated Àre alarm systems, and has those Àxed Àrst.

Nicolas Money is the author of “Carpet Monsters and Killer Spores” and teaches botany at Miami University, Ohio. Money specializes in mycology, particularly fungal movement and indoor molds.

He says that all molds come from the outdoors.

“There are no universally agreed to standards for what constitutes a dangerous concentration of mold spores,” said Money. “Nor is there universal agreement on the health threat, the actual danger posed by mold spores.”

Money says mold spores can exacerbate asthma and allergic rhinitis in people who are sensitive to mold spores.

“In terms of wider effects on human health, such as long-term lung damage, actual bleeding in the lungs, that’s very controversial,” said Money.

“There aren’t any critical studies on mold inhalation that prove that mold spores cause any effects on human health, other than exacerbation of allergic effects.”

“The Housing Application asks residents to disclose any health concerns,” said Housing Coordi-

nator Buddy White, who is in charge of arranging summer housing. The application does not speciÀcally ask about allergies or asthma.

Daniele Napoli suffers from asthma and thinks mold has made her allergies worse. She lives on the fourth Áoor of Campus Apartments. Even with a sunny bay view, her room is full of mold. Part of her interior wall Áexes with the Àrm push of a Ànger. There’s mold on the ceiling.

“My breathing problems are worse when I’m here,” Napoli said.

“Mold can’t occur without some kind of moisture problem,” Money said. “The most important thing is to live in a dry home.” “[The mold] was so bad we actually asked housing to clean it a few times,” Napoli said. “We were asking to have it cleaned about once a month.”

Napoli says the preventative measures housing recommends have not worked for her.

“I’m okay living here for this year because it’s convenient,” Napoli said. “I think HSU needs to tear this building down.”

Freeman agrees with Napoli.

“You get something like the Campus Apartments, literally, that is a piece of shit from the ground up,” said Freeman. “Burn it to the frickin’ ground.”

Three ways to prevent mold where you live 1

Keep your spaces dry with the use of heaters or dehumidiÀers; mold can’t grow without moisture.

2

Keep heaters on with the windows cracked.

Keeping the windows open allows water vapor to escape.

3

Keep any porous items away from sources of moisture or condensation to allow adequate ventilation. osprey/ spring 2013 / 17

PANSEXUAL: AN

Exploring sexuality beyond dichotomy Sam Machado McKinlee Burkhardt makes her way to a black grand piano and runs her Àngers across the ivory keys. She rests her eyes and starts performing a rendition of “Precious Things” by Tori Amos. Her brown, wavy hair falls over her pensive face as she taps her foot and sings along to her performance. She has played the piano since she was Àve, and 13 years later, she continues to follow her musical passion.

When Burkhardt was a freshman at HSU, she discovered she loved more than just the piano. It turned out she loved all kinds of people.

She loved men. She loved women.

She loved all the notes in between.

“I see everyone as a person rather than ‘that’s a boy and that’s a girl,’” Burkhardt said. “Until very recently, I discovered that I am indeed pansexual—I like this person. I don’t care what gender they are.”

Pansexual is an attraction to all gender identities. This is not to be confused with “bisexual,” which is an attraction to men and women.

The preÀx “bi” means “two” and the short term “pan” means “all.” Unlike bisexual people, pansexual people are attracted to anyone. This can include drag queens, transgenders, hermaphrodites and androgyny although there are some other opinions on the deÀnition.

“Bisexual, I believe it more as ‘boy and girl,’” Burkhardt said.

“And pansexual’s like ‘if I like you, I like you’; not gender based.” When osprey/ spring 2013 / 20

Burkhardt was in high school, she had a crush on a girl who ended up becoming a male. Burkhardt realized she wasn’t straight, but it didn’t make her gay or bisexual.

“I think people generalize a lot in the gay society,” Burkhardt said. “It’s either straight, gay and lesbian or bisexual. People don’t really know about the other areas like asexual, pansexual and transgender.”

Since pansexuality can be a complicated identity to understand, Burkhardt thinks people will start to accept it in time. “People can’t wrap their minds around being gay or lesbian or bisexual as much,” Burkhardt said. “I would give it Àve years before people start catching on that it’s something else in that area.”

When it comes to the meaning of gender, Burkhardt follows a theory that gender comes from the soul. “I’m not religious or anything, but you can say the soul or the consciousness of the person takes shape in a certain form. I see it as we all need to take shape as something and then we are in charge of how to act around that.”

Melinda Myers, a psychology professor at HSU, describes pansexuality as a behavioral gesture rather than an orientation. “It’s not just that they’re attracted to males and females, or masculine and feminine, depending on what part of culture and what part of history you’re in, but they’re also attracted to lots of different kinds of sexual experiences,” Myers said. “I think that it’s much more a lifestyle choice

N UNKNOWN IDENTITY and orientation is not. Not that it makes it bad or good or indifferent, but pansexuality is a behavioral lifestyle engagement in my view of it, but no one died and made me queen of the universe.”

After receiving a doctorate in clinical psychology and a Masters degree in research in academic psychology, Myers began teaching human sexuality emphasizing on sex and gender. In her perspective, pansexuality isn’t an expressive subject to talk about because any professional or social Àeld could frown upon it. There are other minority groups, homosexuals, feminists and minorities, who raise their voices and are socially looked down upon.

This creates a smaller chance for pansexuality to be understood, let alone be accepted.

“If we can’t accept feminism, then how can we accept pansexuality?” Myers said.

“The acceptance of non-monogamy is a lot further out than the acceptance of differences in gender and orientation. I think we’re waves from it before someone can apply for a job as a junior high school teacher and admit they were non-monogamous.”

While there are identities with given McKinlee Burkhardt practices the piano in the Music A building at Humboldt State on Feb 23. | Lorrie Reyes

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Burkhardt plays the piano on Feb. 23 in the HSU Music A building. | Lorrie Reyes

names, there are certain sexual orientations that can be more complicated or have inherent exceptions.

Myers knew someone who was biologically male, deÀned himself as heterosexual and had primary loving relationships only with women. But he had intense desires to perform oral sex on men. While some may consider this man to be gay or bisexual, it turns out that only this man can deÀne that. “Just because someone wants to give blowjobs, does that make him bisexual?” Myers said. “He gets to decide that. He has no desire to love or be in a relaosprey/ spring 2013 / 22

tionship with men.”

Haide Navarro, a senior at HSU, also considers herself as pansexual and has deÀned herself as such since she was 14-years-old. “For me, it’s the attraction to people,” Navarro said. “Gender doesn’t matter; there are some people that don’t even go by gender binary.”

In Navarro’s perspective, gender is a choice.

It doesn’t have to be anything external. “I like to leave it to anyone as their own thing,” Navarro said. “They can deÀne gender or sexuality or any

According to Navarro, the concept of sexual and romantic attraction can be contrasted. Someone can easily be “straight,” but still feel romance towards the same gender. “I know people like that.

They’re heterosexual, but homoromantic. It’s very interesting,” Navarro said. “It’s not a bromance, it’s not best friends. It’s actual romantic attraction to someone of the same gender.”

Navarro believes that one of the reasons pansexuality and other lesser-known identities aren’t well known is due to a lack of advertising. “What do we target?” Navarro said. “We target couples and they’re usually heteronormative. People didn’t know about lesbian couples and gay couples. People don’t see what’s in front of them sometimes, and they’re not looking for it.”

At this point, Navarro can only wonder if other identities will be understood and accepted. “I hope it gets to a point where everyone is like ‘do what you want as long as you’re not hurting yourself or not hurting anyone else,’” Navarro said. “I hope we get to that point.”

“Until very recently, I discovered that I am indeed pansexual — I like this person. I don·t care what gender they are.”

-McKinlee Burkhardt, HSU student

other identity however they want.”

Even though Navarro Ànds herself attracted to all sorts of genders, the attraction she feels is more physical rather than romantic— a term known as “aromantic.”

“I actually don’t want to be in a relationship. Romance kind of grosses me out,” Navarro said. “I actually identify as aromantic pansexual so I have no romantic attraction. I know a lot about myself, but who knows? I might Ànd myself in a relationship, but at the moment, I feel like I don’t really have a romantic attraction.”

Pansexuality isn’t the only identity with several meanings. Other sexual identities have their own share of differences. “I could deÀne [pansexuality] for you in my own words, but I don’t know how much that would matter because one interesting thing about all identities is that they belong to the person who holds the identity,” Myers said.

“We could say we’re pansexual, but it doesn’t mean we’re saying the same thing anymore than two people who say that they’re lesbian, who said they were gay, who said they were white, who said they were black,” said Myers. “The individuals of where they meet are incredibly subjective.”

People easily deÀne other people’s sexualities based off behavior or particular attractions. But sexual identity is all internal. “Push comes to shove,” Myers said. “You let the individual deÀne their identity.” osprey/ spring 2013 / 23

Jed Medin ascends out of Furlong’s Room in Samwell Cave on March 18. | Michael Nystrom

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Search & rescue Jed Medin saves lives after beating cancer Written & Photographed

by Michael Nystrom

J

ed Medin rappels 300 feet down a steep canyon wall and lands adjacent to Crystal Creek in Weaverville, Calif. He looks up, waits for the Redding Sheriff’s department dive team to descend, and together they cross a Àeld of boulders and trees as they head toward the water’s edge. A body was found stuck in the rapids below Whiskeytown Lake, and he and his crew have to recover the corpse.

Medin is a volunteer member of the Shasta County Mountain Search and Rescue. He trains four days a month preparing to rescue stranded hikers, backcountry skiers and river rafters in the greater Shasta County wilderness area.

Search and rescue has an aura of danger and risk, but Medin’s drive to save lives is not surprising given his past. In high school, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lympho-

ma and faced a month of radiation treatments and Àve weeks of chemotherapy to destroy the cancer in his neck. As a promising wrestler for the Trinity High School Wolves, Medin was forced to sit out during his illness.

“My neck cancer was one of the reasons I’m so active,” Medin said. “I realize I could be dead tomorrow. Things change so quickly.”

Thanks to his new lease on life, Medin willingly pushes himself to the edge of what he considers humanly possible in order to save lives and lead an outdoor lifestyle.

In March 2012, Medin completed a week-long ultimate rescue training program, where he spent 12 to 20 hours a day reÀning his high-angle, low-angle, cave, litter basket and swiftwater rescue skills. “It was deÀnitely one of the hardest weeks of my life, but I found that I could push osprey/ spring 2013 / 25

myself further than I thought I could,” Medin said.

His familiarity with search and rescue tactics and less-than-optimal conditions has made training and emergencies second nature. “It’s not that crazy, it becomes normal,” Medin said. “It is a calculated risk since we have so much training and we all look out and constantly check everything we are doing.”

Medin is a member of the National Speleological Society and an avid spelunker. Last year, he and his friends headed to the Marble Mountain Wilderness and explored the ninth deepest cave in North America. Medin was also a member of an expedition on Mt. Hood where he helped explore and map newly discovered glacial caves.

In order to bridge the gap between professional life and volunteer search and rescue outings, Medin works at Balance Edge, an upstart adventure, search and rescue training and gear company in Redding. He archives and edits pictures taken on training trips for its website and creates and distributes promotional materials. The company of-

fers courses on swift water and cave rescue and corporate team building trips.

Back at the Whiskeytown Lake rescue, Medin and two of his partners headed downstream to locate the body. She was ten feet from shore, and the downward force of the water had pinned her against a submerged rock. It was too dangerous to enter the water, so the Sheriff’s dive team set up a long rod with a plastic hook to dislodge the body to the safety of the shore.

After prodding the body for ten minutes, the lifeless individual broke free from the rapids and Áoated downstream. Divers positioned below the rapids ushered the body towards Medin and his team on the bank of the creek. Once the body was prepped and secured to a litter basket, the standby helicopter hoisted the body out of the canyon. “After the body was cleared we grouped up, gathered our gear and hiked out of the canyon,” said Medin.

“We reached our goal and it was overall successful.”

Jed Medin works his way through the passages of Samwell Cave on March 18. | Michael Nystrom

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Jed Medin pauses on a descent in Samwell Cave to take pictures. | Michael Nystrom

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Left to right: Petty Of多cer 3rd Class Jake Wuoltee, Bosuns Mate Cheif Trevor Denham, Petty Of多cer 3rd Class Joel Walden and Bosuns Mate Jeremy Korn on patrol in a Response Boat on March 2.

John Kimsey

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Guarding the coast is no cruise What it takes to be part of the Coast Guard family Written & Photographed

by John Kimsey osprey/ spring 2013 / 29

A

group of young coast guard recruits arrives at a New Jersey airport and gets onto a bus headed to an unknow training center. For 30 minutes the recruits joke about what boot camp might be like. Nick Hurn, a senior at Humboldt State, is one of these recruits. As the bus gets closer to their destination, he notices that a new mood takes hold.

“We pull up and everyone is dead silent. It’s pretty much like the movies,” Hurn said. “They run up on the bus, some big dudes in their Smokey the Bear hats, and yell, ‘You are now in the United States Coast Guard, do not mess with us! Move fast, sound off and do what you’re told!’”

The recruits run inside the complex where they are seated at picnic tables and issued their gear.

They must sit perfectly upright for hours. One man suffers a panic attack and falls to the Áoor. The staff took him away and he was never seen by Hurn again. Day one of boot camp was over.

commander saw me looking around and came up to me and yelled, ‘What the hell do you think you are looking at? You think this is a museum?’ I didn’t really look around that much anymore.”

Once the recruits are accustomed to the daily rigors of boot camp, they enter more practical training. This includes handgun use, ÀreÀghting, Àrst AID, CPR and classroom lectures.

Hurn said that compared to the classroom environment in boot camp, HSU lectures are too relaxed. “You can’t talk, eat, you must sit up at all times with your hands on your lap,” Hurn said.

“You can’t touch your face. You have to stand up to ask a question, but even then they will probably yell at you.”

If you want to go the bathroom, you have to put your hands over your head in a Àeld goal position, and if you fall asleep, you can be sent back weeks in training. To cure the sleepiness, recruits are allowed to stand at the back of class, holding their

“The company commander saw me looking around and came up to me and yelled, ¶What the hell do you think you are looking at" You think this is a museum"· I didn·t really look around that much anymore.” - Nick Hurn, HSU student Hurn was admitted to the coast guard while he was a junior at HSU. Boot camp was a complete turnaround from academic life. “I didn’t sign up immediately because I wanted to try out a normal college life Àrst to see if this was something I really wanted to commit eight years of my life to,” Hurn said.

After being placed into a company of about 80 trainees, Hurn had to learn the ropes; how to march, pack, clean the squad bay, shine boots, and most importantly, how to address a superior ofÀcer. “It was total, overwhelming shock. Lots of yelling. Very loud. Somehow you are doing everything wrong no matter what,” he said.

All of this is accompanied by pushups and Áutter kicks, which Hurn affectionately calls “incentive training.” Individuals who mess up, serve a form of communal punishment requiring all company members to sit Indian style and point an eight pound riÁe at the ceiling for 20 minutes without moving.

“First week in the chow hall I was looking around while I was eating,” Hurn said. “The company osprey/ spring 2013 / 30

books stacked horizontally as lecture continued.

“Everyone had to stand at one point, sometimes the entire class. We were so tired. In college, anyone does what the fuck they want,” Hurn said.

Hurn is back in Humboldt County training at the Humboldt Bay Station, where visitors are greeted in the traditional Coast Guard fashion, “welcome aboard.”

The old Colonial-style building was constructed during the Franklin Roosevelt Administration in 1936. On the bottom Áoor various service-members move about on daily business, while pictures of Coast Guard ships, ofÀcers and maps adorn the walls. The second Áoor is a storage area and recreation room.

On the third Áoor Hurn and other seamen are changing into their dry suits for the day’s training mission. This process takes several minutes, and the boys are perspiring by the time the process is completed. Slightly red-faced and puffed up from the suits, the group makes its way down to the boat launch. From there, everyone hops onto a small patrol boat and stashes their gear inside.

Left to right: Wuoltee and Walden gear up for partol on March 2. | John Kimsey

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The coast guard chief yells some commands while Hurn unties the boat from the mooring, and jumps in. With that, the boat backs out into the bay and begins its patrol. This particular boat is only a few months old, and recently replaced the old patrol boat.

The boat picks up speed until the bow is pointing towards the mountains in the distance. This boats is fast-- and that’s necessary for these rough waters. The North Jetty has seen at least 40 shipwrecks from 1850-1963, including a submarine. One of the men in the boat, Petty OfÀcer Jake Wuoltee, says sometimes you can see the remains of one large wreck during low tide off the Samoa Peninsula.

Wuoltee has been in the Coast Guard for four years. He helped Hurn through the beginning of his Coast Guard career, and has seen the good and dangerous sides of being in the Coast Guard “About two years ago a Àsherman was at the dock in Eureka with his two kids and a baby, and left the baby behind in a stroller while he went Àshing. When he came back, the baby was gone,” Wuoltee said. “He reported it as kidnapped, but they found the baby drowned, still strapped into his stroller.”

Wuoltee’s favorite experience, however, took place on the high seas. “Once, we almost got to board pirates. Not like Somali pirates,

“You can·t talk, eat, you must sit up at all times with your hands on your lap. You can·t touch your face. You have to stand up to ask a question, but even then they will probably yell at you.” - Nick Hurn I mean Pirates of the Caribbean,” Wuoltee said. “Once, two pirate ships were staging a battle up and down the bay, blowing smoke everywhere. The people at Chevron Pier called us and told us they thought the ships might blow up the pier. We knew what was up, so we let the ships have their last run and told them they had to stop.”

Hurn is content with his career now, even with an uncertain future due to government budget cuts. For him, the Coast Guard has become an extended family. A welcome sign with his name on it was displayed outside for his Àrst day at the station.

“It deÀnitely feels like they are looking out for you,” Hurn said.

“I’ve been able to do some awesome shit that other people don’t get to do, like Áy in a helicopter.”

The boat has Ànished its patrol around the bay, from the station to the Samoa Bridge and back. Someone yells “aye aye” as Hurn jumps from the boat to the launch deck. He is told to return later in the evening for another round on the bay.

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Top: left to right Denham, Hurn and Wuotlee observe Humb

Humboldt Bay. Bottom: Korn and Hurn circle the bay. | John Kimsey

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The long way home Hayden Newman waits at the northbound Miranda bus stop on April 12. | Guthrie L’Herogan

Hayden Newman travels 57 miles one way by bus to attend HSU

Written & Photographed

by Guthrie L’Herogan

E

very day, 19-year-old English major Hayden Newman travels by bus to and from his home in Miranda to attend Humboldt State University. Although he has been traveling north for school for the past five years, he is still not entirely used to it. “I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy it, but I’m not as bothered by it osprey/ spring 2013 / 34

as much as I was,” Newman said.

Newman’s typical trip home begins from HSU or the central Arcata stop, depending on whether he gets lunch in town. He usually sits somewhere towards the middle of the bus since the aisle facing front seats sometimes makes him carsick. “Normally it’s an easy ride, but some-

Map courtesy of Google edited by Maddy Rueda

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The South Humboldt inner-city bus approaches the Miranda bus stop on April 12. | Guthrie L’Herogan

times the driver will be late and start careening down the streets and suddenly it’s a chore keeping your lunch.” said Newman. On this trip, the only open seat is toward the front, about five feet from the driver.

Newman immerses himself in Fire Emblem, a game on his handheld Nintendo device.

The bus reaches its first stop at College of the Redwoods. About an hour passed since the bus left HSU. Newman now has 30 minutes to kill until his next bus to Miranda. He checks his laptop to see what homework assignment he can tackle for the next leg home.

A Southern Humboldt Intercity Bus — a decidedly more compact bus — pulls up and Newman boards, chatting briefly with the driver, who knows him as a regular. “How are you doing today?” asks Susan, the driver.

“Not bad, but lots of projects” Newman responds.

Other riders pile on. “The people are a lot friendlier here,” Susan said. “They’re more appreciative too and they all try and help each other even if they don’t have much.”

Newman tends to avoid the right side of the Garberosprey/ spring 2013 / 36

ville bus. “Once when passing a Caltrans work crew, a rock hit a window on the right side and the whole window spider webbed,” Newman said.

Newman sits down towards the back of half of the bus. “Welcome to the tin can,” he said.

The comparison is quite apt. This bus has rounded corners, like an airport shuttle— with less-than-gentle suspension and uncomfortable seats. Newman pulls out his laptop and chats with friends over Skype as the bus heads south. Newman says his often joke about how he lives on the bus. Newman gets the last laugh since he lives rent free with his parents.

It begins to get darker outside, and for a brief period the inside of the bus is illuminated with a dusky orange light shining through the trees “It’s nice to just take in the view,” Newman says.

It’s almost five o’clock, and Newman’s bus arrives in Miranda. “Thanks,” he says to the driver.

He hefts his pack over his shoulder, turns back and waves goodbye to the other regulars. Newman will get on the bus again at 7:00 a.m. on Monday morning.

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The art of nudity Learning bodily acceptance through art Written by Samantha Dell Photographed by Jennifer Padilla

Ronele Herd poses reclined on the StewART Studio stage on March 12. | Jennifer Padilla.

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The model stepped onto the crimson stage, dropped her floral robe and exposed her naked body to the room full of artists. The lights hanging from above glistened off of her porcelain skin, highlighting the bones on her bare back. She sat on her heels and held her golden brown hair at the taper of her neck. The room was quiet except for the sound of the artists’ pencils sketching on paper.

The artists’ eyes switched back and forth between their drawing and her body. Her back faced them, but they could see her face reflected on a large mirror. “Tick, tick, tick, beep,” rang the timer.

“Next pose please,” Joyce Jonté called out.

“Life drawing is an artists’ ultimate exercise; it’s the stretch before the swim becoming the swim itself,” Jonté said.

Jonté has been a life-drawing artist for 40 years. She received a bachelor’s degree in studio art from Humboldt State University. She and fellow artist Steven VanderMeer work with live figure models at StewART Studio in Arcata.

Ronele Herd has been modeling at StewART for two years. She is an HSU journalism student who finds the modeling experience fun and edgy. During her first session with a room full of artists, she said she was too nervous to make eye contact with anybody.

Dominic DiMauro poses onstage under the lights on March 12. | Jennifer Padilla.

“Most people think about it as a step down from stripping and it’s really not the same,” Herd said.

Jonté recalls the days when she modeled for artists. “There’s an intense energy focused on you and you just need to go with it,” Jonté said.

She says figure modeling builds self-confidence. “No matter what somebody’s body type is, they learn that their body is beautiful,” Jonté said.

“It’s not sexual, it’s not judgmental and everybody who models learns that their body is great.”

Herd agrees. “It made me feel a lot more comfortable with how I look.

It made me want to stay in shape too, it helped me appreciate my own body.”

Herd says her favorite part about modeling is seeing all of the drawings at the end of the session.

“I model because I love the human figure,” Herd said.

Jonté says there is no reason to be ashamed of exposing a body for art. osprey/ spring 2013 / 40

Herd poses on the StewART Studio stage on March 12. | Jennifer Padilla.

“If you look at the history of art, this is how artists have learned to draw for thousands of years,” Jonté said. “The Romans and the Greeks weren’t ashamed of their bodies.

There has always been an honoring of humanity.”

Dominic DiMauro is a local male model. “I’ve never gotten anything but approval when I was open about my profession,” DiMauro said.

He found it weird that female models would receive unenthusiastic feedback. “I have never heard of anyone receiving negative comments about modeling naked. If they have, it’s just because people don’t understand.”

Jonté says that all of the people who attend the StewART sessions come from a strict educational art background and have no other interests than creating pieces.

“I have modeled, I am a mother, I am a woman so I know my presence as just a full on, engaged artist helps the model know that this is a safe place,” she said.

Jonté and VanderMeer hire models that show a true interest in participating. It is unprofessional for an artist to approach a person on the street and ask them to pose in a session. The only way these models are hired is if they contact the artists and get properly trained. “We want the models to totally feel themselves,” Jonté said.

“You’re in charge, you’re working us out, you take the pose and you make the decisions.”

StewART hires male and female models, and no previous experience is needed. The only requirements are the willingness to use the body as an art form and to be 18 or older. The studio pays models $15 an hour plus tips.

DiMauro says he models solely for the income. “It’s easy, it pays well and the hours are flexible,” he said. “I’ll do anything for the right price.” osprey/ spring 2013 / 41

It路s gotta be the shoes Sneakerheads in Humboldt County go to great lengths to get the best sneakers Written & Photographed

by Lorrie Reyes

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B

efore Edward Walker moved from Inglewood to Arcata, he packed 30 pairs of his favorite shoes in a black trash bag and set it aside in the garage. Walker’s dad told his twin brother to put only garbage in the garage.

The message was never relayed to Walker, and the bag of Jordans, Nike Blazers, Air Max’s and others was thrown away.

Walker, 22, is a sneakerhead – someone who collects rare or custom-made sneakers. Losing 30 pairs was devastating.

“That was the maddest I have ever been,” Walker said. “I had to start collecting all over again.”

Walker, a communications student at HumboldtState, has built his collection back up to over a hundred pairs of shoes in the past three years. He does not like to buy his shoes from large retail stores.

“I don’t want to have a pair of shoes anyone else can get,” Walker said.

In 1985, Nike endorsed basketball player Michael Jordan and released the star’s Àrst signature shoe called the Jordan I. The shoe has gone through several more editions—the latest is the Jordan XXIII. When Jordan’s signature shoes get re-released they are called retros.

Sneakerhead, Edward Walker, poses with a portion of his sneaker collection on March 8. Opposite page (From top left to bottom right) Jordan retro VII’s | A portion of Walker’s collection | Walker’s Jordan retro collection | Jordan retroXII’s | Lorrie Reyes

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In Dec. 2012, the Jordan XI’s were re-released.

The red and black XI’s, also known as the Breds, were one of the most sought-out shoes of the year.

Walker drove more than ten hours to Los Angeles just to get a pair.

“I had to pay $500 to get the Breds,” Walker said.The current retail price for the Jordan XI is $175.

Walker did not disclose all the money he’s spent on shoes, but spent well over $2,000 on Jordan’s alone last year. Sneaker collecting runs in Walker’s family.

“My dad has original Jordan’s from the ‘90s,” Walker said. “He just won’t let them go.”

Eureka Sneakerhead James Spears, 20, also started collecting when he was a kid.

“My dad always had me in sneakers since a young age,” Spears said. “My dad actually has more pairs than I do.”

Spears grew up playing hoops and says that’s one reason why he loves sneakers.

“Playing basketball, you spoke out with your

shoes and how you dressed,” Spears said. “Everyone wants to one-up the next person and have the next best thing.”

Steven Bravo, 19, of Eureka, has more than 170 pairs of sneakers. His obsession started in the eighth grade, in 2009, when he bought a pair of Cherry XIIs. “It’s just an obsession. When you buy one you want to buy more. You want to keep buying more,” Bravo said. “To me a shoe has art. It’s like an art piece and it has a history behind it.”

The most Bravo has spent was $600 to buy the DJ Clark Nike Air Force Ones when he went to a shoe convention in New York.

Although the 19-year-old has only been collecting for a few years Bravo remembers the days before shoes became popular in Humboldt County.

“We used to camp out with the same 12-18 people, talk about sneakers and when the mall opened, we got our sneakers,” Bravo said. “Now, everyone wants to have shoes.” osprey/ spring 2013 / 45

D

aniel Hancock, 22, kitchen helper at The J, bobs his head to the beat of the music as he scrapes the dinner plates with latex gloves. Students carry their leftovers to Hancock – onion rings, potatoes, and ketchup-splattered dishware.

Hancock chucks the food into buckets. This assortment of food waste is then taken to a bin to be collected for composting.

“Composting is a little bit of an extra step,” Hancock said.

“There’s a lot of waste and it’s a good thing that the food is being put to better use.”

“I’m glad that we’re back on composting,” said Ron Rudebock, the director of Dining Services at Humboldt State University. “It’s a great program that supports the idea of ‘Reuse, Recycle, Reduce.’”

Chris Johnson, a ¿sheries biology major, examines a compost turner at the WRRAP headTuarters on The composting process colApril 4. | Retzel Fabillar lects the organic matter and forms a mixture of water, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen to aid the decomposition. Until it is ready to be recycled, bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms continue breaking down the compost into a fertilizer and soil conditioner. This development takes a period of weeks. HSU has dealt with food waste in many ways before composting became an established routine.

“Years ago, in the ‘70s, we worked with farmers and had them feed the food to pigs,” Rudebock said.

“We sent the food to local areas like McKinleyville, Freshwater and Eureka.”

This was until California Department of Food and Agriculture Law passed food Safety regulations that require post-consumer food waste to be heated to 212 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours. This enforced protection from the spread of viruses. But this measure ended HSU’s process of distributing leftover Humboldt State University·s food because of cost-effective and efÀciency reasons. composting operation “Board directors of the Humboldt Waste Management Authority worked with the dining services at Written & Photographed HSU to devise a program,”Rudebock said. “We deby Retzel Fabillar veloped an advantageous method of collecting food

keeping it green osprey/ spring 2013 / 46

waste, developing compost and using it as energy.” that it kills the pathogens and breaks down food Food waste is collected from every food-serving faster. We mix it up with brown and green material location on campus such as the J, The Depot and (dried leaves, fruits, vegetables and cardboard). But Marketplace. we can’t use dairy foods because the compost will “There is an 18-yard dumpster at the bottom of rot, stink and attract animals. We check it weekly the J that we consistently Àll,” said Morgan King, and consistently turn it to allow more oxygen. Afthe coordinator of sustainability at HSU. “We are ter two months, the compost breaks down into soil averaging over seven thousand pounds of food and we give it out for gardening.” waste each week.”

Demos added that students are busy with yearThe food waste is then delivered to the Hum- round production and divert four tons of waste per boldt Waste Management Authority Transfer sta- year. They are encouraged to compost on campus tion and then using barrels brought to provided by “[Composting is] a great program that supCold Creek the waste reCompost in duction proports the idea of ¶Reuse, Recycle, Reduce.·µ Ukiah. gram.

-Ron Rudebock, HSU dinning services director The process “We’re proof compostviding a stroning produces ger model for some environstudents,” King mental beneÀts. The food waste is Àrst separated, said. “We’re trying to create a culture of sustainhauled and delivered to a processing facility. Then ability by practices that students can take with the waste is lifted through a conveyor to be grinded them when they graduate, which they can carry on and mixed with contaminant and Àne grit removal. and share to the next community.”

Next, the compost is placed inAndrew Demos, student and director of WRRAP, at headTuarters on March . | Retzel Fabillar side a buffer tank and processed through a digester. The compost is Ànally transformed to be used as soil conditioner or a source of methane gas to produce heat and electricity.

“In 2011, we participated in a waste examination study,”King said. “We found that 32 percent of our waste was food and 13.2 percent was compostable paper.

That means that over 40 percent of our solid waste was compostable.”

Food waste diversion at HSU collects Àfteen thousand pounds of compost a year and holds weekly workshops for composting demonstrations.

“We collect food and green waste on campus to turn it into a rich soil supplement,” said Andrew Demos, compost director of Waste Reduction. “We do aerobic compost at hot temperatures up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit so osprey/ spring 2013 / 47

W

Chemical Trips

i t h giant d i lated pupils, 23-year-old Àsheries major and senior Humboldt State University student, Zed Watson - whose name has been changed Jennifer for his protection - looked around the city the way an infant would, registering colors, textures, and sound as if for the Àrst time. Reds, blues and greens never looked so vibrant and trees in the forest never so full of life. “The sun ripping through the spaces between the trees looked like a scene from a movie,” said Watson about his visit to the forest on LSD. Hallucinogenic drugs include marijuana, mescaline, peyote, psilocybin, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and dimethyltryptamine (DMT). According to the Controlled Substances Act, these drugs are considered either having high potential for abuse, lacking in medical use

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Padilla

or do not meet safety standards even under medical supervision.

Although these drugs are illegal according to federal law, marijuana is now legal in Colorado and Washington.

MDMA and LSD are illegal but some research is being done to see if they can be useful to treat post-traumatic stress.

Humid, loud and packed wall to wall, local business Blondies Food and Drink hosts one in a series of “Science on Tap” lectures. These lectures are presented by HSU’s chemistry department and the topic tonight is “Hallucinogens- Nature’s Ultimate Chemical Weapons?” Chemical ecologist and HSU Chemistry Professor William Wood discussed the chemical structure of hallucinogens and effects.

“The similar structure of certain hallucinogens Àts in the neurotransmitter that normally it wouldn’t Àt in, it then Àres off

hallucinatory and auditory responses,” Wood said. “People want religious experiences, I know someone who takes them just because it’s fun.”

Theodore Stripe,a 24-year-old College of the Redwoods student - whose name has also been changed for his protection describes an experience on LSD. “I ended up staying at home and eating acid with a couple of my friends we played music and I could see the sound from my drums, like waves coming off my drums and my cymbals,” Stripe said. This sensory crossover experience occurs when the brain processes the information being taking in from one sense and crosses it with another.

Stripe also describes his experience after smoking DMT, a drug with some similar effects as LSD. “I sat down and grabbed onto the arms of the couch I was shaking so hard, as the smoke went in it felt like pure Àre, my chest was on Àre, it felt like my brain was on a skillet and everything was melting. There was a bucket next to me and I started throwing-up into this bucket.

And everything in the room caught on Àre, the house split in half and all these crazy creatures came and were tearing everything apart like huge spiders and weird crazy things…things were eating my roommates. The next thing I know the

ground opened up and there are Áames everywhere and demons came up out of the ground. It freaked me out so bad I thought I was in hell it was crazy. My roommates said I sat on the chair like that for 45 minutes. It was the scariest fuckin’ thing ever, it fucked me up for a week I was kind of off for a week after that.”

The well-known drug Ritalin is prescribed to children across the county in alarming rates even though it is a psychoactive drug.

Its chemical structures do not differ much from some illegal drugs.

Wood speaks of the similarities between the two, “Ritalin is a methamphetamine type of drug. That is one drug I do believe should be illegal because of what people do when they are on it, they kill other people. Heroin I see nothing wrong with legalizing heroin, opiates and marijuana as long as you’re not out driving on the road killing people.”

Drugs can be extremely dangerous, whether they are legal or not and must be handled carefully. “They’re very powerful chemicals, if you have negative thoughts and you’re coming up it can suck you in,” said Watson. “In order to prevent that from happening you have to prepare your body and your mind for what’s going to happen and once you do it just enjoy the ride.”

Opposite page: Theodore Stripe, whose name has been changed, stares into the camera while on LSD with dialated pupils | Provided

by Stripe | Photo illustration provided by Creative Commons

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Child development major and Healing Circle member Alaisha Johnson hoops on the HSU UC Quad on March 29. | Sabina Gallier

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Written & Photographed by: Sabina Gallier

Hoop healers

I

t’s easy to see Alaisha Johnson’s American Áag tank top from a distance in the Humboldt State University Center Quad. She is a blur of color as she dances in her bright attire with a solid purple hoop in one hand and a yellow and purple hoop in the other. She is surrounded by men and women who have joined a hoop jam hosted by The Healing Circle in recognition of the Pan-Asian PaciÀc Islander Perspectives events. Johnson, 19, pauses brieÁy to acknowledge a fellow hooper but is able to carry on a conversa-

tion while she spins and twirls her hoops around her body. She is dancing in the place where she was Àrst introduced to the pull of the hoop.

“I joined this club because I had seen Hannah Hummingbird and Hanakekua Kekaulike hooping beautifully on the HSU quad and thought, ‘I’ve never seen dance in this form before; I gotta try this.’ I felt a connection to the hoop the Àrst time I picked it up,” Johnson said.

She pauses brieÁy to acknowledge a fellow hooper and leans in closer to better hear her above the catchy hip hop beats resonating throughout the quad. She is then able to carry on the conversation while she spins and twirls her hoops around her body on a sunny Friday afternoon.

The Healing Circle is a hula-hooping club dedicated to enhancing mental and emotional health. osprey/ spring 2013 / 51

Hanekekua “Hana” Joao hoops on the HSU UC Quad on March 29. | Sabina Gallier

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Hanekekua “Hana” Joao hoops on the HSU UC Quad on March 29. | Sabina Gallier

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Right: Katrina Beck, 22, zoology major steadies her hoop during a hoop jam in the UC Quad on March 29, 2013. Beck said that the activty,“gives someone an inner inspiration.”

“The one thing that is hard to revive is self-esteem.

The hoop becomes a stable partner, that you don·t need anyone else but yourself.µ -Hanekekua “Hanaµ Joao, HSU student

“Since I started hooping I can tell that my physical state, my mental state, my day-to-day attitude when I am hooping has really changed and has become a lot more positive and a lot more open,” Sinicrope said. “I’ve kind of like, broken out of my shell a little bit.”

Jennifer Sanford, director of HSU Counseling and Psychological services said that being social can be good therapy. “Human beings are social beings and depression tends to make people want to isolate themselves.” She added, “that just exacerbates and makes the depression worse. So seeking social support, trying to Ànd like-minded people, people that you share interests with, hobbies with, sport activities, whatever it is, it’s really important to try to seek that out.”

HSU Clubs and Activities asked Joao to organize tabling events for the group. But she chose a different approach.

“We recruit people by doing what we love, going to the plaza, going to Redwood Park and just having our hoop,” Joao said. “What’s beautiful about the hoop community is that it’s really easy to approach hoopers as well, very easy to communicate and share with others.”

The club meets every Friday from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Wellness Center, but on sunny days they meet in Redwood Park. New members are welcome and Sinicrope says that people should not be afraid of looking silly. “It’s all just practice and everybody has to start somewhere and eventually you get more comfortable with your

hoop,” she said. “You get more comfortable with the movements and you start to build up arm strength and core strength.”

“My main goal is for them to feel welcomed, to recognize that there is a space that you can move freely and freely express yourself,” Joao said. “Just recognizing that although you may be far away from your family or you may not know anyone in particular, that these are people you can trust.”

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