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LUMBERJACK WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2022 | VOL. 120 NO. 6
E D Q H U M B O L D T L U M B E RJ A C K K
T H E L U M B E RJ A C K .O R G
A.S. PRESIDENT FINLEY IMPEACHED IN UNANIMOUS VOTE by Matthew Taylor After an impeachment trial stretching over 6 hours on Sunday, Feb. 20, President Finley has officially been impeached from his role as the Associated Students’ president. Former A.S. President Jeremiah Finley was impeached Sunday, Feb. 20, after an almost seven hour trial. All members of the Board were present, many providing their testimonies and evidence against Finley. Impeachment was under the violations of A.S Government Codes Section 9, subsections F, J, L, M, and O. He was voted guilty on four of these five charges. “In order to effectively serve students, we must eliminate fear,” said Social Justice and Equity Officer Sachez, the opening speaker for the trial. “Fear
Index News...................3 L&A......................4 Science..............5 Sports................6 Opinion...............7
that we will not be allowed to speak our minds without retaliation and fear that, despite mediation, nothing will change.” Under subsection F, overstepping the bounds of their office without the advice or consent of the Board of Directors, Finley was found guilty of unilateral decision-making, violation of California Law AB 361, and violation of the Gloria Romero Open Meeting Act of 2000.
SEE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS ● PAGE 3 Photo by Abraham Navarro | Associated Students President Jeremiah Finley at the Associated Students meeting in Siemens Hall on Feb. 5.
A.S. Impeachment
Humboldt Fascinating Jewelry Club Circus Flowers
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pg 4 pg 5
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Community speaks on Black History Month by Morgan Hancock Speakers gave passionate speeches at a Black History Month protest in the plaza despite a somewhat limited turnout. 35 to 40 community members gathered in the Arcata Plaza to speak about Black History Month on Feb. 17. A flyer, created by community organizer and artist Nikki Valencia, urged people to come out and show that their allyship wasn’t seasonal or conditional. When Valencia spoke in the plaza, they noted they did not feel that support. “This is the perfect time to center Black marginalized folks, but that energy is not here,” Valencia said. “Black History Month is about more than educating. It means nothing if you know Black people are struggling and do nothing about it.” Marlon Andrew Jones II, who works at Cal Poly Humboldt, spoke at the gathering. He said the voices supporting Black communities are never loud enough. Jones said that students, faculty, and admin need to listen to their communities if they want to support Black people. “If you’re a white person and you’re listening to this and it’s making you uncomfortable, it’s supposed to,” Jones said. “You’re not supposed to be comfortable, because there is a community that has lived in discomfort for so long.”
In Jones’ speech, he urged empathy from white members of the community. The lived experience of Black Americans can be traumatic. Jones believes that white people need to do more than be accountable, they need to love their Black neighbors. “Love is an action, and that’s what the Black community needs,” Jones said. “We need people to love us enough to take action and make a difference. Sometimes you don’t know what someone is going through, but you can hold their hand through it.”
Raquel Bell is a local student who spoke on the importance of valuing Black women. Black women exist at intersections of systemic struggles and deserve love and support. Bell said that when Black women are uplifted, so is the society around them. “If you want change, first you need to love the Black woman,” Bell said. “Once her needs are met, you know everyone’s needs are met. Once you love a Black woman you change the world. The Black woman is strong, she is beautiful, she is me.” Photo by Morgan Hancock | Nikki Valencia speaks at the protest she organized for Black History Month on Feb. 17.
Food Sovereignty Lab hosts indigenous film series by Krisanne Keiser
Photo by Morgan Hancock | Raquel Bell addresses the crowd on the importance of valuing Black woman.
Photo by Morgan Hancock | Steve Bell speaks to gathered community members at the Black History Month protest in the Arcata Plaza on Feb 17.
In 2019, Cal Poly Humboldt students envisioned a project that would re-indigenize the campus by creating the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab & Cultural Workspace. According to the summer 2021 FSL Progress Report, this new indigenized space is “dedicated to the research, practice, and preservation of food sovereignty and traditional ecological knowledge. The purpose of the FSL is to provide an opportunity to work directly with the surrounding communities, tribal nations, and national and international scholars and community leaders to center, learn, and engage with Indigenous science, environmental management, and preservation practices.” The Food Sovereignty Lab serves to “unify our students, faculty, local tribes, and communities; to center and support tribal sovereignty, natural resource management, and preservation practices; and to provide students with culturally appropriate education in Indigenous natural resource management that respects Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination and serves our community.”
To help the public and Cal Poly Humboldt students understand the practice of food sovereignty, there will be an online film series via zoom that highlights the importance of revitalizing traditional food sources in March and April. The first film, “Inhabitant: Indigenous Perspectives on Restoring Our World,” will be presented by the Social Justice Summit on Thursday, March 3 at 7 p.m. PST. The second film, “Voices From the Barrens: Native People, Blueberries & Sovereignty,” will be shown Thursday, March 24 at 7 p.m. PST. “Gather” will be shown on Thursday, April 14 at 7 p.m. PST. The third part will be a double feature. “El Cacao: The Challenge of Fair Trade,” and “No Place to Grow,” featuring a discussion with filmmaker Michelle Aguilar, will be shown on Thursday, April 24 at 7 p.m. PST. Interested parties can register online here:
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Mission Statement The Lumberjack is a studentrun newspaper that reports on the campus and community. We strive to report with accuracy, honesty and originality. 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 Humboldt State University. Unsigned editorials appearing in the Opinion section reflect a two-third majority opinion of the editorial staff. Advertising material is published for informational purposes and is not an expressed or implied endorsement or verification of such commercial ventures of The Lumberjack, Associated Students or Humboldt State University.
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A.S. IMPEACHMENT FROM PAGE 1
“I would like to start as being a black woman on Associated Students,” Burns-Young said. “I have never felt [more] oppressed by my former BIPOC peers, than by our current president.” While Burns-Young was able to attend the meeting thanks to Bourne’s own decision to give the Zoom link to all other members, Finley did not count her as quorum and ignored any votes she made during that meeting. Under subsection L and M, President Finley was found guilty of conduct that was deemed to be causing distress to the Board as a collective whole and continuous displays of disrespect aimed at students of the association. Resigned A.S. member Malluli Cuellar gave testimony to this section. She gave examples of her many conflicts with President Finley as an A.S. member. In the summer prior to fall 2021, during an agenda prep meeting, Finley had requested that she include a talking point within the agenda that he wished to speak on. She expressed
NEWS/SCIENCE discomfort in allowing this agenda item to be added purely in its state as it wouldn’t allow for a debate between the Board, instead she offered similar alternatives. “He expressed to me that if the chair was unwilling to work with him,” Cuellar said. “He would simply amend it on to the agenda [in the state he wanted it in].” This incident caused her immense embarrassment and a growing panic towards speaking with President Finley. While she explained that they later spoke one-on-one and he apologized for his actions, his disrespectful words and actions continued up again not long after. Lastly, the violation of subsection o. negligence to thoroughly communicate with fellow board members, was testified by both Executive Director Jenessa Lund and College of Natural Resources & Sciences Representative Mark Bulgara. “When I would support the President in putting agendas together,” Lund said. “I always encourage, like ‘hey can we link it here it’s always best to provide things ahead of time, so people have time to review it and digest it.’ I always got denied.” Bulgara stated that Finley had neglected to properly educate him on im-
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
portant legislation and his voting rights when he appointed him to his current position. In the end, this ignorance often led him to blindly follow President Finley’s own words on any matter. “Seeing [this] now, I regret every second that I voted yes for him,” Bulgara said. “Because he has done nothing but betray our trust and he abused my ignorance in being a new member.” Throughout the entire trial President Finley expressed that all accusations against him were refutable and that he never did anything to break any legal laws nor did he mean to hurt any member with purposeful intent. While he did extend apologies when explicitly asked to by Bulgara, he also expressed himself as a victim to these accusations. He believed many of these accusations to actually stem from personal disagreements and opinions to his own past decisions. “I don’t see anything in here that results in the punishment that this board is wanting to pursue,” Finley said. “In fact, I feel as though I am being retaliated against for a lot of the ways that I’ve advocated for our students.” The impeachment trial ended with a unanimous vote by all Board members to impeach Jeremiah Finley from his role as A.S. president.
Umoja Center Hosts Black History Month Art Exhibit
by Lex Valtenbergs
Student-made poster boards detailing the lives and legacies of Black artists and activists filled the Gold and Green Room in Founders Hall during the Black History Month Art Exhibit hosted by the Umoja Center on Feb. 17. The exhibit was an opportunity for Cal Poly Humboldt’s Black students to express themselves and celebrate their African heritage, much as their forebears did before them in a self-determined push to resist the injustices of slavery, segregation and ongoing oppression. “It is a creative way to show our unity and stand for everyone who identifies as Black,” said Demi Ogunwo, a Masters student at Cal Poly Humboldt and Charter President of the National Society of Black Engineers. “It’s a lot of activists, a lot of people who broke out of the norm of oppression to make a name for themselves.” Biochemistry senior Asia Anderson comes from a line of radical Black women who defied the norm during their lifetimes. She made a poster board about her late great aunt Marian Anderson, a renowned Black opera singer. It was a popular exhibit among the attending students. “I don’t sing worth beans, but I do chemistry,” Anderson said. “I still think about her strength and not letting a ‘no’ close doors. That was passed down through the line of women in my family.” Jovie Garcia-Diaz, a senior majoring in Environmental Engineering, was a student attendee at the exhibit. Her favorite poster board detailed the appropriation of Black culture in popular social media culture.
Photo by Abraham Navarro | Cal Poly Humboldt Social Justice Equity and Inclusion Coordinator Frank Herrera points out some of the black panther photos. in the Green and Gold room in Founder’s Hall on Feb. 18.
“That’s something that I see a lot on social media that stands out to me,” Garcia-Diaz said. “People who aren’t Black get praised and get popular for [appropriated elements from Black culture.]” Cal Poly Humboldt students and faculty alike visited the exhibit as the evening went on. Frank Herrera happens to be both. He is a student pursuing a Masters degree in Business Administration and the Coordinator of the Social Justice, Equity, and Inclusion Center on campus. A collage poster board about the life of Fredrick Allen Hampton, former Chairman of the Black Panthers, stood out to Herrera. Herrera was alive in the final years of the Black Panthers’ existence before it dissolved. “I had met folks who were involved, I just remember the guys in leather jackets and the energy,” Herrera said.
”It’s amazing what they were doing, the bravery and courage they had during the time.” According to Ogunwo, the art exhibit in general characterized three of the seven guiding principles of the Nguzu Saba, or African heritage, that the Umoja Center stands They are Kuumba (creativity), Umoja (unity) and Kujichagulia (self-determination). “The pillars reinforce what we stand for and how we want people to see us,” Ogunwo said. Anderson feels a deep connection to her great aunt and to her heritage that empowers her. To her, the exhibit was a chance for Black students to see themselves in the trailblazers before them. “They weren’t the first,” Anderson said. “You’re not going to be the last. It feels good because one day, those boards are going to be about you.”
Photo by Abraham Navarro | (Right) Chemistry Senior Asia Anderson stands next to a photo of her great aunt Marion Anderson, a Black opera singer in Founder’s hall on Feb. 18.
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Admin vs Professor Administration calls professor’s accusations into question by Liam Gwynn A professor recently accused the school’s administration of not allowing teachers to change to online while symptomatic with COVID-19. Administration claims that the problem was overblown by the professor and isn’t accurate for a majority of the cases. Dr. Christopher Aberson came forward to the Lumberjack with a story about how he was symptomatic and asked to teach online but was denied the opportunity and asked to teach in person instead. Provost Jenn Capps responded to these accusations after Aberson’s story was released. Capps claims that a majority of the time teachers are allowed to change modality, however, they have to meet certain requirements. According to Capps, a professor seeking a modality change has to be verifiably ill and then has to seek approval from their department head to change modality. In cases like Aberson’s where the department head is the one asking, they have to seek approval from Capps directly. Capps couldn’t speak on Aberson’s case specifically due to confidentiality reasons, yet she was able to speak on similar hypothetical situations. “I’d say eighty percent of the time a request for a change is being granted, when it’s not being granted, it’s because perhaps a person is operating off of being afraid or they are like ‘something could happen therefore I don’t want to teach in person I’m just going to shift my course online and I’ll let you know when I wanna come back,’” Capps said. “Well, that’s not somebody who is sick and that’s not the agreement that was made with the students.” Aberson never tested positive for COVID-19 but he did claim he was symptomatic. In times where COVID-19 takes up the majority of the conversation, people are still getting sick with other illnesses and it can be confusing when symptoms of one illness overlap with COVID-19 symptoms. According to Capps and school policy, just coming in contact with COVID-19 is not enough to warrant staying home or teaching online. “For students, faculty, and staff our current policy is that if you are vaccinated and you come into contact with somebody with COVID and you’re masked and vaccinated, that doesn’t mean that anything needs to change,” said Capps, continuing. “What you need to do is continue about your work and life and monitor and keep doing wellness checks, and if you start to experience symptoms then you get tested and isolate.” Strangely enough, that is what Aberson was trying to do according to his accounts of the event. He came into contact with COVID-19, started feeling symptoms, and then requested a modality change. Aberson was under the impression that his request was possibly denied due to him being outspoken against different school policies. When asked about whether this was a genuine possibility, Capps firmly denied any bias in the deciding process. “Oh of course not, that would be all kinds of wrong,” Capps said. “It’s just really centering on a couple of things, making sure the student gets the instructional experience that they desired and making sure that faculty and staff and student health is protected.”
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Wednesday, February 23, 2022
THE LUMBERJACK
Life & Arts
Humboldt Circus clow
Let your fr
by Gabriel Zucker
Photo by Gabriel Zucker | Louis Parr, (ABOVE) President of Circus Club, does bike tricks around the quad during the club fair. (BELOW) Jonah Ormiston and Caitlin McVey pose with their circus props in front of the Humboldt Circus Flag on Feb. 11.
John Chernoff does it all by August Linton
from practice room to practice room. “The transition between [personal John Chernoff doesn’t carry most of and professional] worlds is a rough one the music he plays with him. Instead, for me,” Chernoff said. “I have to conthe students he plays with bring it to fess, once you’ve heard vocal warmups him. He’s been the on-staff piano ac- enough times it’s kind of like water torcompanist at Cal Poly Humboldt for ture. It’s an inexorable ascent of key. So what he figures to be about 16 years, sometimes I’m not too eager to get to playing a larger volume of music daily the beginning of certain things.” than probably anyone else on campus. Becoming a professional musician Chernoff plays at choral rehearsals, wasn’t always Chernoff’s goal. He first other ensemble practices, and individ- learned to play piano as a child, and ual sessions with any music student says it was something he deeply loved, who needs accompaniment. Piano is but mostly fell into. Even while serioften a catch-all substituted for what ously studying music, he thought that will eventually be other instruments, he would fall back to working in tech. so Chernoff ends up filling a lot of roles “I think the moment it happened for almost every type of music student. actually was, there was a year where I “I play with basically anybody who was working as a computer programneeds a piano to be played with them,” mer … I remember I would go into the he said. office, and there would be people who One of his favorite types of music didn’t know who Mozart was.” to play during working hours is when At conservatories, concert pianists he accompanies the school’s musical mostly learn virtuosic solo music, but theater rehearsals. He studied classi- he found that playing collaboratively cal music up to the post-grad level, but was more fulfilling to him as a musisays he appreciates the multi-faceted cian. nature of musical scores. “There’s only so many notes you can
As his staff flew around his body, it became an extension of himself, twirling over the pavement. Man and tool became one through dance. Liam Boyd, a transfer student and part-time circus performer, ran up to the booth with a clown nose and a staff in hand. He had no idea Humboldt had a circus club and was overjoyed to meet everyone. Boyd started to perform with his staff and soon was joined by others, slowly growing into a full-grown performance. The Humboldt Circus is one of many student-led Cal Poly Humboldt clubs. These clubs give students a safe place to meet like-minded individuals and learn new skills. On Wednesday, Feb. 10, student clubs set up booths around the quad. This gave new students a chance to learn about and join these clubs, opening the door for new friendships and experiences. Louis Parr, President of Humboldt Circus, brought a box full of circus props to their booth. Immediately the traffic in front of the booth increased. “Circus is a magical place, full of fun and free creativity,” Parr said. “You are allowed to do whatever you want to, within the circus.” Every week Circus hosts “Play Time” Monday from 5-8 pm at the West Gym. There they give students a chance to let their inner freak out in an artistically unique way. In this space, students are given complete freedom to explore and experiment to their heart’s content, trying new things every time, or perfecting one act over the course of the year. Isla Merten, a longtime member of Humboldt Circus, walked around the Club Fair. They juggled everything from bowling pins to thin disks. Soon
they were joined by more and more interested students, all signing up for the club and trying out some of the cool props. By the end of the club fair, multiple students had stopped what they were doing and taken a couple of minutes to try out different props and write down their emails. Humboldt Circus gives its members endless possibilities for what they can perform and act out. Character acting and improv also have a place in Humboldt Circus. Props are used for tricks, laughs, and skits, adding a new layer to the performance. This year Merten moved away from the props and instead focused on improv and clowning. “A clown means being creative and open to work with what you are given,” Merten said. “The spirit of play and creation.” Embodying the clown, they act out scenes by themselves and with others. Merten uses improv to expand and perfect their character. Humboldt Circus, like all the other student clubs, gives a social place for students to bond with one another. When asked about who usually joins the club, Merten didn’t miss a beat. “It’s a club for introverted weirdos,” Merten said with a laugh. “We have extroverted weirdos too.”
Photo by August Linton | John Chernoff plays the piano in a Music B practice room on Feb. 22.
Photo by August Linton | John Chernoff poses for a portrait in the art quad on Feb. 22.
Chernoff practices his craft almost every day. He’s able to sight-read any piece of music put in front of him almost flawlessly, and it seems ridiculous that the Music Department ever functioned without him. Learning new music quickly has always been one of his strengths, he said. However, he is only one person, solely responsible for the needs of many students. Anybody who works with him knows well his constant, almost harried-seeming air as he rushes
jam into your brain when you’re learning solo piano music, before it starts to become kind of obnoxious… chamber music always seems like it has a more genuine purpose,” Chernoff said. Upcoming March 4 and 5, the Eureka Symphony Orchestra will be debuting an original piano concerto composed by Chernoff as a part of their show ‘Inspirations, New and Timeless.’ He’s been working on the piece since before the pandemic. “I have often been pressed into duty
to play piano concertos with the Eureka Symphony, which is a fun thing to do,” Chernoff said. The piece, simply titled ‘Piano Concerto,’ is Chernoff’s way of melding the 19th century golden age of classical piano with 21st century sensibilities. “The 19th century tends to be the era where the piano shines particularly, so many great composers wrote for the piano at that time,” Chernoff said. “So that’s sort of part of my DNA. The thing is we can’t really write in that idiom today completely, because it’s not us. But it is a lot of us.” The idealism of Debussy or other composers involved in the romanticism of the 19th century created an extreme, modernist reaction, according to Chernoff. He views this concerto as a sort of counter-counter reaction. “I think what’s happened, is… it’s not really enough, modernism in a lot of ways has not worked out that well for humanity,” Chernoff said. Another aspect of the piece, one which is uniquely reflective of Chernoff himself, is what he describes as a sort of awkwardness. “When we write music, we can’t help but express our own personalities
and such,” he said. “It’s alright to see the strings once in a while; I hope people can forgive the imperfections, the awkward turns of phrases, that all-too imperfect humanity the piece tends to have.” Even after playing piano for other people’s projects all day, Chernoff goes home and continues to pursue his musicality. He plays jazz piano, and explores what bluegrass on the piano would sound like. He’s also a zealous chess player, and still codes for fun occasionally. Merging three of his largest passions, he created a computer program which assigns musical traits to different moves within chess games. Chernoff also livestreams on Twitch as @zugaddict: playing chess, performing different piano pieces, or even streaming the digital fantasy card game Hearthstone. He says he tried playing chess and piano simultaneously on a stream once, but that the act of multitasking took away the musicality. “I try to do a lot of different things,” he said. “This piano piece of mine too, does this a lot, it has trains of thought it gets obsessed with.”
THE LUMBERJACK
Life & Arts
PAGE 5
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
wns around campus
reak out
Photo by Morgan Hancock | Isla Merten, a member of Circus Club, balances and juggles pins at the campus club fair on Feb 11.
Photo by Gabriel Zucker | Louis Parr, President of the Humboldt Circus, shows off their Isis wings while walking around on stilts
Tattoos around town by Alana Hackman Juli Ebittner is a senior environmental resources engineering major at Cal Poly Humboldt. Ebittner has two tattoos, an orchid they got done at True Nature Tattoo in Arcata, and a family crest on their shoulder. “The first one was a family crest. All the women in my family get that the age of eighteen so it was really cool,” Ebittner said. “The cool part about it is that it’s just a feather but it’s like tailored to my personality, all of us get ones to our specific personalities.” “The next one is a orchid, and it’s because growing up I used to think they were just scary and like ugly but they’re actually really beautiful. I kind of thought that way about myself growing up too, but now I’m a pretty flower.”
Science
Red Rhododendrons rustle in Spring breeze Featured flowers: highlighting Cal Poly Humboldt’s fabulous flora
by Nina Hufman
One of the most noticeable flowers on the beautiful CPH campus is the Rhododendron. The scientific name of this particular species is Rhododendron delavayi. According to the American Rhododendron society, the plants are native to India, Burma, China, Thailand, and other regions of Eastern Asia. This species of tree is identifiable by its bright red blossoms and elliptical-shaped leaves. Dense indumentum, or hairlike structures, cover the underside of the plant’s leaves. These help the plant to absorb water and discourage predation by insects. Rhododendrons are members of the Ericaceae, an expansive family which also encompasses cranberries, blueberries, and huckleberries. Despite the inclusion of these common edible fruits, many other members of this family are known to contain toxic compounds. In a 2014 study in the journal Natural Product Communications, compounds found in poisonous species of the Ericaceae
Photo by Nina Hufman | Rhododendron delavayi, Bright red flowers cover the Rhododendron tree between the theatre and art buildings on Feb. 18.
family, “exhibit toxic effects on the digestive, cardiovascular and nervous systems.” The study also states that these poisonous plants’ traditional use in Chinese medicine makes them a good candidate for further scientific study. According to the National
Capital Poison Center, honey produced by bees from rhododendron nectar can concentrate the various toxic chemicals. The effects of poisoning by this method include disorientation, mouth irritation, nausea, and vomiting, leading to it’s colloquial name, “Mad Honey.” Rhododendron trees can be seen in multiple places on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus including the area between the theater and art buildings,
where the above photos were taken. They are considered early bloomers, usually producing flowers from late February to May. Go out while they’re still blooming and enjoy the beautiful, bright red rhododendron.
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Wednesday, February 23, 2022
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PAGE 7
Men need to stop talking to me Nothing you have said was necessary
by Sophia Escudero Today, I was sitting at the bus stop with a significantly more male friend of mine when a man I had never seen before approached us and asked when the next northbound bus was coming. My friend didn’t know, but I pulled up the bus schedule on my phone and informed the stranger that he had another three minutes to wait. “Thank you,” the man said with a smile. “You know, I thought you were a huge bitch at first, but you’re actually really nice.” I am not a woman, but by accident of my birth, I am often perceived as such. I have experienced the casual misogyny and willingness of strange men to just say things that probably didn’t need to be said since at least the age of ten, when a man first leaned out of a car window and shouted the specifics of what he would like to do to me, and while he’s at it, to the small dog I was walking, in my general direction. I speak with experience when I say that men on the street will really say the most bizarre things and go about their day, while the person they shouted at just has to live with the garbage that they spewed without a second thought. What really gets me about this man specifically was his sincerity. He truly believed that he was paying me a compliment, and likely went about the rest of his day believing he’d had a pleasant talk at the bus stop. It is important to note that I had never seen this man before in my life. What was it that convinced him so thoroughly that I, a stranger at the bus stop minding my own business, was indeed a massive bitch? Was it my short, butchy hairstyle? My Captain Marvel t-shirt? The fact that my friend and I had just been discussing sexism in women’s sports when he got here? If
Graphic by Lex Valtenbergs
so, why was I the only bitch? Shouldn’t the person agreeing with me be a bitch as well, if that was the case? While I know that when a man is a bitch he is weak and when a woman is a bitch she is a rabid animal, wouldn’t he be a bitch (masculine, derogatory) for cowing to my radical feminist notion that women should not be forced to expose more skin than they are comfortable with, even though he had brought that point up in the first place? Although, the man only told me, not him, that I was really nice and not a huge bitch. Perhaps he meant to suggest through omission that my friend was the huge bitch here? I wish I had said, “Oh no, I actually am a massive bitch. You were right the first time.” I am a feminist and a lesbian, and if
this man’s general vibe was an accurate reflection of who he is, then I imagine both of those words are threats to him. Yet, if I had declared myself a bitch, would he have realized that maybe calling a stranger a bitch for no clear reason is a super weird thing to do? Or would he have laughed at my attempt to assert myself, before going home and complaining online that biologically, women can’t be funny? I refer to myself using all kinds of things people have hurled at me — dyke, bitch, man-hater and the like— and have reached the point where I embrace them. I’m a bitchy man-hating dyke on purpose, and I’m proud of it. I can certainly reclaim this for myself, but would this man on the street even register that I was subverting the
patriarchy by refusing his words their intent? Would he care? Is this even about me? Unfortunately, I was too stunned by the fact that a person would just walk up to a stranger, congratulate them on not being as bitchy as anticipated, and think they did something to express all this in the three minutes before his bus got here. I could only say, “...okay?” in a voice I hope adequately expressed how much he was embarrassing himself, and resumed talking with my friend where we had left the conversation. To all the men who are thinking of saying something to a stranger in public, I say only this— don’t. In fact, don’t say anything to anyone, no matter where you are. Just don’t talk. To anyone. Please shut up forever, thank you.
That rash or sore might be
SYPHILIS Syphilis is on the rise in Humboldt County
GET FACTS. GET TESTED. GET CURED.
Contact your primary care provider or visit humboldtgov.org/STD.
Esa erupción o lesión puede ser
This campaign borrowed from Pima County Health Department.
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Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Jewelry and small metals club by August Linton
(Top Right) Club member Steph Trimm ‘trueing up’ a heart charm. (Top Left) Treasurer Kylie Maxfield arranges valentines-themed trinkets. (Right) Assorted metalworking tools on the Jewelry and Small Metals Lab wall.
(Top Left) Steph Trimm holds a heart charm. (Right) Club Advisor Erin Austin, Treasurer Kylie Maxfield and President Mikayla Nicholas, discussing the possibility of a club trip to San Fransisco. (Bottom Left) Lucia Rodriguez files a steel dowel, making her own tools. (Bottom Right) Lights and Equipment in the Jewelry and Small Metals Lab.
Photos by August Linton on Feb. 4th
THE LUMBERJACK