04.06.22

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STUDENTS SERVING THE HUMBOLDT CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY SINCE 1929

LUMBERJACK WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6, 2022 | VOL. 120 NO. 10

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

Index News.........................3

Recital pg 4

Students weigh in on Cal Poly infrastructure plans

Toyon

Life & Arts...........................4 Science....................5

pg 5

Climbing pg 6

Sports..................... 6 Opinion...................7

CAN WE BUILD IT?

by Kris Nagel and Ione Dellos Cal Poly Humboldt has released its outline to develop campus infrastructure in the coming years. The school is planning to increase enrollment by 50% over the next three years, and then double that number in seven years. When you look at campus today, there are about 6,400 students enrolled at Humboldt. Now, imagine 9,600 students hustling and bustling around you while trying to get to class.

By 2029, 19,200 students will be roaming campus grounds. Part of the recently released development plan includes expanding on-campus housing, which currently accommodates only 2,100 residents. Also included in the plan are several extensive housing units, parking structures, and long-demanded upgrades to campus laboratories. A more detailed version of the infrastructure project is available on Cal Poly Humboldt’s website under the polytechnic information page.

With the completion of the Craftsman Student Housing, the Campus Apartments parking structure, and the Library Circle parking structure, Cal Poly Humboldt’s campus will boast an additional 1,500 parking spaces as part of the Campus Apartments Student Housing project in December 2027.

The current parking problems seen on campus are addressed in the university’s infrastructure projects, although current students have expressed concerns that the school didn’t build more parking sooner. Noah Daglio, a history major, says that he gets mad about the lack of parking.

“If the campus knows that there aren’t enough spots to accommodate the number of permits,” Daglio said, “Don’t sell permits.”

Also included in the project are millions of dollars earmarked for necessary upgrades to both Science A and C.

Graphic by Morgan Hancock

To get a better understanding of how students think these upgrades will impact them, I asked Clara Laneskogg, a marine biology major, how she feels about Humboldt announcing the $36.3 million lab renovations.

“Honestly, any funding for new science equipment would be great, because there’s a lot of firestarters that don’t work, the test tubes and the beakers that break, plus the room space is too confined,” Laneskogg said. “There’s chemicals spilling everywhere, and you can contaminate so many people.”

Laneskogg agreed that current students would have benefitted from the planned lab upgrades because accidents happen when space is limited.

Although not in terrible condition, the labs could use considerable improvements that would limit the potential for accidents involving hazardous materials.

“I burned myself plenty of times, I’ve spilled acid on my pants a few times, just because of the constriction of space,” Laneskogg said. “I’ve cut myself on a broken test tube, and I’ve bro-

ken numerous beakers because you’re under such a time crunch it almost feels like there is no time to let it cool.”

Despite student concerns regarding the lack of crucial safety infrastructure in the chemistry labs, the general sentiment of the upgrades to the labs is relief. While the current STEM majors of Cal Poly Humboldt could have used the $36.3 million upgrade plan, they’re just glad to know that future chemistry students won’t be spilling acid on their pants with as much frequency in the future.

Slack is Back

Students bring back slacklining club

by Liam Gwynn

Photo by Abraham Navarrro | Gabriela Vargas, a veteran slackliner who has been slacklining for more than 10 years, demonstrates her balance on the tightrope at the Mad River Pump Station on March 22.

Ethereal flute, harmonious tarot prophecies, and a faint vaguely skunkish smell: you’d think it was a description of a sixties wet dream. However, you would be wrong, that dream is very much alive in Humboldt county, particularly with a group of students who have started a slacklining group that meets every Sunday.

Before the pandemic, Cal Poly Humboldt had a thriving slacklining community with a club that would meet weekly. The club fell apart in 2020, however, one former member has gathered a group of fellow slackers and begun the process of getting this group turned into an official club at Cal Poly Humboldt. Joseph Aguilar, organizer of the prospective slacklining club, joined the original club in 2019 and has been slacklining ever since.

“I love how when you’re on [the slackline] it’s just you, you have to be focused and present, and in that moment and you have to be hyperaware of all the muscles in your body,” Aguilar said. “It’s really good for core strength and all sorts of stuff.”

Aguilar decided to start throwing “Slack Sundays” with a group of his friends and it gradually blossomed into a communal gathering of musicians, slack enthusiasts, and an assortment of nature lovers.

The atmosphere at “Slack Sunday” was laid back and welcoming. Unlike many sports activities, there was no sort of competitive spirit or pressure to perform perfectly. People stretched back on picnic blankets and relaxed while others painted, played a variety of instruments, gave tarot card readings, threw a frisbee, and even tossed around a boomerang. Others came just to meet new people and hang out.

The skill levels at “Slack Sunday” were equally diverse. For some, it was their first time and veterans held their hands and gave tips on how to cross. On the opposite side of the spectrum, genuine professionals showed off their skills with remarkable tricks on a line five feet off the ground.

SEE SLACK ● PAGE 4

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THE LUMBERJACK

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

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NEWS

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

PAGE 3

A University Center hidden on campus

by Matthew Taylor

Graphic by Morgan Hancock

Graduation is around the corner

by Poppy Cartledge

Commencement is on Saturday, May 14 CEREMONY TIMES 8:30am College Arts Humanities & Social Sciences 12pm College of Natural Resources & Sciences 3:30pm College of Professional Studies

IMPORTANT INFORMATION/ DATES

Order cap and gown here:

A cap and gown are required to walk in the Commencement ceremony.

“I think the students are getting a better package.”

Early bird pricing ended on March 25 and the final deadline to order them for home shipping is APRIL 17.

If you want to walk in the ceremony or make any changes to your walk date, you MUST register/do so by Friday, APRIL 8.

Guest tickets will be purchased at the same time as commencement registration.

Register for ceremony here:

DAY OF CEREMONY Photographers will be at the ceremony to capture official grad portraits that can be viewed or purchased through the link sent after the ceremony.

The event will be live streamed day of on Humboldt.edu and a recorded version will be uploaded after the ceremony has taken place.

Hustle and bustle at the Associated Students As the AS re-imagines itself, members must also quickly prepare for the yearly budget and election cycle

by Matthew Taylor In the wake of reimagining the Associated Students, all hands are on deck. More staff and members have resigned over time as the major deadlines of AS’ yearly budget and the next election cycle fast approach. The Board of Directors has played musical chairs with itself after Finley’s impeachment in a scramble to fill the most critical positions. The AS is quickly becoming a phoenix out of its ashes. Reinvigoration among its most loyal members has been felt across the organization, and student participation and interest have been at an all-time high since the pandemic first hit. “[We’re] tapping into the core program,” Chase Marcum, the current Administrative Vice President, said.

“Teamwork makes the dream work.”

Since refocusing on the budget, Marcum and the Finance Committee have utilized all the help they can get from resources such as the Student Legal Lounge, CCAT, and the work of their predecessors.

“We forget that a lot of passionate previous leadership had the foresight to give students templates and guidance,” Marcum said. “[We have] the ability to look back.”

The yearly budget plans to increase funds for the Asian, Desi, Pacific Islander Collective (APIC) and various other cultural centers on campus.

Funding is also being put into Scholars without Borders and expanding the list of study-abroad countries provided at Cal Poly Humboldt. The Student Legal Lounge may also receive higher funds to put into aid for Dreamer students.

Graphic by Matthew Taylor | A phoenix draped in daffodils, one of the symbolic flowers recommended to be used in future AS inaugurations.

Discussions around previous legislation, bylaws, and organizational structures continue. Plans to review and update the AS Personnel Code along with many of Finley’s previous legislation are in the works. Reviews will ensure that all legislation and bylaws protect student representation and autonomy within the organization. The Bylaws Committee, alongside Legislative Vice President Gio Guerrero, has also begun negotiations with the Dean of Students to utilize the resources from HR to avoid future internal conflicts.

Above all, the AS is hopeful for the new election cycle. Voting will commence between April 18-22, and students will be emailed the ballot.

Guerrero said that last year only 3-4

The University Center (UC) is a husk of what it used to be since its contract was terminated by Cal Poly Humboldt’s administration back in December of 2020. Before then it was an auxiliary organization to the university in charge of many student events and activities. Many members had been left hurt, with most refusing to speak on the record due to a fear of legal or social reprimand by the university. A majority of the UC’s responsibilities have been transferred to the Student Activity Center. In its current state, the UC exists to provide pensions to its retirees and use reserve funds for various student programs. There are some members, however, who see its end as a bittersweet conclusion.

people ran for mostly uncontested positions, but this semester almost all the positions have at least one person running for so far. The signature process to get on the ballot has also been waived, making it easier to apply. The results of the elections will be posted on May 6.

“There’s some work ahead of us, but we’ll make it through and persist,” Guerrero said. “We’re going to be okay as an organization.”

The next Board of Directors meeting will be held this Friday, April 8, at Nelson Hall East 106 from 3 to 6 p.m.

As always, these meetings will be open to the public and are now entirely accessed via Zoom. For access to meetings or further inquiries, the AS can be contacted at (707) 826-5410 and through its email at as-staff@humboldt.edu.

-Wendy Sotomayor, UC Executive Director and Student Activities Director

“In my position, I see both sides,” said Wendy Sotomayor, UC Executive Director and Student Activity Center Director, the bittersweet sadness in her voice apparent throughout the interview. “I’m excited but I’m also sad. The UC was very valuable and did a lot of good for the students here. In the end, though, I think the students are getting a better package.”

She expressed, along with many of her colleagues, that she still saw the letter of termination as the administrations ‘means to an end’, but also saw the validity in the problems stated within it. In some ways, the UC’s own response to the administration may have further solidified its decision to end the contract.

“Our response didn’t really include any [tangible] changes to the actual administration’s complaints,” Sotomayor said.

Much of the mistakes made by the UC at the time, referenced in the letter of termination, were based simply on miscommunication and misunderstanding. Certain allegations, such as that of fraud, were later confirmed to be completely unfounded. Still, legitimate mistakes existed and deserved to be fixed. The financial risk of loaning the Arcata Community Pool $300,000 was huge in hindsight of the COVID-19 pandemic, and due to its distant relationship to the university didn’t qualify well under “its mission”. Steps were made to fix these problems before termination, but in the eyes of the university’s administration that wasn’t enough.

“We couldn’t fix it after the fact,” Sotomayor said.

The introduction of lawyers to the mix didn’t make the situation any better in her eyes either. Instead of coming to the table it became only lawyers talking to lawyers. In the end, lawyers on each side may have convinced them that each was totally in the right. “[Many UC members] wholeheartedly believed they did nothing wrong,” Sotomayor said, expressing that at the time even she felt similarly.

Since the termination, the administration has given most of UC’s previous tasks to the Student Activity Center. The program controls Center Arts, General Operations as well as a new program called Conference and Event Services (CES). Center Activities is now under Athletics and is located at the Student Recreation Center (SRC).

“So much personal feelings got involved,” Sotomayor said. “And [I’m] not sure we could have gotten [to where the SAC currently is ourselves].”

PAGE 4

Life & Arts

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

THE LUMBERJACK

Re-accreditation spurs special showcase The Cal Poly Humboldt music department performs a once-in-a-decade recital

by Sophia Escudero One o’clock on a Tuesday afternoon is not the usual time for a music recital.

However, this particular performance was more than just a display of student skill. Accreditors from the National Association of Schools of Music were in attendance, after two days on campus visiting classes, listening to students perform, and ensuring the university meets standards for music programs.

According to music department chair Cindy Moyer, this process is one that happens only once every ten years.

“For this particular recital, what they wanted to see was the full spectrum of the program, which is why you can see there were all different music concentrations and students performing,” Moyer said.

A highlight of the afternoon’s performances was staff accompanist John Chernoff’s rendition of a moody piano piece by composition major Theo Singer. The audience watched in captivated silence as Chernoff played through to the last, lingering note with an intensely focused expression, leaving the music hanging in the air for a moment, before breaking the spell as he turned to the audience with a wide smile and a quick bow, freeing the listeners to rapturous applause. Singer is a senior, but the performers comprised the full range of experience.

“This was hard because we needed a real breadth of things, we had to find freshmen and sophomores,” Moyer said. “We do an honors recital every year and that’s pretty easy, students

Photo by Sophia Escudero | Baritone Pablo Murcia performs an aria from Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the NASM recital in Fulkerson Hall.

audition and the very best play— but that was not the goal here. The goal was not the most advanced, most skilled performers entirely, it was the whole spectrum of performers.”

Marimba player Makani Bright was singled out by Moyer as a particularly talented senior performer. Bright has been playing for about 12 years, and has an upcoming senior solo recital on April 10. They are a double major in percussion performance and applied mathematics, finding beauty in both.

“The way that I relate both of my majors in my mind is that I think of them artistically,” Bright said. “I think

of mathematics as an art form, it’s perfect and there’s many beautiful things you can do within mathematics. Both of them, to me, are an art.”

Bright’s piece, “Chain” by composer Kazunori Miyake, was not one they had previously performed before an audience. The instrumental composition had almost narrative elements, combining multiple different feelings and rhythms into a complex and beautiful melody.

“I feel really good about it,” Bright said. “I feel like I was able to express what I wanted to express and I really enjoyed myself.”

The majority of the music on display was instrumental, with pianists, percussionists, and a saxophone quartet as standouts, but music education major Pablo Murcia was selected to represent the vocal arts.

“I’m very honored, honestly,” Murcia said. “I was the only singer chosen, and that’s quite an honor. I’m very flattered, and happy that some people came out to support me. That was nice.”

Murcia’s piece was an aria from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, “Deh, vieni alla finestra.” He performed in Italian, but his smooth baritone voice, expressive performing style, and connection with the music (which has been part of his repertoire since last semester) carried the story of the song to the audience.

“Don Giovanni, he’s a Don Juan, he’s a player, and he’s trying to get the attention of a woman at her window,” Murcia said. “The whole piece is just him saying, come to me, come to me, trying different tactics to get her attention, and she just keeps sort of playing coy, and finally, by the end of the piece, she finally gives into his charms.” He laughs. “Quote, unquote charms— he’s kind of a narcissistic jerk, but yeah.”

Music department ASA Samantha Heppe was excited to be involved in such an important production for the university.

“I’m just excited for our music students to showcase their talents,” Heppe said. “This recital is in honor of the accreditation team, so this type of recital won’t happen again for another ten years.”

Painting it teal for sexual assault awareness month

by Matthew Taylor Pamphlets and papers flew around the UC Quad. Three teal blue tables stood to the right of The Depot entrance, pushed up close to the SAC’s concrete stairs. Dozens of paint bottles cluttered the leftmost table while various pins cluttered the right. April is international recognized as Sexual Assault Awareness month and The North Coast Rape Crisis Team alongside its on campus program Campus Advocate Team (CAT) have worked together to host its annual Take Back the Night week. The week-long event lasts from April 4 to April 7 and includes activities such as Denim Day, Clothesline Project Workshop, and Take Back the Night.

Tuesday marked Teal Day, a day dedicated to the awareness of sexual assault survivors and their stories. Students at the tabling event were encouraged to paint their expressions of positive growth and healing. By the end, all the small canvases would be placed together to form a larger mural. Liliana Cortez, the Violence Prevention Advocate at the Women’s Resource Center, expressed that the mural was an optional part of the activity.

“It’s up to them,” Cortez said. “If they want to create their piece and keep

it, or if they want to go ahead and give it to us so we can make it part of [the mural].”

Together with Cortez, CAT Education Coordinator Kira Morse was also present at the table.

“We provide services here on campus for survivors of sexual assault,” Morse said. “We have counseling, we have an office here, and we also respond out if there’s any incidents or things like that and help with [things] like Title IX and accommodations.”

Rachel Mack, a Rangeland Resource Management major, was one of the handful of students painting at the table.

“It’s nice to have something positive as well as it being important for what it stands for,” Mack said, whilst painting her sunflower piece. “I think [it’s] really important for survivors to be able to have control over their own situation.”

Alexa Farias, a Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies major, expressed this event is very important to her work and role within Students for Violence Prevention.

“We actually want to be part of the whole Speak Out, because it’s a really good way to show people what it feels

like to really look through the situations,” Farias said.

Speak Out is one of the many subevents planned within Friday’s Take Back the Night program. This event will provide a safe space with counselors on hand for survivors to ‘speak out’ about their experiences and tell their stories.

“The main movement and push with Take Back the Night is that people can feel safe here on campus and have their voices heard,” Morse said. “I feel a lot of times that survivors feel like they’re hush hushed. There’s not that open space where people can name their ex-

periences. Take Back the Night, there is a lot of this amazing support where people feel comfortable.”

Friday’s event will begin with a speech by Dr. Rachel King that will culminate into a rally and the aforementioned Speak Out event. Lasting between 6 to 10 pm, the event will end in a vigil dedicated to the victims of sexual violence.

“I feel like [this] is really good,” said psychology major John Clark. “If this could happen at most events, then people would start to see that this is a thing that we should talk about.”

SLACK

competition. Vargas originally moved to Colorado but was attracted to Arcata because of the slacklining culture that exists here.

One issue that many professional slackliners face is debilitating injuries.

Vargas said one injury she had forced her out of the competitive space after a leg injury that took six months to recover.

“I like to take my healing slow, because if you don’t let it fully heal and just go back to doing it, it can get chronic and I don’t want that to hap-

pen,” said Vargas.

Despite the setback from her injuries, Vargas has continued to expand her skills and has become proficient in highline, when a slackliner is harnessed to the slackline and balances over massive heights. Vargas showed a picture of her slacklining over an incredible drop of over 6,500 feet.

People enjoy slacklining for a variety of reasons but one central theme is the benefits of achieving mental and physical balance when on the line. The appointed treasurer of the prospective

club Ella Feick explained how her passion for slacklining stemmed from that need for balance.

“You’re thinking in your head, you’re breathing in your body, and you’re focusing on your balance in a way that you’re not typically. If you’re stressed out or having a hard day you can’t really be thinking about all that stuff, you’re just there,” Feick said. “It’s a very present activity.”

“Slack Sundays” are hosted every Sunday from 12-5 p.m. at the Mad River Pump Station 4 - Disc Golf Course.

FROM PAGE 1 One of those professionals was Gabriela Vargas. She started by slacklining in her hometown Mexico City and moved to the US after receiving a sponsorship for competing in a trick line

Photo by Matthew Taylor | Alexa Farias paints at the Teal Day event at the UC Quad on April 4.

THE LUMBERJACK

Science

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

PAGE 5

Featured researcher studies pupfish in geologic history Dr. Jeffery Knott investigates ancient lakes

by Mekiah Glynn The geology colloquium on Monday, March 28 began with the introduction of Dr. Jeffery Knott. Knott is an emeritus professor at California State Fullerton and an experienced researcher in paleogeography and paleoclimatology.

Paleography is the study of historical geography and paleoclimatology is the study of ancient climates. Combining these studies and biology, Knott shared the research he’s done. He explained how pupfish are so widely spread around the globe using paleogeographic understanding of past lakes and rivers where the pupfish were.

Pupfish are about 2 inches in length and are often a blueish color. This group of species is found in a variety of locations throughout the world. The Death Valley pupfish (Cyprinodon salinus,) which lives exclusively in a small body of water known as Salt Creek, is

Photo courtesy of Jeffery Knott | CSUF undergraduate students sampling an ancient basalt flow in Death Valley Wash, Death Valley, California.

the focus of Knott’s research. “[Salt Creek] is mostly a series of pools and sometimes very little ponds to the side, and it’s not very fast-moving as well,” Knott said. “It’s a relatively slow and low gradient stream but this is where one species of pupfish happens to live at the bottom of Death Valley”.

The pupfish at Salt Creek are disconnected from other bodies of water.

This makes it impossible for them to be related to pupfish in other parts of the world unless there was a connection to other bodies at some point in the past.

This is why comparing the pupfish species proves that sea levels were higher and lakes in the past were big enough to connect these water sources.

To figure out where and when these lakes existed, Knott had to use regional stratigraphy, which studies the layers of rock to determine time frames. Us-

ing geological evidence, Knott found that Death Valley had a deepwater lake from around 3.2 to 3.6 million years ago. Along with the timeline of the lakes, the rocks can be used to tell when the area was dried up or whether the lakes were warm.

From there, Knott then compared the timeline set by different sediments to discover when and how the lakes may have overflowed into each other, and where there isn’t overflow there is usually a realistic explanation.

Through the study of historical writings, we know that Native Americans moved pupfish into the Devil’s Hole in Death Valley because they used it for a bathing hole.

There have been similar studies done to try and explain the evolutionary relationship between the Deep Springs black toad and the toads at

Darwin Canyon. These toads are entirely aquatic, so the distance between these species also has to be explained by the history of lakes in the area.

The next species that Knott and other researchers will focus on are the spring snails. These are a unique case: they move a lot slower than the pupfish and the toads so the distribution of the species is hypothesized to take a lot longer. Finishing the seminar, Knott acknowledged the team that helped him.

“We’ve done a pretty good job of establishing a stratigraphy here in Death Valley in the western Great Basin,” Knott said. “Through the efforts of many, many people, we can correlate this with global climate records, and then we can start to look at the timing of these...lakes.”

PAGE 6

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

SPORTS

THE LUMBERJACK

Crag of the week: Promontory Point

by Morgan Hancock At the mouth of the Klamath River lies a great big rock, split open like the jaws of a shark. Its crevices create corridors that fracture down to the ocean.

Slippery dark rock wedges between the walls. The ocean gurgles, slaps, and barks through the cracks below.

The rock is there through no fault of its own. It moved at the mercy of plates at war underfoot. The rock was pushed, upheaved, and lurched by geologic forces. Eventually, it lay cracked open, stretching its jaws in a yawn at the ocean.

Today, climbers are grateful for this yawning rock off Highway 101. Humboldt students cram into Subarus with their rank damp gear, wet dogs, and joints all tucked behind ears—and jaunt to Promontory Point. Affectionately nicknamed “Prom,” the crag hosts classic routes home to the Redwood Coast Climbing Area. Crag parking is an hour and ten minutes drive North of Arcata, California on redwood-lined curves of the 101. After a stretch in the parking lot, climbers load up with packs and head north on the beach. The approach is to cross the mouth of the Klamath and then rock-hop until eyes behold the sandstone lith. High tide journeys involve an up and over detour with ropes to jug up.

Photo by Morgan Hancock | Brayden Jensen lowering from Wildwood Friday April 1.

Once at Promontory Point, allow a 10 minute grace period to froth at the views, routes, overhangs, and ocean booms. Prom’s great mouth creates an auditorium effect boosting the crash of the waves to thunderous slams. Prom hosts 50 routes, but today’s white whale is the route Humboldt Current 5.10b on the main wall. The main wall is a 120-foot overhanging wave with trypophobia-inducing pockets, jugs, and cracks. Humboldt Current’s holds are primarily pockets and ledges with occasional conveniently timed jugs.

The route is a tricky start, worth a stick clip on the first bolt to avoid falling on the deck before the first bolt. Two palmy holds for the hands, feet to the side, and look for a ledge to the left. The next three bolts are smooth sailing, and then zig-zag shelves create misleading lines. Don’t be led astray onto the neighbor route, no matter how enticing those jugs look. The crag is falling into the ocean, so eroded sand dusts ledges, and pockets. Holds are sketchy with loose sand and grit in the eyes. On the fifth bolt, things begin to look barren

Photo by Morgan Hancock | Chris Cervi climbs Wildwood (5.10d) at Promontory Point on April 1.

and crimpy. Overhung climbing will cause a forearm pump.

“Kiss your muscles and get your ass up the route,” climbing buddy Taylor Woodruff said, holding the belay side of the rope. Climbing culture is not complete without a cheering squad.

There is hope in the pockets on the far left, then jugs are revealed. Grab an ostrich egg of hold and move on up and up. The jugs find themselves until the last ledge. The last ledge is intimidating to mantle over, but the anchor is closer than the fall. Manifest confidence, overcome that exposure, and grab-draw. No one can tell from that angle anyway. Humboldt Current is easier said than done but surely more approachable than routes on the wall like Megaladon (5.13c), Pulling Teeth (5.12a), or Blackbeard’s Tears (5.13c).

Local route builder Evan Wisheropp does his best to maintain the sand, sometimes even hauling out a leaf blower.

“Definitely a unique route,” Wisheropp said. “It is continuing to shed holds, so be sure to wear a helmet if you are in the vicinity. With these sandy pockets and breakable holds, the route definitely feels more than a 5.10a experience your first few times climbing on this rock.”

Photo by Morgan Hancock | Brayden Jensen Climbs Riptide at Promontory Point on Friday April 1.

Archers take shot at first

by Carlos Pedraza The Cal Poly Humboldt Archery Club held a mock tournament on Saturday, March 28. The club meets in the field house of the SRC building setting up bails with targets to shoot at. In the casual tournament, participants kept track of their scores. When all their arrows were let loose, members would stand behind the shooting line talking with each other.

Each round of shooting began with archers waiting to hear the commands of “anyone in the closet!”, “anyone be-

hind the curtain!” It is shouted before every round for safety, so no one is hit by a loose arrow. The archer would advance to the shooting line with the command “archers to the line!”.

The club members have different levels of experience ranging from lifelong archers to recent archers. Neri Traugot, a second-year theater arts major, is an experienced archer who’s been shooting for most of her life.

“Since I was five years old when I could pull a five-pound bow,” said Traugot.

Henry Myers is a third-year political science major. Myers has been in the club for a semester; he used to shoot in the past but took a hiatus.

“I had to re-get good at it,” Myers said.

The club is led by Vice President and acting president Josh Bagg has been an archer for five years. Bagg explained how the club is open to everyone no matter the level of experience.

“We have many members who are coaches,” Bagg said. The club provides

all the equipment someone will need to participate. Bagg said, “Just try it out, it won’t hurt to try.”

The tournament ended with everyone winning a club t-shirt for participating but the people with the highest scores were Juliana Suzukawa in first place, Jovani Villasenor in second, and Josh Bagg in third place.

Photo by Morgan Hancock | Team safety officer Juliana Suzukawa at archery practice in the SRC on Thursday, Oct. 7

THE LUMBERJACK

OPINION

OPINION

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

PAGE 7

Gas prices are guzzling away my bank account I ‘stole’ my mom’s Costco card to save money

by Angel Barker When I started driving in high school, my mom and I had a deal that she would buy gas every other time I needed to fill my tank. Once I started driving upwards of 500 miles a week, that went away and I had to start paying my own way. To be fair, it was reasonable: I had a part time job and was driving a lot.

I have a different part time job now that pays more. However, with the rising price of gas and how far out everything is in Humboldt county, it doesn’t make a difference. I am still spending an average of $300 a month on gas, and my car takes regular gas.

On average (when I am not traveling) I only drive to work, school, home, and Eureka once a week for an appointment, and I time it right so I can get gas at Costco where it is the cheapest.

I should also say that I am not a

thief. I did not actually steal my mom’s Costco card, she knows I have it. It is her way of helping me pay for gas.

I was sad in high school when I had to pay around $40 to fill up my tank.

Now I am hoping and praying to pay that again. My car holds 16 gallons of gas, so with the California average of $5.91 per gallon as of March 29, it would take $94.70 to fill my gas tank if it was empty.

That’s almost $100 to fill up my little mini SUV!! I cannot afford to buy a hybrid or electric car, so I am stuck paying these gut wrenching prices.

I used to go to Dutch Bro’s a lot in high school, and it is crazy to me that a gallon of gas is now more expensive than a Rebel or a cup of coffee.

I know all of us are feeling this pain, and a little piece of my soul dies every time I go to the gas station.

I recently took a road trip towards Redding and down to Modesto, and gas

Freshman FOMO I basically skipped my teen years

by Nina Hufman

was cheaper everywhere. Even in Paradise, the town that completely burned down in 2018. They are still rebuilding the city and there are only a handful of open gas stations, and they are still cheaper than here.

The only place where it was the same price or like 10 cents more was in a tiny town that was out of the way of everywhere. Humboldt is not a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, it is a whole county in the middle of nowhere. I am now realizing why it is called the Lost Coast, because no one knows about us and it is expensive as heck to get gasoline here.

As much as I am complaining about gas prices, I am still going to pay them.

What am I going to do, bike to work?

No, I drive 25 minutes to work. It would take forever to bike. I do not have the option to not go to work or school.

Graphic by Angel Barker

Luddites aren’t who you think they are Stop the rise of the machines

by Carlos Pedraza

Graphic by Nina Hufman

I recently had an internal crisis: I realized that I am nineteen years old and almost done with my junior year of college.

I just got out of high school a year ago and I already have to be thinking about real life. I just started college and it’s already almost over. I am most likely going to do a second major and stay in school for two years, partially because I really want a second degree and partially because I feel so unprepared to graduate.

I was lucky enough to be able to be concurrently enrolled in college classes while in high school. I started taking online classes from a nearby community college when I was a sophomore and was able to earn my Associate’s degree halfway through my senior year.

I transferred to Cal Poly Humboldt at eighteen years old as a junior. While I am grateful to have been able to save money and time, my circumstances come with their own set of challenges.

It’s really difficult to relate to my peers, because my experience is not a very common one. I have one friend who is in pretty much the exact situation that I’m in. She transferred as a junior right out of high school. We talk a lot about how we missed out on the freshman experience and how difficult it is to relate to people who haven’t been in our situation.

I don’t live in the dorms, I don’t eat in the dining hall, and I don’t have to take any annoying GE classes that have nothing to do with my major. While

most people would agree that these experiences are awful, they get to commiserate and bond with others over those experiences.

All of my friends and the people in my classes are juniors and seniors.

I went straight from being in high school to being surrounded by people who are, for the most part, actual functioning adults who have goals and life plans. I feel like I’m so far behind; they’ve had three or four years to figure these things out and I’ve had one.

My friends also don’t want to do any of the fun Humboldt things that freshmen do when they move here. I want to go to the beaches, go hiking, and explore this beautiful area, but I don’t want to do it alone. My friends have been here for years, they’ve already seen and done all of those things.

People are usually shocked when they find out my age. They hit me with ‘I thought you were at least 21,’ ‘you’re so mature for your age,’ and ‘wow, you must be really smart.’

The reality is that I have been a mini-adult since I was fifteen because I had to learn how to interact with adults in my college classes. The result of this is feeling out of place literally all the time. I’m simultaneously too young and too old for everything.

I’m ready to start my life and be an adult, but I also feel like I missed out on my own adolescence.

The Luddites emerged in the early 1800s, claiming to follow craftsman and folk hero Ned Ludd in expressing the rage of craftsmen and other workers who felt threatened by industrialization.

Today, Luddite is used as an insult for technophobes, but the real Luddites didn’t hate technology. They wanted to protect their livelihoods and get better working conditions.

Automation has always been a threat to workers. Unlike humans, machines don’t demand higher wages and can work 24/7. The Luddites would go to factories and smash machines with anything they could find.

In 2013, delivery drivers smashed and stabbed robots in a modern display of Luddism, not technophobia.

While new technologies can lessen work time, they usually are used by businesses and governments for control. Think of the algorithms that Amazon uses to manage their workers’ work time and breaks. I used to work as a service worker stocking shelves.

I would get up at six in the morning and work till noon, with only two 15 minute breaks. If I knew that a machine was tracking me to keep me working and not take an extra five minutes, then I would be the first to stab it.

In working jobs where I had no autonomy, I would be forced to smile at all times and repeat the same mindless boring tasks over and over again. The greatest disappointment was when I saw my paycheck, feeling robbed by how little it was.

A higher wage or longer breaks would have made me feel less angry, but a machine doesn’t care about breaks or paying rent.

Even if automation didn’t make me lose my job, then it would still cut my hours and thus my pay. I’m a Ludditenot because I hate technology or want everything to be the same. I like progress and embrace change, but if automation is going to happen then it must be for the workers to decide when and how to do it, and to distribute the benefits among the people.

Until then, if I see a machine control my time or push me out of a job, I will keep shouting, “down with all kings but King Ludd.”

PAGE 8

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

OPINION

THE LUMBERJACK

César Chavez Day with YES Life’s a garden, can you dig it?

by Eddie Carpenter In honor of César Chavez Day, the YES program hosted a volunteer event at the Potawot Community Food Garden in Arcata. It had an amazing turnout with a whopping 40 volunteers in attendance, caressed by the sunny blue skies and the refreshing Humboldt breeze.

We were assigned tasks by being divided into five groups. I was grateful to be a part of a group that planted beds of squash. We did everything from scratch, laying out layers of black cover material across the four rows to keep the weeds from robbing the plants of their nutrients. We also covered the tops of the rows with white cloth.

Gardening skills have practical value in my daily life. Prior to this experience, I had been a volunteer at Potawot through a program called the Intertribal Agriculture Council. Potawat’s head gardener Ed Mata gave me a handbook about gardening and I was mentored by a professional development special-

ist named Elaini Vargas.

Maybe I was a little rusty on the terminology, but basic knowledge about soil health has since been ingrained into the recesses of my brain. I learned in a soils class that if you live in a mild climate, it’s estimated that it took 200 to 400 years for 1 centimeter of the soil to form. Vargas’ and Mata’s teachings directly impacted the mindset I had going into the YES serve-a-thon on César Chavez Day. Youth Educational Services (YES) is a collective on campus that provides students with opportunities to volunteer at local school and community sites. One of their goals is to connect hands-on service and in-class learning with awareness of the injustices and oppressions experienced by those they serve. Actions sometimes speak louder than words. Making donations and saying nice things about a cause is totally different from donating your time and bodily energy to a cause.

According to mentalhealth.org, helping others can possibly help make you happier as a person. Through volunteering, I was able to make temporary connections through teamwork and group communication. This gave me a sense of community and made me feel like I belonged to a noble cause.

If you want to see change in your self-esteem, you might want to consider doing good deeds, so we can manifest the world into a better place. Indeed, an outward reflection of finding happiness can in turn make you a happy person.

Photo by Eddie Carpenter | YES Volunteer Program poses for a group photo on April 4.

REVIEW

Toyon volume 68 heals tender wounds Art from around the world, in a Humboldt context

by August Linton The 68th edition of Toyon, Cal Poly Humboldt’s multilingual literary magazine, was released on Tuesday, March 29. It is the culmination of a year of work by the staff, through forced distancing caused by COVID-19, across vast distances, and from a multitude of perspectives.

Contributions to this year’s Toyon came from countries around the globe.

The submission base’s broad scope means that works in many languages are featured. Some of the works originally submitted in a language other than English are presented in both languages, and some of the translation work is only available online on Toyon’s website.

Maurizio Castè’s ‘Germogli verdi,’ or ‘Sprouts of green,’ published in both the original Italian and translated into English by Toti O’Brien, is a gently insistent witness to the beauty of spring, and to nature’s resilience in the face of climate change. This is a theme that surfaces at other points in Toyon 68, in Dobby Morse’s “The Fate of the Earth,” “Climate Change” by Larissa A. Hul-Galasek, and Meghan E. Kelley’s “What’s Left for the World to Say?” In these works, there is a deep veneration of both nature’s delicacy and of her strength. There is also an anger that seems to well up from deep within the Earth; anger for the future of humanity in the face of a climate apocalypse and for the fate of the natural world in our aftermath.

There are many other standout poetic works in Toyon 68. The magazine’s opening work “Each Time I Held a Dying Bird” by Grace E. Daverson pulls the reader into delicately described and

emotional pocket memories. As Daverson methodically describes each bird she has known, the wild joy of holding a bird in one’s hand and the childlike wonder of shining a flashlight into developing eggs organically melt into the glass-sharp grief of not being able to protect the ones you love.

Toyon also publishes short stories, academic literature, and visual art.

“Dismantling Structural Systems of Oppression Through a Revolutionized Pedagogy” by Ambar A. Quintanilla systematically explores the institutional barriers to education which Latinx and Black students face, multiplied by conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Quintanilla’s emotional connection to the subject matter as someone who has experienced these barriers (and who has seen the people she cares about be affected by them) is as important to the piece as her efficient and insightful analysis of the complex contributing socioeconomic factors.

Among the magazine’s small selection of visual art, “Thinking” by Ernie Iñiguez and Mario Loprete’s “Concrete Sculptures” stand out. “Thinking” is a polished and pastel digital illustration of a meditating robot, while “Concrete Sculptures” is photos of the artist’s graceful and haunting sculptures of folded clothes.

The theme of Toyon 68 is “hope and healing,” which is self-evident from the works within. The contributors’ love for this world and for the always painful process of healing is strung throughout the magazine, as taut and musical a guitar string. Healing takes time, passion, work, and love, and Toyon 68 has all of those. On the back cover of the

volume, their sendoff is this: “WARNING: This product contains love, anxiety, dysphoria, tenderness, birds, affection, grief, orange juice, trauma, anger, and maternal bonds.

Side effects may include self-reflection and a sense of inner peace.”

Toyon 68 is available now in print and online.

Art by Maria Lopez | Designed by Madeline Eubanks

COMICS

by Piper Stallings