Osprey spring 2021

OSPREY spring 2021

est. 1973

humboldt state university

TEMPERANCE

The Veins of the Land are That of the People (pg. 6) As Above, So Below (pg. 12)

CONTENTS College Behind Bars (pg. 18)

Running Out of Ink (pg. 21)

Represent (pg. 25)

A Cinematic Shift (pg. 31)

Is Tech the New Tobacco? (pg. 42)

Age of Exploitation (pg. 28)

Don’t Over Simplify It (pg. 38)

High Hopes and Sour Grapes (pg. 46)

On the front cover: an abstract rendition of the temperance tarot card.

Designed and illustrated by Em Scott.

3 | Osprey

Osprey Magazine spring 2021

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF E mi l y M c C o llu m

LAYOUT EDITOR O r in n Kr o o n

COPY EDITORS

Rae Stone Sa b r iy y a G h a n i z ada

PHOTOGRAPHERS

E l i z a b e t h L a c h m an L u z Va l de z

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

S a b r iy y a G h a n i z ada

DIGITAL DESIGNERS S e b Ta y lo r Em S c o t t

ADVISER

J e ss ie C r e t s e r - H a r t e n st e i n

CONTACT

O s pr e y Ma g a z i ne c / o D e pa r t m e n t o f J o u r n a l i sm 1 H a r ps t S t .

A r c a t a , C A 95521 ospr ey@ humbo ldt.e du

Osprey is a biannual magazine. Views expressed herein do not represent that of the adviser, faculty, administration, or Associated Students of Humboldt State University Board of Trustees.

Letter From The Editor

Identity, the distinguishing character or personality of an individual. The temperance tarot card, as represented on the cover, is about achieving balance, patience and moderation in one’s life. In the year 2021 the very concept of identity is being challenged, which is why we explore different aspects of self through the pages of this edition of the Osprey.

External changes frequently lead to an internal examination of the perception of self and those closest to you, an exploration of where you are, who you’ve been and if this moment in time is really where you want to be.

Identity is oftentimes a driving force for creativity and expression, and if identity is not self-established, it will be socially imposed. Leaving the individual striving for an unobtainable expectation of how they think the world will accept them.

Introspection oftentimes leads to oneness but people are not just diving deeper into who they are, they are realizing how they fit into the world around them, as well as, where they fit in the worlds of others. Grasping your place and acknowledging how it affects you gives you the power to choose whether or not this placement serves you, or if it’s something you have been mindlessly tolerating.

To realize the potential that every moment possesses is to give power to yourself and each conscious choice and effort you make towards something better.

Learning and adapting are building blocks for a future that is truly yours. Acquiring knowledge reinvigorates people who have had opportunities taken away from them, either externally or of their own unconscious volition.

Storytelling is an ancient practice that is so pervasive in our everyday lives, most of it goes unnoticed.

Storytelling maintains a connection, it helps us relate to one another, share understanding, and not feel so small in a changing world. This edition of the Osprey hopes to enlighten the reader to question and challenge the system in place. As well as, highlighting those who are making changes, and provide outlets for others to envision and enact their own version of progress.

-Emily McCollum Editor-in-Chief

osprey ya

Kro

Gh

nn

ani

Ori

zad

a

staff

riy

ief

Co Mc Em

ily

-Ch

-in itor

Ed

llum

Sab

on

Seb Taylor

Em Scott

Rae Stone

n

De rga n Mo

ma

ach hL

bet

er

za Eli

Luz Valdez

5 | Osprey

THE VEINS OF THE LAND ARE THAT OF THE PEOPLE

Climate Change and Indigenous Communities story / photos by Elizabeth Lachman

Humboldt County is a place of natural abundance, gifted with boundless acres of vivid scenery. With rolling hills, coastal redwoods, beaches, rivers, and rich soil, Humboldt is home to a variety of living ecosystems. Indigenous communities have coexisted with these ecosystems for centuries.

Today some of these tribal communities are recognized as the Hoopa, Wiyot, Yurok, Karuk, and Chilula tribes.

The captivating nature of Humboldt County’s landscapes is undeniable; however, climate change is starting to take its toll. Humboldt County is not alone in this existential environmental threat. All of America and the populations within it are at risk of resource and habitat loss within the near future.

As climate change increasingly magnifies and becomes more of a concern, failed environmental policies combined with political malfeasance are accelerating the problems. Many of these policies are embedded in concepts that stem from colonialism.

Dr. Kaitlyn Reed, Assistant Professor of Native American Studies at Humboldt State University, explained that you cannot have a conversation about climate change without including the topic of settler colonialism. “Environmental laws and policies within the United States emerge from a settler colonial perspective or relationship to land -- because it’s really naive for humans to think they get to create environmental law. Indigenous

knowledge systems understand that it is actually the land itself that creates environmental law. These are often called the original instructions, or natural law,” said Dr. Reed.

Colonialism has led to the genocide and displacement of Indigenous people for a millenia. Land that once belonged to many Indigenous tribes has been taken away due to bad policy making. The Hoopa tribe today possess less than 50% of their original territory. Policies such as the Indian Removal Act, passed in 1830, forcibly removed Indigenous tribes from their ancestral land. This once existing policy has now made it a challenge to take back ancestral lands that are rightfully theirs.

Land use policies often focus more on capital gain than on the environment that the resources are extracted from.

For example, policies that support big oil companies perpetuate the occurrence of climate change and the negative effects that come with it, representing how society focuses on our capitalistic system more than the wellbeing of people and land.

Capitalism demonstrates a long standing trend of the ‘rush mentality.’ From the gold rush, to the log rush, and the cannabis rush of Humboldt County. It is the notion that the environment stands for material gain, and is always ripe for the picking. Western ideology has established a mindset of extracting land and resources in order to make profit at the expense of the ecosystem.

“The extraction of natural resources in California, what I refer to as the ‘rush mentality,’ is a well documented pattern,” said Dr. Reed. This is the pattern that uses the environment solely for capital

gain, and this is why society builds so many policies that fail to protect the natural world.

John Murphy, from the Department of Environmental Science and Management at Humboldt State University, describes how climate change may impact Humboldt and the communities that reside within it. “The most likely impacts to Humboldt County from climate change are sea level rise, reduced fog/cloud cover, rising average temperatures, really big fires, extreme weather events, and changing sea conditions; including marine heat waves and ocean acidification,” said Murphy. He further explained, “My guess is that the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk, and Wiyott will be strongly impacted by ocean conditions and extreme weather events, of course. The potential for large, exacerbated fire remains a serious threat in most parts of Humboldt County.”

Indigenous communities in Humboldt County, and beyond, nurture the land with respect and patience. Inadequate environmental policies that address issues such as natural disasters oppose a lot of Indigenous methods that help sustain the land. One example of this is fire. Indigenous tribes have used fire as an essential tool in managing the environment. It has been a custom implemented for ages.

Fire helps rejuvenate the land and prevents extreme wildfires from occurring so often. It also defends against parasites, provides nutrients, and vitalizes new growth. However, policymakers have banned Indigenous communities from using fire to help preserve the land. Matthew Kidwell, lead meteorologist at The National Weather Service in Eureka who specializes in climate change and climate observation, lends some information concerning the relationship between

Eel River, Humboldt County, California.

7 | Osprey

climate change and wildfires.

“Wildfires have been increasing in intensity over the last several decades. This is partially due to the hotter summers that climate change is bringing to California. There are other reasons though, such as fire suppression over the last 100 years. This has allowed fuels to build up that would have naturally burned more frequently,” said Kidwell.

Controlled fires are crucial for the environment.

According to CAL FIRE (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection), the average occurrences of wildfires each year in California is about 5,400, which can burn approximately 156,000 acres.

In 2020, there were 9,917 fire incidents reported within California, and 4,257,863 acres lost to wildfires - far exceeding the annual average. CAL FIRE reports

8 | Osprey

Humboldt County as a no-burn area and one that requires permits which are difficult to obtain.

Burn-ban policies apply to agricultural and outdoor fire use, which is what controlled burns are. The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulations primarily have authority over Indigenous reservations, and require low amounts of fire use. The EPA’s burn policy requests that reservations reduce sources of air pollution, which includes fire due to smoke.

The 1997 Clean Air Act policy was created to ensure air visibility, and also counts smoke as an air pollutant. Large amounts of smoke from fire causes high carbon dioxide emissions; however, the lack of controlled burning causes more extreme

wildfires which is making carbon emissions grow even more.

The amount of acres that have been burned due to wildfires is detrimental to the land, which is why controlled burns are so essential.

Rivers are the lifeline to so many ecosystems. They are the veins of the land; yet, water rights and dam safety policies are affecting the rivers that connect Humboldt County. The Trinity Dam has cut off the circulation of water to the Trinity River and has caused salmon populations to drop exponentially. This reduction affects salmon runs, which are necessary for salmon to repopulate.

Humboldt Bay’s National Wildlife Refuge lists the Chinook Salmon as an endangered species. The Chinook Salmon, among other wildlife, depend on the rivers and streams for survival and therefore need to be protected.

The dams in Humboldt County have also impacted the quality of the water. The Klamath River began to grow

toxic algae due to a lack of running water. When rivers run still they can heat up and cause algae to occur. Due to climate change delivering rising temperatures, toxic algae is occurring more frequently in rivers, which affects the many ecosystems and communities that thrive off the river supply.

Although the dams that have been impacting the Klamath River are being demolished, other dams like these still remain in Humboldt County, as well as other parts of the world, making it very difficult to fish or utilize the water source.

Vikki Preston is a Culture Resources Technician at the Karuk Tribe Department of National Resources in Orleans, located in Northern Humboldt.

She is also a member of the Karuk and Yurok tribal communities. Preston discusses how much the rivers and wildlife have changed in Orleans since her childhood, “We were able to eat salmon... like every single day and it’s just way harder to do that now, nearly impossible in so many ways. I feel like that

really changes your sustainability for large parts of the year and has a lot of effects on health and mental health.”

Climate change has more of an influence on mental and physical health than most people realize. Effects on the environment can cause severe health issues, like respiratory problems and mental health problems such as depression.

This is not just because of the direct negative effects pollutants and carbon emissions have on the human body, but also because of the impact that climate change has on the food supply.

Some Indigenous Tribes within Humboldt County still depend on the land to produce resources such as food, but climate change has made this a difficult task in most cases.

The land and the rivers are no longer being as fruitful as they used to be; this is how some food deserts are created.

A food desert is when a rural area does not have a vast amount of substantially afford-

able healthy food items. A lot of Indigenous communities come from poverty-stricken and underinvested areas. This has led many Indigenous communities to live in food deserts.

Foods that are easily obtained are processed commodities like boxed or canned foods. This has created many health issues like diabetes, obesity, and depression.

Indigenous people have high rates of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. In fact, they have a greater chance of having diabetes than any other racial or ethnic group in the U.S. according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Food insecurity is a reality for tribes in Humboldt County, which has also made it difficult to make traditional Indigenous foods.

Common traditional ingredients like acorns, elk, salmon, squash, beans, corn, etc., have become difficult to grow or hunt due to dwindling resources.

Moonstone Beach, Trinidad, California.

9 | Osprey

Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy, Associate Professor and Department Chair of Native American Studies, is a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe and has extensive knowledge regarding the Indigenous population in Humboldt. “Acorns are very important to us; they were one of our staple foods prior to colonization. You would have oak trees all over California,’’ said Dr. Risling Baldy. Acorns have played a large role within Indigenous culture as it has been utilized in various Indigenous dishes for decades.

Acorns are not only significant to Indigenous communities, but also to the environment and wildlife. They provide a nutritional resource not only to people, but a variety of animals as well. The number of oak trees have dwindled within the last hundred years.

“We notice there are many incidences of sudden oak death, which is tied directly to what’s

happening in our climate that supports the growth of a certain type of beetle that causes this disease in oaks,” explained Dr. Risling Baldy.

Environmental changes have interrupted many indigenous traditions, from acorn gathering to important ceremonies, causing Indigenous communities to have to be adaptable in order to keep their traditions alive. “One ceremony is primarily on the river and as a result of the seizure of water for the dams we have to request water when we want to hold the ceremony,” said Dr. Risling Baldy.

Students from the Indigenous Natural Resource Management Practices class at HSU have created a Food Sovereignty lab on campus that allows the teaching and understanding of Indigenous culture and traditions.

The lab intends to

create a community of shared knowledge and opportunities for Humboldt community members. It was created by students in order to educate and build relationships to food systems, as it helps connect people and the land. The lab is set to open Fall of 2022.

HSU has also teamed up with two tribal government authorities, the Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources and the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe. Peter Alstone, Deepti Chatti, and Tesfa Yacob are spearheading the project, called Smoke, Air, Fire, Energy (SAFE) in Rural California.

Peter Alstone, one of the primary investigators, said that the goal of this project is to, “Identify sustainable pathways to climate-smart infrastructure investments within rural California.” The study tries to find ways to make struggling Indigenous communities more equitable, and to have access

Bald Hills, Humboldt County, California.

to valuable infrastructure in a way that reduces climate change and corresponds with Indigenous land management traditions. Alstone explained, “The kind of infrastructure that we have in mind are resilient electricity systems, air quality sensing to monitor and track air quality, and air filtration in homes, business, and community centers. Blue Lake Rancheria is already a leader on microgrids.”

The work of this project is already helping some Indigenous communities located in Humboldt County. Work like this is important, as it can help communities who have been disregarded for so long.

Policy makers and officials blame climate change as the true culprit but it is not that simple. The climate is what causes the land to become dry and the rivers shallow. However, poor policies allow further

damage that could be prevented. Indigenous communities are more affected by climate change because there is not enough representation for them when important decisions are made.

Indigenous peoples’ needs and concerns are not being centralized. Policies that condemn Indigenous ways of taking care of their land is what causes such devastation to the environment, not the other way around.

Climate Change is not intentionally targeting Indigenous communities. It is the accumulation of wrongful decision making, and prioritization of material gain at the expense of lost land and communities.

Indigenous’ voices need to be largely incorporated in policy making because these policies are going to affect Indigenous people more than those making the decisions.

Indigenous land management practices have been vital to the land long before western involvement. The only way to see real change in the environment may be to give back the stolen land to Indigenous people. Dr. Risling-Baldy reminds us that, “Land back is important but so is water back, and so is fire back. We have to bring to the center these things that actually help to manage the earth in a way for everyone to thrive.”

Indigenous people are at the forefront of the impacts of climate change, but the effects will eventually impact everyone. It will take away the natural beauty that we are surrounded by today. The scenic trees, beaches, rivers, and land that we have taken joy in will be reduced to nothing and some effects are starting to make themselves visible today.

11 | Osprey

s

b o A v s e A

So Below

ry to

llus /i

Sab

trations

by

ad riyya Ghaniz

a

Open up any of your social media apps and you’ll see memes describing your astrological sun sign as different Shrek quotes or Starbucks drinks. Don’t know your astrological sun sign?

Well, you’ve got some catching up to do. You should at least know your ‘Big Three’... but more on that later.

It seems as if these days everyone on the internet knows what season of the zodiac we are in. It’s almost as if astrology is a shorthand for connecting with one another and finding a way to relate. In recent years, there has been a shift toward accepting astrology as normal conversation, like the weather. Astrology is being accepted into the mainstream, but what has caused this spike in interest and cultural shift?

To understand astrology is to understand what it is, and well, that can be difficult to understand. Mainly because astrology is deeply personal, and unique to the individual.

Ask any astrologer what astrology is, and they will give you a completely different answer.

Astrologer and founder of the TimePassages app, Henry Seltzer says, “A lot of people in my profession are very clear about calling it a science because there are principles to it.”

Denis Zubkov, creator of the Time Nomad app, believes the opposite, “Astrology is not a science, astrology is a symbolic language rooted in history. It’s a discipline but it’s not a science.”

Astrologer Chioma Naomi considers it a tool; “I don’t think of it as spiritual or relgious at all. But it can be a tool that can help you along your spiritual journey.”

Despite the varying definitions of Astrology, Vedic Astrologer Luna Giisele can tell you what not to use it for; “Don’t use it to boost your ego, it’s something that is merely a map. We are all travelers on this plane. Astrology contains tools to help you navigate a situation... Everyone really, truly has all 12 signs in their horoscope. Don’t abuse it or use it to make yourself feel separate. Use it as a way to connect with everyone.”

If you live in America, then you are likely familiar with Western or Tropical astrology. Tropical astrology uses seasons to calculate the positions of the zodiacs in the sky. At one point, they were matched up. “That was thousands of years ago and the earth began to tilt on its axis.

Tropical still uses those fixed dates,” said Giisele. Giisele began studying Tropical astrology, and transitioned to Vedic astrology when she was craving a bit more insight. Vedic Astrology, also known as Sidereal, is a Hindhu practice that uses a fixed star zodiac. Sidereal astrology is approximately 24 degrees behind the Tropical zodiac. “Sidereal is good for personality, your soul's mission here, and the inner workings... of planets.

Tropical is an outward expression and based on your sun sign,” explained Giisele.

Despite its sudden popularity, astrology has been studied and practiced around the world for thousands of years. It played an integral role in the belief system of Egyp-

tians, which was the blueprint for many versions of astrology today. Musician, psychologist and astrologer Dane Rudyar wrote books like, What’s Your Astrological Age? and, Blueprint For The Total You! in the 20th century that helped to popularize Tropical astrology in the West.

“It’s been such a boom in recent years. I feel like even 2020 was a huge boom,” said Haley Comet, lead astrologer for dating and friendship app, NuiT. “Being in the pandemic we noticed… the external world crumbled in many ways and we had the space to dive in and study ourselves, and [it] made us question ‘what am I here for?’ ‘What is the overall big picture purpose?’ Keeping up with the Joneses, buying new things, flexing, being in the public eye, all that really stopped and it became about a life that feels good and is true to yourself.”

There are a few reasons

for astrology’s appeal in the 21st century. Astrology can be a stress reliever for the anxiety caused by uncertainty in a fast paced and materialistic existence. “People want the truth.

13 | Osprey

People want to know more about themselves,” said Giisele; “People are starting to realize the capitalistic function of our society isn't real. The illusion is starting to be broken down.

Finding a sense of community in a broken world... It is a very spiritual thing. It makes you feel like you are not trapped.

I feel like everyone is starting to resonate more with looking inwards for validation instead of outwards.”

There has been a societal shift in mental health awareness, which can lead to greater self-awareness.

Understanding yourself and what you need to feel safe and secure is important.

Astrology is one of the quickest ways to discover the keys to unlock your highest potential.

Thanks to popular culture, the stigma behind the occult is fading. “We have kind of taken the taboo out of it,” said Chioma, “and people are commodifying it as advertisement. It’s something that is in people’s faces more now. It has become more open and people aren't afraid of it or see it as the devil or fortune telling.” Dior has unveiled three tarot card inspired lines, cult classics like The Craft and Hocus Pocus have portrayed magic in contemporary ways, and there is an entire generation of kids still waiting for their Hogwarts

acceptance letter.

Jhene Aiko uses healing singing bowls in her music and Erykah Badu has been imploring us to get right with ourselves since her debut album, ‘Baduizm.’

When asked what he believes has caused the shift, Seltzer remembers a presentation he attended with the Science Editor of The New York Times.

“At one point he put a chart up: the younger you go, the more belief in astrology.

Younger people become adults and there is more acceptance.

I think it is a general cultural trend.

Society is changing and I think it’s high time that it is.”

The science is there, and the trends show generationally. While millennials were born into an understanding of astrology, Gen Z has a mass of information at their fingertips with their gadgets, search engines and social media communities.

“The Pluto in Sagittarius generation, Gen Z, has heralded [astrology] and championed it as a technique to relate and understand themselves,” said Comet.

Seltzer hopes that the interest in astrology will lead to collective change. “I think rampant materialism and

“Gen Z, has heralded it and championed it as a technique to relate and understand themselves.”

14 | Osprey

income inequality - all of that has to change. You can't legislate it, you can't police it. It’s only got to be through a change in consciousness. I think it’s a good sign and it’s definitely growing in acceptance.”

Is this the dawning of the Age of Aquarius? On december 21st last year there was a Saturn and Jupiter conjunction at 0 degrees. This sent internet astrologers into a tizzy, working to link all of the eclipses, conjunctions, and planetary aspects into one huge shift: Age of Aquarius. In astrology, ages are divided into the twelve zodiac signs. If you are familiar with the roman creation story of the Ages of Man, or the Yuga Cycle in Hindu ages, then you can consider astrological ages to be similar. According to astrologers, we are somewhere between the Age of Pisces (spirituality, illusion, mysticism) and the Age of Aquarius (innovation, communication and humanitarianism).

“I think that one of the most important shifts to look closer to in the idealistic age of Aquarius kindness, is diversity,” said Seltzer, “I don’t wanna say it’s the dawn of the Age of Aquarius, but we are in the midst of societal evolution.

We are seeing an abandonment of what was the approach that there are dif-

ferent planes of existence, possibly four dimensions counting time, but there are more dimensions. We need to get to a new basis of spirituality, because our old ones are not meeting the moment.”

Let’s look to the stars, shall we? Roughly every 100 years since Uranus’ discovery in the 1700s, there has been a new planet discovered. In astrology, Uranus rules over the sign of Aquarius and is known as the “Awakener”fitting as Uranus was discovered in the 18th century during what some historians call the “Enlightenment Age.” Uranus rules over innovation, technology and rebellion. When heavy Uranian energy is at play, expect for some upheaval to the status quo.

Neptune was discovered in 1846, during the 19th century when gold was being discovered in California, the telegraph was increasing communication, and the Mexican-American War was underway. Neptune oversees the astrological sign of Pisces. Neptune is known as a dreamy sign, one that yields strong intuition and dreams. However, it is known to bring along with it trickery, deceit and manipulation.

Illusion is one word that can describe Neptune.

The planet/not a planet/turned dwarf planet, Pluto, was discovered in the 1930’s. The tiny, but mighty, celestial being has the ability to create and destroy. In short, depending on where it is in your chart, Pluto uncovers what is hidden to bring about transformation.

Each of these planets are known as spiritual planets. They are not visible to the naked eye, yet they exist and represent the invisible forces at play that surround and affect us at every moment. You can sum this up into what philosopher Carl Jung called the, “Collective Unconscious.” These three planets are also generational planets because they take so long to complete their orbits. Uranus takes seven years to complete its orbit.

These long periods of time in orbit make a planet's purpose reflect the core values of those born under its multi-year period because they will have that planet in the same sign. Jupiter (expansion) and Saturn (structure) make up your social planets.

Back to your ‘Big Three’.

This trio is composed of your Sun (sense of identity), Moon (emotions) and rising (personality) signs.

Your Sun and Moon make up your personal planets, along

“I feel like everyone is starting to resonate more with looking inwards for validation instead of outwards.”

with Mercury (Communication), Venus (your values of beauty and relationships), and Mars (assertiveness and action).

In the 21st century there have been three more dwarf planet discoveries, Haemua (2004), Eris (2005), and MakeMake (2005), making for a total of five discovered and named dwarf planets, Ceres (1801) and Pluto (1930) included.

Havmea is the Hawaiian goddess of fertility, childbirth, wild plants and nature. Physically, she represents the rock that is formed from volcanic lava, a reflection of energy forming matter. Havmea embodies the love of nature itself.

Her creation myth says that parts of her body made up the islands of Hawaii; Havmea is surrounded by five icy chunks and two moons, which reflects that of the eight islands that make up the state of Hawaii.

Eris, in greek mytholo-

15 | Osprey

gy, is named after the sister of the god of war, Ares. Eris followed her brother, Tres, willingly into the battlefield and would delight in the groans of the dying. Reveling in bloodshed, she rules over chaos and strife. There is a heavy energy of envy and resentment within Eris.

She is vicious and spiteful, especially when she feels others have what she cannot.

She thrives on rivalry and seeks revenge at every turn. At best, she is disagreeable; the Roman name for her was Discordia.

You can see the energy of Eris reflected on social media, where the lifestyles of the rich and famous are scrutinized for the world to join in on.

MakeMake is the Great Sea Spirit of Easter Island in the South Pacific, more specifically Rapa Nui. MakeMake was the primary creator god on Rapa Nui. As they were skilled oceanographers, Polynesians looked to MakeMake to protect them at sea. It is difficult to know the full history of Rapa Nui and that of MakeMake. Much of the oral tradition of the islands was lost due to the population enduring a holocaust brought about by illegal slaving and European-introduced deadly diseases, the population went

from tens of thousands to just hundreds in the late 19th century. Though there is confusion around the history of the island and the origin of MakeMake, that is what sums up MakeMake’s importance. Migration, numbers in population, pandemics and seafaring are all in MakeMake’s wheelhouse.

MakeMake splits us up into two parts, our civilised and our wild self, while assuming the more civilised self is the ‘better’ of the two.

This metaphorical split affects our attitude towards our resources and how they fulfill our needs. Collectively, MakeMake represents the loss of culture and damage to the environment when first world values are

“WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF SOCIETAL EVOLUTION.”

16 | Osprey

seen as a better way of life.

These gods and goddesses were revered by cultures who felt they were an embodiment of the feelings and energies of nature. They gave back to the land and honored their gods and goddesses with how they lived their lives. They carried the belief that the Earth and its inhabitants had an energetic life force. A concept that the West was ignorant to, but something that science has proven now. So while the use of technology has made room for these discoveries, it also reflects how much society has moved away from its natural rhythm, ignoring Mother Earth.

The planets named after gods and deities, all represent archetypes within time. These archetypes reflect humanity in profound ways. As our awareness of the planets (those discovered and those yet to be) increases, so too is a shift in consciousness towards the divine feminine and our priority to the planet.

Life as we know it is getting more complex and the problems and issues we face today are more advanced and nuanced than anything society has experienced before.

We are all in some way or another searching for our purpose, our soul’s mission. In the search, it is normal to crave companionship, something that tells us we are not alone in this quest. And while we don’t have all the answers, astrology uses the exact time, day, and location of your birth to capture a fingerprint of you, your essence.

Just like the moon controls the earth’s tides, who is to say it does not control us humans made up of 60% of water? So, while we don’t necessarily need astrology to tell us that life is complex, we can use it as a language to describe how it feels and to connect with one another throughout the ups and downs.

Horoscopes On The Go In these modern times, it’s easy to get bogged down by the plethora of content coming your way. We sifted through some of the most popular horoscope apps out there so you can find out if you and your partner are truly compatible, when you should cut your hair next, and if the Moon is in Pisces. Here are the most notable apps in no particular order.

Co-Star

Sanctuary

Time Passages

NuiT

Nebula

Daily Horoscope

The Pattern

Time Nomad

AstroStyle

What They Say

What We Say

“Powered by AI that merges NASA data with the insight of human astrologers.”

If you like being dragged, this app is for you. Co-Star’s founder Banu Guler, said “We’ll troll you a little bit,” when talking about the app on The Astrology Podcast.

“Get insight from a real astrologer, not some algorithm. It’s like having a personal astrologer at your fingertips to help you handle anything the universe throws at you.”

Learn astrology in layman’s terms with this app. Quality, informative content. You’ll be pleased with the aesthetic too!

“TimePassages is perfect for beginners, as well as professional astrologers...”

This app is great for birth charts and planetary transits. You can create as many birth charts as you’d like. So yes, if you know your crush’s birth time, date and place, you’ll be able to see what the skies have to say about them too.

“NuiT App provides you with astrological compatibility, insights, empowering you to create more meaningful relationships in today’s fast paced world.”

There’s Bumble and Tinder, but NuiT goes beyond profile pictures to use your birth chart and location to match you with other astrology lovers you may be compatible with. The app is for friendship and dating. (Bonus points for being able to choose your sexual orientation preferences and which can or cannot see you!)

“We believe that astrology can help us understand ourselves and other people deeper, feel more confident in the present, knowing what awaits us in the future. All of us have questions and astrology can help to find the answers.”

All-in-one app. There are anonymous community chatrooms and you can connect with astrologers in real time! It comes in six languages and provides daily affirmation notifications. Be prepared to spend money on content upgrades.

“The DailyHoroscope is updated on a daily basis with the best daily horoscopes. The DailyHoroscope is the most accurate and compelling horoscope app out there by its users!”

This absolutely free app provides general astrology information & daily notifications.

You can check out your horoscope by day, week and month. It also offers Chinese and Druid horoscopes.

“Customized, in-depth insights into your various personality traits and an informative breakdown of notable cycles you may be experiencing at any point in time - past, present and future.”

If you’re craving more insight, this app blends numerology with your birth chart.

There are also insightful prompts and communities you can share your patterns with. There is a dating portion coming soon that you can join the waitlist for.

“Time Nomad is a fine astrology app that is always with you, right in your pocket. The app calculates real-time astrological charts, transits, synastry, progressions, fixed stars and much more.”

“AstroStyle Mobile delivers fresh horoscopes from The AstroTwins (Tali & Ophira Edut). AstroStyle mobile brings the stars down to Earth with advice that is spoton, savvy AND sensible.”

The app can be a bit complex, but if you like to know planetary transits in real time this app is for you. It doesn’t ask for any information either, so you can create and name as many charts as you’d like.

The popular astrology blog curated by two twins (who, yes, are Gemini’s!) has an app that offers daily, weekly and monthly horoscopes for each of the signs. The love horoscope feature is great for gaining more insight. You can also get specific money & career horoscopes for your sun sign.

College Behind Bars

Education Over Incarceration

story by Morgan Deer / photos by Tony Wallin eligibility for people in prison.

With vocational trainIncarcerated Californians are ing, recidivism rates drop to now eligible to apply for federal approximately 30%, according Pell Grants in order to help pay to the U.S. Department of Jusfor higher education, a move tice. With an associate degree, recidivism drops to 13.7%. With that has support across the political spectrum. Pell Grants are a bachelor’s degree, recidivism the largest source of federally drops to 5.6%. funded college aid, but have

Are you seeing a pattern been off limits to incarcerated here? 95% of people in prison students since 1994 as part of will be released back out into the crime bill that coincidentaltheir communities someday. ly led to mass incarceration.

Having a college education

After 26 years, that ban would help reduce re-arrest was finally lifted. Advocates for rates, which translates into rethis change agree that the passductions in crime. Simply put, ing of this bill is monumental education programs in prison for those in prison. Much of help give inmates a second chance, and these opportunities the credit for the victory goes to formerly incarcerated peoare key to reducing crime. ple and their organizations,

Things are looking up such as the Unlock though, as congress has reHigher Ed Coacently lition that lifted the continues ban on the Pell Grant

18 | Osprey

to demonstrate the value of an education, and human potential for change.

A small percentage of California colleges and universities already offer support for incarcerated students. Humboldt and Del Norte County are breaking barriers within the criminal justice system by offering education to the formerly and currently incarcerated.

Humboldt State University established the Project Rebound program on campus for those formerly incarcerated and receiving a college degree.

College of the Redwoods offers the Pelican Bay Scholars program to those currently serving their time at the Supermax prison.

To truly understand Project Rebound, you need to understand where it all started.

Project Rebound was founded

by Professor John Irwin who, after his own experi-

rs pe clas son y g i o Biol State Pr an’s llah can Bay a C li er at Pe toph hris iments 19.

C n i r 0 in 2 expe ents Stud ing lab m for

ence in the prison system, established Project Rebound for former prisoners in 1967 at San Francisco State University.

A combination of full-time staff and students run the program at HSU - most of whom have been incarcerated themselves.

To date, 14 of the 23 California State Universities have Project Rebound programs on their campus, and have achieved a 90% graduation rate among former inmates.

Humboldt State University’s goals and guiding values behind Project Rebound are summarized in the program’s mission:

“Every person has inherent value and holds the power of possibility and transformation within them; meaningful access to high-quality, face-to-face higher education is fundamental to breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty, abuse, addiction, unemployment, and confinement.”

In Fall of 2019, with the guidance of Kimberly

DID YOU KNOW? Over 2.3 million people are incarcerated in the United States? In fact, our nation alone incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. The recidivism, or the “re-arrest” rate in our country is 70%-85%. Most prisoners are released without job-skills and educational levels that are so low that they can only qualify for poverty-level incomes. Many turn back to crime merely to survive.

Nguyen, HSU’s Student Legal Lounge partnered with the Formerly Incarcerated Students Club (F.I.S.C.). Nguyen says, “Education is obviously one of the most, if not the most, effective forms of rehabilitation. Reducing recidivism rates enhances public safety and saves taxpayer money.”

She continued on to say, “I support Project Rebound because, as a person who wants to study the law, I have faith that our government is with and for our people. The way that the system is set up now, it is anti-people. We mistakenly and commonly believe that the prison system makes our communities safer; it is a fact that prisons actually make our communities more dangerous.”

Nguyen explains that “if we want to live in a better, safer, less polarized society, we need to step

outside of the us versus them mentality, and realize that what happens to the people we put away affects us all as a society.” For many, getting a degree is the first step in being respected and taken seriously, especially when trying to reintegrate into society.

Support from Governor Gavin Newsom for Project Rebound has been positive, with a 3.3 million dollar sign-off for yearly funds to support the expansion of the program.

Tony Wallin, Programs Coordinator for Project Rebound Humboldt State University, and founder/former president of HSU’s F.I.S.C., says, “Prison is a very dark and cold place where one is referenced by their inmate number or their race. “Having College of the Redwoods inside the prison offers another narrative; when they walk inside the

“Education is obviously one of the most, if not the most, effective forms of rehabilitation.”

19 | Osprey

College of the “Some of the most Redwoods in 2008 but has intelligent, talented and always been interested in compassionate people the work being done for criminal I know are people justice reform.

“We need who are currently or mass education formerly incarcerated.” to get rid of classroom or study together out on the yard, they are students, not prisoners.”

College of the Redwoods has established a campus of over 400 students within Pelican Bay State Prison. The Pelican Bay Scholars program was established approximately five years ago, and is a highly successful program. It is changing the atmosphere and environment within the prison.

“Being formerly incarcerated myself, college was a path towards something different, something positive,” said Wallin.

Tory Eagles, coordinator for The Pelican Bay Scholars program since 2018 said, “Providing college courses is a wonderful thing for these men serving time because it shows the humanity inside the walls.” Eagles started with

mass incarceration,” said Eagles.

Biology Professor at College of the Redwoods, Christopher Callahan, also teaches inside Pelican Bay State Prison. Callahan said his intro to biology course at the Supermax prison is, quote, “exactly the same,” as C.R’s campus with slight modifications like the use of household ingredients instead of the use of chemicals, and the students are still allowed the use of microscopes.

Callahan’s students are inmates enrolled in College of the Red-

“We need mass education to get rid of mass incarceration.”

James P inedo u s comple te labw ing a microsco ork in h pe to is in 2019 biology class .

20 | Osprey

woods’ Pelican Bay Scholars program, earning their associate degree for transfer. He said, “It is an honor to go in and provide my educational services to these men. The incarcerated community is no different than any of us. These students deserve, and have, the same aspirations and opportunities to learn as anyone.”

“Some of the most intelligent, talented and compassionate people I know are people who are currently or formerly incarcerated,” said Former F.I.S.C. president, Tony Wallin.

Simply put, with education there comes power, with power comes transformation.

The best solution that will decrease crime levels, and make our communities a better, safer place is education offered in prison.

RUNNING OUT OF INK

Tattoos in the Pandemic

story by Luz Valdez / photos by Ian Vargas

When the pandemic began, the working class was hit extremely hard, forcing many to go into unemployment.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The number of unemployed persons rose by 15.9 million to 23.1 million,” in April 2020.

Tattoo parlors in particular were among the many industries to get shut down.

The prolonged hours of skin-toskin contact made it risky for

contracting and transmitting the virus. Almost all tattoo artists were forced to close shop in order to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Tattoo artists were affected by the pandemic in unique ways. Paige Sinicrope, who currently works at Sangha Tattoo Studio in Eureka, California (formerly known as Old Growth Tattoo), shared that the shut-down had a serious impact on her mental health. She said,

“When the pandemic hit, we were forced to close for several months, from about March to August. It was very difficult to not tattoo, so I tried to create some art in the meantime, but the pandemic made things very difficult and I fell into a heavy depression and wasn’t able to produce much.”

Tattoo artist Sarah Ko, also known as Sarita, had a different experience. Ko stated, “When the pandemic started I

PHOTO: Danny, the client, getting the outline of a tattoo done by Paige Sinicrope at Sangha Tattoo Studio in Eureka, California.

21 | Osprey

didn’t tattoo for the first month or “The smell of latex so. It gave me gloves, the buzzing of time to show some love the machine, the sting to my other of the needle” mediums, but I honestly took most of the time to rest and rejuvenate my inner self!” Ko has her own private studio in San possible to begin Francisco and is a guest tattoo with. She now asks her clients artist at two amazing shops in for a negative COVID-19 test the Los Angeles area. before their appointment and

Sinicrope stated that also takes their temperatures most tattoo shops are now to be extra careful. In order to open and are currently working prevent the transmission of disby appointment only. There are ease, “All tattoo artists are reno walk-in appointments availquired to take a bloodable anymore and no one is allowed inside the shop other than the clients.

She explained, “Clients are required to wear a mask and fill borne out a consent form and COVID pathogen questionnaire, just asking test and be basic questions about expoknowledgesure and such. We have daily able in checklists of cleanliness proper for our individual booths sanitizaand the entire shop. We all tion. We work together to make sure wrap anythat we are maintaining the thing we highest level of cleanliness and safety.”

According to Ko, tattoo artists’ procedures haven’t changed all that much due to the fact that they had to be as sanitary as

touch that touches blood and we also wear masks,” explained Ko.

As to whether tattoo artists saw an increase or decrease in clientele, Sinicrope expressed, “I haven’t really seen a decrease in clients, which honestly was surprising to me at first. I thought, when the pandemic hit, the last thing that people are going to want to spend their money on, is tattoos. But, I was wrong. I think people are needing this type of therapy more than ever...”

Tattooing has been an integral part of most human cultures for thousands of years, dating all the way back to the Neolithic era.

Danny, the client, getting the outline of a tattoo done by Paige Sinicrope at Sangha Tattoo Studio.

22 | Osprey

Tattoo Ink at Sangha Tattoo Studio.

Throughout history, people of artist. Sinicrope said, “Becomall ages, backgrounds, careers, ing a tattoo artist has been a and beliefs have chosen to get lifelong dream of mine, and I tattooed. feel eternally blessed to be able

There are many reasons to do this kind of energy work why people may which I feel is choose to get a “Tattoos can enforce very powerful tattoo, the priand enigmatic. mary motivator and express personal I love connecthaving to do identities, represent ing with my with personal and personal tribulations, clients meaning and helping them remembrance. and also honor past bring their Tattoos can visions to life. loved ones.” enforce and express It has brought me personal identities, a sense of community represent personal tribulations, here in Humboldt and I love and also honor past loved ones. helping others feel empowered According to Skin: A Natural in their bodies through their History, by Nina Jablonski, tattoos.” head of Penn State’s Depart Sinicrope also explained ment of Anthropology, “In an how tattoos can be seen as a increasingly globalized world form of therapy and energy of look-alike clothing, cosmetwork, “Although sometimes it’s ics, and hair styles, tattoos are difficult to put people in pain permanent reflections of perfor hours at a time. My main sonality, carefully calculated focus is to provide a space that representations of core beliefs is comfortable, relaxing, and and sentiments that can make a therapeutic for my clients even uniquely powerful statement of though they are in a vulnerable, individuality.” and sometimes scary, position.

Getting a tattoo can This has led me to connect also be seen as a sacred pracwith people on a higher level tice that creates a connection energetically, and that is one of between the client and the my favorite aspects of being a

tattoo artist.”

Tattoos can hold a special place in people’s hearts permanently, which is why it is important to do the research.

Fortunately today there is a wide variety of artists with various styles to choose from, such as old-school traditional, realism, geometric, new school, tribal, Japanese, Chicano, black and grey, stick and poke, and so on.

It is now common for people to get tattoos which memorialize someone important in their lives, or merge a parent’s or past loved one’s tattoos with their own unique ideas. With the pandemic and lockdown ordinances, it is only natural to want something that reminds you of that special person.

Because tattoos are so meaningful, most people seek out an artist that they trust and respect. Danie Alvarado, 22 years old, explained, “The most important thing I look for is professionalism and approachability. There’s nothing more annoying than a tattoo artist hitting on you or being unprofessional while you’re being tattooed, because then you can’t be a jerk in the middle of it and

n, gu le o d tto ee o ta e n ut t . s e th o rk o d op e cr hav nge e w i n o ha lin i S e gt c e ig tin dge e th a P ai tri u w ar tin c on c

risk a shitty tattoo. A bonus is being able to have something in common with the artist and being able to easily get ideas across and understand each other.”

Alvarado got two tattoos during the pandemic; one was just for fun and the other holds deep meaning. It pays tribute to her late father, who always wanted a tribal sun tattoo.

Nancy Castañon, 20 years old, got her first big tattoo at the beginning of the pandemic. It is a half sleeve, taking up half of her arm with illustrations of a skull with a butterfly resting at the top, and at the bottom is a rose and a scorpion. This tattoo on her forearm has a symbolic meaning to her. She explained that it reminds her of her parents; “When I was a kid my mom was obsessed with skulls. She had them all over her car, which explains why I gravitated to getting a skull.” Castañon’s father has a scorpion tattooed on him. He is from Durango, Mexico, which is known worldwide for their scorpions, a symbol that is commonly used to represent the state. With her zodiac sign being Scorpio, and her father having a scorpion tattoo, Castañon decided to ‘kill two birds with one stone’ and incorporated the scorpion in her own tattoo design. She stated, “It was quite painful but nothing intolerable.

Af-

ter a five hour session of getting my skin poked, it finally came to an end and it was worth it - definitely a memorable experience.”

That being said, tattoos are not for everyone; some people would rather avoid getting tattoos all together.

Fear of judgement by potential hiring managers or other people in positions of power, is a common deterrent. Tattoos can also be known to carry negative connotations and stigmas. Stereotypes such as gang affiliation, having a rebellious personality, and drug addiction have all been associated with tattoos at one point or another. Luckily, the stereotype that only criminals and gang members get tattoos is slowly diminishing now that tattoos are growing in social acceptance.

The huge wave of tattoo-hungry people have flipped the script and made tattoos a lot more socially acceptable.

Many tattoo artists are now so busy with clients and their work that they barely have any time left for themselves. Sinicrope stated, “The harsh reality of being a tattoo artist is that our work never stops.

I am constantly drawing for my next

“Tattoos are permanent reflections of personality”

day’s appointment, which can be so physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. It is actu ally a very difficult career path especially when dealing with mental health, personal issues, and in the midst of a pandemic.

The amount of drawing time outside of tattooing that is required can be overwhelming.

But luckily all my clients are amazing and fully understand the mental constraints that this type of work brings, and are patient with me whenever I need to take time for myself.”

The future of tattooing is looking bright; nothing has really changed besides the addition of a few more regulations, such as wearing a mask.

Now that tattoo shops have begun to open, people have started to make appointments with their favorite tattoo artist.

Making an appointment ahead of time is key, considering there are no walk-ins available anymore. Be prepared to sign forms, answer questions, and get your temperature checked before your tattoo session.

Join the tattoo community!

Nancy Castanon’s half sleeve tattoo.

esent r p e R

Founder’s Hall.

Humboldt State University, Arcata, California.

Maintaining Community for Black Students story by Seb Taylor photos by Elizabeth Lachman

In the Fall of 2019, ready to breathe the fresh Humboldt air, Jayden Yarbrough came to Humboldt State University (HSU). He was eager to become a student, eager to make adult choices, and eager to enact change where change was needed.

During his first semester, Yarbrough was actively working to revive the Black Student Union (BSU) at HSU, but by the time Spring 2021 rolled around, his best advice became, “Don’t ever expect to bear the fruit that you planted.”

Yarbrough started on his endeavor to reinstate the BSU by setting up meetings with faculty. For many students, engaging with faculty can be daunting, but not to Jayden. He saw that they were people, and he also recognized that there was a power structure there that needed to be accessed in

order for him to be an advocate for anyone.

“When Douglas Smith, the Director of the AACAE (African American Center for Academic Excellence) brought it to my attention that there was currently no BSU, to me it was a necessity.” Yarbrough noted that there had been a two year absence from the BSU at Humboldt State and he remembers thinking, “I’ll put that together; sounds easy. I’ve done organizing; I’ll keep doing organizing.”

Smith became the faculty advisor for the BSU.

In his process of reimagining the BSU, Yarbrough realized, “Individuals were not worried about planting seeds; they were only worried about bearing fruit, and you can’t do that when you don’t have a fucking tree.”

In his mind, Yarbrough

was trying to create, “a space for the quintessential form of Black culture,” but attempting a revival of the organization became a snapshot of both the limitations and freedoms of a student’s abilities on campus.

There was no foundation for this club and Jayden needed critical mass to help instill his ideas. He began to invite others around campus to join immediately, and eventually recruited around 60 people who were meant to work to formulate a structure and a constitution.

Yarbrough was trying to move this mass of people to ruminate on their identities, and use this experience for empowerment within the community. This was most definitely a learning curve for the members of the union.

“In the capacity that we had it, it was used as a resource and an auxiliary program to legitimately change the expe-

25 | Osprey

rience for students of color, specifically Black students of color,” said Yarbrough.

He and the counsel were meant to be advocates for the student-members of the university, to facilitate, “resources [that] are tied to their cultural understanding, or their methodologies.”

Peri Murray, a member of the union, said, “Jay has good leadership because he always genuinely asks for your input. It always made everyone come out. That was a good place to just sit down and see all the Black people on campus.”

Another member, Isaiah Cornelias, Jayden’s right hand man and an advocate for the BSU when it was running last year, recalled, “We had consistent meetings every week; the union was a real community environment for many. Black students on campus are usually pretty spread out.”

Yarbrough said that although the members understood the quintessential experience he was pushing to uncover collectively, they had a hard time being motivated to

Jayden Yarbrough Humboldt State University, California.

meet his long-term vision. His was diverse, but still, “It was very hard to get them to interact with BSU. As we continued and the workload got more, it wasn’t like people were signing up to be like, ‘Oh, what else can we do.” He went on to say, “We had people who stayed on counsel and did not deliver.”

The BSU usually takes whatever form the students

“What was needed, and the direction that the BSU was going, I am not sure things always aligned.”

Yarbrough had plans to create a non-hierarchical organization that Black students could be a part of and utilize for advocacy. This sounded much better in theory, though.

Yarbrough, simultaneously creating the foundation for the club, was also the president of the BSU. He was tasked with, “communicating with admin, all other groups on campus, anything off campus, scheduling, organizing things, and delegating.” All of this while also making sure everyone else was doing their jobs well and being full-time students.

“I did not want to be president; everyone convinced me that I should be; as it would turn out, people had plenty to fucking say about the way I did things,” Yarbrough recollected.

It was crunch time when the decision was made and it was obvious for many that Yarbrough was best cut out for the role, but there were no blueprints for how to go about this.

He exclaimed, “Where were the files that I could have pulled up, where is the [Google] Drive, where is the Instagram? We had to come up with everything!

There wasn’t that much engagement with faculty.”

The BSU and their advisor were essentially on their own, and the students only had so much power.

The reason that Yarbrough and his counsel were forced to work the foundation of the BSU was because it had never had a formal structure at HSU. It had fizzled out two years prior to Yarbrough’s arrival.

The Students in the BSU

“The fight to represent and create a space for the Black students on campus.” desire. Before this iteration, there were many more. Douglas Smith compared his time with the BSU from when he attended HSU, to that of Yarbrough’s iteration. He remembered a union that was less about creating community and more about bolstering a pre-existing one.

He said that he found that this iteration was, “definitely much more goal oriented,” than previous times, but he attributed the downfall to an inexperienced young counsel and recalled,

Did You Know?

had a hard time coming accepted.

The first Negro Student together. Yarbrough’s

The BSU students were Association started in 1963 at San vision was strong but delivering speeches in the middle Fransisco State University, and ultimately his collecof class, organizing in their was later formed into the first tive was breaking down. communities, hosting rallies, and Black Student Union (BSU).

Douglas Smith, the union eventually coordinating strikes

The BSU at San Francisco advisor, agreed that the on campus. This was met with an State University (SFSU) began BSU failed when, “getting aggressive response by the police; pushing the administration to however, students of all colors adopt reconstructions which would buy-in from the constituunited in these protests. empower Black communities to ents and members.”

In 1969, the students attend the university.

On the other had convinced the administration

The BSU wanted the hand, he claimed that at SFSU to create their College university to have ethnic studies the club, “had a lot of of Ethnic Studies, and to with 20 full-time instructors and energy and were really accept, “virtually all non-white admissions requirements waived so good at mobilizing and students.” that more black students could be getting people together.”

Ultimately, the union was not able to penetrate the students on campus, the campus, Smith believes that the upper administration with administration must deal with students’, “critical analysis is a non-hierarchical, democratic the issue. The odds are stacked good but their application and structure. in favor of the students, and execution, if I am transparent,

Yarbrough recalled that universities are seemingly is pretty awful. And that’s how, he had looked up to the admincreated for the growth of stuthe university and the instituistration when he started. The dents, but as Smith even said, tion, in general, capitalize on president of the university is “The institution really is a large that.” even Black, but eventually he bureaucracy; is excellent at not

What was most upsetrealized that, “they don’t give a changing.” Students must realting for Yarbrough was that he fuck that you’re Black.” ize that, “The institution is not came to the university highly Yarbrough is now afraid to do going to change if it’s just one motivated, but his motivations anything public at HSU. student or one student group.” have almost entirely dimin Yarbrough exSmith claimed. ished after only one year. Even claimed, “I didn’t plan on

In the fight to represent Smith had slightly different coming and, you know, expectations for the club. Smith and create a space for the Black being given all the restudents on campus, Yarbrough agreed with Yarbrough that an sponsibilities and all inclusive space for Black people was largely on his own. After these expectations for having time to reflect on his at HSU is a necessity, but Yarhow I should act.” It can experience, he recognized that, brough believed Black students be a struggle to express “They put you in this nice little deserve more than a sense of power as students. It ‘student’ box. They try to keep belonging on campus; his nocan be a struggle to you in there.” tion of the identity for the orbe a student in the In the bureaucratic ganization went deeper. He was first place. Generally pyramid of the university, the ready to enact change, starting there is little to no students fell to the bottom; no by getting the Black students experience in organizadministration admitted any on campus to reevaluate their ing compared to the faults on their part. In retroidentities within the context administrators. spect, all of this leaves one of growth and empowerment;

When students furthermore, as Yarbrough said, daunting question: and student organiza“Students have to be in a collec- Is our institution dedicated tions struggle, the adto it’s students or to its own tive.” ministration is forced agenda?

Collectively, to decide how much students can become a powersupport they can house, but they are also reoffer. When students sponsible for themselves and exercise their power what they’re willing to put in. to create clubs on When an issue matters to all of

27 | Osprey

Age of Exploitation A contextual look at how you are not just you Story / Illustrations by Em Scott

Capitalism is consumption. It acts to consume everything, from the natural environment, to resources, to attention.

When consumption occurs in excess, and when capitalistic structures devour our bodies and minds alike, it speaks to another name: cannibalism.

Author Jack D. Forbes defines cannibalism as, “the consuming of another’s life for one’s own private purpose or profit.” To understand one’s own cannibalistic acts, there must be a reckoning of the roles played within different spaces, particularly within the space of social media, where purpose and profit are often one and the same. The need to consume others as well as ourselves has been warped into an excessive habit and actively promoted via digital platforms.

This is an infectious and implicit kind of greed. It is not merely physical, but also deeply spiritual and, as such, internalized. This internalized greed is very much you: the way you feel, react, want, need, and live.

It is all of us, and it is exploited across all platforms, but particularly digital ones because this is where old methods transgress into newer, subtler forms.

To become critically aware of your own internalized capitalism and the cannibal acts you participate in, you must understand it by it’s true name.

28 | Osprey

This name is Wétiko. Grounded in the knowledges that it emerges from, Wétiko is both a story and a state of mind. This word originates from the Cree, whose tribes stretched from upper-west Alberta to the eastern edge of the Hudson River. In Ojibwe, it is: windigo; from the southern parts of Canada to the upper Midwestern regions of the United States. In Powhatan from eastern Virginia, the word is: wintiko.

Though the names are rooted in different places, the story is one of human duress; in a fit of madness or starvation, one human consumes another. The resulting monstrosity is left emaciated, skeletal, and massive. It is a creature forever hungry, forever wanting, and never to be satisfied.

Across continental North America, the story, the method, and the menace of Wétiko emerges from some Algonquin-speaking Indigenous nations - though it is not constrained by those borders.

After all, stories exist in ubiquity. Wétiko then lends itself, in name and nature, to that of modern American culture, which is extractive and exploitative.

Wétiko is embedded within a narrative framework, and is one of unending and pervasive greed – to the point where the inherent value of anything is only determined by a factor of price and appetite.

This is a link between capitalism and Wétiko: both

are in constant action throughout all institutional and systemic functions. They hold a particular space within social media because social media is both a producer, reproducer and witness of Wétiko. By producer and reproducer, it is meant, as stated by authors Alnoor Ladha and Martin Kirk in their piece, Seeing Wétiko, that Wétiko is both: “The infection and the body infected, a person can be infected by Wétiko or, if the infection is very advanced, they can personify the disease…”

A focus of social media and Wétiko touches on the fact that an individual on social media is both exhibiting desire, and being compelled by it as well.

Though this does sound as if it should only be applicable to hardcore phone users, even the most minimal user is not able to entirely avoid social media, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 quarantine.

“How often would you say you are on your phone in a single day?”

Romell McCalpin-Carter, a Humboldt State student, responded, “Before COVID or now?”

“Both.”

“For me, before COVID, I would be on my phone as a break between homework. But now, I am on my phone for news, to talk to people, to Facetime. I am, and always was, a more in-person connection, but now it’s like I have to be on my phone all the time to see who wants to talk to me.”

A driving force of capitalism is to make one want until it seems like a need.

This is similar to the addictive tendencies of social media usage. Social media has become a habitual necessity, and so makes it easier to remain in a constant state of Wétiko desire.

We need our phones.We need to need. This is directly enforcing notions of how to live, so that some of these desires actually become needs.

“Which apps would you say you use the most?”

Romell responded, “I definitely use Twitter, like a lot, mostly because it’s a mix of entertainment, news, and how my friends are doing.”

“If you had to choose between watching TV news and looking at, hypothetically, Instagram news, which one would you choose?”

“I personally would do Instagram news only because what we learned all throughout 2020 and into now is that it doesn’t matter what TV station you watch, be it FOX, CNN, and MSNBC, it’s not going to tell you everything you need to hear as a whole.”

Social media is not just a necessity because of Wétiko, social media is also a necessity because the exploitation of media has driven people to look to where the truth will be clearer. The results of this duality remain to be seen, but consider, for a moment: emails.

They weren’t around until relatively recently, but have become a normalized staple for functioning.

Even if one had not

initially wanted to get an email, it has reached a point where the necessity outweighs the resistance. What was once willingly done, is now a ‘requirement’ in order to function under capitalistic authority. As Forbes writes,

“Imperialism and exploitation are forms of cannibalism and, in fact, are precisely those forms of cannibalism which are most diabolical or evil.”

What is normal now was not normal before, whether it’s 17 years ago with the emergence of Facebook, or last year.

Recall that phones were advertised as a convenience, but have been made into a necessity. Do you ever wonder how and why you became habituated to your phone? What is your dependence on technology, and how much of it was willingly done?

It is diabolical how attention has become a commodity - your focus, your time, and energy are profited off of, and therefore, within a capitalist framework, necessary to be made scarce as well.

Attention is a variable of living. What one chooses to pay attention to, to establish

“UNDER A WÉTIKO SYSTEM, CONSUMPTION ENCOURAGES DEPENDENCE” connection with, is a huge part of being human. Navigating new developments of how to commodify attention is no easy task, especially with the discreteness and variability that capitalism can evolve through within the internet. It takes a lot of energy and a lot of insight to observe the degrees of personal consumption and dependence.

Under a Wétiko system, consumption encourages dependence, and dependence encourages consumption. It, “short-circuits the individual’s ability to see itself as an enmeshed and interdependent part of a balanced environment, and raises the self-serving ego to supremacy,” according to Ladha.

In an interview with Dr. Rose Borunda, Professor in Sacramento State’s Educational Graduate and Professional Studies, she said, “There’s a section in Pedagogy of the Op-

pressed, where he talks about that the oppressor is the only have, they no longer are – they only have, and that’s Wetiko.

That they’re just looking to have more, but there is no substance in who they are as human beings.”

This speaks to dimensions not only within social media, but to further intersections like corporate greed, political policy, and police brutality.

“This Wetiko of who is disposable, who do you cage, who do you inflict trauma on, and with no care – now our relationships have been severed.”

For a user, social media creates the sense of being simultaneously connected to huge numbers of people and allowing for information to be rapidly disseminated, while also being an entirely individual experience. All that is required is for you to look, hit “like”, and continue doing so.

The interaction a social media user has with different platforms highlights the internalization of dissociation since, ultimately, you are only consuming for your own benefit.

Wétiko reveals the danger of self-consumption, as it disconnects the self from the self. When one begins to consume their own body, mind, and spirit, it warps one’s sense of being and shapes the way we navigate reality.

A CINEMATIC SHIFT

Story by Rae Stone

Photos by Elizabeth Lachman

Illustrations by Em Scott

Empty room in the Broadway Cinema Eureka, California.

Been watching anything good lately?

It is likely that you have been asked this question more than once in the past year - seeing as the majority of us have spent numerous hours taking ‘binge-watching’ to a whole new level, as we adhere to the ‘inside state’ that the pandemic has imposed upon us. We have recently come upon the one year anniversary of the pandemic and with it has brought a disorienting and fatiguing ‘new normal’ - arguably made more bearable by the viewing content we have had accessible to consume. As this is the case, and in a way always kind of has been, it can be difficult to recognize shifts happening behind the screens, like a con-

tinuous stream of new content and more platforms, to a scale never seen before.

Whether you have the password to someone else’s Netflix, you actually have your own account, somehow still watch cable, or maybe you are still a die-hard DVD or even VHS movie-watcher, in whatever manner you are consuming film and television, an undeniable fact is that the business behind what you are seeing is changing; cinema itself is undergoing transformation… again.

On December 3, 2020, major movie studio Warner Bros. announced that they would be releasing their entire lot of 2021 films to theatres, and straight to streaming,

simultaneously - otherwise known as a ‘dual release.’ You have already likely seen this with films such as the new Wonder Woman, and more recently, Godzilla vs. Kong.

A dual release to this scale is unprecedented. When Warner Bros. released this news it sent shockwaves throughout the industry.

Now, streaming is nothing new, and neither is dual release. What is different, is that historically, first-run films (big blockbuster hits) are first and solely released to movie theatres. We can all relate to being psyched for an upcoming movie ‘to be playing in a theater near you!’ or, waiting for that movie to come out on DVD. Movie theatres, studio compa-

31 | Osprey

nies, exhibitors, and distributors, all as separate entities, work together to establish, for the theaters, screening availability (what theaters get to show what films) and screening lengths of time (how long a theater is allowed to show it).

A film makes its revenue from this theatrical release business model. Traditionally, there are windows of time, 74 days, even after theatrical releases, before films are made available to be released to the public.

With the advent of streaming, traditional business models had already begun to shift. Now a company could have their own viewing platform paid for via subscription, made available anywhere there is internet, and have licensing rights to certain content.

They are like vendors that have exclusive rights to an artist’s work.

Warner Bros. is a slightly different example. Firstly, they are one of the very first film distribution companies, being founded in 1904. This company is massive, and has gone

through a multitude of iterations. The newest being HBO Max, their streaming platform which is parented by WarnerMedia, a division of Warner Bros. that was created in May of 2020 (notice the timing). This company, with their own streaming is now like the artist, the store, and the vendor. Having a conglomerate of a studio like Warner Bros. with its own content and streaming platform marries production, exhibition, and distribution aspects - which have brought up many concerns. Let me tell you why.

Because of the pandemic, movie theaters, like innumerable other businesses, have had to shut down. As this has been the case, the film industry has had to make decisions about what to do and where to put their films. Releasing first-runs to streaming can be tricky because it is new territory and therefore the means of revenue by which films succeed or flop cannot necessarily be accounted for. With films like Minari on

“We have come upon anniversary pandemic, has brought and fatiguing Amazon Prime, Soul on Disney +, and The King of Staten Island on Hulu, these movies were created, contracted, and set to be released specifically to streaming platforms, and you paid a specific price outside of subscription rates for them.

With Warner Bros., Wonder Woman was also contracted and negotiated within dual release terms for Christmas Day 2020. Those involved in the filmmaking of the entirety of the 2021 release of movies, however, including Judas and the Black Messiah, Godzilla vs.

Kong, Mortal Kombat, Dune, Suicide Squad and more, were NOT informed of the dual release

recently the one year of the and with it a disorienting ‘new normal.” decision until three hours before it was made, let alone were they contracted for what is, or is not, accounted for in a streaming release. This news hit the filmmakers hard, and has caused some of the directors to dramatically claim this dual release model of first-run films as the ‘death of cinema’.

Whether or not this dual release by Warner Bros. is actually temporary, this decision has set a precedent of combining production, exhibition, and distribution, which is historically significant… but we’ll get to that. Though the studio has claimed this rollout as a response to the pandemic because of the closing of theatres, this has been a decision that is unequivocally irreversible and undoubtedly set to continue.

The rollout of Warner Bros. entire 2021 films to their own streaming service is not likely to cease this groundbreaking new territory. Access to these kinds of films and their own exclusive viewing platform gives them the ability to compete with streaming giants, like Netflix, because they too now have streaming paired with their own studio, but also access to some of the largest first-run films.

Writer, director, and the author of, Moving Pictures: An Introduction to Cinema, Russell L. Sharman, shared his insights regarding this further

shift towards streaming and how unions may play their part moving forward.

“This shift is definitely a product of its time, and something that will be continuing; it will create more work, but it will not be the same. The continuation of the dual release could be an incredible opportunity for filmmakers, writers and directors, but the biggest question is regarding profit sharing negotiations.

There is the content, and then there is also the studios continuously trying to find new ways to monetize profits off of content and creators. Studios are notorious for holding out and excluding profit participation. Moving forward, there is concern over how much profit might be worked into or cut out from the theatrical release revenue, and for streaming. Studios have a tendency to hold out until they are absolutely forced to be fair in sharing film profits, and it might take a while for the profit sharing to benefit everyone.”

As this dual-release model ensures more content being created, and distributed in more than one place at a time, Russel sees this as something that, rather being the death of cinema, will simply be the next new thing in cinema.

“Ultimately this is a great thing for content creators in the long-run because of just how much more content is being created, and a seeming insatiable appetite for it. The reality of the newer generations screening and viewing that content on their phones and at home, is something to be recognized. There is nostalgia as well as a reality of movie theaters, but ultimately how the public screens content will dictate the future of things. Movie theaters might have to change, and it is foreseeable that this will be happening through big studio chains buying out movie theatres for customized experienc-

ge.

Loun eatre uee. h T a arq cat he Ar nge m e to t eatre Lou . c n a r rnia a Th : Ent LEFT VE: Arcat ta, Califo Arca ABO

es, like Disney themed chains for example. Most likely the costs will go up and there will be increased lounge and food style theatres.”

Russell also touched on his relative optimism moving forward because of the foundation of trust he has in connection to unions, such as the Writer’s Guild Association (WGA) which he is a member of. He referenced the 2008 writer’s strike, and a recent strike against writer’s agencies, and how each time people’s unions were able to resolve issues of exploitation.

One of the largest and most powerful labor unions recently hosted a technology and innovation summit, where they offered insight into what this union had to say about the recent shift within the industry.

SAG-AFTRA, standing for Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, held their third annual summit on February 19, 2021 - barely a month after Warner Bros. news release. The summit covered, “Straight to Streaming: Pandemic Strategy or New Normal?” and “Streaming & The Changing Business Model.”

SAG-AFTRA president, Gabrielle Carteris

who kicked off the talks, declared that, “The sudden and extreme pivot to streaming during this pandemic poses an

people who distributed and exhibited the product.

Producers like Netflix or Disney+ that are their own distributor and exhibitor, release their shows and movies to their own platforms. This line of company separation is disappearing.”

Jeffrey Cole, president for the Center of the Digital Future at University of Southern California and California State University, Berkeley, and also the founder of the World Internet Project, spoke at the summit as well. He said that,

“The line between film and television is unrecognizable, especially to viewers. COVID has accelerated everything. The consumer has massive amounts of content and choice in the comfort of their homes, and it only costs $11-13 a month for original motion picture quality, plus tons of old series, etc.. With something like Netflix, all of the shows up on the platform sit there, removing the windows of release and residuals that are paid out to artists. Originally bargaining within contracts accounted for upfront compensation then tid-bits later over periods of exploitation (via DVD, etc, after theatre releases). This is what has the potential of going away.

The union’s job is to make sure the same people continue to be paid while those movies and shows sit up on those platforms.”

“IN 2020, SILICON VALLEY ATE HOLLYWOOD.”

34 | Osprey

existential threat to performer’s ability to make a living…

Because of the way large corporations are exploiting technology to either change or blatantly ignore the fundamental pillars that have built, over decades of collective bargaining, to ensure that workers share in the financial bounty that they create…

The growth of movie streaming is challenging existing power and bargaining relationships in the industry.”

David White, the national executive director for SAG-AFTRA who also spoke at the summit, stated that, “In 2020, Silicon Valley ate Hollywood… The potential impact on the larger economy is that increasingly a handful of private companies are shaping and dominating the market, moving away from the principal separation between the people who produced a product, and the

Cole speaks to algorithms of streaming and how they have shaped content. He commented that,

“We as consumers are unwittingly shaped into certain decisions as a result of algorithms. These types of business models are ones looking for niche audiences that want to see particular content, as opposed to in the past where a net-

work tried to adhere to as many people as possible creating watered-down, homogenizing content for the lowest common denominator, to ensure that it was as attractive to as many people as possible. Now it is flipped. That is part of the positive potential here - stories that are more

relevant to increasingly diverse audiences, traditional, or otherwise, there is an explosion in storytelling. This business model seems to embrace the potential and the possibility of that. There is more choice coming from one of maybe a few companies, which is collapsing the traditional lines from producer, and distributor, end exhibitor.”

Though there is this positive influence Cole speaks to with an increase of diversity in viewing material, there is a negative as well.

“When one company

gains too much control, we’re seeing that they can exert and influence the market in unnatural ways.

Having grown up in an environment where there’s enough competition to give producers a choice to support exhibitors, that is all collapsing now. If Netflix is the most powerful one of today, that controls the market, they set the prices and influence whether people’s

PHOTO: Upcoming releases at Broadway Cinema in Eureka, California.

ideas get seen, or how they’re shaped. This is the most powerful, coming out of the pandemic, entertainment company in the history of entertainment companies.”

As it pertains to a kind of studio dominated market, there are through-lines to be drawn, specifically in this entertainment business’ history. We know studios notoriously have shady histories as pertains to exploitative behavior towards artists and performers, but there have also been recent changes of incredible note.

Firstly though, a bit of history on ‘the business of cinema.’

Prior to 1938, during the time known as the

Golden Age, studios were able to monopolize the filmmaking industry by owning theatres, being connected to distribution and exhibition companies, and holding actors and artists against strict contracts for the sake of gaining the utmost profit without the sharing.

(Like what Russell was talking about) This created a dynamic by which studios could monetize profits by shovelling content into their own theatres without competition. Because only a handful of studios ran everything, they were able to

35 | Osprey

control the market, as well as the genres of films being released.

1938, however, prompted a tremendous shift in the filmmaking industry.

United States v. Paramount Pictures Inc., otherwise known as the Paramount Consent Decrees, was a supreme court case whereby the Department of Justice, “filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging that eight major motion picture companies had conspired to control the motion picture industry through their ownership of film distribution and exhibition...

[The] court found that the defendants had engaged in a wide-spread conspiracy to illegally fix motion picture prices and monopolize both the film distribution and movie theatre markets.” The Supreme Court mandated these companies to consent to decrees which forced the separation of film distribution and exhibition, and “prohibited those defendants from both distributing movies and owning theatres.”

As of 2018, these decrees were reviewed and overturned.

The Department of Justice in New York, “terminated the decrees, effective immediately, but allowed for a two-year sunset period on the decrees.

This sunset provision…[was] to allow the theatre and motion picture industry to have an orderly transition to the new licensing changes.”

Well, that sunset period ended as the pandemic began.

The original decrees were made in order, “to protect competition in the motion picture industry.” Now reviewed 70 years later, those involved agreed that these decrees represented an outdated model which does not account for the massive shifts that have happened throughout modern viewing methods and

platforms.

The likely continuation of dual releasing first run films, along with the recent overturning of the Consent Decrees has the potential to severely impact movie theatres, which have already taken a hit even before the pandemic.

Mark Murin, the Director of Operations for Coming Attractions Inc., which encompasses Broadway Cinema in Eureka and Mill Creek Cinema in McKinleyville, has been in this business for over thirty years. He explained the impact of increased streaming on the theatres;

“This dual-release method, as a response to the pandemic (i.e. a temporary measure) has to be the case.

The National Trade Association is working alongside the theatres to make sure it is actually temporary. The problem during these times is with what movies Hollywood is and isn’t releasing to theaters. Because of the pandemic and so many theaters shutting-upshop for a while,

they’re not giving any new releases yet… which makes sense right now. There were definitely problems in theatres prior to this decision, though we were not specifically thinking about the dual-release issue before the pandemic, but have been looking into different means of making money, because obviously streaming had already become a prominent platform, and admittedly there will be a need to think of new business models moving forward.”

In general Murin has hope for people coming back to movie theatres once things become safer, and even referenced the record-breaking highs in China’s movie theaters as they reopened.

The facts are that this industry, one that has been through a multitude of major shifts thus far, is yet again facing more massive shifts, but Murin thinks that the smaller community theatres will continue on to be okay.

Arcata Theatre Lounge’s (ATL) general manager, Monica Munoz, offered some insights into this matter as it regards to their theatre - which runs a bit differently.

ATL is not a chain, nor a firstrun theatre, but rather an independent, single-screen, local theatre that shows older films at a lower cost with a dining experience, and also offers events beyond movie screenings.

ATL runs under a moratorium, which contracts that they are not actually able to screen firstrun movies, historically, so as not to compete with The Minor.

Munoz speaks to the unique

style of the theatre potentially benefiting from this new streaming model. She said,

“It’s almost kind of good news if the films are released in people’s homes first. Prior to the pandemic, we were actually planning to begin screening first-run movies. At this point however, it is uncertain how that is going to go for now or whether it is even feasible

anymore. All and all, it is unclear as of yet how this will be affecting us, but the only foreseeable worry is ticket sales going down because of a greater accessibility of at-home streaming... At this point it is either move forward or flop, but I’m excited and nervous to navigate this new space. We are always trying to fit ourselves according to what the customer base is looking for.”

The beauty of this multipurpose venue model, which

LEFT: Reporter Rae Stone and Arcata Theatre Lounge General Manager Monica Munoz inside Arcata Theatre

offers private rentals, non-profit screenings, concerts, and art shows is that they already offer a niche experience, and therefore have the potential to survive, as is, with the shifting times because they are already an unconventional theatre.

They are able to provide a unique experience that exists somewhere in between the large screen classic theatre, and the at-home viewing experience.

The likelihood of more streaming platforms, a continuation of dual release first-run films, and a further split between major (potentially studio-run) theaters and small, local, independent theaters is high. As we are amidst a plethora of change within long standing businesses adjusting and altering due to major changes in the economy, cinema is simply one of those businesses shifting according to the times - the sum of which can essentially fit into the phrase we are all a little too familiar with at this point, “We’ll see.” This industry has been in flux since its inception, and though it will continue to shape and be shaped, not only by business, but by means of viewing, the never ending supply of stories to be told and translated visually still stands. The cinematic experience, be it in a multiplex theater, an intimate local theater with food and drinks, or from your laptop, is something that has been, and will continue to be, a cultural staple.

37 | Osprey

Don’t Over Simplify It You’re So Much More Than That

Story / Photos by Rae Stone

Scrolling aimlessly through the search page of Instagram, as one does, you may come across a video entitled, Find Your Personal Style… in 30 seconds! You might think, what is personal style, or how could you possibly find it in thirty seconds? Quirky, colorful, and quick, this video is really a miniature snapshot containing three golden nugget guidelines, or inspirational instructions, for applying visuals to certain aspects of your ‘being.’ This creative process, typically carried out with specific intentions, is known as mood boarding, vision boarding, or dream boarding. Think goal-setting

38 | Osprey

or envisioning a future reality, and finding a format to attach related images for your specific intentions.

This quirky video comes from a wonderfully vibrant designer, comedian, performer and educator, Meg Lewis. In her case, those golden nugget guidelines for finding your personal style are outlined by this method: 1. Put visuals to each of your cornerstone personality traits.

2. Figure out the life-long points of inspiration, the stuff you were into when

you were a kid, that you’re still into now - put visuals to that.

3. Lean on your skill-sets, put visuals to your personal skill-sets.

Lewis delved deeper into what it means to find your personal style through this method of mood boarding.

“Mood boards are so easy! So reliable; they’re trusty and we know what to expect because we have been cutting out pictures from magazines usually since we were kids. It’s a known visual language that works,” Lewis explained.

Whether for professional, artistic, or aesthetic purposes, for goal-setting, or just for fun, mood boarding is something that can allow you to highlight yourself and your interests in a meaningful and useful way. Lewis remarked,

“The first step is in uncovering who you actually are - what makes you unique outside of popular opinion, trends, or what marketing and media is telling you who you should be. Afterwards you can get to a place where you can celebrate that, push those things forward, translate those things into the way that you dress, the way you communicate about yourself, the kind of career path or work that you want to go into, and in all that you want to do. Then no matter what marketing comes your way, it won’t matter because you’re confident in who you are and what makes you unique.”

Style does not equal what you wear, however; it can be so much more than that!

Lewis illustrated how style translates across borders be-

sides clothing.

“There are so many opportunities for every human to have style. Style can encompass anything where you visually communicate who you are. The way you dress, sure. It could be the environment or the type of living situation you’re in, your interests, job, wants. Personal style can be showcased verbally as well. So think of it as all of those things. We all get these pockets of opportunity to express who we are in some way visually to the world. Anybody has the ability to use style to thematically showcase who they are, and everyone is truly capable of being psyched about themselves and their personal style with confidence.”

Understanding that style goes well beyond clothing, Lewis recommended,

“Choose an avenue of personal style that just feels the most exciting or accessible for you... Once you get comfortable translating who you are as a person into your own style, whether that be wardrobe, living space, etc., anywhere you’re

“Liminal Spaces” moodboard by Sheila Jean Davis.

trying to communicate who you are to others, it will naturally become very exciting for you to try and challenge yourself to extrapolate that style into ALL areas of your life, then you can start to find it is really not as scary as you feel it may be.”

The steps that Lewis has created as a base for mood boards ensures that, when it is being created, one pays attention to what is unique to them and what they do well, what makes them feel fabulous about their personal abilities and strong-suits. She said,

“No matter what our career or our brain is structured like, we all have a lot of the same human problems and experiences - in the sense that we are all, in one way or another, marketed to by our insecurities.

So, we’re constantly told to buy more products and constantly reinvent ourselves, in order to feel better about ourselves and fit the mold of what a human is supposed to look like.

Whether you’re someone who feels empowered to verbally or visually showcase who you are, or whether you’re not, and you’re more comfortable with blending into the background, the goal of finding a personal style is, no matter who you are, to get past that urge to feel like you’re not enough.”

Lewis’s purpose in the three steps is for the sake of pulling from what YOU specifically are good at, without getting too distracted or focused on what others are good at.

“Lean on those things that set you apart, rather than constantly comparing yourself to skills that other people have which you cannot utilize. In creating mood boards made up of someone else’s work of your same medium, you end up being forced to make some-

39 | Osprey

thing that’s already been made, or use visuals that you end up comparing your own work with.”

When using someone else’s visuals for a mood board, it may take attention away from your individual style. So when pulling from someone else’s work, utilize visuals from different work spaces. If you paint, do photography, write, landscape, make music, etc., do not pull images from those same spaces. Lewis advised,

“Do not look at those things, rather utilize other people’s stuff that has nothing to do with your medium - like color palettes, textures and energy, to get the visual feel for what you want. ...You can benefit from not pulling from others’ - which can end up just making us feel bad about ourselves, and defeated from comparing.”

In sticking with visuals outside of your own medium, or utilizing your own work, you get to focus on and acknowledge what you alone have to offer. As Lewis said,

“Be really mindful and empowered by the skills you do have. Try to figure out what those things are, those skills “Personality” moodboard by Rae Stone.

We all get these pockets of opportunity to express who we are in some way visually to the world. you naturally have, push those forwards and lean on those things, celebrate those things, utilize those, because they are the things you can utilize.”

Too often people may feel that style requires a certain type of aesthetic, or that if you have a certain style that you need to stay within the confines of it. But really, finding a personal way to visually communicate who you are in the world encompasses all that you are, the multifaceted work of art that being a human is.

Trying to reduce that for the sake of others’ consumption is lamentable.

“I think that’s the great thing about humans, is that we are all so many different things!

We’re not just that one label that people want to prescribe to us. We’re so complicated, so interesting; we all have so many things that we love and are fascinated by, and our hobbies and interests. One of the things I love about personal style is it is a wonderful opportunity to mix and match all of the things that make you who you are, even if some things don’t go together normally, visually. When we do this, it also encourages other people to realize that it’s okay that they’re a bunch of random things smushed together too.”

Lewis’ mood board steps help to highlight and celebrate

that multifacetedness of being human and show that it is okay to be complex. Lewis admitted,

“I am truly obsessed with just gathering all this information and injecting it into everything that I do all of the time. I think once I learned that the world wouldn’t hate or reject me as much as I thought, for breaking through and doing things how I wanted to do them, I was hooked; like oh my gosh, I’ve wasted so much of my life trying to pass as normal, or be a different version of myself that the world wanted me to be. I have this sense of urgency now to just stop wasting so much time not being myself.”

There are many different ways one can go about mood boarding. Lewis’ steps and suggestions are particularly useful in celebrating your own sense of ‘you-ness.’ They allow you to accent specific pieces of yourself, childhood inspirations, and to point out, to yourself, the skills you do have, while not leaning on images of what other people have, which may take attention away from what you are specifically good at. In doing this, it gives you a jumping off point to give yourself credit where credit is due. You dip your toes in a pool of your own self-recognition, and are then able to move forward with more clarity and confidence.

NOW GIVE IT A TRY!

See what kinds of clarity and confidence you are able to pull from your own mood board, guided by Lewis’ three golden nuggets of inspiration to work from.

A few students from Humboldt State University created their own mood boards to experiment with Lewis’ method. Each student took on their own form, be it tangible or electronic, collaging or otherwise.

In reflecting on the experience, Linaya Dinoto, 25, a Writing Practices major and aspiring fiction author had this to say,

“Nostalgia for my childhood definitely came to the surface. Recognizing my strengths and communicating them hasn’t always been my strong suit, so that was strange.

Giving myself the credit for what I’m good at and what I’ve accomplished is well deserved but also somewhat... uncomfortable? I wish it wasn’t! That was an important lesson I took away from this; It’s important to practice self love, that doesn’t always necessarily align

with the negative connotation of being egocentric. Making the mood board caused me to reflect on all the good feels stretching from my past self to my current self and what each section of my life has brought to the table. It forced me to examine what makes me who I am… it made me contemplate the fact I am in constant collaboration with the world and influences around me.”

Sheila Jean Davis, 29, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art and working as a graphic designer said,

“I had been in a creative slump before getting into this project, and found that it helped rekindle my creative spirit. There was a lot of distillation in play, multiple steps of further refining the lists and boards. This illuminated the way I process the world.

I found recognizing my own skills the most challenging; it’s tough discerning the things you strive for and hope you do well, and the things others recognize you for. It was overall a very positive experience, and chal-

lenged me to express creativity while exploring my style through a different perspective. I struggled the most with finding things that represent personality traits and points of inspiration. I didn’t have a concise understanding of what it meant. Complexity doesn’t offer easily gleaned take-aways and the complexity of the self, and its style too, plays by the same rules.”

Orinn M. Kroon, 20, a Political Science major shared,

“The biggest thing that came up was what I considered my most prominent personality traits. It was a struggle to decide what pieces of me represent my personality, but I had a lot of ease choosing my inspirations. I think it was a neat process that made me think a bit deeper about myself and who I am. I think it is something I may want to actually come back to and do again but try and put even more time into it to really begin to understand myself better.”

“Personality” moodboard

by Linaya Dinoto.

Is Tech The New Tobacco?

A Photo Essay

by Emily McCollum

&

Lupita Rivera Cid

TOP LEFT: Annie Bush poses for a photo

by Emily McCollum.

BOTTOM LEFT: Jasmine Martinez poses for a photo

by Lupita Rivera Cid.

ABOVE: A posed set of photos

by Lupita Rivera Cid.

45 | Osprey

High Hopes & Sour Grapes

A New Kind of Reefer Madness

story / photos by Emily McCollum

The sweet smell of sinsemilla stretches across all corners of the Emerald Triangle. Humboldt County, in particular, is known for its vast stretches of coastal redwoods, agriculturally valuable microclimates and craft cannabis production. Humboldt has been a staple for cannabis cultivation for over three generations. Cannabis is prolific and embedded in Humboldt’s cultural makeup. Even with this rich cannabis culture, the recent hemp ban was unanimously passed by the board of supervisors, restricting the industrial cultivation of hemp within county lines.

CBD is one of the main compounds in hemp, it’s a pain reliever and can even be used to treat cancer and epilepsy in humans and animals. Hemp can be grown and harvested in the span of four months. Hemp fiber can be used to make biofuels, paper materials, clothing, biodegradable plastics and superior building materials. Because of prohibition there is a severe lack of processing plants in the U.S. for this.

Humboldt County is a sanctuary county and was a place of refuge for the counter-

California in 1996, and

“Hemp fiber can be Proposition 64 legalized recreational use of canused to make biofuels, nabis in 2016. The farm bill of 2018 decriminalpaper materials, ized the cultivation of hemp on American soil clothing, biodegradable for the first time since prohibition in 1937. plastics and superior Humboldt County isn’t alone in the cannabis building materials.” trade; Mendocino and Trinculture during the 1960s. Hippies flooded the Humboldt hills with their culture and lifestyles and began to set the foundation for the infamous Humboldt cannabis industry. Through the generations, Humboldt County’s identity grew with this influx of counterculture and became a unique county with a culture all its own. But recently this locality is being uprooted by corporatized infrastructure, resulting in a new kind of reefer madness.

Cannabis prohibition has affected numerous people, but California is unique in its state-wide recognition of cannabis. In 1976, the Moscone Act classified possession of an ounce or less as a misdemeanor in California, punishable by a $100 fine and no jail time.

Proposition 215 legalized the medicinal use of cannabis in

ity County make up the two other corners of the infamous Emerald Triangle. This region has more licensed cannabis farms than anywhere in California. Some estimates say that this region produces a very large percentage of the United State’s cannabis product.

So why would a county that is famous for its cannabis instate a strict ban on hemp?

Hemp and cannabis are the same exact plant. Hemp refers to the fibrous material that can be derived from the stalks of the plant, while cannabis refers to the dried flowers of the plant. Jeff Dolf, the agricultural commissioner of Humboldt county explains it well.

“It is the same plant but for the purposes of the federal definition of it, we are calling it two separate crops based on its THC content, even though it is all cannabis sativa,” said Dolf.

First Wave Farms, Del Norte County. Photo by Russel Enriquez.

“really it’s the full One of the main arguments for the ban is spectrum of the plant, the possibility of cross pollination among the two crops, having the it’s not just THC”

One compound within the plant differentiates federally legal hemp from federally illegal cannabis, Tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. THC is the psychoactive element within the plant. Federally, hemp is defined as cannabis sativa that tests below 0.3% THC, while cannabis tests above 0.3% THC. Humboldt County is notorious for its high THC cannabis.

Ross Gordon, policy director for the Humboldt County Grower Alliance, elaborated on the market’s demand for high THC cannabis.

“A lot of our farmers feel that the market is obsessed with high THC cannabis, it’s actually a significant source of frustration,” said Gordon.

“I think most farmers in Humboldt believe that really it’s the full spectrum of the plant, it’s not just THC it’s the other cannabinoids; CBD, THCB, CBN, CBG, it’s also the terpenes and the flavors. All of these coming together in a holistic way is what makes cannabis special and makes cannabis craft.”

High THC content doesn’t necessarily mean “the best”, but for consumers this is often what is sought after.

Growing such

craft cannabis is exactly the type of knowledge and skill set that could be utilized in other agricultural practices, like hemp cultivation. Benjamin Grant, a local hemp advocate speaks on the missed opportunity.

“We could grow the best cannabinoid rich, flowering female hemp here [as opposed to] anywhere on the planet because of all the resources that we have and the microclimates that we have. We got all the knowledge, it’s our culture here,” said Grant.

Dolf has been working for the Department of Agriculture for over 30 years. “In the years that I’ve been here we have never had a ban placed on one commodity,” said Dolf.

So, what is the concern around hemp in Humboldt that makes this unprecedented action so favorable?

potential to ruin these high THC harvests.

“Very early on we identified that industrial hemp, when it’s grown, tends to cause major problems with the local cannabis industry,” said Gordon. “We saw, in Southern Oregon for example, cross pollination issues caused 8% of the cannabis crop lost to that form of cross pollination.”

“With the legalization of hemp, it was brought to the attention of the board of supervisors of potential conflict between the cannabis industry and allowing industrial hemp cultivation within the county,” said Dolf.

One crack in this logic is obvious. There can be measures put in place to ensure that cross pollination does not occur, these measures are already in effect within the

Solutions

Arcata, C alifornia

.

densely populated cannabis industry of Humboldt County.

“We have 938 independently licensed cannabis farms in Humboldt County right now, that’s significantly more than any other county in the State,” said Gordon.

These cannabis farms don’t have a problem with cross pollination because of the agricultural practices already in place and the generational knowledge among cannabis farmers. Cross pollination isnt a new problem for cannabis cultivation. So, shouldn’t hemp cultivation have the same agricultural regulation to prevent these possibilities? Why would the county not look into agricultural reform but instead just unanimously ban the crop all together?

“It poses some concerns for law enforcement and regulators because it’s an identical plant. You can’t tell them apart and the county has a permitting system for cannabis,” said Dolf.

This argument arises as a measure to protect the established cannabis industry.

When faced with a newly legalized crop that

First Wave Farms, Del Norte County.

Photo by Russel Enriquez.

is genetically identical to cannabis, this is a direct threat to the profits of those regulatory industries placed over cannabis within Humboldt County.

“It’s an agricultural crop that isn’t bound by the rules of these new bureaucracies that have been created by the state of California since Prop 64, to basically regulate, control and extort cannabis farmers,” said Grant. “It is an avenue for legal agriculture outside of the extortionate permitting system within California and Humboldt County.”

Russell Enriquez, co-owner and operator of First Wave Farm, has made a living out of growing and cultivating from the land. The farm was founded in 2015 and became registered for hemp cultivation in 2019.

“The industry is new so there are many

unexplored niches. There is a lot of farmland in Humboldt that would be suitable for hemp and it’s a bummer that it can’t be used,” said

Enriquez. “Regulating weed farmers seems like a very tough job, and throwing hemp farms in the mix would complicate it.

I think the county just has their hands full with the cannabis program right now. Hopefully in time they can find a way to do both weed and hemp in Humboldt.”

Since the federal legalization of hemp cultivation in 2018, many licensed cannabis farms raised concern of the potential new industry early on, culminating in the ultimate ban of hemp cultivation.

“That most recent hearing was the outcome of a process which has played out for more than two years,” said Gordon.

Because of prohibition, hemp is a very new crop.

Legalities around cannabis sativa

have caused a lack of infrastructure for this newly allowed material to be utilized. Because of this, people are shying away from the potential that hemp has for a new and better world.

If people were more excited about the potential, instead of fearful and focused on protecting their established industry, the capacity for progress is exponential; the industry just has to be open to it.

There’s an old saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely. It appears that the interest of people in power is being put before the betterment and progress of the collective.

The influence of corporate infrastructure is corrupting Humboldt County’s unique and progressive culture.

“It’s a matter of disinterest from the county,” said Grant. “Hemp is an honest crop.”

Benjamin Grant in Arcata, California.

Join Osprey Magazine Production JMC 325

Looking for: Writers,

Photographers, Graphic Designers, Illustrators, and Copy-Editors

51 | Osprey