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February 14, 2002
Civil
rights inspector at HSU
In recent years, Humboldt State
University's softball, cross country and basketball teams have
brought the school national rankings, trips to championship tournaments
and prestige -- but there's a problem.
Complaints of gender inequity
in the school's athletic program have triggered an investigation
by the federal Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.
Under Title IX, a department rule, the university is required
to follow strict guidelines ensuring women's athletics programs
are as robust as men's.
The investigation, triggered
by a student complaint, is focusing on four areas of the athletic
program: budget, scholarships, facilities and proportionality.
That last item refers to a Title IX requirement that the ratio
of female to male athletes be close to the ratio of female to
male undergraduate students.
"I think they will raise
some issues about facilities, which we have indicated we are
in the midst of upgrading," said Steven Butler, HSU's vice
president of student affairs. Butler pointed to two projects
-- the conversion of open space into a softball field and the
remodeling of the women's locker room -- as examples.
It is an issue that HSU has
been dealing with for almost a year. The school hired a consultant
last year to advise the athletic program on compliance with Title
IX.
The results from the inspection,
which occurred from Jan. 29-31, will be used to generate a report.
The university then has the opportunity to respond. If the office
finds HSU in violation of Title IX, it will be required to formulate
a compliance plan -- and the whole process will occur above board,
Butler said.
"These are issues we are
trying to resolve right now, and we will publicly disclose how
we are trying to resolve them," he said.
Nurses vote
March 15
Nurses seeking to organize at
St. Joseph Hospital reached agreement Feb. 8 on the terms and
conditions of a union election, setting the date for March 15.
Management scored two key victories
during negotiation: Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna will
be considered a separate bargaining unit and charge nurses will
not be eligible for union representation.
Redwood Memorial will now have
to file for its own election. The move is seen as a win for management
because of the perception that union support is stronger at St.
Joseph's two Eureka facilities. Charge nurses have been at the
center of the union debate from the outset. When the charge nurses
learned last fall that they would probably be considered management
and therefore ineligible for representation, nearly all stepped
down to become regular nurses.
The concessions were made to
facilitate a speedy election process, according to the California
Nurses Association, the union seeking to represent the nurses.
Lang skates
this weekend
Members of the Karuk tribe and
dozens of other relatives will be glued to the television this
weekend as Humboldt County native Naomi Lang takes to the Olympic
ice.
The four-time national champion
Lang and her ice-dancing partner Peter Tchernyshev will begin
the first of three days of competition Friday, Feb. 15, from
7:30-8:30 p.m. and 9:15-10 p.m. They will execute two compulsory
dances worth 10 percent each toward their final score.
Lang and Tchernyshev will perform
in the original dance portion of the competition Sunday, Feb.
17, 9:30-11 p.m. Teams are given a prescribed rhythm with a defined
tempo range and must create an original version of the dance.
This portion counts for 30 percent of their final score.
Monday will be the finals, a
free dance combining technical skill and artistry to music of
the couple's own choosing. The program is scheduled to air on
Channel 3, the NBC affiliate, from 9:45-11 p.m.
Lang was featured in a North
Coast Journal cover story
Dec. 20, which described her early years in Humboldt including
her training with the Redwood Concert Ballet. Her mother graduated
from Humboldt State University in nursing and left to accept
employment in Michigan when Naomi was 7.
By her father's heritage, she
is a Native American and a member of the Karuk Tribe. She is
the first Native American woman to participate in the Winter
Olympic Games.
PL pulls
Allen Creek plan
Pacific Lumber Co. announced
last week it was withdrawing a controversial timber harvest plan
for stands that harbor the endangered marbled murrelet.
The plan would have allowed
selective harvesting on approximately 70 acres of a marbled murrelet
conservation area near Allen Creek north of Carlotta. PL officials
maintain that the harvesting would foster better habitat for
the murrelet by thinning out the stands, encouraging the remaining
trees to grow into mature forest.
That would seem to be consistent
with the company's habitat conservation plan, which allows for
harvesting out of murrelet nesting season if it encourages mature
forest characteristics. But the Headwaters Agreement, of which
the plan is only one part, includes more stringent language about
the conservation areas. PL is forbidden from engaging in any
harvest activity that would hurt the bird or its habitat in the
short run even if there were long-term benefits.
A broad range of environmental
interests had urged the California Department of Forestry not
to approve the plan, including State Sen. Byron Sher, the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service and private environmental groups.
Economy
levelling off?
The Humboldt economy, which
suffered a significant drop in activity following the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks, may be improving. Numbers from the latest
Index of Economic Activity for Humboldt County show the decline
in logging industry employment juxtaposed with rising retail
sales and job creation.
"There are signs we are
levelling off," said Steve Hackett, a professor of business
and economics at Humboldt State University where the Index is
produced.
Optimists point to three items
--sales, retail sales and the leading indicators. Home sales
have been on the rise in Humboldt over the last year and continued
erratic but strong growth with a 17 percent increase. Retail
sales, which account for almost a fifth of Humboldt's jobs, increased
12.9 percent. Finally, the leading indicators all came up positive
for the first time in a year.
The Index uses four indicators:
The amount of help-wanted advertising in the Times-Standard,
the number of unemployment claims, the volume of manufacturing
orders and the number of building permits. While all experienced
double-digit improvements, the 36.5 percent increase in help-wanted
ads is especially encouraging, Hackett said.
"That has been one of our
most accurate predictors of future performance," he said.
Not all was rosy in Humboldt
County, however. Two sectors vital to the continued health of
the economy experienced setbacks -- hospitality and lumber manufacturing.
The two industries are especially important because they bring
new dollars into the community rather than "reusing"
dollars like the retail or service industries.
Their decline raises an interesting
question, Hackett said. "What's driving the economy if it's
not people with jobs? If the people here are doing so poorly,
who's buying all the houses?" One possibility is that Humboldt
is attracting more retirees and self-employed individuals who
do not show up in labor statistics but still have the income
to buy houses and goods.
The slide in timber manufacturing
employment experienced a new wrinkle last month. Pacific Lumber
Co. announced that, as part of its reorganization plan, logging
operations will be farmed out to independent contractors. The
move eliminated 125 positions at the company. Many of those workers
may find jobs with the subcontractors, but those jobs probably
won't be as well paid.
"These contract logging
companies may not offer the same wages or benefits," Hackett
said.
The advantages to Pacific Lumber
are significant. By shifting a seasonal workforce dependent on
government approval of timber harvest plans to a subcontractor,
much of the risk is eliminated, Hackett said. "If there's
a logging shutdown because a [timber harvest plan] is held up,
then PL doesn't have to carry the unoccupied loggers."
The strategy isn't limited to
logging. Last month St. Joseph Health System Humboldt County
announced it was farming out its medical transcription operations
to an independent subcontractor. Eleven employees were affected
by the layoff.
"It's pretty common for
a lot of industries," Hackett said.
Candidate
forums this week
Feb. 14 .......... Auditor,
KINS 980 AM, 4:10 p.m.
Feb. 15 .......... 5th District supervisor, KEET-TV, 7 p.m.
............ ............ All Republicans, Eureka Inn, 11:30
a.m.
............ ............ Sheriff, KMUD 91.1 FM, 7 p.m.
............ ............ State propositions, KINS 980 AM, 4:10
p.m.
Feb. 18 .......... Schools superintendent, KINS, 980 AM, 4:10
p.m.
Feb. 19 .......... Schools superintendent, KEET-TV, 7 p.m.
............ ............ Sheriff, Eureka Inn, noon
............ ............ Sheriff, KINS 980 AM, 4:10 p.m.
Feb. 20 .......... 5th District/Corbett/Geist, KINS 980 AM, 4:10
p.m.
Feb. 21 .......... 5th District/Pierce/Harvey, KINS 980 AM, 4:10
p.m.
............ ............ 5th District, Azalea Hall, McKinleyville,
7 p.m.
Feb. 22 .......... 5th District/Shepherd/Taylor, KINS 980 AM,
4:10 p.m.
County residents who are not registered to vote in the March
5 election may do so by mail using a form available at post offices
or the Department of Motor Vehicles in Eureka. Applications must
be postmarked by Feb. 19, or register online at www.ss.ca.gov/elections/votereg1.html.
Absentee ballots are available
to voters who are already registered by submitting name, address,
signatures, birthdate and telephone number. Applications must
be received (not postmarked) by Feb. 25.
Registration and absentee ballot
requests should be sent to the Humboldt county Elections Office,
3033 H St., Eureka, 95501. Call 445-7678 for more information.
COVER
STORY | ELECTION 2002 | CALENDAR
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