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February 7, 2002
See also:
ELECTION
2002:
School Superintendent / School Bonds: Measure
S and Measure T
Candidates
to visit HSU
The search for Humboldt State
University's new president is entering its next phase, with candidates
soon visiting the campus.
According to a memo from California
State University Chief of Staff William Dermody, people on the
short list will probably start campus visits during the last
week of February.
"Each candidate will meet
with constituent groups and participate in an open forum. These
meetings are intended to promote an exchange of information between
each candidate and members of the HSU community," the memo
continues. Candidates' résumés should also be available
for inspection when they arrive.
Some members of the HSU community
have already had an opportunity to put in their two cents. An
advisory committee of faculty, staff, alumni, student government
and the Arcata business community helped define who potential
candidates might be. But the final decision will not be made
locally. The CSU Board of Trustees, located in Long Beach, has
the power to appoint the president. According to written CSU
policy, campus visits are "not to be used for formal evaluation
of the candidates." Their formal purpose? "To encourage
candidates to remain interested in pursuing the presidency."
In other administrative news,
a search committee has been formed to seek a permanent replacement
for Don Christensen, vice president for administrative services
and development, who is retiring at the end of February.
John C. Hennessy, a former professor
and a veteran HSU administrator, has agreed to come out of retirement
as Christensen's interim replacement. According to a Feb. 4 memo
from HSU President Alistair McCrone, the screening of potential
candidates could begin soon after the President-elect of the
university has been named in mid-March.
The house
that Orick built
When Phil Nesset decided Orick
needed more affordable housing, he started at the basics. The
first decision would have to be what kind of houses suit Orick
-- and who better to ask than the residents themselves?
Nesset, a Presbyterian minister,
has begun collecting sketches, photos, floor plans, notes, ideas
or pretty much anything that might help him define what he calls
the "Orick House."
To help encourage the flow of
creative juices, he's going to award $100 to one of the would-be
architects. A drawing will be held March 15 in Orick to decide
who gets the money.
Once he has an appropriate home
design, Nesset said he's going to start a community group to
build Orick houses, revitalizing the town's decaying housing.
"Many homes here are flood-damaged and falling apart, and
there isn't any money to fix them up," he said.
Orick's population has been
decreasing since the early 1970s, when park expansion and mill
closures forced many to seek work -- and housing -- elsewhere.
But Nesset thinks the town can attract Orick's next generation
of residents if it can just get the housing problem solved.
"People who telecommute
or work off the Web could come here as well as anywhere, and
there are actively retired people who want to live somewhere
accessible without having to pay through the nose for it,"
he said. The construction of a new Redwood National Park office
building in Orick will bring new potential homeowners as well.
And what might the Orick house
look like? "This is strictly my opinion, but I'm thinking
somewhere along the lines of a craftsman bungalow cottage,"
he said. "The idea is that it wouldn't involve a lot of
tricky angles or exotic design elements."
It's as much a practical decision
as an aesthetic one. Those houses happen to be the kind that
"any two competent carpenters could build," he said.
Ideas about the Orick House?
Send them to Orick House, P.O. Box 26, Orick, 95555-0026 or contact
Nesset at phillipnesset@starband.net.
Free trees
Arcata property owners with
streams on their land can get free, custom-selected trees through
a city program to help promote native riparian vegetation.
Riparian zones, the strips of
land on either side of a stream, are among the most sensitive
and important types of land. When wellstocked with native trees,
they can help to filter storm runoff and improve wildlife habitat.
But without a healthy population of trees, the streamsides become
home to a host of non-native weeds that trap sediment flowing
downstream and contribute to stream channel infilling.
That's why the Arcata Environmental
Services Department wants to give away some trees. Tell the city
where you live and staff will figure out what tree species is
appropriate, be it alder, redwood, cedar, spruce or maple.
"Sometimes we'll even plant
the trees for them," said Mark Andre, deputy director of
the department. "The only requirement is that they leave
them there for 10 years."
Call 822-8184 for more information.
Nurses
to vote on union
Nurses at St. Joseph and Redwood
Memorial announced Jan. 30 they had filed for a union election,
signalling the beginning of a more active phase in both pro-
and anti-union campaigns.
In order to request an election
from the National Labor Relations Board, the union had to collect
signed cards from 30 percent of nurses. CNA reports indicate
that the union has collected cards from around 70 percent of
the registered nurses at the two hospitals, both part of the
St. Joseph Health System-Humboldt County.
George Batiste, one of the leaders
of the push to organize the nurses, said he expected management
to step up its anti-union campaign now that an election was within
sight.
"They're not going to waste
time trying to change my mind, but they might try for nurses
who aren't decided," Batiste said.
One especially contentious element
of management's campaign against unionization is the involvement
of the Burke Group. The management consulting firm has been convicted
of violating the law in other campaigns against nurse unionization.
Nurses at Redwood Memorial are
already crying foul. According to Mark Mowry, a registered nurse
at the Fortuna hospital, pro-union literature has been removed
from bulletin boards and personal mailboxes. That would constitute
a violation of the National Labor Relations Act.
"If that's occurred, it
is not consistent with what we want to do," said Mike Purvis,
president and CEO of St. Joseph. "If it's happened, it will
be fixed."
Purvis said Redwood Memorial
is being targeted by management, however. St. Joseph Health System-Humboldt
County will try to get the two hospitals recognized as distinct
bargaining units, he said.
"We do not want Redwood
Memorial's nurses to be influenced by what could be an overwhelming
majority [of pro-union votes] at St. Joseph's," he said.
Beth Kean, spokesperson for
the CNA, said the union "wanted the nurses at Redwood to
be included" but both parties were still in negotiations
over the terms of the election.
Another point of contention
in those negotiations is likely to be which types of nurses are
eligible to unionize. If registered nurses who perform some supervisory
roles can be classified as management, they become ineligible
for representation.
The debate over when nurses
become more management than patient-care personnel has centered
on charge nurses. A group of senior nurses who help direct traffic
in the units they staff, charge nurses assign patients to beds,
respond to emergencies and function as a liaison to doctors.
Almost all charge nurses at
St. Joseph's stepped down from their positions earlier this year,
claiming hospital administrators had changed their job description
to push them over the line into management.
The CNA is now claiming the
nurses are eligible, but said they may be willing to budge as
part of negotiation. Kean said the CNA "felt it was important
for every nurse to be included," but added that the union
wanted to try to avoid a lengthy fight over eligibility.
If the CNA and management can
reach agreement on the terms, the election could take place in
March. It will be administered on the hospital facilities by
the NLRB.
CR enrollment
up
After checking their numbers
on the first day of classes, administrators at the College of
the Redwoods had to smile -- enrollment is up 13 percent over
last year.
College of the Redwoods President
Casey Crabill said in a press release that there were several
reasons for the increase.
"The downturn in the economy
has brought new students to CR. We have increased the number
of night classes, the Basic Law Enforcement Academy is filled,
we're offering three classes at night on the HSU campus, and
our free class schedules have all boosted enrollment."
The increase brings enrollment
at CR's four sites to 7,291, the highest in a decade.
HSU men's
basketball No. 7
In 1999, the Humboldt State
University men's basketball team finished the season with a record
of 6 wins and 20 losses. Last year, they turned that record on
its head, finishing 20 and 8 and making it to the NCAA tournament.
This year the team has already racked up 19 wins, just one loss
and an unprecedented top-ten national ranking -- and there are
still seven games to go.
"Every time a poll comes
out, we've reached a new high in the standings. And this is a
program that dates back to 1924," said Dan Pambianco, spokesperson
for HSU athletics.
The secret to the team's success?
"Depth," Pambianco said. He said every man on the team
is a competent player, so when one player gets tired, another
can come in and play with the same skill but fresh legs.
"We've got the Orange County
player of the year coming off the bench; he doesn't even start."
It allows them to play harder
than most teams, Pambianco said. "They want to push it.
They play a full-court press for a lot of the game," Pambianco
said.
Look for more success in the
years to come. The team is not only deep but also young. Most
of the best players came in together as freshmen a year ago as
the result of a massive recruitment effort, and their communication
and team play is only going to get better.
Some of the Humboldt State Games
have been televised. Only one more will be this season: 8 p.m.
Feb. 23, at home against Central Washington. The games will be
available on Cox Cable's Channel 77. If you're going to that
game in person, come early -- the women's team plays starting
at 6 p.m. Before the women's game ends it will be standing room
only in the east gym.
Candidate
forums this week
As the March 5 election nears
and campaigns heat up, the candidates are presenting themselves
to the public in several public forums. Over the next week, there
will be 13 such forums.
Feb. 7, Republican candidates
for the 1st State Assembly District Tim Stoen and Clay Romero
will be on KINS, 980 AM, starting at 4:10 p.m. . Candidates for
5th District County Supervisor will be at the Blue Lake Grange
starting at 7 p.m. At 7:30 p.m., catch the candidates for auditor
at the Loleta Fireman's Hall.
Feb. 8, the two candidates for
Humboldt County District Attorney will appear on KINS starting
at 4:10 p.m. The Democratic candidates for the 1st State Assembly
District have their turn on the air that evening, appearing on
KHSU, 90.5 FM, starting at 6:30 p.m.
The race for County Schools
Superintendent, the subject of an in-depth
article this week, will be coming to the Humboldt State University
Education Conference Feb. 9 at 1 p.m.
The candidates for DA will be
on the air again at Feb. 11. This time it's KEET-TV, at 7 p.m.
Feb. 12, the candidates for
5th District Supervisor are in Trinidad at 7 p.m. Feb. 13, they're
in Willow Creek at 7 p.m.
That same night, Feb. 13, the
candidates for Humboldt County Sheriff will be on KEET-TV at
7 p.m. The two candidates for assessor are on KINS earlier in
the day, starting at 4:10 p.m.
Finally, Feb. 14 sees the candidates
for Auditor on KINS in the 4:10 p.m. election spot.
Quilters'
guild grants available
Textile artists with a special
project in mind may be eligible for some money to help them along:
The Redwood Empire Quilters' Guild is accepting applications
for its 2002-03 grant program.
The application need not be
limited to quilt projects: Almost any textile art is eligible,
including dyeing, embroidery, knitting, weaving and sewing.
Applications are available through
the Humboldt Area Foundation at 442-2993. The deadline is March
15.
COVER
STORY | ELECTION 2002 | ARTS! ARCATA | CALENDAR
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