The axis on which U.S. higher education turns is enrollment growth. It is a numbers game akin to Wall Street’s casino. Hence the statistic in the North Coast Journal‘s “Ground Breaker” cover story last week, “Enrollment went up 78 percent.” If you are a university president and you miss your enrollment targets, the chancellor will […]
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Posted inLetters + Opinion
The Insurance Leech
I am a local physician who has lived through some of the scenarios you describe in your article about Anthem Blue Cross and the roll out of Covered California (“Bait and Switch,” June 12), and it has been a nightmare. About half our patients have various types of insurance, so our office accepts nine different […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Vote Yes on Prop 42
Proposition 42, on the ballot for California’s June 4 election, will amend the Constitution to assure that local governments are legally bound to observe open-government requirements. If you prefer transparency to secrecy in your city government, local school board or county government, then the choice is clear: You should vote for Proposition 42. Proposition 42 […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
A Grape Idea
The Humboldt County economy has been based on a cycle of boom and bust from its inception. From the time the gold rush first drove settlers through the redwood curtain to the timber and fishing industries, Humboldt County has always adapted and survived after economic crashes. Today, Humboldt gets by in no small part due […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
What We Talk About When We Talk About Meth
Where did you get that laminated, oversized piece of paper with the words “Tweeker Hunting Permit,” on it, the one taking up most of the back window of your car? Did you order it online? Or did you make it yourself? If you made it yourself, tell us about that trip to the copy shop. […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Cheering the bat-thrower? Really, Arcata?
It was a chilly August evening in the Arcata ballpark, but things were about to warm up fast when Sergio Sanchez stepped to the plate for the Humboldt Crabs. This was the sixth inning of a win-or-go-home game in the Far West Baseball League championship tournament, and the crowd greeted Sanchez with “Ser-gi-o … Ser-gi-o […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Sadie’s Bad Trip
At 3:43 a.m. on a Sunday I am sitting on the sofa in the dark, flanked hip-to-hip by Sadie and Stella, our two Labradors, who joined me when the monkeys woke me up, as they do most nights. The monkeys are an image from a yoga instructor named Cynthia, who told her students to tune […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Inside KEET
As a KEET volunteer of over 15 years and employee for just under three years, I read your article (“KEET at the Crossroads,” June 20) with interest. I left the station in October of 2012 under circumstances which were both puzzling and sad. I loved my job at KEET. Probably too much for my own […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Should public funds be used to study an East-West rail line?
Some years back, when I called the North-South railroad and its backers Idealistic Dreamers Involved in Our Transportation System (IDIOTS for brevity), you might have thought that I was anti-railroad. Such is not the case. A railroad would do wonders for our local economy. What I am against is using public funds on an endeavor […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Should public funds be used to study an East-West rail line?
On the issue of an East-West rail line, there are those who promote the notion of “no public funding for the feasibility study at all,” or “if there is a need, let the private sector do the study.” Those comments suggest that no state or federal funds should be used in a feasibility study. If […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Thronging to the Inaugural
People weren’t kidding about the cold or the crowds or the miles we’d walk. Get there early, they advised. I meant to, had planned on catching the Metro at 4 a.m., when the trains started running, but in my tiredness, I’d set the alarm for 3:15 p.m. instead of 3:15 a.m. I woke up sans […]
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Freedom to Boycott
Humboldt County loves its reggae. Check our calendar section this or any week for proof. And it makes sense. Reggae’s feel-good, pan-cultural message of “one love” jibes perfectly with our community’s streak of irie idealism, to say nothing of the ganja connection. But in recent years, the tumultuous social landscape in Jamaica has given birth […]