Squidfry 01.27.22: Alternate Universe

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE… Squid hunkered down in the lair through most of January to avoid the sneaky omicron variant and – knock coral – has avoided catching Covid. Somehow not everyone got the surge memo, like over at Hartnell Community College, where officials relaxed a vaccination mandate in an effort to avoid losing students.

The mandate was originally set by the Hartnell Community College District Governing Board to be two doses by Dec. 14. When a low number of students met the deadline, officials moved it to Jan. 13. The day before that deadline, it was pushed to Jan. 17, according to emails obtained by the Weekly. In phone calls students were told if they had only one dose by Jan. 17, they could still avoid disenrollment by filing online for a medical exemption, then pursuing an additional vaccination ASAP, undergoing weekly testing in the meantime.

The spring semester launched Jan. 24 with 5,305 students enrolled, down from 7,341 at the same time last year. Just under 760 students were disenrolled on Jan. 18 because they missed the deadline to prove vaccination, according to spokesperson Scott Faust.

Faust believes the enrollment number would have been much lower had it not been for 160 Hartnell employees making calls to 2,300 students on Jan. 14 letting them know about the new deadline.

The old college try may have boosted enrollment, but Squid’s wary of the fact when officials constantly shift the goalposts in the middle of a deadly pandemic.

DEEP POCKETS… Squid knows from Squid’s high school days that it pays to be the Big Cephalopod on Campus, but those benefits only take a person, or a squid, so far. On land, just as under sea, you can be the baby boy of a U.S. Congressman and Secretary of Defense, a star on the wrestling mat, get a law degree, be awarded a bronze star for service in Afghanistan and even get elected to the House of Representatives yourself. But if you don’t have clout in Washington, then you’re small potatoes, as Congressman Jimmy Panetta is finding out this month.

Since a federal panel in 2020 decided the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s former Southwest Fisheries Science Center in Pacific Grove needed to be sold at auction, Panetta has been working to take the oceanfront property off the auction block, which would be a win-win: One for constituents who want to turn the building into a center for science and art, and one for Panetta.

So far it’s been a lose-lose. The General Services Administration is preparing to open the auction for bids on Jan. 31. Among those entering the auction? Local alternative electric utility Central Coast Community Energy, which wants to make the property its permanent headquarters.