Erin Holve – The Orion

Erin Holve, Reporter

Erin Holve is a 30 something college student, feminist, bonafide cat lady for life and latte slinger at Starbucks. She’s been trying to figure out this whole, what do you do with your life thing for quite some time. So far no conclusive answers have been found. You’ll usually find Erin sipping on an iced latte, watching YouTube videos or reading a good book while cuddling with her cat. These rituals help to quell the moments where she wants to scream into the void.

Erin began her pursuit of a Journalism career in the Fall of 2018 and plans to graduate in the Spring of 2021. This will be her second semester writing for The Orion and she hopes to expand her writing portfolio. She has grand hopes of writing feature stories for Bust or Bitch Media magazine. Only time will tell if she succeeds in this endeavor.

All content by Erin Holve

Dirt to soil, worms & leftovers

Jessica Shippelhoute and Erin Holve
May 17, 2021

What is composting and why does it matter? The first rays of sunlight beamed across the sleeping town of Chico as the low rumble of garbage trucks sounded off the Esplanade. Many Chico residents are...

KOYO Media Project a ‘light in the community,’ fighting against broadcast inequity

Erin Holve and Shae Pastrana
May 11, 2021

In downtown Atlanta, there sits a small brick building that was the home to the first black-owned radio station – WERD – in the United States in the 1950s. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other...

The lasting effect of COVID-19: guilt

Erin Holve, Opinion Editor
April 8, 2021

We’ve officially hit the one-year mark since COVID-19 forever changed our lives. I had hoped to make it this far avoiding the archenemy of society, coronavirus. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so...

[Photo] Lessons in mindfulness commemorate 2020 lockdown

Shae Pastrana, Reporter
March 31, 2021

Close up of a bee on a white flower on the Chico State campus.

‘Promising Young Woman’ holds a mirror to society’s complicity in rape culture

Erin Holve, Opinion Editor
March 11, 2021

From the beginning, “Promising Young Woman,” doesn’t hide from its leading theme: the complicity of society in rape culture. It hides the gruesome reality of the female experience with a traditional...

[Photo] Environmental recovery means helping the underprivileged

Shae Pastrana, Opinion Columnist
February 25, 2021

More names of the homeless who have died in Chico due to a multitude of reasons. Stephen Vest was shot last year in the Petco parking lot by Chico police. Photo by Erin Holve.

Dreaming of Christmas as Stay-At-Home Orders Go Into Effect

Erin Holve, Opinion Columnist
December 11, 2020

A new stay-at-home order revealed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom will enforce additional restrictions to five regions — Northern California, the Bay Area, Greater Sacramento, the San Joaquin Valley...

Playing the Weight Game

Erin Holve, Reporter
December 3, 2020

Weight issues have been a constant companion for a good majority of my life. The pandemic and quarantine have not helped in stamping down my loathsome views of my body. Thanksgiving came along...

Saying Goodbye, Death’s Lasting Effects

Erin Holve, Opinion Columnist
November 20, 2020

On Saturday at 12:30 a.m. a horrible car accident happened on Highway 99. Five big rigs and five cars were involved. There have been three confirmed deaths. One of those deaths was a friend and...

Michael Bay Wastes No Time Making a Profit Off of the Pandemic

Erin Holve, Opinion Columnist
November 19, 2020

There are those times when you think, maybe the crazy conspiracy people aren’t completely wrong. It’s like the chance of getting bitten by a shark, 1 in 2.75 million, it’s extremely rare. A...

White Women are Failing to Push Equality Forward in Favor of Keeping Societal Power

Erin Holve, Opinion Columnist
November 13, 2020

The coffee shop I work at serves plenty of Trump supporters who walk in wearing their Trump merchandise with pride. When I heard the news that former Vice President Joe Biden won the presidential election...

Trumpers have Hijacked the Republican Party – or – The Metamorphosis of the Republican Party

Erin Holve, Opinion Columnist
November 13, 2020

I’ve been watching as Americans all across the country celebrate Joe Biden becoming the president-elect. There is a sense of joy and hope that has not been seen in our country for four years. I’m...

A feminist’s struggles with the new Supreme Court justice

Erin Holve, Opinion Columnist
November 5, 2020

As I studied for a class one evening, one of my friends texted me that Amy Coney Barrett had just been confirmed as the new Supreme Court justice. My first feeling was anger, the deep-seeded type that...

Is automatic registration the solution to voter suppression?

Erin Holve, Opinion Columnist
November 4, 2020

Last week I wrote about the complications I faced just to register to vote California, a state with liberal voting rights laws. This got me wondering, “How often does voter suppression happen...

Voter Registration, A Form of Suppression?

Erin Holve, Reporter
October 27, 2020

In the last month and a half I have been through a voting registration process that has made me question whether the requirement for American citizens to register to vote is outdated, complicated and...

Punishing the homeless doesn’t solve the problem, compassion does

Erin Holve, Reporter
October 13, 2020

Abigail Shrier and the Dangers of Making Psychological Assertions from Limited Data

Erin Holve, Opinion Columnist
October 11, 2020

This article focuses on a straight, white, cis female opinion writer discussing the book a straight, white, cis female opinion writer wrote concerning transgenderism. I can’t possibly see how this article...

Dealing with a Toxic Family Relationships can be a Lifelong Challenge

Erin Holve, Reporter
October 10, 2020

It’s utter chaos in the moment. My shoulders make contact with my ears in a child-like attempt to stop the tumultuous world around me. In a way I am a child in these moments. Desperate to make the world...

Police, how do we hold them accountable for wrongful deaths?

Erin Holve, Opinion Columnist
October 1, 2020

Breonna Taylor was shot and killed earlier this year after plainclothes police officers burst into her apartment with a battering ram at 1 a.m. to execute a drug raid search warrant. Detectives...

[Photo]

Graphic made by Erin Holve

The Double Standard of Chris Evans’ Nude Photo

Erin Holve, Opinion Columnist
September 26, 2020

Actor Chris Evans recently had what I’m affectionately calling a d*ck snafu on social media. He uploaded a screenshot of his phone’s camera roll, most of which were for publicity purposes. Evans...

[Photo]

RBG, What can we learn from her life?

Erin Holve, Opinion Columnist
September 22, 2020

I’ve never been someone to mourn the loss of a celebrity or public figure. Often shrugging my shoulders in a kind of cruel indifference. An inconsequential happenstance. When I heard...

WAP, Sex Through the Female Gaze

Erin Holve, Reporter
September 18, 2020

There has been a lot of conversation and debate surrounding the new song by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP.” There have been arguments that this song represents female empowerment...

[Photo]

Photograph by Erin Holve

Cannabis is Coming to Chico, is the Community Safe?

Erin Holve, Reporter
September 15, 2020

The city of Chico has approved an ordinance for cannabis dispensaries with a 5-2 vote. The two dissenting votes came from Sean Morgan and Kasey Reynolds. Dozens of residents showed up to the...

Dealing with COVID-19 and my Depression

Erin Holve, Reporter
September 10, 2020

It’s dark in my apartment, I lack the motivation to turn on the lights or open the curtains. It’s the afternoon and I’m still in my bed, mindlessly scrolling through Tumblr. It’s more a ritual...

[Photo]

Self portrait by Erin Holve

Holding ourselves accountable for the end of in-person classes

Erin Holve, Reporter
September 8, 2020

On Aug. 30 all students received an email from Chico State’s President Gayle Hutchinson explaining to students that for the remainder of the fall semester would be completely conducted virtually. This...

Resorting to kitchen basics in trying times

Erin Holve, Staff Writer
May 10, 2020

Frustration is rampant in the kitchen. The Facebook video made it look so easy to bake bread. Follow a few quick instructions and voila, you’re a baker. Instead, my mother is in a panic, hands...

Fearing for my father’s life

Erin Holve
April 29, 2020

A forced breath in, the rise of a chest in an almost disturbing and unnatural cadence, then a forced breath out. A helpful yet utterly haunting precession of air forced into a body that can’t do it...

Teachers profit behind closed doors

Erin Holve, Staff Writer
March 12, 2020

The recent investigation into Professor Curtis Deberg’s alleged mishandling of funding made me consider what other conflicts of interest professors may have concerning students. One such possible conflict...

Am I a Feminist? Feminism, It’s More Complex Than You Think

Erin Holve, Staff Writer
March 6, 2020

For many years I struggled with calling myself a feminist. I lacked all confidence in myself. Feminists were these mythical creatures filled with all the conviction and power their gender offered...

Battling My Anxiety

Erin Holve, Staff Writer
March 5, 2020

Heaving chest, desperate for lungfuls of air. Words jumbled like a child with a mouth full of marbles. Fat tears cascading down a face stuck in a grimace of pent up anxiety. Breathe, take air in and...

Erasing the taboos around masturbation

Erin Holve, Staff Writer
February 26, 2020

It’s the fifth grade. I’m in Ms. Solferino’s class and I am fidgeting in my assigned seat. My stretchy pants, more than I’d like to admit, were pulled up too high. A perpetual state of camel toe. To...

Disparities in Gender Courses

Erin Holve
February 19, 2020

Last semester, I was enrolled in a class where students sat in a circle facing each other and would have open discussions. I loved this class, but it lacked one dynamic: diversity. I was sitting...

It’s Complicated, Go Vote

Erin Holve
February 5, 2020

When I turned 18, my first election was in 2008. I was ecstatic to be voting in an election that would potentially elect the first black president in US history. I felt so hopeful about the future and...

Times Are Changing, So Should Your Educational Institution

Erin Holve
February 4, 2020

At the age of 30 I entered my first four-year college course. I lived most of my 20s as the working poor. I went to dig myself out of economic poverty, but there was one little problem. How am I supposed...

Not Anymore, Not Working

Erin Holve
February 4, 2020

We’ve all done it, signed into Blackboard, and seen the “Not Anymore” training required to start classes and you say, “Oh god, not this again!” Then you think what a horrible way to think...