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Spring 2013 Issue 8
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Students are all too familiar with the sting of being rejected from an overcrowded class and the hopelessness of signing up for yet another wait list.
Those days of despair may soon be in the past when the California Senate introduces a bill that would require public colleges and universities to grant credit for online courses taken through outside vendors.
The legislation that will be introduced Wednesday, March 20, comes as part of an effort to expedite the graduation process.
However, the bill has been met by strong disapproval from faculty members who feel that the state should not mandate what qualifies as appropriate coursework toward a degree.
The concern is that such legislation would possibly undermine the articulation process, by which courses and curriculum are approved by expert faculty in all the various disciplines offered at UCs, CSUs and community colleges.
"The real challenge will be to make sure that our faculty and faculty senate get a good look at
SURROU- nded by a city cloaked in ecolog-ical friendliness, a group of students at SF State are doing their best to force the Univer-
sity to align its investments with the principles of the community.
Calling themselves San Fran-cisco State Fossil Free, a group of twenty or so students are determined to pass a referendum forcing the University to pull its money from any fossil fuel related investments.
The group has established two main goals this semester: to pass a resolution in accordance with Associated Student Inc., the group that oversees student affairs, and receive a response from University administration.
The resolution calls for the Uni-
versity to halt any pending or future investments in fossil fuels, and to divest from any existing funds with-in the next five years. Despite their differing backgrounds, these stu-dents are united by a common cause; that the University should not invest its endowment funds in socially and environmentally irresponsible com-panies, particularly those that make their profits from fossil fuels.
Student efforts parallel a city-wide movement spearheaded by Supervisor John Avalos, who recent-ly proposed legislation for the city of San Francisco to divest from its fossil fuel related endowments.
“We should put our investment power into companies that have a positive effect on our society,” Avalos said.
SF State Fossil Free shares this point of view.
“A university, especially one of
public standing, should be a place for new innovative ideas which will empower all for generations to come,” environmental studies major, Michael Zambrano, said. “We are now moving into a state where fossil fuels are no longer practical.”
SF State students are calling for divestment from companies that deal in fossil fuels, calling them unsus-tainable and unethical investments.
An endowment is a school’s savings account that accumulates through returns from investments and alumni donations. Investments are managed by both the California State University Board of Trustees and the University.
SF State’s endowment sits at around $50 million in bonds, a result of the returns from various invest-ments.
UNDER THE COUNTER: The prescription drug Strattera is commonly used to treat ADHD and has effects similar to Adderall or Ritalin. Students often use these drugs for late night studying or essay writing. Photo by Maggie Rose Ortins/ Special to Xpress
GOLDEN GATE XPRESS STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER PROUDLY SERVING THE SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1927. 03.20.13 VOLUME LXXXXVI
ISSUE 8// //
WITH MIDTERMS AP- proaching, students are advised to study hard and be prepared. “Paul” takes this advice to the extreme. The 21-year-old political science major started stocking up on amphetamine pills weeks in advance. He said the drugs help him stay up late to study and write papers.
“Adderall will make a ten-page paper like three hours shorter,” the student, who wanted to be known only as “Paul,” fearing for his reputation, said. Adder-all is a name-brand, am-phetamine-like drug often prescribed to people with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Defi-cit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Paul doesn’t have an attention disorder, nor a legiti-mate prescription, but this doesn’t matter.
“It’s all in who you know,” Paul said. “And I know a
few people who constantly have it.”He buys his drugs here at school. Recently, Paul ar-
rived on campus hours before class to buy a couple 20-mil-ligram pills of Adderall, for $5 a pop.
Paul isn’t the only college student to use stimulants to help get his school work done. It’s increasingly common among students, not only at SF State, but colleges nation-wide. But it’s not the most widely used drug. Those slots are reserved for alcohol and marijuana.
While SF State is its own microcosm when it comes to drug use, getting accurate data is tricky. A look at certain drug trends found in the city reveals a larger picture with some similarities.
Alcohol is the drug of choice for both the city and cam-pus. It was the number one factor for admittance into Bay Area drug treatment centers and city emergency rooms, according to recent data compiled by Dr. Alice Gleghorn, the county's alcohol and drug administrator.
Alcohol abuse is estimated to cost the U.S. $235 billion annually in crime, health care and lost work productivity, according to data collected by the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
“Some of the drug trends seen in San Francisco may reflect what you see here at SF state, but to a lesser degree,” Michael Ritter, program director of Creating
High at SF State: Trends of drug users
Drug use trends in San Francisco mirror some of those found at SF State, with
alcohol and marijuana top-
ping the list
BY BRIAN RINKER | [email protected]
BY NICK CICCETTI | [email protected]
SEE ANXIETY ON PAGE 4
SEE FOSSIL ON PAGE 2SEE ONLINE ON PAGE 11
Students advocate for ‘green’ money
Online bill met with faculty criticism
San Francisco is said to be one of the greenest cities, a campus group wants to
help SF State follow suit
BY JONATHAN RAMOS | [email protected]
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG C A M P U S 03.20.132 |
SF STATE SPEAKS OUT
ALYSSA RUSIN, 19 INTERIOR DESIGN MAJOR
Hopefully for volleyball or raising the most funds for
the school. I feel that raising funds for the school is a
must.
WHY WOULD YOU BE INDUCT-ED INTO THE SF STATE HALL OF
FAME?
Photos by: Virginia Tieman Reporting by: Jonathan Ramos
OSCAR VILLAGRANA, 26 MUSIC MAJOR
It would probably be for or-chestral composition. I write a lot of music and it sounds
really pretty.
RABIAH HARRISON, 30 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
MAJORHopefully for my research
work in zinc oxide nanoparticle thin films. Hopefully it’ll lead to a
breakthrough that I’ll be remembered for.
FRANCES DELGADILLO, 21 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
MAJORFor procrastinating and
leaving everything to the last minute but still accomplish-
ing everything I need.
International studentof the week
“What’s unclear is how our money is allocated within each of these funds,” environmental sustainability and social justice major, Brittany Giunchigliani, said. “Our school does not invest directly in a company through stocks, but rather our endowments are invested in funds that distribute the money in various bonds, thus creating a complex paper trail of our actual investments."
The group has verified that at least one of the funds in the SF State Foundation possesses a fossil fuel-related investment.
Collectively, colleges and universities nationwide possess over $400 billion in their endowments, and divesting would not only shake up financial markets but reveal, as the movement says, the irresponsibility of these companies.
More than 256 colleges and universities have divestment campaigns, three of which have already successfully divested from their fossil fuel related funds: Unity Col-lege in Maine, Sterling College in Vermont, and Hampshire College in Massachusetts. More locally, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego have passed student government resolutions and are now working towards referendums.
The views of SF State Fossil Free come into conflict with the mission of the two groups that invest university money — the CSU system and the San Francisco State
University Corporation — since their main objective is to make the most money from its investments.
And fossil fuels undoubtedly bring in the bucks. A study by Climate Progress shows that the top five oil companies made $137 billion in profit, or $375 million per day, just last year.
The University Corporation, also known as SF State Alternative Investments, is guided by two main principles: that “the corporation shall exercise ethical and social stewardship in its investment policy,” and that “the corporation shall exercise respon-sible financial stewardship over its financial resources.”
Equally significant is the SF State Foun-dation policy, which is “to provide each campus president the greatest flexibility to maximize investment opportunities.”
While presidents must act accordingly as agents of the trustees and avoid any unnecessary risk, they have discretionary power to direct funding where they deem appropriate.
While the CSU Board of Trustees' concern is about losing money, the cam-paign’s request — a verbal commitment to halt any new investments in fossil fuels followed by a gradual process of reinvest-ment over a five year plan — is “low risk considering scholarships and tuition are not affected by the endowment,” 350.org west
coast organizer, Deirdre Smith, said. "In fact, if anything, this move would boost the school's reputation."
The first goal of SF State Fossil Free is to pass its own student resolution, support-ed by ASI. Despite the complexity of the funds and the particularities of working within the public school system, the move-ment is progressing fast.
“The dependency on fossil fuels has shifted from a commodity to a necessity in record time,” Zambrano said at the most recent group meeting. “Although this may contribute to maximum monetary gain in the short term, it fails to acknowledge the very future of humans as a species. Soon oil will run out, especially cheap oil.”
As of now, the group awaits a post-spring break meeting with ASI where they’ll find out if the student government will pass a resolution. In the meantime, SF State Fossil Free plans to continue mak-ing its presence known around campus, especially considering the multitude of environmental events on campus during the month of April.
“If we invest money into the fossil fuel industry, we are investing in the mass extinction of organisms worldwide without bias to humans," Zambrano said. "Profit should be about the sustainability of rela-tive equality and not about another comma and a zero.”
CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE
Fossil fuels reap large financial benefits
PHOTO OF THE WEEK:The Golden Gate Xpress will feature a photo every week in print and online from SF State students —
and it could be yours!
email your photos: [email protected]
Orianna Trau jokes with another student while studying the bone structure in an anatomy course at SF State. Photo by Dariel Medina / Special to Xpress
Name: Mitzi Chavez Age: 19
Major: Social WorkFrom: Autlan de Navarro Jalisco, Mexico
First thing you noticed about the U.S.: I moved here at a young age and all I remember is the diversity of
people around me. I wasn't used to seeing that before. Thing you miss most about home: I miss having fam-ily connections. I don't have any extended family here. It's more liberal, there are less safety precautions and I
miss the security of the town. Biggest difference between here and home: The life-style and value system are different. Here everything
is about materialism and back home family values are much more important. Here we make money to spend
it and back home we make money to enjoy it. Future plans: Ultimately I want to decrease the num-
ber of people in the prison system.
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG 03.20.13| 3C A M P U S
BY MAEGAN TINGLING | [email protected]
Greek council proposes new framework
After failed efforts of creating a sense of unity, the
Fraternity Sorority Council may change its structure
THE FRATERNITY Sorority Council, the sole governing council over all members of Greek-lettered or-ganizations, has been proposed by the Greek community to be reconstructed into a president's council.
There have been attempts in previous years to restructure the FSC, but they were never approved due to a lack of input from students. If approved, presidents of each Greek organization and nation-al councils, such as the InterFraternity Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council and National Panhellenic Conference, will attend meetings once a month to discuss judicial affairs and expansion within the Greek community.
This would reconstruct the current council into a council made up of only presidents, as opposed to a governing body with two different representatives from each organization.
"Based on student interest, the Student Involve-ment and Career Center is exploring the possibility of how the University recognizes and works with various councils in the fraternity and sorority com-munity," director of SICC, Sarah Bauer, said. "This could mean University recognition of councils in addition to the FSC."
FSC serves as a council that unites all Greek organizations on campus through social and com-munity service events, and maintains the image of Greek life and conduct. It was implemented back in 1985 in order to bring Greek life back onto campus.
"Back in the early 80s, Greeks were stigma-
tized as 'too wild,'" Luke Doylemason, brother of Pi Kappa Phi and president of IFC, said. "Greek life was only allowed back on campus under the condition of implementing the FSC."
FSC is the only council recognized by the SICC, while others are still working toward be-coming recognized, but must be approved by the SICC and abide by the same requirements when founding an organization.
"If (the proposal) goes through, getting official-ly recognized will be IFC's number one priority," Doylemason said.
One crucial issue with the FSC is lack of stu-dent involvement within the organization.
"(FSC) is lacking involvement from all its mem-bers and since we all have different goals or differ-ent ways of doing things, it becomes difficult for all of us to come together as one," Ashlee Homen, president of FSC and sister of Beta Phi, said.
A recent SF State cinema graduate, Jason Za-valeta, is the founder of the co-ed cinema fraternity Delta Kappa Alpha, and a founding father of the national social fraternity Alpha Sigma Phi, Zeta Lambda chapter. Since joining the Greek commu-nity in 2010, he has been part of discussions to restructure FSC.
"The current (FSC) structure attempts to unite all Greeks in certain events, while not all organi-zations' missions or activities coincide with that of the FSC as a separate entity," Zavaleta said. "DKA's goals are strictly professional, aimed to develop the next generation of the film industry while Alpha Sig, a social as well as a national organization, is all about connecting with other organizations and the community."
Although recognizing existing councils can benefit organizations in the long run, it can be difficult to receive the same benefits if it is not recognized.
"When it comes to joint events, it will be easier for groups of organizations to get funding, permits, etc," Zavaleta said. "If Greeks are only represent-ed by FSC, the fiscal and collaborative events are more difficult and limited and means more work for ASI to distribute funds and more work for the Greek councils to plan group events, etc."
Members of several Greek organizations, especially national ones, are also required to attend council meetings within their organization, which often coincide with the biweekly FSC meetings.
"It's hard to balance attending FSC meetings when we are required to attend other council meet-ings too," president of Alpha Phi, Alyssa Ortega, said. "Our organization plans a semester ahead, and we want all of our members involved in other activities as well."
Goals for the remainder of the semester and succeeding terms include promoting Greek life on campus and maximizing involvement within the Greek community.
"Recognizing separate councils can help raise awareness of each Greek organization and less-en the intimidation of local organizations versus national ones," Ortega said.
If approved, the new council structure can go into effect as early as the Summer or Fall semester.
"The council should serve as the exemplary status of the Greek community as a whole and a way to show SF State's commitment to responsible and conscientious Greeks," Zavaleta said.
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG C I T Y 03.20.134 |
ANXIETY STEMS FROM MARIJUANA TREND CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE
Hospitalizations due to alcohol and marijuana re-lated symptoms increased
dramatically between 2004 and 2010
SF Hospitals record rise
in drug related ER
visits
2004
3,000
3,500
4,000
4,500
5,000
5,500
6,000
6,500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
MARIJUANA
ALCOHOL
Source: San Francisco Department of Public Health
3,689
1,166
4,786
4,430
1,629
2,049
1,5491,566
2,179
2,947
4,569
4,891
6,310
5,280
BLUNTED: A “lean” blunt (a cigar filled with marijuana that has been dipped in liquid hydrocodone) is becoming easier to obtain by students and is a novelty way to become intoxicated. Photo by Maggie Rose Ortins/ Special to Xpress
Number of hopsital visits
Years
Empowerment through Alcohol and Substance Abuse Education, known as CEASE, said. He said that alcohol, marijuana and amphetamines, like Adderall, would be more prevalent on college campuses. “Crack and heroin — not so much,” Ritter added.
For SF State, alcohol was the most popular substance. Almost 80 percent of students said they had consumed alcohol in the last 30 days, according to a 2009 online drug and alcohol survey, called Core. Due to school budget con-straints, more recent data is unavailable.
The access to drugs can play as an important factor in its abuse. Alcohol is legal. Marijuana is partially legal and, well, this is San Francisco.
Marijuana was the one of the most common drugs seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration in the Bay Area, second only to methamphetamine.
The potency of marijuana is stronger than ever. This could explain why marijuana-related trips to local emergency rooms have increased more than 150 percent, according to Drug Abuse Warning Network, known for short as DAWN.
“Marijuana can make some people freak out,” said Karla Castillo, a CEASE counselor. “And when your heart is beating faster and you’re paranoid, where do you go — the ER.”
Courtney, a 25-year-old graduate student, went to the emergency room once after smoking weed.
“I had a panic attack partly induced by smoking weed,” said Courtney, who wanted her last name to be private. Having smoked heavily for six years, she decided to cut back. “I think weed was fueling a lot of my anxiety and paranoia.”
Anxiety and stress are synonymous with college life.The stress of college can greatly affect those diag-
nosed with ADD or ADHD, Ritter said, explaining an important reason as to why amphetamines are more common on college campuses. He added that the focus needed to do well in school is much greater than other
exploits.Ritter said he thinks most amphetamines on campus
come from students with prescriptions.“They’re prescribed to someone and their friends
benefit,” Ritter said.Nationwide, amphetamines are the only illicit drug
to have a higher rate of use among college students than non-college students, according to a 2011 study by the University of Michigan.
While prescription amphetamine-like drugs remain more popular in colleges than reflected in the city, prescription opiates are the opposite, with higher abuse rates in the city than seen at school.
Some students did admit to smoking blunts, mar-ijuana filled cigars, coated in codeine. But the added effects of the narcotic are debatable. Plus, codeine is a low-level narcotic. The prescription narcotic to worry about is oxycodone, which caused lethal overdoses that killed 63 people in the city in the last two years. Emer-gency room visits have increased a staggering 528 per-cent since 2004, thanks to oxycodone, according to data presented by Gleghorn.
Students and drug counselors both said they don’t see much prescription pain medication abuse, which could either mean that students don’t abuse them often, or that users are less likely to seek help.
At one time, drugs and death were common for Julie, a 22-year-old liberal studies major.
During high school, Julie took ecstasy every day. Then on her high school graduation day, Julie’s friend and drug dealer died from a lethal mixture of oxycodone and other drugs. Before that, two other friends fatally overdosed during a rave after taking ecstasy that came
from a bad batch.Julie was going to go with them. She wanted to sell
drugs at the rave, but when the deal never materialized, she decided not to go.
“I was supposed to do it with them and die,” Julie, who asked that her last name not be used, said.
But when her dealer died, so did her access to drugs. She used the circumstances as a spring board to better her own life. Julie wants to be a youth counselor, and said that
if she can help
just one kid — it will all be worth it.
WARNING: THIS CON- tent contains material that may not be suitable for those who have an addiction to cigarettes, but those who care about the environment should keep reading. Ac-cordingly, the author insists
that no one attempt to read this information if he or she is not in for a serious reality check.
Disposing of cigarette butts is equivalent to throwing a piece of trash on the ground. Some cigarette smokers don’t think twice when they throw their cigarette butts on the ground and press their heel into the concrete.
San Francisco, although one of the greenest cities, has one of the highest proportion of smokers. Roughly 13 percent of residents are smokers, according to a report by the California Department of Public Health. In compar-ison, about 10 percent of the population of Los Angeles and 11 percent of San Diego are smokers.
Currently, San Francisco adds a 20 cent tax to each pack of cigarettes sold to cover the $11 million the city spends annually to remove cigarette litter.
If you haven’t noticed, there are a lot of people who smoke in designated smoking areas (DSAs) near campus. DSAs are littered with cigarette butts on the ground, in bushes, on curbs, in the cracks of the sidewalk and just about every other place a piece of litter could find its way into.
This needs to come to an end, Mother Nature is prac-tically begging for it to stop.
According to the Cigarette Butt Pollution Project (CBPP), San Diego State University public health re-searcher Richard Gersberg studied the effect of cigarette butts on marine life and found that "chemicals from just one filtered cigarette butt had the ability to kill half the fish living in a one-liter container of water." The cigarette filters, made of cellulose-acetate, a toxic plastic, are not biodegradable.
There are approximately 600 additives that are found in cigarettes and when burned, they create more than 4,000 chemicals. At least 50 of these are poisonous, according to the American Lung Association. These chemicals include lighter fluid, methane, arsenic, caldar-ium, ammonia, menthol and more.
These toxic cigarette butts find their way into sewers,
oceans and streams through runoff or sometimes they are thrown into the ocean. Either way, the butts that aren't properly disposed of find their way into one of our most precious resources: water.
The study used three types of cigarette butts: smoked filtered cigarettes without tobacco, smoked filtered cig-arettes with tobacco and clean unsmoked filtered ciga-rettes. All cases showed that half of the fish were killed with a low concentration of cigarette butts.
According to the SF State website, ashtrays were supposed to be installed at DSAs as part of the smoke-free campus policy in 2004 in order to ensure fire safety and prevent litter outside of campus-owned and leased buildings.
The problem is that putting ashtrays where you want people to smoke does not necessarily mean that they'll smoke there.
"There is anecdotal evidence that adding ashtrays, along with a public education program about the environmental harm caused by ground littering of butts, does result in some reduction of the ground littering," Richard L. Barnes, of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, said.
Manufacturers need to create new products that are healthy for the environment. One company is doing just that. According to their website, Reynolds American Inc., the nation’s second largest cigarette maker, is developing a biodegradable cigarette. The CBPP thinks that something is needed to move the responsibility for the waste from taxpayers to tobacco product manufacturers.
It may be time to set a recycle program in motion. In July 2012, TerraCycle provided free UPS shipping labels so people could mail in their collected butts. An unnamed American tobacco company handled the bill while the butts were recycled into plastic pallets for industrial use.
"This model incentivizes cleanup, collection, and recycling," Barnes said. "The challenge is to bring it up to a scale that can handle the billions of butts disposed of improperly every year in the US and to adequately incentivize consumers to participate."
According to the U.S. De-partment of Agriculture, global tobacco consumption has more than doubled in the past 30 years and cigarette production is at a record high. Go ahead and spark up that cigarette with your morn-ing coffee or after that rough eight hour shift, just remember that your trash isn't the environ-ment's treasure.
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG 03.20.13| 5
When Elissa Torres isn’t rescuing wounded marine mammals or
hugging trees, the environmental studies minor spends her time
writing this column.It’s based on equal parts opinion,
statistics and life experiences. If you don’t like it, read and recycle.
A WEEKLY ENVIRONMENTAL COLUMN BY ELISSA [email protected]
Smokers: Keep your
butts off the streets
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG A R T S A N D E N T E R T A I N M E N T 03.20.136 |
HUNDREDS OF ALUMNI and guests, including SF State State graduate and senior editor for Rolling Stone, Ben Fong-Torres, gathered in their swankiest attire to watch the newest alumni get inducted into the coveted SF State Hall
of Fame, March 15.The SF State Alumni Association created the Alumni
Hall of Fame in 1994 to celebrate outstanding gradu-ates who have achieved great accomplishments in their field of work, and this year's class of inductees was no exception.
For Fong-Torres, the Hall of Fame is personally special because it can be utilized as a positive example for present day students to see what they are capable of achieving.
“The Alumni Hall of Fame is nice to have, not so much for the inductees as much as to build a wall of potential role models, of inspiration to current students,” Fong-Torres said. “We can't all be in the Hall of Fame, but we can do good work, and with that will come some recognition, ranging from a pat on the back or a raise to having your photo on a wall at SF State.”
Honorees have a plaque with their face on it in the administration building for the student body to see forever.
Since 1994, the Hall of Fame inductees have received honors such as Pulitzer Prizes, Golden Globes, Academy Awards, Grammys and Lifetime Achievement Awards; but being inducted into the Hall of Fame is an honor that has additional meaning to them.
“It’s more of a personal thing; I find some pride in it because it’s my alma mater," Lisa Cholodenko said. “It has a personal reso-nance. It brings me to a full circle with my young life when I was getting my foot in the door. I like the whole connection.”
Cholodenko graduated from SF State in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in interdisci-plinary studies, and is best known for writing and directing the four-time Oscar nominated film, “The Kids are All Right.” The movie follows a lesbian couple whose two children, conceived through artificial insemination, decide they want to contact their sperm do-nor, in turn, creating obstacles for the family dynamic.
Computer science major Naimah Mumin, 22, was surprised to learn that Choloden-ko was a graduate from SF State, but was ultimately proud to hear that she attended the same school as a talented director.
“I overall enjoyed the movie. I’m always down for a lesbian movie put together by les-bians,” Mumin said. “I did not know she was an alum, and I think she’s a great director. I think it’s cool that someone related to the school is doing amazing things and it makes
me proud that she’s an alum.”As prestigious and successful as this year’s alumni
recipients seem to us, some of them were shocked to hear that they were being honored by the University.
Cholodenko was initially in disbelief when she received word that she was selected as one of this year’s Hall of Fame inductees.
“I think I was doing a little head scratching when I first found out. I did not know, I thought it was for peo-ple who were older and more accomplished,” Choloden-ko said. “I thought it was a nice thing but I was a little confused. Like, why me? I thought well okay, they must like you. I’ll take it.”
When the Hall of Fame alumni attended SF State, they were not concerned with overachieving. They were just average students who were trying to make the most of their college experience.
Deaf theater artist, Bernard Bragg, graduated from SF State in 1959 with a master’s degree in special education, and is most known for his art work in deaf theater and popularizing miming in the U.S. He recalled his days at SF State and how significant it was to shaping his younger years.
“Back in that day, interpreters weren’t in class and I relied on note takers. I remember there was a young pret-
ty girl, and she was happy to take notes for me during lecture, and in a different class another friend took notes for me. I got to learn from different points of views,” Bragg said. “San Francisco State, it was all about build-ing relationships, camaraderie and close friendships. My classmates — we studied together and it wasn’t just in the classroom, we’d go eat, go to the bars, parties. It was an important part to my young age.”
While at SF State, Al Martinez, a Pulitzer Prize-win-ning journalist for his coverage on the 1993 L.A. riots, had a three-part major consisting of political science, criminology and history. He has been a natural-born writ-er since the age of 12, and wanted to gain knowledge to enhance his writing. But it was his three years writing for the SF State newspaper, the Golden Gator, from 1947 to 1950 that he will never forget.
“I remember in my third year I was nominated to be the editor. I was running against a very capable guy named Bob Donavan and I won. But the summer of that year I was called up by the Marine Corps to go to Korea. I was in the Marine reserves,” Martinez said. “It was my duty to go and carry out that commitment. So I was an editor for only one edition and I turned it over to Bob Donavan. But in the end I achieved the position. While I was in Korea, I wrote about what we did, the conditions, and the terrible tragedies of war. They printed everything I sent.”
New inductee, Judy Marcus, graduated in 1962 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and is best known for her 30 years of leadership with local nonprofit organizations, including her position as President of the Board of the Community Services Agency. She described
her fondest time as a student at SF State.“I think my biggest memory would be as
a senior. I was sent to channel five to help do a show that would be on TV every morning from 6:50 to 7 a.m.,” Marcus said. “I was going to be the person doing an exercise every day to start the program, and many of the elementary and high schools would be previewing their P.E. program in a ten minute segment. This was during President Kenne-dy's physical fitness push and everyone was trying to stay in shape. We ended up doing 72 shows. It was great fun.”
This year’s Hall of Fame recipients stressed that part of their present day success-es came from their adventurous years at SF State. They want students right now to know that college years are the time to explore your options and figure out what you’re meant to do.
“Follow your passions and follow what you love, even if it isn’t in your practical pursuit. Don’t be concerned to get a job, or a degree,” Cholodenko said. “But use your time as undergrad to explore what you love. Like me, sometimes it’s not an obvious choice. But I think my openness to find myself was truly invaluable.”
Hall of Fame welcomes new inductees
The SF State Alumni Associa-tion inducted four alumni, all
involved in the arts, into the Hall of Fame March 15
BY LOVELIE FAUSTINO | [email protected]
CELEBRATION: President Wong laughs with his wife Phyllis Wong (left) at San Francisco State University’s Alumni Hall of Fame dinner at the Julia Morgan Ballroom. Photo by Erica Marquez
INDUCTED: Deaf theatre artist Bernard Bragg gives a speech after being inducted into San Francis-co State University’s Alumni Hall of Fame. Photo by Erica Marquez
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG 03.20.13| 7A R T S A N D E N T E R T A I N M E N T
BY KRISTEN MARTZ | [email protected]
Bridge becomes canvas for massive light sculpture
REFLECTION: A crowd gathers on Pier 14 to enjoy the bay bridge’s new art installation, City Lights. Photo by Saman-tha Benedict
BILLED AS THE LARGEST light sculpture in the world, The Bay Lights was officially illumi-nated over the San Francisco Bay two weeks ago, bringing a bright new addition to the city’s skyline.
The massive 1.8-mile long, 500-feet high art display includes
an impressive 25,000 LED lights and 100,000 feet of cable.
Set to run every night from dusk to 2 a.m. for the next two years, Illuminate the Arts intends for the sculpture to become a brilliant cultural beacon of San Francisco.
“By creating a piece of contemporary, epic public art on a piece of infrastructure of the magnitude and impor-tance of the Bay Bridge, we are demonstrating to any one who sees it in person or via social, online or other media that the impossible really is possible and that art matters,” Amy Critchett, executive director of Illuminate the Arts and executive producer of The Bay Lights, said.
According to their mission statement, Illuminate the Arts is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the creation and presentation of community-activating public art, by providing innovative art programs that inspire involve-ment and collaboration.
Illuminate the Arts is not new to the world of big and bold art. While working on The Bay Lights project, they also completed the “Pi in the Sky” art installation late in 2012, in which five skywriting planes drew the first 1,000 digits of pi’s infinite sequence in the skies above the San Francisco Bay Area.
Inspired by its 75th anniversary, Illuminate the Arts chairman Ben Davis wanted to successfully commem-orate the hardworking and often under-looked Bay
Bridge with a similar large-scale art piece. Though the Bay Bridge carries more than 250,000 cars a day, it is often overshadowed by its brilliantly painted sibling, the Golden Gate Bridge.
According to Critchett, Davis was inspired by artist Leo Villareal after discovering his exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Art in 2010 and contacted him to work on the Bay Lights project.
“Villareal was immediately intrigued by the magni-tude of the Bay Bridge and the endless possibilities for a fine art piece that millions could enjoy,” Critchett said.
Internationally-acclaimed light artist Villareal viewed the Bay Bridge as his canvas, synthesizing patterns from elements of the San Francisco Bay environment (includ-ing traffic, waves and wind) to complete his vision.
“I thought 'This is my fantasy project. When can we start?’” Villareal said. "I found endless inspiration in my surroundings — all of the elements that create motion and sound. I created patterns that reflect my interpreta-tion of the wind and weather, traffic patterns and waves around the Bay Bridge.”
Villareal programmed each of the 25,000 lights indi-vidually to create a non-repetitive brilliant display across the west span of the Bay Bridge until March 2015.
The project began in August 2012 when Illuminate the Arts was awarded permits to install from Caltrans. Then for six months, starting in September 2012, a crew of eight to 10 electricians from Bleyco Inc. worked five days a week from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. to install the sculpture.
The $8 million project is 100 percent privately funded and uses energy efficient techniques to illuminate the LEDs for about $4.25 per hour, totaling around $11,000 in energy costs each year. The installation is powered com-pletely by offsite solar generated at the CleanPath-owned
PVUSA shared solar farm in Davis, Calif.Eight times the scale of the Eiffel Tower’s 100th anni-
versary lighting, Illuminate the Arts expects the Bay Lights to impact well over 50 million people and bring in at least $97 million to the local economy in tourism dollars.
"Since this 25000-LED light on the SF-Oakland Bridge is one of a kind, it will attract more visitors from around the world, from within the country, and even from outside San Francisco. People will frequent to the local restaurants to get a glimpse of those lights. Thus, economy will get a boost through tourism, through more visitors to the local areas malls and restaurants," eco-nomics department chair Sudip Chattopadhyay said.
“The Bay Lights, like any attraction, will bring tour-ists to San Francisco. More tourists mean more money into the city’s economy and more money spent in local and small businesses,” hospitality and tourism manage-ment major Devan Lane said. “I’m really excited to see more of the city get the spotlight it deserves.”
Lane isn’t alone, as early public response to the proj-ect has been enthusiastic and locals have already begun to get attached to the lights. The internet and social me-dia have been buzzing with various photos and statuses about the new addition.
“The Bay Lights has garnered an incredible out-pouring of generosity and support. San Francisco is a very special community that really embraced this idea,” Villareal said.
Similar to a “Buy a Star” program, there is a “Gift of Light” program to support the project in which you can commemorate a friend or relative or celebrate a special occasion by purchasing a light or series of lights.
Still $2 million short in finishing funds, Illuminate the Arts urges people to support the project in any way.
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You can’t do anything without being categorized. If you listen to a certain type of music, wear various clothing articles, enjoy artsy fartsy films or drink your coffee black, it is inevitable that someone out there is go-ing to place you in a social category.
Apparently, for the past few years of my existence, I have been labeled the recent-ly popularized, “hipster.” I don’t know or understand how I became a hipster. I didn’t go to a special initiation ceremony, I didn’t pledge, carve my name in blood on a piece of wood or perform any tabooed sexual favors. People at my work call me their “hipster co-worker” and apparently, all my friends think I’m a hipster.
A hipster refers to a subculture of young, recently settled urban middle class adults and older teenagers who associate with indepen-dent music, non-mainstream fashion, liberal or independent political views and alternative spirituality such as atheism or agnosticism. According to the rest of the world, my phys-ical appearance and tastes in film, music or whatever, puts me in the hipster sub-category.
Urban Dictionary defines it as, “Defini-tions are too mainstream. Hipsters can't be defined because then they'd fit in a category, and thus be too mainstream.”
There is nothing more hipster than com-plaining about being stigmatized or com-plaining about being labeled a hipster. So, I’m going to break new ground and become the world’s first proud hipster whom embraces his title. In the words of John Candy, “I like me. My wife likes me.” I was so hipster, that I didn’t even realize it. So don’t let these defini-tions convince you, let my pride inspire other hipsters to come out of their vintage shells and not get their skinny jeans in a bunch.
Where clothing is concerned, my fashion taste stems from growing up with skateboard-ing. I wore beat up clothes (because I couldn’t afford real clothes), flannels and beanies be-cause that’s what I thought I had to do. Years down the line, baggy pants turned into skinny jeans and let’s be honest; I’m 6’1 and 160 pounds. If I wore baggy pants still, it would look like someone let the air out of my legs.
Eventually, my skater look transcended into the whole hipster look, so I am guilty. I recently had to ditch my contacts for glasses because of an eye gland problem, so of course no hipster package is complete without those specs that help me see. I have a homemade beanie to go with those glasses so come on world, label me because I know how to dress and appear like I don't care.
Now, when I was skateboarding as a young kid, there was no internet service to discover new music by. Any bands or music I grew to like, all came from my favorite skate videos. The first time I heard The Who was on Zero’s "Misled Youth." My punk taste in music led to searching for other punk bands, many of which are on independent labels and not too popular in the mainstream.
Aside from a few mainstream bands, most of my music, you haven’t heard of and dammit, I’m proud of it. Forgive me for believing that electronica and dub step are tools for exploiting people's stupidity, and sound like robot sex. I collect vinyls for no other reason than they are a delight; and CDs are cheaply manufactured circles that break within a week. Record companies can make millions off of them without having to put any real money into the creative process.
I could go on for days about how my idiosyncrasies technically make me a hipster to the world, but there is no point. In 10 years time, I will still like vinyls, skating, hockey, black coffee and Del Taco. I've learned not to fight the labels but just embrace them because, let's be honest, I'm going to have a new label in a few years that is reflective of the sub-culture at that time.
BY BRAD WILSON [email protected] Hipster comes out of the vintage closet
STAFF EDITORIAL
Keep SF State’s investments clean
ART BY KIRSTIE HARUTA [email protected]
AS THE national economy continues on the slow road to recovery ev-eryone is looking for a quick way to make a buck. Our Univer-sity is no different,
as it looks to make the best use of its money, investing in companies that will grant the biggest returns.
But when those investments conflict with the guiding principles that our University espouses, action needs to be taken. That ac-tion comes in the form of divestment.
Divestment is the removal of funds — in the form of stocks, bonds, and other investments — because of political, ethical or financial reasons.
Numerous governmental institutions announced divestments from weapons companies in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shootings. The purpose was to show that while investments need to produce good returns, they can do so without compromising the morals of those investing.
And that brings us to SF State, a government institution badly in need of every penny it can get its hands on, but also one that has a history of setting precedents on progressive causes.
The University was the first in the coun-try with a College of Ethnic Studies offering degrees in Latina/Latino, Africana, and Asian studies, and the first to offer a degree in international relations. If we are a university committed to progressive causes, equity and social justice, SF State will follow suit and prohibit the investment of university funds in
fossil fuels.According to the SF State Foundation’s
restricted investment policy, up to one quar-ter of SF State’s endowment assets could be invested in fossil fuels. SF State’s current endowment assets are roughly $49 million.
The SF State Foundation clearly prohibits investments in foreign bonds from coun-tries with regimes engaging in human rights abuses and direct investments in tobacco companies, though through a bit of a loop-
hole, it is allowed to invest in tobacco
companies in commingled, or combined funds. This soft attempt at solidarity against
tobacco companies fails to actually remove any and all funds from the tobacco industry.
Policy prohibiting investments in fossil fuels should not have any exceptions. SF State either bears the image of support and approval of exploitation of natural lands, non-renewable energy, global warming and the million other issues spurred by fossil fuels, or takes a firm stance against it.
We couldn’t help but notice the irony of a university that publicly encourages sustainability and social justice, but lacks an
unequivocal policy against invest-ments in fossil fuels. SF State’s
mission should transcend all sectors of the
University, from our curriculum
to our admin-istration, and even to the funds in which
our Univer-sity chooses to
invest.The SF State
Foundation’s auditor’s report only listed investments
as “corporate debt securities” or “equity securities” with no further explanation. This left us to ask: In whom, exactly, are we investing, and to what extent?
It is in SF State’s interest to be complete-ly transparent to its students and the greater public about its inner workings, especially where money is concerned.
With greater transparency and a stricter policy on divestment from fossil fuels, SF State will further align itself with San Francisco (which recently announced divestment from guns and fossil fuels), the city SF State is trying to forge greater connections with, and prove to students it is making attempts at a more com-municative and responsive relationship.
We love to hear about commitments to social justice and sustainability, but we need more than lip service. It's time for the Uni-versity to put its money where its mouth is.
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG 03.20.13| 9
We were cooking up black tar heroin at his place.It was early in my junkie career and I didn’t yet
know how to hit my vein with the needle. My friend was there to help. As he sucked up the hot black liquid with a syringe, I told him I wanted to do my half in two shots. He asked what for, why not slam it all at once? Why not, I thought. He slid the needle into my arm, my blood flooded in and he pushed the plunger.
A hot wave rushed through me. Nausea. I was so tired. The world closed in. I slid off the couch and everything went black.
The light slowly came back and I began to see. My friend was kneeling over me. He seemed frantic — almost foolish. I couldn’t hear anything, but I could see his silent screams.
I had overdosed. My friend said I turned blue and gurgled. My eyes were wide open. He sat on my chest and tried to slap me awake. He was afraid to call 911, and instead called his girlfriend. She came straight over. When she arrived, I was conscious and outside smoking a cigarette. My friend said he had other plans and left us. She took me home, and I spent the night lying awake in bed afraid to sleep.
My friend, like many drug addicts, didn’t want to
call 911 because he was afraid the police would ar-rive and arrest him for using illegal drugs. And they probably would have. I understood his reasoning, but I still selfishly felt my life was worth a minor drug charge. I also wrongly assumed that there might be legal protections for drug users who sought medical aid.
Only this year did the California “911 Good Samaritan Law” go into effect. The law means to encourage people to seek medical aid when they see someone overdose by providing legal protections against minor drug violations.
In many cases, there is no reason a person should die from an overdose, especially from opiates. For some time now, an opiate overdose antidote has been around called naloxone. In the city, the antidote is given out at needle exchanges in the form of a take-home nasal spray. It’s worked miracles. Before the
widespread use of naloxone, hundreds died every year from heroin-related overdoses in the city. From 2010 to early 2012, that number fell to just eight.
Back when I was a junkie, the antidote wasn't available yet at needle exchanges, but I knew that paramedics had it. I vowed to always seek aid. So years later when my junkie girlfriend overdosed after I shot her up with too much dope, I called 911 and performed CPR until the paramedics arrived. They revived her in minutes. Just as they were about to take her to the hospital, I reached into her purse and stole all her money. I sneaked off before the police could enter the apartment.
While she sat in the emergency room I called my dealer, went to score and shot up in the parking lot out front. She ended up getting a ticket for being under the influence of a controlled substance.
After that, my girlfriend continued to have mild overdoses, but I would just pump on her chest every five or ten minutes to make sure she was still breath-ing. I didn’t want to get a ticket, god forbid.
Thanks to the new “911 Good Samaritan” law and naloxone, people no longer need to be placed in the uncomfortable position of having to weigh some-one’s life against an arrest.
Journalism student Brian Rinker takes the ideals of full disclosure
and transparency to an exteme level when he reflects on his days as a
heroin junkie.
A WEEKLY COLUMN BY BRIAN [email protected]
Overdosing consequences: death or jail
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG S P O R T S 03.20.1310 |
S P O R T S S C H E D U L E
FRIDAY (3.22)
SF State vs. Sonoma State
University3 P.M.
(San Francisco, Calif.)
SOFTBALLSF State vs.
Humboldt State (DH)
1 and 3 P.M.(San Francisco,
Calif.)
SATURDAY (3.23)
BASEBALL
WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD
Johnny Mathis Invitational
9 A.M.(San Francisco,
Calif.)
BASEBALLSF State vs.
Sonoma State University (DH)
11 A.M. and 2 P.M.(Rohnert Park,
Calif.)
SUNDAY (3.24)
BASEBALLSF State vs.
Sonoma State University
11 A.M.(San Francisco,
Calif.)
PLAYERof the
WEEKKAYLIE BELK
WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD
Junior Kaylie Belk finished in first place in the 800-meter during the Hornet Invitational. Belk was up against 28 otherDivision I and Division II runners. She finished the race with a time of 2:13.54.
PHOTO BY TYLER DENISTON/SF STATE SPORTS
L
W
LMarch 17
SF State VS. Cal Poly Pomona
1-11
March 17SF State vs. Dominican
(Calif.)3-0
March 16Hornet
InvitationalSF State: Two
first-place finishes
March 17 SF State vs. Dominican
(Calif.) 1-3
BASEBALL WOMEN’STRACK & FIELD
SOFTBALL
S C O R E
B O A R D
SCORES FROM
THE LAST WEEK OF
GATOR SPORTS
SOFTBALLSF State vs.
Humboldt State (DH)
11 A.M. and 1 P.M.(San Francisco,
Calif.)
LMarch 16
SF State VS. Cal Poly Pomona
0-7
WMarch 16
SF State VS. Cal Poly Pomona
5-4
COMING THROUGH: SF State Gators’ Gabby Reta (11) stretches before stepping up to pinch hit for Kelsey Murakami in the bottom of the fifth inning during the second game against the Dominican University Penguins at SF State. Reta singled to left field. Photo by Gabriella Gamboa
CHANGING UP: SF State’s softball team (top) gathers together in between innings during the second game against Dominican University Penguins. TOUGH OUTING: SF State Gators’ Emily Gibson (9) pitches to Kayla Rodriguez (11) (bottom) during the second game against Dominican University Penguins. Photos by Gabriella Gamboa
Softball split
The SF State softball team won the first game of its doubleheader against the Dominican University Penguins, but couldn’t complete the sweep in Game 2.
Marisa Ibarra threw seven scoreless innings in Game 1, giving up just five hits and striking out seven in the Gators’ 3-0 victory. Catcher Kylie Grabowski drove in two of the Gators’ three runs. Ashley Huff also went 2-for-3 in the game.
In Game 2, SF State jumped in front 1-0 on a single by Lucy Fernandez. The Penguins responded with three unanswered runs
— two in the fourth inning and one in the seventh inning.
Grabowski was shut down in Game 2 — going 0-for-3. The Gators’ three and four hitters were a com-bined 0-for-6 at the plate.
Emily Gibson pitched seven innings with five strikeouts and gave up three runs on 10 hits.
Jennifer Lewis posted a multi-hit game with a 2-for-3 outing.
The Gators have won four of their last six games.
SF State’s next matchup is a doubleheader against Humboldt State Friday, March 22 in San Francisco.
BY DAN NELSON | [email protected]
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG 03.20.13| 11
these courses and really make sure that they fit within San Francisco State's ma-jors," SF State President Leslie E. Wong said.
The bill states that students will be given credit for faculty-approved online courses including those offered by free MOOC (massive open online courses) providers like Coursera and edX and other low-price companies like Straighterline.
Wong admits that the approval process for such courses still remains unclear, but that critical discussions regarding their quality are currently underway.
While he understands the faculty's concerns over the bill, Wong views the legislation as being no different than the process students go through when transfer-ring credits from other schools.
"Students have to transfer in course-work all the time," he said. "To think that online courses would be any different puzzles me."
Regardless, certain faculty members do see a difference and remain in opposi-tion to the bill.
According to associate professor of Asian American Studies and SF State chapter president of the California Faculty
Association, Wei Ming Dariotis, students will be the most affected in the long term by the bill that she views as a quick-fix solution to a much bigger problem.
"It's saying that somebody can basi-cally buy the certification of the education without possibly actually going through the process of being educated," Dariotis said.
Dariotis fears that the legislation will create problems with students not meeting certain prerequisites and that it interferes with the sense of community and self-growth that she believes is fostered only in the classroom.
Additionally, Dariotis is doubtful of the bill's proposed faculty participation.
"They're not interested in the facul-ty voices on this or we would've been consulted earlier in the process, but I think that they already knew what we would say, which is that we're the experts in pro-viding a quality education," Dariotis said.
Instead, Dariotis feels that a better solution would be if the state invests in hiring more tenured faculty and building more schools.
"There's no easy shortcut," Dariotis said. "I just wish that they would stop try-
ing to legislate those decisions that belong within the hands of faculty."
While faculty and administra-tors remain divided on the issue, students see the bill as a welcome solution to the burdens of over-crowded classes and delayed graduation.
"I can understand why teach-ers are concerned, but I know that as a student in California right now, a lot of us are having a hard time getting classes," hospitality and tourism major, Kiyo Tanji, 26, said.
It remains to be seen whether or not the legislation will alleviate the state's enrollment crisis or accelerate a student's graduation process, and while Wong remains optimistic of the bill's potential, he is weary of the precedent it could set.
"When you widen who is going to approve courses beyond the campus, that's a problem and public sentiment shouldn't deter-mine the quality of a program," he said.
CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE
Online courses may speed up graduation rate
“They’re not interested in the
faculty voices on this or we
would’ve been consulted earlier
in the process, but I think they
already knew what we would
say
Wei Ming Dariotis, Asian American Studies professor
This bill has receieved mixed reaction from faculty, with some concerned that third-party educators may be subpar
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG 03.20.1312 |
