INK Summer-Fall 2018

Ink

THE INQUIRER MAGAZINE SUMMER - FALL 2018

STUDENT COMICS & FICTION winners FROM DVC TO D1

A SPOTLIGHT ON POLICE REFORM

IT’S WHAT’S FOR DINNER

Five who made it

What’s changed and what remains the same

Meat production of the future

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THE INQUIRER MAGAZINE Editor-in-Chief Mahrukh Siddiqui

Managing Editor Isaac Norman

Assistant Editors

Letter from the staff Dear Reader,

Frank Guitron, Luis Lopez, Shannon Richey, Catherine Stites, Aaron Tolentino, Danny Yoeono

Reporting is strange. When looking for news, we often find our way into the dark, unpleasant nooks of our community. At the same time, bringing the truth to light is thrilling and reminds us of the worth of our work.

Staff members

But pursuing the truth can be difficult and learning how to do it well, is more difficult still. Knowing what questions to ask, verifying the veracity of sources and distilling all of the information so other people can understand what is happening takes skill, practice and time.

Chris Core, Courtney Donahoe, Jessica Gillis, Deandra Procassini, Casey Riggs, Camille Schwartz, Nicole Sims, Tyler Skolnick, Aidan Sparks, Halie Spol, Kamal Taj

Production Coordinator Julius Rea

Advisor Mary Mazzocco

Contact Us inquirer@dvc.edu @dvcinquirer www.facebook.com/dvcinquirer

This magazine represents the culmination of our growth as reporters this semester. We are privileged to feature three very talented students. We have recommendations for places to check out this summer. We also checked in with football players who transferred to Division I schools and profiled one of the best discus throwers in the nation, who hopes to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

We have always taken the responsibility of being journalists seriously. We hope we inform your lives, whether it is through something as simple as giving gym recommendations or as monumental as exploring the complexity of police reform.

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for wanting to know what is happening in our community and trusting us with the privilege of being the ones to tell you.

Sincerely, The Inquirer staff, spring 2018.

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The best concert venues near us What gym is right for you?

Transfer tips/The best book apps for the summer SF on a dime The end of a chapter: Jessica Barkesdale retires Rachel Westlake retires after 30 years at DVC Leading the charge for change Throwing the distance From DVC to Division I Future of meat Education in the face of automation The complexity of change in the SFPD Guns on campus won’t stop shootings (Opinion) “Eye of the Beholder” (Comic) “Colors” (Fiction) “A Monster’s Sweet Tooth” (Comic) Contributors

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THE BAY’S BEST CONCERT VENUES top five places for live music story and photos by Chris Core

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Shoreline Amphitheatre

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The

Mountain View

Regency Ballroom San Francisco

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Great American Music Hall San Francisco

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horeline Amphitheater is a must for any Bay Area venue list. Arguably the most popular venue for big named artists to visit to, there is no show you can’t see at the venue.

Everything from Post Malone to Blink-182, the venue gives concert goers a wide range of genres to watch. Not only does it give amazing solo headliners, it supplies amazing festivals as well.

The most notable festival at Shoreline is The Vans Warped Tour. In its final year in 2018, Warped Tour in the Bay has always been housed at Shoreline adding onto its impressive artist track record.

The venue itself might not be the most beautiful thing to look at, but it makes up for it with the lineups it presents.

Seats up close range in price from $80 and up with the lawn directly behind it on a slanted hill always being around $25. Free parking in a giant dirt lot added on to the fairly priced tickets in the area making Shoreline a great destination for the popular band lover.

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he Regency Ballroom was built in 1909. It has a 35-foot high ceiling featuring extravagant, turn-of-the-century chandeliers.

The Regency does not score as many points when it comes to grabbing big name artists, but it makes up for it with appearance and audience emersion.

The Regency is exactly as the title states, a ballroom. A giant floor full of band goers with a balcony seating others who do not wish to be down low with the rest of the attendees.

The major downside of the Regency and almost anything in San Francisco is parking. The Regency does not have its own garage and the closest is a few blocks down the street for a hefty price.

The best case is being one of the lucky few to find street parking but it’s a gamble and a hard bet to win. With tickets ranging between $25 to $45 it might be a gamble worth taking.

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he Great American Music Hall is the oldest nightclub in San Francisco. Built in 1907, it offers a medium-sized ballroom with a balcony overlooking a very small stage.

The size of the stage and venue gives atendees a new sense of immersion and where the Regency fails, in busy San Francisco, the Music Hall comes out on top.

A parking garage across the street supplies low cost, easily accessible parking making it a rare occurrence in San Francisco.

Easy parking and tickets going for only $20 to $40, the Great American Music Hall is a great contender for best venue in the area.

Bottom of the Hill (left), with band Moose Blood performing in San Francisco and Shoreline Ampitheatre, (below) during the Vans Warped Tour music festival in Mountain View.

Above photo courtesy of Samuel Stevens

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Bottom B of the

Hill

San Francisco

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ottom of the Hill is a venue that is quite literally a house redone for concerts.

You walk in through the front door, the kitchen is now a bar, the front living room is where the stage sits and the back living room is where merchandise is sold. This setup not only makes it so you have a unique feeling at the show but you feel as if you are basically on stage with the band.

On top of the unique feeling, Bottom of the Hill also offers the lowest ticket price out of all the venues listed with each show between $10 to $20.

With that being said, it also lacks the big name artists and is a place you solely go to for small garage bands. However, that does not take away from the amazing experience that you feel in the venue. With great parking arrangements, being located in the middle of nowhere in San Francisco, it is tough to say you can have an experience like this anywhere else.

Ace T of

Spades

Sacramento

he Ace of Spades gives by far the most well-rounded experience you can have at a music show.

Offering a medium-sized hall with plenty of bands from Ziggy Marley, SOB and Yellow Card, The Ace of Spades is the Bay’s best venue for almost everyone.

Located in downtown Sacramento, The Ace of Spades offers a parking garage and decently priced tickets, with most going for $25 to $40. The Ace of Spades offers the best of everything a concertgoer could ask for. Great shows in a great downtown location, it easily takes the top spot on the list.

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Finding the right gym for you Story and graphic by Halie Spol

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etween fitness groups, apps and membership meal plans, being in shape is all features a $29.99 initiation the rage right now. Being fit has fee and $34.99 a month. numerous benefits to your looks, To access the “Super Sport” health and mental wellness. gyms, it will cost you slightly more.

The Concord Fitness 19 at Dana There are nearby locations in Walnut Plaza Shopping Center is the closest to the Creek and San Ramon.

Pleasant Hill campus.

The main difference between the two gyms A monthly rate of $7.99 is the cheapest is that the “Super Sport” is larger and offers plan available. This membership grants towel service and basketball courts. you full access to the Concord Fitness 19 “Super Sport” membership also gives location, but only for three days a week. access to all of their different gyms.

A $12.99 monthly membership grants Initiations fees stay the same, but you pay access every day of the week, but doesn’t more monthly. For a 12-month commitinclude any classes or allow you in any other ment, you pay $44.99 a month and for no locations. monthly commitment you pay $49.99.

For $16.99 a month All “Sport” and you get access to classes, “Super Sport” gyms have “Being fit has unlimited visits to the a sauna, steam room, gym and access to other and classes so you numerous benefits to pool non-premium locations. receive great amenities If you want access to your looks, health and at a reasonable price. the premium locations 24 Hour Fitness is mental wellness.” it costs $22.99 monthly. perfect for the busy bee.

Initiation varies from UFC Gym is for the $46.98 to $79.98, depending on the plan fighter in you. It is located near the Pleasant you are purchasing.

Hill campus and features lots of different Fitness 19 is the least pricy of the featured martial arts equipment and classes. gyms. They do not have any “wet rooms,” like The cheapest membership available is the a sauna, steam room, pool or shower, there- “Fitness.” It is $186 dollars to get started and fore it is the perfect gym for the minimalist. costs $44 a month.

By paying a cheaper price you are accepting a You can only access the Concord location more simple gym. and attend group fitness classes, not combat 24 Hour Fitness has a location is at or their signature style.

Sunvalley Mall, less than one mile from the If you would like to be able to access all the Pleasant Hill campus. classes at UFC Gym the “Ultimate” memThe cheapest option offered is the “Sport,” bership is for you. This membership will which includes the Concord location. If you cost you $29 to $79 a month, based on how commit to a 12-month membership, the ini- much you pay for initiation. Initiation ranges tiation costs $14.99 and the monthly mem- from $200 to $706. bership costs you $29.99. A month-to-month To access all previous benefits and be

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allowed in any UFC Gym, you need a “Champion” membership. For this membership, you can pay a $296 initiation fee and $99 a month or a $764 initiation fee and $58 a month.

The Concord UFC Gym also makes an effort to work with students by offering discount incentives. If you cannot afford such a large initial payment, they can accept what you have the first day and take the rest within 60 days.

UFC Gym has a sauna, steam room, fighting octagon and smoothie bar. The gym does charge an annual fee of $49.99 that starts three months into your membership and yearly after that.

Diablo Rock Gym is for the adventurer.

It is not just a gym, but also a place to indoor rock climb, go bouldering and do CrossFit. It has a sauna, steam room, fitness classes and daily passes for your friends.

This gym offers student memberships. The normal initiation fee of $100 is cut in half for students, and you pay $71 a month, instead of $81 a month.

If you want to expand your fitness beyond gym equipment, UFC Gym or Diablo Rock Gym is the way to go.

If you are on a budget and don’t care about extra amenities, Fitness 19 is the gym for you.

For the traveler and social butterfly, 24 Hour Fitness is the best place to call home.

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tips students need to know Story by Deandra Procassini

available at the college.

One significant factor that comes into ransferring to a big four-year school play in transferring is making sure that the is a new and exciting time in a col- students attend orientation. lege student’s life.

Most colleges give multiple dates over sumFor transfer students, the excite- mer to attend orientation. ment is formed because of the new place For future San Jose State University and living on your students to sign up for own. Even though it is day, students “Most colleges give orientation exhilarating, it can also need to sign into their become very stressful. multiple dates over school account and pick Here is a guide that a day that fits best with summer to attend can be used as a checktheir schedule. list to make sure that Orientation is critiorientaiton.” everything is in order. cal for transfer students Once a student because it is the chance to gets their acceptance to the college of their engage with the campus and potential future dreams, they should be sure and make it a classmates. point to attend admitted students day.

One of the most significant and important The admitted students day is a brilliant things on the list for transfer students is that thing for incoming transfer students because they make sure to sign up to take the writing it gives them an opportunity to visit the col- skills test. lege, visit the department of their majors and Each school calls the test something differprovide a chance to look at the living options ent, but it is the same test that all students

now read this

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Story by Courtney Donahoe

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f you love reading, here are some amazing websites that will help you read even more than you can imagine.

Overdrive With Overdrive you can download free audiobooks and ebooks.

This website is free to join as long as you have a library card from your local library. Getting a library card is worth it because with that plastic card you can access millions of titles: books, audiobooks, ebooks and much more.

have to take.

No matter what school transfer students attend, it is mandatory that they take the test because the test determines what future classes the student needs.

The next important matter for transfer students is finding a place to live.

Even though it may seem inevitable that students will find a dorm on campus that is not always the truth.

Colleges have a waitlist that starts back at the beginning of the new year.

Most students do not find out that the school had accepted their application until around February or March.

It is critical that transfer students do their research because there are a lot of off-campus housing that is related to the school.

There are a lot of things that transfer students need to do before becoming a student of that college.

Hopefully, these tips are a useful reminder of the critical things that the students need to do.

Open Library

Wattpad

Open Library’s main goal is to provide a web page for every book ever made.

Open library is a website where you can connect with your local library and borrow a book from the library.

It’s an amazing thing to have because you can see what your library has in stock right from your own home.

Seeing the library options from home makes it easier for us to see the books we want right away.

This website is a community for readers and writers to publish their stories in all sorts of genres ranging from romance to horror.

I recommend it because you read people’s rough drafts of stories they come up with and see them progressively work on them and get better with time.

This book website is generally a great place for first time authors to get feedback on their writing and see where they need help.

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Cheap thrills in Story and photos by Jessica Gillis Kirby Cove 948 Fort Barry, Sausalito

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Twin Peaks 501 Twin Peaks, San Francisco

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Treasure Island Yerba Buena Island, San Francisco

irby Cove, located below the Golden Gate Bridge, is a fun time. Start at the trail head at the top and walk down the road until you get to the campsites. Once you walk down to the beach after a short hike, there are many coves to explore as well as a swing attached to a tree that will better your experience. Kirby Cove is fun for all ages, you can have a nice day at the beach or hike down just to see the views.

win Peaks gives you golden views of the whole city and the rest of the East Bay. If you go up to the top of the twin peaks road and park in the lot at the top, that will be your best view. I recommend going an hour before sunset because then you can see all the city lights start to turn on, changing the city into a twinkling blanket of stars. Remember to bring a blanket because it can get very windy up there.

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reasure Island is notorious for its views of the San Francisco skyline, but if you want to revamp that experience, this is for the more rebellious types and a killer Instagram photo. This secret spot can only be reached coming back from the city on the Bay Bridge. Once you have reached the exit for Treasure Island, you turn left and a shoulder comes up very quickly. Stopping at that shoulder and parking there is crucial because if you miss it, you have to go all the way in the city again. Once parked on the shoulder you are under the bridge. If you walk straight, go over the barricade and use the stairs, you’ll find yourself under the bridge with a breathtaking view of the city. The Bay Bridge in the background and silhouettes from the beams underneath. With a bridge toll of only $5, this undiscovered spot is a cheap place to see the city in a new light as well as a new adventure.

San Francisco Tacolicious 2250 Chesnut St, San Francisco

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Salt & Straw 568 Hayes St, San Francisco

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El Techo 2516 Mission St, San Francisco

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ith three locations in the city, Tacolicious is a enjoyable cheap treat if you hit up their Taco Tuesday deal where you can get six tacos for $15 from 5 p.m. to closing. If you cannot make Taco Tuesday, they also have this deal weekdays from 3-6 p.m. With the great ambiance of the venue giving you the feel of a nice restaurant and bar scene, it is a great place to hang with friends while not breaking the bank.

n the mood for something sweet and peculiar, Salt & Straw is the place for you. With two locations in the city, this ice cream shop is a perfect stop for someone who has a sweet tooth. It is known for its constant changing monthly flavors. Featured currently are Chocolate Rose Petal, Jasmine Blossom Milk Tea and Chocolate and Wildflower Honey with Ricotta Walnut Lace Cookies. They are a little different then your usual ice cream place. At $6.25 for one scoop with their delicious waffle cone, it truly is worth the trek out to the city for the unique flavors that you can get nowhere else.

l Techo is a rooftop restaurant with views looking over the Mission District. A fun place to go to whether it be with your friends, for a celebration or even with your parents. Nothing can beat that view of beautiful San Francisco. They do not take reservations but if you get there for their happy hour weekdays 4-6 p.m. you are more likely to snag a spot. Although the normal food can be pricey, during their happy hour there is $5 bar bites and for people over the age of 21, pitchers of sangria for $18. If you are thinking about checking it out, highly recommended options are the Quesadilla de Pibil shock which is $12 and shareable, as well as the Pollo Frito.

The end of a chapter Professor and romance novelist to retire

Story and photos by Catherine Stites

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nding her learning journey where it began, professor Jessica Barksdale will be retiring as a professor of English at Diablo Valley College after 30 years of teaching in the spring of 2020.

Barksdale started her higher education journey as a student at DVC, and came back 10 years later to teach English to students in the same position she was in 10 years previously.

Times have changed since Barksdale first walked onto campus as a student, a time when classes were free.

Her and her friends had previously looked down upon the institution, calling it a “rock or prison” due to the affluent community in which she was raised in.

“The few classes I managed to pass while I was here guided me when I finally went back a couple years later,” said Barksdale.

A transfer day deviated her path when she ran into a representative for Cal State Stanislaus. She had just dropped all her classes but the college rep suggested she still apply.

She got in, after an interview.

A miracle happened when a surprise letter from a high school counselor she did not remember wrote highly of her, closing the deal on her acceptance.

Ten years later, she got a job as an adjunct professor at DVC and is now the current longest standing faculty of the English Department.

Being an English professor means teaching more than literature; it involves creative writing, poetry writing and imparting her own wisdom of writing long fiction to her students.

Barksdale has not only accomplished publishing over a dozen books, with plans to get a collection of poems and short stories published soon, but has also inspired her colleagues to make strides in new sects of literature.

English professor Alan Haslam has taken one of Barksdale’s online poetry classes, and he said she taught him “how to get started, to find ideas and begin turning them into poems.”

The legacy of Barksdale will remain here after she has retired due partly to her creation, Literature Week. The week has now been taken over by professor Rayshell Clapper.

“She brings much talent and experience to any conversation about literature and creative writing,” said Clapper.

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fter her terrible performance in school, Barksdale didn’t think that she was “an adequate human being” for a role such as teaching, but she always knew that she

regard of physical classes.

Other professors have learned from Barksdale as well, like Haslam who said she taught him “how to make sure the classroom elements of writing workshops are translated well online. wanted to be a writer.

She is not only well rounded in what she teaches, but she writes The death of Barksdale’s sister sparked her to write her first novel, around in different genres of fiction. which came out in 2001.

Romance, young adult, historical fiction and contemporary are Her very first book was born in a writing class at the Napa Valley some of the genres that she has written, and each one has taught her Writer’s Conference in a class with Cristina Garcia, where she wrote something valuable. the first scene.

She said that romance taught her Urged by the writing prompt about two plot; the story is usually boy meets girl, “A certain book can be the characters hiding something from each boy loses girl, boy and girl get together other, she just kept writing and couldn’t right thing at the exact right but where each of those pieces happens stop, she recalls. of the storyline. moment, and that is the thing is crucial to the success She took the scene to her writing arksdale always group where she was told it was novel knew she wanted to value.” material. to be a writer, but Being new in the book writing scene, the teaching part Jessica Barksdale Barksdale didn’t know or understand came to her during her time in school.

Professor and novelist how to write chapters.

She discovered that she liked Even now when asked by students she watching herself and others “figure stuff says, “I’ve decided (a chapter is) 12 pages just because it will calm out” and how rewarding that was. them down,” when they ask how long a chapter should be, but in As an English professor, Barksdale actually does not have a favorite reality “you can vary.” book but said, “A certain book can be the right thing at the exact She not only teaches in-person classes, like her favorite class, right moment, and that is the thing to value. ” English 118, but also teaches online classes, like creative writing and Barksdale is planning on joining DVC for its study abroad program poetry writing. in Florence during the spring of 2019 and continues to write because She does not have a preference for online or physical classes. of “daily absurdities of the world.”

She said that students who are quiet can’t be in regard to online “What stands out about her work at DVC is that she has truly been classes, and there is “something really great about meeting humans” in tireless in her promotion and advocacy of literature,” said Haslam.

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30 years at dvc NOw she’s done

Professor turned administrator Rachel Westlake retires

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Story and photos by Danny Yoeono fter the spring semester ends, Rachel Westlake will be packing away her office in the administration building.

That’ll be books, a fan hanging on the wall, framed family photos, a row of 3D polyhedron origami made by her daughter and a bowl of Dove chocolates.

Westlake, a great professor and an even better administrator will be retired by the end of June. Time spent as a math professor, a dean and then vice president of instruction add up to 30 years of service at Diablo Valley College.

And it was apparently all part of the plan. Just as the math she taught was finite, Rachel Westlake knew her life was too; not in any ominous, terminal illness way, but in “we all die someday,” kind of way. Westlake’s plan was to retire after 30 years, and if you take this year and subtract the year she was hired in 1988, you’ll see why she was a math professor. Accuracy.

Westlake stopped teaching math in 2005 when she became a dean and her Ratemyprofessor page has reviews that reflect that she was an exemplary instructor. Reviews from her last year teaching are like bookends that sing her praises, such as “I had Mrs. Westklake a few times, and for any class that she teaches she is awesome... she makes math fun! Take her classes,” and another that says “Took 2 calculus class with Mrs. Westlake. Simply the best instructor... The only drawback is that the tests might be a little more difficult, but you end up learning something.”

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Before Westlake took a college math class, she was a ballerina who studied ballet since adolescence. She danced professionally for four years, two with Pacific Northwest Ballet, then called Pacific Northwest Dance, in Seattle and two as an apprentice for the San Francisco Ballet. However, her love of dance did not translate to a love of performing. So she dropped out and went to college. At City College in San Francisco, she found she liked math. She transferred to UC Berkeley after, where she got her bachelors and masters. estlake would rate her own experience as a professor highly, no matter which course she was teaching. She has said, “I really enjoyed teaching the whole range of math skills.” In particular she liked the learning communities, or linked classes. These are cross-disciplinary classes that compliment each other like calculus and physics, which makes sense for Westlake who was a physics and math major, but she also loved her basic skills math class that was linked to English.

As a professor, Westlake landed herself on the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle when she was honored for teaching excellence by the California Mathematics Council for Community College in 2004. The Chronicle writes, “While teaching annuities in a recent class, she told the students that she was saving for retirement with money that comes out of her paycheck monthly. That means that she has an ‘ordinary annuity’ in which payments are made at the end of each term.”

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Fourteen years later that annuity example has come to fruition. to the job.

Reflecting on her legacy, once-DVC president Peter Garcia, said, “Rachel has incredible work ethic...(she) was always honest and “Rachel loved DVC and its traditions, while working for new stu- professional,” said Garcia. “She told the truth in all directions, and dent-focused programs and apdid so without using it to promote proaches that would ensure a herself or hurt others.” broader and deeper participation in Before Westlake, the job belonged “I love the work. I love what success for all students. She was stuto current DVC President Susan we do. I love what we are dent advocate and strong supporter Lamb. of DVC faculty and staff.”

Westlake said whomever takes her here for. And I love working The Westlake effect will continue place has to be a champion of DVC’s with to be felt long after she is gone, in Guided Pathways initiative, and the the last five years, she had a hand in master plan while developing them the people I work with.” hiring almost 100 new full-time facin a collaborative way. ulty. Faculty who Westlake has said In her retirement, Westlake Rachel Westlake “are taking remarkable leadership in doesn’t see herself sitting at home.

Vice President of Instruction keeping the college focused on the “As a professor I was able to travel a success of all of our students.” lot more than as an administrator. I he next vice president of made a deal with myself that I would instruction has big shoes to fill. work for a certain amount of time and then open up some time to do DVC’s Dean of English, Obed Vasquez, who reports to other things.” Things like jumping in an airplane two days after her Westlake, has said she’s been an amazing vice president. job ends and spending the month of July in Australia.

As the vice president of instruction, Westlake said the job is fairly She may even dance again. “At this point it has been almost 40 intense with every minute of everyday changing. years since I left ballet,” said Westlake. “I don’t anticipate going back Garcia spoke to her giving, intelligent and fair qualities she brought again. But I might take some hip-hop classes!”

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LEADING THE CHARGE FOR CHANGE STORY BY AIDAN SPARKS

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omen are leading the charge for change at Diablo Valley College.

Soha Ashraf and Rihanna Taylor have recently been on the front lines protesting not only for the rights that everyone should receive from administration but also potential threats to the student body.

Taylor, who wasn’t the igniter of the protest against the anti-abortion activists, felt it was her duty, her school and fellow women to stand up for the belief that it is “our body, our choice,” which was put on numerous Photos By Isaac Norman/Aidan Sparks signs by the protesters.

Soha Ashraf, second from left, at Though the protest started off small, it a Women’s Empowerment news quickly grew throughout the two days that conference.

Right, Rihanna Taylor. the anti-abortion group set up on campus.

No doubt, the product of Taylor’s voice could be heard all throughout the quad. body. I came to DVC when I was 16, I grad“She wasn’t meant to be the leader, but uated high school early, and my first two or she became one almost immediately,” said three semesters I wasn’t really passionate Nickish Ahumada who attended the protest. about academics, so I left. When I came The anti-abortionists made complaints back two and a half years ago, I joined the about how aggressive Taylor was and how dramatic society and the Women’s Empowershe wasn’t respecting their First Amendment ment Group of DVC, and just made so many rights. friends, I found the community I was look“I, as an individual not involved with the ing for,” said Taylor. government, yelling or talking over anothTaylor is a huge supporter of WEDVC, er individual cannot violate anyone’s First and agrees with the tactics and methods that Amendment right... But many of these peo- Ashraf uses as the group’s president. ple hate me, women, queers, etc. and hide Ashraf joined the group her first semester behind their false civility, hoping my delivery at DVC back in 2016. She eventually took will be enough to undermine my beliefs.” over as president when Taylor stepped down.

Taylor always studies up on issues and Ashraf’s vision is something she describes believes strongly about as not just affecting the them and has done the “Our endeavor is to students at DVC, but proper research to back also people all over the bring down Nazis and country. up her opinions.

It’s hard to imagine “Our entire movefascists and white that Taylor would be ment that we’re trying to supremacy.” scared to speak up in build and bring to our front of a crowd. She community is one that explained however, that is reflective of what’s Soha Ashraf while in the moment, Women’s Empowerment Club president going on at the national she is confident. The level. Our endeavor is nerves get to her later. to bring down Nazis and fascists and white Taylor said her fear is temporary because supremacy.” of her strong group of peers and friends on When asked how she worked to further campus who she knows will stand by her side. the movement of the group, she explained This feeling of community is what fuels the importance of getting involved and Taylor to keep fighting for what she believes. building community was and standing up for “I love this school because of the students, what one believes in, despite what obstacles it’s such a diverse and unexpected student may arise.

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“The club has evolved to building the movement and the community. I think people are often pretty scared of being involved in activism for fear of repercussions of admin or other students. For me, being a woman of color navigating modern society, there is always potential threats, but pursuing activism, building the movement, being part of campaigns is more empowering because they are their own self-protection,” said Ashraf.

WEDVC held a rally on campus on April 25 to gain support to remove all the alt-right students and groups from the school.

Ashraf got signatures to help support the removal of these groups, and explained the movement to other students with passion and clear direction.

“Soha just exudes so much sincerity,” WEDVC member Jasmine Reyes said. “The direction that the club has gone since Soha has become president has not only become more inclusive but more action oriented, and more assertive for what we feel is necessary for community and on a national level as well.”

When it comes to standing up for what they believe in, both women say they don’t plan to stop anytime soon and will continue to fight for their rights as well as others.

THROWING THE DISTANCE

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Jeff Williams sets his eyes on the Summer Games STORY BY LUIS LOPEZ and PHOTO BY AARON TOLENTINO

hile walking around Diablo Valley College, it’s As of April 30, Williams is ranked the 10th freshman in the couneasy to overlook who’s walking next to you. try even among throwers at four-year schools.

People can be walking next to future engineers, Through all his success in the sport, Williams has still managed to musicians and maybe even star athletes. help in the development of his DVC teammates.

If you find yourself walking next to Jeff Williams, you might be “Jeff is an amazing guy, he is more than just a great athlete,” said next to a future Olympian discus thrower. teammate Richard Atthowe.

“It controls a lot of my decisions,” said Williams on his aspirations “He pushes me to be better,” said Atthowe. “He’s very modest, towards the Olympics. “What I eat, what I do even though he throws far he still works hard. with my time, who I talk to are geared toward With as much success that Williams has had in “He’s a once in a achieving that goal.” the sport, he hopes to have that same fortune in a Williams has been throwing discus since his decade, if not longer, different career as well. freshman year at Clayton Valley Charter High Williams is currently a kinesiology major.“I want type of talent” School. to be sure I have a Plan B set up,” he said. “I want “I didn’t really realize I was good until my my exit route to be somewhere I can help people.”

John Fouts junior year,” said Williams. “I had won a His intentions to pursue that degree shows DVC throwing coach few meets, and I was throwing farther than Williams’ selflessness. According to his girlfriend’s other people, but where other people kind of mother, Megan Kommer, this isn’t a surprise. stopped, I kept progressing.”

“He is the kind of person that, if you needed Since then, Williams has dominated the competition. anything, he would drop what he’s doing and come and help you,” In high school, he was a three-time Diablo Valley Athletic League said Kommer. champion, a North Coast Section champion and placed fifth nationWilliams has the right attitude and personality, and with a dream ally at the U20 Championships as big as the Summer Games, he truly believes he can make it.

“He’s a once in a decade, if not longer, type of talent,” said DVC “I wholeheartedly believe I’m in a position to make the throwing coach John Fouts, who has been coaching Williams since Olympics,” said Williams. “I have all the resources I need, I have his days at Clayton Valley. one of the best coaches around and, physically, I have the tools to.”

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FROM DVC TO YOUR TV SCREEN Viking football boasts long list of Division I transfers STORY BY AARON TOLENTINO

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wo hundred thirty transfers in 10 years.

That’s how many student-athletes Diablo Valley College head coach Mike Darr has sent to play football at four-year institutions, many of which are Division I schools.

Since Darr took over as head coach in 2007, his players have received scholarships to play in major conferences such as the Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12 and Mountain West.

Darr is known for having complex defensive schemes. This makes his players highly marketable in the eyes of four-year coaches.

The defensive schemes Darr runs benefit offensive players as well, especially quarterbacks, who are practicing against tough defenses every day preparing them for what is coming at the four-year level.

Quarterback Quinn Kaehler ‘12, San Diego State University This quarterback out of California High School in San Ramon had a roller coaster of a college career.

Quinn Kaehler attempted to walk on at San Diego State right after high school, only to be rejected. The bright side of it all was Kaehler did not waste a year of NCAA eligibility sitting behind four or five other quarterbacks and never seeing the field.

He went to DVC to play for Darr, and that’s when Kaehler’s first failed stint was put in the rear-view mirror.

As the Vikings’ signal-caller in 2011 and 2012, Kaehler developed to be one of the top California community college quarterback prospects.

By his sophomore year, Kaehler had earned Darr’s trust and became the focal point of the Vikings’ offense. He had a monster season by completing over 60

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However, not enough attention is paid to what Darr does for these athletes in the classroom and how important that aspect is in matriculating to play for their dream college team.

During the week, especially during the season, players often come

by Darr’s office, not necessarily for help about football, but for help in their assignments or personal life.

“Something our program has always tried to do is look beyond the field; you see everyone and everything you can influence with the role that you have,” Darr said.

Here are a few examples of this approach coming to fruition through these standout student-athletes.

percent of his 511 pass attempts, throwing for 4,044 yards and adding 38 touchdowns to only 12 interceptions.

“If I would’ve just gone to San Diego State right out of high school, I don’t think I would have ever started there.”

According to Darr, Kaehler led the Vikings to their best offense in over 30 years.

“I think (DVC) helped out a ton,” said Kaehler. “To be honest, I think if I would’ve just gone to San Diego State right out of high school, I don’t think I would have ever started there.”

In 2013, Kaehler finally had his shot at redemption at SDSU, but this time as a more polished junior college transfer. Still, the starting job was no easy path as he started as the sixth-string quarterback.

Eventually, he worked his way up as the backup to the Aztecs’ starter Adam Dingwell. After Dingwell underachieved against Ohio State in the second game of the season, Kaehler saw the field for the first time at the Division I level.

It was quite the welcome as Kaehler faced an NFL-caliber defense that included current Pittsburgh Steeler Ryan Shazier. Despite losing that game, Kaehler threw for 216 yards, completed over 60 percent of his passes and added a touchdown pass.

An impressed SDSU head coach, Rocky Long, named Kaehler the starter and never looked back.

In two years, as the Aztecs’ signal-caller in 2013 and 2014, Kaehler went on to be the second all-time winningest quarterback in school history.

“I think going back to DVC, you go back because you love the game,” said Kaehler.

“So I think when you go to San Diego State, you keep (that) in perspective, you play whether 50 people are watching or 100,000 are watching.”

Photo courtesy of Ernie Anderson, SDSU Media Relations

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Safety Kyle Trego, ‘15 University of Colorado

Quarterback Drew Anderson, ‘15 University of Buffalo

Like Kaehler, Drew Anderson had no Division I offers coming out of high school.

Coincidentally, the Miramonte High School graduate also had an unsuccessful walk-on stint at San Diego State in 2014 before he headed to DVC to play for Darr in 2015.

In one lone year as a Viking, Anderson threw for 3,459 yards and 33 touchdowns.

Darr said that Anderson’s “arm was incredibly special” and made throws no quarterback at the community college level could make in the last 15-20 years.

Anderson describes himself as a “late-bloomer.”

“I think just being able to come home to DVC and be the guy and get a lot of reps that year was really big for me, allowed me to really become more of a polished player, honestly,” he said.

Anderson also attributed his success to the complex defense Darr ran while he was under center at DVC, which pushed Anderson to learn and take that to the next level.

The University of Buffalo finally gave Anderson the opportunity to play at the Division I level, where he showed flashes of brilliance in the 2017 season.

For example, in a nationally televised ESPN game against Western Michigan last October, Anderson threw for a mind-boggling 597 yards, seven touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also added a rushing touchdown.

Yes, you read that right.

Both the passing yards and touchdowns are school records, as well as Mid-American Conference records.

Anderson is still writing his story as he is looking to solidify a spot as starting quarterback for his final year of NCAA eligibility.

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Photos courtesy of Paul Hokanson and Joel Broida

Kyle Trego, out of Liberty High School in Brentwood, was actually offered by multiple Division I schools. However, none of them were a part of the Power 5 Conferences.

He took a risk and left those offers on the table to play for Darr and trusted going to DVC would pay off in the end.

Darr believes that Trego was one of the best tacklers he’s seen because he was so explosive and wasn’t afraid to hit guys. Trego and DVC were a perfect match on the field.

“Coach Darr was probably the main reason that I ended up not going to the bigger school names and go the junior college route,” said Trego. “He put a lot of confidence in me. He knew that I was worth more than the offers I was getting.”

Indeed, that decision paid off.

In his only season at DVC in 2015, Trego earned All-State honors by recording 50 tackles and four interceptions in 10 games in a Viking uniform. He was also a vital player on special teams as he added three blocked kicks on the year.

That incredible season got him a scholarship to play in the Pac-12 at the University of Colorado.

After an injury-riddled sophomore year at Colorado, Trego continued his magic on special teams his junior year in 2017.

Against USC on Nov. 11, he recovered a blocked punt and returned it 21 yards to the 1-yard line to set up an easy Colorado touchdown.

Trego played in nationally televised games against first-round NFL draft picks, quarterbacks Sam Darnold of USC and Josh Rosen of UCLA. “Sam Darnold, I did not expect him to be as fast as he was so he caught me by surprise right there, added another element to his game,” said Trego. “I think (Josh) put the ball in tight spots; we had to really tighten up our coverage.”

Trego is currently entering his senior season at Colorado and is looking to capture a starting safety spot.

Defensive end Chris Mulumba, ‘16 University of Colorado Born in Finland to natives of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chris Mulumba never played a single down of football in high school. He was a three-time Finnish national judo champion and served his mandatory year of service for the Finnish military.

The physical tools were clearly there for him. It was a matter of how it all translates to playing defensive end.

“His strength, explosion, understanding of leverage and sheer toughness are obvious crossovers, but his success stemmed from more than just physical work,” said Darr. “He absolutely refused to allow financial strain, language barriers or a lack of experience deny his desire to be great.”

Mulumba was another Viking who exhibited everything that was required to be great as a student-athlete. If he wasn’t in the weight room or on the field working on speed, agility and technique, he was studying film or meeting with tutors to ensure he was on track to get his degree, according to Darr.

That incredible overall focus caught the eyes of Division I programs such as Fresno State, Iowa State and Colorado.

Mulumba initially signed with the University of Central Florida, but ultimately did not attend and sat out the 2016 season. He eventually signed with Colorado with the help his current teammate and fellow Viking, Trego, who recommended him to the Buffaloes’ coaching staff. Darr saw a combination of explosiveness, strength and a constant motor to compete in every game, and the Colorado staff must have seen the same.

In 2017, his first season for the Buffaloes, Mulumba started the last

few games at defensive end. He recorded 33 total tackles, including a game-high of four solo tackles registered against USC and Arizona State. Against USC, he took down recent NFL draft pick, Ronald Jones II, to notch his first solo tackle for loss.

“It’s great, it’s like living the dream, everyone wants to play against the best,” said Mulumba on facing off against Jones, one of the nation’s best college football players.

Like Trego, Mulumba is entering his senior year and is also looking to secure a starting spot on the Buffaloes’ defense.

Cornerback Antoine Albert, ‘14 University of California, Berkeley Aside from getting zero offers out of high school, Antoine Albert faced different problems off the field.

Growing up in Oakland, life was hard and his family did not have a lot of money. On top of that, Albert has a severe stuttering problem, which may have, unfortunately, hurt his chances at being recruited.

His struggles opened the door to unlock his biggest strengths.

“Antoine, what was so special about him was that he never a guy that said ‘hey, poor me,’” said Darr. “The battles he was forced to deal with, that other people haven’t had to, are what made him so strong.”

Albert never wanted his condition to define him, and he learned to embrace his struggles.

He not only successfully persevered through his personal issues, but Albert has also translated his success to football.

According to Darr, Albert is a guy who will lock a receiver up because he is physical, has long arms and is an excellent tackler. His intelligence on the field is also nothing to sleep on. He understands patterns, reads and other schematic complexities of the playbook and uses it to his advantage.

He eventually landed a scholarship to play at UC Berkeley where he received his bachelor’s degree in 2016. Albert is working on his master’s degree at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Sport and Fitness Administration/Management.

“Coach Darr changed my life such as gave me a second chance showing that he actually cared about us, teaching us about life and football,” said Albert.

Photos courtesy of Tim Benko and Al Sermeno

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The Future of Meat Story and photos by Tyler Skolnick

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ay Area companies aim to steer the industry in a new direction with sustainable animal agriculture and the next generation of bioengineered “clean meat,” while activists and health-conscious consumers take issue with the status quo in the meat industry.

Marin County farms are reviving wholesome agriculture practices from the past to reconnect consumers’ plates with local farms.

Simultaneously, biotechnology startups are trying to bring a meat product to market without using animals.

80 percent of the antibiotics sold in 2011 were for the purpose of meat and poultry production in America.

“The conditions that these animals are raised in are perfect for the rapid spread of disease, a diseased and dead chicken or cow, for me as the farmer is not going to be helpful or valuable so I need to prevent that from happening, and I do that by feeding antibiotics to the animals everyday,” said Dan Williams, field educator from the Ethical Choices Program.

Williams alleges these methods can potentially create “superbugs” that can spread to human populations, citing Above, various cuts of Heritage Pork from the Marin Sun Farms butcher shop. examples like bird and swine flu.

Far-right, a grass-fed cow at Marin Sun Farms.

Kristin Osowki is a passionate nutriBelow, cows grazing in open field in Point Reyes tion educator and Diablo Valley College professor; she recommends that grass-fed, he future of the industry will They work to combat the ethical problems pasture-raised animals are the healthiest alter when the demand reaches with factory farming, while changing how way to consume animal protein. the mainstream. As with many we view our current relationship with “When you select animal products, choose of the great social movements of animals. grass-fed. Buy organic,” Osowski said. the past, change often starts with engaged Nathan Fisher, an activist from the Consuming grass, shrubs and other students.

Berkeley Animal Rights Center, says herbs provides animals with a different “I dove into the information while their goal is not limited to decreasing the nutrients than that of their corn-fed factory doing a school project about factory suffering of animals, but also ensuring that counterparts. farming. I found out about the conditions animals cease to be seen as items that can In a 2010 study published in Nutrition animals are kept in, how the animals be bought, sold and defined by human Journal, grass-fed cuts have measurable were slaughtered, and the hormones and standards. differences in necesantibiotics they inject the meat with,” said Abstaining “When you select animal sary fatty acids and Bay Area student and activist Adriana from animal antioxidant content. products, choose Alvarez. consumption Grass diets also, Developed in the 20th century to meet could be a “elevate precurgrass-fed. Buy organic.” rising consumer demands for meat, facto- viable option sors for Vitamin ry farming is the industrialization of meat addressing A and E, as well as Kristin Osowski production where large numbers of the moral cancer-fighting antioxDiablo Valley College nutrition professor animals are confined into small spaces. It qualms idants. Fat-conscious emphasizes higher output for increased surrounding consumers will also profits while forfeiting ethical practices nutritional prefer the overall and product quality. problems in factory farming. lower fat content.”

The problems that many find with the Factory-raised cattle are housed in Raising animals on pasture will provide industry can ultimately be placed into two intensely close quarters, and better quality products on the consumer categories: ethics and nutrition. owners utilize antibiotics to keep their side as well. According to Osowski, this The Berkeley Animal Rights Center animals healthy. According to the trend also applies to chickens and eggs. takes a firm stance against factory farming National Commission on Industrial Farm Chickens that are pasture-raised and animal commodification as a whole. Animal Production (NCIFAP), around have visible differences in the eggs they

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produce Yolks that have origins in healthy hens have stronger shells, and deep orange yolks. A 2010 study by Cambridge University Press found that pastured hens lay eggs with more heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids as well as vitamins A and E. Osowski has committed to finding grass-fed beef from local Bay Area farmers.

“I buy my meats at the farmer’s market and also from a local farmer,” said Osowski.

She and a friend purchased half a cow, and share the meat and bones to make the most of the purchase.

In fact, some companies in the Bay Area have grown businesses around providing better quality meats and animal products. arin Sun Farms, a vertically-integrated company, handles their animals from the farm all the way to butcher shops.

Former Chief Operating Officer Daniel Kramer, who helped to build Marin Sun Farms’ operation, was not happy with the coventional ways of raising cattle.

“Our alternative was to support local ranchers here in the food shed, and be able to give them a way, a market, here in the Bay Area,” he said.

In a 2013 presentation at Stanford University, Kramer outlined why raising grass-fed cows is so important emphasizing that “this is the way cows are designed to work.” Kramer added that this process has been developed throughout the history of animal domestication, yet the economic model to support this has been lost.

Transparency is important for consumers trying to make educated decisions. The facilities that Marin Sun Farms uses are Animal Welfare Approved, a certification to help consumers find companies that adhere to predetermined animal welfare standard.

The true practices of the large-scale meat industry are rarely met favorably by those who encounter them.

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Emerging biotechnology companies have we’re eating now,” Valeti said. “There is their sights set on a solution that could nothing natural about the meat we are flip the debate on its head. eating now.”

San Leandro-based Memphis Meats is The concept of lab-grown meat is also focused on bringing lab-grown meat to a massive leap forward on the ethics market; San Francisco-based Finless Foods side. Although the nutrition content of and Clara Foods are using biotechnology lab-grown meat is yet to be studied. to create fish and egg whites, respectively, However, if the benchmark for ethics is with no animals involved. reducing suffering, then “clean meat” would These companies promise food appear to be that solution. molecularly identical to their meat Alvarez looks back on how she used counterparts. The allure of the lab to think about meat, realizing that many setting is the ability to bypass the bi- companies successfully separate their ological and agricultural steps of product image from unethical practices raising and slaughtering an animal. used to reach her plate. “You know those Uma Valeti, CEO and founder of are animals that have lived and died in an Memphis Meats, asserts that their inhumane way.” products are better for the environment Alvarez sets her goal simply, “I want to overall. do what’s right.”

He cites many of the concerns that To Valeti, the fate of his venture is in consumers like Alvarez have expressed, the hands of educated, conscious consuch as antibiotics, hormones and the sumers. The demand for his product will unnatural diets of industry raised rely on their individual choices. Each animals. purchase and each bite will shape this The meat is “more natural than what changing industry.

Story and photos by Shannon Richey

EDUCATION in the face of AUTOMATION

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iablo Valley College’s machine shop hums like a beehive, the steady whir of machines punctuated by students of the Mechanical Technology program consulting their instructors.

A sea of hammertone green, it feels oldschool until you notice the little monitors hooked up to each machine.

They are CNCs, computer numerical control devices, which digitally dictate the functions and movements of machinery and tools.

Students also use computer-aided design software, better known as CAD, to create mock-ups of objects to fabricate.

A few of them are making small metal medallions in the shape of gears for the DVC car show.

They program the design into the CNC

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machines which then mill out the precise shapes from a solid block of metal, delicately spraying metallic curls against the machine’s protective plastic windows.

Johnson, who is DVC’s machine shop instructor, and professor Jim Blair, who teaches business, sit across from one another at a wooden lab table littered with tools and metal scraps wedged between two of these CNC machines.

“It is disruptive. People’s lives will change,” says Blair.

The “it” he’s referring to is automation. ccording to researchers at Oxford University, close to 50 percent of jobs in the U.S. could be lost to high tech machines and artificial intelligence within the next couple of decades.

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While predictions vary, it is apparent that the rise of automation and machine learning will thoroughly change the landscape of the labor market as machines take over some jobs entirely, like those on assembly lines, while partially automatizing others, like tax accounting.

This may sound apocalyptic but Johnson points out that humans have used tools from the beginning; to him automation is no different.

“Robots replacing human beings is nothing new. Machines replaced humans a century ago in farming,” adds Blair.

Both just see it as a matter of adaptation.

But change can be hard.

“People do not always want to accept the fact that the world has changed and that they need to change with it so they don’t get

left behind,” says Priscilla Leadon, DVC’s machines, like the ones DVC students work manager of workforce development. on.

Leadon isn’t alone in her thinking.

With associate degrees or certificates One of the conclusions of the 2017 World of achievement in these technical skills, Economic Forum was that education must students can choose to enter the workforce change in order for people to stay relevant in and immediately fill these new, more sophisa shifting labor market. ticated and stimulating jobs.

More recently, a March 2018 World Or, they can build upon this practical Economic Forum article, “Latin America has knowledge and go on to get a four-year degree the biggest skills gap in subjects like engiin the world. Here’s neering or industrial “Community colleges how to bridge it,” design. detailed the need for are the workhorse of the As Leadon puts it, an updated education this is why communieducation system.” curricula that comty colleges have long bines classroom and been the “workhorse Priscilla Leadon workplace learning of the education DVC manager of workforce development where both soft and system,” operating technical skills are outside the box of trataught. The article argued this kind of com- ditional education by offering options for a bination will help workers continually adapt diverse set of students and educational needs. to changing conditions throughout their caIt makes sense then that the federal reers. government has turned to them for help in As the director of workforce and hiring at educating, and re-educating, a more skilled SF Made and Bay Area Urban Manufacturing workforce.

Initiative, Claire Michaels already feels the Johnson and Blair envision creating disconnect between education and training public-private partnerships between DVC and what the businesses she works with need.

A February 2018 Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed nearly 6 million jobs remain unfilled due to skill gaps, both technical and soft.

Part of the problem in closing the technical skills gap may be image.

Technical education has had a rough couple of decades as its working class connotations have fallen out of favor amongst many Americans.

“Homer Simpson is a perfect example of the way we’ve viewed blue collar work in this country,” argues Blair.

Simpson, a lovable yet dribbling simpleton, spends his days bumbling through mundane tasks as a low-level safety inspector at a nuclear power plant, guzzling Duffs and shoveling doughnuts into his pie hole.

It’s a tough sell. ut Blair, Johnson and Leadon feel such perceptions are misguided.

Take the students in the Mechanical Technology program.

“Folks today are rediscovering the joys of these skills and the ability to make things for themselves,” says professor Steve Johnson, referring to the students.

Michaels explains that many of the jobs within the companies SF Made works with are in programing and controlling CNC

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and local companies, like Lawrence Livermore Labs and electric car manufacturer Tesla, as a way of ensuring education will be applicable in the real world.

They hope to create pathways to fulfilling jobs by offering more hands on education and accelerated options for lifelong learners looking to brush up their skill sets.

They also plan to foster cross-departmental collaboration allowing students to explore these necessary technical skills in combination with our more innate skills like creativity, entrepreneurship and ethical thinking.

These soft skills are equally necessary and mean humans will always be needed writes Joseph E. Aoun, who is president of Northeastern University and also author of “Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”

Automation is sure to shake things up.

Advancements in technology have always and will continue to affect society. But if Americans are willing to evolve and have access to informed education, their professions may well be more exciting and fulfilling than they were before.

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The Complexity of Change in the SFPD

Story and photos

by Nicole Sims

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ith police departments under constant scrutiny regarding use of lethal force, racial bias and scandals involving abuse of power people want change, myself included.

At first glance the San Francisco Police Department can be seen as a progressive template for the reform of police practices but they really exemplify the complexity of change, especially when it comes to racial bias.

Organizations can update their technology and refine their policies but how does it reform people’s mindsets when it comes to the implicit racial bias that leaves people of color feeling scared, angry and sometimes dead?

According to its website, SFPD is currently working in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to improve trust with the community by providing a long-term, holistic strategy that identifies issues within an agency that may affect public trust.

The department is making improvements such as increased involvement with the community, wearing body cameras and refining hiring practices by looking more deeply into applicants’ backgrounds. Now, officers will be getting tasers.

Officer Luis Tillan explained to me that with the taser being taken away before and the ability to chokehold, the escalation of forces goes from verbal, physical, pepper spray, baton and then to lethal force.

“We went from baton straight to lethal force and that’s terrible,” said Tillan. “I don’t want to kill anybody.”

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Tillan says if they had tasers to de-escalate Morrow also added that mindsets have to before, Mario Woods would still be alive. change as well.

Woods was shot and killed by the SFPD “I’m fairly certain that officers with that in 2015 and the videos went viral, launching type of negative beliefs and bias don’t work a monumental conversation about police ac- in the San Francisco Police Department,” countability and the importance of de-esca- said Lozada. lation tactics. He could not be subdued by Conversely, data from all over the country pepper spray or beanbag rounds, he was then in 2015 revealed, “Black American motorshot to death. ists were more likely to be stopped, searched Just before Woods was killed, the SFPD and arrested than white drivers, even though was already in the midst of another scan- they were no more likely to be carrying condal. “A federal corruption investigation into traband,” according to an article in the race warrantless searches issue of National Geoconducted by plaingraphic.

To not think critically clothes sergeants had Black motorists about your actions... turned up a series of in California are 1.5 racist and homophotimes more likely to be I think is naive.” bic text messages sent stopped by the police, between 14 officers,” according to that same Domingo “Trent” Williams SFPD Sergeant according to the San article.

Francisco Chronicle.

In San Francisco, These two events set the stage for a call to African-Americans accounted for about 5 reform. percent of the population in 2016, according Some of the findings included in the as- to the US census. That same year, they acsessments were that the majority of deadly counted for about 15 percent of the stops by use of force incidents by the SFPD involved the SFPD, nearly three times their shrinking persons of color. Nine out of the 11 deadly population, making them twice as likely to use of force incidents from May 1, 2013, to be stopped compared to whites.

May 31, 2016, involved persons of color and When it comes to bias, the assessment that the SFPD had not developed compre- from the CRI-TA says that the SFPD has hensive formal training specifically related to demonstrated willingness to reduce bias and use of force practices. has established policies and training around SFPD Lt. Aaron Lozada says the depart- bias in policing with the goal of identifying, ment is definitely making changes, moving reducing, and holding accountable those forward and adapting. who engage in biased policing.

“Police reform is actually very broad in “However, the SFPD’s efforts in setting general terms, but it means concepts have to rules, while a promising start, remain in dechange,” said SFPD officer Leonard Morrow. velopmental stages and have had little mea-

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surable impact. Most of the SFPD’s efforts to eliminate bias in policing do not seem to take into sufficient consideration past recommendations for improvement,” according to that same section in the assessment.

While talking to Tillan, although he made insightful comments about force and spoke admiringly about equal rights and not judging people by the color of their skin, he continued to refer to black people by stereotypical names in a way that would offend most people. I am not sure he realized what he was saying was offensive. That disappointed me when I was otherwise very pleased with the changes and influence the SFPD might have on other departments.

Lawmakers and community members often suggest education about cultural sensitivity as a possible solution to cut back on racial biases.

Explicit racial biases existing within the SFPD is definitely up for question, but the implicit bias is there.

The nature of implicit bias is that it is subconscious, we may not even realize that it is influencing our decisions. How does someone fix something they don’t even know is happening?

Is it even possible to change the mindset of officers that allegedly make these racist remarks or have racial biases through education?

“Do you know why people say education is the answer? Because it’s a very safe answer,”

said Morrow. “What I believe is the best way, it’s not education; it’s experience.”

One of the changes brought on by the reform is increased community policing which encourages officers to engage with the community to bond and build trust.

The assessment recommends stronger community engagement, more department wide training, and examining patterns in arrest and other enforcement action for potential disparities.

FPD Sgt. Domingo “Trent” Williams values education as a component to any kind of reform. However, he says that unfortunately when it comes to things like this, any real sustained change has to come from the inside out.

Williams is the vice president for the Officers for Justice and Peace officers association, an organization founded on the principles of police reform.

He says when it comes to racial bias, officers have to self-examine to see if what they’re thinking is affecting the way they’re policing. “To not think critically about your actions and the way you come up with your decisions, I think is naive,” said Williams.

Williams echoes Morrow’s point about experience and increased community involvement when he says, “There’s nothing more engaging, dynamic and impactful than interacting with people in their own environment and not being in the confines or in the comfort of a classroom.”

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Below, officer Luis Tillan leans into a police cruiser. Right, officer Trent Williams outside of San Francisco General Hospital.

Implicit racial bias is everywhere and there is no one way to eliminate it. It pervades public policy, police departments, even Starbucks and it’s going anywhere anytime soon.

When it comes to the police, education is great. However, positively engaging with the community, in combination with fine-tuning hiring practices and increasing diversity, will help in a more effective way by enacting much-needed change from the inside out. If it works, other departments can look at the SFPD as a template for reform in the future.

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Concealed carry on campuses won’t stop shootings

Story and photo by Camille Schwartz

ven though gun control and regulation have been an issue for a long time now and that the tragic events these past few months have raised awareness on this sensible topic, changing gun’s regulation cntinues to be a brain teaser.

Unfortunately, every mass shooting — whether committed in a school or not — raises two different arguments: more guns in order to protect oneself from the next crazy shooter, or striking the problem at its roots by rethinking total gun regulation.

We could legitimately think that the Florida’s shooting in February might have made the Trump administration rethink concealed carry laws on campuses. It didn’t.

“If you had a teacher who was adept with the firearm, they could end the attack very quickly,” Trump said after listening to a series of emotional stories and pleas to enhance school safety at the White House on Feb. 21. Trump is basically sticking to the National Rifle Association’s mantra “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

Let’s try to walk through that idea logistically. It would be hard to arm the teachers throughout the country, first of all because of shooting back at them. This is a flawed assumption. the cost of such an operation. According to the Washington Post’s Trump tweeted out on March 12 that, “If schools are mandated to estimations, we would essentially be adding 50 percent to the size be gun free zones, violence and danger are given an open invitation of the military by mandating that nearly three-quarters of a million to enter. Almost all school shootings are in gun free zones. Cowards people be trained and prepared to take up arms to defend civilians. will only go where there is no deterrent!” His position on gun free Given the minimal training to every teacher, just enough to pass the zones is clear but isn’t supported by any data. safety requirement for gun ownership, would cost more than $71 A 2017 John Hopkins University study states that “there is no million. Even if these are rough estimations, evidence that mass shooters target so-called they still give a great idea of the number of Americans are not in ‘gun-free’ zones. Rather than choosing a target people who would need to be trained and armed because it is perceived to be ‘gun free,’ favor of seeing and what that would cost. perpetrators often have some prior connection Second of all, what kind of training? Trump to the location and/or the victims targeted.” teachers armed... stated on Feb. 22, “(Teachers would) go for Trump’s position on the matter is influenced special training and they would be there and you would no by the fact that the NRA spent nearly $11.5 million to support longer have a gun-free zone.” The term “special training” is to say Donald Trump and another $19.75 to oppose Hillary Clinton. the least, very unclear. Training costs would be enormous and That’s over $31 million spent on one presidential race, according to unrealistic.

Fortune magazine. oreover, Americans are not in favor of seeing teachers The center of the problem here is that this funding raises a conflict armed in schools. According to a 2017 Pew Research of interest. The president can’t objectively impose changes in order to Center survey, more than half of U.S. adults (55 protect the population when those changes conflict with the interests percent) would oppose allowing teachers and officials to of the lobbying group that helped put him in power. carry guns in K-12 schools, including 36 percent who said they would he NRA also successfully lobbied Congress to introduce the strongly oppose such a proposal. Still, a sizable minority (45 percent) Dickey Amendment, which stopped the Center for Disease said they favored allowing teachers to carry guns in schools.

Control and Prevention from receiving funding to research With such a sizable split in public opinion, it makes more sense gun violence in response to a 1993 CDC study that found to leave the choice of whether or not to allow guns on university that guns in households were associated with an increased risk of premises to the states. Last year, Arkansas and Georgia passed homicides. legislation to allow students and faculty to carry guns on college By extension, allowing gun on campuses would just avoid dealing campuses. Now, 12 states allow people to carry guns on public college and with the real problem; we should focus on preventing these mass university campuses and in 2017, campus carry bills were introduced shootings instead of trying to stop them while they are happening. in at least 16 others states. Another argument in favor of having guns Yes, arming teachers may reduce the victims during an attack but on campuses is that when shooters are targeting places to attack they it is an expensive, impractical idea that does not handle the problem choose gun free zones because they don’t have to worry about people at its roots.

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Colors Fiction by Miranda Jacobson

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h e sky was purple. Or at least I thought it looked purple. I wondered if anyone else thought it looked purple, but didn’t want to ask. If it wasn’t purple, and I asked if it were purple, someone might think there was something wrong with me. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with me, but everyone else did, and I didn’t understand why.

When I was 13 years old, I smoked a cigarette. My best friend was 19 and smoked two packs a day. When we first met I wanted to impress her, so I took one and smoked it like I had smoked every day before. What I didn’t expect was that the cigarette felt so familiar in my hand.

When I took my first drag, it felt like second nature.

My fingers felt dirty from holding such adisgusting thing, but when I began to think about it, I think I felt dirty because I knew I was going to keep smoking every day for the rest of my life.

“Don’t bite your nails. It’s nasty.” Autumn traced a chalk drawing on the concrete. Her daughter drew it, and it had been there for a few days. But now it was fading and her daughter didn’t even remember that she made it.

“I’m not biting my nails,” I told her. I wasn’t biting them. And even if I was, it wasn’t any of her business.

I almost told her that, but decided not to. She really wouldn’t care.

“You’re still nasty.”

“You’re a shitty friend,” I told her. But she didn’t care.

“Where is my daughter?” She looked around. “Weren’t you watching her?”

“It’s not my job to watch your daughter, dumbass.” I stood up and wiped off my jeans. “I’m going home.”

She didn’t say anything. I just stared at her for a long time, but she refused to look at me. Probably because she knew she was a dumbass. used to have long, blonde hair. When I was younger, I thought I could be like Rapunzel if I grew my hair long enough, so I wouldn’t let anyone cut it. But one day when I was doing my homework at my desk, a boy came over and cut my hair off. I cried for a really long time, and ever since then I won’t grow my hair past my shoulders.

It’s not blonde anymore either. I dyed it every color of the rainbow, starting with red and going all the way to blue.

None of the colors really fit me, and every time I looked in the mirror, I didn’t even really know who I was.

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Now my hair is black, and it feels like straw when you touch it. I didn’t think it would ever feel soft again, not even after my mom told me that someday, new hair would grow and then I could cut off the old hair and it would feel new. Somehow, I could never imagine myself feeling new.

“Where have you been?”

I closed the front door. The house was dark, and the only light in the whole house came from the TV. There was some stupid infomercial on about vacuums, and I could barely hear what they were saying. But it didn’t really matter.

“Out,” I said, walking past the couch.

I still lived with my mom. I was 23 years old and I still lived with my mom. She didn’t really care that I was there, and didn’t complain when I helped pay rent, but I didn’t like living with her.

“Did you get food?” She asked me. She didn’t even look at me. Hey eyes were glued to the TV. “No.” “When are you going to stop being so fucking sad?”

I didn’t answer her. met August when I was 18. I graduated high school and celebrated by going to some stupid party in the woods. Everyone I knew was there, and if I didn’t go, I was probably going to sit at home and smoke cigarettes with Autumn. And Autumn was pregnant with some man’s baby that she couldn’t remember, and she cried too much. So I went to this stupid party.

But when I got there, I found August. He was wearing a green cargo jacket and black jeans, and my first thought was something about how stupid he looked. But he actually looked really nice, and I was just too full of myself to admit that anyone looked attractive.

He was looking at me all night, but I didn’t look back at him. When I was 18, I was too cool for anyone, even cute boys in overrated jackets. But he didn’t really care that I wasn’t looking at him, so he came up to me.

“Why are you over here all alone?” He asked me.

I shrugged.

“My name’s August,” he said, holding his hand out.

I looked down at it suspiciously, but put my own in his.

“I didn’t ask.” I could hear the annoyance in my voice, and I knew he could too, but somehow I could tell that he

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didn’t care. Instead, he laughed, even though it wasn’t funny. I was purposely trying to be mean.

“What’s your name?”

“Paisley.”

“I didn’t know that was a name.”

I looked at him. It was the first time I really looked at him. He had stubble along his jaw, and his eyebrows were bushy. His eyes crinkled at the corners, but in a way that made my heart jump. I gagged when I thought the phrase, ‘made my heart jump’. His lips were cracked in the middle, and his nose dipped just a little. He wasn’t bad looking. He was attractive.

“I thought August was a month in the year.”

He smiled at me and his cracked lips soundlessly invited me in. I was lost in his smile. I was officially one of those girls who fell for the guys she met at the party that she didn’t want to go to.

“I think I like you,” he said.

I didn’t say anything. o m e t i m e s at night when I tried to fall asleep, the moon would shine through my window and illuminate my floors. There was a stain from the time I got a bloody nose and forgot to clean up the drops of blood that fell before I could get a tissue. I could never bring myself to clean the stain, even though I hated looking at it.

“Don’t you have a job?”

Autumn put out her cigarette. She only took one drag, and then put it out. I wanted to yell at her for wasting a perfectly good cigarette, but she was trying to quit, so she was already pissed off all the time.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than ask me about my life?” I took her cigarette box. If she didn’t want them, I did.

“When did you become such a big bitch?” She asked me. Her daughter looked up from her book.

“Bitch.”

Autumn smacked the back of her head. “Don’t say bad words.”

Her daughter frowned. “You say bad words all the time.”

“That doesn’t mean you can.”

I shook my head and took a drag of my cigarette. Her daughter stared at me while I released the smoke from my mouth.

“What are you staring at?” I asked her, flicking the cigarette. Her daughter shrugged.

“Why don’t you have a job?”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t talk to Autumn for a while after that. f e l l in love with August after a year of pretending that we weren’t anything other than friends. We told people who saw us that we were just friends, but we were more than that. When I was with August, my hair was a deep purple. August thought it was poetic or something, but I was just trying to be ironic.

I told him I loved him after we had sex for the first

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time. He stared at me for a really long time and I almost took it back. We had sex and I was naked, but it didn’t matter because I just told August I had loved him, and that felt worse than being naked. I hadn’t told anyone I loved them since I was six years old, and my dad bought me a box of chocolates on the way home from work. I asked him if I could have some milk to go with it. He went to the store to go get it. I was seven when I realized he wasn’t coming home. u g u s t told me he loved me after 10 seconds of staring at me. I asked him why it took so long, and he laughed at me.

“I told you I loved you the moment I saw you. You just couldn’t hear me because I was all the way across the party.”

“You’re such a liar.”

“Why is it so hard to believe that I knew I would love you?”

I didn’t answer.

“Next.”

I m o v e d forward in line and set down my contents: a box of tampons, two bars of chocolates, razors and six packs of gum. The cashier looked at me, but she didn’t smile. I didn’t smile either.

“Twenty-five even,” she said, putting everything in a bag. “Hey, haven’t I seen you before?”

I shook my head and handed her some money.

“Yeah, I have. You’re that one girl that was on the news forever. Didn’t you-” I took my bag and left.

Four years ago, I tripped on the sidewalk and scraped my knee. I got blood on my white jeans and the stain never came out. I scrubbed my jeans viciously, because I knew that if they were ruined, that I could never get another pair. But no matter what I did, the stain stayed, and the jeans were hidden in the back of my closet. That was the day I realized that my entire life was stained or dirty, and there was nothing I could do about it. My fingers were stained with cigarettes and my blood was everywhere. u g u s t died two years after I met him. We went to a party, and it was bring your own booze, but someone brought their own gun. I remembered wrapping my arms around August’s neck while he caressed my growing stomach, and wished we would have stayed home, and then I remembered the feeling of metal piercing my skin. I watched August’s face and opened my mouth to tell him that I was fine, but words got lost in the air. It wasn’t until both of us collapsed that I realized a bullet went through the side of his head, and he wasn’t August anymore. He was just another body on the floor of a massacre.

Twelve people died that night. News cameras circled my house for weeks, and all that time, I lay on the couch clutching my stomach. The scar still stung when my fingers brushed across it, even though the doctors told me it would stop hurting with pain

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medication. But how many pills did it take to drown the pain of losing two pieces of you at the exact same time?

T h e scar is still etched into my body, and sometimes I wonder if God was playing some sick joke on me by putting a stain on my body.

“It’s not you fault he died,” Autumn said. She was brushing her daughter’s hair. I was smoking my third cigarette. It was raining, and the sky was purple, just like the color of my hair when I met August.

My hair was purple when he got shot, and after I got out of the hospital, I dyed it black. It’s been black ever since.

“Shut up.”

“He wouldn’t want you to be sad.”

“I said shut up.”

“Stop being such a bitch.”

Her daughter turned around. “Bitch.”

I watched her watch her mother to see if she would get in trouble, but this time Autumn didn’t say anything to her. I rolled my eyes and threw my cigarette in the trash. n c e I had a dream that I had my baby. August held him while I watched them with love.

I could feel that love radiating off of me, off of them. When I woke up, everything I felt was gone, and I was left with the feeling of missing them. I missed something I never had. That’s the worst way to miss something.

“You never call anymore.”

“I know.”

“It upsets me when you don’t call.”

August’s sister clicked her tongue. She liked to talk to me. I didn’t like to talk to her.

“It’s hard to talk to you.”

“Do you think it will ever get easier?”

I didn’t answer.

One day, Autumn sat outside with me on the sidewalk. I looked up at the sky and it was a soft, purple velvet. I wanted to ask her if she thought it looked beautiful, but I knew she’d make fun of me if I said anything about it. I let the moment pass and watched her daughter tumble out in the street. She looked up at the sky. With her dainty finger, she pointed up and said, “Pretty.”

I looked at Autumn. She rolled her eyes.

“Pay attention to your fucking daughter,” I told her. She gave me a dirty look and got up from the sidewalk. I watched her pick up her daughter and they both watched the sky.

I let myself cry while I watched them, cried for something that I never had, cried for something that I had always wanted. My tears fell silently and stained the sidewalk.

I thought it was the most beautiful stain I had ever seen.

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Contributors

FIONA DAVIS “Eye of the Beholder”

MIRANDA JACOBSON “Colors”

ALYSSA ANDERSON “A Monster’s Sweet Tooth”

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rt is a means of sitting down and asking yourself: Who am I and what do I want to tell people? Who am I and what do I think about that?

I came up with page two before any other page. When parts of you are dissected and other parts are essentially washed away only to reveal people just focusing on these parts of yourself, that’s a hard thing to say within words. To simply be able to draw that one image, I think expresses the feeling of being objectified more than anything I could ever explain. It’s hard to express what it feels like to be watched but it’s easier to be shown what it’s like to be watched.

When women are silent they never hear each other. There’s a certain unity in telling each other, yeah I’ve been through that too.

It’s not just my voice within this piece, it is the voices of many women within this piece.

To share that experience is something I am very grateful for.

Being uncomfortable isn’t always a bad thing because it means it is impacting you.

At least on some level, you are thinking about my piece, maybe you don’t agree with me, maybe you don’t see my point of view but on some level at least I’ve made them think about that situation within a woman’s experience.

Is making people uncomfortable my favorite thing in the world? No. By no means no, but I try to see that as a way that I can impact the conversation, even if it is within themselves to think, why does this make me uncomfortable? What do I see in this that makes me feel unsettled in some way and how can that inform me in some way in my life?

y grandma used to buy me these notebooks and I would just write stories in them all the time, probably for as long as I could hold a pencil.

I’ve always been really into reading and when books didn’t go the way I wanted them to I just figured I’d do it on my own.

Fiction-wise the most challenging thing is making it original, to me. I don’t ever want someone to read my story and be able to call out what I’m about to do next. So for me originality is making sure no one can predict what is going to happen next.

I want you to constantly be on your toes and wondering, ‘hmm I wonder where this is going.’ I want to take you to places that you never thought you were going to be in the story.

Everything is very unpredictable, you never know when anything is going to happen. I definitely like to reflect that in the writing.

I feel like people think everything is so concrete and set in stone and it’s not. I like to make sure people see that through my writing.

I’ve had a really rough last couple of years and that is when my writing started to flourish the most.

Just being able to create, in any kind of way, makes me feel a lot better. It makes me feel validated almost, that the feelings I had weren’t for nothing, something really good came out of it.

Even if something hurt me really badly, as long as I could make something incredible out of it after, then it was totally worth it.

ou see what you like in other people’s art and you try to incorporate that into your own, that’s also how you find your own style, by trial and error and seeing what you like in other people’s art, seeing what techniques work for you.

The main thing is it makes me happy. I know that when it reflects on you as an artist it reflects on other people as well. Making other people happy with my art is important and something I want to share.

They’re the best cookies I’ve ever had so I feel like if people are actually going to use it as a recipe to follow I think that would be really neat because if they make them the same way I do then they’ll be tasting something that I taste when I make them which is kind of neat. They’ll also be experiencing and looking at the art and instructions while doing that which I think is fun.

I think what I’m going to say is the monster made this recipe and his first language isn’t English. (Referring to combined being misspelled twice on page eight.)

For more of Alyssa’s work visit her: Website: ardourable.com Instagram: ardourable YouTube: ardourable Email: alyssasketches@hotmail.com The O’Keefe Comic Contest calls for entries in October with completed work due in February. The comic contest is sponsored by the Art, Art Digital Media and English Departments.

The DVC Literary Contest entries are due in March. The contest is sponsored by the English Department.

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