Fall 2014 issue 12

Follow our video series “An Artist’s Account” on the consolidation of an SF State college

November 12, 2014 ISSUE 12 VOLUME XCIX GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

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Professor’s politics left outside the classroom

A CELEBRATORY GOODBYE

Soccer coach retires after 35 years ALEJANDRO DIAZ

galicia7@mail.sfsu.edu

CHLOE JOHNSON

cjohnson@mail.sfsu.edu

When professor Joseph “Joe” Tuman gave a lecture on the regulation of Internet content to a packed classroom, he offered no hint that he was also running for mayor of Oakland. But the communications professor, who has been teaching at SF State since 1987, spent the first part of the fall semester balancing these two demanding roles.

A group of about 50 family members, friends and supporters watched tensely as the numbers were counted on election night Nov. 4. With about 12 percent of the vote, Tuman came in fifth out of 15 candidates behind Libby Schaaf, incumbent Jean Quan, Rebecca Kaplan and Dan Siegel. Schaaf won with over 30 percent of the vote.

Tuman unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Oakland once before, in 2010, but does not plan to run a third time. However, he does plan to use the lessons he picked up on the campaign trail in his classes DANIEL PORTER / XPRESS on constitutional law, PORTRAIT: Joseph “Joe” Tuman politics and communications.

“Don’t let the suit fool you,” Tuman said. “I’m living on a teacher’s salary. My roots are in teaching.”

Between teaching and campaigning, Tuman worked as many as 80 hours a week this semester. He never graded papers while on the campaign trail or did political work during his office hours.

“If there’s a day off, you put some time into that and you work on the weekends,” Tuman said. “Teaching days are calendared out, but I might do a debate in the evening. On weekends, I might be grading papers or campaigning.”

Still, campaigning while teaching a full course load took its toll on Tuman, a centrist Democrat who considered himself an “outsider,” going up against several big name Oakland politicians.

“Whatever the word is for when you’re beyond exhausted, that’s what I am,” Tuman said. “I have a lot of 22-hour days. There have been some days when it feels like you’re a zombie.

Your eyeballs hurt in your sockets. You lose your voice.”

Tuman also gained a new appreciation for the commute between San MAYORAL CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

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DANIEL PORTER / XPRESS

LEGACY: Women’s soccer coach Jack Hyde high-fives a player on his team while holding presents the women gave him for his retirement at Cox Stadium Wednesday, Oct. 22.

decades long coaching career came to an end for the father of women’s soccer at SF State this semester, when he decided to step down and end an era for SF State athletics.

Jack Hyde, 70, joined the University’s soccer program in 1979, where he coached the men’s soccer team and taught physical education. Since then,

he has created and improved the women’s soccer squad.

“It’s felt like five years, but it’s been a long time,” said Hyde with tears in his eyes.

Hyde, who prompted the organization of a women’s soccer team at SF GATOR CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Blackout shuts down campus Students forced to vacate residential halls and the library after a power failure ALMA VILLEGAS

avillegas@mail.sfsu.edu

NASHELLY CHAVEZ / XPRESS

LIGHTS OUT: Dozens of students work outside of the J. Paul Leonard Library after a power outage causes several buildings to be evacuated Thursday, Nov. 6.

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A power outage struck campus Thursday evening, causing evacuations in the J. Paul Leonard Library and residential buildings for a couple hours.

Lights first shut down at approximately 8:43 p.m. and emergency backup lights came on several seconds later until power was restored.

PG&E representatives said they were still analyzing the reason for Thursday’s power NIGHTTIME CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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NEWS

F State professor John Ryan’s love for teaching was sparked as a young student the moment his communications instructor told him he should teach the class one day.

Those words resonated with Ryan and drove him to inspire others the same way his teacher did for him.

“You can say something that lights a fire,” said Ryan, who teaches communications. “I don’t even remember her name, but she had an impact over the course of my life.”

That fire ignited a passion to teach others, which resulted in his ranking as the 14th best professor in the country, according to the Highest Rated Professors of 2013-2014 by Rate My Professors, a website that compiles college student feedback.

Soft spoken yet full of excitement in every word, Ryan said he loves to teach and said he strives to create a memorable learning experience for his students.

He was surprised when he received a phone call in October from the University’s media department asking for his photo, telling him of the news.

“I can’t take the credit,” Ryan said. “It’s not a reflection of me but a reflection of the department. I’m just a representative of how we teach public speaking here at State. I don’t know how it happened, but it’s humbling.”

Mindi Golden, who ran the department’s teacher training program while Ryan was a graduate student, congratulated his success despite his hardships and described Ryan as “hard-working, dedicated and incredibly bright.”

“He’s a role model for teachers and his students,” Golden said. “He’s established himself as one of the best. No one handed it to him.”

Ryan, 50, grew up in New York City and has lived in the

CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT

Mayoral race ends in defeat for professor

NOVEMBER 12, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

ERIC GORMAN / XPRESS

LEADER: SF State communications professor John Ryan poses for a portrait on campus Thursday, Nov. 6.

Professor named 14th best in the nation DANIEL RIVERA

dmrivera@mail.sfsu.edu

Bay Area since he was 13. He completed his undergraduate studies at SF State in 2000 and worked in the hospitality industry after graduating. Years later, Ryan was struck by grief when his wife at the time passed away and he was left to care for his two young children.

Although returning to school as an older student might be daunting for some, Ryan decided

to return to SF State for his graduate studies in 2007 to provide a better life for his family. Ryan’s hard work paid off in Spring 2010, when he earned his master’s of arts in communication studies and was officially hired as a lecturer.

“I think for me going back to school over-age was great because you can take what you learn and apply it in your experi-

ences,” Ryan said. “There’s nothing like coming up in a subject and teaching it.”

He now mentors the next generation of lecturers in the communication studies department’s teacher training program alongside his former teachers.

When he is out of the classroom, Ryan spends as much time as possible with his family.

Communication studies

Francisco and Oakland that he makes every day because it gave him time to be alone.

“I can actually listen to what I want or just sit and think,” Tuman said.

Growing up in Dallas, Texas as the son of Iranian immigrants, Tuman started working in restaurants at age 12 and put himself through college by washing dishes and bussing tables, according to his campaign website.

Since then, he has often juggled different responsibilities. “(Teachers) manage that live-work balance, or that work-work balance,” Tuman said from his Telegraph Avenue campaign office.

Tuman said that the University was aware of his double life, but he was not sure if they would grant him a leave of absence to carry out his mayoral term if he won. As

a tenured professor though, he said it could have been possible. Still, he did not often bring up his other full-time job while at school.

“He said it very clear in the beginning that he will not discuss his campaign in class, which I think is important,” said senior communications major Michael Kinson.

Although he has never held elected office before, Tuman has worked with City Hall

professor and Ryan’s former graduate instructor Christina Sabee said his selflessness to help whenever he is needed makes him an invaluable member of the department.

“Professor Ryan is a generous colleague — always willing to help out in the department and be flexible,” Sabee said.

“It’s no surprise that he brings that generosity of spirit into his classrooms.”

Jessica Edathil, who took Ryan’s Fundamentals of Oral Communication course in 2011, still looks back at his class with immense admiration. Edathil said Ryan’s use of storytelling set him apart from other professors.

“Some teachers use PowerPoints and lectures, but for him it was stories about his life and we learned from his stories,” Edathil said. “I never skipped a class.

That’s how much I loved it.”

Edathil considers herself a shy person and the thought of her giving class presentations terrified her initially, but Ryan encouraged students to clap after every presentation for her and her classmates’ bravery.

“I think of myself as an introvert and find public speaking hard, but I really loved the class,” Edathil said. “He just made me and everyone comfortable. I can definitely look back at my past speeches and feel empowered. That’s something that’s been ingrained in me.”

Ryan prefers to engage his students rather than lecture to them. Whether it is through group activities, presentations or the occasional joke, Ryan said he always aims to create a learning environment where students like to participate.

“My basic philosophy is I try to teach as I would like to be taught,” Ryan said. “What I hope students take out of them is to help them find their own voices so they can feel comfortable expressing themselves. I want them to take some skills so they can be successful in what they pursue.”

through advocacy organizations like Make Oakland Better Now. He would like to use his experiences on the campaign trail to influence his time in the classroom.

“I think it would be absolutely fabulous to come back into a classroom, and not only have an academic sense of this but a personal experience as a politician,” Tuman said. “I love SF State.”

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Students honor Palestinian activist in mural celebration JENNAH FEELEY

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tudents paraded with Palestinian flags at Malcolm X Plaza for the seventh annual celebration of a mural painted on the student center that features prominent Palestinian educator, writer, philosopher and activist Edward Said.

Members of the General Union of Palestine Students expressed their appreciation for the piece of cultural representation through song and dance last

jennah@mail.sfsu.edu

Thursday at noon and continued the festivities during a banquet at the Student Life Events Center.

“He’s a really intelligent Palestinian,” said GUPS member and freshman Linda Ereikat.

“We look up to him as college students for our future.”

Located above the bookstore entrance to the student center, the mural is considered the first of its kind at any university in the U.S., according to an SF State news

ERIC GORMAN / XPRESS

HELEN TINNA / XPRESS

REMEMBERANCE: (ABOVE) Hip-hop social activist Jasiri X performs some of his rhymes at the General Union of Palestine Students seventh annual Edward Said Mural Celebration in Malcolm X Plaza Wednesday, Nov. 5. (BELOW LEFT) An image of Said’s mural, which was honored at the seventh Annual Edward Said Mural Celebration at SF State Wednesday, Nov. 5.

brief from 2007. Debate over whether the mural represented controversial images slowed its creation, taking two years before it was completed in 2007.

Said is celebrated for deconstructing stereotypes and working for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during the 1960s and 1970s. A myriad of other symbols in the mural represent peace, resilience and ties between Palestine and the United States.

“Not only are we here because of the historic event, like the Edward Said mural, but we’re here because we know that art and culture has a huge, huge role in terms of our resistance and our liberation,” said GUPS

President Lubna Morrar. “That mural being put up is one of the most symbolic murals in the world, and especially in the United States.”

The celebration featured poetry from GUPS members and speeches from several Palestine supporters including Hatem Bazian, an SF State GUPS alumnus and professor at University of California Berkeley. GUPS mentor and ethnic studies professor Rabab Abdulhadi also announced the creation of an Edward Said scholarship, which will be awarded to a student who stands for what Said accomplished in his lifetime.

The event’s headliner was hip-hop artist and activist

Jasiri X, who joined the event in solidarity with GUPS. A recent trip to Palestine inspired his latest work, which references the checkpoints that restrict Palestinian movement.

“It was a life changing experience,” Jasiri said of his travels.

“I mean, I thought I understood but it was so much worse. To see and experience it with your own eyes — it shook me.”

Following the political speeches and performances, the crowd danced, feasted and celebrated Palestinian culture together.

“We have events that are more political,” Ereikat said.

“Today it’s about our culture.”

Students explore impact of factory farming TIMOTHY SMITH

tsmith@mail.sfsu.edu

The founder of an Oakland-based nonprofit shook up SF State students last Thursday with some surprising statistics about the environmental impact of the factory farming industry and the dietary habits that sustain it.

The Sustainable Initiatives office invited Katie Cantrell from the Factory Farming Awareness Coalition to speak in the student center about the nature of factory farming. To make the whole discussion more palatable for current meat eaters, Cantrell focused more on the environmental implications than the ethical, according to Liana Derus, manager of Sustainable Initiatives.

“It takes a lot of courage to approach an issue like this,” Derus said. “Most people don’t want to go out of their way to find out why their steak is exacerbating the drought.”

During her presentation, Cantrell provided data to show the large-scale effects of individual dietary choices, especially in terms of water resources.

“Animal agriculture is one of the single most destructive industries on the planet,” Cantrell said.

More than nine billion land animals are raised and killed for human consumption in the U.S. every year on average, according to figures provided by the Humane Society of the United States.

Raising those animals requires an enormous amount of land and water, Cantrell said. In California, local consumers only use 4 percent

of all water supplies, whereas the meat and dairy industry heavily contribute to 90 percent of all water used on agricultural production in the state, according to Water Footprint Network.

“The impacts of our personal water choices are tiny compared to the impact of our food choices,” she said.

ILLUSTRATION BY KAITLIN AGUILAR / XPRESS

Knowing how hard it can be to digest all that information, Cantrell made it a point to interrupt the discussion with short “cuteness breaks” that included photos of baby animals.

“I’m not saying that eating meat is directly going to cause civil wars, but it’s certainly contributing to problems that are destabilizing communities all over the world,” Cantrell said.

Derus, a vegan, said most people don’t fully understand the effects of their individual behavior, especially with complex systems like the factory farming industry. “With more transparency, it’s easier for people to make different choices about their diet,” she said.

Heather Russell, a visual communication design major, was vocal during the discussion, mentioning that she was concerned about the impact of big agriculture in her own hometown of Petaluma.

“I think it’s terribly unhealthy for our social and economic environment to have a few — usually white, male, upper-middle class educated — people in charge of something like food,” Russell said.

Some of those in attendance admitted to fearing what they’d find out. Ellie Razlenjani, an environmental studies student, said she had just become a vegetarian and wanted to get involved.

“I’ve been in the dark most of my life — somewhat intentionally.

I guess because I was afraid to find out what was really happening,” Razlenjani said.

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Conference focuses on healing through art DAYVON DUNAWAY

ddunaway@mail.sfsu.edu

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fter she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and the symptoms of the disease started to take their toll, Elizabeth Jameson discarded her title as a public interest lawyer and immersed herself in the world of art.

“When I had a huge inability to talk, I thought ‘holy shit, what am I going to do with my life,’” Jameson said. “So, when I went to my first art class I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.”

Her story and the stories of other panelists set the theme, the Role of Art in Health and Creative Change, for the 2014 Future of Healthcare Conference Saturday at Jack Adams Hall.

The Holistic Health Network hosted the event, which has run biennially since 2004, marking its fifth run at SF State.

“Anyone that has ever experienced the shivers you get when you hear a beautiful song, or see a powerful image or are hit by a heart-piercing poem knows what art does,” said Holistic Health Network officer Matthew Mauger, who played a key role in planning the event.

Holistic health offers an integrated model of care by

ERIC GORMAN / XPRESS

RECOVERY: (left to right) Vinit Allen, Vianca Salanga and Jesse DeGuzman participate in a stress reducing activity during the 2014 Future of Healthcare Conference in Jack Adams Hall in the Cesar Chavez Student Center Saturday, Nov. 8.

weaving together the social and natural sciences, the arts and humanities and the teachings of traditional societies, said founder of the Holistic Health Learning Center Kenn Burrows.

Naj Wikoff, the keynote speaker, founded Creative Healing Connections 15 years ago to

support the healing of women living with cancer, veteran and active-duty women with post-traumatic stress disorder and military sexual trauma through art and nature.

“When you bring art into their lives, you are the answer to their prayers,” Wikoff said.

The event showcased an array of speakers, music and dancing. Stories of personal struggles and triumph through art therapy took the front stage at noon.

Melanie Choi, an SF State finance graduate, found herself heading down a toxic path and

used holistic health and art to save herself from personal destruction.

“In the beginning, my healing process was just being drunk for four months. After that inebriated time, I was really reclusive,” Choi said. “Art is so powerful, when you put your intentions toward something so much magic is made.”

SF State cinema student Kristin Wingfield said that the event was a great way to approach music and art. “When they were talking about music and films, it’s similar to what I learn but has a more healing aspect to it, and it was really rewarding,” she said.

The conference blends art and health through its potential to heal people and create shifts in culture and society said Nick Moore of the Holistic Health Department.

Burrows said the event is an art immersion experience for those who participate. Attendees threw themselves onto the floor to share the experience of dance, song and meditation.

“We are all artistic beings and owe it to ourselves and each other to share that,” Mauger said. “That’s what the conference is, pushing art into daily life and community, seeing it as key to health and living life.”

PROFESSOR PROFILE

Criminal justice course targets police brutality LULU OROZCO

When criminal justice lecturer Greg Woods started to notice that the least informed members of the community were the most disproportionately affected by the justice system, it became clear to him that he needed to teach others to understand the law.

“My mission is to increase awareness and improve public policy regarding those critical issues impacting our community,” said Woods, who teaches four classes at SF State.

Students in his research methods class are analyzing the relationship between law enforcement and the community with an emphasis on police department policies and their use of force.

For Raquel Gonzalez, 22, her family experiences with law enforcement lead her to pursue a final thesis that sheds light on police engagement within minorities and impoverished communities.

“I started to realize that this is part of a bigger picture that hits home,” the Mission District resident said after seeing posters

ohlulu@mail.sfsu.edu

all over her neighborhood of Alex Nieto, who was killed in Bernal Heights by SF police last year.

“It’s not just an accident. It’s all over the nation, it’s happening everywhere.”

Through her research, Gonzalez hopes to find a way to establish bonds between police officers and the community.

Woods describes the understanding of law as a competitive game, where it is presumed everyone knows the rules.

“More often than not, it is those who do not understand the rules that will never win the game,” Woods said referring to the importance of understanding laws and their social impact within communities. “Even worse, those who do know the rules take advantage of the ignorance of those who do not.”

For Woods, having his students choose their own final thesis topic was his way of making them more socially conscious about issues important to them.

Francisco Morales, 22, said

MARTIN BUSTAMANTE / XPRESS

REFORM: Lecturer for the criminal justice program Greg Woods poses in his office Saturday, Nov. 8.

that about a year ago he received an initial complaint by the people of San Mateo County in which he had been accused of a crime he didn’t commit.

Morales was found not guilty, but said he was forced to travel to and from court hearings to San Mateo for over three months, which he said was costly since he didn’t have a car and was a fulltime student at SF State.

His personal experience became the platform for his research between money and its unjust favoritism for the wealthy, he said.

“If you have more money you have a better representation and if you have more money, in some

cases, the level of punishment is reduced,” he said.

Morales said his drivers license picture might have played a role in his experience because he looks like a thug in the photo.

“I started thinking a lot and one of the reasons why I think (this happened) is because my drivers license looks bad,” Morales said. “I think, in a way, I was racially profiled.”

The most essential theme explored in the course is the ability to find viable solutions to the problems they observe rather than incorporate retributive models of criminal justice.

“We can complain about the

I started to realize that this is part of a bigger picture that hits home.

It’s not just an accident.

It’s all over the nation, its happening everywhere.

Raquel Gonzalez, STUDENT

world all day, and how flawed things are, and we do,” Woods said. “But we, more than (police officers), can make this world a better place because we can come up with solutions.”

NEWS

NOVEMBER 12, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

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CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT

Nighttime power outage’s SF State’s Crime Blotter cause still uncertain outage and that it could be weeks before a reason is found, said University spokesperson Ellen Griffin Monday.

“At this point we have no definitive explanation of the cause,” Griffin said. “We know that there were two PG&E lines that come into the campus and that one of them tripped, but we don’t know the cause.”

A Library Community Service Officer made an announcement at 8:46 p.m. ordering people in the J. Paul Leonard Library to evacuate until further notice. Other buildings on campus were also evacuated, including the residential dorms.

At first inspection, the outage only affected SF State and not the surrounding community.

The cause of the power outage was unknown, according to Library Community Service Officer A. Juarez. Police cruisers roamed around campus with flashing lights as a large number of people made their way off of campus.

Psychology student Vicky Palacios said she was surprised when lights in the quiet study area first went off and waited to see how others around her reacted before she left the library.

“I was just going to stay in there, there was some lights that came back on,” she said.

At 9:02 p.m., another announcement was made by Juarez in front of the east en-

COMPILED BY XPRESS NEWS STAFF

Between October 18 and November 5, the University Police Department responded to 71 incidents. Here are some of the highlights.

Saturday, October 18 THIRSTY THIEF: A Village Market employee was able to recover a stolen drink from the store at 11:05 p.m., though was not able to stop the suspect. The suspect is described as an Asian man, roughly 20 years old, wearing a San Francisco 49er’s hat and matching jacket with low jeans and wide shoes. The Village Market faces a whopping loss of $0.

NASHELLY CHAVEZ / XPRESS

DARKNESS: Finance majors Will Lee and Justin Kuh study outside the J. Paul Leonard Library after a power outage impacted the entire campus Thursday, Nov. 6.

trance to the library.

“We don’t know exactly what happened and we need to keep the library clear,” Juarez said. “We don’t know exactly how long this will take. I’ll keep you guys updated, and it is all for security purposes.”

As the full moon kept the night lit outside of the library, some evacuees waited patiently for new information.

“I’m going to give it 30 minutes because I don’t have anywhere else to do work,” said Palacios, who commutes from the Excelsior District and was planning to stay in the library until the last bus came.

The lights went back on

around 9:24 p.m. in the Mary Park and Mary Ward residence halls, according to resident assistant Kaylie Gutierrez. She and another resident assistant were performing duty rounds, checking elevators for trapped students and making sure everyone was safe.

Gutierrez said the Area Assistant Coordinator dealt with the lockout situations of several students who ran out of their dorms to see what the commotion was about.

“Everyone gets so excited when a blackout happens, when anything different happens,” Gutierrez said.

Sunday, November 2 BATHROOM MISHAP: Police are flagged down and alerted of a man on the fourth floor of the women’s bathroom in the J. Paul Leonard Library Nov. 2 at 4:36 p.m. Police take him into custody after finding him in possession of drug paraphernalia. Officers discover he’s violated probation for not registering as a sex offender.

Wednesday, November 5 BOOZE: An intoxicated male created a disturbance at the Library Annex, prompting police assistance. The offer cited the subject with having an open container of alcohol and transported him to San Francisco General Hospital.

Saturday, November 8 REEFER MADNESS: Officers see four people on Cambon Drive at 2:20 a.m. and find one carrying marijuana. The subject is is taken into custody for possession of marijuana for sale.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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‘Oil & Water’ brings rainforest to campus HANNAH MULLINS

hmullins@mail.sfsu.edu

MARTIN BUSTAMANTE / XPRESS

ENVIRONMENT: Randy Borman, a Cofan tribal chief, speaks to the crowd of students who came to see the documentary “Oil & Water” at Richard Oakes Multicutural Center Wednesday, Nov. 5.

Students crammed together and others settled on the tile floor as a large crowd spilled into the hallway of the Cesar Chavez Student Center for the viewing of an environmental documentary and a discussion with Cofan tribal chief Randy Borman.

Laurel Spellman Smith and Francine Strickwerda put their hearts and souls into sharing the story of a national disaster through their documentary film “Oil &Water”. This eight-year-long production followed the footsteps of two young men seeking change for the indigenous people of Ecuador and the impact the oil companies had on the places these people once called home.

The story of two activists, Hugo Lucitante and David Poritz premiered Wednesday, Nov. 5, to an audience of students and faculty at SF State. Lucitante and Poritz had recently graduated high school and traveled to Ecuador to create a lifestyle around implementing change for an irreproachable community.

Located in the Northern region of the Ecuadorian Amazon, the men stayed with the Cofan tribe where it has resided for hundreds of years and where Lucitante grew up amid the start of a national disaster.

The oil industry had struck gold under the feet of others, and acted on motives that the speakers consider hold no concern for members of the indigenous tribes.

The village of Zabalo, where Lucitante’s family had built their life, began to become polluted.

The water, the food and the ground they walked on had become a toxic wasteland. Not wanting to leave their homes, the tribe found a way to maneuver their way of living around the tragic devastation that oil has on their community.

According to Lucitante, the health of the tribe has plummeted since the toxic oil began to spill into their waterways and both of Lucitante’s grandparents had fallen ill to stomach cancer within three years of each other.

“We’d like for the film to spark discussion on controversial energy issues,” Strickwerda said. “As David’s mentor Manuel Pallares says in the film, ‘The stupidest way of using oil is burning it.’ But it’s going to take time to transition away from oil to sustainable sources of energy.”

The two women and their small crew had traveled to and from the Ecuadorian Amazon over the span of eight years to finish their film. After battles with the heat, the bugs and the impending

doom that surrounded them the duration of the filming process, Strickwerda described the working conditions as challenging.

“It’s tough to find the resources and energy to keep going and see the project like this through to the end,” she said. “For most of the time, we were working other jobs, so it was always a juggle.”

Once the film finished its time on the screen, the lights illuminated the faces of concerned students.

Many wanted to help, but didn’t know how, so Borman offered the Cofan Survival Fund.

The fund helps collect money from willing donors to make sure the people of the tribe are able to keep their land. It also helps the families work as park rangers around their community, managing one million acres of land that is maintained by the tribe.

“It’s not about a poor indigenous group out in the middle of the jungle that needs to preserve their culture — although that is a component,” Borman said. “It is about the survival of the globe and I don’t know how to get that across to people effectively. We need that million acres of rainforest as a human race to be able to survive climate change. We need a lot of those millions of acres, not just that one.”

Renowned translator returns home at SF State REUBEN DEVERAS rdeveras@mail.sfsu.edu

Famed Chinese translator and former SF State Professor Howard Goldblatt returned to the University for a presentation of works by Taiwanese literary figure Huang Chunming.

The reading session last Saturday was organized by SF State’s Chinese program and presented by Chris Wen-Chao Li and Frederik H. Green, who are both professors of the program.

“These were the best years of my career,” Goldblatt said, regarding his tenure as professor of Chinese at SF State from 1974-88.

Wearing a mahogany-colored tweed jacket, charcoal pants and a gold-spotted tie, Goldblatt appeared relaxed during the event.

“When a Chinese writer is translated

by Goldblatt, it’s like a stamp of approval. People want to read it,” Green said, comparing the credibility of Goldblatt’s translations to a book recommendation by the famed Oprah Winfrey.

Green started the event by sharing a story about the origin of his Chinese name. A person must have a Chinese name if they teach Chinese, and Green’s name, Ge Haode, is so strikingly similar to Goldblatt’s name, Ge Haowen, that people thought they were related.

“When I first met Howard, I told him I was his brother,” Green joked.

Goldblatt first met Chunming in 1975 and has translated many of his works for a Western audience.

Chunming could not attend Saturday’s presentation due to his recent cancer diagnosis. Instead, he was projected on a screen live to the audience through a webcam from his home in Taiwan. Li provided translations to the audience as Chunming conversed with Green and Goldblatt.

“You’re looking younger and younger,” Goldblatt joked to 79-year-old Chunming.

After the introductions, various works by the writer were read by Goldblatt and his wife Sylvia Lin. The readings were then followed by a discussion of the work, a question and answer segment and a reception.

“Whenever Goldblatt would come to Taiwan, we would meet and we would talk like old friends,” said Chunming.

Audience members were kept engaged between readings from the many comedic stories Goldblatt shared.

Goldblatt first started studying Chinese after completing his tour of duty at a naval base in Taiwan. He said he fell in love with the environment and immersed himself in the country’s culture and people.

“I go through a day and don’t even think in English,” he said. “There’s nothing better than that!”

Sam Triplett, an international business and flagship Chinese major, attended

ERIC GORMAN / XPRESS

AUTHOR: Frederik Green, Sylvia Lin and Howard Goldblatt speak with Huang Chunming, who could not attend the gathering due to a recent diagnosis of cancer, during Tales of a Beautiful Island, a reading of famous fictions written in Mandarin by Chunming and translated into English by former SF State professor Goldblatt.

the event and had the opportunity to talk to Goldblatt a day prior. Triplett said Goldblatt is a very interesting man full of stories to share.

“I was lectured on how it’s very necessary to understand both the culture and the language of Chinese,” he said.

It has been over a decade since Goldblatt’s last visit to SF State and he said that the University has improved vastly since his time as a professor here.

“I’m happy that the workload is a lot

more calm for professors,” Goldblatt said.

“I was a workaholic and invested over 80 hours of week into teaching.”

He left SF State to teach at the University of Colorado from 1988-2002, then moved to the University of Notre Dame until he retired in 2006.

Though he invested many years at SF State, the former professor joked that he would not come back to teach again.

“No way,” Goldblatt said. “Not at my age.”

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

NOVEMBER 12, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

PIXAR / SPECIAL TO XPRESS

Pixar takes alumnus to new heights NICOLE PARADISE

nparadis@mail.sfsu.edu

From a monster-filled factory to talking cars, alumnus Jonas Rivera continues to expand our imaginations and inspire up-and-coming animators.

Since his last class at SF State, Rivera has been a part of the Pixar family, living out his childhood dreams. With no regrets, he missed his college graduation to start working at his dream job as a producer at Pixar Animation Studios.

“I told myself ‘I’m gonna work so damn hard they’re never gonna get rid of me,’” Rivera said. His motivation turned an internship into a full-time job the day after his last college course.

Approaching his senior year, Rivera called Pixar searching for an internship. The day following that phone call became the first step in Rivera’s journey to becoming a producer. “‘Can you come down tomorrow?’ they asked me,” Rivera said. “It wasn’t glamorous, but it was incredible.”

Rivera became the first production intern at Pixar during the making of “Toy Story” in 1994.

Nearly 20 years after graduating with a degree in film production, Rivera has worked on almost every Pixar film made including “Up!,” “Monsters, Inc.,” “Cars” and “A Bug’s Life.”

Landing a job at Pixar, however, wasn’t the end of Rivera’s success. In 2009, Rivera received a nomination for Academy Award for Best Picture as the producer of “Up!” and was awarded at the Producers Guild Awards for Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures in 2010.

Growing up, Rivera wanted to be an animator but decided he wasn’t very skilled at drawing. So instead, he learned everything he could about animation and discovered he wanted to lean to the production side of films.

SF State animation student Ben Diaz has a similar outlook on film to Rivera’s.

“I’d love to produce animated films,” Diaz said.

“As an animator, I am not the best drawer but I know what I want to see and I try to make it happen.”

Diaz was first inspired to study animation and pursue a career in film production after seeing “How to Train Your Dragon.”

“It had that magic quality that Pixar had, but from a different company,” he said.

Today, cinema students are constantly competing for internships and jobs. Rivera said he feels lucky to have gotten an internship with Pixar, but that it was a tough balance with school.

“I’d go to school in the morning, then go to Pixar,” he said.

If the opportunity arose for Diaz, he said he would do whatever it takes to make it work.

Although Diaz’s original inspiration came from a DreamWorks film, he said that he has always wanted to work at Pixar. Though he applied for a summer internship at the company and didn’t get it, Diaz said that the day may come when the time is right.

Rivera proves that with passion and dedication comes the ultimate success: being proud of your own work. “‘Up!” is the one I’m most proud of,” Rivera said, adding that from the first idea to the big screen, the film took about five years to complete. “Animation is glacial and slow.”

Diaz, on the other hand, said his favorite Pixar movie is “Monsters, Inc.” “It is just so imaginative and the ending is per-

DEBORAH COLEMAN / SPECIAL TO XPRESS

PORTRAIT: Up! producer Jonas Rivera has his photo taken at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif.

fect,” he said.

The University’s cinema department prepared Rivera to work at Pixar, and continues to transform students into professionals. Associate professor and animation coordinator Martha Gorzycki believes all animation students in the program can achieve professional success.

“They have to be willing to work hard and keep improving their skills,” Gorzycki said.

Rivera said the biggest lesson he learned during college was to not hesitate.

“Go after what wakes you up in the morning,” Rivera said. “Don’t just go to school and learn it, find a place, intern and experience what supplements your education.”

As Rivera expands his dream at Pixar with his newest film “Inside Out” set to release in June 2015, SF State cinema students continue to find success and pursue their passions.

Alumni Brett Pulliam, a 1996 graduate, and Michelle Ohana, a 2002 graduate, both found their way to Pixar to work on animation for “Monsters University.”

With graduation coming up in May of next year, Diaz feels confident in the education that SF State has left him with, especially after he heard of Rivera’s success.

“It’s reassuring to know that there’s opportunities everywhere,” Diaz said. “I’ve learned to take initiative and don’t lose interest in what drives you.”

ILLUSTRATION BY SOFIA LIMON / XPRESS

7

8

SPORTS

NOVEMBER 12, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

DANIEL PORTER / XPRESS

FAREWELL: The women’s soccer team lines up in Cox Stadium Wednesday, Oct. 22 to give their coach, Jack Hyde, presents to remind him of them after his retirement this season.

CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT

Gator women’s soccer creator leaves behind legacy State in 1982, comes from a rich soccer background. He played professional level soccer in England, his native country, before making several stops around the globe, including Canada, South Africa and here in the U.S. After his career as a player, Hyde began to coach at several schools in Northern California. He made his way through Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, Diablo Valley Junior College in Pleasant Hill and the University of California Berkeley as an assistant coach, eventually landing at SF State, according to the Gator athletics website.

“There’s different stages that you go through,” Hyde said. “You start off as a young coach, and so you do it one way.

And then you get a little bit older and so you do it a different way.”

Throughout his career as coach at SF State, Hyde managed to make history in 2002 when his team was named Co-

CCAA Northern Conference Champions and he helped his team advance to the NCAA Division-II National Championship tournament, according to the Gator athletics website.

“Throughout my career, what has always made me think is how do we get the best out of these players,” Hyde said. “And how can we help them perform their best and how can we work as a team.”

Hyde walks away from SF State leaving behind a legacy. He said he could not pick out a single memory as his favorite.

“One of my greatest (memories) is winning the conference title in 2010 and also when we were selected to the postseason playoffs,” Hyde said. “But I’ve got a bunch of photographs all the way around the office of each year’s teams that we’ve had.”

Despite a tough 2014 season, senior

defender Stephanie Vanni said she felt fortunate and happy to have played for the legendary head coach.

“If we could, we would give him the whole world,” Vanni said. “He’s put so much time and dedication into this program, not only this past year, but all 35 years here. Playing for him has been amazing. I wouldn’t want to have any other coach.”

Sophomore forward Autumn Fox said that being apart of Hyde’s final team was an honor, and that she will remember Hyde as one of a kind.

“We’re the team that he’s going to end his legacy with,” said sophomore forward Autumn Fox. “It’s just awesome. It’s incredibly special to have played for him. He’s been here for 35 years, and to say that we’re the team that he’s going to remember as his last season — it’s just so special.”

Now that his coaching years are

COURTESY OF ATHLETICS / SPECIAL TO XPRESS

over, Hyde plans on remaining active physically, spending time with family and keeping up with the very team he built.

“What’s next for me? I’ve got tons of things to do. I play tennis, I ride bikes and I want to go and ride my bike while I still can and don’t fall off,” Hyde joked. “When (the team) starts next season, I’m going to come up and watch a game or two and see how they’re doing.”

ATHLETES OF THE SEASON Volleyball

Men’s Soccer

Women’s Soccer

Jessica Nicerio

Sam Merritt

Elizet Ceja

Became SF State’s all-time leader in digs as the defensive specialist for the Gators.

As junior forward, Merritt led the team in scoring with 14 points, 5 goals and 4 assists.

Ceja is the top scorer of the season, with 6 goals and 2 assists as midfielder.

SPORTS

NOVEMBER 12, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

9

Wrestler fights for an All American slot SERGIO PORTELA

sportela@mail.sfsu.edu

Isolated, SF State wrestler Andrew Reggi stretched and waited patiently for his next match, while a song by rapper Drake rang through his headphones to block out the noise of the room. He concentrated on his first move on the mat, with victory on his mind, he said.

Reggi, a fifth year senior from Berkeley, Calif. returns after having a stellar junior performance, finishing 28-12 in the 197-pound weight class.

Last season he was a Division-II National Qualifier and finished third at the NCAA Division II Super Region IV/RMAC Championships.

This season he is ranked eighth in the pre-season Division II wrestling rankings, but he’s hungry for more.

“I’m setting my goal a lot higher. I want to be a National champion,” Reggi said. “I was top 12 last year, but I feel I can do a lot better than that.”

Reggi is one of four returning seniors from last year’s

team and is a leader to the other wrestlers. Gator assistant coach Isaiah Jimenez was a former teammate of Reggi’s and said his past disappointments are what fuel Reggi to make this his best season.

“He’s determined,” Jimenez said. “Last year he was three seconds away from being an All-American. He’s a quiet leader. Not very vocal, but he leads with the way he wrestles, the way he’s winning and (the way he) carries himself.”

It was not easy for Reggi to get where he is today. He has persevered through many roadblocks, mostly debilitating injuries. As a freshman, Reggi tore his anterior cruciate ligament and as a sophomore he suffered a herniated disk in his neck and redshirted his junior season.

“It was really difficult for me,” Reggi said. “The rehab process was six to nine months.

Every single second I was on crutches (I was) so eager to get back on the mat. It’s hard to stay away from something that you love to do that much. It was the longest that I haven’t wrestled.”

Reggi credits the support of his family for keeping him focused on his goals, even through injury. His relationships with wrestling and his family are one in the same. Reggi’s uncle wrestled and so did his older brother Bryan Reggi.

“My family is everything to me. I love my family,” Reggi said. “They’re all like my best friends. My mom always has my back in everything I do. My brothers, my sisters, everybody’s behind me. They’re a really good support group. I wouldn’t be able to do anything without them.”

Bryan was Andrew’s first wrestling coach when he started at age 11 and the two have always been close — so close that they share the same birthday, but nine years apart.

“My brother is the main reason I started wrestling,” Reggi said. “He’s always motivated me. He’s always been in my corner. When I was younger he’d show me moves and, you know, just train me and he’s a really good motivator in my life.”

HENRY PEREZ / XPRESS

CHAMPION: Andrew Reggi poses for a picture the morning after winning his match 8-1 against Cal Poly Pomona in San Francisco Nov. 9.

Bryan Reggi is proud of his younger brother and said that his brother can achieve his lofty goals.

“He’s very humble, he has good integrity,” Bryan said.

“He’s worked so hard for it (and) he doesn’t waste time.

Everything he does, he does 100 percent. I don’t know how to explain it, he’s one of a kind.”

Reggi and his team are off to a hot start after they took

down Cal Poly 24-9 Saturday.

Reggi was the last Gator to wrestle and ended the night on a winning note, defeating Cal Poly’s J.T. Goodwin in an 8-2 decision.

The upset win over the team’s Division-I foe puts the Gators at 1-0 on the season.

SF State looks to continue its momentum Nov. 16 at the Roadrunner Open in Fresno, Calif.

10 OPINION

BRADLEY FOCHT

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF bfocht@mail.sfsu.edu

MICHAEL BARBA

PRINT MANAGING EDITOR mdbarba@mail.sfsu.edu

LAUREN SEWARD

ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR lseward@mail.sfsu.edu

EVELYN CAICEDO

NOVEMBER 12, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Death with Dignity Act give us more freedom

ART DIRECTOR ecaicedo@mail.sfsu.edu

KAITLIN AGUILAR

ART ASSISTANT kaitlina@mail.sfsu.edu

SOFIA LIMON

ART ASSISTANT slimon@mail.sfsu.edu

FRANK LADRA

PHOTO EDITOR fladra@mail.sfsu.edu

NASHELLY CHAVEZ

NEWS EDITOR nashelly@mail.sfsu.edu

IDA MOJADAD

NEWS EDITOR idajane@mail.sfsu.edu

ANNA HECHT

A&E EDITOR ahecht@mail.sfsu.edu

MADISON RUTHERFORD OPINION EDITOR maddie@mail.sfsu.edu

THOMAS DE ALBA

SPORTS EDITOR tdealba@mail.sfsu.edu

MICHAEL DURAN

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR michaeld@mail.sfsu.edu

WILL CARRUTHERS

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR wcarruth@mail.sfsu.edu

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY FRANK LADRA / XPRESS

REUBEN DEVERAS rdeveras@mail.sfsu.edu

When a 16-year-old Palo Alto High School student died last October after being fatally struck by a Caltrain commuter train, authorities ruled it an apparent suicide.

After hearing the news, I stopped and wondered what circumstances arose for this young man to have killed himself.

Perhaps he was clinically depressed or was bullied in school and didn’t have support from family or friends. Therapy can only go so far, so some people feel like they have to take matters into their own hands.

So if someone is in a lot of pain and cognitively aware to make logical decisions, is it illogical for the government to provide options that allow us to kill ourselves?

I believe in America. I believe in owning a gun, gay marriage, driving giant pick-up trucks and eating enough Big Macs to fall into a deadly diabetic coma. If we’re free to harm ourselves by eating unhealthy foods and smoking enough cigarettes to kill us, then I believe we should also have the freedom to kill ourselves, under varying circumstances, with dignity.

Brittany Maynard made headlines Nov. 1, when she died in Oregon under their Death with Dignity Act, an initiative enacted in 1997 that allows terminally ill Oregonians to end their lives voluntarily through self-administered lethal medication. Maynard, 29, suffered from terminal brain cancer. She chose to die early and use her time left to part with her husband and her family.

“Because the rest of my body is young and healthy, I am likely to physically hang on for a long time even though cancer is eating my mind. I probably would have suffered in hospice care for weeks or even months. And my family would have had to watch that,” said Maynard in an opinion article she wrote for CNN. Her death was a final act of empowerment in which she defeated the cancer by killing it first.

Anyone suffering from an illness should be given options including the right to legally end their pain.

People need help and support under times of depression, and I support suicide prevention programs. However, if the reasons for wanting death can be beneficial for the person, then I don’t see why

assisted suicide is such a polarizing issue in America.

Catholic Bishops reaffirmed the church’s opposition of assisted suicide. “A society that devalues some people’s lives by hastening and facilitating their deaths will ultimately lose respect for their other rights and freedoms,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

I hope the U.S. government sanctions methods that allow me to have an awesome way to die without question. When I’m older and my quality of life has diminished, go ahead and strap me on a rocket with fireworks and launch me over New York City, an explosion followed by a neon-colored light show would blanket the night sky with the message “Smell Ya Later.”

My family has a history of combatting Alzheimers. My last few memories of my great aunt were of her on her deathbed riddled with the disease, often spouting curse words and acting violently toward loving family members that she no longer recognized. If that were to happen to me, I would prefer my last moments on Earth to be pleasant for myself and those around me.

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PRINT ADVISER kanigel@mail.sfsu.edu

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ADVERTISING & BUSINESS echarles@mail.sfsu.edu

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STUDENT GRAPHIC DESIGNER smperk@sfsu.edu

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Letters are subject to editing.

Send letters to Madison Rutherford at: maddie@mail.sfsu.edu

ABOUT XPRESS

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For more information or comments, please contact Brad Focht at: bfocht@mail.sfsu.edu

Closure of only lesbian bar signals city’s diminishing queer culture CECILIA ABATE

cabate@mail.sfsu.edu

San Francisco’s queer community is shrinking rapidly and it represents the fast death of the city’s culture.

The Lexington Club in the Mission District is the city’s only lesbian bar and it has been a neighborhood staple for eighteen years.

The owner, Lila Thirkield, announced that she was selling the space about a month ago because the population shifts in the Mission District no longer pull in enough business, and she has seen dramatic drops in attendance. The bar is estimated to close around New Year’s Day and there’s not much the community can do to save it.

San Francisco is the city you think of when someone says “queer culture,” but that’s an image that is based in the 1980s and 1990s and no longer represents the real queer presence in the city.

We have Pride — which represents queer culture and visibility in some capacity — but it’s hardly inclusive of all identities and it has become extremely corporate over the years.

The fact that the Lexington Club is the only lesbian bar in a liberal city that boasts gay representation speaks for itself.

Many of the gay spaces in the city are cis-male dominated, which is very threatening to women and non-binary folks.

Many of the gay spaces in the city are cis-male dominated, which is very threatening to women and non-binary folks. Will there be a space for gay women in the city if the Lexington is gone?

The club was an affordable, cover-free queer outpost in the Mission District that acted as a hub for sex-positive and women’s rights activists, longtime cruisers and freshfaced newbies, butches and femmes and the trans community.

Without it, the space for all of these folks — many of which need affordable, accessible queer spaces filled with familiar people — has shrunken to almost nothing.

This change is one of the many things that has made the city significantly less youth-friendly. San Francisco was once praised as an artistic haven. Of course, there was also a lot of space for the rich, but now

it’s worse than ever and many of the people who have lived here for years can no longer afford it. Young LGBTQ people trying to find a community? Certainly not.

What else is left? There’s Trax, Moby Dick, Last Call Bar, 440 Castro and the Powerhouse — all of which are advertised toward males. Then there’s the Eagle, the QBar and The Stud, all of which are again, brimming with gay men.

What sort of gay community do we have if we do not have equal representation of a large part of LGBTQ culture? How do we purport a rich history of LGBTQ acceptance when we live in a barren desert of queer-friendly spaces?

Moreover, what do we tell young queer people who move to San Francisco and want to meet other queer people, but don’t know where to go? Do we tell them to post questions on Yahoo Answers or swipe through Tinder? Do we encourage them to enter potentially unfriendly hyper-masculine gay bars? This is what we’re faced with when there aren’t safe spaces that recognize different identities.

Where can we open a space for these people? How do we build a community and make them safe? If there is a space for LGBTQ folks, it should be in San Francisco.

If not here, where?

OPINION 11

NOVEMBER 12, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Pedestrian toll is unfair to residents AMANDA PETERSON / XPRESS

LANDMARK: Pedestrians walk across the Golden Gate Bridge Monday, Nov. 10 in San Francisco.

EMILIA ROSALES eer@mail.sfsu.edu

The mind of a typical college student is racing with questions like, “How am I going to pay my rent this month?,” “Where am I going to get my next meal?” and “What is the cheapest way I can get to and from school this week?”

To make matters worse, the Highway and Transportation District of San Francisco has voted to charge pedestrians and bicyclists a toll for crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, as if San Francisco wasn’t filled to the brim with commuter fees as it is.

Bay Area citizens — especially college students — should not be included in the preposterous plan to charge pedestrians and bicyclists a toll for crossing the bridge. If pedestrians choose to boycott the fee, all those who walk or bike across

the bridge on their way into the city will just congest other forms of transportation, such as Bay Area Rapid Transit or in cars.

This penny-pinching pedestrian toll is scheduled to surface July 2017, but the cost of the toll is still unknown. However large it may be, this toll is unfair to many bicyclists and pedestrians who are trying to be more efficient and resourceful, or have no other form of transportation.

According to Business Insider, the rate for a one-bedroom apartment per month in San Francisco is the most expensive across the nation. It is not fair to ask San Francisco residents to pay another fee when they are already struggling to pay four-digit rent payments and other city fares.

A toll for vehicle bridge crossing began the day the bridge opened, May 28, 1937, with only a 50-cent fare to cross each way. For three decades vehicles were

charged individual fares in both directions, until in 1968 when fares for those driving northbound were dropped.

However, the Golden Gate Bridge toll for vehicle crossing increased from $5 to $6 for FasTrak users and from $6 to $7 for cash payers April 7, with another $1 increase scheduled to accumulate over the next four years.

Some may argue the new pedestrian toll is a good idea, agreeing that the extra money would help reduce the $32.9 million deficit that has accumulated over the past five years, according to the official Golden Gate Bridge website. Implementing this toll may reduce this deficit and also help keep up with the transitions of a modern-day metropolitan city.

The Golden Gate Bridge website also reports that the bridge receives over 10 million annual visitors. The Bay Citizen reports that in 2011 alone San Francisco

received over $2,872,000 international visitors, who spent an average of $8.46 billion. Thousands of those visitors will more than likely visit the Golden Gate Bridge and would not mind paying a few dollars to experience its radiance.

Priya Clemens, spokesperson for Golden Gate Transit, roughly estimated that 6,000 bike riders and 10,000 pedestrians use the bridge on a daily basis.

Charging a toll for pedestrians to cross the bridge will have a much larger impact on the citizens of the city than it would on once-a-year visitors.

If a pedestrian toll is implemented, tourists should be charged a small fee to experience the national landmark and walk across the bridge. Bay Area citizens and commuters are the last people that should be expected to pay more money on their already dreaded and hectic drive.

Cities will benefit from encouraging carpooling CHLOE JOHNSON

cjohnson@mail.sfsu.edu

A couple weeks ago on the 28 bus to SF State, I noticed that the bus driver spent a lot of his time at the wheel reading a magazine. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a motorist reading at red lights or during traffic snarls on this route. While I don’t defend that kind of behavior, I recognize it as a symptom of the insane amount of traffic gridlock, not just on 19th Avenue, but all over the Bay Area.

In about 80 percent of cases, it’s just one person commuting in each car.

Environmentalists have pointed out time and again how wasteful this is and how habits like these are contributing to the huge carbon emissions problem. But that’s really only one of the issues at stake.

Even if people don’t care about the environment, they should care about other

problems that come with the attitude that everyone is entitled to his or her own personal machine at all times. Having almost four times as many cars on the road than we need leads to traffic jams that make commuting miserable for everyone, causes more pedestrians to be injured or killed and makes parking harder and more expensive. A recent study even shows that the need to provide parking space is a major contributing factor to high rents in big cities.

This is simply not a sustainable lifestyle, but we can make it a lot better without having to give up private automobiles.

Motorists should just try to utilize all two or more seats in their cars more often.

That’s why I think there should be more toll roads with tiered pricing systems. For example, $10 for a car with a single person, $5 for a car with two people, and free for a car with three or more.

Usually I hate sin taxes but in this case I

don’t see another option. Even if it doesn’t discourage lone driving, it forces lone motorists to pay for the extra traffic and road wear they create. It sure is a more pressing problem than soda.

Unfortunately, there was a major blow to ride sharing in the 1970s and 1980s, when the great American tradition of hitchhiking became less popular. A widespread reputation for being unsafe made people distrustful of sharing a car with a stranger and interstate highway systems that were built for cars only made it unfeasible on the most heavily traveled roads.

However, casual carpool systems are still in place in many communities. Access to online social networks and apps could also make it easy to find people who live near you and regularly go in the same direction, meaning the average person probably has even less of an excuse not to carpool than he or she did in the Nixon era.

If everyone set up carpools to go to work just once a week, it could cut the number of cars on the road by about 20 percent. That’s a conservative estimate, since according to the same website, 78 percent of car commuters drive alone.

If more people also used public transit, which is under-utilized in many places, the number of cars could be cut even further. Cities would instantly be more livable and it would be good for the environment.

This isn’t a new idea: the problem of too many single drivers was recognized as early as the 1940s, when the government encouraged carpooling to help the war effort with slogans like “When You Drive Alone, You Drive With Hitler.” A billboard with a slogan like this (updated, of course) should be erected near every major freeway, that way when motorists are sitting in traffic, they will be forced to think about it.