Fall 2016 Issue 12

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS Serving the San Francisco State community since 1927

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TRUMP WINS,

Volume CIII, Issue 12

Wednesday – November 9, 2016

goldengatexpress.org

200 STUDENTS MARCH

SF State students march on the intersection of 19th Avenue and Holloway Avenue in response to election of Donald Trump as president on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016.

Photo by George Morin

by Jacqueline Haudek jhaudek@mail.sfsu.edu A crowd of around 200 students took to the streets in protest of President Elect Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton on Tuesday night.

“Fuck Donald Trump,” and “The people united will never be divided,” were among the chants heard from the group, heading to 19th Avenue from the University.

After a controversial and unconventional campaign, Donald Trump was unexpectedly elected as the 45th president of the United States, securing 288 electoral votes to Hillary Clinton’s 215 by the time of publication.

On Jan. 20, 2017, all of the promises that Trump made throughout his campaign, from building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to deporting Muslims, will be one step closer to becoming a reality.

“Everyone is shocked,” said Brian May, vice president of SF State’s Republican Student Union. “The club is super happy. This is doing what’s

best for the country — to become a powerhouse again.”

He said the club plans to march down to Malcolm X Plaza with its members after Trump’s acceptance speech.

Trump gained momentum Tuesday night after winning the swing states of Florida, Ohio and North Carolina.

Vice President Elect Mike Pence introduced Trump: “This is a historic night. The American people have spoken and the American people have elected their new champion.”

Trump took the stage, thanking his family, supporters and campaign.

“As I’ve said from the beginning, ours was not a campaign but rather an incredible and great movement made up of millions of hard working men and women who love their country and want a better brighter future for themselves and for their family,” Trump said.

Clinton conceded the election, calling Trump late Tuesday night, but declined to give a concession speech, according to her campaign chairman John Podesta as he addressed a crowd of supporters.

Montana Vince, an interior design major, didn’t understand the public support for Donald Trump in the face of all his scandals.

“I don’t understand how after all of the sexual assault scandals people still support him,” Vince said.

Trump, a businessman-turnedreal-estate-mogul-turned-reality star, endured many controversies during his campaign including a video of him making light of sexual assault.

In another instance, Trump called Mexican immigrants “rapists,” which lost Trump many business deals.

“There’s a sort of loss of trust in humanity seeing Trump actually pull through when we all thought that maybe Hillary could get it together and take this country forward,” apparel design and merchandise major Paulina Cardenas said. “Now with this election, it’s between a female and a male president. By having a male president taking the lead by a lot and see how the misogyny and the belief that men are suited for higher positions than women continues in our country.”

SF State students march on down 19th Avenue in response to election of Donald Trump as president on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. Photo by George Morin

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NEWS

goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | November 9, 2016

2016 Presidential Election Results

Graphic by Jessylyn Los Banos

Poli sci watch party ends in dark mood

by Amanda Davis atdavis@mail.sfsu.edu Professors and students came into the Political Science Department’s watch party in Mckenna Theatre confident that the 45th president would be democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. But as the night continued, the room filled with anger and frustration as Trump gained momentum, eventually winning the 2016 presidential election.

The American politics professors hosting the event, Marcela Garcia-Castanon, Justin Peck, Joel Kassiola and Francis Neely, began with commentary on the three state decisions already in. Indiana and Kentucky, which are historically known to be Republican states, did not veer from the usual. Vermont gave its three electoral votes to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

“I’m super excited. This is like political Christmas for me.” Garcia-Castanon gushed.

Kassiola and Garcia-Castanon engaged the crowd by asking the audience political questions and as more students trickled in they began streaming the election coverage on stage, going back and forth between a map of state results and PBS Newshour.

“I expect that Hillary Clinton will win 340 electoral votes and become the next president,” Peck said, hours before the results were revealed. “Popular vote wise, I would guess that she does something between 4 percent and 6 percent, which is a lot. She’s going to win big.”

The watch party was initially part of a class but eventually expanded, inviting

everyone in the school. The class, The 2016 Presidential Election: Issues and Analysis, was created by Kassiola in 2004 and is a series of online and in-person classes that discuss the important topics of the election.

“We’ve invited people from history, environmental studies, the health equity program; from departments all across campus.” Garcia-Castanon said. “We invite people who are directly tied to the school because we don’t encounter them otherwise; it’s a really nice way of engaging crossdepartments.”

She agreed with Peck that Clinton would take the victory as the 45th president, but joked that she’s exhausted by this election.

“I would like this election to be over,” Garcia-Castanon laughed. “But I try to stay as objective as possible. It’s really interesting that we have the first woman who’s a candidate of a major party. It’s historic that it’s within 100 years of women being given the right to vote. I feel like we forget that.”

Around 6 p.m., as more state decisions slowly came in, results showed that Clinton did well in the east coast, while Trump was sweeping the south and midwest. With a wall of red on the map, worry emerged in the crowd.

“We didn’t bring any EMTs so don’t go passing out,” Kassiola joked. “Don’t go buy this duration of time on the map. We still have plenty of time.”

When an audience member asked about possible GOP results, it brought professor Neely to his views on a Trump presidency.

“He doesn’t want to be the president, he

wants to be the winner,” Neely said.

Psychology major Isabella Guevara agreed, and her dismay about the republican candidate was clear when asked about her reaction to his possible win.

“I think he’ll get impeached,” Guevara said. “He won’t have as much power as he thinks he will.”

After the professors asked the audience and vice versa, the entire room came to the same agreement as Peck and GarciaCastanon, but by 10 p.m. the room had given up hope. With only three states left, Trump was unofficially announced the winner of the popular vote, with 244 electoral votes compared to Clinton’s 215.

After hours of trying to remain optimistic, watch party attendee Megan Hickman joined those who had given up hope.

“As a queer woman and a Chickasaw, I’m afraid,” Hickman said. “He’s a businessman, he’s not going to care about sustainability.

He’s going to keep making money not caring about the impact.”

Computer science major Jonathan Kldani’s main concern was his family’s well being in a Trump presidency.

“I’m worried about my family and if we’ll still have health care,” Kldani said.

Although student and professor projections about this year’s presidential election were wrong, students began trying to adjust to the reality of a Trump presidency.

“I think it hasn’t kicked in,” Business management major Marcela Cristina Alvarez said. “I feel that it’s a joke and I’m waiting for someone to be like ‘this isn’t real,’ but it is real.”

Democratic nominee Hilary Clinton is seen on a screen during the political science department’s watch party in the Mckenna Theater on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. | Photo by Kin Lee

NEWS 3 Hopeful Engardio suffers second loss in District 7 goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | November 9, 2016

by Jason Rejali jrejali@mail.sfsu.edu Four years ago, Joel Engardio ran for District 7 Supervisor and placed fourth. Last night, he placed second.

Engardio’s watch party took place at the Squat and Gobble restaurant on West Portal Avenue with supporters and campaign employees who have been campaigning for him since the spring.

“When I actually sat down to talk to him he was just very surreal because he was just a genuine guy,” said Sean Brady, field director for Engardio. “And that is so hard to fake in politics, so as soon as I met him I knew I wanted to work with him.”

The second floor of the restaurant had about forty people standing, waiting and watching the television as results came in.

“We had a lot of promise leading up to November, it really comes down to second and third round votes.” Brady said.

Brady and a handful of college students from around the Bay Area put up fliers and went door to door supporting Engardio since the spring.

Many of them do not live in District 7, but believed in the issues that Engardio was fighting for.

“I realized that the issues don’t really stop at the borders. So to really affect city hall you’ll have to look at the district.” Said Lowell High School senior, Ophir CohenSimayos, who had canvassed for Engardio since March.

Joel’s empathy for the homeless, is what drew these young campaigners to work for Engardio. CohenSimayos said that his positions on homelessness, transportation and housing were what convinced her to campaign for him.

Engardio was optimistic about the results, calling himself and his campaign “contenders” for coming in second.

In a speech to the watch party, Engardio expressed his appreciation

Joel Engardio, the candidate of board of supervisors in district 7 announces the mail in ballot results during his watch party at Squatt and Gobble Cafe at West Portal in San Francisco on Tuesday, Nov 8, 2016. Photo by Perng-chih Huang to everyone who supported him.

“Thank you all for being here together,” Engardio said. “The one thing that means a lot to my campaign is how many people, all different generations and neighborhoods all came together, believing in this message and this campaign, and it means a lot.”

Bob Lee, an Engardio supporter, said that he’s been involved with local

politics longer than other incumbents – since he ran four years ago.

“I think he’s really has his heart in it and that’s something I like to see in a candidate,” Lee said.

When asked at the end of the night about the the issues that inspired his younger voters and campaigners, he spoke about the homeless issue.

“About 30 percent of our homeless population has a mental illness and so

I believe it is very important to treat this underlying condition, because if people are suffering on the street with a mental illness we need to treat that first and foremost, to move the needle on homelessness, and then they can benefit on the home and job programs,” Engardio said. “We neglected mentally ill people for too many decades and I want to focus on that.”

When asked about what made this campaign different from four years ago, Engardio took a long pause and reflected for a moment.

“The difference between four years is that I’m in a strong second place,” Engardio said. “Four years ago I was a first time candidate – unknown and I did well.”

Engardio did not say whether he will run again.

First-time voters wade through 2016 election In this historic election, first time voters will help decide whether California will legalize recreational marijuana and repeal the death penalty and whether our next president will be the first woman to hold the position or the first reality star.

Millennial voters have the potential to cast 31 percent of the total ballots. This year has broken records for voter registration and ushered in an era where millennials are now tied with baby boomers for the largest group of eligible voters in the country.

The election’s historical value is rivaled only by the divisiveness and scandal of the campaigns. An NBC/ Wall Street Journal poll reported that the 2016 presidential race has made 62 percent of Americans less proud of the country. That’s the political landscape first-time voters are cutting their teeth on.

A few SF State students opened up about the unique experience of being first-time voters in this particular election.

John Dulalas pointed out the difference between now and when

Obama was first elected. The 21-yearold criminal justice major said he would have been more excited to vote in 2008.

“There were good people back in the day,” Dulalas said. “It’s very controversial with Hillary and Trump.

I think some military guys would vote for Hillary because they want to go to war and get that money,” he said. Dulalas feels he has a lot at stake as a military reservist. But in his opinion, nothing good can come from either candidate and he’d rather vote for an independent.

The numerous propositions and ads have left him uncertain about how to vote. “Say yes, say no – I don’t even know anymore,” Dulalas said.

Andrea Zelaya, 19, looked forward to her first time in the voting booth in spite of the challenges of this election.

“To be honest, it’s been difficult, but you have to compromise at this point,” Zelaya said. “I feel like it’s not fair that I’m given these choices and I can’t really do anything about it.”

Even so, the SF State student is planning to vote for Clinton on Tuesday. Zelaya says the most exciting part is finally having an official say in how the government works.

“I guess the scariest is waiting to see the outcome,” Zelaya said.

Michael Cox has been waiting

“

There were good people back in the day. It’s very controversial with Hillary and Trump.

John Dulalas

to vote for years and has paid close attention to many of the different races and propositions that will be soon be decided.

“I get to finally vote but it’s such a bum election year with my candidates,” Cox said. The 22-yearold just missed the birthday cutoff required to vote in 2012.

He takes specific issue with the vice presidential picks for being forgettable and stereotypical.

“I barely remember their names and I read them all the time,” Cox said. “I could replace them with any white adult male I’ve met in my life.”

Both sides of the soda tax and

death penalty debates interest the business major. He agrees with the 1 cent per ounce tax on sugarsweetened beverages but also feels like it targets a specific percentage of the population. Cox thinks it’s unfair that sweetened coffee shop drinks won’t be equally taxed.

He is also divided about whether to vote for repeal or revision to the death penalty in California. Although he prefers to maintain the death penalty on some level, he doesn’t believe it’s been an effective deterrent.

But Cox feels his real impact isn’t in the presidential race or the many propositions.

“

by Nik Wojcik nwojcik@mail.sfsu.edu

“I think the supervisor race is where my vote power will really go into being an actual factor,” Cox said. “Things like that will affect the majority of people who still live in San Francisco.” He supports progressives running that have adopted tenant protection platforms.

Although levels of excitement are relatively low among first-time voters in this campaign, at least Cox, Zelaya and Dulalas still plan to take first their turn at having a say. The country may not have the choices it wants but as Zelaya said, you just have to show up and “vote yes and no.”

NEWS

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goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | November 9, 2016

The votes are in for California

U.S. Senate: Kamala Harris

State Senate: Scott Weiner

District 7 Board of Supervisors: Norman Yee

SAN FRANCISCO PROP RESULT

A

YES

M

NO

B

YES

N

YES

C

YES

O

YES

D

NO

P

NO

E

YES

Q

YES

F

NO

R

NO

G

YES

S

H

YES

I

CALIFORNIA PROP RESULT

51

YES

60

NO

52

YES

61

NO

53

NO

62

NO

54

YES

63

YES

YES

55

YES

64

YES

T

YES

56

YES

65

NO

YES

U

NO

57

YES

66

YES

J

YES

V

YES

58

YES

67

YES

K

NO

W

YES

59

YES

L

NO

X

YES

SPORTS

goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | November 9, 2016

SF State Gators’ freshman middle blocker Abby Griffith (15) and junior outside hitter Christine Johnson (18) attempt to block the ball during their loss to Humboldt State University at the Swamp on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016. The Lumberjacks defeated the Gators in three straight sets. Photo by Eric Chan

Women’s volleyball seniors remain grateful despite final game loss Escorted by their families and friends onto the court before Friday night’s game, three SF State seniors were gifted with bouquets and introduced for the last time at The Swamp.

Linda Aerne, Rachel Stoerkel and Malia Muin’s final home game with the Gators ended with a sweep by the Humboldt State Lumberjacks.

Although the team failed to secure a win, the seniors said they intend to treasure every moment they have together, on and off the field.

“It’s crazy, my college career is over and I’m not going to play with this team anymore,” Aerne said. “I’ll miss game day. We spend the whole day together and it’s always super fun.”

Muin said it was certainly an emotional night for her. The thing she’ll miss most about her playing career at SF State is her teammates.

“Tonight there was tons of adrenaline, happiness and overall excitement for me and my team,” Muin said. “I will always miss the laughs and happiness my teammates brought out of me.”

Head Coach Matt Hoffman said he is proud of how his seniors handled the moment and immediately changed their focus to the game.

“You hope that you can go through

“

the ceremony and still be mentally ready to play,” Hoffman said.

The Gators battled in a competitive first two sets against the Lumberjacks. Both teams exchanged back and forth rallies which forced each coach to called quick timeouts.

The Lumberjacks made the last rally in both sets, winning by slim margins and convincingly closed out the final set 25-15.

“We competed in most part of the game today, which we haven’t done in past matches,” Hoffman said. “Our serving and passing was better than it’s been in recent matches but we just committed too many errors tonight.”

Aerne had a solid performance, she finished with 12 assists and four digs.

Muin added 10 assists and nine digs.

“Some of my teammates were really stepping up and wanted to fight hard for our seniors,” Aerne said. “I really appreciated that.”

The Gators have two games remaining in the season, both of which are on the road. They face off at Cal Poly Pomona on Nov. 11 and the seniors will don Gators uniform for the last time against top ranked Cal State San Bernardino on Nov 12.

“What I will miss the most about our seniors is that they all lead in their own ways. I’ll miss their leadership.

They set the bar for the younger girls on how hard to work in practice,” Hoffman said. “They stayed positive throughout despite not winning.”

Some of my teammates were really stepping up and wanted to fight hard for our seniors.

Linda Aerne

“

by Jesse Saeteurn essej@mail.sfsu.edu

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Working the district 7 campaign trail

NEWS

goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | November 9, 2016 SF State student Danny Drysdale, 20, looks over his Jane Kim campaign information before heading out to do precinct walking on Fulton Street on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016.

by Lauren Saldana lsadan@mail.sfsu.edu

SF State student Danny Drysdale, 20, walks down Fulton Street while precinct walking on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016. Drysdale passed out campaign materials to potential voters at apartment complexes up and down the street.

SF State student Danny Drysdale, 20, helps a local resident find polling station on the SF State campus on Tuesday.

Danny Drysdale, 20, holds Jane Kim campaign signs outside of the polling station to encourage Jane Kim votes on Font Street by the SF State campus on Tuesday.

Danny Drysdale, 20, holds Jane Kim campaign signs outside of City Hall on Tuesday.

LIFESTYLE & CULTURE

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goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | November 9, 2016

National election causes uncertainty among students

by Michelle Nunez mnunez93@mail.sfsu.edu On the first Wednesday of the month, artists used their work to discuss injustice, U.S government and society as a whole at Social Justice in My Life in The Depot.

Local artists sold political artwork, MCs and rappers performed spokenword and breakdancers showed off their footwork to approximately 50 audience members.

Although election day was near, there were some who were certain they would not participate. Ceramics major, Arthur Savangsy, was one of those people. Originally attending the event as an audience member, Savangsy was swayed by the energy of the crowd and decided to hit the stage with an impromptu performance.

While on stage, Savangsy expressed his discontent with this year’s election by announcing “we have no good candidates” in this year’s election, and encouraged audience members to take part in local activism.

“I don’t think we have good candidates,” Savangsy said. “I think a lot of freshman in this school’s political science department can do way better than them.”

Though unsatisfied with the presidential candidates, Savangsy believes that no matter the nominees, social change won’t come from those in government roles.

“It’s really an issue that we rely on a third party who doesn’t really know who we are,” Savangsy said. “It’s never going to work out this way.”

Like Savangsy, Averill Labrador, an MC from San Diego, conveyed

discontent with the national election as a whole. Though Labrador would not be voting this year due to registration issues, he said he does not support either of the nominees and doubts positive change will come from the national election.

“I’m not for Trump and I wouldn’t be for Hillary either, but the thing is, no matter who gets elected, it’s still going to be the same system that we’re put under,” Labrador said.

“Most of the change is going to be from the people that are in closed institutions, like local government or student government.”

Though most event participants said they strive for social change through community organizing and activism, there were some students that encouraged participating in this year’s election.

Eunice Kim, the event’s coordinator, put the event together in hopes of encouraging students to vote.

“I’m pretty much trying to get students registered and informed about different propositions that directly impact our school and our communities,” Kim said. “I decided to throw this event because I thought it would be fun and it will create some conversation before the election.

Hopefully get people a little riled up to go out and vote.”

Kim also encouraged student voters to vote yes on Proposition 55 as well as Proposition W. According to California’s voter guide, voting yes on Prop 55 would maintain the current income tax rate on couples earning over $500,000 a year and only affects the wealthiest Californians.

“That money goes right back into the public education system and so it directly impacts us,” Kim said.

“Especially as CSUs we can lose up

Averill Labrador performs during the Social Justice in My Life event held at The Depot on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016. Local artists sold political artwork, MC’s and rappers provided spoken word and break-dancers showed off their footwork to approximately 50 audience members. Photo by Connor Hunt to $250 million if we don’t vote yes on prop 55, so it’s really important for students to vote on that.”

In addition to Proposition 55, Kim advocated for Proposition W, which she said would make community college free in San Francisco.

“Less privileged people don’t have the money for private institutions or even CSUs so making it accessible is gonna be a really great change,” Kim

said. “It will cause more equity in our community so it’s really important.”

Although a general consensus was never reached, each artist and audience member brought a different perspective to social change, which is ultimately what Kim hoped for when she put the event together.

“It’s really awesome that we’re all coming together, even if it’s all different sorts of art, and interests,

it all connects and intertwines,” Kim said. “I think that we are all likeminded in a way that we want positive change for our society, so I would really push people and students to be inspired and be open to come to these things. Be open to having great conversations with people, and be inspired for your own life to make positive change.”

Student election de-stress event disrupted by unidentified man

by Rita Berríos Riquelme rberrios@mail.sfsu.edu SF State’s Improving, Dreams, Access and Success organization maintained a positive mood at their election de-stress event, despite being interrupted by a man who used crude language toward them.

The unidentified, elderly man sat on a couch in front of the live-stream that IDEAS set up for undocumented students and allies to watch the results of the election interrupted a conversation that event organizers were having with the crowd.

The man tried to sympathize with the students by telling them that he didn’t want Donald Trump to be elected, while addressing the students as “illegal aliens.”

“He can’t talk like that to a group of people who he doesn’t identify with,” said Manuel Martinez, a civil engineering major. “This is my safe area. I see the ignorance of the world every day, but not in my safe area, that hurts.”

Members of IDEAS asked the man to stop interrupting them, but the man interrupted about five more times before being escorted outside the room by event organizers.

“He doesn’t know the difference between illegal and undocumented. He doesn’t know the issues that affect undocumented students,” said Eurania Lopez, student success director, longtime advocate of IDEAS. IDEAS decided to form a circle because students were upset and cried after the incident. Yolanda Gamboa, from counseling and psychological services at SF State, told the circle of students and allies that the man probably didn’t know what it’s like to be targeted.

“Part of what we did was to breathe, reduce tension and voice our experiences,” said

An Associated Students Inc. representative confronts a person who refused to provide their name who disrupted an event hosted by Improving Dreams, Equity, Access & Success group in Rigoberta Menchu Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. The ASI representative escorted the person out of the room. Photo by Pablo Caballero Gamboa. “What they are trying to fight was presented right in front of them today.”

Gamboa says that being an undocumented student is stressful already, and the election has increased this feeling among students.

“Whoever gets elected president will affect what will happen in their lives, and that affects their performance at school.”

“We represent the school and we need to show that we are not ignorant. Represent yourself and the organization, and represent

yourself in a positive way,” said Mariel De Paz, a political science major and secretary of IDEAS. De Paz said that most CSUs have a dream center where undocumented students can get help and counseling from staff that have had similar experiences. However, SF State doesn’t.

Mariel De Paz said being undocumented didn’t affect her until she went to college, because undocumented students pay out-ofstate tuition, unless they qualify for AB540

status, which allows them to work, have a driver’s license and pay in-state tuition.

“The man’s outburst today shows that we need safe spaces for undocumented students so they know they are not alone,” said Norma Salcedo, the first IDEAS coordinator, who took on the role four months ago.

SF State has over 500 undocumented students, and Salcedo helps them by referring them to free legal support, free healthcare advice, and other resources. “My position is proven to be needed,” she said.

Gamboa says as an undocumented student there is fear of losing access to education, and that’s why it is important to support each other whatever the result of the election is. “We will continue advocating and providing a safe place,” she said.

The TV was showing live election updates while some students relaxed with Play-Doh, gathered to colour, and lay on couches. A Donald Trump piñata stood high in front of the entrance of the Rigoberta Menchu Hall with sticky notes on him.

“It’s a clever idea, something that has been done for sure,” said Daniel Negrete, a 24-year old BECA student from Mexico City.

Negrete learned about this event through the Dreamer network. “I came to the event because of the live viewing and because I didn’t want to watch it by myself.”

“Today is going to be a stressful day for different communities. It’s (the election) become hostile and undocumented students feel frustrated, because they can’t vote,” said Pamela Ortiz, one of the two presidents of Improving, Dreams, Access and Success organization.

The event intended to help undocumented students and allies who shared frustration with the election and ended with IDEAS chanting “we didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.”

LIFESTYLE & CULTURE

goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | November 9, 2016

9

Election exhaustion sets in for students

by Victor Manuel Verdugo vverdugo@mail.sfsu.edu

Nervousness, indifference and distrust are just some of the feelings that SF State students have cited as effects of election exhaustion in the final stretch of the 2016 presidential election.

While it might be easy to assume these feelings were normal a few nights before election day, this issue wasn’t new for Americans across the country. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center from June 7 to July 5, about 59 percent of Americans felt exhausted by the amount of election coverage.

After a year full of primaries, conventions and debates, some students can’t understand how they’ve arrived at the end of an election where Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the candidates from the two major parties.

“I think the whole thing is a joke,” said Melissa Moran, a political science major. “How did we even get this far?”

While Clinton and Trump made arguments on hot-button issues in three debates, they also took to Twitter and Facebook for personal and political jousting. In fact, students said that social media has played a major role in shaping their opinions on both candidates, especially since some were still deciding who to vote for.

“It’s really hard because I’m seeing so many opinions on Facebook,” said nursing student Lisa Tran. “And I see that all while I’m still trying to form my own opinions.”

Tran said she started to feel fatigue from the election after Bernie Sanders lost the Democratic primaries.

“I was giving up on this election, because I voted for Bernie,” Tran said. “I already think Hillary has the election, but I don’t know if it’s rigged that way.”

J’Shun Cash, a business marketing major and former Bernie supporter, also expressed feeling less passionate about the election after his candidate

Graphic by Jessylyn Los Banos didn’t receive the nomination.

“Once Bernie was out of the race, I stopped caring,” Cash said. “But I watched enough to figure out who to vote for.”

For other students, the presidential debates played a major factor in their exhaustion. During the debates, viewers witnessed moments like Clinton questioning Trump’s judgement based on his tweets, and Trump calling Clinton a criminal.

“It was completely unprofessional,” said Juliana Jaynes, an international

relations major. “It’s kind of scary because this is my first time voting and these are my only two options.”

Serena Matthiesen, a business marketing major, also felt discouraged from voting for either candidate while watching the campaigns.

“They weren’t talking about issues,” Matthiesen said. “It was just a lot of snotty remarks made by both candidates.”

For Saul Fregoso, an apparel design and merchandising major, the exhaustive media coverage that

Trump received during this election has led to his fatigue. He believes the media has given power to Trump’s platform and magnified his racist remarks.

“He’s getting all this publicity and although it’s negative people still find out about it,” Fregoso said.

“But it’s like they say — no publicity is bad publicity.”

Students agreed this election was historic, but for students like Fregoso, it could serve as a lesson on choosing candidates that are determined to

serve more than just one part of the population.

Other students, like Tran, who feel disillusioned about both candidates hope that this election will give way for an opportunity for a third party to a hold a more significant weight in future elections.

“They say don’t vote for a third party because that’s like giving your vote to Trump,” said Tran. “But when can we vote third party?”

Runway show promotes intersectional feminism

by Amanda Aragona aaragona@mail.sfsu.edu Cheers erupted throughout Jack Adams Hall Friday night as women of all shapes, ethnicities and gender identities walked confidently down a runway to promote who they are and what being a woman means to them.

Associated Students, Inc.’s Women’s Center hosted its fourth annual fashion show with a new theme: “Come As You Are.” The organization’s goal for the year is to promote intersectionality and make the Women’s Center a more open place for all people on the gender spectrum as well as male allies.

“The thing we did differently this year was instead of going to individuals we perceived as women or looked as women because that’s problematic on its own, we actually posted flyers and on social media that we want all women to participate,” said Anisha Chuahan, director of the Women’s Center.

Each of the participating 14 models was ready to share their stories and accomplishments with the audience, creating a powerful narrative of what women are capable of. Chuahan and Kalyla Lam-Little, assistant director of the Women’s Center, read off each model’s biography as they strutted down the runway in outfits of their choice.

The models wore outfits ranging from jeans and t-shirts to fancy gowns and cultural garments, and even a Wonder Woman costume.

The models were encouraged to wear attire that

Participants raise a toast during the fourth annual fashion show held in Jack Adams Hall on Friday, Nov. 4, 2016. The organization’s goal for the year is to promote intersectionality and make the Women’s Center a more open place for all people on the gender spectrum as well as male allies. Photo by Amanda Aragona made them feel the most beautiful.

Fahima Chowdhury is an international student from Bangladesh and is working toward her electrical engineering masters with a goal to break stereotypes and become a successful woman in technology — currently a male dominated industry. Chowdhury walked in a traditional Bengali garment and carried her flag

on her arm.

“I think (Bangladesh) is the only nation where our prime minister is a woman, our opposition leader is a woman, and our speaker is a woman,” Chowdhury said. “I’ve always been strongly vocal about women’s empowerment, so I thought okay I should just flaunt it, I should just go and walk it.”

For many models, celebrating their culture was important and for others it was about feeling confident about their body shape. Helen Berry, a second-year creative writing major, has always been an advocate for feminism and was vice president of the feminist club at her high school. She dressed in a punk style and was adorned in dark, dramatic makeup, a flannel and high-waisted jeans that accentuated her curves.

“Sometimes I look in the mirror and I’m like: ‘do you know how much better I would look if I was just 10 pounds skinnier,’’” Berry said. “Why do we do that? I’m healthy, I’m fine, I’m beautiful — it’s just so embedded.”

Chantel Heard sat in the audience and cheered on all the models. She said she was proud to see so many ambitious and confident women of different backgrounds and body types.

“There were some with their neutral pronouns, I saw a lot of my friends representing different brown people, different cultures. It was great.”Heard said. “For me, as a queer woman, I just loved it.”

Black, White, Latina, Asian, short, tall, skinny, curvy and queer walked down the runway, with each showing a different representation of women.

“The fact that society puts a label on what a woman is, is an issue in itself,” Lam-Little said. “I think that society just views women to be feminine, delicate, fragile and rely on men to do things for them. We have to redefine what defines a woman. Everybody comes as they are differently, there’s something really special about that.”

OPINION

10

goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | November 9, 2016

Voting third party is a waste

by Jordan Vail jmv@mail.sfsu.edu

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

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Does anyone remember the name John Hagelin? Or what about Monica Moorehead or David McReynolds?

Do the names Howard Phillips, Harry Browne and James Harris ring any bells? While these names don’t mean much today to even the most politically savvy, back in 2000, they had a crucial hand in determining the infamous presidential election.

They were six of the eight thirdparty candidates on the ballot; the last two spots went to political pundit Pat Buchanan, whose strict brand of conservatism was considered “too extreme” by most conservatives, and Ralph Nader, whose history as a potential presidential candidate went back all the way to 1972.

Buchanan’s and Nader’s names are more recognizable, but their legacy remains the same as the other now-anonymous third-party candidates: pulling in a collective 138,000 votes from disenchanted Floridians and undeniably spoiling the election. If Nader, who finished third in the balloting with over 97,000 votes, hadn’t had run, Gore would have easily won the presidency. The same pattern could easily repeat this election.

The Voter News Service, a now disbanded service that collected and analyzed polling data for various news organizations, asked voters exiting the polls how they would have voted if George W. Bush and Al Gore were the only candidates on the ballot. Of those who voted for Nader, 45 percent said they would have voted for Gore, versus the 27 percent that would have voted for Bush. The other 28 percent said they wouldn’t vote at all, which says a lot about the mindset of both Nader voters and third-party voters in general.

Possibly the most infuriating part about all of this is that Gore didn’t even need those 97,000 votes — he barely needed a sliver of them. Bush

Illustration by Jessylyn Los Banos

What moral dilemma could possibly be absolved by indirectly electing a megalomaniac as president?

Johnson got even worse when, in the same interview, he cavalierly dismissed the idea that third-party voters could make a difference in the race. Those voters, he suggested, might have stayed home and “held their nose” instead of voting for either Trump or Clinton. The willful ignorance his comment displays is mind-boggling. We’ve been down this same road before with disastrous results. The people Johnson is

encouraging to vote for him won’t be the architects of radical antiestablishment change, but rather cogs in a machine doomed to defer to the current powers that be.

In another 16 years, the names of Gary Johnson and Jill Stein won’t be significant to anyone except their family and friends. But the name Donald Trump has the potential to go down in history for all the wrong reasons, and we owe it to ourselves, and our future, to never forget the people that helped him get this far, whether they wanted to or not.

White nationalists are America’s ISIS

by Ahalya Srikant asrikant@mail.sfsu.edu As Americans, we view extreme terror organizations like ISIS as a foreign concept. But believe it or not, we are not far from the same revolution in our own country.

Even though we’ve powered through this tough election season, our battle with the racism it exposed is far from over. Countries aren’t built in a day, and they don’t fall in a day. They fall over years of political angst and voter agitation. In many ways, we are not too far from the disastrous outcome that ethnic extremism can bring. The rise of White supremacy in America is dangerous and should not be underestimated.

This election season, the U.S. has shown its true colors — and I’m not just talking about red and blue. White supremacy has become normalized, and racist speech has become synonymous with first amendment rights. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of right-wing hate groups has risen from 602 to 930 since 2000.

Racist speech has also gotten a free pass this election season. Donald Trump has called Mexican immigrants rapists, murderers, associated all African Americans with living in an inner city and promised to ban Muslims from entering the country. Instead of these comments derailing his campaign, the Republican establishment commended his racism as courageous, saying he’s unafraid of what conservatives have dubbed the “politically correct police.”

“

This election season, the U.S. has shown its true colors — and I’m not just talking about red and blue.

Our history is reaching a tipping point, and we have a tough road ahead of us if we are going to bridge the divides in our country. Otherwise, we are destined to repeat the same mistakes.

It may seem ridiculous to compare ISIS to white supremacists, but imagine the scope of the problem we are facing. Syria, after years of trying to establish a secular state, was unable to withstand the push from extremists. The Arab Spring protests along with outside attacks from Israel left the country vulnerable to a homegrown terror organization. In a country that tried to protect religious expression and freedom, those preferring more conservative values found a way to make their voice heard. This voice was through the Islamic State.

An extremist and violent uprising by a group believing they are superior to the rest of the country is exactly what we are facing. In fact, White extremists have killed more Americans than Islamic extremist groups, according to Time magazine.

With a constantly changing demographic, the United States is looking at a White minority soon.

“

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS

slipped past Gore to win the election by a mere 537 votes. Of the 111 million people who voted in 2000, that number is almost unfathomably small. It’s infinitesimal. But it was still enough to tilt the election in Bush’s favor, a man who launched an invasion on and subsequent war with Iraq that cost the lives of 4,510 American soldiers and, depending on your sources, anywhere from 166,000 to over a million Iraqi civilians and soldiers.

We’re all very familiar with the troubling statements Republican nominee Donald Trump has been making about using nuclear weapons and his thoughts on past wars. It’s not a stretch to assume that a Trump presidency will plunge the U.S. into another war. Regardless, his comments about specific groups of people will certainly pave the way for more openly racist oppression and subjugation. Yet, despite all his rank, racist and sexist rhetoric, the race between Trump and Hillary Clinton was nail-bitingly close in key states like Florida and Michigan.

Both candidates needed all the help they could get, but it looks like, once again, the presidential election was decided by third-party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, who were trailing in the polls by a mere four percent and two percent pre-election, respectively.

Neither of them had any remote chance of winning. But remember, it took just 537 votes for Bush to be elected president in 2000. If 538 of the 138,000 Floridians had voted for Gore instead of any of the eight no-chance third-party candidates, he would have been our president.

On Monday, Johnson stated to CNBC that it isn’t too late to vote “on principle” for the Libertarian party, which he is running under, suggesting that voting for him is the moral choice. But whose conscience could possibly be soothed by essentially wasting a vote on someone who will likely drop off the political sphere once the election is over?

The Census Bureau projects that non-Hispanic Whites will drop below 50 percent by 2040.

These changing demographics have led to increased hatred from White nationalists toward immigrants and people of color. The Alt-Right and the Ku Klux Klan believe Trump’s presidency has made huge advances for the White nationalist community, and this passion is dangerous. Former Congressman Joe Walsh tweeted a week ago that he was ready to pick up arms if Trump didn’t win the election. This animosity is our own homegrown terrorism. These are the people our democracy has to fear.

Equality and freedom are at stake in the upcoming years. Many people are just trying to get through this election but White nationalism will only grow worse as we go on. What seemed like a Trump victory on Tuesday night is evidence that White America is fighting the voice people of color have been struggling centuries to have in their government. It’s obvious that the voice of racism is alive and well in our country.

SPORTS

goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | November 9, 2016

11 SF State senior Kenny Trejo, an industrial design major concentrating in product design, uses an iron piece and lathe to make cuts for his perfume bottle design project in the Fine Arts building woodshop on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016. Photo by Steven Ho

Intel executive creates new opportunity for Latino students

by Laura Monique Ordoñez lordonez@mail.sfsu.edu SF State cross country runner Kenny Trejo has had a successful career as a Gator, but as his final season of cross country comes to a close, he is focusing on his ultimate goal of finishing his major in industrial design.

Although Trejo’s major and athletic ability may seem to be separate entities, he plans to fuse his passion for both running and design into a career developing sneakers and products for runners and athletes.

“I want to expand my running knowledge to greater development of product knowledge,” Trejo said.

This past summer, Trejo fell into an opportunity that would bring him one step closer to bringing his dreams to fruition when he met Carlos Montesinos through a family friend.

Montesinos, a product development manager at Intel, was looking for candidates for a professional development group he was creating specifically for Latino students and professionals looking to break into the product development and technology industry.

“Cracking into these industries, especially in the tech industry, is hard for us,” Montesinos said. “When I moved to the U.S. I realized that this was specifically a problem for Latinos and minorities in general.”

Originally from Ecuador,

Montesinos moved to the U.S. 12 years ago to complete his masters in electrical and computer engineering.

Though Montesinos eventually established himself at Intel in Santa Clara, he found the task of looking for jobs and internships in his field daunting, so he decided to create his own opportunities.

“Most of my jobs, including all the internships I’ve done, I’ve created myself ,” Montesinos said.

His entrepreneurial drive influenced his idea to devise a program dedicated to preparing Latinos to enter the industry with experience and hands-on knowledge.

“If we don’t help each other, no one is going to help us,” Montesinos said.

Montesinos first began to tackle this problem while vice president of the Intel Latino Network from 2013 to 2014 when he led a similar program at San Jose State University.

Unlike the program he ran through Intel where he had a wide network of support, Montesinos is now running his new program on his own free time, recruiting members by word of mouth.

This is precisely how Montesinos found Trejo who has been part of the small group of four students and four advising professionals since its inception this past summer.

“Currently we are keeping it small and tight because we want to figure out the process and how it works,” Montesinos said. “Once we have a couple of projects done and we know how to operate as a group, then we would like to start scaling and making it bigger.”

“A lot of the time, because we are very low in the minority of college graduates and even more so in product design he wanted to make sure there was an open space and a creative space for us to build,” Trejo said.

Although the number of Latino students attending college is on the rise, statistics from the Pew Research Center show they still fall behind in graduation rates, with only 15 percent earning a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2014. More specifically, 2014 statistics from the U.S. Dept. of Education show there were only 25 graduates of SF State’s industrial design program and out of those students, only one was Latino.

Trejo is not only a first-generation college student, but is also one of the few Latino students in the extremely small department of industrial design at SF State, where he is learning to combine technology and product design.

An article from the New York Times recently addressed this issue, stating that Latinos are underrepresented in the tech industry, with only 12 percent going into tech jobs after graduating from college, compared to 40 percent of Asian graduates and 19 percent White.

Montesinos attributes this problem to what he calls a “chicken and egg” debacle.

“Highly qualified students are looking for jobs, but they don’t get the job because they haven’t had the experience,” Montesinos said. “On the other hand they haven’t had the experience because no one has ever given them the opportunity to do the job.”

Montesinos saw many of the students he worked with at San Jose State encounter this problem and created the group as a solution.

The group holds meetings through Google Hangouts every Tuesday, where they discuss product ideas and begin to go over designs and then progress through the weeks to different phases of product development. Each member works on a specific task for a certain amount of time during the week based on their skill set, then comes back with their progress in the meeting the next week. Once a month, the group meets at Montesinos’ house for what he calls a “barbeque-a-thon” where the group starts to physically assemble the product.

Montesinos considers his program to be much more than an internship and therefore is averse to calling it such.

“It goes beyond an internship because we are building the network, we are building the experience, we are building a portfolio of results and using that to help each other go to the next level in our careers,” Montesinos said.

Trejo said not only has Montesinos’ program given him tangible work experience to add to his portfolio, but has created a stronger sense of a Latino community working to push themselves into the industry.

“As a team we’re bonding and becoming friends,” Montesinos said. “Once this group dissolves and people start moving to the next step of their careers, at some point they are going to need help, or they are going to need a job or they are

going to have an opening and they are going to remember these people in this group.”

Montesinos said the long-term goal is to implement his program in schools throughout the U.S., creating a larger representation of Latinos in the industry and stronger sense of community support.

“I would like to literally inject this process into many schools and many communities and see how big we can grow,” Montesinos said. “In my mind, my ultimate goal would be to see us becoming a group in the thousands” Montesinos knows his goals are ambitious, but said the he hopes to create a greater impact on the Latino community and its value in the workforce. He hopes to see an increase in the number of Latinos holding higher positions in industry, an occurrence he hopes will narrow the wage gap between Latinos and other groups, shown in the 2013 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statics.

“I want to see more Latinos in leadership positions in the industry,” Montesinos said. “I want to see Latinos as vice presidents and CEOs of companies.”

Trejo is confident that this program will help him achieve his goals by giving him a competitive edge. Though he knows the journey will be difficult, he said he feels prepared to take this experience into the workforce.

“Being as diverse as we are here in the Bay Area and with all the startup companies in the industry, you have to hustle,” Trejo said.