Fall 2016 issue 6

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS Serving the San Francisco State community since 1927

Volume CIII, Issue 6

Wednesday – September 28, 2016

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Members of SF State’s Republican Student Union watch presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton debate on a projector in a house in Parkmerced on Monday. The organization’s vice president Brian May hosted the watch party in his home. | Photo by Steven Ho

Watch parties gather for debate

by Katherine Minkiewicz & Lea Fabro mraschke@mail.sfsu.edu lfabro@mail.sfsu.edu

On a warm Monday evening, television screens flickered and heated discussions boomed as students both on and off campus

watched the first presidential debate of the 2016 election.

In Parkmerced, the Republican Student Union, led by club president John Byerly, gathered to watch the debate at the home of their vice president Brian May. “Clinton is sponsored by Wall Street,” Byerly said. “It’d be nice if she actually taxed the top one percent but she’s not going to. She’s just saying that for the votes.”

Across the city, a viewing event at Hi Tops, a bar on Market Street, was co-hosted by College Democrats of SF State and attracted a wide range of democratic activists and passionate Clinton supporters.

“Trump is categorically unfit to deliver any response on national security issues. He talked in circles the entire debate to avoid an actual factual and policy-based discussion,” said 20-year-old Jordan James-Harvill, political

Voter registrars capitalize on Trump unpopularity

by Nik Wojcik nwojcik@mail.sfsu.edu The life-size image of Donald Trump in the quad was not hard to notice, but the tape holding it together was less obvious. One member of the Republican Student Union stood guard next to the cardboard cutout in an effort to protect it from being ripped in half again as it had been earlier on Tuesday.

Brian May, vice president of RSU, says this isn’t the first time their table has come under attack.

“Last week, we had a mob of people and someone drew all over our Trump poster and then ran away,” May said.

science major and president of the club.

Meanwhile, students at the City Eats Dining Center on campus watched the debate on the numerous screens in the center.

Joshua Batalla, a business major, said that Trump didn’t do an adequate job answering questions regarding race relations.

Debate cont. pg. 2 A SF State student Nicholas Lewis, 19, registers to vote in the Quad on Tuesday. Photo

by Kayleen Fonte

National Voter Registration Day followed the first presidential debate held on Monday. The day brought political parties and advocates to the SF State campus on Tuesday. RSU wasn’t handing out registration forms, but May said they were there to debate politics and argue the merits of capitalism and the political right.

Just a few feet away from the GOP group was the Beyond Bernie table and a non-partisan group representing the National Education Association, both of which were prepared to help students register to vote.

Vote cont. pg. 2

Quake researcher raises concerns

Therapy dogs provide relief

‘Narcos’ oversimplifies Colombia

5K runners share training advice

by Katherine Minkiewicz – pg. 5

by MJ Ongoy – pg. 7

by Mariana Raschke – pg. 10

by Laura Monique Ordoñez – pg. 11

NEWS

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goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | September 28, 2016

Student union provides viewing party Debate cont. pg. 1 “With the question of race relations in America, I feel like Trump wasn’t really addressing the question and was instead addressing himself and his success. There is no context or background information to what he’s saying, “Batalla said.

While Batalla said he is still undecided on who he is going to vote for, he did have a strong opinion concerning Trump.

“He is kind of dumb, and I predict that Hillary will win since she is just more knowledgeable,” Batalla said.

Freshman Chris Kwon looked up from his plate from time-totime to glance at the pre-debate coverage said he mainly watched for entertainment value.

“I’ve never really been into politics, it’s just something in the back of my mind and I’m not sure if I’m going to vote. Going into the debate, I’m just not that positive about each candidate,” Kwon said.

Jacob Mata, an 18-year-old political science major, was excited to watch the debate but admitted the debate wasn’t going to sway his vote. Mata said that he was most excited to see whether Trump was going to be “mature.”

“It will be interesting to see how they go against each other,” Mata said.

“I’ll probably vote for Hillary even though I don’t like her, and I will be holding my nose while I do it.”

Not all students who watched Monday night’s debate are eligible to vote in the upcoming election, however it didn’t stop 17-year-old Rosa Cruz from cheering on her

Members of SF State’s Republican Student Union watch presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton debate on a projector in a house in Parkmerced on Monday. The organization’s vice president Brian May hosted the watch party in his home. | Photo by Steven Ho favorite candidate during the debate.

“I turn 18 after the election but I’m still rooting for Hillary, since

the things that Trump says are unbelievable and bizarre,” Cruz said.

Monday night’s debate between

the two candidates is the first in the presidential debate series. The next debate will be a town hall meeting and

take place on Oct. 9 at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. and will air on CNN at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time.

Voter registration promotes participation Vote cont. pg. 1

SF State student Dani Alvarez, 20, registers to vote with the help of the Aspiring Educators Program in the Quad on Tuesday. | Photo by Kayleen Fonte

Oksana Samokish, a 30-year-old political science major, said the Beyond Bernie club has registered or reregistered several people over the past few weeks, but are not endorsing any of the remaining candidates.

“We’ve noticed some tension with the Trump table over there and so we’ve been trying to catch the people who are really heated,” Samokish said.

“I think the people who are passionate about politics are already registered, but we’re hoping to catch some of the younger students that have never registered before.”

Eunice Kim of the National Education Association also emphasized the priority to register voters over suggesting who they should vote for. The 21-year-old hospitality and tourism major stressed that what students choose on their registration forms is confidential and not something the organization discusses or tries to influence.

“It’s really important to just take the first step and register,” Kim said. “We know it’s a little scary to go in and actually vote because you may not know what everything on the ballot actually means.

It’s a little intimidating.”

Robert Smith, a professor in the SF State political science department, has observed more engagement this year among his students. That sentiment is reflected in data published by the California Secretary of State’s office.

“We are witnessing a wave of young Californians engaging in the democratic process. The timing says everything—they want to vote,” according to a press release they published earlier this year.

“Last time, 19 percent of the voters were between 18 and 29, so that’s what we’ll look for on election night – to see whether those numbers go up or down,” Smith said.

He did note that the millennial turnout during this election may be more motivated by a “distaste” for Trump as opposed to excitement about Clinton.

Natalie Fiutek, 22-year-old biology major, is still

undecided and unregistered. However, watching the debate inspired her to do so before the deadline.

The former Bernie Sanders supporter has been more focused on her work as a student than staying current on politics. Although she has committed to casting a ballot, neither candidate has yet to win her over.

“They both had great arguments,” Fiutek said.

Brian May doesn’t seem to think that many of the former Sanders supporters will migrate toward the Republican Party and Trump. “They have a lot of the same views as Trump when it comes to trade, but this school is mostly all social liberals and economic liberals,” May said.

“They want free stuff.”

Matt Singer of the National Voter Registration Day organization disagrees with May’s observation that nobody cares about politics or voting now that Sanders is out of the race.

“We can say that nationally we’re seeing a significant uptick in interest in the election,” Singer said.

Singer reported there has been a big increase in student and youth organizations mobilizing for the registration drives across the country on Tuesday and students are registering at higher rates.

Students and the rest of the nation may not have a favorable view of either candidate, but the ballot is packed with many proposals and lower-level candidates that can help shape life nationally and on a community level.

One thing Smith and each of the campus political groups agree on is the importance of voting alone.

Smith has encouraged his students to participate, “not just in terms of the election, but (for) the California ballot.”

Smith believes even if students feel like they’re choosing the “lesser of two evils” for president, propositions like the death penalty amendment and the legalization of marijuana will likely bring young voters out to the polls.

“It gives them the chance to be actual lawmakers,” Smith said.

NEWS

goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | September 28, 2016

3 Kayla Kenton, a graduate of SF State’s moderate severe special education program, uses sign language to communicate with children with autism during their morning singalong at Junipero Serra Elementary School in Daly City, Calif. on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016.

Photo by Steven Ho

SF State leads field in deaf-blindness education

by Rita Berríos Riquelme rberrios@mail.sfsu.edu

This semester, the department of special education started the third cycle of its deafblindness training program to prepare graduate students in their role as special education teachers.

In 2014, a U.S. Department of Education grant of $997,685 funded the innovative program run in collaboration with the California Deaf-Blind Services. Through this partnership, selected graduate students from the moderate/ severe disabilities credential program acquire the knowledge and skills to improve the experience of children with deaf-blindness in the classroom.

“It takes a lot of work to get those children connected to what’s happening in the classroom and connected to the other children,” said Maurice Belote, CDBS Program Coordinator.

Belote said that for a child who is fully deaf, it doesn’t take much of vision impairment to greatly impact how they learn and communicate and vice versa.

Under federal law, deaf-blindness is the combination of hearing and vision impairment, whether completely deaf and blind or having some functional hearing and/or some functional sight.

“Deaf-blind children need people that are trained, and I think that it’s important that we are prepared,” said Thea Sigal, part of the third group of students in this program.

The specialization in deaf-blindness is a small field not only nationwide, but statewide, and the need for pioneers is increasing. A census conducted between 2010-2011 by the CDBS showed there were 978 deaf-blind children under the age of 21 in California, with the highest concentration in the city of Los Angeles, 167 and a total of 176 in the the Bay Area.

The number of deaf-blind children in California has increased since the census to about 1,200, but there are only a few people trained with the skills and experience to attend to deaf-blind children’s needs in the classroom, according to Belote.

“On our grant, there are only four people for the whole state,” Belote said.

The four-year program began Oct. 1, 2014

and is designed to immerse a group of seven graduate students each year with children that are deaf-blind. During the program students attend seminars, where they meet with specialists and children who are deaf-blind and learn about their experience and progress.

“Because deaf-blindness is a complex disability, these children have a really complex set of needs and challenges,” Belote said.

After spending eight months visiting children with deaf-blindness at their schools and homes, where they observe specialists working with them, students interact with the children and study ways to improve the children’s learning and communicative skills in realistic scenarios.

“In the moderate/severe program you are learning about all of them (disabilities). This is more specific,” Kayla Kenton, a graduate of the program, said.

Kenton sometimes cares for children with deaf-blindness she met through the program and now works in a classroom with students with autism.

“I have been able to use everything I learned in this program because it puts learning in a total different perspective for you. The program made me such a stronger special ed teacher,”

Kenton said.

Edith Arias, another graduate of the program, was paired with a seventh grade girl, whose vision declined since birth and with whom she worked to develop the skills taught in the program.

“Now I observe if they (children) are having problems hearing or seeing. The program opened up my mind about being creative on how to help students,” Arias said.

Because most of the graduates of the program remain in the area, it has a huge impact on the Bay Area, according to Belote.

The program’s final goal is that some, if not all, of these students will become experts in this field by assuming leadership roles and creating new program models that they can share with peers and by coaching or mentoring other teachers.

“We are hoping that the school districts will acknowledge that this person that’s working for them has lots of knowledge and experience and skills working with children that are deaf-blind so they can become kind of a local expert,” Belote said.

Parkmerced parking to temporarily decrease The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance on Tuesday that will vacate streets around SF State to make make way for construction and redevelopment of the Parkmerced area.

Scheduled to start in March 2017, construction will take approximately two years to complete, during which time parking spots and garages near SF State will be closed and demolished as developers begin the construction process, said P.J. Johnson, a spokesperson for the Parkmerced Development Project.

After construction is complete, approximately the same amount of street parking spaces will return to the area, Johnson said.

“It’s already hard enough to find parking spot with what’s available,” psychology major Katelyn Gardner said. “So if they take a bunch of parking spots away it’s going to be almost impossible to find parking.”

According to records from the San Francisco Public Works Department, phase one of construction would begin at the

“

I would be incredibly irritated because it already takes me half an hour to find somewhere to park on a normal day.

Northwest corner of Parkmerced on Vidal Drive.

Construction would affect Serrano Drive, Font Boulevard, Junipero Serra Boulevard and nearly half of Gonzalez Drive, according to the vacation order.

“Parking is terrible, it’s always been terrible. On a good day it’s just bad, but on a regular it’s terrible,” African studies major Hassani Bell said. “I would be incredibly irritated because it already takes me half an hour to find somewhere to park on a normal day.”

“When it comes to transportation and Parkmerced, the most important thing we can do for the future is tunnel M-line from

Hassani Bell

“

by Jason Rejali jrejali@mail.sfsu.edu

West Portal to Parkmerced and ideally to Daly City BART,” candidate for District 7 Supervisor Joel Engardio said.

During recent neighborhood meetings at St. Thomas Moore’s gymnasium, residents expressed their concerns over how city officials, especially the Board of Supervisors and developers, are creating legislation in a fast paced manner they feel disenfranchises the community overall.

“Getting to SFSU will only become harder and parking less available until the proposed west side transit realignment occurs,” former resident of Parkmerced Aaron Goodman said.

NEWS

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goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | September 28, 2016

Suit accuses University of racial discrimination

by Nik Wojcik nwojcik@mail.sfsu.edu A civil rights complaint has been made against SF State and specific faculty members alleging racial discrimination, conflicts of interest and violations of academic policies in the school’s hiring practices.

According to the complaint for damages and injunctive relief, filed in January in San Francisco Superior Court.

“Plaintiff alleges that he was repeatedly denied advancement to full-time employment for a Tenure Track position at San Francisco State University’s creative writing department, for which he was the most qualified, due to his race,” according to court documents.

The plaintiff is Truong Tran, a lecturer for the department of creative writing. The court filing details his accounts of hiring bias over the span of his employment, beginning in 2002.

Tran is still an active SF State employee and continues to lecture classes.

Tran believes the continued hiring of white candidates by all-white hiring committees is a violation of academic senate policy #F02-158, hiring policy revision for tenure track faculty, according to court documents. “...the protocols stipulated in the Academic Senate were not followed in the formation of the hiring committee,” according to court documents.

Academic Senate policy states that hiring committees are to “be elected by secret ballot of probationary and tenured faculty” and that additional members may be elected to promote diversity by hiring of women, people of color and people with disabilities.

The original complaint named SF State, Maxine Churnoff and Paul Hoover as defendants. However, California State University Office of General Counsel submitted the official answer to Tran’s complaint against the school as a public entity and denied all allegations.

Churnoff and Hoover are specifically identified in the court filing for alleged conflicts of interest.

“In the 2006 hiring process, there was another conflict of interest because one of the then-candidates (Paul Hoover) being considered

for the position was also the thenhusband of the department chair (still Maxine Chernoff),” according to court documents.

The most recent court documents indicate that Tran and his attorney, William Simpich, had not complied with an order to show cause and have been summoned to appear on Nov. 1.

Simpich confirmed that the case is headed to mediation that he hopes will take place within the next 60 days.

“My duty right now is to take the mediation process seriously,” Simpich said. “But once that’s over, if doesn’t go successfully, we’ll go forward.”

“The case is in the early investigatory stage and the University continues to gather information concerning the complaint,” said University spokesperson Jonathan Morales. “We believe that when the evidence is developed it will show that SF State acted appropriately and Mr. Tran’s claims lack merit.”

Tran said he is committed to resolve the situation as well and is approaching mediation with hopes of doing so.

“This is my alma mater and community,” Tran said. “I still hold it in the highest regard.”

In addition to Tran’s lawsuit, the CSU system has enlisted the assistance of independent San Francisco attorney Gary Lafayette to conduct a third-party review of racial bias charges made against the University in April. SF State’s College of Ethnic Studies lodged the complaints following last year’s budget disputes. They also claim the University retaliated against Black students that participated in related protests.

Toni Molle, a CSU spokesperson, told the SF Examiner that Lafayette’s findings and recommendations will be reviewed by the chancellor and system-wide human resources to determine if any changes need to be made.

The timeline for Lafayette’s investigation was unknown at the time this article was published.

Although there is contextual similarity between the two accusations, Morales has confirmed that they are unrelated.

Task force aims to reduce dropout rates This September, invitations were sent out to students, staff and faculty to form the first ever campus task force at SF State that will identify barriers to success for first-year students and develop a plan to combat student attrition.

“Research shows that freshmen student success in the first year of college is one of the best predictors of on-time graduation,” Luoluo Hong, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management said in an email.

A study by the Student Success and Graduation Initiative Task Force shows 22 percent of first-year students, both incoming freshman and transfers, drop out within their first year at SF State and an additional 12 percent drop out in their second year.

The University has employed the Foundations of Excellence model developed by the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education. The project coincides with the systemwide Graduation Initiative 2025 from the CSU Chancellor’s Office to reach the goal of increasing six-year graduation rates from the current 51 percent to the 2025 goal of 69 percent. Funded by the state Chancellor’s

“

Not all of our students feel like they are genuinely part of the life of the university, and we all lose when that’s the case.

Jennifer Summit

Office, the FOE project officially launches Oct. 31 with a campus visit from Gardner himself.

“Programs like FOE help build institutional capacity of a university to be more effective in promoting a vibrant, engaging first-year experience that enhances student persistence and learning,” Hong said in an email.

The initiative’s most recent analysis of graduation rates shows 51 percent of firsttime freshmen who enrolled in 2009 graduated within six years and an additional 8.3 percent of students graduated from another four-year institution in the same time. Of the 34 percent of students that leave SF State in their first two years, less than one-quarter attain a degree elsewhere.

“It is in students’ interests to stay and

“

by Cody McFarland cmcfarla@mail.sfsu.edu

complete their degrees here, and it’s in our interest to communicate that to them,” said Jennifer Summit, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Impediments to on time graduation and campus bureaucracy are leading factors as to why students leave without graduating, Summit said. The SSGI task force discovered a large number of students desired a stronger sense of community on campus, Summit said.

“Not all of our students feel like they are genuinely part of the life of the university, and we all lose when that’s the case,” Summit said.

“When students feel like they are not part of it, then we are losing their distinct contribution to our life as a community.”

Kari Putz, a freshmen pre-psychology

student said at least half the responsibility of finding out where one fits in on campus is on the student. Eager to branch out after an adolescence filled with small private schools, she rushed a sorority and made numerous friends in her first few weeks on campus.

“You have to be social and open to new experiences,” Putz said. “You really have to put yourself out there to meet people and create connections if you want to have a quality college experience.”

The FOE task force will be split into smaller factions that will focus on criticals area of student engagement, Summit said. The end goal is to orient services, classes and the campus community in a way that brings firstyear students onboard and is responsive to their developmental needs during this time in their lives.

“I think that we’ve made the University unnecessarily bureaucratic for students, and we need to take responsibility for creating the kind of environment that welcomes students in the way that we really intend to,” Summit said.

“This is a university that is deeply committed to the well-being of its students. We don’t always show that in our student-facing bureaucracy.”

NEWS

goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | September 28, 2016

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Infographic by George Morin

Visiting quake researcher shares research, warning Scientists and educators gathered last week to hear a visiting professor’s latest research on the San Andreas Fault.

Kim Blisniuk, assistant professor in the department of Geology at San Jose State University, discussed the 100,000 year geomorphic history of large earthquake displacements on the fault in the fourth installment of the Distinguished Speakers Series hosted by the geology department.

“The Coachella Valley section of the San Andreas Fault system hasn’t ruptured in over 300 years, so there is a high probability for a large magnitude earthquake to occur,” Blisniuk said The talk was bookended this month by several small California quakes: earlier in September by small tremors in Piedmont and Avenal and on Sunday by a shallow, 3.2 magnitude earthquake 11 miles from Yosemite Valley, according to the United States Geological Survey.

These minor quakes, between the 2.0 and 3.0 range, were strong enough to be felt but not to cause damage. However, though these strings of earthquakes have been miniscule, it is still important to be prepared for, Blisniuk said.

According to Blisniuk, the San Andreas Fault usually has the occurrence of a major earthquake every 200 year – the last one occurring more than 300 years ago. So an earthquake could be “locked and ready to go,” Blisniuk said.

When preparing for an earthquake, the American Red Cross website is a good place to find earthquake kit ideas and lists of supplies that should be kept in an emergency supply kit, said Reginald Parson, interim University police chief.

“Emergency planning and coordination is a campus wide effort and so it would be great to involve students in the process,” Parson said.

When evacuating from the main campus, or any of

“

I think it would be great if every classroom had a medical kit and supplies and for each professor to know where supplies are and have an access point for evacuation.

Jacqueline Foley

classrooms, Jacqueline Foley, Associated Students, Inc. vice president of University affairs, said the quad would be a good place to go to for safety.

“I think it would be great if every classroom had a medical kit and supplies and for each professor to know where supplies are and have an access point for evacuation,” Foley said.

ASI vice president of internal affairs, Jordan Thomas, said it would be a good idea if students kept emergency supply kits at hand in the event of an earthquake.

“Always have extra things on hand or supplies, just in case something were to happen, even if that’s just extra food and an external battery for your phone to make calls,” Thomas said.

“In San Francisco it (an earthquake) can be a big deal,” Foley

“

by Katherine Minkiewicz keminkie@mail.sfsu.edu

said, stressing the importance of student preparedness.

In terms of evacuation plans, Thomas said it would be good to follow basic earthquake evacuation procedures and to cover your head.

“Speaking only for myself, I would follow basic procedure of protecting myself, especially my head during an earthquake and then evacuate when possible and try to help others,” Thomas said.

Regarding evacuation from student dorms, Natalie Lam, a resident assistant for University Park North, said evacuation usually takes place after an resident assistant approves.

However, Lam said: “The West Campus Green and the Stonestown parking lot is a safe bet for students.”

LIFESTYLE & CULTURE

goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | September 28, 2016 SF State students surround and pet Prancer, a king charles cocker spaniel, during the first Therapy Dog Tuesday of the semester on top of the Student Health Center, Tuesday, Sept.

20, 2016.

Photo by Kayleen Fonte

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LIFESTYLE & CULTURE

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SF State students surround and pet Brixton, a 3-year-old golden retriever during the first Therapy Dog Tuesday of the semester on top of the Student Health Center on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016. Certified therapy dogs can be found on campus the first and third Tuesday of every month. | Photo by Kayleen Fonte

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Brixton, a 31/2-year-old golden retriever, worked alongside his two king charles cavalier spaniel buddies, Dasher and Prancer last week at the first day of the semester-long Therapy Dog Tuesday program.

“We started out working in senior centers and psych wards,” 20-yearveteran therapy dog escort, Jane Twomey, said. “But they really love coming to the college campuses.

They get to be lazy and loved all at the same time. Dasher is the licker, he loves to lick everyone, and Prancer is the lazy one. He’ll lay there getting pet all day.”

Brixton has been an acting therapy dog with his owner Linda Gordon for almost his entire life. Working 3-4 events a week and sometimes 2-3 events a day, Brixton’s schedule stays busy. The events range from prekindergarten classrooms and college campuses, to the San Francisco International Airport. But on Tuesday, his job was to lay belly up on the grass, inviting doting students to pet him.

“He’s been doing this since he was 8 months old, and he loves it,” Gordon said. “Look! He’s surrounded by beautiful ladies petting him. He was born to do this.”

The event attracted over 50 students to the rooftop of the Student Health

Services Building, some coming to receive credit for class and others coming solely to get their furry fix.

Natalie Tommasino, an 18-yearold theater major, is still adjusting to her first semester on campus. When she saw an opportunity to pet some pups to relieve her stress, she jumped on it.

“I came here because I really miss my dogs at home,” Tommasino said.

“I’m still getting used to everything out here.”

Aimee Williams is the lead health educator for the Health Promotion and Wellness Center on campus.

She has seen Therapy Dog Tuesday grow from a special-events-only occurrence to a once-a-month event, to the twice-a-month program it has become today. Williams knows all the dogs that come to SF State by name and could even describe their personalities.

“They love coming here,” Williams said. “We even had a dog cancel today due to a work emergency, and the dog’s owner was so sad about missing today’s event.”

The next Therapy Dog Tuesday will take place on Oct. 4 and will continue on every first and third Tuesday of the month for the remainder of the semester. There are four dogs scheduled to appear at the next Therapy Dog Tuesday, and for the first time ever, there will also be a therapy cat.

For more information about Therapy Dog Tuesday, follow @ SFStateCares on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

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by MJ Ongoy mongoy@mail.sfsu.edu

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LIFESTYLE & CULTURE

goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | September 28, 2016

ECO students share harvest at equinox garden party

by MJ Ongoy mongoy@@mail.sfsu.edu

The sun was shining, pumpkins were picked and home-dried lemon verbena tea and apple cider was shared, as the Environmentally Concerned Organization of Students gathered in the Sol Patch Garden to celebrate the autumnal equinox.

Located on the corner of Font and Lake Merced, behind Mary Park Hall, the Sol Patch Garden was the scene of the ECO Students’ Autumn Equinox harvest party that took place last Wednesday.

“It’s always been a spot for the kids to come and chill,” gardening specialist Linda Jo Morton said. “But now it’s a real community vegetable garden. It is fully registered with the city, and the food that is grown here can be used to feed our community. That’s one of my goals, for this food to be able to feed the students on campus.”

The garden has evolved over the years, Morton said. She has been working on the grounds crew at SF State for about four years now and is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the garden’s landscape, even keeping an eye on the irrigation systems that are in place to make sure the plants are getting watered properly.

The small student gathering of about 10 people reflected and celebrated the summer’s harvest and talked preparation for fall and winter, also called the “dark half” of the year.

“We’d like to bring awareness of our garden and our environment to students here, on campus,” organization president Liana Derus said. “It was only three years ago that the garden was pretty much dead. That was due to a lack of student participants, and we hope to change that.”

Yassy Faal, a 21-year-old health education major, said she joined the ECO Students because she considers herself environmentally conscious and thought it would be a good way to make new friends when she first arrived at

SF State Environmentally Concerned Organization members, (left to right) Clem Tsang, Marc Hernandez and Amir Sahit test their pumpkins’ ripeness by hitting them to make sure they sound hollow at the Sol Patch Community Garden in honor of the fall equinox during the organization’s end of summer garden celebration on Wednesday. | Photo by Lauren Saldana SF State.

“I just looked up student organizations on campus, and this one stood out to me,” Faal said. “This garden is great. We have rainbow chard, herbs, kale, arugula, tomatoes, pumpkins, zucchini, yellow squash, kabocha squash,

rosemary, sunflowers, sage, thyme, artichokes, strawberries, and I’m sure there’s more that I didn’t name.”

“We are so lucky to be able to utilize this space on campus,” Derus said. “Not a lot of people know about this place, and we’d like to

change that.”

For more information on the Sol Patch Garden and the ECO Students, visit them at facebook.com/sfsuecostudents or on Instagram and Snapchat @sfsuecostudents.

Climate justice showcased through art, music

Ashely “Seasunz” Eldridge smiles while speaking to SF State students during the Climate Justice Now Speaker Series on Wednesday.

Photo by Brenna Cruz

Ashel Eldridge, a musician with the green hip-hop group Earth Amplified, began the first Climate Justice Speaker Series of the semester with a chant. With his eyes closed and head bowed, the spiritual activist recited an indigenous Japanese chant to introduce the topics of art, climate justice and spiritual activism on Wednesday evening.

The Climate Justice Speaker Series, a part of the Climate Justice Initiative headed by ethnic studies professor Philip Klasky, which seeks to engage students with the climate justice movement.

“Climate justice is the most immediate, most important environmental, political, economic and moral issue of our time. It will impact everyone,” Klasky said.

Klasky and the four sections of his race, activism, and climate justice course put on the event, another part of the Climate Justice Initiative that has grown since its introduction last year. The course combines the science behind climate change with critical race theory and activism in an effort to empower students to take action.

In addition to being a musician and an activist, Eldridge teaches an online section of the race, activism, and climate justice class at SF State.

Eldridge, who also goes by Seasunz to represent the ever-changing styles of his music, has been involved in Earth Amplified since 2010 after he began to notice how music made people pay attention. The fourpiece band plays “hard-hitting, conscious, roots-rap-reggae,” seeks to be “the voice of

“

There’s a natural flow of things being revealed right now. It gives me hope that people are waking up and seeing their interconnectedness.

the earth” and wants to bring awareness to pressing environmental issues, according to their website.

During his presentation, Eldridge screened four of Earth Amplified’s music videos: “Solarize,” “Global WarNing,” “Food Fight” and “Lady Justice.” The songs touched on a range of social justice and environmental issues such as indigenous rights, corporate pollution, processed food and female empowerment.

Stressing that there’s never a shortage of things to get creative about, Eldridge ended his presentation by encouraging everyone to “be the art” and to find whatever inspires them to take action.

“So much is being uncovered right now. There’s a natural flow of things being revealed right now. It gives me hope that people are waking up and seeing their interconnectedness,” Eldridge said.

The North American Arts Organizer for 350.org, David Solnit, also spoke at the event and discussed how art can be used to educate people and incite change. Operating on the idea that artists have the most powerful tools, he has used art in a number of ways. Some of his past projects include painting sunflowers as symbols of climate justice and protesting oil companies with a giant picture book.

Ashel “Seasunz” Eldridge

“

by Kelsey Matzen kmatzen@mail.sfsu.edu

Though Solnit is concerned about the current state of the environment and climate justice, he remains optimistic.

“What great time to be alive,” Solnit said.

“Climate change is definitely crucial and impacting us, but it has created an organizing factor where everybody is screwed over by the same thing, so we can all get together and start a global revolution.”

His current project, which left screenprinting ink splattered on his hands, is painting banners for the pipeline protest at Standing Rock. He planned to drive the banners, which feature purifying Thunderbirds, to South Dakota on Friday.

Students interested in this event filled up one room in the library, forcing the event coordinators to relocate the overflow into a second room.

Marketing major Cormac Pujals is one of Klasky’s teaching assistants who helped plan the event. He believes climate justice is one of the most pressing issues.

“It affects every cultural issue. We’re all native to the earth, and we’re all affected by the detriments,” Pujals said. “It’s important just having these conversations with your peers.”

goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | September 28, 2016

LIFESTYLE & CULTURE

9 Kevin “Mooshka” Catawho talks to David Kertzman about his kachinas at the reception of the “When I Remember, I See Red” exhibit at the Fine Arts Gallery on Saturday, Sept.

17, 2016.

Photo by Steven Ho

Survey of Native American art arrives, two decades in the making Wood sculptures and imagery of tribes at war fill the Fine Arts Gallery in “When I Remember I See Red,” the first historical survey of works by 36 contemporary Native American artists in California from the ‘60s to the present.

“What you have is the regional value in the kinds of things that they’re showing. Issues like the pipeline and sovereignty of land and water are something that affect a whole nation,” said SF State alumnus and contributing artist Frank LePena.

In North Dakota, members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have been protesting the construction of an oil pipeline on the basis that it would endanger the environment as well as hinder sacred land of their ancestors.

The exhibition features works

by Spencer Keeton Cunningham, an artist currently in North Dakota

“

protesting with the Sioux Tribe.

Cunningham finished and sent the pieces to Mark Johnson, Fine Arts Gallery director and curator, a week before the exhibition premiered; they are part of his collection titled “Works Created During Standing Rock Reservation Protest Sept.

2016.”

“For native people, the more understanding people have the more they can understand issues like the pipeline,” said Native American studies professor Andrew Jovilette. “If they understand the history of colonization, if they see through this art the ways in which native people have been viewed, then the more they’re like ‘we should get rid of that.’”

In 1993, Le Pena and Johnson began discussing what an exhibit of contemporary California Native American art would look like, but did not begin the process of researching and collecting until early last year.

Around the same time, The American Indian Arts and Crafts

For those of us who work in the arts and culture it’s important that we think about whose history we are portraying, and Native American people are often not part of the story...

Mark Johnson

“

by Kevin Vega kvega1@mail.sfsu.edu

Act was introduced in 1990 and has helped protect and preserve Native American art, as well as separate them from non-authentic works. The formal recognition of Native American artists by the U.S. government prevented non-Native American artists from profiting off of Native American culture, according to the document.

“For those of us who work in the arts and culture, it’s important that we think about whose history we are portraying, and Native American people are often not part of the story,” Johnson said. “I’ve been interested in how we can validate this important art history that has been often overlooked.”

In addition to addressing the pipeline protests, some of the pieces dealt with themes like growing up as a Native American in the U.S., the realities of white colonization and caring for the environment.

“Kinky Kachinas” by Mooshka depicts Native American kachina dolls wearing western clothing such as Converse sneakers, smoke masks,and even the American flag. Kachina dolls are personifications of ancient spirits in the physical world and act as messengers between the two realms.

Saul Calvillo, a studio art major in Johnson’s class, spent the majority of last semester researching the contributing artists and the history of Native American culture.

“It’s such a rich culture and this exhibition is so important because there hasn’t been anything like this at all, at least on such a big scale,” Calvillo said.

The exhibition is on display Wednesday to Saturday through Oct. 13.

SF State journalism major Miranda Covington looks at Bob Benson’s carving Rumble and Roar at the reception of the “When I Remember, I See Red” exhibit at the Fine Arts Gallery on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016. | Photo by Steven Ho

OPINION

10 Wagner Moura stars as Pablo Escobar in the American crime web television series “Narcos.”

The second season premiered on Sept.

2, 2016 with 10 episodes. | Film still courtesy of Gaumont International Television

goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | September 28, 2016

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JESSYLYN LOS BANOS

Colombia is not ‘Narcos’ Sometimes I’ve hesitated to tell people that I’m from Colombia, because whenever I do it’s usually met with ignorance.

Either people don’t know where to point the country out on a map or they ask me: “Is Colombia really dangerous?” But lately, one response I’ve received is “Oh, I know about Colombia — I’ve watched ‘Narcos’!”

I don’t mind being questioned about how dangerous Colombia is since it gives me an opportunity to talk about both the good and the bad, while clarifying some of the misconceptions people might have about the country and Colombians in general. But I don’t like the suggestion that a Netflix drama can be considered an authoritative source on Colombia.

“Narcos” is not the first drama to depict Colombia or Pablo Escobar. Hollywood has been misrepresenting Colombia for years, and Pablo Escobar has been the subject of many films. For example, in the film “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” the two protagonists meet while on a mission in Colombia’s capital, Bogota. In the film, the capital is depicted as a war-torn town in the middle of the jungle when it’s really a cold urban city built on the Andes, which has stayed relatively safe from the war waging in other parts of the country.

I won’t deny there are a lot of problems in Colombia. The country has been caught up in a civil war for over 50 years and because of this violence,

“

its citizens are displaced or are internal refugees.

Colombia is also the world’s largest cocaine producer, accounting for 43 percent of its global production in 2009, according to a 2010 report by the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime.

However, the perception that many Colombians are drug traffickers, violent or members of guerrillas is just plain wrong.

For the most part, Colombians strongly condemn the drug trade because they have suffered directly from the problems it generates. When Pablo Escobar becomes the primary association Hollywood makes with Colombia, the general response from Colombians is indignation and a resounding collective sigh.

This is not only because these portrayals perpetuate stereotypes and damage the world’s perception of Colombians, but also because the feeling in Colombia is that the drug trade wouldn’t be possible without foreign consumers.

According to a different report made by UNODC, North America alone accounts for 40 percent of the cocaine consumed in the world and Europe accounts for 25 percent.

To its credit, I think “Narcos” is the best researched American depiction to date of Pablo Escobar and of violence in Colombia in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. While the majority of the cast isn’t Colombian, much of the show is filmed in Colombia and the writers have taken the time to explore Pablo Escobar and the atrocities he’s committed, creating a complex character, who — like the real-life person — had a disturbing hold over Colombian politics and culture.

Where “Narcos” fails is in the oversimplification

I won’t deny there are a lot of problems in Colombia...However, the perception that many Colombians are drug traffickers, violent or members of guerrillas is just plain wrong.

“

by Mariana Raschke mraschke@mail.sfsu.edu

of Colombian history. Colombia is a complex country where political strife has waged for decades in retaliation to the country’s oligarchy.

Many Colombians have been marginalized by their own government, and this social climate has given rise to guerrilla marxist groups such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the National Liberation Army, as well as paramilitary groups.

Without an understanding of Colombian politics and history, it’s very easy to depict Colombia as a country full of bad people and bystanders who have no faculty and easily turn to drug trafficking.

I also think “Narcos” would be more refreshing if it portrayed the drug war through a wider angle by showing how American intervention in Colombia and Latin America has harmed the region and contributed to the drug trade.

One example of this is Plan Colombia, which is a U.S. aid effort intended to combat the drug trade in Colombia. Through Plan Colombia, the U.S. has used herbicides to aerially fumigate thousands of acres of Colombian land in an effort to reduce cocaine cultivation. This effort, according to InSight Crime, has caused deforestation and pollution, and is linked to various health problems like asthma and cancers. Furthermore, fumigation has only pushed cocaine cultivation to other parts of the country and damaged production of legal crops.

Perhaps what annoys me the most about “Narcos,” is that even though Pablo Escobar is dead in their timeline and they’ve portrayed the consequent fall of the Medellin Cartel, the cartel that Escobar led, “Narcos” is set to continue its storyline in Colombia.

Showrunner Eric Newman was quoted in the Hollywood Reporter saying: “We are going to look deeper into the systemic effects within Colombia of cocaine and corruption.” The show will likely expand on the rise of the Cali Cartel, a organization that controlled drug production in the Pacific coast of the country and whose brutal efforts to fight Escobar ultimately contributed to his demise.

“Narcos” is being renewed for two more seasons, but the show has already proven it cannot recount Colombian history without oversimplifying it and resorting to stereotypes.

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SPORTS

goldengatexpress.org Wednesday | September 28, 2016

11

From couch to 5K: Runners share advice on how to train for a run

by Laura Monique Ordoñez lordonez@mail.sfsu.edu

“

The SF State Cross Country team runs down a foggy Sunset Boulevard on Tuesday. San Francisco was recently ranked by Wild Runner’s World magazine as the number one city to run in the U.S. | Photo by Eric Chan anyone else and you know when you’re tired,” Magin said. “No watch or any type of equipment is going to tell you how you feel.”

Urista agreed that gradual progression is also an important practice to prevent injury or burning out.

“When you are first starting out you don’t want to exert yourself to the point where you injure yourself,” Urista said.

“You want to tread the waters.”

Urista works for Nike and assists in running a Nike running group in San Francisco. Urista said the socializing aspect of running is just as important as the individual.

“A lot of people come because they see familiar faces, and they would rather run with people,” Urista said.

Running with a group is also a good way to get started in training for a race, said Adler, who hosts free community runs through his website.

“At times there may be people who feel a little intimidated or uncomfortable about running,” Adler said. “So we communicate that this is a place where if you are new to running, you are welcome.”

For Calva, the process for training for a race is just as much mental as it is physical.

“Always go on a run that is a little bit longer than a 5K,” Calva said.

“Then when you go to run the 5K you think ‘well I’ve already run more than this, so I can easily run a 5K’.”

The runners agree that an important aspect of training is making the journey fun.

“Just have fun, if you’re having fun you’re going to want to progress more,” Magin said.

“I tell those getting into running to enjoy it,” Urista said. “If you want to do it, then you have to enjoy it first.”

As for pre-race day advice, Magin says to eat a healthy meal the night before and to stay hydrated weeks before.

“The goal is to drink at least a gallon of water a day,” Magin said. “I buy a gallon jug of water and draw a face on it and call it Jerry, so I know I have to drink one Jerry a day.”

Calva said the growth and creativity of runs in San Francisco allows people to see running as fun and not a bad thing.

“

With Runner’s World magazine recently ranking San Francisco the number one city to run in the U.S., it is no wonder why there have been an increase of organized runs throughout the Bay Area.

“I never thought that running would become such a big thing,” said SF State Men’s cross country assistant coach David Urista.

Urista said since obstacle and fun races like Tough Mudder and Spartan Race have become popularized through social media, running has become more prevalent within the San Francisco community.

“I think it’s a good idea to have more 5Ks and 10Ks,” said SF State women’s top cross-country runner Adriana Calva. “The more people that join in will bring more awareness to running.”

Creating this awareness of running and giving the running community a voice is what prompted Leonard Adler to found SFRuns. com, a website dedicated to listing runs throughout the Bay Area and providing resources to help new runners get started in training for runs.

Adler, who is also a dedicated running coach, said running is one of the most accessible activities to get into.

“It’s in our human DNA,” Adler said.

Sophomore cross-country runner, Austin Magin, agreed running is one of the easiest activities to get involved in.

“Any person can get into running as long as they are committed,” Magin said.

Calva said this commitment starts with simply getting out and running, no matter what.

“Even I sometimes don’t want to run,” Calva said. “I think the hardest part of a run is getting out the door, but then as soon as you finish the run it is so worth it. You don’t ever regret going out for a run.”

Both Magin and Calva said consistency plays a big role in training as well.

Once a new runner has established a consistent running schedule, Adler said the next step is building endurance.

“Running is not like cramming for an exam,” Adler said. “You have to start running something manageable and then gradually build on that.”

Magin said finding a manageable distance and speed is an individual process.

“You know your body more than

Even I sometimes don’t want to run. I think the hardest part of a run is getting out the door...

Adriana Calva

This is what Adler hopes to support through his website. He said running is not only about setting goals and accomplishing them, but also about creating confidence.

“One of the things about running is that if you put the work in, you will see the results,” Adler said. “People

can see themselves achieving something they didn’t know they could do, which contributes to their confidence and confidence is key in running. My hope is that people see running as more of a life-long habit,” Adler said.