Fall 2019 Issue 12 by Golden Gate Xpress

SF State’s student-run publication since 1927

Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2019

Volume 110, Issue 12

Prop C motivates students to vote on campus

Lindsey Cordova filling out her ballot for the 2020 elections in SFSU Tower’s conference center Nov. 5 (Photo by Isabella Cristobal / Golden Gate Xpress) BY BRIANA BATTLE STAFF REPORTER

ensus data shows young adults are notorious for low voter turnout, but despite this trend, SF State students still came out to the on-campus polling place at Towers to cast their vote Nov. 5 for the ballot measures that mattered to them most. The hot button issue for the San Francisco election was Prop C, lifting the citywide vape ban. According to a study by Monitoring the Future, the increase in college students using electronic cigarettes from 2017 to 2018 was one of the greatest increases of any substance use in the last 40 years. All of the propositions on the ballot passed except Prop C, which was rejected by 81.82% of voters, according to the Department of Elections. Third-year student Emma Neu voted on campus at Towers on election day. She said the main reason she decided to vote was for Prop C, calling juuls an epidemic. “It’s very easy, very seamless, very private,” Neu said of the voting process. “I feel like it’s very chill, no pressure.” Kim Daugherty worked at the polling station at the fire department by UPN on elec-

tion day, originally starting 27 years ago as a paralegal intern when she was a student at SF State. According to Daughtery, poll workers can’t vote at the station they work, so she cast an absentee ballot prior to election day. She also said Prop C was the most important issue on the ballot for her. According to The New York Times, as of September, there were over 450 cases of lung illnesses linked to vaping, as well as five deaths. “Most of my nephews and my sons smoke that stuff,” Daugherty said. “It’s creating a lot of problems for a lot of people.” Several first-time voters cast their ballots at the on-campus polling stations. This election was third-year student Fabian Rico’s first time voting. According to Rico, who also voted at Towers, the voting process was a lot easier than he thought. Isabel Leyva, a second-year student who also voted last year on campus, said the most important issues on the ballot to her were Prop A, the affordable housing proposition which passed with a 71% yes vote, and the race for district attorney. Chesa Boudin beat out Suzy Loftus by a mere 4% advantage in a rankedchoice voting race to the finish.

“I think just even starting off with local elections is already good because you’re already raising your awareness and your comfortability with voting and the research that comes with it,” Leyva said. “And you’re developing your opinions and your stances on politicians and stuff.” While a chunk of SF State students voted in the Nov. 5 election, 18-24 year-olds are still short on both voting and registration, according to US Census data. Data from 2016 showed voters ages 18-24 had the lowest voter turnout of all other age brackets. In 2018, however, voter turnout increased across the board with approximately 31% voter turnout for young adults which was a drastic uptick from 17.1% in 2014. Census data gathered by Xpress in 2018 nevertheless shows voter turnout for this age group hasn’t hit close to 50% since the 1960s. US News & World Report published predictions this year saying that the 2020 elections will have an unusually high voter turnout around 65%. This would be the most engagement since 1908. Since more youths came out to the polls when voting increased overall in 2018, it is likely more Gators will go out to the polls come presidential election season.

PAGE 8 With the Democratic primaries far from over, these long shot candidates can still come out on top

Alumna steals the SF spotlight in Tony award winning musical “Gypsy” with comedy and burlesque PAGE 6

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 12.indd 1

“The Warriors are a shell of themselves” and the season might stall with Curry on the sidelines PAGE 7

D-FENCE BY ROBERT JUAREZ SPORTS EDITOR

he National Football League became a battle of arms over the last decade. Every team is looking for the next “gunslinger”such as a Brett Favre, Patrick Mahomes, or Lamar Jackson to rifle the ball down field. However, if there is one thing that the 2019 regular season has taught us thus far, it’s that at the end of the day, defense wins championships. The league fell head over heels for superstar quarterbacks such as reigning league-MVP Patrick Mahomes who flashes never-before-seen throws with ease, resembling moves made only from the shortstop position on a baseball diamond, not on a football field. Whenever there’s a trip through football’s history, the stories of Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Joe Montana and now Tom Brady are retold ad nauseam. It usually also highlights how the blue-collared, brute ways of the early years heightened by the leather helmet era of the 1950’s has dwindled and pushed aside for the new flashy, offense-forward spectacle it has become today. However, when looking at the current season, the top two teams with the best record don’t have a top-ranked offensive attack or operate in a way that airs the ball all over the field with great execution. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

11/11/2019 10:21:28 PM

2•CAMPUS

TUESDAY, NOV. 12, 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Edward Said and his activism honored on his mural’s anniversary BY LANCE TISUELA STAFF REPORTER

s students gathered on Oct. 7 in Jack Adams Hall of the Cesar Chavez Student Center to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the inauguration of the Edward Said mural at SF State, a portion of the room was lit in green and red to emulate the colors of the Palestinian flag. The podium on stage was draped with the Palestinian flag and tables were candlelit. Each table was home to a centerpiece with a key and name of a village that has been destroyed since the 1948 war, known to Palestinian’s as “Nabka” or “catastrophe.” It is also known as the Israeli war for independence. The keys in the centerpiece — a symbol excluded from the mural — symbolized the continued efforts of Palestinians to return to their homeland. “Said always spoke up for Palestine he wrote alot about what it means to be Palestinian and what it means to be told that you dont exist constantly, while you obviously do exist,” said Noel Madbak, GUPS member. “It made sense for him to be the center of the mural. Said was a notable Palestinian author and poet who is credited with creating academic studies of post-colonialism and is best known for writing “Orientalism” in 1978, which was a critique of the way Western nations perceive the East. The mural was unveiled at SF State in 2007. It is the only Palestinian mural on a college campus in the nation, according to Madbak. The celebration was organized by the General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS). Live Palestinian music filled the room while guests found their seats. Members of GUPS wore traditional Palestinian tatreez thobes. Some attendees wore a keffiyeh around their necks, a Palestinian scarf that has become a symbol of resistance. Speakers mentioned how the administration denied Palestinian resistance symbols from the original mural mockup. Symbols like Handala, a cartoon character created by Palestinian artist Naji al-Ali, was excluded from the mural. Handala was drawn in torn clothes facing away from the audi-

Palestinian Cultural Mural honoring Edward Said painted Fayeq Oweis and Susan Green (Photo by Emma Chiang / Golden Gate Xpress)

ence. Handala represents a 10-year-old refugee to remain that age until Palestine is liberated and he is allowed to return home, al-Ali said when he created the character. The theme of this year’s celebration was “We Will Return,” referring to the Great March of Return Movement which began March 2018 when President Trump declared Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the U.S. Embassy there in the process. The movement is composed of a weekly march at the wall separating Gaza from the rest of historical Palestine. A panel featured SF State lecturer Jamal Dajani, and former GUPS presidents Charlie and Ramsey el-Qare. Dajani won a Peabody award for journalism and co-created Mosaic: World News and Arab Talk Radio. Panelists were interviewed by GUPS members about the right to return, resistance symbols and the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. “Palestinian refugees have an inalienable right to return to their homeland,” said Dajani during the panel. “Jerusalem is under attack on a daily basis. If you attack a body what do you do to kill someone? You stab them in the heart, and Jerusalem is our heart.”

Throughout the night, the fight to return home was intertwined with the fight for the mural. Ramsey el-Qare was GUPS president in 2005. He was the first to propose the mural at a Student Center Governing Board meeting, he remembers SCGB administrators at the meeting trying to stop its creation. “At that meeting, their main concern was to stop the mural,” el-Qare said. “They wanted to stop the process and rewrite it so we weren’t able to get representation on this campus.” The mural allows non-Palestinian students to put an image to Palestinian culture, el-Qare said. The mural features dabke dancers in Malcolm X Plaza, the Golden Gate Bridge and poetry dedicated to Edward Said. After the panel Palestinian students read poetry on stage. Summer Hamideh was the first student to read her poem called “What It’s Like to Check White.” This poem explored the lack of choice for white passing Palestinian’s, on surveys and forms that ask for race or ethnicity. Poetry transitioned into other live Palestinian performances. Samira Kharoubi, a vocalist who attended the Edward Said

Conservatory of Music, played with Hashem Abdel-Hadi, a Palestinian oud player from Amman, Jordan. Sitting guests stood to clap and dance along with the music. Attendees performed dabke, a Levantine folk dance. The dabke is performed in groups at celebratory events. Both Palestinians and non-Palestinians held hands and circumnavigated Jack Adams Hall with smiles and laughter. For many, this was their first time doing dabke. Ahmad Merhebi performed dabke at the celebration and has been doing the dance since he was born in Lebanon. He said that performing the dabke at a Palestinian celebration felt right. GUPS students continued to dance even when most of the guests moved on. They formed a circle around the Palestinian flag and celebrated their culture through dancing until the event ended. “Dabke has always been a big part of my childhood,” Madbak said. “Being able to share that with people who aren’t Palestinian — friends, classmates and teachers — all of them being able to participate in that with us is powerful and it means a lot to us.”

Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies hopes to expand with $1 million donation BY PAISLEY TRENT CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR

n SF State alumna recently donated $1 million for new fellowships and grants at the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies, expanding on a previous $5 million donation she made to establish the center in June 2016. Unlike other similar programs that focus on Iranian culture or history, SF State’s Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies is the first to emphasize the cultural exchange Iranians are a part of when in diaspora — living outside of Iran. Persis Karim, the chair and director of the center since 2017, hopes to build a field of study and expand a community around shared experiences and knowledge of the Iranian American community. Neda Nobari graduated from SF State in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science. Many Iranians like Nobari came to California for a university education, and an additional surge of immigrants joined them in the U.S. after the 1979 revolution. California has the highest concentration of Iranians outside of Iran, with 49% of all Iranians in diaspora living in California. Karim estimates the Bay Area is home to more than 100,000 people of Iranian descent. The donation will go toward: Iman Nobari Post-Doctoral Fellowship: This fellowship should be established within the next year and a half, in collaboration with other departments to invite a recent Ph.D graduate from outside SF State to share their research through teaching and new projects for a year. Azar Hatefi Graduate Student Fellowships: This will support two annual fellowships starting in 2020 for SF State graduate students to research an aspect of Iranian diaspora studies.

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 12.indd 2

“My vision for this center is to support new research and scholarship by San Francisco State students and San Francisco State faculty,” Karim said. “This gift Neda Nobari made, $1 million, is really a commitment on her part to expand a field that is quite new and quite unrecognized still.” Though it’s possible to trace the recent history of Iranian immigration to America, Karim believes in the power of storytelling. By focusing on the narratives of Iranian Americans in diaspora, her vision for the center is to expand academic research and connect personal stories to counter political tensions. Nobari’s donation will create opportunities for students and faculty to initiate research projects and share their work with students and the academic community at large. Karim said she hopes these fellowships will provide opportunities to learn and share about Iranian diaspora studies. “I think it is important because there is a center that is capturing the essence of being Iranian American and how we’re contributing as part of the society,” said Shahriyar Najafgholizadeh, a communication major and intern for the center who was born and raised in Iran. He said the center feels like home. The Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies Faculty Research Grants: This will be grants for SF State faculty to introduce Iranian diaspora studies into their curriculum, and encourage faculty research. An advisory committee of SF State faculty will review submissions for awards later this semester. There will also be undergraduate scholarships for students to work with a faculty member on a research project related to Iranian diaspora studies.

Students and professors chat at the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies in Humanities 503 on Nov. 7. (Photo by Paige Acosta / Golden Gate Xpress)

The current focus of the center is to create exposure and expand the field with research and interdisciplinary studies. Below are some past events and current projects of the center: “Forty Years & More”: An international conference at SF State on Iranian Diaspora Studies which took place March 2930. The multi-day conference included an art show at the Minnesota Street Project “Once at Present,” featuring Iranian and Iranian American artists. “We Are Here, We’ve Always Been Here”: A collaboration between the Documentary Film Institute and Center for Ira-

nian Diaspora Studies. The documentary is an ongoing effort and plans to feature four generations of Iranians in the Bay Area. Another public history project the center is working on is a pilot digital archive of Iranian Americans in Northern California. The center also puts on semi-regular events and discussions between professors of varying departments on current issues, mainly focusing on Iranian-U.S. relations. Tea Thursdays: Every two weeks people from school or community members can come to the center and enjoy tea along social gathering time.

11/11/2019 10:21:38 PM

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG | TUESDAY, NOV. 12, 2019

Kabuki actor brings a dose of Japanese tradition to campus BY WILSON GOMEZ STAFF REPORTER

A Kabuki actor portraying a female character. Illustration based off of an image from Japan Experience. (Digital illustration by Karamel NunezMartinez / Golden Gate Xpress)

method for acting feminine. Still in white paint but having removed his costume, Nakamura pointed out that in Kabuki theater, the reality is exaggerated to the point of being surreal. Nakamura manipulates his body to become more feminine; he pulls his shoulders back so that his shoulder blades almost touch, walks in a “pigeon-toed” manner and moves his chest in a “sideways eight” motion as he walks. The balance between all his movements is a delicate one as the slightest mistake or a break in concentration can shatter the illusion he so carefully set out to create. To prove it, he showed what would happen if he walked with relaxed shoulders and the result had the entire theater laughing. “Onnagata never imitates a real woman. Onnagata creates, based on his male body

and emotion, the feminine body and emotion,” Nakamura explained. “It is a fictional, abstract image of a woman seen through a man’s eyes.” The final dance of the night was Shakkyo (The Lion Dance). Nakamura, this time dressed in a white, gold and red costume and wore a long, bright red wig meant to evoke a lion’s mane. Set to traditional Japanese music, Nakamura made his wig dance like a flame as he shook his head while moving across the stage. At the end of his performance, the traditional Japanese music gave way to the voice of Ritchie Valens’ as “La Bamba” came through the speakers. The sudden transition didn’t stop Nakamura who continued to whip his hair back and forth, this time to the sounds of a classic Spanish rock song.

From service to school: A veteran’s perspective A personal essay by William Wendelman, Photo Editor for Xpress

verytime a military holiday rolls around I feel a little weird. Memorial Day, I feel like I’m not remembering enough. Veterans Day, I feel like I’m not accomplishing enough. Marine Corps birthday, I feel like I’m not celebrating hard enough. The fact is, it’s been quite a few years now since I put on a uniform. However, a huge part of me still feels like I’m on some sort of extended libo — USMC slang for liberty — and I’m definitely late for morning PT. A large majority of service members join at a very young age, and for many, it’s our first time away from home. We leave a room covered in posters and a family dog behind for a squad bay full of confusion and a drill instructor who scares the hell out of us. A few months later and we have transitioned into this new life, one which contradicts itself. A life with a bunch of hyped up, crazy

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 12.indd 3

Crime Blotter:

Stonestown police activity O

abuki actor Kyôzô Nakamura displayed 400 years of Japanese theater tradition in Knuth Hall last Friday as part of a lecture and demonstration of Kabuki theater. After a brief introduction by Professor Yukihiro Goto, Nakamura took the stage in full costume, a large kimono, wig and white paint on his face, neck and feet. Claps and cheers in Japanese erupted throughout the packed hall as Nakamura danced before the crowd. At first, the applause came in waves, as a single person quietly clapping would soon be joined by the entire auditorium. People felt unsure how to react to the performance. Kabuki theater, unlike most modern western theater experiences, thrives off of audience participation. Goto explained to the audience before the presentation that shouting was not only allowed, it was encouraged. Kabuki actors feed off the energy that the crowd brings to the show. As Nakamura removed the top layer of his costume for the second half of “Fuji Musume,” the crowd found its courage and people began to loudly and bravely cheer, as people do at sporting events, in both English and Japanese. Between the two dances, professor Ryuichi Kodama of Waseda University in Tokyo taught a brief history of Kabuki, starting from the 1600s and the role of the onnagata, male actors, like Nakamura, who play female roles. “At the beginning men and women and boys and girls performed together. Eventually, however, they had to be separated,” Kodama said. “From that point on men had to play female roles and the profession of onnagata started.” Men performing the roles of women in theater was commonplace in the time of the ancient Greeks and later during the time of Shakespeare. Similarly, women would play male characters. Sometimes this resulted in Kabuki plays where all the characters were played by actors of the opposite sex. Kabuki remains the only theater style that still has actors specializing in playing female roles. According to Kodoma, the biggest difference between Shakespearean acting and Kabuki acting is consistency. “We don’t have a living tradition of Shakespearean acting. We don’t know how his actors actually performed 200 years ago,” Kodoma said. By contrast, Kabuki plays are, for the most part, still performed the same way they were performed at their inception in the 1600s. Nakamura, a 47-year Kabuki veteran actor took the stage a second time. This time Nakamura demonstrated the onnagata

3•CAMPUS

as hell kids who are subject to some of the most stringent structure and discipline one could imagine. Monday through Friday was my typical work week, with morning physical training that starts before the sun comes up. The day doesn’t end until those in charge had run out of ideas on ways to make us miserably efficient at our jobs, oh, and our weapons had to be clean. At least this was my experience for the seven years I was enlisted. Joining with the intent of spending twenty years enlisted, I figured my life was pretty well planned out. Well, life doesn’t always go according to plan. In 2008 I was injured while deployed in the Al Anbar province of Iraq, resulting in a medical retirement and the end of my military career. I left the United States Marine Corps at 23 years old, with no plan or idea what I wanted to do outside the military. Like many veterans I went home, which for me was Kansas City, Missouri. Within a few months my life was a disaster!

Getting out of the military and entering what is commonly known as CIV-DIV, civilian division, you are left sort of lost. From being a high school kid with parents or teachers giving you direction in your life, to having Uncle Sam telling you what to do every second of everyday. All of a sudden you have complete control of your life. Which is a strange element to gain in your mid to late 20’s. Some people struggle with this new found freedom — I definitely did. With my new freedom I decided to use my education benefits and go to college. It took me a few years after exiting the Marine Corps to figure out how to even barely function on my own. Stil, it wasn’t until I started school at Santa Monica College that I finally settled back into a routine, and created a structure for myself for the first time. The second I started school I loved it, I had somewhere to go and something to do. In a lot of ways my life as a college student is very similar to military life. I am

n Nov. 2, the San Francisco Police Department responded to a 911 call from security personnel at the Stonestown Galleria about a man with a firearm. The man in question reportedly attempted to use counterfeit bills at a gaming store, according to Sgt. Michael Andraychak from the SFPD Media Relations Unit. That gaming store was the GameStop on the northern end of the mall’s second floor — an employee of the GameStop acknowledged the incident but declined to comment. A mall employee witnessed the following events and agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity, to avoid potential consequences from their employer. This person will be referred to as the employee with gender-neutral pronouns to protect their identity. The employee walked out from the back room of their store and saw that their coworker had closed the large gate at the store’s entrance. This is typically only done as they close the store at 9 p.m. but at the time it was only about 7:30 p.m. The employee questioned their co-worker, who informed them that a man sat on a bench nearby with a gun visibly sticking out of his waistband. This bench is located less than 100 feet from the GameStop, where the man in question reportedly tried to use counterfeit money. After the employee approached the store entrance to confirm any potential threat, they and their coworker began moving all customers to the store’s rear. Mall security personnel tried to tackle the man near the bench and he reportedly dropped the gun in the struggle that ensued. He fled from the security guards, who then called 911 and reported a man with a gun. Responding SFPD officers found the man in question in the rear parking lot near Winston Drive. The officers searched him and found meth, but not a firearm. Because no gun was found, officers issued the man a citation for the counterfeit money and meth, then let him go. The security guards involved believed that somebody recovered the weapon during the struggle, according to Andraychak. The employee’s co-worker said that they saw a woman and child with the allegedly armed man. The Citizen app, which pulls information from chatter on police scanners, corroborates this information. After the incident, the employee reportedly called mall security to find out if it was safe to come out, but when they inquired, security officers didn’t divulge any details, only saying the incident was taken care of and that they could resume work. Stonestown security personnel declined a request for comment. Darren Iverson, the Senior General Manager of Stonestown Galleria, claimed the call made by mall security to SFPD was a false alarm and that there actually was no gun. Writing and reporting by Juan Carlos Lara, staff reporter.

a photojournalism major, and intend to go on to graduate school. I mean, I shoot everyday, its just now I use a Canon instead of a colt. I still have gear to maintain, but its camera gear, flash bulbs instead of flash bombs. I’m given assignments instead of missions, but they still have to be completed. Being in school gives me the same structure, or at least something close to what I had while on active duty.

11/11/2019 10:21:38 PM

”

4•CITY TUESDAY, NOV. 12, 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG SF deadlier for bicyclists, city declares emergency BY COREY BROWNING STAFF REPORTER

he San Francisco Board of Supervisors declared a state of emergency Nov. 5 in response to pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities in the city. The resolution comes days after a woman was killed and a man critically injured while walking on city streets. Sixty-nineyear-old Pilsoo Seong of San Francisco was struck and killed by a vehicle in the Mission District on Halloween. Two days later, another man in his 60s suffered a brain injury after being struck by a vehicle on Potrero Hill. “Every few days I get a notification that another person has been fatally struck by a vehicle,” Board of Supervisors President Norman Yee said. “For those family members and friends and for the survivors, it is a lifetime of heartbreak and trauma.” Despite the city’s “Vision Zero” goal of eliminating traffic related fatalities by 2024, 16 pedestrians or bicyclists have died on city streets this year — one less than all of last year and one more than in 2017. District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney introduced the resolution after safety advocates including Walk San Francisco and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition voiced concern regarding the uptick in deaths. Earlier this year the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency released a revised Vision Zero Strategy, which advocates criticized for lacking direction and not including performance metrics. In July after two pedestrian deaths within the span of a few days, advocates and concerned citizens rallied at City Hall calling for a state of emergency declaration. The resolution, which passed unanimously, is nonbinding and doesn’t change policy. According to Haney, it aims to push

city leaders to ramp up existing efforts. “This resolution really calls for more urgent immediate emergency actions,” Haney said. “It’s going to take continued leadership from this board to shine a light on this, to hold folks accountable.” According to Jodie Medeiros, executive director of Walk San Francisco, the fact that the resolution passed unanimously and received multiple co-sponsors sends a message to state lawmakers, who have the final say regarding certain policies San Francisco wishes to implement in its effort to increase safety. “It’s good to have them on record,” Medeiros said. “We’re seeing that as a win.” Earlier this year state lawmakers blocked the city’s attempt to lower speed limits. The Vision Zero team has shown interest in implementing automated enforcement methods to deter blocking crosswalks, illegal turns and failure to yield — a move that would also require state approval. Vision Zero projects currently underway include creating more transit-only lanes and protected bike lanes and widening sidewalks. A host of traffic calming measures and adjustments to intersections to increase pedestrian safety, such as increasing traffic light times to allow pedestrians more time to cross, are also being implemented. The Board of Supervisors has recently shown its support for closing certain streets off to cars almost entirely. Last month, the board voted to close a large portion of Market Street to private vehicles. In addition, the San Francisco Police Department has been instructed by policy makers to increase the number of citations given for the five most dangerous driving behaviors as identified by the city: speeding, running red lights and stop signs, violating pedestrian right-of-way in cross-

This year, 16 pedestrians and one cyclist died due to traffic conditions. (Graphic by Corey Browning / Golden Gate Xpress)

walks and failing to yield while turning. Since Vision Zero’s inception, however, city data show a decline in these citations, with the number of citations given for these infractions peaking in 2017 and decreasing significantly since then.

January through August this year represents an all time low since 2014, with an average 3,770 citations per month, compared to 2017’s 6,596. 2017 saw the lowest number of traffic fatalities since the city started recording such data over 100 years ago.

SFPD falls short on reforms BY SAM MOORE STAFF REPORTER

t took three years for the San Francisco Police Department to complete 29 of 272 recommendations that the U.S. Justice Department handed down to them in 2016, in response to a series of high-profile police shootings and scandals. The Board of Supervisors reviewed SFPD’s efforts for the first time in roughly two years at an Oct. 22 hearing called by Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer. “The work is being done, and that’s the point I want to emphasize,” Chief of Police William Scott said during a presentation on the Department’s progress at the hearing. Scott cited improvements made that center de-escalation techniques, such as a policy that prohibits officers from shooting at moving vehicles, as well as the implementation of mandatory implicit bias training. He also brought up statistics that highlight a 30% decrease in the use of force since the Justice Department’s 2016 assessment. However, several supervisors and community members condemned SFPD for a lack of progress, noting that although the use of force decreased, disparities concerning the victims of that force remain heavily skewed toward the black community. “It seems that when it comes to black people, everyone wants to take a back seat,” Phelicia Jones, founder of the Justice 4 Mario Woods Coalition, said at a rally prior to the hearing. San Francisco resident Mario Woods was a black man killed in 2015 after being shot by police 21 times in Bayview. His death was one of six caused by SFPD officer-involved shootings that year. Forty percent of use-of-force incidents in 2018 involved black people, according to a report published by SFPD. From

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 12.indd 4

April to June of this year, black people accounted for 37% of all arrests made. These statistics are concerning, Jones said, when considering that black people make up only 5% of the city’s population. White people, on the other hand, make up roughly half of San Francisco’s population, yet account for only 26% of SFPD’s use-of-force incidents. “There are social factors that play into a lot of the disparities in the criminal justice system,” said Chief Scott. “Work still needs to be done.” The Department of Justice’s recommendations involve use of force, bias, community policing, accountability and hiring and personnel practices. Scott partially blamed SFPD’s slow progress on the Trump administration, which ceased federal oversight of police reforms in 2017. Since then, the California Department of Justice and the private consulting firm Hillard Heintze have managed external reviews of SFPD’s progress. Supervisor Matt Haney expressed concerns that the oversight provided by Hillard Heintze isn’t truly independent, as the company was contracted by SFPD. “I understand and respect your role,” Haney said to a representative from Hillard Heintze. “Although it seems like you’re working in part for us and in part for them. The lines get blurred so much that it’s not actual independent oversight.” As of the day of the hearing, 170 of the 272 recommendations were still in progress, 13 were under review by Hillard Heintze and 52 had been returned for more work, Scott said. “We are not asking, we are not begging — we are demanding justice,” Jones said prior to the hearing. “It is a state of emergency and a state of urgency for us to have justice, equality, and equity in all aspects of black San Police used force 239 times on black individuals and 140 times on white individuals from April to Franciscan life.” June, according to an SFPD report. (Infographic by David Mamaril Horowitz / Golden Gate Xpress)

11/11/2019 10:21:40 PM

CITY•5

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG | TUESDAY, NOV. 12, 2019

LGBTQ+ homeless youth struggle to get social services BY WILSON GOMEZ STAFF REPORTER

block from the Twitter and Uber headquarters, five LGBTQ+ homeless youth recounted their experiences being homeless in San Francisco. Each had moved to the city to find a more accepting place than where they’d left behind — to discover who they were, or to access medical services for transitioning, which were nearly impossible to get back home. And all five laughed when asked whether “The City” was as welcoming and tolerant as its reputation. “One of the things that I’ve noticed with Larkin (Street Youth Services) is that not all of the staff have a full grasp on being respectful,” said Tobey, one of the panelists. “There are staff members who will blatantly insult clients... while on the job. The fact of the matter is there are people who will be shouting out ‘faggot’ and ‘tranny’ and calling people these things in a space that is supposed to be safe for everybody.” He said there were times staff would watch altercations instead of de-escalating them. The counselor turnover was high and some would disappear without warning, forcing those seeking help to restart counseling with counselors unable to point them in the direction of the resources that they desperately need. Tuquan Harrison, the LGBTQ advisor at the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, hosted the panel, called “The State of LGBTQ+ Homelessness.” Forty-six percent of homeless youth in San Francisco are part of the LGBTQ+ community, according to San Francisco’s biennial homeless count released this summer. The panel was supported by the San Francisco Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, San Francisco Youth Commission, Larkin Street Youth Services and the LYRIC Center for LGBTQQ youth. Harrison, themselves a former homeless youth, had spent a year couch surfing in San Francisco. “I was one of those nerdy, queer feminine guys who didn’t really fit in anywhere,” Harrison said. At the urging of one of their friends, Harrison joined the debate team in high school where they learned about activism. Then, in college and university, they worked as an LGBTQ+ advisor for the Academic Senate at UC Santa Barbara, where they met other LGBTQ+ advocates and activists. “I got to study about my history, and that has fueled my activism as a black queer cisgender presenting male,” Harrison said. Between personal networking and speaking at Larkin Street Youth Services, Harrison tries to identify gaps in

assistance for LGBTQ+ youth and figure out how to meet those unaddressed needs. Harrison said many programs for LGBTQ+ youth offer a one-size-fits-all approach that fails to take into account that many trans and non-gender conforming youth deal with family rejection. As a result, many enter larger shelters ill-equipped to address their specific needs. The youth that Harrison works with mostly ask for safe spaces, support groups and housing to meet the specific needs of LGBTQ+ youth. The city plans to launch a pilot program at the end of 2020 tailor-made for such needs. Harrison’s own experiences led them to work with transitional age youth who were HIV-positive to help them find housing, jobs and medical services. His work with the community got him appointed at the HRC. “As a black queer person it is important to center the most marginalized people in my work who don’t get the representation in a lot of mainstream spaces for LGBTQ folks,” Harrison said. “So I decided to host ‘The State of LGBTQ Youth Homelessness’ to center transand gender- nonconforming youth, particularly youth of color’s stories, to help elevate a discussion to talk about how we can engage these youths into services.” Harrison created their own program, Queer Trans Youth United in Power, to create a pipeline through education and employment to help LGBTQ+ youth have better access to employment, job skills, life skill development and workforce training. They hope that a combination of capital and life skills will these youth help achieve stability. Harrison wants his program to meet the youth where they are as well as invest in them from the start rather than have them go through a series of workshops and training. He called the investment necessary for individuals to be successful in transitional housing, save money and make industry connections. Harrison is trying to get tech companies in San Francisco to offer jobs and internships to LGBTQ+ homeless youth. Harrison’s program will be open to youth regardless of where they live, as opposed to other programs that are limited only to people living within San Francisco. “The housing model that San Francisco has adopted has been for the really wealthy or really vulnerable high-needs individuals that can get housing, and there’s really no inbetween for anybody else, myself included,” Harrison said. Jay, 24, came to San Francisco to study psychology at USF, where they graduated in 2017. From 2018 until May of this year, he worked as a counselor helping people with substance abuse and housing issues. He was fired when one of his clients

Daniel Maldonado, 24, leaves the Larkin Street Youth Service building located 134 Golden Gate Ave in San Francisco, California. (Photo by James Wyatt / Golden Gate Xpress)

overdosed. The dismissal exacerbated his struggles with mental health, particularly his self-esteem. He was admitted into a psychiatric hospital until June. After experiencing mental health issues, abusive relationships, homelessness and unemployment, Jay began using the services provided by organizations like Larkin Youth Street Services, South Van Ness Adult Behavioral Health Services and SF LGBT Center. “Without those services I don’t know if I would still be around,” he said. Jay now advocates to help other LGBTQ+ individuals who are going through what he went through. “I think the biggest thing for people to know is that there’s no one looking out for you except yourself. Maybe a good bus driver or a really nice-hearted person,” Jay said. But for the most part, he said, people don’t care what happens to someone except when they’re the person looking for services. “It’s someone’s life, and I can’t think of anyone I’ve met that wanted this for themselves or did this intentionally. And if they did it inten-

More than half of SF families are financially insecure BY SHELLEY WANG STAFF REPORTER

ore than half of San Francisco’s families are financially insecure even though households average $110,816 annually, according to a Nov. 6 report. Forty-seven percent of families in San Francisco — about 168,000 households — had less than $2,000 in savings and are financially insecure, compared to the national average of 52%, according to Urban Institute, an economic and social policy research company.

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 12.indd 5

The report concludes that financial instability prevents these families from paying their bills and puts them at risk of eviction. Evictions cost local government between $30 million and $70 million of its $10.1 billion annual budget through unpaid property taxes and missed utility bills, the report states. Also on Nov. 6, San Francisco’s Office of the Controller released results of a biennial survey that show 35% of respondents are either “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to move out of San Francisco in the next three years.

Housing isn’t expected to become cheaper, either. Real estate forecast service LittleBigHomes. com estimates that there’s a 77% chance housing prices will rise in San Francisco in the next three years. The Urban Institute report suggests solutions such as integrating financial coaching, credit building and incentivized savings interventions into existing government programs. “Living in San Francisco is often romanticized, people don’t understand the struggle of working a 9-5 everyday of the week but it never being enough,” says SF resident Sophia Davidson.

tionally, I don’t think it turned out how they expected,” Jay said. “Being at places like Larkin Street, it really just reminds me that the more I’m intimidated by someone, the more I probably have in common with them and the more I should approach them.” Jay said he believed that the best way to remove stigma against homeless people is to let them into public spaces. He said San Franciscans should be more open about their failures and people should avoid painting themselves as never having had hardships. “Just because I have a home now doesn’t mean that I always did,” Jay said. “Whenever I feel comfortable enough talking to people I don’t know about my time [being homeless], I always get a similar story out of them.” For Harrison, LGBTQ+ youth of color who are homeless are a part of San Francisco’s legacy. “There is something in the system that is not working or is working to create outcomes like this.” There needs to be a change to make it an equitable and inclusive society so that we can all thrive.”

The results are in for the San Francisco municipal election that was held on Nov. 5 with 206,020 votes counted and 100% of the ballots in. Mayor London N. Breed wins in a landslide with 70.7% of the vote followed by pro-Trump candidate Ellen Lee Zhou who got 13.9%. Breed will be starting her first full four-year term as mayor of San Francisco after winning a special election for the position back in 2018 due to the late Mayor Ed Lee’s death. District 5 Supervisor: The race is still contested by incumbent Supervisor Vallie Brown, a former Breed aide who was appointed to the position by the mayor, but progressive opponent Dean Preston, who as of Nov. 11 has held a 188 vote lead the last few days, has declared victory. If Preston prevails over Brown the make-up of the Board of Supervisors will tilt from moderate to liberal. District Attorney: Chesa Boudin, a progressive candidate and democrat socialist, has declared victory in a race for SF district attorney over Breed-appointed candidate Suzy Loftus, who is down by over 9,000 votes. Boudin’s victory is a blow to Breed who in a risky move made Loftus interim district attorney on Oct. 4, just under a month before the election, hoping for a win.

11/11/2019 10:21:42 PM

6•ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT TUESDAY, NOV. 12, 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG SF State alumna stars in Tony winning musical “Gypsy” BY SAHAR SWALEH ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR & SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR

fter weeks of rehearsals and preparation, SF State alumna Elaine Jennings starred as Tessie Tura/Miss Cratchitt in the Tony Award-winning Musical “Gypsy” Nov. 9 opening night at the Alcazar Theatre. The Alcazar nonprofit is a theatre in San Francisco celebrated its fifth anniversary with Gypsy as its opening winter musical. The musical is based off of the memoir of Gypsy Rose Lee, a famous burlesque entertainer in the 1940s. The story follows her theatrical and dark childhood. Gypsy becomes a stripper due to her domineering stage mother’s will for her daughter to become a star. The musical goes through Gypsy’s life with pizazz, comedy and dance. A live orchestra played upbeat jazz music. Guests held up cups of champagne and wine as the lights flashed to signal the start of the production. Director Matthew McCoy thanked guests for arriving and gave a special thanks to Gypsy Rose Lee’s son, Erik Lee Preminger, for attending the opening night. Jennings plays two roles, Tessie Tura and Miss Cratchitt. In the first act she is Miss Cratchitt, a jaded assistant who makes it difficult for Gypsy’s mom to get what she wants. (Above, L - R) Glenna Murillo as Electra, Olivia Cabera as Mazeppa and Elaine Jennings as Tessie Tura in Bay Area Musicals’ producOn stage with a grey wig and pencil skirt, she tion of “Gypsy” directed and choreographed by Matthew McCoy. (Photo by Ben Krantz Studio).(Below) Jean-Paul Jones as Tulsa in Bay was nearly unrecognizable as she delivered Area Musicals’ production of “Gypsy” directed and choreographed by Matthew McCoy. (Photo by Ben Krantz Studio) her lines in a raspy voice. She embodied a stingy assistant with stern and stiff gestures. class at Seydways Acting Studio and does In the second act, she transforms into an vocal training. elegant ballerina stripper by the name of Jade Shoajee, who plays the lead charTessie Tura. She wore a pink corset with acter, Gypsy Rose Lee, has performed in butterfly wings and fishnet stockings and theatre productions since she was 8 yearsused a crackly voice that was a far cry old. She majored in English literature at from her previous character. San Jose State. Although she didn’t major “The strippers of the musical are real- in theatre, Shojaee took intensive acting ly fun,” Jennings said. “They give some classes starting in high school. lividity to a dark show and when the au“The show is absolutely gorgeous. dience has a chance to laugh, they will.” Whenever I have the chance, I sit in the Jennings graduated from SF State in house and watch the performance,” Sho1996 with a business degree. She was jaee said. “We’re a small cast of super originally a theatre major but switched talented actors who are intimate with the to business for stability. Since then, she material and we’re all working hard.” started a catering and special events busiShojaee has been in previous perforness that allows her to focus on her acting. mances such as “Fiddler on the Roof,” “I came back to acting much later in “It Should’ve Been You” and Shakelife,” Jennings said. “It was not a road speare plays. I traveled. I had to split it off and come “[Jennings] is awesome,” Shojaee said. back to it later in life when I was estab- “She’s lovely to work with and supportlished and my kids were grown.” ive. She’s one of those people that’s inPrior to Gypsy, Jennings participated valuable to the cast.” in plays that helped develop her acting The musical runs from Nov. 9 to Dec. 8 skills. She currently takes a master acting at the Alcazar Theatre.

Zombie comedy, coming of age and queerness rocks Roxie Theater BY SAM MOORE STAFF REPORTER

n a vibrant medley of story and emotion that sold out across all six of its programs, the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival ran for the 22nd year this weekend at the Mission District’s Roxie Theater. Founded in 1997 as the world’s first trans film festival, the SFTFF showcases short films from around the world that promote trans and gender non-conforming visibility. Through apocalyptic zombie comedy, heart-wrenching coming of age tales, strobe-lit documentary footage and many other uniquely queer motifs, this year’s films explored issues and circumstances that accompany a vast breadth of trans experiences. “My heart was pounding pretty much the whole time,” said Dani Chaparro shortly after their film “Consonance” screened at the festival Saturday evening. Already, a line of people hoping to snag tickets for the ensuing 9 p.m. program formed down 16th Street. “The films here are so dimensional,” Chaparro said. “We have so many intersections, and I think that’s really important to show people.” “Consonance” according to Chaparro reflects on “the feelings of isolation and pain that come with being your authentic self,” through a dreamlike succession of young LGBTQ+ people engaged in pain-

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 12.indd 6

ful introspection. It is experimental, like many of the films shown at the festival. “Our goal has never been to become a giant, glossy film festival,” said Shawna Virago, SFTFF’s Artistic Director. “We don’t aspire to join corporate Hollywood — in fact, it’s quite the opposite. We’re a bit like a punk music label: we reject corporate assimilation.” SFTFF supports both emerging and established filmmakers, Virago said, especially those “with the least access to resources or cultural power.” This steers the focus to grassroots radical and experimental films that touch on issues like gender, race, and systemic oppression in ways that stretch beyond the limits of most mainstream films. “We’re really spotlighting queer people of color,” Chaparro said. “It adds new dimensions to the trans experience. It’s recalling the important role that people of color play in forwarding transgender issues in film, and bringing those experiences to the forefront.” Nineteen of this year’s 24 films featured people of color as main characters. “We’re proud of the complex, intersectional trans and gender-nonconforming lives, histories and communities we showcase,” said Virago. “It is profoundly important that trans people tell our own stories, instead of cisgender people telling our stories for us People wait in line at the Roxie Theater to attend the Transgender Movie Film Fest in San Francisco, California Nov. 9. (Photo by Kameron Hall / and getting it wrong.” Golden Gate Xpress)

11/11/2019 10:21:50 PM

SPORTS•7

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG | TUESDAY, NOV. 12, 2019

Warriors are done, time to enter the Giannis sweepstakes BY DIEGO FELIX STAFF REPORTER

Klay Thompson potentially returning in

SPORTS OPINION the second half of the season: Thompson

he Warriors are a shell of themselves and don’t look anything like the team that went to the NBA finals last season, the roster looks completely different than what the team rolled out last year, let alone five months ago in the Finals. Kevin Durant left for the Brooklyn Nets, Klay Thompson is recovering from his torn ACL, Shaun Livingston retired, Andre Iguodala awaits a buyout from the Memphis Grizzlies and DeMarcus Cousins left for Tinseltown. Now, the Warriors simply don’t have enough playmakers to compete and the defensive effort is barren. Draymond Green and newly acquired D’Angelo Russell are good pieces to have, but aren’t enough to propel this team to compete at a playoff-caliber level. They lost four straight home games at their new Chase Center arena, beginning the season with only one road win. There was still hope that the five-time defending Western Conference champions could still be contenders with the injured

is out until at least the All-Star break or potentially beyond. However, their last-ditch hopes went down the drain when the two-time MVP Stephen Curry broke his left hand during a game against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 30. Curry collided with Suns center Aron Baynes while driving to the rim. Originally expected to miss at least three months, Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher reported that Curry may sit for the rest of the season. The Warriors quickly denied that claim with head coach Steve Kerr calling it a “head-scratcher.” It wouldn’t make sense to bring Thompson or Curry back to play if they are already out of playoff contention, why not chase for a top pick in the 2020 draft? The postseason seems completely out of reach in the re-loaded west and shouldn’t even be on the minds of the Warriors. Bring Giannis Antetokounmpo to SF Why can’t the Warriors make a run at Antetokounmpo? Everyone doubted the Kevin Durant signing back in 2016. Analysts

and critics back then said he would never join a team that beat him in the playoffs, or the Warriors couldn’t afford Durant under the salary cap. We know how that turned out. Antetokounmpo is the reigning MVP with two full seasons left on his contract, making him a free agent in the summer of 2021. He will have a decision to make next summer between remaining with the Bucks for a “supermax” deal or looking elsewhere. Let’s be honest, the Bucks won’t be trading the reigning MVP at any point in the next few months. However, for whatever reason, if Antetokounmpo decides not to sign his extension next summer, it will be an all-out bidding war for the “Greek Freak.” This is where the Warriors come in. They could offer the Bucks a package deal, one that includes trading Green and Russel with a set of future draft picks, the ones they are tanking for now. The mega-trades for Anthony Davis to the Lakers or Paul George to the Clippers have set the bar incredibly high. It’s also beneficial that Curry and Antetokounmpo are friends off the court and

Free use photo courtesy of seeklogo.com showing the Golden State Warriors logo.

share the same agency. It would require some enormous cap maneuvering, but the Warriors could potentially be in the hunt for Antetokounmpo in 2021. It wouldn’t be easy, but the thought of having Antetokounmpo joining the Warriors with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson is a reality that could happen. This is the modern NBA, and the landscape is always changing.

Women’s soccer ends season with 13th straight defeat

BY ALONSO FRIAS STAFF REPORTER

he SF State Women’s soccer team ended their regular season on Nov. 9, with a home loss against the Dominguez Hills Toros (8-7-2) with a final score of 1-0. The Gators ended their season 2-141 with a 13-game losing streak. On Saturday, Karla Ramos, Kelsie Bozart, Llaritza Torres, Niko Baila and Valentina Riveros were honored for playing their last home game for the Gators.

From left to right: Seniors Kelsie Bozart, Niko Baila, Valentina Riveros, Karla Ramos, Llaritza Torres, received honors at the end of the soccer season.

The Gators were not able to match last year’s playoff run when head coach Tracy Hamm was in charge. Last season they made it to the second round of the playoffs in the CCAA Soccer Championships where they eventually lost to UC San Diego. New head coach Brittany Cameron struggled on the road throughout the season. Out

A graph displaying goals scored to goals conceded throughout the 2019 women’s soccer season (Graph by Alonso Frias /Golden Gate Xpress)

of eight away games, the team lost seven with one tie. While the Gators started off well in the early part of the schedule, going 2-1-1 after the team’s first four contests, everything went downhill from there as the Gators would go on to lose their remaining 13 games. Five of the Gators’ 27 total players on the

roster were seniors, therefore there will be a majority of the team returning for next season, and 18 of the ladies were either freshmen or sophomores. While the team lost 14 matches, six of them were by one-goal, and a more experienced group will take the field next year, looking to change the story.

Defense wins championships and 2019 is proving it CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The lone undefeated team in the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers use an offensive attack that ranks 22nd in the league in passing yards a game according to teamrankings.com. The 49ers were perfect through the halfway part of their schedule, going 8-0, and they achieved this with a premier defense that ranks 1st in yards allowed and 1st in sack percentage, and 2nd in total team points allowed. The 49ers strengthened their defense during the offseason by trading for Pro-Bowl defensive end Dee Ford from the Kansas City Chiefs, and drafting Ohio State University star pass rusher defensive end Nick Bosa. According to Pro Football Reference, Ford proved value with 5.5 sacks on the year. Other than Deforest Buckner, no other 49ers player accumulated more than 5.5 sacks the entire 2018 season. Nick Bosa is living up to the hype and then some by not only being the early favorite for defensive NFL rookie of the year, but also putting his hat in the

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 12.indd 7

discussion for all-around defensive player of the year as well with seven recorded sacks so far, a forced fumble and recovery along with an interception. The elite play of the 49ers defense enabled them to double their win total from a year ago in only half a season, and up until last week, the New England Patriots were the only other undefeated team. For the better part of the last decade, the Patriots were the standard of offense in the NFL, however, this year was a bit duller than others. Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady is arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time, yet the Patriots are ranked only seventh in the league in passing yards per game. Respectable, but doesn’t meet their standards. Furthermore, the Patriots rank in the middle of the league in total yards per game. This is certainly not what the NFL is used to seeing from New England. Then how is it that this middle-of-the-road offense can

manage an 8-1 record? The answer: a defense that ranks first in points allowed. Granted the Patriots had the pleasure of playing in the worst division in football, their defense has made opposing offenses look amateur at best. Over the offseason, the Patriots lost their defensive coordinator Brian Flores to the Miami Dolphins as he took the reigns as their new head coach. This opened the door for Patriots defensive minded head coach Bill Belichick to run his defense again. He ran a defense that ranks second in passing yards allowed and first in takeaways. The 49ers and Patriots showed that teams still need more than just Mr. Right at quarterback to be able to compete in the NFL. No matter how many Mahomes or Bradys are in the league, defense will still wins championships in the NFL.

11/11/2019 10:21:51 PM

8•OPINION

TUESDAY, NOV. 12, 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Don’t count out long shot candidates Gabbard and Yang groups. But both candidates are consistently relevant and deserve serious attention because of how successful they have ran their long shot campaigns. Gabbard was the most searched candidate after appearing in the first round of debates according to Google. Her profile quickly rose after a spat with Harris during the second round of democratic debates in which she called the former attorney general’s record to question. “I’m concerned about this record of Senator

BY ANDREW R. LEAL OPINION EDITOR

ichael Bloomberg shook up the 2020 presidential primary race early this week when he teased a potential run as a democrat. Bloomberg since filed for his name to be on the Alabama Democratic Primary ballot for the March 3, 2020, election, which adds seriousness to his run for presidency in an already crowded field of democrats. The move by Bloomberg is an unwelcome one for progressives who see him as another old white male billionaire in a race with women of color including Sen. Kamala Harris and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. But what Bloomberg represents is a distraction from an already struggling field of democrats to find headway in the stuffed field as it is. Now that the fourth democratic debate has ended, the time is for longshot democratic candidates to take a serious look at what potential they have as the nominee for the party. If candidates have not made any headway by this point in the race they need to drop out for the good of the party and country. The long shot candidates that need to drop out are not the usual suspects that were pressured to do so in the race so far, meaning Gabbard or Andrew Yang. In fact, based on both candidates’ performance in the race so far, they should remain in because they have a shot at the nomination. Yang and Gabbard are political outsiders to the democratic establishment and the corporate media. Their presence in the 2020 democratic primary is a nuisance to those two

Yang and Gabbard are political outsiders to the democratic establishment and the corporate media, their presence in the 2020 democratic primary is a nuisance to those two groups. Harris. She put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana,” Gabbard said at the debate. Gabbard did see a potential campaign killer when she failed to qualify for the third debate but the arbitrary rules the Democratic National Committee set in order to make the cut were suspect, giving, no specifics as to why certain outlets polls were legitimate over others.

The fifth democratic debate will take place on Nov. 20 in Atlanta, Georgia and will be hosted by The Washington Post and MSNBC. The qualifications to meet the fifth democratic debate were to have 165,000 individual donors, including 600 from 20 states. And each candidate must poll 3% or better in four DNC approved surveys or 5% in two polls

from early states - Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. As of Nov. 11, two days before the deadline to qualify for the next debate, 10 candidates have made the cut: former Vice-President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Andrew Yang, Sen. Kamala Harris,

If polls from the Boston Globe and The Economist were used she would have made it to the third round of debates, but the DNC did not recognize them as qualifying polls. Nevertheless, Gabbard’s campaign did bounce back as she met all the requirements for the fourth round and the upcoming fifth debate on Nov. 20. Yang as a candidate was the most “outside the establishment” in the primary race, coming from the business sector with a catchy Freedom Dividend, which would give every American 18 years old and over $1,000 a month. He has grown over the race, becoming a high-profile candidate in terms of fundraising. He ranks sixth among democratic presidential candidates for the amount of money raised from individual contributions, according to The New York Times. After the second round of debates, which had him on the low end of speaking time, 87% of donors who contributed to the Yang campaign post-debate never donated to him before, according to Rolling Stone. Even though he was excluded by news outlets like CNN when they reported candidates’ polling numbers — and despite accusations of a microphone cut-off during the first round of debates — Yang has qualified for every debate so far. Yang and Gabbard’s campaign showed that long shot candidates need to be taken seriously going forward and not written off as they have been so far by the Democratic Party and corporate media. Both candidates might be the best choice to go against President Donald Trump given their progressive and strong moderate base supporters. Sen. Cory Booker, Tom Steyer and Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Former Secretary for Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro has yet to meet the polling threshold but has the donor amount secured, it is highly unlikely he will be on stage with the other candidates come Nov. 20

The double standards behind nudes BY KERASA DIMITRIOS TSOKAS STAFF REPORTER

magine sending your significant other a very intimate picture of your body. But you two don’t work out so you eventually break up. It has been a year since the split and suddenly you see those same intimate pictures that you sent plastered on every platform you can think of. Former CA Representative Katie Hill doesn’t have to imagine. This is her reality. The Red State and the Daily Mail, both right-wing media outlets, decided to publish nude photos of Hill in October. Hill made it very clear that those nude photos that were published were from her future ex-husband, Kenny Heslep. Heslep claims he was hacked when those nudes were leaked, however he was trying to pitch an interview about their divorce a month earlier, which doesn’t help his case. “You can’t post sensitive images like that, without the consent of the person depicted in the images,” says Susan Wright, a writer for the Red State in her article about a congressman’s nudes. However these standards fly right out the window when discussing Katie Hill. Since posting said nudes, the Red State has written multiple articles about Hill and their journalism standards. “The use of certain images, while holding back on more scandalous ones, showed editorial restraint many outlets seem to have forgotten — that you can post enough to show something happened without posting too much and losing the point of the story,” Joe Cunningham a senior editor at the Red State said in an article discussing Hill and

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 12.indd 8

the media. Cunningham’s quote allows us to see one clear example of what Hill said in her final speech to Congress: there is a double standard that has grown and taken over our society which allows the publicly released nude photo of a man to be called illegal revenge porn, but when the nude of a woman gets publicly released, it is a sign of editorial restraint. The Red State is a perfect example of this. On Nov. 24, 2017 the Red State wrote a piece titled “To Be Clear, Naked Congressman Joe Barton Is The Victim,” in which they discussed the illegal nature of “revenge porn.” Research conducted in 2016 by Data & Society shows that one in 25 Americans are victims of people threatening to post or posting of nude images without their permission. Studies also show that women under the age of 30 are the biggest targets for leaking nudes. Nudes are increasingly becoming more common within our generation and sexting is becoming the norm in a lot of relationships. The American Psychological Association conducted a study in 2015 that showed 88% of participants reported ever having sexted. A poll taken on the Golden Gate Xpress’ Instagram page last week shows that 83% of respondents took nudes at least once. While 12% never took nude photos, 100% of respondents agreed that if nudes get leaked, the person who leaked the nude is always at fault. As our generation begins to venture out into the “real world,” we need to be in-

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS EDITORIAL STAFF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Carly Wipf cwipf@mail.sfsu.edu PRINT MANAGING EDITOR Frank Sumrall fsumrall@mail.sfsu.edu ONLINE MANAGING AND SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Sahar Swaleh sswaleh@mail.sfsu.edu ART DIRECTOR Paisley Trent ptrent@mail.sfsu.edu CITY NEWS EDITOR David Mamaril Horowitz dhorowitz@mail.sfsu.edu CAMPUS NEWS EDITORS MJ Johnson mjohnson23@mail.sfsu.edu Paisley Trent ptrent@mail.sfsu.edu OPINION EDITOR Andrew R. Leal aleal@mail.sfsu.edu SPORTS EDITORS Jimmy DeRogatis jderogatis@mail.sfsu.edu Robert Juarez rjuarez1@mail.sfsu.edu PHOTO EDITOR William Wendelman wwendelman@mail.sfsu.edu

XPRESS ADVISERS PRINT ADVISER Gary Moskowitz gmoskowitz@sfsu.edu MULTIMEDIA ADVISER Sachi Cunningham sachic@sfsu.edu PHOTO ADVISER Kim Komenich komenich@sfsu.edu

@ggxnews @ggxnews Check out our website at goldengatexpress. org

Nudes are increasingly becoming more common within our generation and sexting is becoming the norm in a lot of relationships. A sketch of a woman’s nude body on a cellphone. (Illustration by Kerasa Dimitrios Tsokas/ Golden Gate Xpress)

creasingly more conscious, but not of what nudes we take or what we say to someone in a sext. Our consciousness needs to turn to those who were involuntarily exposed to the public. It can be easy to say you are against the leaker. Sometimes in the heat of things though, you might slip up and say, “well

they should’ve just made sure that person was trustworthy.” We shouldn’t ever blame the person whose nudes got leaked. We should not have to wonder what the person did to deserve this. No one deserves to have their naked body shown off to the public without their consent.

11/11/2019 10:21:52 PM