Fall 2019 Issue 14

SF State’s student-run publication since 1927

Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019

Volume 110, Issue 14

Accessible Technology Commons open for now, but not for alumni

BY CARLY WIPF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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iwa Ikema graduated from SF State in 2016 with a degree in philosophy, but she continues to sit at the front of the library several times a week with a petition to keep the library’s Accessible Technology Commons open for SF State students who are registered with the university as having disabilities and need the specific types of assistance to access library resources.

Last semester, Ikema began gathering signatures to keep the Commons open for SF State students when she heard about the university’s plan to close it. Now she’s not only fighting for the ATC’s uncertain future, but also her individual ability to use that section of the library as an alumna.

Eugene Chelberg, associate vice president for Student Affairs, confirmed that the ATC will eventually close to make way for a universal design model that seeks to integrate resources for people with disabilities throughout the library. Yet the date the commons will close is still undetermined.

To Ikema’s success, the ATC remained open months longer than initially intended. Since graduating three years ago, Ikema, who is 69 and blind, has continued to use the ATC to work on research papers and use the Braille printer and embosser, which are nested in a private room. But as of this semester, the Disability Programs and Resource Center (DPRC) told Ikema she was no longer allowed to use the space because she is not a registered student. She said she believes the policy update barring alumni from being able to use the ATC was a direct result of her earlier protest. She said she also received no clear answer when the facility would permanently close.

“They changed the policy suddenly,” Ikema said. “I asked what the DPRC changed the policy for and no answer. I emailed the director (Wendy Tobias) and I said, “If changing the policy is not re-

taliation or harassment toward me, is it possible for you to make an exception for me? Every rule, every policy has exceptions. She said no exception would be made. So I interpreted this the new policy means harassment or retaliation toward me.”

After a series of unanswered letters and requests, Ikema asked Xpress to look into what changed.

Chelberg said the ATC policy changed in order to align with the greater library policies. Community members, including alumni, are allowed to use one of the six twohour stations, all of which have software available for students with disabilities, including screen readers, voice synthesizers, screen enlargement software and assisted-reading software.

“The library exists for students to study and do research, and that’s where we need to focus our energy, and that’s where we are focusing our energy with the Accessible Technology Commons as well,” Chelberg said. Chelberg also said that the ATC policy historically did not allow alumni in, but after the library was remodeled and reopened for full service in 2012, there was a lack of regulation that he called an “oversight.”

Ikema, who pays an alumni fee, said she feels that the policy prohibiting alumni from using the ATC is discriminatory, especially given that she has used the area for so long. She said the current public offerings to community members do not work for her. She is required to use headphones to use the textto-speech software but has hearing aids in both ears and will get headaches if she uses them. Since the policy update, she no longer has a place to work because she does not have a computer nor a Braille printer set up at home. There is one located in the ATC. “What they say is ‘make a document and save it in the flash drive and bring it to ATC and ask monitor to emboss it,’” Ikema said.

“However, monitors don’t know Braille … Since they don’t know Braille well, [the] embosser makes

Eve Nguyen, pre-biology major, at SF State signs Miwa Ikema’s petition at the J. Paul Leonard Library on Dec. 2. (Photo by Paige Acosta / Golden Gate Xpress)

mistakes, [and] they cannot find the mistakes. They need a proofreader anyways. They need my help to accomplish their work.”

Chelberg, who is also blind, said

Alcatraz occupants remember the reclaiming of Native American land 50 years later

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many people don’t use the embossers anymore because refreshable Braille technology makes it possible to keep documents portable on an iPad. He also stated

that no current students are using the embosser, and that no one has used it for a long time. Meaning Ikema is the only student left using it.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Men’s basketball faces off against Oregon and Turlock in twoday tournament

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2•CITY

TUESDAY, DEC. 3, 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

SF to vote on vacant storefront tax

BY COREY BROWNING STAFF REPORTER

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s San Francisco’s tech economy booms, brick and mortar retailers are struggling to stay afloat, as popular shopping corridors are becoming filled with storefront vacancies.

“Every block has at least one and usually multiple vacancies,” said Christin Evans, who owns a bookstore on the popular Haight Street shopping corridor.

The vacancies have resulted in blight, trash, graffiti and reduced foot traffic, Evans, who also serves as president to the Haight-Ashbury Merchants Association, told the Board of Supervisors last week. On her block alone, Evans cited five business closures this year that have left behind vacant storefronts.

In response to the issue, the Board of Supervisors approved a measure that will give voters next March the option to levy a new tax on landlords or lessees who keep their storefronts on popular shopping corridors vacant for six or more months. The hope is that the tax will incentivize property owners to lower their rent, or just not increase it, so that businesses can afford to move in or stay where they are.

San Francisco’s Budget and Legislative Analyst counted 686 vacant storefronts in December 2017 along 24 commercial corridors.

“What this tax does, which is completely avoidable and we don’t want to collect, is give lessees leverage in lease negotiations,” said District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who authored the legislation.

The annual tax would charge $250 per linear foot of storefront in the first year of vacancy, doubling in the second year and maxing out at $1,000 per foot in the third year. The city estimates most storefronts measure around 25 linear feet.

“Even though San Francisco is in an age of incredible prosperity, there is an interesting phenomenon happening in commercial corridors,” Peskin said. “Landlords are holding out for higher rents even though small businesses really cannot pay those kinds of rent.”

But some critics say that “bad actor landlords,” as Peskin calls them, may not always be the issue. Some fear the tax will unjustly punish landlords who are already losing revenue as they genuinely struggle to find tenants amid competition with online retail and the high cost of doing business in San Francisco.

The permitting process required by the city to open a new business can be costly and time consuming — leaving buildings vacant for years as applications are processed, according to a March 2019 report from the Budget and Leg-

islative office.

“Small merchants often can’t afford the cost, time and uncertainty of the city’s permitting processes,” said Dee Dee Workman, a consulting advisor with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

A conditional use permit, the most commonly required permit for opening a small business, took on average 332 days to be processed for business owners looking to move into the Upper Market/Castro area between 2015 and 2018 — a number likely representative of most neighborhoods, according to the report.

That timeline is extended to over a year and a half if a business needs construction work approved. Often, business owners will pay rent while they wait.

In light of some of these difficulties, the proposed measure allows property owners or lessees an exemption from the tax while applying for necessary city approvals, performing upgrades or maintenance, and recovering from natural disasters. Entering into a new lease would restart the six month time limit.

The new vacancy tax will require a twothirds vote to become law, and would become effective in 2021.

Revenue, which the city estimates would be below $1 million per year, would go toward a special fund designed to help small businesses cover costs like mandated seismic retrofits and lost business due to city construction projects.

Since 2001, San Francisco’s brick and mortar retail trade employment declined by 12%, while other private sector employment grew by 32%, according to the city’s Office of the Controller. The trend became more acute in the past three years, with an 8% decline in brick and mortar retail employment and 13% growth in other employment from 2015 to 2018. This is despite growth in population and an increase in the amount of available retail space.

An Arizona State University study published in October of this year cites San Francisco as the toughest out of 77 large cities in the U.S. and Canada to do business in. The ranking, which draws data from a list of regulatory and economic indicators, is based on ease of starting a business, employing workers, paying taxes, getting electricity, registering property and resolving insolvency.

Starting a business in San Francisco takes on average 48 days — the second longest processing time out of all examined cities, according to the study, which took into ac-

count all LLCs (not just the brick and mortar retailers.) The average wait time to set up a business is less than a week in most U.S. cities, according to the study.

Earlier this year the Board of Supervisors passed legislation aimed at streamlining the permitting process and easing regulation barring small businesses from opening.

The board also strengthened a decade-old vacancy deterrent law that required property owners to register vacant storefronts within 30 days of vacancy and pay an annual fine capped at $711. Up until March of this year, there were only about 40 addresses registered, due largely to a loophole that allowed storefronts listed on the market to be exempt.

With that loophole closed, there are now closer to 300 registered vacancies, a number some say still does not represent the true scope of the issue.

Landlords who do not register their vacant storefront within 30 days face a one-time fee of $2,845.

“I had 165 vacant storefronts just in my neighborhood,” said District 1 Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer, citing a crowdsourced figure. “I can imagine you times that by 11 different districts. Plus I don’t have as many commercial corridors as some other districts.”

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 Our website goldengatexpress.org is currently being restored and updated.

Activists commemorate Alcatraz occupation after 50 years

BY SAM MOORE STAFF REPORTER

I

n an old building on the north end of Alcatraz Island, Alan Harrison recently stood on a small stage over concrete floors where he remembers roller skating as a child. He also remembers the helicopters, he said, sent by the Coast Guard in an attempt to force him and everyone else off the island.

That was 1969: Student-led activists from the group Indians of All Tribes reclaimed the Rock as Indigenous land, sparking a historic 19-month Alcatraz occupation, known to have shaped the modern Indigenous rights movement. From Nov. 20-23, some of those activists returned to the island along with their families and members of the public to celebrate the occupation’s 50th anniversary.

“Anyone who was here has been changed by the experience,” Harrison said.

He arrived on Alcatraz with his mother when he was 8 years old, in a group guided by the leaders of the occupation,: Richard Oakes, an SF State student who recently helped create the university’s Native American Studies department, and Dr. LaNada War Jack, then-head of University of California, Berkeley’s Native American Student Organization.

On the second day of the 50th-anniversary celebration, War Jack introduced Harrison as they stood on stage alongside several other veterans of the occupation, all

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of whom came to the island as children or young adults. The day before, veteran occupiers were invited by the National Park Service to repaint lettering on the outside of the former prison. Now, the words “Indians Welcome” and “Indian Land” stand out in fresh red paint for the first time since the occupation.

“That spark that started here on Alcatraz Island, it’s still with me,” said Mabel Ann Eagle Hunter, who came to the island when she was 25. “It was the most beautiful feeling to see all of us out here, letting them know that we’re still here fighting. It was the first time I really felt free.”

The occupation began on Nov. 20, 1969, and lasted until June 10, 1971. It was organized as a response to “Indian termination policies” that ended federal recognition of sovereign tribes. To secure their place on the island, the occupiers relied on an 1868 treaty allowing American Indians to settle on unused federal land, which included Alcatraz, since the prison closed in 1963.

In a proclamation written shortly after they arrived, Indians of All Tribes offered to buy the land for $24 in glass beads and red cloth — “a precedent set by the white man’s purchase of a similar island about 300 years ago,” the proclamation reads.

That similar island was Manhattan.

Soon, hundreds flocked to Alcatraz to offer support. At its peak, the occupiers numbered around 400, according to an article published by SF State’s Student Center.

There was an elected council of leaders,

and everyone old enough had to work.

“Everybody had a job; everybody did something,” said Rosemary WhiteWater, a veteran occupier, at the 50th anniversary.

She came to Alcatraz when she was 15 and spent time working in the kitchen.

“What I learned while I was here is how to take care of other people,” she added.

Initially, the government ordered the occupiers to leave. A barricade was placed around the island, and when that proved ineffective, officials agreed to hold formal negotiations with Indians of All Tribes.

The activists’ demands included a full deed to the island as well as the establishment of an Indian university, a museum and a cultural center. After making it clear those demands would not be met, the government adopted a position of non-interference, according to a book written by Dr.

“Anyone who was here has been changed by the experience.”

-Alan Harrison Troy Johnson, the former director of the American Indian Studies program at Cal State Long Beach.

By 1971, with outside support dwindling and many of its former leaders gone, the occupation was nearing its end. On June 10 of that year, Johnson wrote, “armed

federal marshals, FBI agents, and special forces police swarmed the island and removed five women, four children, and six unarmed Indian men.” Those fifteen people were the only occupiers left.

In response to the occupation, Congress passed the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act in 1975, effectively ending the termination policies protested by the occupiers.

Around the world, indigenous communities drew inspiration from what happened on Alcatraz. Efforts toward Indigenous sovereignty sprang up in New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Guatemala and Hawaii throughout the 1970s.

“Alcatraz served as sort of a catalyst for organizing at the time,” said Joanne Barker, chair of the American Indian Studies Department at SF State, during a panel last month called “From Alcatraz to Mauna Kea.” “It marked a moment of re-asserting treaty rights and an identity that wasn’t a victim.”

The building where the veteran occupiers spoke on Nov. 21 was once used as a factory where prison inmates made clothes and furniture, and then as a makeshift roller rink for kids like Harrison. Now it’s used as a gallery, where black and white photographs of the occupation are displayed along the walls. Several of the photos show young activists, fists in the air, faces turned toward the sun.

“The spirit I got from here,” said Eagle Hunter, “that light — that’s where it all started for me.”

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3•CAMPUS

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG | TUESDAY, DEC. 3, 2019

Accessible Technology Commons still faces uncertain future CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “The community is served by the San Francisco Public Library system,” Chelberg said.

“San Francisco Public Library system has accessible technology at their main library including Braille, Braille display and a Braille embosser.” According to the San Francisco Public Library system, the main library is the only location in San Francisco that has such a set up. It is a 48-minute transit ride from campus.

Madison Javier, an SF State alumna, frequently used the ATC before graduating in 2018. As someone who also has visual impairments, she used the text-to-speech software ZoomText and said it would be nice and convenient to be able to use the center as an alumna, but understands why the policy exists.

“They would have to accommodate the needs of the students who were registered there,” Javier said. “So although I do understand her struggle, I do see where the school is coming from.”

While Ikema and other alumni may have to look beyond SF State for the accommodations they need, students registered with the DPRC will have the ATC as a resource for the rest of this fall semester.

In May 2019, when the ATC’s imminent closure was first announced, Xpress interviewed current students in addition to Ikema, and their main concern with the universal design model was privacy. This and other feedback made its way to Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. Chelberg said that the last piece of the puzzle for starting construction on universal design was finding a way to make sure students were able to get private spaces to study within the common areas. He said the ATC would not close until the library in partnership with the DPRC found a solution, so the official date that the ATC will close is unknown.

“We can’t put artificial ceilings in the library because it’s against fire code. The library has quiet study space distributed throughout the library,” Chelberg said. “So what we are looking at with the university library right now is looking at some kind of semiprivate cubicles or study carols that would be in those quiet study spaces.”

Because Javier has some vision left, she was able to move to a different computer in the library and use the magnifier if necessary. But she said she still really appreciated the privacy of the ATC, which allowed for better focus on what was read to her. She also said it was also helpful to have a lab monitor who was there to assist specifically with ATC technological problems.

Javier said she thinks it is nice that Ikema

continues to advocate for the space. “At least A student signs Miwa Ikema’s petition at the J. Paul Leonard Library on Dec. 2. (Photo for other schools that I’ve gone to, like com- by Paige Acosta / Golden Gate Xpress) munity colleges and stuff, they didn’t have like a specific AT commons,” Javier said.

“I think that’s what makes SF State a really unique school ... they really value the disability population that goes there. ATC really showed that, and I hope they keep it open.”

As for Ikema, she was out again in front of the library yesterday continuing to collect signatures.

“I don’t think I’m selfish,” Ikema said. “I don’t think I’m fighting only for myself. I’m fighting for everybody.”

“I interpreted this, the new policy, means harassment or retaliation toward me.”

-Miwa Ikema, 2016 alumna of SF State, B.A. in Philiosophy Right: A Braille keyboard in a study room in the Accessible Technology Commons (ATC) in the J. Paul Leonard Library on Dec. 2. (Photos

by Paige Acosta / Golden Gate Xpress)

Crime Blotter:

Campus police evacuate library

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SFPD and campus personnel stand outside an entrance to the J. Paul Leonard Library at SF State after an evacuation was ordered in San Francisco, Calif., Nov. 25. (Alex Drew/SFBAPA)

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man entered the J. Paul Leonard Library from Holloway Avenue on the afternoon of Nov. 25 carrying multiple bags and reportedly threatened to “blow up” people within the library, according to an email by Chief of Police Reginald Parson.

Six minutes after the threats were first reported, UPD arrived on scene and arrested 55-year-old Spencer Hughes, the man in question, on the first floor of the library and removed him from the property.

UPD then ordered an evacuation of the building and requested assistance from the SFPD Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, who determined the bag was safe roughly an hour later.

Hughes “was booked on two felony counts of criminal threats at the San Francisco County Main Jail,” according to the email by Parson. Police did not confirm what was in the bag.

UPD did not find any connection between Hughes and SF State and no motive was determined, but he was also detained in the same building less than

a month ago. On the afternoon of Oct. 27, Hughes reportedly brandished a knife to an individual at the library. The individual then performed a citizen’s arrest, but did not physically restrain Hughes, according to Deputy Chief Wailun Shiu.

Shiu could not comment on what incited Hughes to pull the knife.

Responding UPD officers cited Hughes for brandishing a deadly weapon, escorted him off the property, then released him.

California Penal Code 417(a)(1), the code that UPD used to cite Hughes for the knife, states that perpetrators must be held “in a county jail for not less than 30 days.”

Shiu declined to comment on why Hughes was released. Similar to the bomb threat, UPD could not determine a motive for this incident.

By Juan Carlos Lara, staff reporter.

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4•SPORTS

TUESDAY, DEC. 3, 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Touring in Thailand: a wrestler’s story

BY DIEGO FELIX STAFF REPORTER

O

After trying out for the team, Pichedwatana ended up on the same team as his brother, a rare feat for a freshmen that allowed him to compete against seniors. Pichedwatana continued wrestling all four years of high school.

“I never really realized that I had a talent for wrestling probably until my senior year of high school,” Pichedwatana said.

From there, he finished fourth at the California State Meet in 2016 and earned the title High School All-American. However, there were times where Pichedwatana contemplated stepping away from the sport permanently.

“Each year of high school that I was wrestling, it really took a toll on me, like every single year I told myself I was going to quit,” Pichedwatana said. “After my junior year, I was really debating if I wanted to wrestle again because I was so hard on myself mentally and physically, I didn’t really know if I wanted to do it anymore.”

He talked with his friends, coaches and family about the decision but what was really the tipping point to make or break his wrestling career was talking with his older cousin, John Scott. His cousin was a role model for Pichedwatana who told him how wrestling can be a way for him to go to college.

“He just changed my mindset and eventually I just put 100% into my senior year and ended up doing great and just going far in wrestling and ended up going to SF State and here I am today,” Pichedwatana said.

According to Pichedwatana, that talk with his cousin had the biggest impact on his wrestling career. Pichedwatana approached wrestling with the mindset that he was going to become the very best and would not doubt his potential. In his senior year of high

school, he ended up placing fourth at the California State meet where he not only received High School All-American but would receive college offers from Division I and Division II schools.

Pichedwatana wanted to be close to home for college. He said going to SF State would give him a greater experience with the Division II program they had.

According to wrestling Coach Jason Welch, Pichedwatana came to the sport late in life as opposed to many wrestlers who did as kids, but he recruited him for his potential.

From there, in 2018, Pichedwatana took first place in the 41st Annual California Collegiate Open, while claiming third place in the 174-pound bracket with a 3-1 day at the Menlo College Open. He was named to the NWC All-Academic Team.

He would only improve from there. In 2019 he recorded an eight-bout win streak from Nov. 30 to Jan. 5 with six consecutive wins in one week. He ranked fifth in the nation in the 184-pound weight class and was 2019 NCAA Division II All-American.

When Welch heard that Pichedwatana’s father was born in Thailand, he told Pichedwatana that he could be eligible for dual citizenship. Walsh talked with him and his family and made sure everyone was on board to be able to get his dual citizenship. He went to Thailand this past March for an official tryout with the international wrestling team.

He now represents Thailand at international tournaments, losing his first and only match to Ukraine in a close bout.

“He was a kid who had a lot of talent but wasn’t utilizing it, now he bought in and works really hard. He knows how good he

can be,” Welch said.

The Olympics is the biggest event coaches wanted Pichedwatana to go for with the hope of winning a national title to obtain All-American status.

“His speed is his biggest attribute, especially for a big guy, 184 pounds and faster than the lightweights in the room,” Welch said.

He is currently wrestling at the international level against 19 to 23 year olds. He will soon compete at the senior level which is the open age group. Last year he took seventh in the NCAA tournament and made him a Division II All-American.

“He is the most successful international wrestler we have on the team,” Welch said.

Since joining the Thailand team, Pichedwatana travels to local tournaments, considering it a very honorable experience, especially at his age.

“So Coach Welch brought the opportunity to me and asked me about getting my dual citizenship because he wants me competing for the Thai National Team as it would be a bigger fight experience,” Pichedwatana said.

After Pichedwatana graduates in 2021, he plans to apply to become a police officer alongside his two older brothers. The second oldest is currently in the academy for LAPD while the oldest has been a police officer for five years. He doesn’t see himself coming back as a wrestling coach due to having other goals, but does see himself coming back to SF State and helping out the wrestling staff in some capacity. As far as competing in tournaments right now, Pichedwatana is strictly focused on his wrestling style and competing for SF State.

ut of all the wrestling matches Justin Pichedwatana competed in, he recalls the one match that went to the very end, testing all of his abilities.

“There is a specific match at Nationals that really brought out the fire in me, pushed me beyond my limits. I was wrestling I believe he was the third seeded guy, it was a dog fight the whole match.”

Pichedwatana described the match as a scuffle swinging back and forth with momentum no more than a coin flip.

His opponent would get in a shot that he defended. Pichedwatana would get in a shot his opponent defended, a seesaw affair lasting the entire match. It came down to the wire in the third and final period when Pichedwatana took him down with all his strength before his opponent weaseled out of the hold and got on Pichedwatana’s legs for the final five seconds, ending up with a counter and eventual takedown. Despite the last ditch effort, Pichedwatana won the match by one point. It was a match he earned All-American status, without a doubt Pichedwatana’s most memorable match from last year.

Having the All-American title meant claiming a top eight rank in the country within his weight class. It meant a whole lot to Pichedwatana.

“It gives me a sense of humbleness and pride and I love the feeling of being an All-American because it shows all the hard work I’ve put in and makes me want it more,” Pichedwatana said.

Growing up in Long Beach, California, Pichedwatana envisioned himself becoming a police officer like his older brothers, but soon discovered his wrestling talent which would take him to new heights.

Since he was five years old, Pichedwatana was a competitor who loved playing sports. He played hockey for 12 years and loved the physicality and comradery on the ice.

Through his older brothers, he discovered wrestling in his freshman year of high school.

“As I was a freshman, my second oldest brother, Chris, was a senior in high school when he started wrestling and he really brought me into the sport,” said Pichedwatana.

His competitive nature made him SF State wrestler Justin Pichedwatana defeats Stanford wrestler Jared Hill in a 4-2 decision on Nov. 17, at Don Nasser Family Plaza’s Main Gym. want to follow in his brother’s footsteps. (Photo by Kameron Hall/Golden Gate Xpress)

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