Fall 2019 Issue 4

SF State’s student-run publication since 1927

Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Three generations gather at the Armenian Food Festival

BY MJ JOHNSON

CAMPUS NEWS EDITOR

M

usic and the smell of grilled steaks and spices wafted through the air of the crowded outdoor tent.

People of all ages gathered

Alexis Briano and her daughter Colette (middle) play on the dance floor with another child during the Armenian Food Festival on Sept. 14.

(Photo by William Wendelman / Golden Gate Xpress)

for evenings full of laughter, full bellies and plates heaped with rice pilaf, lule kebob and boereg.

The 62nd annual Armenian Food Festival and Bazaar at

St. Gregory Church in Saroyan Hall celebrated the culture and community of Armenians in the Bay Area. For three days from Sept. 13 to 15, the festival showcased traditional

Armenian dishes and desserts, and booths for local Armenian businesses.

Since 1958, the festival has brought the Armenian community together at the biggest

Armenian food festival in Northern California.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

CITY

Smoke shops at risk with vape ban

BY DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ CITY NEWS EDITOR

S

an Francisco’s ban on the sale of electronic cigarettes forced one of its last vaping shops to close Sept. 9 after six years in the business.

“They regulated me out of business,” said Chris Chin, who previously owned the Tenderloin vape shop Gone With The Smoke. “My foot traffic has gone through the floor.”

Chin opened shop to help people who smoke tobacco make the switch to e-cig-

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 4!!.indd 1

arettes, he said. Numerous health agencies, like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have classified e-cigarettes as the lesser of two evils over traditional cigarettes.

But his sales took a 30% dive when San Francisco banned flavored e-cigarettes from shops last year. Then, this July, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to ban e-cigarette sales altogether by early 2020, cutting his sales by another 20%.

San Francisco approved both bans as part of its campaign

against underage vaping. Over 20% of high school students vaped last year, compared with 1.5% in 2011, according to the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey. Adding to the city’s concerns over underage vaping, the CDC is currently investigating 360 cases of lung illnesses and six deaths considered likely related to vaping.

“Banning vaping products that target young people and push them towards addiction to nicotine and tobacco is the only way to ensure the safety of our youth,” San Francisco Supervisor Shamann Walton

said in a statement when the ban was announced in July.

But for shop owners, the daunting financial blow of local regulations is met with frustration. Many believe that regulating shops does little to address the crux of the issue: social exchange. “(Children) are going to their friends, who are going to buy for them,” Ashbury Tobacco Center manager Ahmid Salib said. “You cannot tell people what to do or what not to do with their lives.”

About 86% of high school students who reported using

e-cigarettes in 2017 did not buy their devices from stores, according to a California high school survey. And less than 3% of San Francisco’s 738 tobacco retailers failed to verify a customer’s age in 2018, according to the city’s Department of Public Health.

Meanwhile, at least 700 small, independently owned corner stores and grocers in San Francisco could lose revenue from the ban, according to a legislative review by the city’s Small Business ComCONTINUED ON PAGE 2

9/16/19 9:03 PM

2•CITY

TUESDAY, SEPT. 17, 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Alumnus Vape ban smokes shooting local business out update

BY SAM MOORE STAFF REPORTER

S

an Francisco’s Board of Supervisors approved a resolution to support moving an SF State alumnus to San Francisco from the Philippines after he was shot there and left in critical condition.

Environmental activist Brandon Lee suffered four bullets to the spine, back and face outside his home Aug. 6 in the Philippines’ Ifugao province, three years after reporting that he’d received a death threat. Lee’s friends and family — now joined by the Board of Supervisors — immediately condemned the shooting as one of at least 30 targeted attacks on labor leaders by the Philippine government.

“What happened to Brandon should not be viewed as an isolated incident,” Supervisor Matt Haney said. “It is part of a campaign of targeting people who are standing up for environmental and human rights across the Philippines.”

San Francisco’s resolution, passed at the Sept. 10 Board of Supervisors meeting, also urges federal representatives to investigate the shooting and advocate for the suspension of military aid to the Philippines until Lee’s case is resolved. But for those close to Lee, his evacuation takes priority.

After visiting Lee last month at Baguio General Hospital in the Philippines, Haney reported that military and police would circulate the hospital in a manner Lee’s family found threatening. He said he feared that Lee could be killed while he lies in critical condition.

“We’re running out of time,” Supervisor Gordan Mar said.

Princess Bustos, a close friend of Lee, said she hopes he will be airlifted back to the U.S. once he becomes physically stable and receives doctor clearance. While fundraising has gathered about $40,000, she said. an air lift trip is expected to cost between $175,000 to $200,000.

Donations can be made at: bit.ly/ friendsofbrandonlee.

Brandon Lee. (Image courtesy of Princess Bustos)

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 4!!.indd 2

David Singh, 7/11 employee, holds a boxed Juul product on Sept. 8.

(Photo by Sandy Scarpa / Golden Gate Xpress)

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 mission.

The flavored e-cigarette ban imposed a potential loss of $50 million in e-cigarette sales citywide, according to a 2017 Office of Economic Analysis report. The city has not completed a study on the implications of San Francisco’s blanket ban.

Regulating e-cigarettes during a high demand could also incentivize a black market, according to the commission.

Nonetheless, as part of the “Regu-

late, Don’t Ban” campaign, San Francisco-based vaping giant Juul has imposed its own regulation. By May 2021, businesses selling Juul products must install a new software that scans IDs and limits the number of Juul products individuals can buy.

Touting its stringent age-verification standards, Juul committed $100 million in financial incentives Aug. 29 for businesses that install the software.

However, merchants have shown skepticism surrounding its usefulness.

“The ID system doesn’t check the ID’s validity against a database like

voter registration or DMVs, so it doesn’t take the burden off the clerk,” said Jeff Lenard, vice president of the National Association of Convenience Stores.

When asked to verify if that was true, Juul spokesperson Ted Kwong emailed a press release that did not address the question.

Salib said that he believed Juul created the regulation to improve its public image. A Stanford study this year found that Juul had directed advertising toward children in its first six months on the market. “(Juul) has to show the families that they are doing something about it,” Salib said.

Meanwhile, the Small Business Commission is creating a group to mitigate the economic effects of San Francisco’s blanket ban. It will aim to find alternative sources of revenue for small merchants and grocers, such as diversifying inventory, fast-tracking permitting processes and offering other support to vulnerable corner stores.

Regina Dick-Endrizzi, the executive director of San Francisco’s Office of Small Business, said the mitigation group will be ready by October.

But for Gone With The Smoke, it’s too little too late.

Chin transitioned to selling CBD to pay his lease, which continues until next summer. Once it runs out, he’s selling shop for good.

He could sell products remotely, he said. Recalling the red tape he dealt with as a small business owner, one thing seemed certain.

“I don’t see myself living in the city anymore,” Chin said.

State caps rent hikes

BY WILSON GOMEZ STAFF REPORTER

F

ewer than 5% of California cities impose rent control on landlords, but the state legislature approved Wednesday a bill to cap how much they can increase rent each year.

Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, proposed the Tenant Protection Act to limit annual rent increases to 5% statewide until 2030. Gov. Gavin Newsom has already declared he will sign the bill, which will affect approximately 4.6 million California households, according to the University of California, Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation.

“Sacramento has finally heard the voices of renters across our state who have traditionally been overlooked and ignored,” Chiu stated in an email. “This bill protects tenants from egregious rent increases and unfair evictions while still allowing property owners to make a fair return on investment.”

However, the bill would do little for rent-control properties in San Francisco, where the allowable rent increase

has averaged 1.6% annually over the past decade, according to the San Francisco rent board. “(San Francisco) already has stricter rent control than is mandated by AB 1482,” said Noni Richen, president of the Small Property Owners of San Francisco Institute, a nonprofit that advocates for small property owners across California.

Richen said she believes small property owners outside of San Francisco will feel the effects of the bill most.

She recalled that California voters turned down rent control last year when it was proposed as Proposition 10. She said she sees the Tenant Protection Act as “San Francisco imposing things on the rest of the state that they don’t want.”

Chiu originally proposed a 7% rent increase cap in May to increase the bill’s passage, but Newsom — an outspoken advocate of the bill — lowered it to 5%.

“These anti-gouging and eviction protections will help families afford to keep a roof over their heads, and they

will provide California with important new tools to combat our state’s broader housing and affordability crisis,” Newsom said in a statement.

There are exceptions to the bill, such as properties built within the last 15 years. It also exempts any duplex with an owner who has lived in one of the units since they began renting out the other unit.

Additionally, the bill will not affect housing that has been deemed suitable for occupancy within the previous 15 years. It will also exclude single-family homes, with the exception of those owned by a corporation.

The Tenant Protection Act also doesn’t prevent landlords from increasing rent when a tenant leaves their property.

Even so, Krista Marquez, a San Francisco tenant, said the bill would lessen the stress renters face.

“With a reasonable cap on annual rent increases, tenants will be able to pay rent and eat well with the stability and provided security that this bill has determined,” Marquez stated.

9/16/19 9:03 PM

3•CITY

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG | TUESDAY, SEPT. 17, 2019

SF negotiating buyout with PG&E

BY COREY BROWNING STAFF REPORTER

S

an Francisco offered Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) $2.5 billion to purchase its power infrastructure that serves the city.

The offer, which was outlined in a Sept. 6 letter sent by the city to PG&E, comes as the utility seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. PG&E owes billions of dollars in liability costs for its role in sparking deadly California wildfires in 2017 and 2018.

San Francisco officials stated they believe the acquisition would be mutually beneficial, allowing PG&E to maximize value for its stakeholders while the city could provide stable rates to customers at or below those of PG&E, as well as the ability to focus on local concerns such as its climate action goals.

So far though, PG&E has shown little interest and disputes the city’s claim that it would provide cheaper, more reliable power.

“To be clear, PG&E’s San Francisco electric system is not for sale,” PG&E spokesperson Jennifer Robison said in an email from. “The purchase offer falls significantly below the actual value of PG&E facilities that San Francisco seeks to purchase.”

The city, which has for decades toyed with the idea of separating from private power, already supplies nearly 80% of its own power needs through Hetch Hetchy Power and Clean Power SF Community Choice Aggregation program, which is distributed through PG&E infrastructure.

But a statement from PG&E spokesperson Andy Castagnola did indicate the utility is “open to communication” on the issue.

Barbara Hale, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission assistant general manager in charge of power, called the response “half full, half empty.”

“I’m focusing on the part where they say they’ll talk to us,” Hale said. “I’m going to wait and see.”

A Pacific Gas and Electric Company truck pulls into an energy center located on Harrison and 18th streets in SF, California on Friday Sept 13.

(Photo by Kameron Hall / Golden Gate Xpress)

“The offer we made is a premium value offer in an expedited bankruptcy setting,” Hale added.

Per state legislation passed earlier this year, PG&E will need to exit bankruptcy protection by June 2020 in order to participate in a state wildfire relief fund.

If PG&E decides to sell, San Francisco would utilize money from a municipal power bond approved by voters last year, recouping the cost via customer’s electricity bills. The deal would still need to clear other hurdles, such as approval from state and federal regulators.

Poll results released by Mayor London Breed in April indicated 68% voter approval for publicly owned power.

But voters rejected measures to move the city toward municipal power in 2001 and 2008.

Among the most vocal opponents of the acquisition has been the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, a labor union representing 12,000 PG&E employees.

According to Tom Dalzell, a union lawyer and Local 1245’s business manager, the change in ownership would diminish workers’ pension plans. PG&E union agreements require 30 years of service and 55 years of age to receive a full pension, and most employees would likely remain with PG&E rather than work for the city and take the hit, according to Dalzell.

“The city will be out there looking for a lot of very skilled workers to work in a very idiosyncratic, very complex network system,” Dalzell said.

Plus, PG&E has access to thousands of employees in the greater Bay Area who can respond instantly, whereas a municipality would need to call a contractor and negotiate prices — which could create serious reliability issues, according to Dalzell.

But those aren’t his only concerns.

The expansiveness of PG&E’s service territory allows the utility’s many customers to pay less individually for costs ensued from expensive fire-prone areas, according to Dalzell.

“San Francisco’s saying, ‘We are a cooler coastal area with very low risk of fire, so screw the rest of California, we’re going to save a little bit of money,’” Dalzell said. “I don’t think the Board of Supervisors cares one little bit, or Mayor Breed.”

According to Hale, PG&E customers outside San Francisco would see their rates increase, but only by a dollar or less.

“We are a relatively small part of PG&E’s electric service,” said Hale, who added that the city would continue to purchase high voltage power that carries increased costs as PG&E addresses its wildfire woes.

“We’re not through this proposal avoiding paying San Francisco’s share of those costs,” Hale said.

According to Dalzell, if the city was able to strike a deal it would probably be closer to $6 billion or more.

City officials plan to meet with PG&E CEO William Johnson Sept. 26 to discuss the proposal further.

California student athletes to receive endorsements

BY JESSE GOMEZ STAFF REPORTER

C

alifornia has set in motion the first domino in an ongoing debate that will decide if NCAA athletes will be eligible to make money while not holding a professional title.

On Sept. 9, the California State Assembly voted 72–0 for the Fair Pay to Play Act. The bill would give student athletes the option to profit from their names, images and likenesses. In other words, the NCAA will continue to see 100% of the profit made on game days, network deals and memorabilia sales, but would give athletes the opportunity to make money from video games, posters, autographs and images of them in uniform sold online.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has 30 days to decide whether to sign the bill into law, possibly making California athletes the first to make money while still under scholarship status. If passed, the law would go into effect in 2023 and students would no longer be punished for accepting endorsement money.

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 4!!.indd 3

The NCAA has long opposed paying student athletes, most commonly referring to their free education as enough compensation for the revenue their performances bring to the schools. The commission has held steadfast to this stance, urging Newsom to dismiss the bill, stating it would upset the balance and almost certainly make students in California ineligible to compete in championships and events with other regions. If Newsom signs the bill into law, 58 NCAA schools throughout California will have freedoms that 500,000 athletes in the other 49 states do not.

Students have been suspended because fans of their on-field successes paid them for autographs. NFL superstars Todd Gurley and A.J. Green both were punished for selling autographs to their school’s fan base.

Although a portion of NCAA athletes go to school for free, not all are as fortunate. Additionally, the athletes who do receive subsidized tuition sometimes lack the money to pay for everyday expenses like food, transportation and clothing.

To put it into perspective, the top 10 earning programs in sports are bringing in more than $150 million each year, none of which is going to the players.

A long-time supporter of players being paid to play is NBA superstar Lebron James, who emphatically tweeted his approval of the bill. James called it a much-needed “game changer” not only for the players, but for an outdated college sports system.

A surprise opponent to the suggested bill is college football legend and former champion Tim Tebow, now a sports analyst for ESPN. Tebow suggested that college sports should remain a sacred entity that rewards athletes for their accomplishments in school pride and memories.

Josh Jacobs, former Alabama Crimson Tide running back and now Oakland Raiders rookie, took great offense to Tebow’s suggestions. Jacobs grew up in extreme poverty, living out of a vehicle with his father and four siblings.

Proponents of the bill hold that college sports are an entertainment business, and without the athletes, the show can’t go on. Meanwhile, the NCAA reaps enormous profits while not paying its workers and forbidding students from making money from their craft while in school. Other students, such as art majors, are not barred from selling their goods to potential buyers while still enrolled or under scholarship.

9/16/19 9:03 PM

4• ARTS& ENTERTAINMENT

TUESDAY, SEPT. 17, 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Armenian food and community celebration attracts thousands

The 62nd Armenian Food Festival in San Francisco celebrated the beauty and variety of Armenian traditions and culture with food and festivities CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “This festival is a way for us to share our culture and traditions with everybody,” said Mato Senekeremian, SF State alumnus and co-chair of the Armenian Food Festival in San Francisco.

“We’re trying to preserve our culture and move forward into the future.”

Festival organizers emphasized the importance of several generations within the Armenian community in San Francisco coming together. Senekeremian said volunteers at the St. Gregory Church spent three months preparing the food for the festival.

“This is just a snapshot of what it means to be Armenian,” Lori Bardizbanian, a volunteer for the event, said. “We like to sit and eat together, have great food and good coffee. There is a cheerfulness to Armenian culture that we want to share.”

The main attraction was a booth where church volunteers served hundreds of cups of tea and strongly brewed Armenian coffee called soorj to eager guests. Many attendees enjoyed a cup of soorj with a piece of baklava or choereg, a sweet, buttery bread. All of the dishes and desserts were made in-house at the church kitchen.

“I was looking for something fun, unusual, cool and delicious,” said David Back, who was cele-

Volunteers from St. Gregory Church make soorj, a traditional Armenian coffee, during the Armenian Food Festival Sept. 14.

(Photo by William Wendelman / Golden Gate Xpress)

brating his 35th birthday at the festival. “We’re lucky that there are a lot of fun cultural events in the Bay Area.”

The festival featured musical performances from Armenian artist Vrej Sahagian on the main stage. Students from KZV Armenian School, which

is next door to the church, performed a traditional Armenian dance called Kochari.

“People can come and have a cultural experience and learn something new,” said Arsen Shirvanyan, a festival organizer and government affairs director at the Armenian Na-

tional Committee of America.

“The best way to fight against hate is through education like this festival.”

Mayor London Breed attended the festival as Saturday’s special guest along with district attorney candidate Suzy Loftus. In her speech,

the mayor said she admired the resilience of the Armenian community and urged voters to vote for Loftus in the upcoming election.

“And I’m going to make sure I get some food,” Breed said.

Great British Bake Off rings in 10th year with a fun surprise

BY KERASA DIMITRIOS TSOKAS STAFF REPORTER

T

he Great British Baking Show, a U.K.-based baking competition series, celebrates its 10th anniversary with the exciting return of the baker’s dozen. The show’s weekly episodes can be found exclusively on Netflix.

Even for those new to watching the series, the set up of the show is consistent throughout. Viewers won’t be missing any key information if they start at collection three instead of one.

This season is showcasing the youngest bakers the show has seen. Newsweek said that “more than half of the contestants are in their 20s: the youngest is 20, while the oldest contestant is 56.”

Though the show is in its 10th anniversary, U.S. viewers only get the last

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 4!!.indd 4

seven seasons, or collections, as Netflix categorizes them. Seasons 1-5 can be found on PBS Food.

The show usually has 12 bakers competing to be the “star baker,” with the grand prize of winning their own cookbooks and TV shows. This season, however, there are 13 contestants, making a baker’s dozen. This setup allows two bakers to be eliminated at the same time, whether it is in the beginning or during the semifinals.

This season is unlike the previous collections because U.S. viewers can no longer binge the whole season. The 10th season allows U.S. viewers to instead watch the episodes on Netflix a few hours after they air in the U.K. Paul Hollywood, a Master Baker, and Prue Leith, who has her own Mi-

chelin star restaurant, Leith’s, are the two judges on the show.

Hollywood, known to be a difficult judge to please, gives a rare “Hollywood handshake” to the dishes that really impressed him.

In 2016, the show switched from being televised on BBC to Channel 4.

The switch of distributors prompted Mary Berry, a famous cooking editor and writer, to be replaced by Leith.

Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig are the two commentators throughout the season. Their comedic approach to introducing the baking challenges to the competitors as light-hearted comments during moments of stress helps change the pace from over-the-top, dramatic American cooking programs.

Every episode has three different

challenges over the course of three days and about 16 hours of shooting a day. Each episode has its own theme such as “bread week” or “biscuit week.”

The first challenge is the Signature Challenge, which has the bakers bake something the judges ask them to while including their own personal twist to make it “theirs.” The next obstacle is the Technical Challenge which involves a recipe one of the judges picked for the bakers. The technical part is that ingredient portions or bake times are left out of the recipe.

The last challenge, the Showstopper, forces the bakers to make a creation that is professional in both look and taste.

9/16/19 9:03 PM

CAMPUS•5

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG | TUESDAY, SEPT. 17, 2019

Brave students box up bothersome bat

BY MJ JOHNSON CAMPUS EDITOR

A bat was caught Sept. 7 on the sixth floor of Towers student housing after bothering residents for two weeks despite several attempts by the University Police Department and animal control to catch the evasive beast.

The bat was finally captured when a handful of student residents were successful in trapping it under a cardboard box. They called animal control for its removal from the building. The bat was tested by the San Francisco Health Department for rabies.

“We noticed it had a torn wing,” said Bree Bice, a freshman resident on the sixth floor, who aided in the capture of the bat. “We didn’t want to hurt it, so we looked up the best way to capture a bat.”

The UPD was called to the sixth floor twice within a two-week span. Residents first noticed the bat several days after move-in day in late August. Bice said during the day it would likely sleep in the trash room and at night it would fly around the hallway, brushing past residents’ heads.

After the first inspection Sept. 6 at 9:41 p.m., UPD left without removing the bat and called animal control, Chief of Police Reginald Parson confirmed. When animal control initially arrived, they left without finding the bat.

But the bat appeared again, and frustrated students called UPD a second time.

“They barely even checked anything,” said Anna Rose MacMillan, a junior and resident in Towers. “It’s really disconcerting.”

On the second visit, Sept. 6 at 11:28 p.m., UPD managed to trap the bat in the trash room and put up a sign that read “Don’t open door — bat inside,” but it escaped from the trash room some 15 minutes later, according to Bice and MacMillan.

“There was no sense of urgency from UPD,” Bice said. Bice and other student residents, like MacMillan and Edward McDonald, began joking that the bat

would never leave. They affectionately referred to the bat as “Bongo,” “Bruce” or “Edward from Twilight” in a group chat for sixth-floor residents.

Finally, students decided to take matters into their own hands. On that night, five student residents camped in the hallway overnight with a box and a blanket to catch the bat. At 3:30 a.m. they were successful after several attempts to trap the bat under the box.

“We literally had to catch the bat ourselves,” MacMillan said. “We had a wild animal that could’ve had rabies. It was a liability for everyone in the building.

So it’s very disappointing to know we can’t rely on them [UPD and animal control] anymore.”

San Francisco Animal Care and Control said the animal was euthanized and sent to the San Francisco Health Department to test for rabies and other dis-

eases. Results for those tests were returned Sept. 16 negative for rabies, according to the San Francisco Health Department.

“Bats are the only land mammal in San Francisco that carries rabies,” said Capt. Amy Corso of SF Animal Care and Control. “Rabies is typically transmitted from a bite, but sometimes it’s through contact with saliva.”

Although no students reported being bitten by the bat, several students like McDonald and Bice said the bat brushed past them while flying by.

“It’s a little scary,” Bice said. “Looking back, this could have been really dangerous for us, even without the chance of rabies. Students had to take it into their own hands, and that’s disturbing.”

Suicide prevention month brings mental health awareness to forefront

SF State offers counseling and resources for students on campus

BY ARIANNE ARCIAGA STAFF WRITER

T

he Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that suicide is the leading cause of death among college students, just under accidental injuries. According to Suicide Prevention Resource Center, up to 7.7% of undergraduate and graduate students seriously considered suicide in 2012.

At SF State, Health Promotion and Wellness, Counseling and Psychological Services and Active Minds focus on students who are struggling with suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

“Our goal is to increase social support around mental health and mental health promotion in order to foster a community of caring, help-seeking behavior and a sense of belonging for SFSU students,” said Karen Boyce, director of Health Promotion and Wellness (HPW), a unit of Student Affairs

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 4!!.indd 5

and Enrollment Management.

Some programs at HPW, such as the self-care station and therapy animals, seek to aid students’ mental health.

Workshops throughout the semester include Community Care: How to Help a Friend in Distress, where students will learn the signs of distress and ways they can help themselves and their friends, and Self-Care for Resilience, a workshop where students will learn various self-care strategies to use on a daily basis.

Programs and workshops are open to all students. The next workshop on Oct. 10 will be Mental Health 101, in which volunteers at HPW help students learn the difference between mental health and mental illness.

The Health Promotion and Wellness Center hosted Suicide Prevention Day Sept. 10 with a booth to promote its workshops, events and positivity toward students.

The volunteers at the booth were holding handmade signs that said, “Don’t give up! You’re almost there!” and an “encourage mint” sign with a drawing of a mint leaf saying “You can do it!” They were high-fiving students and giving compliments to those passing by.

“It’s nice to know about the care and community,” Tyler Mierer, a film production major, said. “I appreciate the signs and it made me feel good.”

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is another place on campus where students can go for help.

The counselors specialize in individual and couples therapy, support groups and skill-building workshops. The CAPS website also has self-care tips for stress management, time management and understanding alcohol and drugs.

“It’s important for colleges to have these resources available for students

because it can be a new, challenging or hard time in someone’s life,” Boyce said.

Active Minds is a student-run organization that focuses on mental health issues, suicide prevention and education and advocacy on campus. They use their services to encourage students to reach out to resources that will help them.

“Knowing about these services makes me feel like I’m not alone,” said Ashley Goins, a graduate student in Fashion Marketing. “I like to know that there’s a place where I can get help and not feel ashamed about asking.”

For students struggling with their mental health or having suicidal thoughts, please contact any of the on-campus services listed above. Students may also consider contacting the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800273-8255 and the San Francisco Crisis Line at 415-781-0500.

9/16/19 9:03 PM

6•CAMPUS

TUESDAY, SEPT. 17, 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Hunger and housing: Solving the student crisis

BY FELICIA HYDE STAFF REPORTER

C

alifornia State University recently expanded the Basic Needs Initiatives across all 23 campuses, allowing SF State to establish a permanent food pantry and provide students with alternative housing resources.

SF State, as well as the other CSU campuses, expanded their Basic Needs Initiatives which focus on combating food insecurity and housing instability.

According to SF State’s Basic Needs Initiatives mission, it is difficult for students to reach their full academic potential and maintain a healthy well-being when basic needs such as food and housing are in jeopardy.

The CSU Office of the Chancellor conducted a study of student’s basic needs which stated that about 42% of CSU students reported food insecurity and 11% reported experiencing homelessness within the last year.

According to the study, the Chancellor’s Office created a financial opportunity known as the SB 85 Hunger-Free Campus grant, which helped address

food and housing complications among students. SF State applied and was awarded funding in 2018.

“About 48% of SF State students reported dealing with food insecurity while 18% of SF State students reported dealing with homelessness in the last year,” Jewlee Gardner, interim assistant director for SF State’s Basic Needs Initiatives, said.

The university provides food resources such as the Gator Grub Alert, Be a Good Neighbor Feed a Gator and Gator Groceries programs.

The Gator Groceries program run

by Associated Students launched a permanent food pantry space on campus on the bottom level of the Cesar Chavez Student Center on Sept. 4.

“450 students arrived at the opening and emptied our stock, and it took about two days to replenish,” Preyansh Kotecha, president and CEO of the Associated Students Board of Directors, said. “We ask students in surveys what type of goods they want and need and even provide recipe booklets so they know how to create meals with

the food given.”

Instead of having to spend money and live off ramen and frozen foods, students are given the opportunity to receive healthy ingredients for free.

“I love it. Free food, no catch,” junior Stephen Silides said. “Teaching kids to cook by incentivizing them with free food is genius. This will help everyone down the road.”

McCumber learned about SF State’s food pantry and Gator Groceries program during her sophomore year and would go every month for three months before the school had a permanent location.

“It’s beneficial to those who are in need, it should be promoted more,” McCumber said. “There’s good food, great service and convenient location.”

Although many CSU campuses have food pantries or food distribution programs, SF State is the first campus with a permanent space on site. According to Kotecha, campuses such as Fresno State and San Diego State are looking at SF State to get help create

permanent food pantry spaces.

Multiple programs and projects under the Basic Needs Initiatives are in progress, such as forming a list of emergency shelter resources across the Bay Area and housing and food programs expecting to launch this fall.

SF State’s Basic Needs Initiatives is focusing on establishing programs such as the Basic Needs Hubs and Lounges, which would provide physical, financial and housing resources on campus according to Gardner.

These resources would include safe spaces to rest, showers and a secure space to store belongings, allowing students to attend to hygiene, store and heat food, charge devices, connect with basic needs programs and find community in a welcoming and dignified space.

The Crisis Housing Program is an emergency resource that would offer students who are experiencing unexpected housing problems a short-term stay in a unit on campus, which is expected to start this fall.

The Zen Den Safe Sleep Program, another one expected to launch in fall, would allow safe resting spaces on campus for students to use during the day. The sleep program would include two resting rooms, one located in the Mashouf Wellness Center for early mornings and the other in Student Health Services for the afternoon.

“Our student population has a wide variety, many are by themselves, lack family support and knowledge about resources that can relieve stress from their everyday life,” Kotecha said.

“All students need help.”

Student Jahaziel Flores assists students at Gator Groceries in the Cesar Chavez building on Sept. 11 at SF State.

(Photo by Leila Figueroa / Golden Gate Xpress)

Professor opens weekly Yugoslav film class to public

BY JUAN CARLOS LARA STAFF REPORTER

E

very Wednesday this semester Dr. Steven Kovacs opens the Coppola Theater for Cinema 307 students and the public to admire Yugoslav cinema and listen to guest speakers.

Held in the Fine Arts Building, the class will feature Jasmina Bojic, founder of the United Nations Association Film Festival. Bojic will serve as a guest lecturer, bringing a film from the festival, “Cinema Komunisto,” directed by Mila Turaljic in 2010.

“I wanted this class to be in the [evening] so that it could be publicly avail-

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 4!!.indd 6

able … people are out of work by 6:30 [p.m.], so they’re able to come and enjoy,” Kovacs, the professor of the class, said. “I think of it as three parts: me, the students and the public.”

Kovacs, who is of Hungarian descent, had a life-long interest in cinema from Eastern Europe, but after teaching a course on films from Eastern Europe, he realized the topic was too broad.

Instead, Kovacs chose to narrow the courses down to individual countries, starting with Hungary four years ago and now focusing on Yugoslavia.

“Each of those countries has some fantastic directors,” Kovacs said.

“They all went through very similar phases of communism and authoritarianism, filmmakers then began to rebel against that communism.”

Last Wednesday, Kovacs showed a film called “Breza,” which translates to “The Birch Tree.”

It’s an adaptation of a book of the same name written by Slavko Kolar in 1928. The film, set in a small Yugoslavian town in the early 20th century, explores a husband’s wavering moral footing alongside the life and death of his wife whose beauty is compared to the titular tree.

“I thought it’d be interesting to learn

about a region that isn’t talked about,” said cinema major Ashleigh Garcia.

The film was followed by half an hour of enthusiastic discussion over whether or not the film was meant to be a critical social commentary on the state of the region under authoritarian rule. Members raised questions about how the film was influenced by nationalism, ethnic identity and the political climate at the time it was shot.

“I have taken other courses with Dr. Kovacs,” said John Modell, a participant in the ElderCollege program.

“We’ve had guest lecturers, that’s a great benefit for all of us.”

9/16/19 9:03 PM

SPORTS•7

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG | TUESDAY, SEPT. 17, 2019

Gators demolish Argonauts

BY JIMMY DEROGATIS

SF State women’s soccer team celebrates its third goal during a home game at Cox Stadium Sept. 13.

(Photo by James Wyatt / Golden Gate Xpress)

T

Schneider burst straight past by an Argonaut defender, freshman Alexia Caballero, and nearly scored on an incredible mid-outside kick that ever-so-slightly veered off left at the end and went out of bounds.

At the 17th minute, senior midfielder Samantha Sanchez went top shelf over Gator goalkeeper Hailey Garriott to score on a penalty kick to start the tallying for either side and give the Argonauts a 1-0 advantage. The action continued with both teams playing keep away from one another as no shots on goal were attempted by either side.

That all changed in the 32nd minute of the matchup when sophomore forward Katelyn Patterson scored on a contested ball to tie the game.

SPORTS EDITOR

he women’s soccer team took total control of the second half during Friday’s late afternoon matchup between the Gators and the Argonauts of Notre Dame de Namur (NDNU).

The Gators pulled away down the stretch and etched out an impressive 4-1 win over NDNU at Cox Stadium.

Despite the abnormally hot September day, the game remained ice cold. The match started out as a defensive standstill with both teams locking each other down. While defenses were stopping the strikers, Gator standout defender Kylie Schneider, a sophomore from Oakley, California, continually found ways to create space and separation in the middle of the field.

On a down-field, one-on-one play,

Moving into the second half, the Gators came alive and started clicking on all cylinders. From the starters to the role players, everyone contributed to this concentrated, fine-tuned victory.

In the 59th minute, Patterson scored her second goal of the game with a header toward the middle of the goal, taken on the right side on a tremendous cross from freshman defender and midfielder Sydney Yuen, who gained the assist on the play.

As the game progressed the Gators did an unbelievable job of ball possession, along with imposing ball and clock management. Freshman Argonaut defender Carly Ortega added to the scoring by posting up a goal of her own in the 62nd minute. Due in part to some miscommunication by the de-

fense, Ortega was left all alone on the outside and pinned one past the goalkeeper.

The Gators finalized an all-out assault on the Argonauts by preventing them from gaining any type of momentum or ground movement in the game. To round out the scoring, Schneider made great decisions with the ball alongside some surreal plays on both offense and defense, and was finally rewarded with two hard-fought goals. Schneider broke free from Argonaut defender Caballero and unloaded a sniper-like shot right past senior goalkeeper Alexandra Valdivia.

With the victory, the women’s soccer team will post a record of 2-1-1 and will look to continue its two-game winning streak.

The U.S. currently stands at No. 22 in the FIFA rankings, and there is only room for improvement. The one nation above them from the Concacaf (North/ Central America) is Mexico, who sits at No. 12. Another question: Why is the men’s team so bad, but the women’s team so good?

The Women’s National Team just won the last World Cup, reaping them four titles along with four Olympic gold medals. The men’s team has neither. Arguably, competition isn’t as high in the women’s league. The Women’s National Team can afford to have its best player, 2019 World Cup MVP Megan Rapinoe, play for the local national league. The USMNT, on the other hand, needs to export as many players out of the MLS as possible. Christian Pulisic is an example, as he never played in the MLS and is the best player on the USMNT. The U.S. is one of the biggest nations in the world and home to immigrants from all over the globe. Yet its soccer system is failing from top to bottom, starting with the club, high school and college levels. Most club teams in the U.S. are pay to play, where talented young players can’t afford to pay to be

on a team.

High school soccer teams do not have adequate funding, and many players who want to play at the top college level do not have enough money to go to college, or flat out never receive an opportunity for a scholarship to play soccer. Of those who do, only a few make it up the ranks of the USMNT, or ever sign a professional contract.

The nation should be marketed as a soccer country. Many other sports leagues, such as the NBA, MLB and NFL, receive more media attention and casual fan support. In order to gain support, the USMNT needs to start winning more often, especially with these friendlies, and start winning top-level tournaments.

The USMNT will probably carry on with Berhalter in their next crucial games in the Concacaf Nations League, which serve as the basis on qualifying for the World Cup. They will play against the fringe Cuban National Team Oct. 11, which is on a five-game losing streak. Hopefully, the USMNT will show some ambition to want to compete at a higher level and develop a fitting style of play that works.

National soccer coach comes up short in friendly scrimages

BY ALONSO FRIAS STAFF REPORTER

I

OPINION

n their last two games, the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team (USMNT) demonstrated why they didn’t make it into the previous World Cup. The team lost to rival Mexico on home soil Sept. 6 3–0 and rescued a 1–1 draw in the dying minutes of the game against Uruguay Sept. 10.

The level of coaching from Major League Soccer (MLS) is not on par with the level of play that is required from the national team. Head Coach Gregg Berhalter, from MLS club Columbus Crew, displays game-in and game-out that he does not know how to react to the events of a match.

Line by line, the USMNT shows their inexperience with 16 players from the Uruguay match from MLS. USMNT former player and Fox Sports analyst Alexi Lalas said in the broadcast of the Mexico game that Berhalter is “trying to paint the Sistine Chapel with crayons.” The U.S. lost the Gold Cup Final to Mexico in July under Berhalter.

Berhalter can’t lead a team that is playing with fear, especially with the 2022 World Cup qualifiers around the corner.

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 4!!.indd 7

Berhalter has a winning percentage of 53% since he took charge in December 2018. In his other two managerial jobs, he had a 39% winning record with Hammarby and a 38% winning record with Columbus.

Did the USMNT directors set the bar so low that they hired a coach without a positive winning percentage in either of the teams he’s managed?

These games showed how many fans support the USMNT compared to their rival Mexico. For the U.S.-Mexico match, a total of 47,960 fans attended the game, about 80% of whom were fans of Mexico. Remember, the game took place in East Rutherford, New Jersey, at MetLife Stadium. When the U.S. played their next game against Uruguay, the attendance dropped by more than half to 20,625.

William Trapp, a steady call up of Berhalter, made the mistake in the Uruguay game that cost the team a goal. He was someone who U.S. fans have been clamoring to have his opportunities revoked. It may also be too soon for Josh Sargent to receive first team call ups, as the 19-year-old fired the penalty kick against Mexico and missed it.

9/16/19 9:03 PM

8•SCIENCE & TECH

X

GOLDEN GATE PRESS

EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

TUESDAY, SEPT. 17, 2019 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Researchers aim to restore life in the coral reefs

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 EDITOR Jimmy DeRogatis jderogatis@mail.sfsu.edu

COPY EDITOR Cody McFarland cmcfarla@mail.sfsu.edu PHOTO EDITOR William Wendelman wwendelman@mail.sfsu.edu

XPRESS ADVISERS PRINT ADVISER

Gary Moskowitz gmoskowitz@sfsu.edu

MULTIMEDIA ADVISER Sachi Cunnigham sachic@sfsu.edu

PHOTO ADVISER

Kim Komenich komenich@sfsu.edu

@ggxnews @ggxnews

GGX_FALL_2019_Issue 4!!.indd 8

Coral reefs support an estimated 4,000 species of fish and 800 species of hard corals, along with hundreds of other species, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Image courtesy of Richard Chesher)

BY KARAMEL NUNEZMARTINEZ STAFF REPORTER

S

F State researchers are working to develop an effective procedure to grow coral in a nursery and outplant it in the ocean to ensure the survival of this declining species.

Coral reefs are a crucial element in the survival and growth of marine life. They are one of the most biologically diverse habitats, containing more than 25% of marine life. They are expected to go extinct by 2050, according to The Nature Conservancy, a global nonprofit that conducts studies on environmental issues. “[We] look at how impacts of global change are impacting two different restoration methods of an endangered species, Acropora cervicornis, that is typically found throughout the Florida Keys,” said William James Grant, a graduate student at SF State working with Dr. Rebecca Albright at the California Academy of Science. “We want to understand if there is one method of growing the species that is better suited for projected climate values.”

Coral Reef Restoration Foundation, a nonprofit in Florida that works in nurseries and outplanting coral, have found that over half of the world’s reef habitats are in danger. They’ve found that 95% of dominant coral species like Acropora cervicornis, commonly called Staghorn coral, are highly threatened.

The Nature Conservancy has found that Staghorn coral is crucial for building large reef communities. It covers the shallow parts of the ocean floor in dense bundles, providing habitats for marine life like stingrays, nurse sharks and turtles.

The number of Staghorn reefs is dwindling, meaning that many of these species have had to relocate.

“When going on these diving trips, in-

Algae that live within Staghorn coral tissue give the coral its white-ish color.

(Image courtesy of Andrew J. Martinez / Fine Art America)

structors will go back to a place a couple months to a couple years later, and so much of the life in these places are gone,” said Jackson Vellve, a diving instructor at San Francisco’s Bamboo Reef Scuba Diving Center.

“In [our] courses we work to teach people how to navigate themselves underwater so they don’t harm anything, even on accident.”

Studies like Grant’s conduct experiments in raceways growing corals in two different propagation methods: nursery trees, where they hang coral from PVC pipes allowing 360 degrees of growth, or ceramic pucks.

The pucks are placed on ocean floors and only allow 180 degrees of growth.

Researchers then analyze which species of coral thrive when altering

their conditions under water, observing the corals’ growth rate and the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water, ultimately finding the best methods to create healthy, long-lasting coral to outplant into the ocean.

Though the reefs are miles away from those living in the Bay Area, the effect San Francisco residents have on the environment can produce a visible change in the condition of the reefs.

“Seeing firsthand how these ecosystems have declined is really shaking to the core,” Grant said. “I would just say, understand how much carbon you’re producing per day or even per year, [and find] ways to lower your carbon footprint, whether it’s just changing your diet, your commute or using less single-use plastics.”

9/16/19 9:03 PM