Fall 2018 Issue 16

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 FASHION SHOW

TRANSGENDER

Designer highlights vision, clothing at showcase

Outrage forces correction of bulletin Student Affairs rethinks rhetoric after campaign decries ‘transphobic’ notice GEOFFREY SCOTT gscott@mail.sfsu.edu

A AARON LEVY-WOLINS/Golden Gate Xpress Madeline Seri (left), a model in the fashion show, walks the runway with other models during the Unity fashion show at the Cristopher Clark Fine Art gallery in San Francisco, Calif. on Thursday, Dec. 13.

See story on Page 5

CSU SCHEDULE

Finals schedule change stirs anxiety, professors ignore rule Some instructors adhere to exam week schedule, while others adjust accordingly JULIE PARKER jparker1@mail.sfsu.edu

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crackdown on rules around final exams is causing frustration among students and fear of reprisal among instructors.

Many exams will be held on Saturday, Dec. 22, for the first time in recent memory, impacting thousands of students and leading some of them to lose out on income.

Photojournalism major James Wyatt has two finals scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

“It’s kind of annoying because I work Friday, Saturday and Sunday because those are the days I have off from school,” Wyatt said. “And I’m a server at a restaurant, so when I [can’t] work Saturday, which is the big money day, I’m probably gonna lose out on 250 bucks.”

The entire CSU system requires professors to hold class at their assigned finals time whether they plan to administer a final exam or not, based on a 1975 policy that was reaffirmed by the Academic Senate in fall 2017.

That’s because the calculated instructional time includes the scheduled final exam week.

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Professor Venise Wagner said the Academic Senate had recently emphasized this policy to faculty, requiring them to uphold the senate’s contract for the required number of instructional hours.

“Monday courses took a hit this year [because of] Labor Day, Veteran’s Day, then Thanksgiving, not to mention the cancellation of class because of the fires,” Wagner said.

But she said weekend finals were rare in the past.

“It’s unusual for there to be a final on a Saturday. I’ve been here 18 years and this is a first,” Wagner said.

Many professors haven’t adhered to the finals week schedule in the past. For some classes, traditional final exams are not used, others opt for online or take-home exams, and others administer finals early.

Several students reported that professors were not requiring class during finals week.

But students were asked not to talk for fear that professors would suffer punitive measures. Those students were unwilling to speak on the record for the same reason. The Xpress reached out to half a dozen instructors who

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were reportedly ignoring the rule, but none were willing to comment.

When asked what penalties professors might face for ignoring the finals week schedule, administration had mixed answers.

Academic Senate Chair Nancy Gerber said she wasn’t sure what a punishment for such an infraction would be, or even who doled it out, despite it being the Academic Senate’s own policy.

University spokesman Brian Sharber of Student Affairs suggested that Xpress reach out to the Dean’s office.

“The answer may vary from college to college,” Sharber said. “Based on my experience as a recent graduate, I believe that faculty are permitted to eschew the final exam schedule provided that the course syllabus reflects this intention.”

Gerber said that class sessions during finals week provide necessary instructional hours, and SF State’s somewhat aberrant academic calendar adds to the challenge of ensuring classes fulfill these requirements.

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CSU FINALS

person involved in an altercation that led to a timely warning bulletin describing her as a “transgender female” said she’s suffered on several levels since the email was issued on Dec. 4.

Coming from a small and conservative town, Angelisa Pantoja, a freshman, said she has been targeted before for expressing her masculine personality and being mistaken as transgender.

“I struggled with that all through high school, but coming to SF State I was excited to get away from that and be in an environment where I could be myself and hopefully not face discrimination the way that I faced it at home,” she said.

On Dec. 4, an email by Luoluo Hong, VP of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, that was supposed to keep students safe, described the alleged suspect of an assault with a deadly weapon as a “transgendered female.”

Instead of safeguarding students, it ended up negatively impacting their well-being, and putting the safety of the SF State community in jeopardy, according to an anonymous flier distributed on Dec. 5.

On Dec. 12, the Division of Equity and Community Inclusion led a meeting of staff and students where the alleged suspect shared her story.

“It’s hurting not only my personal life but it’s hurting me academically, it’s hurting me socially, it’s hurting me mentally,” Pantoja said.

“There’s days when I don’t even leave my dorm because I don’t want to deal with all these people staring at me.”

According to Pantoja, her name and Snapchat information were also sent out to a group chat of 935 SF State students with claims that she was transgender.

Pantoja said the altercation occurred after she received threatening messages from the alleged victim, and decided meet him to address the harassment at around midnight on Dec. 4. She said she was confronted by five men who became hostile and advanced on her.

She pulled out her knife in self-defense. The alleged victim received cuts to the hand when he tried to disarm her, she said.

The timely warning bulletin stated the incident was reported two hours later.

On Dec. 5, an anonymous flier circulated across campus calling for the decriminalization of trans bodies at SF State. The flier urged students to call Hong’s office every day until an apology was issued for insensitively using the term “transgender” as a physical descriptor of a suspect.

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Hong issues apology The office received at least a dozen calls with those demands, according to Tony Little of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.

For nearly three hours during the Dec. 11 Associated Students Inc. board meeting, a large group of students addressed Hong directly about the warning’s dangerous language, and demanded that an email be issued to address the misuse of the term “transgender.”

Hong apologized but didn’t immediately vow to send a clarification email.

She said there was a process for making promises to the student body. Students left frustrated that no immediate action would be taken.

On Sunday night, Dec. 16, Hong issued an emailed apology.

“We have learned that the victim incorrectly described one of the alleged suspects in this incident as a ‘transgender female,’” the email reads. “Based on feedback from students, faculty and staff … we recognize that the 12/04/18 message had the impact of triggering anxiety and fear for many individuals in our trans community, who confront alienation, marginalization and threats to their

“For this, we want to express our deep regret.”

-Luoluo Hong, VP of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management safety on a regular basis.

“For this, we want to express our deep regret.”

The Clery Act, established in 1989 after a Lehigh University student was raped and killed in the dorms, warns students about potentially dangerous suspects involved in crime near or on campus.

The University Police Department is involved in the early stages of investigating, and descriptions are taken directly from the victim. According to protocol, UPD Police Chief Jason Wu gave Hong a written description based on the one given by the alleged victim.

The incident was reported at 2 a.m., and the email went out 15 hours later, at 5 p.m. Nevertheless, Hong said, due to scheduling, she was unable to personally review the document before it went out with her email signature.

“What typically happens is that UPD and Hong will have a conversation, which includes a review of the documents to make sure we have the information that is necessary so that we can keep the campus informed,” said Manuel Alejandro Pérez, interim assistant vice president for the Division of Equity and Community Engagement during the Dec. 12 meeting.

Bucket Manyweather, student engagement specialist at the Black Unity Center, said that repeating the words of the alleged victim verbatim can be very problematic.

“I think what’s even scarier is that there is an incident of transphobia on campus,” she said. “The university can stand wherever it wants. I think the point is that there are some dangerous people on campus right now and [the university] standing with trans students isn’t directly keeping them safe.”

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Finals week stresses students, faculty “The problem is exacerbated by the fact that we are only one of two CSU campuses that do not hold classes the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week,” she stated in an email.

Gerber was unable to explain why classes can’t just meet at regularly scheduled times during the last week of the semester.

She added that there’s a working group at SF State that includes representatives from Housing, Registrar, HR, Bursar, Academic Planning, Academic Resources and

CEL, that is currently considering finals week scheduling, and other academic calendar issues.

“I believe that by doing so we’ll develop a much better calendar for the whole campus,” Gerber said.

There’s a lot of red tape when it comes to changing something as all-encompassing and inter-connected as the academic calendar.

“There are policies at both the SF State and CSU level and the Collective Bargaining Agreement that address the number of work days for faculty, the number of di-

Career counseling to bolster staff LORENZO MOROTTI lmorotti@mail.sfsu.edu

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he office of Career Services and Leadership Development, which provides career counseling for students looking for employment or internships, has only two certified counselors for a campus population of about 29,500 students, according to the 2018 Enrollment Report.

San Jose State Career Counselor Judy Garcia said having only two career counselors is too low.

Because she works at a college

with a comparable number of students enrolling each semester, about 32,000, Garcia said even they struggle to reach students with a staff of 11 certified career counselors and a few interns.

“We try to do everything to get students to come to us in the Career Center,” she said. “But we are not in a great location. We are in the Student Administration Building, so we have been focusing on outreach [in classrooms, campus newsletters and using social media].”

SF State CSLD Director Orlando Harris said the Univer-

rect instructional hours and other issues that are part of an academic calendar,” Gerber said.

On a micro-level, it creates hardships for students during the most important part of their semester, though.

Wyatt is already taking the week after finals off work to visit family over the holidays. Then he had to request an additional day off for his Saturday final. And while his boss was understanding, his financial situation will be less forgiving.

“There goes a little bit of my

spending money [on vacation] and my [financial] bubble for when I get back,” Wyatt said. “That’s another stress, then I can’t spend the money I wanted to on Christmas and stuff.

“It’s kind of wild,” he added. “It’s just one day, but it’s more stress than I wanted.”

The 2018 finals schedule has eight different class day and time slots designated for Saturday finals, nearly three times as many as in 2017.

sity hired two career counselors in 2017 using funding from the Graduation Initiative 2025, which is a statewide initiative to increase graduation rates and narrow achievement gaps.

“The team currently includes a director, associate director, two career counselors and two operational staff members,” he said. “We will post an events coordinator position and one additional career counselor position in January 2019.”

Political science professor Robert Smith said his concern is, despite having a dozen student volunteers at the Career Center at SF State, many students are not taking advantage of this resource because the program is stretched thin.

According to the Career Services and Leadership website,

there are only two career counselors and 10 student assistants.

“The question is why has this not been a priority and how does this serve students who need professional guidance and support?” Smith said in an email to the Xpress. “These are essential services that all universities should provide.”

Since the program launched in January 2017, Harris said CSLD’s goal is to assist students on identifying career options and developing plans based on their interests and academic history.

In its first year, the CSLD team met with 256 students in total. At the start of the 2018 fall semester, Harris said a newly implemented online appointment system, Handshake, has increased outreach and counselors have met with 654 students this semester.

Free food app launches ALEXIS MANZANILLA amanzanilla@mail.sfsu.edu

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ree food” is an eye-catching title for most college students, especially in San Francisco.

According to Feeding America, as of 2016, more than 125,000 San Franciscans are food insecure.

Much of this food insecurity is a result of the high cost of living in the city. SF State students are not immune to this, or the resulting food insecurity. According to a study by the National College Health Assessment in 2016, 33 percent of SF State students surveyed reported food insecurity.

The study defined food insecurity as the inability to afford balanced meals.

SF State students at the Environmental Resource Center (ERC) collaborated with Health Promotion and Wellness (HPW) to create a free food notification system for students called “Gator Grub Alerts.” This new application is available through the SF State mobile app. Notifications are sent out when catered events have excess food, and include the time, location and what type of food is provided.

Similar programs at UCSF and CSU Fullerton, also initiated by students, were the basis for SF State’s new app.

The alert system went live Nov. 12 and its first alert went out Dec. 5. After the first day of marketing the app on Dec. 3, the app gained around 200 users, according to Jack Steinmann, director of the ERC. Since then the app has sent

out many notifications to fit all dietary restrictions, including vegan and gluten-free options.

Steinmann emphasizes that the app came from student-led initiation rather than an administrative effort to treat hungry students.

“It was started by students, it was pushed by students, and it is for students,” Steinmann said.

Karen Boyce, director of the HPW, agreed, saying the app was borne of cooperation between students in the ERC, and interns and staff at HPW. “The Gator Grub Alert program is a true collaboration between students and staff,” Boyce said.

“ERC student leaders conceived the idea for the program and submitted it as part of HPW’s application for the CSU Hunger Free Campus grant funding.”

Steinmann said he wrote and proposed a grant to the administration for the app in August 2017 as part of a broader food rescue initiative.

“We’re trying to change the way we treat and respect food on this campus,” Steinmann said.

Sophia Benzoni, a Food Rescue Initiative Specialist for the ERC, encourages students to get involved with the app and to participate in the Food Rescue events they hold every Friday with the hope it will cut back on campus food waste.

These rescues save food that would have been thrown out by the dining commons, for example, and deliver it to nonprofits in the area. According to the ERC, SF State throws out anywhere from 100 to 400 pounds of edible

CHRISTIAN URRUTIA/Golden Gate Xpress Gator Grub Alert sends notifications to students who login and opt-in on the SF State app and went live on Nov. 12. food every day.

Gator Grub Alerts poses a solution to this costly problem for students.

“Students are buying and paying for the food that’s being thrown out, but they have no say over what happens to the food every day,” Steinmann said.

“Students are paying for [uneaten food] to be here, and there’s hungry students outside of this door.”

Benzoni feels as though being part of the project to make Gator Grub Alerts a reality exposed her to the harsh realities of food waste.

“On one hand, you see food waste literally everywhere, and considering how many students are food insecure at SF State, it’s kind of overwhelming,” Benzoni said. “On the other hand, there’s also a lot of hope and there’s a lot that you can do, even if you’re

just a freshman, there’s a lot you can do to help.”

Steinmann hopes that, beyond encouraging students to get their free food and acknowledge food waste, Gator Grub Alerts will show students they can create change on campus just as he and other members of the ERC and HPW did.

“Beyond increasing food accessibility to students, I hope the Gator Grub Alerts free food notification system empowers students with this message: Every student can make impactful, lasting change on our campus,” Steinmann said. “The problems we find with our university are no match for dedicated teams with the right solutions, motivation and persistence. If you want to change something on campus, you should.”

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CAMP FIRE REVEALS GIVING HEARTS SYLVIE STURM ssturm@mail.sfsu.edu

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he town of Chico, California, has been transformed since Nov. 8, when tens of thousands of wildfire evacuees fleeing for their lives inundated their town.

Cafes and restaurants now hum with somber conversations. The Northern Valley lifestyle magazine cover is simply black with one red heart and the words “We Stand Together.” The weekly free newspaper features a columnist’s story about being reduced to tears by a simple act of kindness.

STUDENTS DIRECT WESTERN FILM ALEXIS MANILLA amanzanilla@mail.sfsu.edu

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lose quarters, unpredictable weather and sandy wind were the setting these student filmmakers were placed in to create their film.

“Saguaro,” is a film directed and produced

by SF State students Jake Naso, Maddy Graves, and Jeep Thatcher. Naso began creating the film around a year ago and since has been writing and planning for filming, which ended in mid-November.

‘BEN IS BACK’ HIGHLIGHTS DRUG ADDICTION STEPHANIE ROSADO srosado@mail.sfsu.edu

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hat better way to start the holidays than with the special surprise of a first-born son, who is 77 days sober and ready to crash the festivities, and a mother with open arms hoping this time things will be different.

The movie “Ben is Back” shows how the faith of a mother can go beyond expectations, with the amazing performance of Julia Roberts as Holly Burns, a mother of four children who has been struggling with her oldest son Ben’s addiction. Ben, played by Lucas Hedges, first interacted with drugs when he was 14 years old.

Plan to shed commuter label SEBASTIAAN MOLLOY smolloy@mail.sfsu.edu

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niversity Enterprises presented a draft proposal at the Dec. 3 Public Forum on the Campus Master Plan meeting that sketched out development and land management at SF State through 2035 and aims to draw in 5,000 new students and create 9,000 new beds through the renovation of existing buildings, better land management and new student housing.

Jason Porth, vice president of University Enterprises and executive director of University Corporation, made a 25-minute presentation that covered topics such as housing, a hotel proposal, future enrollment goals, and academic and recreational expansion.

Porth, however, made it clear that the master plan was a grandiose vision unlikely to ever be fully realized.

He noted that the 2007 master plan, which was intended to last through 2020, has fulfilled only two of the nearly 30 buildings and renovations proposed: the Mashouf Wellness Center and a new Liberal and Creative Arts Building.

“It is an aspiration,” Porth said. “It is our best guess at the time with the information that we have of what we think we can deliver…and that’s because we don’t have the funding.”

The plan comes ahead of anticipated student body growth and declining structural soundness in a number of buildings. The anticipated rise in student enrollment led to a debate on whether campus expansion or housing should come first.

An email sent to Brandon Kline, SF State associate director for environmental programs, criticizes the plan as exacerbating the problems caused by the soaring Bay Area housing costs.

The email was sent by Oumani (no last name provided), a member of a group called SF Unite.

“By SFSU pursuing their 2035 new

MIRA LAING/Golden Gate Xpress Construction of San Francisco State University’s new Liberal and Creative Arts building takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 12.

campus expansion plan, it is stating clearly that it no longer wants to support its historic purpose, educating the next workforce coming from and for the Bay Area,” the email read.

Kline told Xpress that the group’s concerns would be taken into consideration as the university continues to map out the campus’ future.

University Enterprises’ plan is said to factor in environmental awareness that goes beyond global warming. It aims to address concerns from transportation impacts to air quality and other implications the development may have for nearby residents.

Feedback from the six colleges on campus led the university to conclude that the first challenge to be addressed should be the impact of the Bay Area’s continued dramatic growth.

The region’s skyrocketing population has caused rents to reach new highs, according to Bay Area market reports, and University Enterprises argues this has led to a decline in graduation rates.

“We had a waiting list of about 3,000 students who’d like to live in SF

State but can’t because we don’t have enough places for them to live on campus,” Porth said.

He argued the university’s low graduation rate, just 20 percent, is a function of unmanageable rent prices, some more than $3,500 per month. He believes students drop out of SF State and seek alternative education rather than pay to live near the university.

“They ended up moving home or making a different decision about how they’re going to get their education,” he said.

University Enterprises intends to increase class availability by addressing the low graduation rate, and they believe the best strategy is to create more physical space for new classes.

They proposed renovating many existing buildings while demolishing and replacing others.

SF State spends and receives $6 million a year addressing deferred maintenance problems, according to University Corporation, and with their proposal they hope to avoid pouring money into short-term fixes.

While CSU provides $3 million of the funds needed for campus maintenance, the rest comes out of the university’s own coffers, and by proxy, the pockets of students.

The university predicts that over the coming decade, these costs will soar to nearly $1 billion.

If the goals presented in University Corporation’s proposal come to fruition, SF State would see full-time enrollment grow from 25,000 to 30,000.

If the proposal is approved, it would set the university back about $100 million, and that burden would not be picked up by the state or CSU system.

“Hopefully there’s a big benefactor in the room,” Porth said. “The housing has to be self-supportive.”

The university is seeking the approval of the CSU Board of Trustees for its proposition by November of 2019. And with a portion of SF State students experiencing some degree of homelessness, the proposal presents an opportunity to address the housing shortage so prevalent in the Bay Area.

Journalism department co-founder leaves profound legacy SYDNI TANNER stanner@mail.sfsu.edu

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errold Lee Werthimer, the man who co-founded the journalism department at SF State 58 years ago, died Sunday, Dec. 8.

Better known as Jerry among friends, family and students, Werthimer was 93.

He will be remembered for his dedication to teaching his “mini-muckrakers,” as he called the thousands of students he taught and mentored as a professor and advisor to the Gator Newspaper.

“In the 30 years he worked at SF State, he never raised his voice to his students — he was an incredibly kind and gentle man,” said Leonard Sellers, a former journalism professor at SF State.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Werthimer served in the U.S. Navy as a communications officer in the Pacific during World War II. He studied at Northwestern University and taught high school in Boulder, Colorado, in the 1950s,

but was fired for refusing to sign a McCarthy-era loyalty pledge.

He returned to Northwestern University to get a doctorate in journalism and went on to become a journalism instructor at Washington State University.

He came to SF State as a journalism professor, where he co-founded the journalism department with Leo Young in 1960.

For 30 years, he’d walk to SF State from his home at Ingleside Terraces.

Werthimer shared an office with many faculty members over the years, and was known for his messy desk. In 1977, he was even awarded “The Messiest Room” award, which he displayed on his office door.

“In college, I was just one of the many young journalism students who were fortunate enough to have had Jerry Werthimer as a teacher, advisor and mentor,” said current SF State journalism professor Jon Funabiki. “In classes, I remember two things that he stressed — the importance of media law, which I was not so good at, and the value of com-

munity-focused journalism, a lesson that has stuck with me forever.”

His family recalls that Werthimer’s favorite classes were news writing and current events. He was so dedicated to teaching that he would give his own kids current event events quizzes over dinner every Monday night.

These weekly news quizzes still plague SF State journalism students today.

Many in the SF State community were also familiar with his Ingleside Terraces home, where students and co-workers would gather for parties or to work on putting the newspaper together.

“Jerry retired from teaching nearly three decades ago, but he and his wife Pat remained active with the university, frequently showing up at journalism department events and volunteering in the library’s used book shop,” Funabiki said. “[He was] a good man, he touched many lives.”

He took three sabbaticals during his career. One was on a Fulbright grant to Finland in 1966-67. The

Werthimer other was to teach graduate students in Beijing, China, in 1981. The third and last sabbatical he took was with his wife of 71 years. They went on a cross-country tour of community newspapers. This trip took them seven months and they drove through 39 states.

Werthimer is survived by his wife Patricia Strauss Werthimer, his two children Dan Werthimer and Jenny Mena-Werthimer, and his three grandchildren.

There will be no memorial service.

His family wishes that in his memory people will think of him and enjoy some apple pie and coffee.

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Legal definition exclusionary Transgender students react to Trump’s failed promise to protect individuals ELIZA FLYNN eflynn1@mail.sfsu.edu

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n Oct. 21 the New York Times broke a story about a Department of Health and Human Services memo indicating the Trump administration was seeking to exclude transgender people in a new legal definition of gender.

This would reverse Obama-era executive actions that allow trans and non-binary identifying individuals the rights to use restrooms corresponding to their gender identity and join the military, while also providing Title IX protections against discrimination.

Redefining transgender Americans out of existence and eliminating their protections under federal law goes against Trump’s campaign promise to protect LGBTQA+ citizens, which includes the 1.4 million Americans who identify as trans or non-binary. According to the HHS memo, the current definition of gender would be changed to: “The sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.”

SF State trans and non-binary students seem disgruntled but not surprised at the release of the administrative memo and its contents.

“I think it’s horse shit,” said Mandy Hummel, a non-binary student as SF State. “I think anyone who has taken a look at science, actual hard biological science, can look at that and understand that scientists have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as binary biological sex.”

Human biology and genetic code are often used as arguments to support the claim that there are only two genders, male and female.

It is still unclear how gender policies would be altered if this administrative change goes into effect, but medical treatment under Medicaid, the restrooms trans people can use and prison assignments for trans inmates could all be affected by changing the definition of gender.

“Honestly, I thought it was really silly,” said Bucket Manyweather, a non-binary student engagement specialist at SF State. “It felt a lot like, ‘I got your nose!’ It’s like, ‘No you don’t, I have my nose on my face.’”

“I’m trans, however you want to define it… It’s so silly to be this society where it’s like... we create whatever we want for the sake of being a bigot,” Manyweather added.

If the federal definition of gender is changed to only fit the cisgendered (identifying with your birth sex) binary, it would be in violation of Section 1557 of the Affordable

Care Act. This section states that any health services that receive funding from HHS cannot discriminate against patients based on gender.

“I think by definition it’s erasure,” said Lorenzo Alexander, a trans sophomore at SF State. “It’s completely ignoring the fact that we exist, and thereby like, ‘Oh, if you can’t see a problem, then you can’t fix it.’”

On Dec. 4, a “Timely Warning Crime Bulletin” was sent out in an email signed by Luoluo Hong, Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, to SF State’s student body and staff, describing a knife-wielding assailant as a “Hispanic transgender female,” sparking outrage from the SF State trans community for the criminalization of a trans body. As a result, fliers were posted around campus and online as a callout to administrators for their use of the term “transgender” to describe the physical appearance of a suspect.

“I think it’s irresponsible of the school to not at least acknowledge the fact that a large portion of their student population have come because they are queer in some aspect,” Hummel said. “Like you’d think they’d be a bit more trained on [gender issues], and they’re not.

And that’s really disappointing.”

Hong sent another mass email out

“I think by definition it’s erasure.”

-Lorenzo Alexander, sophomore student on Dec. 16 to update the original crime bulletin. In it she issued an apology and retracted the identification of the alleged attacker as a “transgender female.”

“We further recognize that the message had the impact of triggering anxiety and fear for many individuals in our trans community, who confront alienation, marginalization and threats to their safety on a regular basis,” the email read. “For this, we want to express our deep regret.”

There are limited resources for queer and trans students on campus, all of which are student-run organizations separate from faculty and staff. The Queer and Trans Resource Center, which is run by Associated Students, Inc., and the Queer Alliance are the two most prominent centers for queer and trans students on campus.

“They’re really helpful, but it could be better,” Alexander said .

While nationally there is a perceived erasure of the LGBTQA+ community, there are some steps being taken within the California State University CSU System to curate a safer and more inclusive environment for queer and trans students.

This past Wednesday, the Office of the Chancellor of the CSU system sent out an email to student affairs staff statewide that details a plan to increase inclusion on CSU campuses. Xpress obtained a copy of the email from Manyweather.

“To continue to grow inclusiveness in the CSU, a call by campuses and students to encourage the use of gender pronouns has become increasingly prevalent,” the email read. “A group of Chancellor’s Office and campus representatives met to take an initial cut at identifying what would be needed to implement the use of gender pronouns.”

A new feature in every student’s online portal will provide students the opportunity to choose their preferred pronouns, which can be updated at any time. Staff and faculty will also be required to go through gender pronoun training.

“It is equally important to provide training to the campus community, particularly faculty and staff, about gender pronouns and why their use matters,” said the email. “This initiative is well-intentioned but may also cause unintentional harm by outing students if the campus is not educated.”

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Fashion Network Association combines fine art, clothing in latest show in downtown SF CHLOE MCDANIELS cmcdanie@mail.sfsu.edu

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mix of plaid mod skirts and jackets, bright tunics, floral midi skirts and elegant gowns adorned the diverse selection of models walking at the UNITY Fashion Show.

In a gallery with Picasso and Haring’s colorful work displayed on the walls, 12 designers unveiled their recent designs at the fashion show on Dec. 13 at the Christopher Clark Fine Art Gallery in downtown San Francisco. SF State students took part in the show and sourced their designs based off the art in the gallery.

Turning the gallery into a runway, models walked along rows of people starting from the back room on the second floor down to the bottom floor.

When choosing the location for the show, chair of the event and president of the Fashion Network Association (FNA) Natalie Green said, “I wanted to host the fashion show off

campus in hopes to unify the community from education to industry, which is why the show is called ‘Unity.’”

According to Green, a week ago the only tickets purchased for the event were the eight bought by her family members.

By the day of the event, however, the event was over its limit for tickets.

With 100 tickets available for the show, more than 50 were sold in the last hours leading up to the event.

Since they didn’t want to turn anyone away, they sold an extra 25 tickets over the allotted.

Inspired by artists Fernandez, Haring and Motherwell, SF State fashion design students Katy Wong, Rita Chow and SF State alumna Annmarie Bustamante showcased their new designs like an oversized black corduroy jacket, floral skirt prints and bright, colorful tunics.

Bustamante used reclaimed fabrics form SCRAP, a San Francisco store full of fabric and accessories to be upcycled, in her designs. Bustaman-

te was inspired by her travels in El Salvador as well as her family to create the collection she showcased.

“The mood of the collection is bittersweet because it’s dedicated to my cousin Ryan who we lost suddenly this summer,” Bustamante said.

Bustamante said that this news changed the scope of her collection.

“I started the collection off with a feeling of ethereal, goddess-like other-worldliness and when I heard the news, I knew we would need to capture the happiness [my family] all shared as 19 cousins who camped together every single summer of our childhood,” Bustamante said. “So, the bright colors, and floaty, angelic feel were all meant to speak on the good times we were all so lucky to share.”

Bustamante thanks the apparel design and merchandising program at SF State for teaching her the value of reusing and up-cycling fabrics.

“In college, we spent a large amount of time

AARON LEVY-WOLINS/Golden Gate Xpress Karina Escoto (right), 22, a senior fashion student, shows Margarita Ayala (left), 30, a senior apparel design major, the runway for models at the Unity fashion show at the Cristopher Clark Fine Art gallery in San Francisco, Calif. on Thursday, Dec. 13.

learning how to design sustainably, whether that means sourcing materials that don’t require a lot of energy to create, designing in a manner where we don’t waste much fabric and repurposing,” Bustamante said.

Her education as a fashion student at SF State taught her how we live in a “throw-away society.”

“Fast fashion is destroying this industry and our planet and it is our job as creators and consumers to counter that,” Bustamante said, emphasizing that her collection is a

force to preserve the environment.

Kanina Thomas, the co-vice president of FNA, said the association asked apparel design and merchandising students to participate but welcomed anyone who wanted to showcase a garment.

Inspired by the singer Selena, her mom and her aunt, designer Margarita Ayala showcased her designs in the UNITY Fashion Show.

“Would Selena wear this today?” the designer asks herself as she executes her designs.

She went to the Selena Museum in Texas where Selena’s outfits are displayed. According to Ayala, a majority of her designs are based off the singer’s aesthetic.

Taking after the name of the event, the show displayed how fine art and fashion can mix and unite a community.

“With the political climate we are in, I feel that it is very important for the community to lean on each other,” Green said. “I think art is a great way to express yourself and with fashion.”

MGM Boyz music collective prepares to release rap albums

CHRIS ROBLEDO/Golden Gate Xpress SF State biology major Isaiah Corona (far left), 19, political science major Kenneth Cason (left), 22, psychology major Jacob Shur (center), 19, Isaiah Price (right), 19 and Jordan Braithwaite (far right) form a student collective that collaborates on producing rap music.

SARAH NIDEROST sniderost@mail.sfsu.edu

M

GM Boyz, a musical collective of SF State students, originally gained fame from throwing par-

ties in a Parkmerced townhome.

Now their music is about to take the spotlight.

MGM stands for “mandatory get money.” The members of MGM Boyz are Jacob Shur (Jawaavess), Isaiah Corona (Bluzayy), Kenneth Cason (KCSh-

money), Jordan Braithwaite (Shottajordy) and Isaiah Rice (Foreigner).

The members wear distressed denim and sportswear accompanied by sneakers with colored soles and gold jewelry.

MGM Boyz came to life when the members met through mutual friends and parties. Shur ran into Corona during an SF State orientation and they decided to be roommates, which blossomed into a friendship and sharing music.

“He’s one of the first cool people that I met here,” Shur said.

The crew’s friendship and love of freestyling motivated them to start their collective.

“We just figured that we should take our talent to something that could get us money,” Shur said.

The MGM Boyz were inspired by each other’s talent. Cason comes from no musical background, but after he met Corona and Shur, he started to take rap seriously.

“Our sounds sound good together,” Cason said.

Shur came from a singing background in high school but he didn’t start rapping until last year.

Corona had some musical experience that was influenced by

his brother, who would release rap songs and eventually let Corona join him and freestyle.

Corona then started to make music of his own.

Each artist will be releasing their own individual albums in the next two months under the umbrella of MGM Boyz in a group SoundCloud profile that they will be creating.

However, it’s been taking some time to write and record their albums. For Cason, it’s taken a couple weeks to write his album, while Shur’s album is almost done. Shur has been working on his album for a month. It’s taken Corona a month and a half to finish his music for the album.

Each of the MGM Boyz have a different process for making their music.

“I just like to listen to a beat, find a beat that I like,” Corona said. “When I finally find one, I freestyle on it and see how it goes. If I can freestyle easy and I like it, then I’ll start writing.”

Shur agreed. “I think we all like to follow that a little bit.”

Shur likes to watch music videos and artists like Travis Scott and Drake perform so he can envision himself in their shoes, although he wants to show his own style in his music.

“I wanna rap or sing in a way that shows me, and not something that sounds like somebody else,” Shur said.

Cason’s musical process is more natural. When he hears a beat when hanging out with friends he’ll start writing lyrics.

The songs MGM Boyz will release are about life experiences, family and women.

“We got stories,” Cason said.

The members of MGM Boyz enjoy being creative and having fun with each other. They said they hope their audience will have fun listening to them as much as other artists. They want to bring a new type of rap to the music world.

“I feel like it’s not about the bars and lyrics anymore [in mainstream rap],” Shur said.

“With us three, we try to have the sound and the lyrics, too.”

Though the MGM Boyz are all students at SF State working toward degrees, they hope their music will take them to a new level of success.

They hope to perform at SF State and elsewhere once their albums are released.

“There’s nobody that I would get into this with besides these two right here,” Shur said.

“They’re my brothers for life.”

6 OPINION X

EDITORIAL

PRESS STAFF

Lorenzo Morotti Editor-in-Chief lmorotti@mail.sfsu.edu Monserrath Arreola Print Managing Editor marreola@mail.sfsu.edu Julie Parker Campus News Editor jparker1@mail.sfsu.edu Paul Eichenholtz City News Editor peichenh@mail.sfsu.edu Cody McFarland Copy Editor cmcfarla@mail.sfsu.edu Christian Urrutia Art Director curruti1@mail.sfsu.edu Brian Vu Multimedia Editor bvu2@mail.sfsu.edu Alexis Manzanilla Lifestyle & Culture Editor amanzanilla@mail.sfsu.edu Jailene Escutia Opinion Editor jescutiachavez@mail.sfsu.edu

Tahnia Ortega Social Media Editor tortegag@mail.sfsu.edu Jesse Garnier Faculty Adviser jgarnier@sfsu.edu Kim Komenich Photo Faculty Adviser komenich@sfsu.edu

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Secretive administration fails to meet mission statement

I

f students examine the mission statements of the Golden Gate Xpress newspaper and SF State’s office of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, they might glean the two organizations share common goals.

Part of SAEM’s mandate is to communicate with students “...in a timely manner about issues and information which are of importance to your lives while here in college.” The Xpress’ mission is to do exactly the same.

But the unfortunate reality is that our two organizations have a fractious relationship. That strain came to a head last week when an Xpress reporter was accused of fabricating an interview with a SAEM employee about a recent crime bulletin that described a suspect in a campus assault with a deadly weapon as a “transgender woman.”

The description led to a storm of criticism, and numerous calls to the SAEM office from students demanding an apology. On Sunday evening, they got it.

So maybe it’s not surprising that the administration lashed out at Xpress for reporting on their mistake.

After our story went to press, the SAEM employee libelously accused our reporter of fabricating the interview, insisting that he would never say the words attributed to him in the story. He emailed his defamatory allegations to a variety of campus officials, prompting the administration’s communication department to demand a correction.

In the field of journalism, this type of accusation is as bad as it gets. The fact is, it is an utter lie.

Xpress has an audio recording of the interview. It was reported accurately and our reporter clearly told the employee sev-

eral times that his comments would be published. This employee even thanked our reporter for the interview.

So what could have possibly led the employee — whose very job it is to advance student success — to so severely undermine a student journalist?

We believe the administration’s obstructionism and disdain for our publication emboldened this employee to levy such an outrageous charge in an attempt to bully our reporter into silence.

The Xpress has been hamstrung by red tape and condescension from SAEM from our first issue to this, our last of the term. The university’s representatives refused almost all requests for in-person interviews with the Xpress, stating that all inquiries would have to be submitted by email.

Requiring a list of questions before agreeing to an interview is a form of prior restraint on the First Amendment.

This policy might explain the backlash the Xpress received when SAEM found that an employee had given an unscripted interview. Such targeted bureaucracy allows administrators to tailor responses to best suit their desired narrative while stalling our student reporters into silence.

Our editorial staff believes that a cooperative relationship of mutual respect and trust between the Xpress and SF State’s administration is invaluable for both organizations. We would be glad to foster such an understanding.

But reporting truth will always take precedence above all else for our publication out of respect for the community we serve. Until SAEM recognizes the Xpress as publication worthy of the same respect other news outlets receive, we

“Reporting truth will always take precedence above all else for our publication out of respect for the community we serve.” will be at odds.

It is imperative that the administration, as an informational gatekeeper, recognizes the importance of our twin roles in keeping the community informed.

Working in tandem toward this end is beneficial for everyone within SF State’s community. This can only happen if the administration holds up its end of the bargain with regards to transparency and accountability.

Perhaps the administration needs reminding of SF State’s own mission statement: “The University is committed to the following goals…fostering a collegial and cooperative intellectual environment that includes recognition and appreciation of differing viewpoints and promotes academic freedom within the University community; and serving the communities with which its students and faculty are engaged.”

This accusation from SAEM is way over the line and should ring alarm bells within the halls of this administration. It’s time for the university’s decision-makers to review their attitudes toward freedom of the press and the student newspaper. Before defaming us, just remember: we are students; we are your most important stakeholders.

-Golden Gate Xpress editorial staff

Time magazine names slain journalist person of the year KIRK STEVENSON ksteven6@mail.sfsu.edu

J

amal Khashoggi has been the face representing slain journalists since his murder in the Saudi consulate on Oct. 2. The impact of his death and the persecution many journalists are met with today moved Time magazine to name Khashoggi and an ensemble of embattled journalists as 2018’s “Person of the Year.”

Joining Khashoggi as Time’s Person of the Year are staff members of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, who suffered a mass shooting in June that killed five employees; CEO journalist of Rappler Maria Ressa, who is currently facing

tax evasion charges from the Philippines Department of Justice; and Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who were jailed for their reporting on the Rohingya crisis. Time has dubbed this issue, “The guardians and the war on truth.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports that 34 journalists have been murdered with a confirmed motive this year. Khashoggi’s death is an ominous reminder that the media is under attack by state institutions. In most recent events, the U.S. Senate voted Dec. 13 to end support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen despite the president’s idle attitude toward Khashoggi’s murder. Trump’s reaction should come as no surprise,

considering his behavior toward journalists and members of the media throughout his term as president and in his 2016 campaign. He even stated earlier last month that he can’t imagine anyone else being person of the year but himself.

When under a capitalist system, many sentiments of morality are thrown out the window to satisfy the demands of economic growth. Like many journalists that enter the arena of politics and international affairs, Khashoggi’s job was to uncover the truth and the injustices of the people in power. Because of his criticism of a major monarchical society and the totalitarian government that oversees it, Khashoggi was unable to lead a life of assured

safety. The scenario is similar as more reporters become victims of their work environment.

The U.S. should realize that the attacks on the press around the world have contributed to what the Capital Gazette suffered this summer, and there has yet to be an answer on how to dispel these events. Since the Gazette newsroom shooting, the issue of press safety has only gotten exponentially worse. The New York Times has been threatened over the phone, bomb threats have been made toward news channel CNN, and the White House pulled and returned correspondent Jim Acosta’s press credentials. These are just a few examples of how anti-media sentiment is evolving in 2018.

These cruelties toward journalists are a human rights issue, one that leaves authoritarian governments unchecked.

Wielding the economic and global power that we do, the U.S. has a responsibility to think critically on how to act toward media suppression. Calling out journalists as the enemy of the people has turned the public against those whom Time is now calling the “guardians.”

With the guardians dead, imprisoned or otherwise silenced, corrupters can enter positions of power and the voice of the people becomes lost. Having given them this title is a step in the right direction, toward shedding light on the oppression endured by journalists at the hands of world leaders.

opinion 7

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Ditch your car for your wallet, environment MACI MARTELL mmartell1@mail.sfsu.edu

W

hether you’re a regular reader of the Golden Gate Xpress or a casual passerby on our website and social media, you’ve probably seen some of our coverage on commuter woes.

As part of a commuter series, a few dedicated reporters have written articles and produced podcasts on BART security and updates, shoddy SF State shuttle services and stresses involved with long-distance commutes.

There’s a simple reason we address so many concerns about commuting: SF State is a commuter school. Since 2008, the number of students and faculty who actually live in San Francisco has declined by more than 30 percent, with many moving out to and commuting from the East Bay. Commuting via public transit can be particularly stressful. There’s delays, breakdowns, overcrowding — and don’t even get me started on safety concerns. It seems easier and more convenient to jump in the car, put on your favorite podcast to bear with the traffic, and hope you find a decent parking spot. But I implore you: Take more public transportation, not less.

Yes, driving may be faster and public transit can be a time-suck. But the cons involved in driving can greatly outweigh those of traveling by bus or rail.

Car enthusiasts and routine solo commuters, please, hear me out.

One of the most common praises about cars is the independence they provide. At the drop of a hat, you can jump in your car and drive anywhere your heart desires; as long as you can afford it. Here’s where the whole independence aspect gets murky.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2017 Consumer Expenditure Survey, the average American household spent $9,576 on transportation, which is a near 6 percent increase on transportation costs

from the preceding year.

And USA Today reported that average auto loans for both new and used vehicles hit a record high this year, a result of a 10 percent hike in prices for new vehicles in the last five years.

Not only is it incredibly costly to be a car owner, it’s fairly time-consuming as well.

According to INRIX, a transportation data company, Americans spent an average of 41 hours sitting in traffic in 2017. San Franciscans, on the other hand, spent 79 hours idling in congestion. That’s more than three days of fiddling with radio station channels and reading bumper stickers to pass the time on the road.

Then, after spending all that time and money getting around in the city, you have to find a place to park. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency reported last year that there’s approximately 442,000 publicly-available parking spaces citywide. That accounts for less than half the population of San Francisco.

When car salespeople tell you buying a car is part of attaining the independent American dream, they don’t say how much money and time it will cost you each year.

They also fail to mention all the cleaning maintenance, oil changes, parking shortages, engine failures and car accidents that are part and parcel of owning a car. What an independence.

But beyond all of those annoyances, there’s a much more significant reason why you should consider ditching your car, or at least drive considerably less. Automobiles are drastically harming our environment; we can’t avoid that truth anymore.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “A typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year,” about 404 grams of CO2 per mile. The EPA also stated the transportation sector accounts for nearly one-third of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Light-duty vehicles (i.e. passenger cars and light-duty trucks) constitute 60 percent of those transportation emissions, more than aircrafts, trains and boats combined.

The reason why greenhouse gas emis-

sions are significant is because they accumulate in our atmosphere and act as a blanket, effectively warming the Earth.

And CO2 emissions, released the most by automobiles, last in our atmosphere for thousands of years.

These greenhouse gas emissions are increasing substantially, according to a report

by The New York Times, largely due to a surge in oil use and driving cars farther than in the past.

This research further solidifies the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released in October warning these rising emissions will lead to a global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

This change would increase widespread risks of droughts, wildfires, food shortages and coastal flooding by 2040, according to the report. Many of these disasters are already taking place.

This is indeed a bleak outlook, and human impact on the environment may only get worse since President Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement and continues to roll back Obama-era environmental protections. Policymakers and corporations can make the biggest change by instituting stricter regulations and eco-friendly practices, but average people can also do a lot by changing some old habits.

The American Public Transportation Association reported that if a person who commutes 20 miles round trip by car switches to public transit, that person can cut his or her annual CO2 emissions by 4,800 pounds per year. Even one person can make a large difference.

I know cars are cool, but our Earth isn’t.

So please, ditch your costly, polluting cars and take the bus. If not for the environment, at least for your wallet.

How does this semester’s finals schedule affect you?

Christopher Canfield

Jake Zimmerle

Christina Cruz

MUSIC HISTORY

ENGLISH EDUCATION, 24

CINEMA, 21

AFRICANA STUDIES

“One of my professors is a little sour that we are forced to meet on the final day even though we really don’t have a final. ”

“I know the teachers can’t decide their final schedule, so that’s bummy. It’s an inconvenience for everyone.”

“Fortunately for me, I have two classes online so it didn’t affect me at all. I guess I was a lucky one.”

“It hasn’t been that difficult, today is my last final. ”

Madeline Flamer

ALEXIS MANZANILLA & AARON LEVY-WOLINS/Golden Gate Xpress

SPORTS 8

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2018 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG GATORS EXHAUST COYOTES

Women’s basketball overcomes scare with 69-57 victory over San Bernardino Early shooting woes almost cost Gators basketball the game, but a resurgent second half sealed the win against Coyotes ILDAR SABIROV isabirov@mail.sfsu.edu

T

he Gators survived a putrid second quarter to beat the Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes 69-57 on Thursday, Dec. 13, at The Swamp.

The Gators struck first, when redshirt senior guard Toni Edwards drove a layup home with a defender draped all over her.

SF State almost exclusively ran a fast break offense during the first quarter en route to a 19-14 lead. Jhaina Stephens and Amani Alexander both led the Gators with four points each early on.

The taxing fast break offense started to catch up with SF State in the second quarter. The Gators could not finish on the offensive end, missing their first 11 shots, not including free throws, and only made two out of 13 shots for the entire quarter.

The Gators offense couldn’t muster up any field goals until the 1:01 mark of the quarter.

“That first half wasn’t really

who we were,” SF State head coach Natasha Smith said.

The Gators were down 33-27 at the end of the second.

The Coyotes started scoring in the second quarter with a free throw off a Madison Cooper foul.

It was a back-and-forth for most of the quarter. The Gators clawed back from a 33-27 deficit and had retaken the lead with 38-36 after Taimane Lesa-Hardee’s three pointer.

It was a day-and-night difference with the Gators offense in the third quarter, shooting over 53 percent from the floor.

“They are a really good third quarter team, and we decided that we’re going to shut it (them) down today,” Smith said.

The teams continued to trade leads in a closely contested quarter where the Gators escaped with a 51-48 lead.

The Gators redeemed their second quarter woes with a strong fourth, leading by as much as 10 at one point.

Senior Gators forward Jhaina Stephens rampaged through

MIRA LAING/Golden Gate Xpress Toni Edwards (3) jumps up to score during the Gators’ game against Cal State San Bernardino held at SF State on Thursday, Dec. 13.

the Coyotes to the tune of 23 points and 17 rebounds. The double-double night was a season high in both statistics for Stephens.

Stephens monster night in rebounds rubbed off on the rest of the Gators, who out rebounded the visibly larger Coyotes squad 44-35.

“It’s inspiring to see,” said SF State sophomore forward Kaleigh Pugh. “We are undersized.

To see the numbers we put up on the boards; it’s definitely what helped us win this game.”

SF State’s early defensive rebounding helped limit the Coyotes offense in the first quarter and throughout the second half.

Winners of their last two games, the 4-7 Gators could use the confidence boost to turn their season around.

“We’re starting to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, so we can put all that together when it comes on the court,” Edwards said.

Gators edge Coyotes, Balser finds career-high in offensive push during defensive match DEVON HARIPAL dharipal@mail.sfsu.edu

T

he SF State men’s basketball team grinded out an 80-76 win against Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday, Dec. 13, at The Swamp, behind graduate guard Jordan Balser’s career-high 15 points and career-high-tying three steals.

Balser was the third-highest scoring Gator of the night, behind senior center Ryne Williams’ 19 points and graduate guard Jiday Ugbaja’s 16 points.

A huge corner three by Balser with 47 seconds to go made it a two-possession game for the Gators, who led 76-72. It was his third triple of the night.

“If I got the ball, I knew that it would eventually go in,” Balser said of his dagger three. “I haven’t been shooting the ball great lately, but I knew that if I got a clean look, I was for sure going to shoot it and fortunately it went in.”

It was Balser’s fifth-consecutive start and his first game this season in double-figures after being inserted into the starting lineup against Cal Poly Pomona on Nov. 29.

“I’m not looking to get mine all the time,” he said when asked about being

“Defensively we were phenomenal down the stretch and I’m really proud of our effort there.”

-Vince Inglima, men’s basketball coach named the starting two guard. “Helping move the ball and getting others involved kind of helps us with the flow of the game.”

Head coach Vince Inglima shared a similar sentiment when asked about his starting shooting guard.

“Jordan’s such a good, steadying force for us,” Inglima said. “He’s very fundamental and predictable on offense, so I feel like he helps everybody else play better whether he scores or not. Regardless of what he’s producing stats wise, he just makes us run really smooth when he’s out there.”

Balser would finish the game with 15 points, five rebounds and one assist in 28 minutes. He shot 3-of-6 from the field, all from deep. Balser also went a perfect 6-of6 from the free-throw line, tying both his season-high in makes and attempts with the previous outing against Academy of

FRANCISCA VELASCO/Golden Gate Xpress Left to right: Michael Diaz (5), Tyler Jackson (50) and Jase Wickliffe (32) prepare for a rebound during the home game against Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday, Dec. 13. The Gators won 80-76.

Art University on Nov. 9. He also showed up on the defensive end, matching a career-high three steals.

The Gators win was their fifth game of the season that was decided by single-digits, with the team going 3-2 in those games.

Both losses came against nationally-ranked teams, a 71-78 overtime loss to No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona and a 79-89 loss against No. 10 UC San Diego.

The Gators (7-3/4/2 CCAA) now sit third in CCAA standings after their win against the Coyotes (5-4/1-3 CCAA).

The win against San Bernardino served as a confidence boost for the Gators who have had half of their games this season come down to the wire.

“It [Tonight’s win] was a really good confidence boost for us to get into that situation, kind of exercise our demons from the last couple of games where we had opportunities to win and this time get over the hump,” Inglima said. “Defensively we were phenomenal down the stretch and I’m really proud of our effort there.”