Fall 2014 Issue 4

September 17, 2014

Serving the San Francisco State community since 1927

VOLUME XCIX ISSUE 4

HUNTERS POINT SHIPYARD

P

SF State eyes new campus site

ERIC GORMAN / XPRESS

REDEVELOPMENT: The view of Hunters Point shipyard and the San Francisco Bay from Coleman Street Monday, Sept. 15.

LULU OROZCO ohlulu@mail.sfsu.edu

resident Leslie E. Wong announced last week that SF State plans to be the first university to stake claim to more than 60,000 square feet of open space at a new development project in the Hunters Point Shipyard.

“We are planting the SF State flag in

Hunters Point to ensure that every city resident has an educational pathway into San Francisco’s dynamic economy,” Wong said.

As part of the mixed-use commercial space, the 3.2 million-square-foot shipyard development project, slated to begin 2018,

ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

GRAND OPENING

SPORTS

Ultimate Frisbee club adds new spin on sports

will include office, hotel and entertainment spaces as well as biotech and institutional program areas.

Updated gym facilities revealed after $2.1 million in renovations

KYLE MCLORG

kmclorg@mail.sfsu.edu

Veteran players from the Turnips, SF State’s ultimate Frisbee club, said its roster quickly filled out with students hoping to stay active without the usual rigors of collegiate athletics.

The school’s club holds open practices on the West Campus Green Tuesdays and Fridays at 1 p.m., and Team Captain Graeme Brunst said the showing is impressive.

“Last year, we had new faces trickling in and old faces leaving en masse,” Brunst said, but noted a significant spike in attendance early this season.

“We had 36 last Tuesday, and I think Friday was in the forties.”

Brunst described ultimate Frisbee as a mixture of football, basketball and soccer. Teammates pass the disc to one another, never running with it, and score when a pass is connected in the end zone.

A dropped pass is considered a turnover to the opponent, only without the lag time or play clock that you’ll find in football. The pace of play in Ultimate Frisbee is quick, fluid and constant.

But stroll past the West Campus Green to check out a practice and you will see the sport is atypical in many ways.

Ultimate Frisbee takes everyone’s favorite beach activity to another level, giving busy student athletes a chance to stay active and have fun. Because it’s all student-run, there is no league, so all games are tournament-based.

But an even bigger gap separates ultimate Frisbee from other collegiate sports: there are no referees.

ULTIMATE CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

FRANK LADRA / XPRESS

CENTER COURT: SF State President Leslie E. Wong offers a basketball for alumnus Don Nasser to throw the “first shot” during the reopening ceremony of the remodeled gymnasium on Thursday, Sept. 11.

CHLOE JOHNSON chloej@mail.sfsu.edu

Standing at the free-throw line of the basketball court, Don Nasser, the primary funder for renovations to the gym and a University alumnus, could not quite make the shot. President Leslie E. Wong then stepped

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up, but the ball only bounced off the rim.

Finally, new athletic director Charles Guthrie went for a lay-up shot and made it. Cheers from athletes, faculty and alumni exploded from the renovated gym at its grand opening Thursday.

GYMNASIUM CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

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NEWS

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Campus to uproot more than 100 trees

TIMOTHY SMITH

A mass landscape removal of 103 trees, deemed hazardous, began last week.

An expert who surveyed the area over the summer identified trees recommended for removal because of weakening structural integrity and proximity to high-density walkways according to an email to faculty obtained

by Xpress.

SF State plans to remove the most dangerous trees, 55 in total, within the next two months beginning with the mature Italian Stone Pine that was cut down outside the Ethnic Studies and Psychology Building last week.

“Without question, the towering trees in and around the quad have a huge aesthetic and environmental value,” Simon Lam, the Interim Vice President of the Physical Planning and Development Department said in the email. “Our challenge is to maintain and replenish our campus forest, while removing diseased or damaged trees that pose a safety risk to our students, faculty, and staff.”

Lam sent out a mass email to faculty and staff following the removal process, explaining his department’s reasoning for the action.

“I assure you that our goal is to preserve our mature trees, plant new trees on an ongoing basis, and remove trees only as a last resort when their condition poses a significant risk,” Lam said.

The felling process obstructed the entrance to the building, raising further concerns about public safety, according to PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KAITLIN AGUILAR / XPRESS

tsmith@mail.sfsu.edu

Wei Ming Dariotis, associate professor of Asian American Studies and former president of the SF State Chapter of the California Faculty Association.

“My first reaction was ‘why don’t they schedule this for a Friday or a weekend when there are fewer people?” Dariotis said.

The trees at SF State suffer from a handful of factors that contribute to their death and ultimate removal.

Common issues like age, weather damage, and bad pruning practices can lead to disease and insect infestations that kill trees, according to SF State’s Forest Renewal Fund page.

Miguel Casuso, administrative analyst for the Cesar E. Chavez Institute in the Ethnic Studies and Psychology building, said he didn’t complain about the removal of the tree, but he responded to the original email, suggesting that the administration give students and staff more of a warning when they plan to make drastic changes to the landscape.

“It’s still a living thing that people are really accustomed to having there and if it’s suddenly yanked out it really hurts,” Casuso said. “It’s like it’s this violent thing, and we have an emotional reaction to it. And if we don’t know that there are good reasons for it, we’re going to get upset.”

For the moment, the student body knows little about the campus forest management plan because the planning department left it to the faculty and staff to inform students, according to the email.

According to Michelle Meyers, director of the San Francisco Bay Area

Chapter of the Sierra Club, maintaining healthy trees in an urban setting has numerous benefits to people. Among those is the aesthetic value of contributing to a positive working environment for students and staff.

Trees help mitigate environmental concerns like soil erosion and climate change, but they also just provide a better environment for living in general, Meyers said.

“People are happier and healthier when they’re around trees,” said Meyers.

SARA GOBETS / XPRESS

CHOPPED: A stump is all that remains of a tree that was taken down last week in front of the Ethnic Studies and Pyschology Building Monday, Sept. 15.

NEWS

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

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CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT

WELCOME: (Left) SF State alumnus Don Nasser helps SF State President Leslie E. Wong cut the ribbon in the newly named Don Nasser Family Plaza during the reopening ceremony of the remodeled gymnasium Sept. 11. (Right) SF State alumnus Don Nasser shoots a failed free throw in the newly remodeled gymnasium Sept. 11.

PHOTOS BY FRANK LADRA / XPRESS

Gymnasium reopening introduces SF State athletics to new home The crowd gathered for the unveiling of the updated gym Sept. 11, which recently underwent a $2.1 million makeover and features a new basketball court floor with a centered picture of the fierce new mascot.

Freshly painted facilities adorned with the school’s purple and yellow colors have replaced faded wood and rusted metal.

“Last year, I was embarrassed,” Wong said of his experience at a job fair hosted in the gymnasium. “The gym was decrepit. Future employers were interviewing students in a very old facility.”

The previous gym floor and lockers dated back to 1951 when the building first opened, according to Wong, who expressed concern over hazards like exposed nails on the floor.

“Now it looks like a Division II gym court should look,” said volunteer wrestling coach Zach Jimenez, an SF State alumnus.

Beyond the aesthetic facelift, the gym has also been updated to meet modern needs with features like unisex bathrooms.

Each locker room has three showers that are compliant with the Americans

With Disabilities Act (ADA) and the bleachers also have seats fit to the code, according to campus planner Wendy Bloom.

“We’re spending tremendous energy in being the best Division II university in the country,” said Vice President of University Advancement Robert Nava.

For Wong, the updated gym represents his commitment to make SF State a more sports-oriented university.

“We’re getting our swagger back,” Wong said. “I’m going to be shamelessly selfish here, but I think everyone in this city should be a Gator fan.”

We’re spending tremendous energy in being the best Division II university in the country.

Robert Nava, VP OF UNIVERSITY ADVANCEMENT

CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT

Administration devoted to gather funds for new campus

“We are currently evaluating the programming that would be located in the shipyard, and funding and impact are dependent on those decisions,” said Chief of Staff Shawn Whalen in an email. “We have committed to raising the funds that will be needed so that our students and the residents of Bayview-Hunters Point have the exciting opportunities that this project provides.”

However, no funding has been dedicated to the project yet, according to Whalen.

Lennar Urban, who is in partnership with the Bayview-Hunters Point community, will introduce new infrastructure to the area, in addition to restored parks,

regional and neighborhood retail centers and a diverse range of housing opportunities for the Hunters Point Shipyard and Candlestick Point communities, according to a press release sent by Lennar Urban.

The new development at Hunters Point will build more than 10,000 new residences, at least 3,000 of them are expected to be affordable housing, according to their website.

“SFSU’s announcement is very exciting for us as it is our first official agreement for leasing our commercial space and promises to brings future jobs and investments to the area,” Communications Project

Manager at Lennar Urban, Jackie Spear said.

The company is also the current developer of three revitalization projects in the city, including Treasure Island, Candlestick Point and the San Francisco Shipyard project.

“The Innovation Alley in the Hunters Point Shipyard offers an exciting opportunity to situate ourselves in a collaborative environment that will include industry and non-profit organizations who need the talent and imagination that our students provide,” said Whalen.

XPRESS YOURSELF WE ASKED SF STATE STUDENTS:

How would you feel about taking classes in Hunters Point?

Photos & Reporting by: Kyle McLorg and Chloe Johnson

“

I would be opposed to it because it’s so far away.

”“

TREVOR FERGUSON, 22 MUSIC

I have a short walk as it is, so I wouldn’t want to extend my commute farther than I have to.

”“

CONOR POLAND, 22 ASTROPHYSICS

I personally don’t feel comfortable going to Hunters Point to go to classes.

”“

CAITLYN CROOKS, 23 CINEMA

It’s a very good idea for unifying the community.

”

DANIEL NORTON LUNA, 22 UNDECLARED

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NEWS

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

DANIEL PORTER / XPRESS

RESEARCH: CSU Trustees’ Award winner Shayle Matsuda stands in the specimen storage for a portrait at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco Monday, Sept. 15.

A

t three years old, Shayle Matsuda’s fight with cancer sparked an interest in science.

As a biology graduate student at SF State with a 4.0 GPA, he is now an awardee of the 2014 California State University (CSU) Trustees’ Award for outstanding achievement and community work.

“I was interested in finding out why I didn’t feel good and why I had to go to the doctor,” he said. “Since then, science has always had a pretty strong presence in my life.”

Matsuda is one of 23 students presented with the 2014 CSU Trustees’ Award, the highest honor in the state’s public school system. The title is bestowed upon one student from each campus every year.

“I was really surprised and honored,” Matsuda said. “Just to have that kind of recognition and distinction was incredibly

CSU honors science student and community leader DAYVON DUNAWAY ddunaway@mail.sfsu.edu

humbling.”

The Award Selection Committee chose Shayle as the SF State recipient and he accepted the award in Long Beach alongside the other awardees.

They designated Matsuda as the Trustee Emeritus Murray L. Galinson Scholar, an award particularly bestowed for extraordinary public service to the community.

His motivation and curiosity is what set him apart from most students according to his former instructor Greg Spicer, professor of biology at SF State.

“Anyone who is that interested and that dedicated to what they’re doing will definitely go on to do great things,” Spicer said.

Matsuda conducts research at the California Academy of Sciences, diving into the evolutionary relationships between different groups of nudibranchs, a type of sea-mollusk which are often called sea slugs.

Not only does he continue to develop his passion for the subject, but has shared his interest with the community around him since his teenage years.

Now an active mentor in

the youth programs department at the California Academy of Sciences, he works with high school students that are typically underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.

This passion for using science as a medium to uplift young minds led to him forming a summer happy hour series called “Science, Neat”, and evening where people meet to network amid live interactive and talks.

The idea is to create a more casual space for scientists of all ages, especially early-career scientists.

“It’s a good opportunity to get people talking about research that we are all doing and to make connections and collaborations,” Matsuda said. “I love it, it’s a lot of fun and I have met a lot of great folks from all different universities in the Bay Area.”

Saray Dugas, Matsuda’s marketing advisor for “Science, Neat” and friend, said he is one of the most thoughtful and honest people she knows.

“Shayle is a very unique scientist,” Dugas said. “He blends his passion for the natural world, science education and outreach, and many other things in a way that is the complete package.”

Matsuda is set to graduate spring of 2015, and plans to pursue a doctorate in evolutionary and marine biology. “My experiences up to this point have been very rich and it’s prepared me to take on these challenges,” he said. “It has been very fulfilling and I’m really excited for the future.”

ASI cuts 30 percent of funds for second year organizations DANIEL RIVERA

dmrivera@mail.sfsu.edu

Student organizations that apply for funds from Associated Students Inc. (ASI) this year for the second time will receive $500 less in funds to allocate resources for new student groups.

As part of the 2014-2015 ASI Budget, Vice President of Finance Ramon Gonzalez announced Sept. 6 that groups petitioning for ASI support for the second time could receive $1,000 this year rather than the $1,500 in years past.

All other group categories maintained their amount of funding from last year’s budget.

Groups who have been recognized and financed by ASI for more than 10 years will continue to receive $4,500, groups who

have been established for less than 10 years $1,500 and newly formed groups $500.

The ASI Finance Committee and Gonzalez came to the decision this summer after they reviewed how student groups utilized their funds. Gonzalez said this adjustment is meant to promote the growth of more student organizations by allocating resources that went unused by groups before.

“We ended up looking at past years and we noticed that second years would never use up the full $1,500,” Gonzalez said.

“That would allow more student organizations to be able to apply for funding. The goal is always to have more student organizations to have more funding.”

According to ASI ethnic studies representative and

Finance Committee member Luis De Paz, SF State students play a crucial role in the funding and maintenance of ASI organizations and other resources available on campus.

“Every university student pays $54 out of their tuition and it goes towards Associated Students, and from there it’s distributed to fund the many free programs available for all SFSU students like Project Connect, the Legal Resource Center, the Women’s Center, etcetera,” said De Paz. De Paz added that the increase in funding requests played a deciding factor in the reduction of money from organizations that applied for funding for the second year.

Funding goes towards covering expenses from publicity,

food, supplies and other resources groups may need to operate special events, according to the ASI Student Handbook.

Vincent Page, external public relations officer of the Asian Student Union at SF State, sympathized with the difficulty student groups may have to make their organizations successful.

“Their idea behind it is fair, but it limits second years,” Page said of second year organizations. “I feel like second and third years need the help because getting historical status is really hard.”

Groups earn historical status after being a recognized organization and receiving support from ASI for 10 years or more.

Their tenure prompts them to host events of “important cultural significance” and makes them

eligible to receive up to $4,500 in funding a year, the largest amount possible.

Gabriella Matthews, social chair for the one-year-old Devoted Women for Change organization on campus, said her group has managed to fundraise their own events without money from ASI. Although they have enjoyed success, Matthews said the cut may put pressure on organizations to come up with the funds they need on their own.

“It’s difficult to fundraise and sometimes you have to go out of your own pocket to do it,” Matthews said. “You can’t always rely on other people’s funding, so sometimes you gotta have your own back. We can do a lot with the money we’re given, if (it’s) just used properly.”

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

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Animators behind ‘Beavis and Butthead’ change direction with poignant documentary PETER SNARR

A

psnarr@mail.sfsu.edu

fter 16 years of working together in comedy, two New York animators decided to change gears and create a poignant documentary that captures what it is like to experience depression.

On Wednesday, Sept. 10, the cinema department, along with Acme Filmworks, hosted David Wachtenheim and Robert Marianetti for a screening of their works and an evening of questions from audience members.

Wachtenheim and Marianetti are a New York-based animation duo that got their start working on the hit MTV show “Beavis and Butthead” in the 1990s.

They then went on to animate 52 classic Saturday Night Live (SNL) cartoons, among other projects, such as “Journey To The Disney Vault,” “Ambiguously Gay Duo” and “Saddam and Osama,” which they screened Wednesday along to the sounds of laughter from the modestly-packed Coppola Theater.

Ron Diamond, emcee of the event and executive producer for

Acme filmworks, attested to the duo’s work ethic and genius.

“Dave and Robert contributed fantastically to the Drew Carey green screen show we did in 2004,” Diamond said, speaking to the animators. “I had a blast. I mean the work that all the directors turned in was fantastic, but (Wachtenheim and Marianetti) were hysterical.”

Following the animated shorts, Wachtenheim and Marianetti screened “My Depression,” a new animated documentary that tells the story of Elizabeth Swados, an off-broadway composer, writer and drama professor at New York University who has depression.

To raise awareness on how depression affects people, Swados published a picture book of drawings detailing her struggles with the disease.

Although she originally intended to show the book to friends and family, Swados later chose to publish the collection, which has gone on to win awards and is used in doctors offices to help people with depression, according to Marianetti.

“The (pictures in the collection) weren’t connected,”

ERIC GORMAN / XPRESS

VISION: (Left to right) Guest speakers David Watchtenheim and Rob Marianetti present an early screening of their latest project, a short cartoon documentary about depression, in SF State’s Coppola Theatre Wednesday, Sept. 10. The duo began their career together working on the Beavis and Butthead series, and later produced work for Saturday Night Live, Sesame Street and HBO.

Wachtenheim said. “They were just little affirmational things about what she goes through, and with her help we tried to give it a narrative flow.”

After receiving a positive reaction to the book, Swados teamed up with Wachtenheim and Marianetti to turn the story into a half-hour animated documentary.

The film features voice acting from Sigourney Weaver, Steve Buscemi, Fred Armisen and Dan Fogler.

Wachtenheim and Marianetti said they hope their work can educate the public on how depression affects those who

experience it.

Following the screening, the animators answered questions from the crowd and spoke about the process of “My Depression,” as well as working on SNL, the new “Hotel Transylvania 2” movie and “Beavis and Butthead,” which Marianetti admits they did not think would become the hit that it is today.

After working together for over 16 years, Marianetti described the duo’s partnership as almost a marriage.

Wachtenheim deals mostly with the actual process of drawing the characters and their movements, while Marianetti

deals with the layout and production of the animations.

“It really is a good collaboration because we both do separate things,” Wachtenheim said. “We overlap in certain areas, like the overall vision, but the specific jobs we really do separately.”

The animators decided, however, that it was time to take a new direction with their skills and make their animated documentary.

“We got to work on something completely different,” Marianetti said. “Something serious with a good humanitarian heart behind it.”

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

‘Strung Out’ screams for stress relief CECILIA ABATE

T

cabate@mail.sfsu.edu

HE DEPOT gave students a stage to flex their musical talent last Thursday at Strung Out, one of the venue’s mixed-artist shows this month.

The Sept. 11 show catered to relaxation. The posters around campus boast “chill vibes” and free music in a place where students can bring a friend and ease into the weekend.

Those interested do not have to be in a band or have an established sound to play and many of the performers are solo acts who love learning to play new instruments or jamming for fun in their spare time.

“I’ve been (to The Depot) multiple times and it’s always loads of fun,” said Silver Friedline, 20, a cinema major. “I’d like to see more big names, as I’m sure many people say, but I also love the student bands that play there.”

The crowd at the venue was enthusiastic about each new set and milled around freely,

AMANDA PETERSON / XPRESS

CHILL: SF State alumnus Eric Alban, 23, performs at the Strung Out show at The Depot in the lower conference level of the Cesar Chavez Student Center Thursday, Sept. 11.

some clustering to the front to pay solid attention while others hung back against the wall with a beer.

The performers set up and took down their sets with ease and joked freely with the crowd.

“I’ve been playing horns (trumpet and french horn) for

14 years now, classically,” said Ashlee Pootok, a performer who brought a crowd-pleasing remix of Khia’s “My Neck, My Back” into her lineup. “I’ve been playing guitar for a few months and suck at it, but it’s impossible to sing and play a horn so I’m making do.”

Pootok has been working

on her music for years, but said she is just starting to perform in front of crowds as a solo act.

“Music is a hobby that takes up a lot of my time,” Pootok said. “I’m a BECA major, and I’ve played at The Depot a few times with dot Vom. This is the second time I’ve ever performed live, alone.”

The audience got to hear a range of styles at the event, as talent and experience differed from performer to performer.

Sean Thompson, a music major and another one of the night’s acts, is a self-taught guitar player.

“Acoustic guitar is my main instrument, although I can pick up a stringed instrument and pick it up after a few plays,” Thompson said. “I suck at piano and the sax, though.”

Thompson said he is comfortable performing live and has been debuting his acoustic stylings throughout the Bay Area.

“I’ve performed at a lot of different places, from small music festivals in the woods up north, as a lead guitarist in a band, in talent shows, open mics, secret shows and house parties,” Thompson said. “I’ve been playing around for a little while.”

The Depot presents its next band showcase at 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 24, and features a lineup of four small local bands: Everyone is Dirty, Fish Breath, Dinosaurs and Five Eyes.

Lack of lesbians in black cinema inspires reform by assistant professor NICOLE PARADISE

When new assistant professor of cinema Cheryl Dunye could not find any documentation of African-American lesbians in the history of black cinema, she found inspiration to create an archive of her own instead.

More than 30 years later Dunye has made numerous films about different forms of oppression, which she discussed with participants of a women and gender studies lecture Thursday afternoon.

Most recently, she won the award for Best Short Film at Frameline, San Francisco’s international LGBT film festival.

The winner of this particular award has been chosen by the festival audience since 1984. “I am very honored and grateful for this award especially since it was one chosen by the audience,” said Dunye, who has also been nominated for the Iris Prize Festival for Best LGBT Film in the world.

Her winning film, “BLACK IS BLUE,” tells the story of a character who transitioned from female to male and runs into a former partner from the past.

Dunye started making films in the late 1980’s as an undergraduate at Temple University in Philadelphia.

nparadis@mail.sfsu.edu

“It was the most effective way to ‘out myself in the picture’ in a world where there were little to no images of African-American lesbians,” Dunye responded after being asked why she got into filmmaking. Dunye added that she is inspired by humanity in all its richness, social justice and injustice.

“My advice is to start small but dream big,” Dunye said. She advises cinema students to surround themselves with the tools to complete a project. “SF State has an abundance of students and faculty to collaborate with and support your work.”

This is Dunye’s first semester teaching at the University and said her favorite part about teaching at SF State is the diverse community. “Everyone is here to exchange knowledge and make some sort of change in the world.”

“The cinema department at SF State has provided me with a lot of inspiration and opportunities,” said cinema student Karly Stark. This is Stark’s second year as a student in the MFA cinema program, focusing on experimental filmmaking. Stark said she has not had the opportunity to be in any of Dunye’s classes, but is currently working with Dunye as

ERIC GORMAN/ XPRESS

INSPIRED: Cheryl Dunye addresses the Women and Gender Studies Lecture Series class in the Humanities Building Thursday, Sept. 11. Dunye’s lecture focused on her research of the representation of black lesbians in cinema history.

Some of her work includes “The Watermelon Woman,” “Stranger Inside” and “The Owls.”

a research assistant.

“I feel so honored to be working with her and it’s amazing to be trusted and valued as a peer on her upcoming projects,” Stark said. “I also feel like she is incredibly committed to mentorship and helping us (students) develop as artists and teachers/ scholars.”

Stark said she is inspired

by Dunye’s work, especially the film “The Watermelon Woman.”

As a young aspiring queer woman filmmaker, Stark says Dunye’s work ultimately showed her that queer women can make films and be successful in the field.

Desiree Buford, director of exhibition and programming at Frameline, said Dunye has a history of pushing the boundaries of storytelling by blending dynamic narrative and personal documentary into a singular cinematic vision.

In her latest short film, “BLACK IS BLUE,” Dunye examines the experience of transgender men of color whose intersecting identities are often misrepresented or invisible in film and media. “‘BLACK IS BLUE’ is an impactful work about the importance of living an authentic life and honoring one’s whole self,” Buford said.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

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Gaming just got a little more mainstream REUBEN DEVERAS rdeveras@mail.sfsu.edu

G

aming broke into the mainstream when Amazon purchased a popular video game-streaming service last August, and is now receiving mixed reviews from players at SF State and within the city itself.

Gamers were both surprised and relieved when the major company purchased San Francisco-based service Twitch for $970 million.

SF State theatre major Eric Beck, a competitive fighting game player and president of the University’s gaming club, Student Association of Gaming and Technology (SAGAT), uses Twitch to stream his game matches online.

“We know we’re the strongest players on campus,” Beck said, regarding his skills at Street Fighter, a popular fighting game.

Beck participates, as well as commentates, in Showdown Entertainment’s weekly Street Fighter IV tournament, called “Churning the Butter,” at SoMa’s Folsom Street Foundry, a warehouse-sized bar and entertainment space.

Showdown Entertainment, an event organizer, hosts the tournament every Thursday, where gamers from all over the Bay Area travel to the Folsom Street Foundry to compete, drink and play games of all genres.

From Settlers of Catan to Mario Kart 8, gamers laugh, converse and compete with one another.

With the sudden flick of his wrist and a button press, spectators cheered last Thursday as

Beck’s Street Fighter character Zangief performed a spinning piledriver move on his opponent.

A year ago, Beck was playing a similar game, Ultra Street Fighter, in an arcade cabinet in the Cesar Chavez Student Center.

Now, thousands of online spectators can watch him and other professional players pummel one another on a colossal projector.

With Amazon’s recent acquisition of Twitch, gamers at the Folsom Street Foundry expressed interest and concern on Twitch’s future. Rumors circulated that Google had made moves to purchase Twitch, which upset players because of Google’s impositions on Youtube.

Whispers of copyrighted music being blocked by Google’s algorithm daunted users who often streamed on Twitch, according to Beck. However, with Amazon’s influence, Beck said he is excited about Twitch’s future.

CJ Scaduto, president of Showdown Entertainment was also seen at Thursday’s event, but holding a beer in place of a controller.

Scaduto is a businessman who works for a uniform rental company, but still stays involved in the gaming community by collaborating with players, as well as Twitch, to make events like “Churning the Butter” happen.

“Look around, almost everyone here has an 8-5 job in a respectable field doing things for Youtube, Google and Twitch,” Scaduto said as he waved his arms and pointed toward the crowd.

According to Scaduto, Twitch streamers who play copyrighted music in the background of their videos are making money playing other artists’ music

FRANK LADRA / XPRESS

SHOWDOWN: Gaming fans engage in a strategic board game at the “Churning the Butter” event at the Folsom Street Foundry in San Francisco’s SoMa District Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014.

through Twitch’s integrated video advertising. With Amazon, those artists can be reimbursed for having their music played via a pop-up on the video player that gives the audience an option to purchase the song.

According to Twitch’s CEO Emmet Shear in an interview with Cnet, a San Francisco-based technology review site, Twitch has driven video game purchases with partners like Amazon by linking products to pages as a way to advertise to gamers.

Shear had stated to Cnet that Amazon will not turn Twitch into a store.

“It would destroy what Twitch is,” Shear said in the interview. “I know it’s the last thing I want and I think it’s the

last thing Amazon wants, too.”

Salvator Gomez, a Bay Area car technician, towered over the crowd of spectators carrying his gamepad as well as a smile.

Gomez is a professional fighting game player like Beck and the two have clashed before at the Folsom Street Foundry.

“That guy’s a badass,” Beck said of Gomez’s skills. The two played against each other at Thursday’s event while 1,500 viewers watched the match on Twitch last week.

Gomez stated that he was reluctant about Amazon’s purchase but added that he will support everything with the two companies as long as the gaming streams remain free to watch.

Beck and Showdown Enter-

tainment have a deal with Twitch to display “Churning the Butter” on the front page of Twitch’s website every Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

He stated that this deal is significant in garnering the attention of the fighting game community in the Bay Area and centralizing it in one location.

Beck said he ultimately supports Amazon’s purchase of Twitch and that companies are finding different ways to keep up with players who look to online for viewing games.

“We’re spoiled as a consumer,” he said. “We’re in the golden age of advertising and the producers are catching up, especially online.”

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OPINION

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

The NFL is rife with bad role models

BRADLEY FOCHT

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF bfocht@mail.sfsu.edu

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T

KYLE MCLORG

kmclorg@mail.sfsu.edu

he NFL is my heroin, and I got started on it early. Fandom is a genetic disease, and mine started a lot like yours probably did. Maybe your brother gave you your first hit at the Oakland Coliseum. Maybe it was with some cousins at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. My 49ers fandom was a birthright, handed down to me by my father over so many autumn weekends out at Candlestick Park.

My dad was a great person, and so many of the lessons he taught me about being a man could be told through the prism of the gridiron. Teamwork, responsibility, relentless drive, camaraderie, heart – Dad would point a finger to the field from our nest in Upper Reserve 52, and through my binoculars I could see these traits personified. By playing the game as a teenager, those traits galvanized inside of me.

My understanding and love for football only grew through those days. But I don’t get the NFL anymore, and I’m starting to hate it.

I’m 27 now, and years have gone by since I last strapped on a cleat or saw my dad. He lost his battle to lung cancer when I was 21, and although we spread his ashes out at Stinson Beach, the times I’ve felt most close to him were when I returned to Candlestick Park.

So it’s easy to see why, in my most idealistic moments, I can inflate the worth of football so much. I see the NFL as the gladiator games of our empire. One day, archeologists will dig up the Americas and find the remains of giant coliseums where brutes clashed in hopes of clutching glory and becoming champions. Of course, sports writing will tell

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SHAWN PERKINS / XPRESS

the tales, like Latin characters chiseled into marble.

But what will these future generations read about today’s NFL and its heroes? That this multi-billion dollar empire watched its Hall of Famers deteriorate to the point of insanity from so many hits to the head like Jim McMahon, only to fight them in court over health insurance benefits?

That Wes Welker’s exploits with drugs became a more important story than the three concussions he suffered in ten months, if only because of the comic relief that the former story offers?

That depression became so unbearable for greats like Junior Seau that they felt suicide was the only answer?

And will they read that this league – the league that taught me so much about being a man of integrity when I was young – sim-

ply turns the other cheek to one of its stars brutally beating his fiancée, only to backtrack and spout lies and excuses when their shoddy façade falls?

Surely this is the same NFL that I fell in love with as a kid; the same NFL that I bonded with my father over. It’s just grown too large and too fast for us to understand. It’s getting too much exposure to hide in plain sight anymore.

Indeed, these are our gladiator games, in the sense that we gather by the thousands every Sunday, starving for violence, ready to feed our most carnal subconscious, just like the Romans. Who cares about the collateral damage – those human lives – because the National Football League is morally bankrupt, and by extension, so are we.

But it won’t change. It doesn’t have to, because we won’t quit it. No matter how disgusted we are, we won’t stop watching. And we are guilty by association.

Football is the great distraction, America’s new “Opiate of the Masses,” a Sunday trip to church for those not religiously inclined. I turn to NFL Live when I don’t want to be burdened by the plight of the world for a while, and yet it seems that football has become just another mirror on which that plight casts its hideous image. This league perpetuates violence, objectifies women, requires drug use and literally kills its own employees. It’s a grand estate built on a cracked foundation.

I’ve always wanted to have a son that I could share my love of football with, just like my dad did with me. But I’m not so sure I want to put that burden on him anymore.

Football is my great addiction, and the NFL is my pusher. Everyday I watch what it does in disgust and horror, but I just can’t quit. None of us can.

Craze over new line of products shows Apple is here to stay MICHAEL DURAN michaeld@mail.sfsu.edu

A small garage located in Los Altos, Calif. was where Apple, one of the biggest names in technology was created. In 1975, Steve Jobs and a couple of his buddies had no idea it would turn out to be a global phenomenon.

Today, Apple is a technological overlord and we should be happy about that.

Apple is branching out to other products like watches and credit cards, making it easier for consumers to have all they need in one place, through one company. People do not need to go to one institution to get a watch, then another to get a computer.

Apple is the now and the future.

Every year, Apple has a special event to introduce any new or exciting products that are near production. This year, Apple raised some eyebrows and got the rest of the world excited for its new products on Sept. 9.

Glitches throughout the livestreamed event caused people to go on Twitter to complain. It was funny to see that the same audience that anticipated the event began to whine and rant that the stream was not working. Apple is offering something revolutionary, but people start to complain instantly when technology is not fast.

Just as expected, Apple went bigger with their new phones.

The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, introduced the world to the iPhone 6 and its counterpart iPhone 6 Plus. At 5.5 inches, the iPhone 6 Plus seemed like a small tablet.

The first question that popped in my head was, “Does that even fit in your pocket?”

Mashable printed a 3D version of the iPhone 6 Plus and handed it around the office to see how they would react to the size.

One of the testers said, “If you had like really big, huge, giant Grizzly Adams hands you would be able to hold this.”

Nearly $200 is a small price to pay for the most up to date product that Apple has to offer.

It is totally worth all of the new gadgets and cool features that it comes with.

The world was not ready for the Apple Watch. Wearable technology is already an up and coming trend. Pebble and Samsung already have smartwatches, but Apple took it a step further.

Surprise, surprise.

Even though the Apple Watch has Siri, a heartbeat monitor and interchangeable bands, $350 is too high to pay.

However, no other smartwatch in the business has come out with something like this. At first, it might be a little weird talking to your watch, but soon it will be as normal as texting.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SHAWN PERKINS / XPRESS

ApplePay, a new payment system that connects your credit card information straight to your phone, was also introduced at Apple’s unveiling event. From a consumer point of view, this was worrisome. If your phone falls into the wrong hands, you’re screwed.

Apple really outdid itself this time. Everyday things like a

wallet or watch, have now been replaced with Apple products.

As Apple introduced a slew of new products and software, the world got a glimpse of what Apple has done for our society. It has created a one-stop company where we can get what we need.

Apple is not going anywhere. We need to embrace it.

OPINION

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

9

STAFF EDITORIAL

Domestic violence tolerated for too long

If a woman strikes a man, he should be able to strike her back, right? Wrong.

This mantra, spewed from the mouths of fools for far too long, perpetuates a culture that is complicit with domestic violence.

When a video surfaced of Ray Rice, former Baltimore Ravens running back, showing him brutally knocking out his then-fiancée, we expected backlash from women across the country.

Instead we found some women defending Rice’s actions.

“A man shouldn’t have to sit there and take the abuse,” said one woman to Fox Sports 1.

Another woman said to NBC News, “She hit him first and any woman who hits a man deserves to be hit.”

But Janay Palmer ultimately married Rice, standing firm in her decision to remain with him after the event and quick to defend him when the video of her assault surfaced.

“No one knows the pain that the media & unwanted (opinions) from the public has caused my family,” Palmer wrote on Instagram. “To make us relive a moment in our lives that we regret everyday is a horrible thing…

Just know we will continue to grow & show the world what real love is! Ravensnation we love you!”

Perhaps increased visibility of domestic violence statistics would elevate awareness of the such issues that are so prevalent in society.

One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime and an estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Despite the fact that anyone with an Internet connection can access this information some people still infer that the injured party is the one at fault.

Victim blaming, as the term is known, refers to a social and psychological phenomenon wherein the fault in a crime (rape, robbery, assault) is attributed to the victim.

The victim is regarded as partly or completely responsible for the accident or trauma, according to the Psychology Dictionary.

It is appalling to read that people blame Palmer for being assaulted. Their perspective both

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SOFIA LIMON / XPRESS

devalues her assault and delegitimizes the horror she experienced.

Instead of saying she should not have hit him first, we should be asking why some still believe it is acceptable to abuse a woman or another person, regardless of gender.

Moreover, we should be asking why a 5-foot-8, 206-pound man who said his max bench press was 400 pounds, was defended for his actions.

In a culture where it is socially acceptable to refer to a

sleeveless white shirt as a “wife beater” without batting an eye, it comes as no surprise that domestic violence is so prevalent throughout American homes.

This may not be as easy as changing the name of a garment or slapping the wrist of a professional athlete—it starts with education.

Take the time to know the statistics. Get involved in community outreach programs.

Listen to personal stories. As a community, we can initiate change together.

CORRECTION FROM ISSUE 3 A story published by Xpress last week incorrectly stated in a headline that SF State has the only female hockey player in the Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association. Sources confirmed there are at least two other women in the PCHA, and there could be more by the time teams set final rosters in 2-3 weeks.

10 SPORTS

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

SPLASH: (Right) Hundreds of swimmers paddle for the finish line at San Francisco’s Aquatic Park during the Alcatraz Invitational Swim Sunday, Sept.

14.

(Far right) Swimmers take to the shore at the finish line of the Alcatraz Invitational Swim Sept. 14.

FRANK LADRA/ XPRESS

Faculty members swim from Alcatraz for undocumented students THOMAS DE ALBA tdealba@mail.sfsu.edu

T

wo SF State faculty members completed a 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco’s Aquatic Park last Sunday in an effort to raise money for a scholarship that funds undocumented students.

Nancy Jodaitis, a financial aid advisor, and Karla Castillo, a mental health counselor, finished the Alcatraz Invitational Swim, raising more than $2,100 for the Continue the Dream for Academic Excellence Scholarship.

The event featured a slew of more than 1,000 swimmers trying to get to the finish line in rough currents.

“I made it,” a winded Jodai-

tis said. “It wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be, but I made it.”

To prepare for the event, the two women trained regularly over the period of a month by swimming in the San Francisco Bay, according to Jodaitis.

“I’ve been a swimmer for a long time, but open water swimming is a lot different,” Jodaitis said. “I thought I was going to be scared, but I wasn’t.”

Castillo said her swimming background comes from casual time she spent in the pool at SF State during her lunch hours.

“I was overwhelmed (because) I felt I was swimming for something bigger than myself,”

Castillo said. “It was an amazing experience, and it wasn’t even that cold.”

Jodaitis and Castillo took on the challenge with two friends, earning money through a GoFundMe campaign put together by the AB 540 task force at SF State, which helps identify and assist undocumented students who cannot get financial aid.

SF State alumnus Marcos Tapia, one of their fellow supporters who swam with them, said he organized the event for their group after the two women approached him.

“I was already going to do it, and they said they wanted to come along too,” Tapia said.

New logo reaps positive reviews from athletes and alumnus

PHOTOS BY WAYNE SALVATORE / SPECIAL TO XPRESS

WOMEN’S SOCCER Elizet Ceja Game-winning goal vs. San Martin and two shots on goal last week

THOMAS DE ALBA tdealba@mail.sfsu.edu

change in the logo’s 83-year history in August, which shows a more intimidating and modernized rendition of the Gator.

The change brought mostly favorable reviews from athletes and alumni.

“I like it a lot better than last year’s,” said SF State wrestler Payton Russum. “Last year’s logo was like a middle school logo.”

The Gator changed from a smug cartoon gator decked out in purple SF State gear, to a simple and more realistic alligator crouching below a trademarked “SF State” inscription.

“I really like the new logo a lot and I think they got it right,” said Russ Stanley, the San Francisco Giants vice president of ticket sales, who graduated from SF State in 1988. “It’s a little more fierce than it used to be.”

Trasvina estimated there are more than 600 undocumented students at SF State.

In its third year, Jodaitis and Castillo expect the scholarship to be awarded to six recipients. Jodaitis said the group exceeded their goal of funds raised, and expect more money to come in before the scholarship’s Sept. 19 deadline.

“This event was so special for me because I got to mesh my love of swimming with my love of helping undocumented students,” Jodaitis said. “We’ve never done this before, but this is the most money we’ve ever raised (and) we’re planning on making this an annual event.”

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

SPORTS ORIENTED

SF State’s student athletes boasted gear with the school’s new logo for the first time last Thursday at the newly named Don Nasser Family Plaza in front of the gym.

However, SF State’s athletic teams will not receive uniforms with the new logo until next year, according to the Sports Information Office.

The logo changed more than a month after SF State hired Charles Guthrie as the athletic director for the University to reinvent the gator image, and breed a winning culture in athletics.

“It’s the start of what we’re trying to do to become a recognizable brand,” Guthrie said. “When we’re traveling and going through airports, we want people to know who we are.”

Guthrie made the fourth

“They were all gung-ho, and they said they wanted to raise money, so I said ‘let’s do it.’”

According to Nicky Trasvina, SF State’s advisor of liberal and creative arts, the scholarship helps undocumented students in California who are part of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) act pay for their tuition.

“The AB 540 Task Force helps dreamer students get out with their degrees in the most time efficient way we possibly can,” Trasvina said. “They understand that every unit counts because they are paying for their tuitions out of their own pockets.”

Although the tougher design drew praise from many, one SF State athlete said she preferred the older one.

“I don’t see why we had to change it after so long,” said Ashley Alvarez, member of SF State’s track team. “I think the purple is a bit too dark, it looks really burnt.”

The athletes swarmed the refurbished gym after the ribbon cutting ceremony to play games and see the shiny new court.

SF State recently completed a $2.1 million upgrade to the gym, which President Leslie E. Wong described as decrepit and embarrassing before the renovations.

Wong said he wanted the autographs of every athlete in attendance to present to Don Nasser in honor of the plaza’s new name.

MEN’S SOCCER Sam Merritt Two goals and two assists last week, led team in points

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL Bria Morgan 33 scores and four saves last week

SPORTS 11

SEPTEMBER 17, 2014 GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT

FLYING DISC: (Far Left) Claudia Arquero, 18, leaps for a pass during Ultimate Frisbee club practice at the West Campus Green on Friday Sept. 12, 2014.

(Top Right) Jacob Hsieh, 22, steps up to the front of the line and prepares to throw a leading pass for a teammate during drills, Sept. 12.

(Bottom Right) Jacob Hsieh extends his leg to try and block Tori Suarez’s throw during a 3-on-3 practice scrimmage, Sept. 12.

SARA GOBETS / XPRESS

Ultimate Frisbee catches on with student athletes “The overwhelming, pervasive idea is called ‘spirit of the game,’” Brunst said, who described the matches as lively and the unity between competition as an important function of the game. “This has an ‘antiwin-at-all’ clause, and you call your own fouls.”

Brunst said they welcome players of all skill levels, like Tony Barbieri, a 23-year-old senior without any prior ultimate Frisbee experience. Barbieri said he found the team tabling at the start of the semester and decided to join up.

“Everyone is really welcoming and willing to teach you,” said Barbieri, who grew up playing basketball competitively,

but had to call it quits after he injured his knee.

Barberi said he was looking for something to keep him active and help him meet new people, and ultimate Frisbee gives him that.

“I like that it’s laid back,” said Claudia Arquero, an 18-year-old freshman whose only experience with ultimate Frisbee before she joined SF State’s team was a crash course and one game in the SF league.

Arquero said that, like Barbieri, her background is in basketball and track, and while she is weighing her options on continuing to pursue those sports, she wants to stay active through ultimate Frisbee.

Not everyone on the team is discovering ultimate Frisbee for the first time at SF State.

Brunst said he has played since he was 16 years old.

“I think what drew me to it was, I played tournament soccer throughout my life and the attitude on the field – I wasn’t feeling it,” Brunst said. “We’ve had more people who have played (ultimate Frisbee) competitively before, people who got experience in high school. There are so many high school programs these days.”

At only five practices in, the team is getting its bearings and developing its schedule.

SF State’s first tournament takes place Oct. 18 and 19 in Chico, followed by another on

Oct. 25 and 26 at Sonoma State University.

The team is also scheduled to play in the College Sectional in May – a tournament that determines which teams go on to the Regionals and, eventually, the Nationals.

Seeding in the tournaments is based on performance historically, and after a rough season last year, Brunst expects to be seeded near the bottom of the 16-team pack when they show up in Chico.

But that’s only motivation for this SF State squad, and especially for newcomers like Barbieri.

“They didn’t win a game last year,” he said, “so I want to step up and help this team this year.”