Spring 2019 Issue 2

page 2 COLOMBO’S FAMILY INCREASES AWARD FOR SUSPECT

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page 8 BASKETBALL SQUAD BOUNCES BACK

ARTIST SHARES EXPERIENCE

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THE STUDENT VOICE OF SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1927

TUESDAY, FEB. 5, 2019

REMEMBERANCE

PRESIDENT

Loved ones honor an ‘Angel’ JULIE PARKER AND JAILENE ESCUTIA Xpress Editors staff@goldengatexpress.org

Family, friends and classmates remember SF State junior Angelina Pinedo, who was killed in a Redondo Beach hit-andrun Jan. 26, as a friendly, optimistic, outgoing young woman with a bright future.

Perched atop the Cesar Chavez Student Center between rain showers, loved ones lit candles and celebrated the 21-year-old business major’s life Monday evening in the wake of the devastating loss.

“She loved being a part of this school, it was her dream to come here,” Pinedo’s aunt Veronica Duran said. “Her sister Michelle came here, so she visited as a kid and we have a picture of her holding [Michelle’s] diploma.”

SF State was Pinedo’s home away from home years before she enrolled in 2016, because as a child she often spent weekends visiting her older sister on

CAMPUS HOLDS OPEN SEARCH CELINE HERRERA Staff Reporter xpress@sfsu.edul.com

JAMES CHAN/Golden Gate Xpress

People light candles for a vigil for Angelina Pinedo at the top of the Cesar Chavez Student Center, on Feb 4.

campus. It was then that she developed an affinity for the vantage point afforded by the stairs above Cesar Chavez where her twilight vigil was held.

“We have a 15-year age difference and she would spend a lot of weekends and some holidays [on campus],” Michelle Pinedo said. “We used to walk up there and it was her favorite spot on campus.”

Pinedo was a business major, but she was planning to apply to the sociology department because she had dreams of becoming a social worker to help disadvantaged children.

During high school she worked with children as a camp counselor and lifeguard at a country club in Manhattan Beach with her older brother Michael Pinedo.

“I’ve experienced firsthand her dealing with kids, her patience, her calmness and tending to the needs of the young ‘uns,” he said. “She was a pretty great leader with them. [She] kept them in check [and] kept them safe.”

“She enjoyed kids,” he added. “She was a kid

• PINEDO

The CSU Board of Trustees is conducting an open search to find a qualified candidate to succeed President Leslie E. Wong, who announced last fall he would be retiring at the end of July.

It’s the beginning of what is a long road ahead in the search for the next SF State president.

“This can be a challenging place to be a president and I think that it’s not for everybody,” Academic Senate President Nancy Gerber said. “I want to make sure that somebody who might look good on paper is really right for our campus.”

Adam Day, chairman of the Board of Trustees, will appoint two committees to assist in the search: the Trustees Committee for the Selection of the President and the Advisory Committee to the aforementioned group.

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• SEARCH

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POLICY

Faculty union contests Academic Senate final’s schedule JULIE PARKER Staff Reporter jparker1@sfsu.edul.com

The California Faculty Association, a union that represents instructors at SF State, is fighting an Academic Senate policy that went into effect this fall on the grounds that it changes working conditions and was approved without input from the union.

The policy, F17-242, pertains to the academic calendar and requires faculty members to convene classes during finals week irrespective of whether they have finals to proctor. It’s being viewed by the union as a ‘cookie cutter’ approach to a complex issue.

“Some [professors] don’t give finals at all, they have papers and things,”CFA’s SF State chapter President James Martel said. “We’re trying to avoid a one-size-fits-all model.”

Academic Senate President Nancy Gerber said this requirement isn’t new, though, and is simply an emphasis on requirements put in place in the 1970s.

“That’s ridiculous!” CFA representative professor Larry Hanley said.

“That’s like saying we shouldn’t be able to drink beer despite the 21st Amendment. The way policy works is when you pass a new law you invalidate the previous law.”

And Hanley would know. He had Gerber’s job chairing the Academic

Senate from 2012 to 2014.

“So 1976, that’s what 43 years ago?” he said. “There have been many revisions of that policy over those four decades.”

CFA Field Representative Maureen Loughran agrees, noting that the past three revisions to the policy in 2007, 2011 and 2014 did not include the finals week requirement.

“In past iterations of this policy the university has not required the classes meet during finals week if no final exam was scheduled, but [this is] a policy revision which includes a requirement to hold a class meeting during finals week,” Loughran said.

“And because it changes the language

of the policy it affects the working conditions of the faculty and the union has a right to confer with management.”

The Academic Senate generally seeks feedback from faculty before making policy changes like F17-242, but in this case the CFA said it was circumvented. It was only alerted when confused faculty members began calling with questions about the policy nearly nine months after its Oct. 31, 2017, Academic Senate approval.

“I think the administration is just stonewalling,” Loughran said. “There’s an organization called Western Association of State Colleges—WASC— and

• FINALS

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TUESDAY, FEB. 5, 2019

Slain graduate’s family seeks closure PAUL EICHENHOLTZ City News Editor peichenh@mail.sfsu.edu

The killing of a successful SF State graduate remains unsolved months after his life was cut short in Chicago, leaving those closest to him with more questions than answers.

Shane Colombo died after receiving multiple gunshot wounds in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago on Sept. 2, just hours before he was set to start a doctorate program at Northwestern University. The 25-year-old student had survived cancer as a youth and propelled himself through school with a determination to succeed.

Colombo’s mother, Tonya Nishimuta Colombo, flew out to Chicago from California last month for a press conference announcement on Jan. 25. On her way from the airport, her Lyft driver unwittingly drove past the street where her son died.

“It was a shock. I started crying the moment I realized where we were,” she said.

Despite an anonymous donation in December bringing the reward for information to $12,000 and surveillance footage of suspects at the scene of the crime, no arrests have been made.

“Everything is kind of in limbo. It’s very frustrating for us to not have any closure,” she said. “All I could think of is these guys are out there doing whatever and my son is

“He went through a lot in his short lifetime. He could have helped a lot of people” -Tracy Nishimuta, aunt

COURTESY OF TONYA NISHIMUTA COLOMBO /Special to Golden Gate Xpress

in a box.”

Colombo graduated from SF State in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, attending Columbia University for the next two years before accepting a full scholarship at Northwestern University to earn his PhD, according to SF BUILD. Colombo was on his way to his fiancé and their new apartment in Chicago when two men started shooting at each other. He was transported to St. Francis Hospital shortly before he was pronounced dead, according to Chicago police officer Jessica Rocco.

“I wanted to make sure people knew what Shane was about. He wasn’t a gang member,” Tonya Colombo said.

“You could ask any of his friends. He would always make people his priority to make sure they were OK.” As a single mother, she would often work late into the night while her sister, Tracy Nishimuta, babysat Colombo and his older brother as kids.

“He was just so sweet. When he was a little kid he would put both hands on the sides of your face to make sure you were connecting with him,” Nishimuta said. “He had this big bear hug. He was such an affectionate, loving person.”

Nishimuta remembers her nephew as a strong-willed individual even at an early age. From nearly drowning as a child to surviving cancer as a teen, Colombo always pushed forward.

Committee hosts forum • SEARCH

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The Advisory Committee comprises nearly a dozen members including Gerber, faculty representatives Robert Keith Collins and Mary Beth Love, staff representative Shae Antonette Hancock and ASI President Nathan Jones, among others. Its role is to help winnow the candidate pool by providing feedback, reviewing applications and interviewing candidates.

The Trustees Committee is a much smaller group that includes Day, four members of the Board of Trustees and Chancellor Timothy P. White. They will make the final hiring decision.

The search is closed to the public in order to maintain the confidentiality of the candidates, which, according to Gerber, has received some pushback because candidates will not be on campus as they vie for the job.

“I will say that the student, staff and faculty representatives have spoken about this, and we strongly believe that it is our responsibility to make sure that those two to three finalists from whom the Board of Trustees will choose the next president are all two to three excellent choices,” Gerber said. “Basical-

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ly, no matter who the trustees choose, we want to make sure those people are exceptional to our campus and would make an excellent presidential candidate.”

Gerber said the Advisory Committee hopes to get as much input from students, faculty and the community as possible, and a report based on a survey given to students on what they want in the next president will be submitted to the search committees.

“One trend I’ve noticed is that students want someone who is more student-oriented and someone who is not so much big corporation- and donation-oriented,” Jones, the AS president, said. “Obviously that is a job of the president. They want to raise money for the university, they want people to donate to programs at the university, but I also feel like this other big part of your job as a president of the university is to be an advocate for students — a champion for students.”

An open forum will be held Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at McKenna Theater in the Creative Arts Building on campus and will be livestreamed. A closed meeting will follow. Two addi-

SF State alumnus Shane Colombo was about to earn his PhD at Northwestern University on a full scholarship when he was killed in a shootout last summer. (Contributed/Tonya Nishimuta Colombo)

“I think the story touched a lot of people because this is somebody who had gone so far. The determination and hard work of beating the odds only to have this happen to him,” Nishimuta said. “He went through a lot in his short lifetime. He could have helped a lot of people.”

Colombo’s older brother, Dane Colombo, remembers him as a “sweetheart” who “did what was right without hesitation.”

The Colombo brothers did everything together growing up, from brainstorming ways to buy gifts for their mother to defending each other in a brawl during a punk rock concert.

Colombo dedicated himself to his academic studies while his older brother focused on creating music. Now more than ever, his older brother said music helps him heal.

“Whenever I’m playing music and playing a song, I feel his presence there. I feel like he can see me and hear me,” he said. “I don’t know what happens after death, but I feel like if there’s any way to reach him, it’s music.”

Colombo’s family said they would like people to keep his memory alive, which they hope will encourage someone to come forward and bring his killers to justice.

“He was my little brother. I loved him, and he loved me,” Dane Colombo said. “It makes me angry that they killed him. It’s devastating, but it’s really given me something to strive for. To never give up.”

tional forums will be held Feb. 27, from noon to 2 p.m., and March 13 from noon to 2 p.m.

President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Luoluo Hong said in an email. “We extend our deepest sympathies to Ms. Pinedo’s family and friends for their profound loss.”

Hugo Schwyzer was heading home from work at a nearby Trader Joe’s when he witnessed the aftermath of the accident, arriving shortly before Redondo Beach Police.

“There was already a big crowd around

her and there was a woman frantically trying to give her CPR in the street and lots of people were very upset,” Schwyzer told Xpress. “From the second that it happened I think there were dozens and dozens of people who tried to help and unfortunately there was nothing that could be done, but she was not alone.”

In addition to the crowd of concerned onlookers, Schwyzer saw pieces of a black bumper scattered in the roadway, though by the time he arrived the driver had fled the scene.

SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY

A NNOUNCEMENT PROPOSED CHANGES TO PROGRAM IMPACTION EFFECTIVE FALL 2020 San Francisco State University will hold a series of three public hearings to discuss proposed changes to admissions guidelines for the 2020-2021 academic year. These changes will affect freshmen and community college transfers. The proposed changes involve the removal of impaction at the program level at San Francisco State University for five (5) majors. To receive input from the public, hearings will be held on: Friday, 02/22/19, 11am-12pm, City of College of San Francisco, MUB 39 (Room M27) Friday, 03/01/19, 4-6pm, College of San Mateo, Building 10, Room 468 Monday, 03/04/19, 11 am-12pm, SFSU, Student Services Building, Room101 These meetings are wheelchair accessible. Individuals requiring other accommodations should contact SF State at 415-338-7227 as soon as possible. For more information on San Francisco State University program impaction, please visit the Impaction website at http://future.sfsu.edu/impaction

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VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE STORIES

ASI offers Oregon State AS adviser executive position Cody McFarland Copy Editor cmcfarla@mail.sfsu.edu

T

he SF State Associated Students Board of Directors elected to offer Drew Desilet, faculty advisor for AS of Oregon State University, the position of executive director during its meeting Wednesday.

University BART Discount increased to 50 percent Geoffrey Scott Staff Reporter gscott@mail.sfsu.edu

O

n Jan. 28, students received an email from Student Affairs and Enrollment Management announcing that the Gator Pass transit discount will increase to 50 percent for rides to and from the Daly City station.

The decision to increase the discount from 25 percent to 50 percent

Gospel Gators invite students to join their choir on Feb. 6 and 7 Sahar Swaleh Staff Reporter sswaleh@mail.sfsu.edu

T

he student choir group known as the Gospel Gators, invited new and experienced singers to join them on Jan. 30 to 31 and Feb. 6 to 7 for auditions and

CORRECTION In the last week’s issue on Jan. 29, the story “Professor files lawsuit against Wong,” James Martel, CFA SF chapter president, was misidentified as John Martel.

In the same story, assistant professors were identified as research assistants.

The Xpress regrets these errors.

TUESDAY, FEB. 5, 2019

ÇÅMPÜS 3

Angelina Pinedo 3/24/1997 — 1/26/2019 • PINEDO

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herself.”

Pinedo will be remembered by a wide circle of friends both at SF State and back home in Rosemead, including childhood friend Mary Tan who first met Pinedo in elementary school.

“I’m still struggling to come to terms with this reality, where Gina’s not a part of it,” Tan said.

“Everyone talks about the light she brought into other people’s life. She had a way of empathizing with folks she didn’t know and she had an energy, an aura that is so rare these days.”

The friends reconnected in the Bay Area when Tan enrolled at UC Berkeley a year before Pinedo started at SF State.

“It’s very cliche, but I’m lost for words,” Tan said.

Like many who knew Pinedo, SF State sophomore Alison Colcord called her a “people person.”

The two met in the spring of 2017 when they took a stress reduction class that neither much enjoyed. Both had friends in the class, and outgoing as always, Pinedo turned to Colcord one day and started a conversation.

“She sat in the same row as us and just started talking to us one day and we all became friends,” Colcord said. “She’s one of those people where she could make friends everywhere and everybody just got along with her.”

Pinedo’s sister Michelle said being shy was not in her nature, and that Pinedo always assumed the best in people.

“She loved just having conversations with people and getting to know them, she didn’t have reservations,” Michelle Pinedo said. “She was just a very loving, genuine, forgiving person and

she had such a bright personality.”

Colcord experienced this directly. She said Pinedo’s bright personality often had the effect of buoying her spirits.

“She was always really positive and optimistic,” Colcord said.

“I’m often not [optimistic], so it was very helpful, she made me feel better a lot.”

Pinedo was very physically active and enjoyed hiking, snowboarding and surfing. She also took part in a soccer club on campus and was one of only four women to practice with the SF State rugby team in 2017.

“We were trying to put together a women’s team and she was one of the first people to come out,” Wade Hess, head coach of the rugby squad, said. “They were practicing and they wanted to learn the game a little more so they asked to play with the men.

She was one of the most outgoing, ready-to-try-anything girls.

[She was] nice and super coachable [and] she had a connection with everybody on the team.”

Hess said the effort to form a fully-fledged SF State women’s rugby team is still underway, which includes a website with a page honoring Pinedo.

“If there was a list of people who I thought wouldn’t be here, she would be pretty low on it,” said Hess. “[She was] one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.”

Another hobby of Pinedo’s was globetrotting, something she enjoyed doing with her sister.

Michelle Pinedo said the pair often talked about how they were ideal traveling partners. They had been to Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia and Mexico together, and embracing local cultures and spontaneity wherever they went

COURTESY OF MICHELLE PINEDO

was important to both sisters.

“We hiked a lot, and tried to soak in the culture,” Michelle Pinedo said. “We weren’t the type of travelers that booked a group package. We always did our research and liked to meet local people.”

They also often traveled by the seat of their pants, deciding to take off on a road trip to the Grand Canyon and leaving the next morning with only a destination in mind, or traveling through much of Southeast Asia without reservations.

Colcord said she’s still in shock at the loss of someone she spent so much time with in the last year.

“It’s really surreal because she was one of my closest friends here and the whole thing felt just not real,” Colcord said. “I have all these videos and photos with her and just looking at that stuff makes me want to hang out with her. Knowing that I can never do that anymore is just so devastating and confusing.”

As much as Pinedo loved traveling, she also loved being close to her roots back home in Rosemead. Michael Pinedo said she had a rare tenderness when consoling people of all ages,

including a senior couple with whom she attended church.

“She was great with the elderly people and she befriended Peggy and Ed,” he said.. “She would visit them and make sure they were good.”

Michael Pinedo said she had grown very fond of Peggy and Ed, as if they were her own grandparents. When Peggy and Ed died, her brother it as a sad and difficult time for Pinedo, but she was also well composed. She shared all the positive things, all the funny jokes and all the great talks they had.

“She didn’t want to dwell in their sickness, she wanted to uplift their legacy. It’s mind boggling to me that she taught us how to commemorate those two people and now she’s gone.

Now we have to honor her legacy of love, truth and happiness and really lead our lives with that example.”

Mental health services are available to students in the Student Services Building Room 205 or by calling (415) 338-2208. The Employee Assistance Program offers around the clock counseling to faculty and staff who call (800) 367-7474.

CSU, Academic Senate argue over finals requirements • FINALS

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they accredit universities and they kind of said something like, ‘You need more hours in the classroom during a semester.’”

The CFA has yet to see proof that WASC requires faculty to meet during finals week. But the fact that they were not consulted is the crux of the conflict.

“It’s really kind of disheartening.

We’re all colleagues,” Hanley said.

“The goal of shared governance is to collaborate, but I think with this policy there’s been no collaboration, no consultation and there’s just been this avoidance [on behalf of the administration].”

The CFA responded to the policy change with a July 25 ‘meetand-confer’ request addressed to Assistant Vice Chancellor of

Labor Relations, Rene Castro.

The right to meet and confer with CSU over systemwide changes impacting working conditions is something to which the union’s collective bargaining agreement entitles them, but the CFA said CSU was silent for months.

“The CSU does not believe a meet and confer is necessary because San Francisco State has required faculty to meet during exam week since 1976,” CSU Director of Public Affairs, Toni Molle said. “The Office of Statewide Labor Relations has conveyed to CFA that they can sit down and talk whenever CFA desires .

But Martel disputes Molle’s claim, saying while there have been recent communications with the Chancellor’s Office, CSU has yet to schedule an official meet-

and-confer.

“I still don’t understand why CSU is not meeting and conferring with us on this,” Martel said.

“We asked them in July and they still haven’t done it, but until they do, the policy is not valid.”

Loughran said the delay may be in part due to the fact Castro, formerly a supervisor at CFA before “switching to the dark side,” left his job in the Chancellor’s Office some time after the meet-andconfer letter was sent, leaving the office in a state of disarray.

But Loughran believes CSU is simply trying to steamroll the union. “[The Academic Senate] just added it to the policy and acted like they have to do this for accreditation so they shouldn’t have to bargain it with the union,” she said.

But the CFA argues the policy creates an environment in which faculty lose their right to teach how they want, and robs them of academic freedom by controlling how they schedule their classes. In shutting them out of the decision-making process and failing to meet and confer, union representatives say F17-242 is not valid.

The Academic Senate is scheduled to discuss the finals policy in their bi-weekly meeting Tuesday.

“This isn’t just the union being obstinate and insisting on our right to meet and confer,” Martel said. “The reason we have that in our contract is because a lot of these policies have very powerful impacts on faculty teaching and we just want to make sure the best possible policies are adopted for us.””

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TUESDAY, FEB. 5, 2019

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TAXI DRIVERS PROTEST SFO POLICY

NATALIA POURAZAR Staff Reporter npourazar@mail.sfsu.edu

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is facing controversy over a new airport regulation that blocks access to San Francisco International Airport for hundreds of drivers while prioritizing others.

The new policy, which went into effect Friday morning, is leading many taxi drivers into conflict not only with their biggest competitors like Uber and Lyft, but with each other.

The medallions, which are small license plate permits that allow taxi drivers to pick up passengers at the airport, will exist in a hierarchical system with the implementation of SFMTA’s new policy. The priority at SFO will be given to drivers who have what are known as purchased or “P” medallions, of which SFMTA has sold about 700 since 2010 at $250,000 apiece.

These drivers are facing fewer consequences than those who have “K” medallions, which are earned by seniority on a waiting list and can often take up to 15 years to obtain. Meanwhile, older licensees with “legacy” medallions are being restricted entirely from SFO. SFO is required to implement any new policy approved and admitted by SFMTA. “The airport has always had staging lots that are used to meter in taxi cabs to ensure that the MTA process for how taxi cabs can serve customers is being followed,” said SFO spokesperson Doug Yakel.

“We have essentially reconfigured staging lots to reflect this new arrangement,”

CARLY WIPF/GoldenGate Xpress Taxis line up at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on Jan. 31, 2019.

Yakel said. “We have staff that coordinate the movement to ensure that each location at each terminal always has enough taxis based on customer demand.”

The policy will continue to grant access to purchased medallions taxis, earned medallions taxis and ramp taxis, which are taxis that meet wheelchair and disability requirements, according to Yakel.

Conflict arose after many “K” medallion taxi holders said the new policy is favoring “P” purchased medallions taxi holders and will create fewer passenger pick-ups for those that earned their medallion.

“They are only allowing the people who purchased the medallion for $250,000

SFMTA aims to impose Lombard St. access fee AUDREY ESOMONU Staff Reporter aesomonu@sfsu.edu.com

The long, crooked attraction known as Lombard Street may not be free to visitors anymore as the San Francisco Transportation Authority met with residents on Jan. 30 to look for ways to

to have access to pick[ing] up [passengers] first by dividing the drivers,” said Michael Peterman, a taxi driver with two decades of experience.

Peterman said many taxi drivers still owe a lot of money for their medallions, and with fewer customers and the new rules in place, they will never be able to pay them off.

“Initially when they financed the medallions through the bank, the SFMTA signed to the bank that if there [is] not enough business for the drivers to pay the medallion loan, they would buy back the medallion.

Now they are renegotiating from what they agreed with the bank,” Peterman said. “By creating this division, they are trying to use the people who

ease traffic.

Lombard draws as many as 2.1 million visitors a year and is a popular tourist destination. But for many residents living near the singular street, the volume of visitors is becoming a concern, as traffic makes it harder to navigate the area.

In the summer of 2015, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority began the Lombard Street Reservations and Pricing Study, which sought to find ways to better manage visitor access to Lombard between Hyde and Leavenworth streets. Nearly 80 neighbors met with District 2 Supervisor Catherine Stefani at Yick Wo Elementary school Wednesday to discuss the ongoing issue.

Stefani said she supports charging visitors a fee if it’s considered carefully.

have worked like slaves to pay the bank for the next 20-30 years. They are entrapping these people even worse than what they are right now.”

As of Friday morning, the new policy started the division of taxis. Taxis that did not meet policy requirements were turned away by SFO. Muhammad Bathai, who has driven an earned medallion taxi for more than 31 years, explains how the policy accommodates purchased medallions.

“Three of the ‘P’ medallion taxi drivers will [be allowed to] go down [to] the lot [to pick up the passengers] and then one ‘K’ medallion taxi driver will go down,” Bathai said.

“It is three to one,” he said.

“I want to make sure if we implement [a visitor fee], we do it with a lot of support behind it,” she said. “These are real quality of life issues and I intend to address them.”

Lombard residents strongly supported regulating visitor traffic without disrupting life for locals in the neighborhood, according to the SFCTA fact sheet. The data also show a strong support for a reservation and pricing system.

“The reservation works to give people a time slot during which they can go down the street, and the pricing is designed to pay to keep that system going,” SFCTA spokesperson Eric Young said. “It would be kind of like a continuous revenue stream to keep that system in place.”

Barbara Bella, a longtime resident

“Which is not fair for any cab driver to sit here for many hours [just] because they did not purchase the medallion.”

Taxi drivers are required to have a medallion to pick up or drop off passengers at SFO while rideshare app services like Uber and Lyft are exempt.

Ismael Coronado, an Uber driver for the past two years, talked about how easy it is to pick up and drop off customers at the airport.

“Uber has their own section where you can drop off and pick up ride-shared apps,” Coronado said. “The only restriction is that I can’t take too long when I drop people off or when I am picking them up.”

Taxi drivers are also required to pay a much higher fee in insurance than services like Uber and Lyft, another disadvantage they have in comparison to rideshare apps. Peterman said he pays almost $900 a month while Coronado only pays $230 a month.

“If people could go back in time, they would have never bought these medallions,” taxi driver Muhammad Chadi said.

“Nobody is considering my livelihood as a taxi driver.”

SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose said SFMTA has been working on taxi reforms to improve the transportation system and maintain the value of purchased medallions. One of the key reforms is to ensure that drivers who have paid $250,000 for the medallions will have express access to SFO pick-ups.

“We believe this will improve business for these purchased medallion holders and help provide more taxis to the city,” Rose said.

SFMTA will be monitoring the policy and relying on feedback to make any adjustments.

of Hyde Street, said she sees this as an issue that affects everyone, not just residents.

“The need to address this is a quality of life issue but it’s also a safety issue,” Bella said. “First responders can’t get anywhere in the neighborhood… so we really need enforcement so the residents can come and go.”

Bella believes the proposal to charge visitors seems promising, but does not think it will solve the problem entirely.

Stefani and her team are looking at two proposals outlined by the SFCTA, she said, but no decisions have been made on either proposition.

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TUESDAY, FEB. 5, 2019

Photographer turns lifelong passion into profession ALI LEE Staff Reporter alee43@mail.sfsu.edu

As a 12-year-old boy backpacking through the Eastern Sierra, Nathan Kosta knew photography was his calling when he began capturing the vivid landscapes around him.

Now he’s a 32-yearold graduate student in the Master of Fine Arts program at San Francisco State, pursuing his childhood dream of curating art.

The majority of Kosta’s days are spent balancing his work time in the studio, his school work and teaching a digital photography class.

“When you’re a pro-

fessional artist you have what people refer to as an art practice — and Nathan is really good at practicing,” art department assistant professor Sean McFarland said.

As one of his department advisers, McFarland speaks of Kosta’s unrelenting passion in his profession with fondness.

“He’s very good at understanding the balance that it takes to both physically being in the studio making artwork and also researching ideas that revolve around the conceptual concerns of his artwork,” McFarland said.

Kosta said his passion for photography began

at a young age because his father, a photographer, introduced him to and taught him all about cameras.

Photography has been an integral part of his life ever since. What began as a simple appreciation of the beauty of landscapes has transformed into an understanding of ecology and the ability for his art to have a positive impact on environmental conservation.

The photographs he takes now focus on the relationship of humans to natural landscapes and on environmental destruction.

“In undergrad at UC Santa Cruz, I learned to use photography as a way to engage and discourse with the current political situation and promote awareness to ideas that I feel need to be discussed within our society,” Kosta said. After all his hard work and practice, Kosta’s art is being featured in the Embark Gallery beginning Friday.

The gallery is called Laughter and Tears and

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LOLA CHASE/Golden Gate Xpress

Nathan Kosta poses in his studio at SF State with footage he edited that was pulled from security cameras with unsecured Wi-Fi on Jan. 30, 2019.

will also include the work of three other San Francisco State MFA students.

Laughter and Tears showcases art that brings up important social and political events, but does so with humor in each piece. This will be the ninth gallery Kosta’s photos will be displayed at and he said he is the most excited about this exhibition because the theme of the gallery relates so well to the

themes of his own work.

One of his good friends since middle school, Katie Hatch, has always been a fan of Kosta’s work, even when she was living on the other side of the country.

She finds his dedication to his craft and unrelenting interest in all things camera admirable.

“He is one of those people who self-educates about every new thing that photography could

do just because he’s fascinated by it,” she said.

Kosta is also known to be generous with his artwork and will even give people prints for free, according to friends.

Kosta has many plans for his future, starting with graduating from the threeyear MFA program. From there he plans to continue taking as many photos as he can in the Bay Area with the hope of being shown in more galleries.

Power to the Pedal program highlights cycling benefits JANAE RODRIGUEZ Staff Reporter jrodriguez19@mail.sfsu.edu

Commuting is a big part of SF State’s culture. Students come from all over the area and use all forms of transportation to get to and from class. One form of transportation that seems to be least popular on campus is biking.

Power to the Pedal is one program on campus that encourages students to use bicycling as a form of transportation. They offer free bike repair services on campus every Tuesday and Wednesday at Malcolm X Plaza and every Thursday at the school’s farmers market.

The program began in 2013 and aims to help students with all their bike needs, at the convenience of their on-campus location. The program helps with maintenance tasks like adjusting brakes, tuning gears and fixing shifters. The program not only helps to repair SF State students’ bikes for free, but teaches students how they can fix bikes on their own. Their goal is to teach and provide bicycle maintenance while promoting the biking lifestyle.

SF State student Luz Juan volunteers with Power to the

Pedal. She is a working student who enjoys volunteering her extra time to promote cycling.

She got involved with Power to the Pedal after getting her bike fixed by the program.

Since joining the program as a volunteer, Juan said she has been given a platform to raise awareness and help women of color, like herself, find fun, fitness and a practical means of transportation in cycling.

“It helps me as a cyclist myself to be able to promote bicycle awareness in a cultural way,” she said. “We want to promote cycling for everyone, not just for guys with fancy bikes. We want to be inclusive [and] to push more women and people of color to ride bicycles.”

In recent years, funding for the program has been cut due to the low bike traffic on campus, so the program hopes to revive student interest.

The organization tries to keep students interested with the resources it has. For example, the program will sometimes host giveaways for students with prizes being bike lights, water bottles and hand sanitizer.

Many students believe the popularity of biking has declined because of the high

amounts of traffic in San Francisco. Juan, however, said a bigger reason biking has decreased in popularity lies more in students’ fear for the safety of their bikes while they are stored on or around campus.

“Sometimes people have expensive bikes and will ask us where they can store their bike [safely],” she said. “These are some of the reasons why the bike traffic fluctuates.”

Some SF State students believe that traffic is not a deterrent for students wanting to bike to school, contrary to popular belief.

SF State student Andrew Sanders, who bikes to school every day, does not feel that traffic is that dangerous around campus.

“In terms of the city of San Francisco, a lot of drivers are conscious of bikers on the side,” he said. “Out here by the school it’s pretty chill for the most part. I would encourage people just to try it out.”

Another reason students choose biking as their preferred method of commuting is because of health. SF State students who bike to school find that it helps them with time management and their health.

“I bike to stay in shape,”

JAMES CHAN/Golden Gate Xpress

Chris Simpson, who commutes from Concord, rides a bike to get to and from BART at SF State on Monday, Feb. 4, 2019.

student Jacky Chiu said.

According to Power to the Pedal, biking has many positive benefits. In the long run it’s cheaper than a car to own and maintain, can cut commute time down, is better for the environment and can provide the user with exercise.

For students that can’t afford purchasing or maintaining a

bike, Power to the Pedal offers resources around San Francisco for students to contact. The San Francisco Bike Kitchen is one of the organizations they like to connect students with.

It is a non-profit organization that began in 2003 and offers affordable ways to obtain and maintain a bike, including repairs.

6 ØPÏÑÏØÑ

TUESDAY, FEB. 5, 2019

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Staff Editorial

Funds could ease expensive living

EDITORIAL BOARD VOL. 109, ISSUE 2 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 Alexis Manzanilla Lifestyle & Culture Editor amanzanilla@mail.sfsu.edu Jailene Escutia Opinion Editor jescutiachavez@mail.sfsu.edu

G

ov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed budget aims to increase funding to CSUs by $300 million per year, and $15 million in one-time funding to help students who are experiencing food insecurity and homelessness statewide.

While it is still just a proposition, this one-time funding for students needs to be thoroughly planned for and put to good use — especially when there are students at SF State who get precluded from living in the dorms or in nearby apartments as a result of price.

San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities to live in in the nation. The average cost of rent for an apartment is about $3,600 according to RentCafe, a nationwide internet listing service.

Many students who immigrate to this city are faced with the challenge of paying upwards of $1,000 per month to rent an often room, off campus.

While some students make use of Cal Grants,

and surrounding coffee shops. Not only will consumers be accountable for the fee if a reusable cup is not presented at checkout, but all restaurants, sit down or fast food, will be required to use compostable and reusable foodware. Known as the Single Use Disposable Foodware and Litter Reduction Ordinance, SF Gate has predicted it to be “the most progressive zero-waste initiative ever implemented in a city.”

In 2019, California became the first “strawless” state. Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1884, which “prohibits dine-in restaurants from automatically providing plastic straws” to customers unless requested.

“Plastic has helped advance innovation in our society, but our infatuation with single-use convenience has led to disastrous consequences,” wrote Brown in a release after signing the bill.

“Plastics in all forms — straws, bottles, packaging, bags, etc. — are choking our planet.”

Whether Brown meant it figuratively or verbatim, gruesome images of turtles choking on straws and whales dying from ingesting plastic borne of excessive littering on our coastal plains is real and harming marine life.

Similar to the State Plastic and Paper Bag Legislation, Califor-

Devon Haripal Sports Editor dharipal@mail.sfsu.edu Ildar Sabirov Assistant Sports Editor isabirov@mail.sfsu.edu

Chelsey Schallig Assistant Copy Editor cschallig@mail.sfsu.edu Christian Urrutia Art Director curruti1@mail.sfsu.edu Brian Vu Multimedia Editor bvu2@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

a phone app which tells people where they can get free food on campus, and Gator Groceries, an on-campus food pantry. They make a great Band-Aid, but comprehensive, systematic reform is necessary if we ever hope to put to bed the epidemic of food and shelter insecurity faced by students.

We don’t have all the answers, but we know that our student body deserves better. It’s time to have meaningful conversations about, what our university represents and how it can be an agent of equity and positive change.

The Xpress staff suggests holding a public forum and inviting students of all backgrounds to discuss the best ways to prioritize the influx of funding. We implore administration: listen to the voices of students directly affected and come to a solution collaboratively.

Every party involved will be better for it.

-Golden Gate Xpress Editorial Board

The newest eco-friendly accessory: reusable cups

Lola Chase Photo Editor lchase1@mail.sfsu.edu

Cody McFarland Copy Editor cmcfarla@mail.sfsu.edu

Pell Grants and other loans, many have to work part time between classes just to to afford rent.

A student who doesn’t want to live off campus would have to shell out about $1,600 a month for a shared dorm on campus, which is the lower-end package. Meals and other expenses are included in the pricetag, but only if you sign up early enough to avoid the waitlist.

During the 2018 spring semester the waitlist exceeded 2,000 students, according to an Examiner interview with Vice President of University Enterprise Jason Porth.

It is time for students, faculty and community members to pressure SF State administration to focus on bringing as much of the $15 million promised in Gov. Newsom’s education budget to help these marginalized students — to fully fund and further flesh out programs and services that typically have limited reach and long waitlists.

Two programs that already help students unable to pay for food are the Gator Grub Alerts,

JAILENE ESCUTIA Opinion Editor jescutiachavez@mail.sfsu.edu

O

nce upon a time, a quarter was worth more than a chalky gumball from a candy machine. In the 1950s, gas averaged 25 cents per gallon and a single movie ticket could be purchased with just two quarters.

A pound of coffee went for just 75 cents and made approximately 23 12-ounce cups. Fast forward nearly seven decades and a quarter will now only cover the price of the paper and plastic packaging used to contain your liquid energy.

In 2020, Berkeley will be the first city to issue a 25-cent fee on disposable cups in restaurants

FOLLOW US

nia, in particular San Francisco, has continued to be one of the leading forces toward an everyday-sustainable lifestyle. With the initiative to ban plastic bags in 2014 and implement a 10-cent to 25-cent fee for every visit to a store without a reusable bag, littering has decreased. Since 2010, plastic bag litter has decreased by 72 percent.

Ten cents may not seem like a lot, but it has motivated consumers to purchase reusable bags in order to refrain from paying the fee, creating both an environmental and fashion trend. A trend that once began in the Bay Area to reduce plastic waste continues to gain momentum and ubiquity around the world.

Collins Dictionary named ‘single-use’ as the word of the year for 2018. The word means “made to be used once early,” but for Collins refers to a much greater idea, “a global movement to kick our addiction to disposable products.”

Since 2013, the word has seen a four-fold increase in its usage through the help of news stories and public awareness.

As a four-year barista at Starbucks, one of the leading coffee companies in the world, the urgency to implement a strong policy toward improving the environmental issues caused by

every single paper or plastic cup of coffee purchased without a reusable cup is necessary.

In July 2018, Starbucks initiated a trial at 35 select stores in London to impose a 5-cent fee for every paper or plastic cup purchased with a drink. Their findings began with only 2.2 percent of customers using reusable cups and afterward rose to 5.8 percent of customers using a reusable cup during the trial. This was with only a 5-cent fee. Imagine if they paid 25 cents a cup?

About 40 percent of college students aged 18 to 24 drink coffee either to get their morning started or stay awake throughout their school or work day. With a leading role in the coffee industry, college students should lead the movement in supporting environmental issues caused by our coffee dependency.

If you’re a coffee addict like me and drink a cup a day, that is an additional $1.25 each work week for an already overpriced luxury item. In just two month the amount of money you’ll have wasted on paper and plastic could have covered the price of a reusable cup. How much are you willing to pay to conserve our planet?

Does the CSU tuition freeze for the upcoming year relieve your financial worries?

TWITTER @GGXnews YOUTUBE /XpressNewsVideo FACEBOOK /GoXpress INSTAGRAM @GGXnews

Semiya Sobayo-Mahmoud

Enrique Aleman

Jennifer Ramirez

Women & Gender Studies

Philosophy

Psychology

“I still have to buy books, food, rent and all of that because I don’t live on campus, so it’s still going to be hard. ”

“I don’t think so. I live off campus and pay for food, housing. For me, it’s not different. ”

“In the long run I think it would be a good thing, but I think there should be something where it helps decrease tuition. ”

ALEXIS MANZANILLA & JAILENE ESCUTIA & SHAYLYN MARTOS/Golden Gate Xpress

Eurania Lopez

Director of Student Services for Graduate College of Education

“I think it’s better than having a tuition increase, but there’s still a lot of needs like housing and food security.”

Spørtß 7 Speedy softball team to build legacy GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

TUESDAY, FEB. 5, 2019

Gators’ three seniors lead mostly freshman squad into spring season BRANDON TANGUMA Staff Reporter btanguma@mail.sfsu.edu

A young and speedy SF State softball team looks to take the next step in 2019 after falling short of the postseason last year.

The Gators had a 24-31 record last year in Alicia Reid’s first season as head coach.

The team finished sixth in the California Collegiate Athletic Association with a 19-21 conference record, narrowly missing out on the playoffs. Cal State San Bernardino snagged the fourth and final spot with an 18-16 record.

Heading into Reid’s second year, the Gators have 11 freshmen on the roster and only three seniors.

Despite the disappointing 2018 record, the Gators led the CCAA in stolen bases (125) and Reid believes the team will continue their success on the base path.

“Our strength is going to be our speed, we have great team speed,” Reid said. “We’ll be able to put pressure on de-

fenses and force them to make mistakes.”

Junior utility Michelle Castro, sophomore outfielder Andrea Hildan and senior utility Hayley Nunes return for the 2019 season, with the trio serving as the Gators‘ top hitters last year and were named All-CCAA. Castro was also named CCAA Newcomer of the Year with a SF State record 45 steals and 17 doubles in 2018.

Hildan led the Gators with a .367 batting average and four triples during her freshman year. The sophomore explained the style of play in college softball is much different than what most of these players are used to, so there will be a learning curve.

“Half of our team is freshman this year so we have a lot of focus things to work on, like our base running,” Hildan said. “They learn a completely different style coming from the travel ball world.”

Some of the incoming freshmen include infielder Samantha Alvarez, who hit .455 during her senior year at Kern

CASTRO Junior utility Michelle Castro returns for her second season at SF State, after setting program records in stolen bases (45) and doubles (17) last season.

Assistant Sports Editor isabirov@mail.sfsu.edu

Injuries and a short-handed Gators rugby club led to a blowout by the University of Nevada-Reno Wolf Pack in a 97-10 trouncing Saturday at the Pollicita Middle School soccer field in Daly City.

Inexperience, the Wolf Pack’s size and simply not having enough bodies were just too much for the Gators to contend with.

“We knew we were gonna have a tough season with the numbers we have and the experience we have,” Gators head coach Wade Hess said.

SF State came into the game at a disadvantage, having only 15 players dressed, leaving no substitutes for the 80-minute

game.

Rugby is a physical game and it didn’t take long for the Gators’ modest numbers to show wear.

Midway through the first half, freshman fullback Trey Dixon had to sit for the remainder of the half and the Gators endured with just 14 players against a Wolf Pack squad that brought at least five substitutes.

“It’s hard to play a full 80-minute game with no subs,” senior Gators forward and team president Victor Mendez said. “If someone gets injured, if someone is too tired to play, it really shows on the field. It’s a weakness, and good teams, like Nevada today, spotted those weaknesses.”

Dixon came back in the second half, but the Wolf Pack

Senior infielder/outfielder Hayley Nunes returns this season after ranking second on the team with a .323 batting average. She had 51 hits and 18 RBI last year.

Senior pitcher Karla Soto led SF State with a 3.57 ERA last season going 10-12 on the year with 14 complete games, striking out 55 batters in 168.2 innings.

SOURCE PHOTOS/Courtesy of SF State Athletics

Valley, and catcher/outfielder Tiana Jacques, who batted .434 with 19 RBI for Castro Valley High School.

The Gators pitching staff gets some new additions as well, with Natalie Minteer recording a 1.99 ERA and 126 strikeouts last year at University City High School. Emily Mitchell is a junior transfer from Feather River College and was named GVC Pitcher of the Year and California All-State Pitcher during her freshman year.

Karla Soto led the Gators in ERA last season with 3.57 in

Men’s rugby falls to University of Nevada-Reno Wolf Pack 97-10 ILDAR SABIROV

SOTO

NUNES

her 35 appearances. The senior is coming off a team-leading 14 complete games and finished 2018 with a 10-12 record. Sam Drucker and Kelsey Goodner are pitchers who will also be returning. Drucker posted a 3-4 record with a 5.09 ERA, while Goodner pitched 9.1 innings last year with a 5.25 ERA. The 2019 season has already begun for SF State. The Gators traveled to Las Vegas for the tenth annual Desert Stinger Tournament. The Gators start the regular season on the road against defending CCAA

champion Chico State on Feb. 8. The Wildcats enter the season atop the CCAA preseason coaches’ poll, while SF State was voted seventh. The Gators concluded the 2018 season with a four-game series against Chico State, losing all four games to the eventual conference champion.

The Gators return home Feb. 15 to take on Sonoma State. SF State won three of four games against the Seawolves last season. The Gators had a 7-17 home record last year.

SCHEDULE •Friday, Feb. 8 at Chico State Doubleheader at 12 p.m. & 2 p.m.

•Saturday, Feb. 9 at Chico State Doubleheader at 11 a.m. & 1 p.m.

•Friday, Feb. 15 vs. Sonoma State Doubleheader at 12 p.m. & 2 p.m.

•Saturday, Feb. 16 vs. Sonoma State Doubleheader at 12 p.m. & 2 p.m.

•Friday, Feb. 22 at Humboldt State Doubleheader at 12 p.m. & 2 p.m.

ILDAR SABIROV/Golden Gate Xpress

Gianni Greco of SF State Gators rugby club gets lifted up in a game facing Nevada-Reno Wolf Pack at Pollicita Middle School soccer field on Friday, Feb. 1, 2019.

built themselves a massive lead by then.

After bringing the hammer against the Spartans last week, the Gators just could not match the Wolf Pack’s physicality in the first half. The visibly bigger squad ran through the Gators tackle attempts and took advantage of the scrums en route to a 39-0 first-half lead.

It didn’t help the Gators that their ball-control problems persisted against the Wolf Pack, but unlike the Spartans, the Wolf Pack took advantage of the turnovers and trucked their way to eight tries in the first half.

The second half started out sluggish for both teams, with

plenty of turnovers from both sides killing momentum for any offense.

The Wolf Pack let their foot off the gas pedal after amounting their giant first-half lead, leaving an opportunity for the Gators to get something going.

The Gators were able to put together their first scoring possession early in the second half, keeping ball possession while moving forward off victorious scrums.

That score seemed to awaken the Wolf Pack, who further buried the Gators with four more tries before senior Gators forward Mendez scored the team’s second try of the game.

The Gators’ youth and inex-

•Saturday, Feb. 23 at Humboldt State Doubleheader at 11 a.m. & 1 p.m.

perience at several key positions were repeatedly taken advantage of, and it didn’t help that the bigger Wolf Pack punished their mistakes by smashing through their defensive line for try after try.

Multiple greenhorn Gators continuously made mistakes against the Wolf Pack on the pitch, Hess Said, and when the Wolf Pack identified those errors, they repeatedly attacked them.

“We definitely need to work on our mistakes here,” said freshman Gators forward Victor ‘Vern’ Oregel, who scored the team’s first try. “We were really falling apart.”

The Gators have a lot to sort out after this pounding, but they go right back on the pitch Saturday, hosting the Stanford Cardinal.

8 SPØRTS

TUESDAY, FEB. 5, 2019

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Three-point shots, pressure seal win SAMJOSEPH CHAVARRIA Staff Reporter schavarr@mail.sfsu.edu

The SF State men’s basketball team pulled off an impressive victory Saturday at home against Cal State Dominguez Hills, trouncing the Toros 86-64.

The Gators dominated Dominguez Hills from the jump, leading by as many as 18 points within the first eight minutes. They opened the game with a barrage of three-pointers, led by the tune of Senior Ryne Williams’ 3-of-4 shooting from deep.

Noting the two teams’ last contest ended in a 10-point defeat, Williams credits Saturday’s success to the team playing hard and striving to live up to its potential.

“Man, this game we came out with some intensity, we really came out with a purpose,” he said. “When we [played them last] we came out really sluggish, really slow and we did not play to our potential.”

Head coach Vince Inglima said, “Dominguez is a really good team and that was our worst conference loss down there, but I think there is an element of pride to that, we took that to heart.

“We felt like, although they are very good, we didn’t make them earn that win over us… So, at the end of this one, yeah, it was a big deal that we may lose, but we better make them beat us — and that was kind of the attitude we came in with and it showed on the court.”

Dominguez Hills blitzed the Gators in their own right, cutting the big lead

down to three in the first two min- GATORS utes of the second half. After a timTOROS eout, the Gators responded well by not allowing the Toros to score and adding nine points to their lead in just three minutes.

Overall, the Gators punished the Toros in the paint with 36 points to their 18. Although both teams coughed up the ball 15 times, the Gators took advantage by scoring 25 points compared to the Toros’ 13 points of turnovers.

“We’re a very different team than when we played them before,” Inglima said. “We’re in a better place as a unit, we’re playing harder, we’re defending harder… and I think that showed tonight.”

The Gators had an incredible shooting night, boasting 58.8 percent from beyond the arc and 57.1 percent from the field, led by junior Jase Wickliffe’s 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

“We put a lot of shooters on the court, that helps,” Inglima said when asked about shotmaking and spacing.

“Part of it too is defensively, when we’re guarding, getting stops, long rebounds and turnovers, it’s really hard for the defense to match up with all our shooters out there and I think that played a factor early because we were really disrupting them and creating some kind of transition opportunities that gave us some good looks.”

In the midst of the offensive prowess, junior forward Zane Paddon picked up an an odd technical foul early in the first half. He said, “One of the guys, who was boxing me out, kept

86 64

LOLA CHASE/Golden Gate Xpress

Michael Diaz (5) drives the ball down the court with Mikey Hatfield (40) on defense as SF State Gators face Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros at the Swamp on Feb. 2, 2019.

pushing me in the back, so I turned around and said to the ref, ‘Hey! He’s pushing me in the back every time!’ I kind of yelled it, so I guess that’s where he called the tech, but that’s all I said.”

The Gators, indeed, defended The Swamp with some aggressiveness, which is always fun to watch.

Williams said, “A [22]-point win is always fun, clearing out the bench —

you know, we got a lot of players hurt right now and we’re kind of struggling with that, but it’s always nice to get some bench guys in and give them some minutes and have fun with it.”

SF State will return to action and take on the Sonoma State Seawolves on Saturday, Feb. 9, at 3 p.m. in The Swamp.

BASEBALL

Coaches tab Gators as sixth-best in pre-season poll Survey shows experienced team capable of re-living playoff run DEVON HARIPAL Sports Editor dharipal@mail.sfsu.edu

The California Collegiate Athletic Association(CCAA) released its 2019 Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll, with SF State projected to finish as the No. 6 team in the conference.

Last season, the program finished with a 23-21 record in conference play and made a historic run with their first-ever CCAA Champion-

ship appearance since joining the conference in 1999. SF State’s last baseball conference title came in 1983 when the program was part of the Northern California Athletic Conference.

SF State will return four All-CCAA players infielders Brady Dorn (All-CCAA First Team) and Jackson Kritsch (All-CCAA Second Team), outfielder Jack Harris and first baseman and outfielder Harley Lopez (All-CCAA Hon-

orable Mentions). The roster consists of 10 seniors and 17 juniors who will provide the program with experience on and off the field.

Kritsch, the star infielder, was also selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America for the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America Division II Baseball Second Team. He became the program’s first Academic All-America selection. Kritsch was also joined by Dorn as

ABCA/Rawlings All-West Region Team selections.

The All-Team accolades didn’t stop for SF State last season, as Dorn was also named to the National College Baseball Writers Association NCAA Division II All-West Region First Team and D2CCA NCAA Division II AllWest Region Second Team.

SF State will kick off their season at home on Tuesday against NAIA opponent Simpson University, with a three-

game series against Concordia University of Oregon at Maloney Field on Feb. 8 and 9. CCAA conference play tips off Feb. 15 against the Sonoma State Seawolves.

The standings were voted upon by the conference’s head coaches, with defending CCAA tournament champions and NCAA Championship finalists from a season ago, UC San Diego pegged as the top team in the conference.

2019 PRESEASON BASEBALL COACHES POLL (FIRST-PLACE VOTES) 1 UC San Diego 119 (9)

4 Chico State 99

7 Sonoma State 63

2 Cal Poly Pomona 104 (2)

5 Cal State LA 75

8 Cal State East Bay 49

10 Cal State San Marcos 26 11 Cal State San Bernardino 25

3 Cal State Monterey Bay 102 (1)

6 San Francisco State 64

9 Stanislaus State 45

12 Cal State Dominguez Hills 21