Fall 2015 Issue 8

press

GOLDEN GATE

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October 14, 2015 Issue 8 Volume cI goldengatexpress.org

i m d n e am City's housing crisis looms over SF State

sf state housing on pages 6&7

$$ $ ILLUSTRATION BY EVA RODRIGUEZ

Indigenous on page 2

art house on page 5

Attendance on page 10

2 NEWS

Wednesday, October 14, 2015 goldengatexpress.org

Indigenous students reclaim Columbus Day MOBY HOWEIDY

mhoweidy@mail.sfsu.edu

In the dark, early hours of the morning, crowds packed on ferries traveled across the Bay to Alcatraz Island. Once there, a huge fire illuminated the faces of the crowd that formed a circle around a large cement platform.

This makeshift stage filled with performances of sacred dances and rituals while people banged on drums and the crowd waited for the apex of the ceremony – the sunrise.

Members of the SF State group Student Kouncil of Intertribal Nations attended the Indigenous People’s Sunrise Ceremony at Alcatraz Oct. 12 to observe Indigenous People’s Day, a celebration steered at reclaiming Columbus Day for native people.

Indigenous People’s Day serves as a time for native people to educate Americans on their culture, said SF State American Indian Studies Professor Phil Klasky. It's important to explain why Christopher Columbus shouldn’t be praised for discovering America, despite how the day is traditionally celebrated, according to Klasky.

It’s a valuable opportunity for native people to reclaim a day that has been emotionally painful for years, Klasky said.

“This isn’t Columbus Day,” Klasky said. “Today, for a native person, it’s like saying, ‘Would you like to celebrate Osama Bin Laden day?’ In Columbus’ own writings he describes killing, torturing and enslaving native peoples, and we still celebrate that today. It’s insane.”

Indigenous Peoples’ Day started in Berkeley in 1992 to replace Columbus Day, according to historian and Berkeley Resistance 500 committee member John Curl.

Berkeley Resistance 500, the native advocacy group responsible for first organizing Indigenous People's Day, changed the holiday because they felt the day should ignore Christopher Columbus and instead focus on the indigenous community and their efforts to resist European colonization,

Curl said.

Every year on both Thanksgiving and Indigenous Peoples’ Day, thousands of native people take the ferry out to Alcatraz to gather for the sunrise ceremony. During the ceremony, attendees gather around the sacred fire, where native activists give speeches and perform different styles of native dance from tribes like the Miwok, Pomo and Ohlone, Klasky said.

“These gatherings are important because it’s not silencing communities that are so marginalized or forgotten,” said SF State student and SKINS member Savanah Maya.

“It’s really important that each person in these communities acknowledges each other and goes to a safe space where their traditions aren’t going to be mocked.”

In addition to the celebration’s speeches and dances, everyone there was given a piece of tobacco as an offering to place in the fire, which many indigenous cultures consider the heart of the ceremony, said SF State student and SKINS member Carlos Peterson-Gomez.

Tobacco, which is a sacred plant in many native cultures, is offered to the fire as a sign of respect, Peterson-Gomez said.

"I was taught to introduce myself to the fire and respect it as an elder," Peterson-Gomez said. "A lot of native nations and traditions offer tobacco to the fire, because tobacco is considered a very sacred gift and crop."

Even though the ceremony is large, it feels like an intimate gathering among close friends and family, according to Peterson-Gomez. He said there is a variety of activities attendees can partake in as they anticipate the sunrise.

"You'll see a lot of people praying, you'll see a lot of people taking pictures and you will see people chatting off to the side — there's a little bit of everything," Peterson-Gomez said.

According to the International Indian Treaty Council, the sunrise ceremony is a time for indigenous people to not only

AARON LEVY-WOLINS / SPECIAL TO XPRESS

FEATHERS: A colorful traditional headdress is worn for the Indigenous People’s Sunrise Ceremony on Alcatraz Monday, Oct. 12.

AARON LEVY-WOLINS / SPECIAL TO XPRESS

SACRED: People dance around the fire pit at the Indigenous People’s Sunrise Ceremony at Alcatraz Monday, Oct. 12.

their culture special and why it’s embrace their own heritage, Ceremonies like the sunrise worth celebrating, Klasky said. but to also remember the 1969 gathering are an emotional “It’s essential that native occupation of Alcatraz. and spiritual experience, said people are able to express their The occupation was a SF State student and SKINS rich cultures and diversity to demonstration led by SF State member Leesa Lopez. the general public, because we student Richard Oakes, who was “When I go to these events, I have a tendency to generalize also an American Indian activist. really feel like being around my people whom we have very little Oakes brought 80 people to the community that is also resisting communication with or exposure colonization," Lopez said. island where they protested and to,” Klasky said. “In my opinion, "When I go, it’s really healing, lived for almost two years. native people are fundamentally "We are the first and only because I get to be around other invisible in this country, and College of Ethnic Studies in the people who have the same goals that’s a shame given all that entire country," Klasky said. as me.” native people have contributed to "And that did not come about our society." magically. It was a hard-fought (victory). We have a history that we're very proud of, of activism and here because of diversity and the progressive view that we have we honor diversity."

The sunrise ceremony and native holidays are important because they provide indigenous people with AARON LEVY-WOLINS / SPECIAL TO XPRESS a chance to HERITAGE: A woman, wearing traditional clothing, smiles after a sacred dance at the Indigenous expose the People’s Sunrise Ceremony at Alcatraz Monday, Oct. 12. general public to what makes

NEWS 3

Wednesday, October 14, 2015 goldengatexpress.org

Housing workshop empowers student tenants ccarnes@mail.sfsu.edu

S

F State’s Legal Resource Center tackled problems and concerns regarding living arrangements in San Francisco during its first landlord/tenant workshop Oct. 12.

“This workshop aligns with the mission for our program – to educate, inform and help empower the SF State community,” said Associated Students, Inc. Legal Resource Center Director Kaylin Masis.

Students voiced their concerns and received legal advice from housing attorney Ora Prochovnick, a speaker at the event. Every other Friday, Prochovnick provides 30-minute consultations in the center for $10 each to SF State students in need of legal advice regarding their housing situation, Masis said.

During the workshop, Prochovnick addressed common questions that students frequently ask, like how they can be removed from their lease, whether or not their landlord can walk into their home unannounced and if they can be evicted

QING HUANG / XPRESS

GUIDANCE: SF State’s Legal Resource

Center holds its first landlord/tenant workshop at Cesar Chavez Student Center at SF State Monday, Oct. 12.

based on noise complaints.

“There are a number of issues with landlords and tenants, noise complaints being the most common,” Prochovnick said. “For example, if you have regular gatherings that bother the neighbors, you can be evicted at anytime. You are open to the risk of eviction, but the landlord must give notice.”

Mark Shields, a business marketing senior, said all of his experiences with landlords in San Francisco have been horrible.

“

I didn’t know what to do. The landlord refused to help us; she wouldn’t even talk to us about the issue and I had to talk to a lawyer.

“

CHANTEL CARNES

- mark shields

A year ago, Shield’s landlord made him and the rest of the people living in the house cover an unpaid portion of the security deposit after someone decided not to move into the home.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Shields said. “The landlord refused to help us; she wouldn’t even talk to us about the issue and I had to talk to a lawyer.”

San Francisco Rent Board Supervisor Jennifer Rakowski also explained the Rent Board services available to the SF State community, such as investigation of wrongful evictions, arbitration hearings, mediation and counseling information. “(The SF Rent Board) is becoming acutely aware of the ongoing housing

QING HUANG / XPRESS

KEEPING HOUSE: Mark Shields, marketing major, and his girlfriend Shelly Rodriguez clean the kitchen at their apartment, where they have lived for a year, Monday, Oct. 12.

crisis,” Rakowski said. “The rent control ordinance is trying to ensure tenants have sustainability with their living arrangements.”

The landlord/tenant workshop ended with a question and answer segment.

Students asked Rakowski to discuss valid reasons for eviction, which she said include offenses such as not paying rent on time and breaching the leasing agreement.

“It’s not that your landlord can never ask you to leave, you just have to be mindful of these reasons,” Rakowski said.

SF State’s ASI Legal Resource Center has received over 50 calls, emails and

drop-by questions this year regarding landlord/tenant issues, which is more than double the requests from last year, according to Masis. She said that although members of the legal resource team are not lawyers and do not give legal advice, they offer resources and legal information to all students seeking help with their housing arrangements.

“We have noticed a lot of students coming into our office asking the same questions and dealing with the same housing issues,” said Carlos Raiz-Anaya, an office assistant for the center. “We are here for students. We are the first step in helping students know it’s OK.”

4 Lifestyle & culture

Wednesday, October 14, 2015 goldengatexpress.org

Cinema alumni capture street musician’s story in documentary

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JESSICA NEMIRE

he rhythmic cadence of Larry “Bucket Man” Hunt’s joyous drumming reaches the ears of pedestrians three blocks away from the Market Street Old Navy. The downtown sidewalk has been the drummer’s base of operations for the better part of a decade.

“I ain’t trying to get rich,” Hunt said. “I just want to make people happy.”

Hunt has gathered recognition for his talent in San Francisco and beyond – he had a cameo in the 2006 Will Smith film “Pursuit of Happyness,” he was featured in an Intel Corp. commercial in April 2014 and he performed at a festival in Germany in May 2014.

SF State alumni Jeremy Valencia and Melody Fitzgerald said they have spent more than a year working on “Under the Noise,” a documentary about Hunt and other street musicians in San Francisco, many of whom are homeless. Valencia and Fitzgerald began the documentary as a project for a class, but have expanded it far beyond that.

“It’s a real community where people know each other and help each other out,” Valencia said.

“The main question we wanted to answer is, ‘How do these people survive, living in one of the most expensive cities in the world, doing what they love to do?’”

The pair said they spent countless hours gathering an “insane amount of footage” to explore what the question meant for each musician.

jdn@mail.sfsu.edu

ago and both broadcast and electornic communication arts majors have since graduated, Fitzgerald and Valencia said they want to continue work on the documentary and hope it will educate the public on what being a street musician entails.

“I think a lot of people think that street musicians are just playing on the street begging for money,” Fitzgerald said, “but a lot of them are just doing what they love and are sharing it with the community. I feel like Larry really embodies that.”

BRIAN CHURCHWELL / XPRESS

CADENCE: Larry “Bucket Man” Hunt drums on plastic buckets at the corner of Market and 4th streets in downtown San Francisco Tuesday, Oct. 6.

Fitzgerald said Hunt became a major focus of the documentary because of his trip to Europe, which took place shortly after they first interviewed him.

“We got to follow him around while he got his passport; it was really exciting to be a part of (that experience),” Fitzgerald said.

Despite being a San Francisco fixture, Hunt said he has received

numerous noise complaints from Market Street residents. Hunt said he’s had so many court dates that the judge told him she’s “tired of seeing (his) face because of the same charge.” For a while, Hunt was playing on a drum set that Intel gave him after the commercial, but he said the San Francisco Police Department confiscated it in August.

Hunt said he had negotiated a

Anti-Eviction Mapping Project blueprints displacement ASHLEY BOWEN

anbowen@mail.sfsu.edu

As San Francisco’s housing crisis continues to snowball, the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project has set out to illustrate the effect of eviction through visual storytelling.

The project, which featured multiple SF State alumni, was included at Incline Gallery in the Mission earlier this year as a part of “The Dissidents, the Displaced, and the Outliers” exhibit. The exhibit featured six artists along with the mapping project. Each artist showcased their work critiquing the surrounding gentrification and digital surveillance within the Bay Area, according to exhibit curator Dorothy Santos.

Erin McElroy, director and co-founder of the mapping project, which started in 2013, presented an interactive time-lapse map in the exhibit that showed the accumulation of Ellis Act evictions that have been happening in San Francisco since 1997.

“I know more people than I can name who have been evicted, just over the last few years,” McElroy said. “Not only are people being pushed out, but cultural formations and social worlds are also being evicted left and right. It’s heartbreaking, really.”

McElroy said that the project staff is currently working on expanding their oral history project to Alameda County to further capture stories of people who have suffered evictions in the greater Bay Area.

The Incline Gallery has hosted many exhibits centered around the housing crisis, including the recent exhibition, which ran from May 16 to June 19.

deal with SFPD that allowed him to drum his buckets if he left by 8:30 p.m., but that the deal has since been called off because he was receiving too many noise complaints. Hunt said he still makes sure to leave before 9 or 10 p.m. because he knows people don’t want to hear loud drumming late into the night.

Although the film project was due more than a year

BRIAN CHURCHWELL / XPRESS

FILMMAKERS: SF State Alumni

Melody Fitzgerald (left) and Jeremy Valencia, producers of “Under the Noise,” a documentary about street musicians in San Francisco, stand in front of murals in San Francisco’s Mission District Thursday, Oct. 8.

Christo Oropeza, co-founder and co-director of the Incline Gallery as well as an SF State fine arts alumnus, said that the gallery is located in what he identified as a post-gentrified location. Because of that, he said, they must recognize the impact that they have as a gallery in the Mission.

ANGELICA EKEKE / XPRESS “Nobody had done a show INTERACTIVE: Erin McElroy, director of the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, poses for a like that ever (before), and I feel portrait at the San Francisco Tenant’s Union in the Mission District Monday, Oct. 12. like galleries are a little hesitant to participate in contemporary things that you want to feel comfort, but a lot of the conversations that are not related to aesthetics,” Oropeza population doesn’t have that luxury.” said. “But why have fear? Art is one of the most Eliza Barrios, an SF State alumna of 1992 who challenging but transformative things, and if it’s one of the last things we have in our arsenal to combat ignorance studied photography, was another artist featured in the exhibit. Barrios said that she created a site-specific with knowledge, then present it.” installation using video projection as her medium. Barrios The exhibition illuminated the impact of digital wanted to use technology in all its forms to highlight the surveillance technology, as well as how privacy is not increasing gentrification issue that the tech boom and free and rather secured by wealth, according to Santos. policy makers have helped grow, she said in an email.

Santos, who also said she has experienced struggles Santos said art is used as a major vehicle to showcase with the high cost of living in the city, said that she the struggles posed by the housing crisis that has wanted viewers to see the exhibit as a conduit to consumed San Francisco. discussing the issue and as a means to make change “The really touchy, sensitive issues that people are happen. kind of skirting around are actually the very issues that “The more vulnerable you are, the less privacy you people should be making art about,” Santos said. “Art have, and you’re almost beholden to the government and has the power to actually draw out and engage a lot of the your community,” Santos said. “When you’re affluent things that bother us or cause discomfort.” and rich, you can buy your privacy, and you can get the

Wednesday, October 14, 2015 goldengatexpress.org

LIFESTYLE & CULTURE 5

Roommates cultivate creativity in close qua rters KALANI RUIDAS

T

kruidas@mail.sfsu.edu

wo shadows stretched across a worktable cluttered with pencils, markers and box cutters. A plastic toy clock situated next to a palette of used paints blinked a bright green 1:19 a.m. In the early hours of the morning, San-Francisco-based artists Ace West and Michael Covington were the last of nine residents to fall asleep at the four-bedroom, two-bath house they call Lakeview Studios.

The basement where West and Covington hunch over their canvases doubles as a bedroom, which they share with one other person. According to SF State math major Pedro Preciado, who also lives in the home, the space has been used as a gallery, sound booth and on occasion, a music venue.

Preciado said that once there were nearly 100 people packed into the house for local swamp funk band Hibbidy Dibbidy’s performance in their garage. He recalled that his roommates hung strings of multicolored Christmas lights and a tapestry to create an intimate alcove for the band’s stage.

“It was kind of awesome to pull something like that off,” Preciado said. “There are certain experiences I’ve had (while living in the house) that I never would have thought possible if I were on my own.”

EMMA CHIANG / XPRESS

JAMMING: (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) James Aoki, kinesiology major; Mick Jones, criminal justice

major, Michael Covington, freelance visual artist; Pedro Preciado, math major; Ace West, designer and visual artist, and Daniel de Lorimier, music major, pose for a portrait in the garage of their house, known as Lakeview Studios, Sunday, Oct. 4.

SF State music major Daniel de Lorimier was one of the attendees at the invite-only show.

“In the back of my mind, I was thinking ‘This is exactly the kind of environment I want to be a part of,’” de Lorimier said. “After meeting everyone, I really hoped that they were going to consider me to live with them. Then a few months later I moved in and all my dreams came true.”

The house is a magnet for a

certain kind of person, according to de Lorimier. All nine roommates contribute to their home’s creative vitality through art, he said. In the corner of the garage sits an idle keyboard, drum set, amp and two guitars. Every wall is bedecked with artwork tacked up or drawn directly on the surface itself.

For Preciado, living in a house full of artists nourishes his passion for music. While Preciado is

mostly a self-taught guitarist, he said his roommates have helped him refine his technique with their knowledge of music theory.

“It’s nice to live with people that play music, especially because it’s something we’re all so passionate about,” Preciado said.

“It’s like having eight band mates to talk to. Sometimes we don’t have to talk. Someone will pick up a guitar or the bongos and we’ll just jam out.”

There was a time when jam sessions and sketch parties transpired almost every night at Lakeview Studios, according to Preciado. He said he remembers when no one could eat on the dining room table because it was covered by art supplies.

"Sometimes people would come over and ask 'Can I draw something?'" West said.

"But it's not a question if you can draw something, it's a question of what you can draw with. It's just a matter of picking up a pen or a newspaper or finding a space on the wall to draw on."

Sketch nights have been temporarily put on hold as West and Covington prepare for their group show "Black Mail," which will run Oct. 16 to Nov. 7 at The Luggage Store Gallery.

"Black Mail" will include the works of five black males and showcase where they've come from and how living in the "cultural oasis of San Francisco" has informed their artistic style. Covington said he began imagining a life for himself in which he could continue to create and grow as an artist and provide for himself when he moved immigrated to the U.S. West said that devoting his life to creative pursuits has led him to a number of opportunities and a network of artists who have helped develop his style.

"I always want to surround myself with dope energy," West said. "The artists I'm working with are really talented, and I want to see our careers grow together."

6 crammed in

Wednesday, october 14, 2015 goldengatexpress.org

citywide crisis drives SF State housing expansion LINDA KARLSSON

T

lkarlsso@mail.sfsu.edu

he young studio arts major could pass for any artistic student. Dressed in black from head to toe, with ripped pants and a leather jacket, she sat on a bench and fiddled anxiously with a camera bag hanging from her left shoulder.

What sets this woman apart from her classmates is not what happens in school, but what happens afterward.

At night, when her friends go home to study, cook and shower, Amy N. – who asked that Xpress not use her real name because of the stigma – sleeps in her car.

“My family is especially concerned especially after my mom told my brother,” according to Amy, who said her brother worried about

CREO NOVENO

cnoveno@mail.sfsu.edu

the long-term effects. “His idea is that you can only be successful if you have a stable place to stay.”

Amy’s situation is not unique. SF State students and faculty are feeling the impact of the city’s increasingly expensive landscape.

In response to rising demand for on-campus housing, President Leslie E. Wong announced plans for a new housing development in University Park South, set to begin construction September 2016. The University has narrowed down their choices to four development teams, whose proposals for the project are due Oct. 15, according to the project’s request for proposals.

“There is no question that housing for students and employees is the number one issue on my desk,” Wong said.

ALLISON MICHIE

amichie@mail.sfsu.edu

ASHLEY BOWEN

crammed in 7

Wednesday, october 14, 2015 goldengatexpress.org

As part of District 7, SF State is represented on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors by Supervisor Norman Yee, who said the struggle students face affording rent results from the city’s housing crisis.

“I had to work through college pretty much on my own, but the reality is, when I was going to college, I could work and pay for it,” Yee said. “Now, you can work two jobs and you still can’t pay for (rent).”

SF State students forced to sleep in their cars or couch surf is not a new, pressing issue, according to Yee, who said he remembers students sleeping in their cars while he was in school.

“Students will do whatever they need to do,” Yee said.

“That’s not the ideal situation, but a lot of that depends on what other resources you have.”

Sheila Tully, San Francisco’s chapter president of the California Faculty Association and SF State anthropology professor, said she has personally experienced the Bay Area’s housing crisis. Tully said after living in the same Outer Richmond home for 28 years, where she and her husband raised her daughter, her family was suddenly evicted.

“That was our neighborhood; we knew the bankers, the tellers, the dry cleaners, the coffee shop,” Tully said. “We had pizza parties with our neighbors and the kids watched videos. (The eviction) was right up there with the death

of my father as one of the most incredibly devastating experiences of my life.”

Salaries of SF State faculty and professors are insufficient to cover housing in the Bay Area, according to Tully, who said the CFA is currently fighting for a 5 percent increase in faculty pay in a collective bargaining agreement with the CSU, which is holding firm at 2 percent.

“When you make more than $400,000 a year as a campus president, 2 percent is about $8,000 a year,” Tully said. “When you make less than $40,000 a year, as the majority of our bargaining unit (does), then 2 percent translates into $800 a year – hardly equivalent.”

anbowen@mail.sfsu.edu

The housing crisis in San Francisco, caused by the rapidly expanding technology industry and increased migration into the city, has directly impacted SF State students by significantly limiting their housing options, according to Jason Porth, executive director of University Corporation.

Rent prices skyrocketed last year and continue to rise, making San Francisco the most expensive city in the United States, according to a January 2015 report from Zumper, showing the average cost for onebedroom apartments in the city at $3,410 and two-bedroom apartments at $4,690.

Rudolph Tescallo, 23, a senior psychology major, said he cannot afford rent in San Francisco, so he sleeps on friends’ couches Monday through Thursday every week.

“I jump from house to house,” Tescallo said. “I have three different friends (whose houses) I stay at regularly, and if none of them can house me during the week, then I’ll go to another friend.

Then, during the weekend I go back to Sonoma County and stay at my parents’ place.”

Because living on campus became too expensive, Tescallo said he was forced to look for more affordable housing. After searching unsuccessfully for more than four months, he said he had no choice but to couch surf.

What he misses most about having his own home are his family meals, having downtime and getting enough sleep SCREEN SHOT BY JOYCE CARRANZA / XPRESS at night, Tescallo said.

UNCERTAINTY: Rudolph Tescallo, senior psychology major, lies on the couch he will be sleeping on for the night at his

Map of SF State Housing

Matthew Silverman, an SF State lecturer in health and social sciences, said he endures a two-hour round trip commute every day from his parents’ house in Mountain View. He said the extra driving time is exhausting and makes it hard to pursue outside interests.

Living with his parents allowed him to save enough money for a down payment on a house in San Francisco, Silverman said. He has made several offers on places close to SF State, but said he lost in bidding wars each time.

“I’m one of the higher-paid lecturers on campus, and the most I can afford is either a one-bedroom condo or a house that’s half broken down,” Silverman said. “If I were supporting a wife and a kid, it would be

“

I do not mind, but it would still be nice if I could live in the city, but I don’t see that as a possibility any time soon. Maybe after I graduate, when I have a job and can pay the ridiculous rents.

” -amy n.

impossible on this salary to live anywhere within an hour and a half of here.”

Although her back sometimes hurts from spending the night in a cramped space, Amy said she does not mind sleeping in her car, considering it is her only option at the moment.

"I do not mind, but it would still be nice if I could live in the city, but I don’t see that as a possibility any time soon,” she said. “Maybe after I graduate, when I have a job and can pay the ridiculous rents."

GRAPHIC BY HARLAN FROST

Data sourced from the SF State student housing department and the U.S. News and World Report.

friend’s house at Westlake Village Apartments in Daly City Wednesday, Sept. 23.

As securing a place to live becomes more difficult and SF State’s waitlist for student housing continues to grow, obtaining a spot on the list plays an increasingly vital role in many students’ decision to attend SF State, according to Porth.

“There’s that kind of threshold question: will they end up here?” Porth said. “If they’re not in student housing, which is more affordable, then they’re on the open market, living in situations where there’s a lot of students to a room. That clearly impacts quality of life, and I would imagine it impacts the ability to succeed academically.”

Phase one of the proposed on-campus housing project would overhaul the block at Cardenas and Varela avenues across from SF State into a mixed-use development, comprised of ground-level storefronts and approximately

90 units of student housing above the ground floor, according to the concept approval from California State University’s finance committee in March 2014.

Wong’s development would provide additional recreation space as well as housing for upper-division students, Porth said.

“The waitlists (for housing) here on campus are incredibly long, and we’re eager to help meet that demand,” Porth said. “There’s also a need (for) more campus amenities, places to meet up with friends and colleagues (that are) better than we currently have here, and this project would help fill that void as well.”

The project will be funded through a publicprivate partnership agreement, which places all financial, construction and management responsibility on the chosen developer, said Stephanie Thara, CSU public affairs specialist.

As per the CSU concept approval, SF State will provide a ground lease to UCorp, which will then sublease the parcel to the project developer, Porth said. The developer would then stand to earn income off the housing and retail rent on the project, as well as provide UCorp and the University a means to pay off bond debt that currently is owed on the parcel, according to Porth.

The four developers — Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions, Capstone Development Partners, Urban Pacific Properties and Integral — are required to outline their projected rent rates as part of the proposal process due to the University Thursday, according to Porth. He stressed that the prices would be below market rate.

“It will probably be comparable (to dorm rates) or a higher modest premium, given that

it’s new construction and it’s such a great location,” Porth said. “But one of the missions of this project is to be able to provide additional housing stock for the campus community that’s affordable.”

If the development of the Varela and Cardenas block goes well, the University hopes to extend construction to the rest of UPS, according to Porth.

“There are all kinds of needs that we have — space is tight here, so we need to make sure we’re utilizing every parcel to its fullest capacity,” Porth said.

All long-term residents from the first parcel for the Holloway Avenue development have been relocated to similarly-sized units at UPN and UPS, said Student Housing Program Director Philippe Cumia.

DAVID HENRY / XPRESS

LONG RIDE: SF State health and social sciences RYAN MCNULTY / XPRESS

RESTRUCTURING: University-owned property on Holloway Avenue

between Varela and Cardenas avenues is slated to be demolished and replaced with new student housing and commercial businesses at SF State beginning September 2016.

lecturer Matt Silverman fills his car with gas for his long commute home to Mountain View Monday, Oct. 12.

8 OPINION

Wednesday, October 14, 2015 goldengatexpress.org

STAFF EDITORIAL

Housing must not isolate disadvantaged students

D

iversity has always been at the core of our university’s values. In November, SF State will celebrate the 46th anniversary of the College of Ethnic Studies, the only one of its kind.

The school was just ranked No. 24 on Best College Reviews’ list of the most ethnically diverse universities in the country.

As we continue to progress as a school, it is imperative we remain a bastion of diversity in a city that is becoming more and more gentrified.

To do so, our housing must remain affordable and accessible to the faculty and students who make our school so unique.

On Thursday, SF State will accept proposals from four different development teams to build new student housing on Cardenas and Varela avenues off of Holloway Avenue. Campus officials have said that the prices would remain comparable to — or slightly higher than — current costs.

If we’re to keep our identity as a school, we need to ensure

Affordable student housing is a necessity in city's competitive market that students will actually be able to afford these proposed units, particularly students from lowincome backgrounds and students of color.

Too often we have heard from students without resources, backed

into a corner by the dire housing situation in San Francisco.

While developing “Crammed In,” our reporters spoke to students living in the back of a U-Haul truck, sleeping on friends’ couches five nights a week and living four to a room, still barely able to make ends meet.

The sad thing is, these scenarios are not so farfetched. Every student and faculty member knows someone who lives in a situation like this.

Instead of being part of the

problem, SF State needs to address the needs of its students. The hurdles that so many people are being forced to jump over to attend or teach at SF State are ludicrous for a public institution.

The legacy of our university is at stake. The question is, who has the right to live here? Do we want to be remembered as a school that took a stand in the name of its students against the massive tidal wave of gentrification, or as a school that looked to make a short-term buck?

City life worth paying the hefty price JESSICA NEMIRE jdn@mail.sfsu.edu

Last week, I was dancing at a bar in the Castro on a Wednesday night with some friends and one of their cousins, who was visiting from Utah. Around 11 p.m., one of my friends wanted to leave to go eat, but the cousin protested, saying, “I’m out dancing on a Wednesday. This doesn’t happen in Utah.”

I had a moment of gratitude for living in San Francisco.

Living here, I can go dancing on weekday nights. There’s frequent free concerts and street fairs, and there are lots of unique restaurants and bars, despite the rapid expansion of clubs catering to moneyed millennials eager to spend their parents’ money on $13 cocktails filled with the rinds of various fruits.

Despite the rapid changes to the city, I still think San Francisco is an incredible place to live, and I plan to stay here for as long as I can afford to.

I’ve been in San Francisco for four years, and I’m convinced there’s no other city like it. However, with rent prices rising by the month and more and more

techies moving here from Silicon Valley, spurring rapid gentrification in many neighborhoods, San Francisco is quickly gaining a bad reputation. Because of this, several of my friends are leaving the city or plan to do so after they graduate from college.

Since moving here in August 2011, I’ve never seen the housing market worse than it is right now. A one-bedroom apartment within 10 miles of San Francisco city limits cost $3,458 a month back in April, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, compared to $2,009 a month when I first moved here in 2011, according to Business Insider.

In the past month alone, my housemates and I have had five different friends crash in our tiny living room because they were unable to find an affordable living situation. One of them ended up moving to Guam to live with his extended family because he was evicted from his Excelsior home under the Ellis Act. After searching for another place in San Francisco for a month, he was unable to find anything he could afford.

I’ve been lucky with my housing situation. I live so far out on the edge of the city that sometimes buses don’t stop at my street, and I have more housemates in my four-bedroom

IMANI MILLER / XPRESS

SKYLINE: Jessica Nemire,a journalism senior, poses for a portrait in front of Painted Ladies near Alamo Square, an iconic location in San Francisco, Thursday, Oct. 8.

apartment than I can count on one hand, but the price I pay is almost nothing by San Francisco standards. If I lived somewhere more expensive, I’m not sure I could afford to continue living here, but I’m going to try for as long as I can.

Even though it’s changing its ways, San Francisco is one of the most unique cities in the world, and I’ll always love it for that.

OPINION 9

Wednesday, october 14, 2015 goldengatexpress.org

Racial assumptions erode heritage S ometimes it happens when I meet someone who only speaks Spanish and assumes the same of me. Other times it happens on the soccer field after a joyous outcry of "Golazo!"

No matter what the scenario, I’ve come to terms with the fact that, at some point after meeting me, people will ask me if I'm Mexican.

For a claim that is often based solely on appearance, I've dealt with this misguided presumption of my identity far too often in my life.

Instead of making assumptions about a person's race and where they come from, it's time to show a little respect. It's time to just ask, "Where are you from?"

I am a Hapa, a Hawaiian label meaning half white and half Asian. My mother is a fairly dark-skinned, fully Filipino woman, while my dad is a white man. I was born with a complexion somewhere in between, which lent itself nicely to most people's perception of a Mexican man.

There's nothing inherently wrong with being associated with Mexico or the people from there. I have many Mexican friends, including my childhood best friend. One of my favorite soccer players of all time is striker Javier Hernandez, more commonly known as "Chicharito," and if it were socially acceptable I would eat tacos for three meals a day.

The problem is the audacity

DAVID CURL

dcurl@mail.sfsu.edu

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY EVA RODRIGUEZ PHOTOS BY QING HUANG

of people who are so sure that my features match up with their perception of who I am racially.

I can't tell you the number of times someone has called me Mexican without a second thought, or asked me, "You mean you aren't?" with a tone of absolute astonishment.

And I know this tendency to preconceive someone's background stretches far beyond Filipinos looking

Latino. In a city with such a strong Asian history and population, Asians are continuously miscast as one ethnicity. There is the prejudiced, yet common idea that "they all look alike," and I've also heard, "If you're not sure, always assume Chinese," multiple times in my life.

Am I just overreacting to a simple mistake? Why does it matter that someone thinks

something about me with no malicious intent, but rather naiveté?

It matters. Few things are more important than your roots.

Knowing where you came from tells a story about your ancestors and the history of your people that led to where you are today. It tells you who you are.

There are real benefits to having a sense of ancestry.

According to a 2010 Emory University study, kids who know stories about their family and relatives before them show "higher levels of emotional well-being."

That's not to say any one nationality is better than the rest, but everyone is different in their own way. This uniqueness breeds diversity and individuality, which makes you a more interesting person.

When people look at another person and categorize them, they strip them of their identity, if only for a moment. And maybe, like in my case, that person has been incorrectly labeled hundreds of times. From my experience I can say that after the first hundred, it starts to get really annoying.

The point is, we all come from somewhere, and that's something to feel proud of.

As they say, "You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been."

My advice to anyone out there is not to make assumptions about the people you meet.

Instead, simply ask, "Where are you from?"

NASHELLY CHAVEZ

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

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p

GO

MANAGING EDITOR dfracoll@mail.sfsu.edu

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ART DIRECTOR erodrig2@mail.sfsu.edu

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ASSISTANT MULTIMEDIA EDITOR jcarranz@mail.sfsu.edu

JESSICA NEMIRE

Bullying took the home out of my hometown

or homo. The name calling eventually evolved into hallway shoving, being banned from the reidcamm@mail.sfsu.edu men’s bathroom and an occasional apple or pancake to the face. I eventually enrolled in Growing up in the suburbs of Sacramento, home schooling to escape the bullying and I was the fabulous little poster boy for the gay stereotype. My childhood obsession with “The non-stop harassment, though it didn't stop me from running into former bullies around town.

Sound of Music” and Barbie dolls eventually The homophobic experiences I involved into a teenage love for “Glee” and encountered are the reason I don't Lady Gaga, the basic staples for a feel safe back in Sacramento.

2010 gay teen. My style was I never felt like my eventually as flaming hometown was as my interests: you a place where could catch me any I belonged day with painted because of the nails, a brightly harassment colored pair I received of jeans from and 20 strangers matching at school accessories. and I looked around like I town. collapsed I in a neon moved Claire’s to San sale rack, Francisco but I was and left living for it.

Sacramento It was behind as clear that many quickly as of my peers and possible. In the neighbors didn't city, I can walk down derive the same joy ILLUSTRATION BY REID CAMMACK the streets without second from my style as I did. guessing my outfit or mannerisms.

All throughout high school, my classmates called me names like faggot, queen I can wear fishnets and run around screaming REID CAMMACK

“yaaaasss” and no one will bat an eye. While I currently dress much less flamboyantly than my high school self, it’s still nice to have the option of wearing what I want.

Even when I go back Sacramento as an adult, I am harassed. No matter how much I tone down my style, I still feel unsafe. I am faced with constant memories of past bullying and new forms of harassment from strangers.

The last time I visited my parents, a group of older men on the sidewalk called me a fag.

I thought I would fit in without the earrings and the nail polish I proudly wore in high school, but apparently I’m still too gay for Sacramento.

While I’m not permanently attached to the idea of living in San Francisco for the rest of my life, I know I’ll stay away from my hometown. I have lived in major cities, boring suburbs and even on farms, but the only time I really felt like I belonged was in a big city. Yes, there are some homophobes in San Francisco. But at least I am still surrounded by a community that supports all lifestyles and doesn’t discriminate based off of sexuality or looks.

Though Sacramento is by far not the worst place for a queer person to live, it’s still not right for me. I grew up in a town where I couldn't walk down the street without being harassed and went to a school where a teacher once told me he would run over and kill his son if he was gay. San Francisco isn’t the perfect place, but it’s the only place I feel comfortable enough to call my home.

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WRITE US A LETTER

The Golden Gate Xpress accepts letters no longer than 200 words.

Letters are subject to editing.

Send letters to Reid Cammack at: reidcamm@mail.sfsu.edu

ABOUT XPRESS The Golden Gate Xpress is a student-produced publication of the journalism department at San Francisco State University.

For more information or comments, please contact Nashelly Chavez at: nashelly@mail.sfsu.edu

10 SPORTS

Wednesday, October 14, 2015 goldengatexpress.org

SF State athletics department looks to bolster game attendance TYLER LEHMAN

tlehman@mail.sfsu.edu

A

DAVID CURL

dcurl@mail.sfsu.edu

glimmer of light reflected off of a snowy white volleyball as it floated, seemingly suspended in midair as if time had come to a halt.

Gators hitter Jaclyn Clark leapt off the floor and smashed the ball down with authority between a scattered web of California State University, East Bay defenders.

The announcer confirmed the point and the crowd erupted, howling with approval and sending echoes of cheers and high-fives bouncing off the walls of the Gymnasium.

The 340 people in attendance Sept. 9 marked the largest crowd the Gators have seen all season.

“Everyday I meet people who are surprised to find out we have teams,” Clark said.

Attendance at SF State’s volleyball and soccer games has shown some improvement this year, in comparison to last year, according to the SF State athletics website.

In 2014, the Gators’ average turnout was 147 people per game for men’s soccer, 141 for women’s soccer and 188 for volleyball, according to the SF State athletics website. This year, the Gators are averaging 168, 148 and 242 for those sports, respectively.

Despite the increase, secondyear Director of Athletics Charles Guthrie said he sees room for improvement.

“Since day one, my goal has been to get the student body out to games,” Guthrie said.

The attendance numbers are climbing, but aside from volleyball, the school still ranks near the bottom of the California Collegiate Athletic Association.

Out of 13 teams, the Gators rank 8th in average crowd size for men’s soccer, 9th for women’s soccer and 6th for volleyball, despite having the largest student body of all CCAA schools, according to data compiled from CCAA school websites.

Guthrie attributes the large spike in volleyball turnout to an

QING HUANG / XPRESS

CHEER: David Tui, left, and other fans cheer for SF State Gators women’s volleyball team after they won 3-1 against the CSU East Bay Pioneers at the Swamp Saturday, Sept. 19.

aggressive promotional campaign on campus, online and in the community.

Guthrie said that another reason volleyball has seen a large growth in fan appearance, as opposed to soccer, is because it’s easier to add amenities to an indoor venue.

“Our indoor sports are easier to manage, so we’ve added concessions,” Guthrie said. “When you walk in you smell popcorn going, and I think students are coming back. So we’re getting repeat offenders now, because they’re feeling like this is a good spot to be in.”

Guthrie said in order to bring more of the public out to soccer games, lights need to be installed at Cox Stadium to allow for latenight games.

“We’ve been working very hard on potential donors,” Guthrie said. “Our goal is to put lights at Cox Stadium. If we put lights up, it changes the game for us tremendously. We play at 12:30 and 2:30, and the majority of

DAVID HENRY / XPRESS

FAN SUPPORT: SF State Gators women’s soccer fans celebrate the team’s win against the Concordia University Cavaliers at Cox Stadium Saturday, Sept. 12.

people are going to class. No one’s going to leave work to come over here, so it handicaps us.”

Having a big crowd is something that men’s soccer midfielder Robert Kelly said can be a huge boost for the team.

“Honestly, having the fan base helps you so much, because you

get extra energy when everyone is cheering you on,” Kelly said.

“It gives you an extra boost to persevere and win.”

Kelly was a transfer from University of Tulsa, a Division I school, where he said the stands were always packed with rabid, cheering fans.

Guthrie said his goal is to bring that same Division I atmosphere to SF State’s athletics department, even though it’s a Division II program.

“When you come to our games now, it’s an experience,” Guthrie said. “My first day in the door I felt like I wasn’t even at a high-end high school game.”

Volleyball player Taylor Brownlee said she can sense the excitement of the crowd during intense matches.

“When I see the fans out there, it amplifies everything,” Brownlee said. “We feed off their energy even when we are physically exhausted.”

President Leslie E. Wong said that the school should place more importance on its athletic programs.

“I have always felt that if a university is a home, then athletics are the ‘front door’ to that home,” Wong said via email. “Our teams provide a wonderful opportunity to showcase the energy and pride on our campus and invite the rest of the community, including our alumni, to come in and see the exciting things happening in the rest of the house.”

Guthrie said it’s his main objective to try to develop pride in SF State athletics.

“When you guys graduate, we want you, when you hear the Gator fight song, to get excited and say ‘Yeah, I went to State!’” Guthrie said.

sports 11

Wednesday, October 14, 2015 goldengatexpress.org

Unkept field creates Gator advantage

C

TYLER LEHMAN

tlehman@mail.sfsu.edu

hoppy, bumpy, dying grass and a plethora of dirt patches define SF State’s soccer field.

Time-management issues and the continuous use of the field cause Cox Stadium to look much worse than it should, according to Grounds Operation Manager Anthony Benson.

“The field is currently used by athletics, recreation, kinesiology and other outside groups,” Benson said. “We have a tight window to maintain it with all the activities, so we only get two or three hours a day.”

The poor condition of the pitch frustrates opposing teams, who aren’t used to playing on a field riddled with dirt patches, according to men’s soccer head coach Matt Barnes.

“It’s hard for other teams to come and play on our field,” Barnes said. “The field is choppy and has a lot of dead patches. It’s the one field in the conference that everyone complains about.”

The men’s soccer team only had one loss at home last year, and they are currently undefeated at home this season at 3-0-2.

“Other teams don’t like to play here,” said co-captain and center back Max Talbert. “They aren’t used to how the field plays. For us, we practice here

almost every day, so we know how to play on the field. It gives us an advantage at home.”

Benson said SF State’s home turf would be in better shape if his crew could work on the field at least four hours a day. During the summer, Benson said he and his crew had adequate time to take care of the field, and as a result it was in top-notch shape.

The FC Barcelona team used the Cox Stadium field in July, and the pitch looked beautiful, according to Barnes.

For the field to go back to the shape it was in this summer, Benson said his crew would need a long period of time where the field was unused.

“We would love to have four to six weeks of no one on the field to give the turf time to recuperate, because you can seed it and have new grass grow,” Benson said. “But if everyone is running on it, it pretty much tears it up again.”

Benson said it’s very difficult to keep up the field with the time constraints he currently faces.

He said the field won’t go back to being great until the end of October, when soccer season ends.

The numerous dirt patches should not increase concern for injuries though, according to SF State’s head athletic trainer Bryce Schussel.

DAVID HENRY / XPRESS

PATCHES: The SF State Gators men’s soccer team practices on a field covered with dirt patches at Cox Stadium Tuesday, Oct. 6. Groundskeepers said they plan to repair the field by the end of October.

“If the grass isn’t great, then we deal with that,” Schussel said.

“Any field that we have athletes on, we do a scan if there are potential issues. I don’t see Cox (Stadium) as having any major issues, and we just work with what we have.”

Benson said the field isn’t in great shape and is nowhere near where he wants it to be the best

solution to the problem would be to build a practice field for the teams to train on, he said.

A practice field would mean that the Cox Stadium field would be used less, which would give Benson more time to reseed when needed, which requires a minimum of two weeks with no major disturbances to be successful, he said.

Overall, SF State’s home turf has the potential to be superb, if given adequate time to be nurtured, Benson said “If we have the time to use the resources we need, the field will look great,” Benson said.

“Once we are able to get in on the field, it can look just as good as it did when Barcelona was here.”

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