Spring 2013 Issue 13

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS //

STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER PROUDLY SERVING THE SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1927.

// 05.01.13

VOLUME LXXXXVI ISSUE 13

HAZARDOUS WASTE: PAY TO PLAY SCAM AT SF STATE

HAZMAT: The organic lab in Thorton Hall room 716 contains hazardous waste that is collected and then transported off-campus by a hazardous waste disposal company. Between 2004 and 2009 the company responsible for disposal, Chemical Hazardous Materials Technologies, stands accused of bribing an SF State official in order to gain a lucrative contract . Photo by Virginia Tieman

Bribery, burglary, and a high-speed chase shake campus as two scandals erupt from one household

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BY MATT SAINCOME | saincome@mail.sfsu.edu

WO SF STATE OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN ARrested in the month of April. One, a former director, the other a records supervisor at the University Police Department. Their alleged crimes and roles at the University are different, but their last names are the same.

Meet Julie and Robert Shearer, SF State's married couple of defendants.

Robert “Bud” Shearer, a former SF State director of Environmental Health and Occupational Safety, is accused of being involved in a seven-year bribery scheme that cheated the University out of millions of dollars while students faced increasingly frequent tuition hikes, District Attorney George Gascón said. He plead "not guilty" to 128 felony counts for allegedly taking bribes in return for approving hazardous waste removal contracts that were overpriced, last Friday, April 26.

“As SFSU students were seeing tuition increases each year, this high-level university official and vendor were getting rich off the University’s dime,” District Attorney George Gascón said.

“We’re talking about millions of dollars here. We will seek restitution.”

ROBERT “BUD” SHEARER According to Shearer’s newly appointed attorney assigned by the Public Defender’s Office, Deputy Public Defender Stephanie LaCambra, Shearer has “no financial assets to speak of.”

Robert and Julie entered into bankruptcy Nov. 4, 1996 and their Fremont house was foreclosed on in 2010.

Stephen Cheung, Robert Shearer's alleged accomplice, was the owner and operator of Chemical Hazardous Materials Technologies, a company that the District Attorney says Robert Shearer routinely allowed to overSEE SHEARERS’ ON PAGE 2

PRESSER: District Attorney George Gascón (left) announces bribery charges of former SF State Director Robert Shearer and owner of environmental waste disposal firm Stephen Cheung at the Hall of Justice. Photo by Gabriella Gamboa

Musicians use campus community as creative catalyst

BY KRISTEN MARTZ | kmartz@mail.sfsu.edu and

BY LOVELIE FAUSTINO | faustino@mail.sfsu.edu

A

S NEW students living in the dorms at SF State, Gregory DiMartino and Julian Borrego weren't allowed PHOTO BY VIRGINIA to practice their TIEMAN music in their rooms. Instead, they would walk about campus with their instruments, rehearsing and writing new songs.

“Julian and I would go on night walks with our guitars,” said DiMartino, a creative writing major and frontman of Black Cobra Vipers, a self-described hipster rock band with three SF State members. “There’s cool meadows — it’s a beautiful campus, there’s cool little niches you can go into and sing songs.”

Borrego, Black Cobra Vipers bassist and music major, was meandering about the campus with DiMartino one night when they heard a woman complimenting them from the dorms.

“We were like ‘Jesus, thanks,’ and we looked at her and we looked at each other all handsome and were like ‘Hell yeah, there’s a chick in the world who’s down with that’,” DiMartino said, “but it turned out to just be Rob.” Rob Mills, the “woman,” from the dorms and a music major, later went on to become the drummer of Black Cobra Vipers.

For some students, the constant studying that comes with college life means hanging up the instruments and dreams of playing in a band. At SF State, however, many students find a place where new bands are created and thrive.

Students aren’t the only ones pursuing their music dreams on campus. Tyler Johnson of Tommy Boys, a math rock band with two SF State members, sees his music career as a double life.

He is a broadcasting and electronic communication arts graduate student and an instructor at SF State as well.

“My band life and school life are kind of like separate lives.

I actually teach a couple classes and only a few of my students have figured out I’m in a band and sometimes they’ll show up at a show and say hi, but it’s kind of like this almost secret life,” Johnson said.

SEE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL ON PAGE 6

2 CAMPUS SF STATE SPEAKS OUT HOW WOULD YOU FEEL YOU ARE GETTING YOUR MONEY’S WORTH AT A FESTIVAL?

CHRISTINA MERRICK, 25

GRAD STUDENT IN PSYCHOLOGY

If I saw more bands I like. It’s nice to see someone you’ve followed for a while. I appreciate the art too, like what they have at Coachella.

05.01.13 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

Shearers’ accused of crimes on campus CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE

charge SF State for hazardous waste removal and other services in return for personal loans, monetary payments totaling up to $183,000, trips to China, and a gifted Volvo.

After Robert Shearer left his job as director and Cheung’s company was replaced, SF State’s yearly spending on hazardous waste removal services went from $730,000 to only $176,000. According to the District Attorney’s office, Cheung allegedly started bribing Shearer in 2002 and continued to do so until 2009.

Shearer, a former helicopter machine gunner during the Vietnam War, was arrested April 18 at his home in Fremont, without incident. But Cheung wasn't arrested until April 22 after a highspeed car chase that began at 46th Avenue and Taraval Street.

Cheung crashed his Mercedes into unoccupied parked cars at 44th Avenue and Ulloa Street. He then fled on foot before he was arrested by the San Francisco Police Department.

Both defendants are currently in custody with bail set at $5 million apiece, and could face more than 100 years in state prison if convicted, according to the District Attorney’s press release.

Shearer is being charged with 128 felony counts — 59 counts of commercial bribery, 59 counts of accepting a bribe, five felony counts of making a contract in an official capacity by a financially interested person, and five felony counts of perjury.

Ellen Griffin, University spokeswoman, said that because the investigation is ongoing, all she would say is that SF State “appreciates the DA’s work” and that “the current director of EHOS was chosen via a search committee with references thoroughly checked. Current campus procedure is that the unit’s operations and contracts undergo audit to ensure procedures and policies are followed, including audits from the CSU Chancellor’s Office.”

Julie Shearer arrested on campus

JACK BETTERLY-KOHN, 21 COMPUTER SCIENCE MAJOR

If they had more than just three bands that I wanna see I’d go.

I’d go to a festival if it wasn’t in Florida or Southern California.

Bud isn't the only member of the Shearer household accused of taking more than their fair share off of campus. His wife, Julie Shearer, records supervisor at the University Police Department, was arrested on campus by University police April 8 for burglarizing the UPD building and possessing property stolen from one of her coworkers, according to an internal memo obtained by Golden Gate Xpress.

After a sting operation including the use of covert surveillance equipment, she was arrested by UPD, according to the memo. She was arrested April 8 in possession of U.S. currency belonging to a co-worker, according to four charges from the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.

The memo, written and signed by Patrick M. Wasley, chief of SF State police, states: “Ms. Shearer was the subject of a theft allegation in the department. I initiated an Internal Affairs investigation and authorized a sting operation and the use of covert

2005

2010

Robert Shearer advises SF State to sign a contract with Chemical Hazmat Technologies

LAUREN NEUROTH, 23

ENGLISH AMERICAN LITERATURE MAJOR

I got a good cut in taxes back, but if I was going to splurge, I’d use my money on something better spent.

The Shearers’

FALL FROM GRACE ART BY ELISSA TORRES

SF State UPD launches bribery investigation

Robert Shearer leaves SF State

2009

surveillance equipment.”

Julie Shearer was charged with burglarizing 100 North State Dr., the University Police station, where she worked as a records supervisor and police dispatcher, according to the District Attorney’s charges.

Police dispatchers are the ones responsible for inputting information into the campus crime log on their downtime, according to a source who spoke with Xpress on the condition of anonymity. Julie Shearer’s arrest was not posted on the crime log until April 29, after its lack of an entry was brought to the attention of Chief of SF State police by an Xpress reporter.

Wasley called the missing entry an "unfortunate oversight."

The UPD crime log website states, “The SF State Crime, Arrest, and Fire Log covers the past 60 days. Incidents are posted to the Log within 48 hours of occurrence. If a case disposition changes, it will be reflected in the log within 48 hours. If an arrest (is) made, the arrest information will be posted directly below the corresponding incident.”

The newly added entry states that the total loss of the theft was $60.

The surveillance equipment confirmed allegations of Julie Shearer’s involvement in a theft and she subsequently admitted to two thefts while being interviewed, according to the memo.

The District Attorney’s office confirmed that she is charged with “unlawfully entering a commercial building occupied by SF State with intent to commit larceny and felony.”

In the memo, Wasley wrote, “These actions are unacceptable in any situation and even more strikingly so in the University Police Department. For that reason, I request that appropriate disciplinary action be taken.”

Julie Shearer has been put on administrative leave, according to Griffin.

“It’s distressing when a law enforcement professional is arrested, but taking immediate action was essential. We have made the arrest and now trust in the legal system,” Wasley said.

Julie Shearer was arraigned April 15 and has a pretrial conference scheduled for May 30. Golden Gate Xpress reached out to Julie Shearer, but she was unavailable for immediate comment.

Julie first met Robert when she was with the Twin Cities Police Department, according to an SF State news memo from 2007.

According to a report by the Marin Independent Journal, Robert was forced out of his 1985 position as Corte Madera fire chief amid allegations of misconduct.

The Golden Gate Xpress will continue to update you on our ongoing investigation in this matter.

If you have any tips about Robert or Julie Shearer, contact Matt Saincome at saincome@mail.sfsu.edu or tweet him @MattSaincome.

APRIL 2, 2013 Julie Shearer is caught stealing on covert surveillance equiptment

APRIL 15, 2013

APRIL 22, 2013

Julie arraigned

APRIL 18, 2013 Robert was arrested

After a sting operation, Julie is arrested

by UPD

APRIL 8, 2013

Stephen Cheung arrested by SFPD after high-speed chase

Both defendents plea “not guilty” to a combined 246 felony charges

APRIL 26, 2013

International student of the week

TANNER REYES, 20 JAPANESE MAJOR

I went to Coachella and it was frustrating. It’s hard to see bands when they play at the same time.

You don’t see full sets. If you want to eat, you miss a set. It was also way hotter than I thought and it was hard to enjoy.

Photos by: Virginia Tieman Reporting by: Brad Wilson

Name: Eliza Bolger Age: 22 Major: Graphic Design From: Australia What’s the first thing you noticed about the U.S.?

No one understands me and I'm speaking English. I don't know if it's my accent.

What’s the biggest difference between here and home?

Everyone is more chill throughout the week. It's so casual.

What do you miss about home?

I miss good Aussie food, fresh seafood.

What are your future plans?

Road trip to the canyons, New Orleans, New York and then flying to London in July.

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

| 05.01.13

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: The Golden Gate Xpress will feature a photo every week in print and online from SF State students — and it could be yours! email your photos:

xpressnewsstaff@gmail.com

A man takes a nap on a bench while using his prosthetic leg as a pillow in Paris, France. Photo by Tricia Brooks

HAPPY CINQO DE MAYO from your friends at the Golden Gate Xpress Advertising Office

Please celebrate responsibly, amigos!

3

4 CITY

05.01.13 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

HOLY WATER: Moaan Ahmed (above), a junior at SF State, cleanses his feet in the process of ‘wudu’ in the lower level bathroom of the Student Center of SF State. Wudu is the cleansing of ones arms, hands, head, ears and feet before participating in the holy practice of prayer.

WORSHIP: Muslim Student Association (MSA) members Moaan Ahmed, junior, and Ali Al-Arabi, senior, pray in room C-139 in the lower level of the Student Center. Photos by Frank Leal

Campus Muslims break negative stereotypes

BY BRIAN RINKER | brinker@mail.sfsu.edu

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The Boston Marathon bombing brought accusations of terrorism to the Muslim community as students aim to shed stigma

reotype when the Boston marathon bombers were identiment guided by the divine and ruled by religious leaders.

OON AFTER THE BOMBING OF fied by law enforcement as self-radicalized Islamists.

“They want to create here on earth a form of political the Boston marathon, the world saw “The minute they catch the two guys, all of a sudden, rule based on the word of God spoken in the Quran,” gruesome photos of the bombing everything falls neatly in place,” Abdulhadi said, adding Fischer said. victims with blast wounds, melted that everybody then acts like “it’s natural; of course it’s Longtime criminal justice professor Daniel Vencill clothing and lost limbs. People wanted going to be Muslims.” said the Islamic views are hard for mainstream westerners to know what happened and who was The suspects were brothers Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, to understand, which adds to the negative stereotypes of responsible. and, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19. Both are Chechen, born Muslims.

When SF State student and biology “The Shariah law — we’re scared to death of it,” Venmajor, Yaman Ahmen, 24, and member of the Muslim Stu- either in Kyrgyzstan or Dagestan, predominately Muslim regions. Dzhokhar is thought to have been influenced by cill said, referring to the strict moral code outlined in the dent Association at SF State first heard about the bombing Quran followed by devout Muslims. “Most westerners he thought one thing: “I hope it’s not a Muslim or someone his older brother’s increasingly radical views. Tamerlan was killed during a police car chase and shootout. The hate Shariah law, they don’t like the misogynistic culture claiming to be a part of an Islamic organization.” younger Tsarnaev was captured after suffering multiple and the maltreatment of women. It’s so anti-western.”

Many Muslims in the SF State community braced But none of the stereotypes present the whole picture, themselves, fearing that conclusions would be drawn. They gunshot wounds and is being charged with using a weapon of mass destruction. far from it. Most people don’t understand Muslims befollowed the unfolding investigation with anticipation, Most Islamists aren’t violent. In 2012, just 12 cause they lack the information. hoping that the bombers wouldn’t turn out to be Muslim.

Muslim-Americans were indicted in terrorist plots, with “The information they do have,” Vencill said, “is “When bombings happen, like in Boston, it’s always legend, myth, misapprehension— propaganda that people assumed to be Muslims or Arabs,” said Rabab Abdulhadi, only one that resulted in violence, according to FBI and Homeland Security data reported in University of North have unwittingly been fed and absorbed.”

SF State associate professor of ethnic studies. “When the Carolina study by Charles Kurzman, professor of sociolSome people doubt whether Islam or if any terrorist Oklahoma City bombing happened nobody was looking ogy. That’s 12 out of roughly 2.6 million Muslims living influence played any real role in the bombers’ motives, for Christians.” in the U.S., according to a study of the Pew Research suggesting that they were just alienated kids.

Abdulhadi and many Muslims on campus blame the Center.

“The Boston bombers were just pissed off kids who media for fueling the terrorist stereotype by popularizing Only a small minority of Islamists believe that the use suddenly had access to an idea that would glorify their terms like "radical Islam" and "jihadist" to describe vioof violence is necessary whenever Islam is threatened and actions,” Fischer said. “The young kid, I probably know lent terrorists. These labels can cause uniformed people that all Muslims have a responsibility to attack, according more about Islam than he does.” to lump a very small number of violent people with the to Fischer.

The New York Times did a profile of Tamerlan one and a half billion Muslims in the world.

“The use (of) violence separates them from the 99 Tsarnaev April 27 that suggested his devotion to Islam “The media defines all Muslims as radicals,” said percent of Muslims,” he said. increased, but “only after his more secular dreams were Muslim, Shafah Arsala, a 20-year-old business adminFischer doesn’t like to use “radical Islam,” preferring dashed.” The Times was referring to when Tamerlan quit istration major. “There is nothing in our religion that political Muslim or Islamist instead, as it helps better boxing apparently over the frustration of no longer being condones violence.” identify those pushing for a political form of Islam. able to compete in Golden Gloves tournament because of David Fischer, an international relations professor at Islamists want a theocratic system, a form of governhis immigration status.

SF State, said that terrorism is not only limited to Muslim Whatever the reasons the suspects had for people. bombing the marathon, you can be sure on one “Terrorists are found in all religious communithing, agreed Fischer and Vencill: we will absoties,” said Fischer, who teaches a course here on lutely see more bombings like what happened in terrorism. “They’re found in the Christian commuBoston happening in major cities across the nation. nity and the Jewish community.”

While terrorists who pursue violence in the Fischer estimated that about “20 to 30 percent name of Islam are a small minority of Muslims, of the general population has fundamentally racist it only takes a small number of people to inflict views toward Muslims.” serious violence. As the potential for more attacks Abdulhadi, senior scholar of the Arab and increases, so does the potential for misinformation Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative at SF to spread, adding to the terrorist stereotype of the State, said that since 9/11 she’s been stopped on Muslim people. many flights to and from Palestine and questioned Terrorists around the world are going to say by security, and that her bags always have the tag “look at what two (young people) did in a big that says they’ve been randomly selected to be American hub city with just $500 worth of firesearched. People confuse her name. Some even works and crockpots,” Vencill said. “They shut laugh the first time they hear it. down an entire city for five days and terrorized the “It’s very troubling and takes its toll on their entire population. For almost no money they got in daily lives,” she said, referring to the psychologievery newspaper in the world. In every other part cal effects on Muslims. “You’re always wondering WRITING ON THE WALL: Islamic calligraphy is written in the small confines of the Mus- of the world they’re going to say 'Good lord look at when something is going to drop (or) when somelim Student Association’s room in the lower levels of the Student Center allowing Muslim what you can do.' Talk about a force multiplier, talk thing is going to happen.” students the opportunity to practice during the school day. Photo by Frank Leal about asymmetric warfare.”

It didn’t help squash the Muslim terrorist ste-

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG

CITY 5

| 05.01.13

This weekend, an exhibit chronicling the 19-month occupation of Alcatraz Island kicked off with an opening celebration

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‘We Are Still Here’exhibit occupies Alcatraz Island

BY LULU OROZCO | ohlulu@mail.sfsu.edu

archival footage of the occupation.

HE OPENING CELEBRAIn 2010, Park Ranger Craig Glassner from Golden tion of the historic American Indian Gate National Recreation Area was invited to see the occupation exhibit “We Are Still “We Are Still Here” exhibit at the Cesar Chavez Student Here” echoed through the walls of Center Art Gallery at SF State, where it was displayed Alcatraz Island, where occupation for just one month. veterans, historians and University The following year it landed in a revolving exhibit on alumni gathered to give visibility to the Alcatraz for six months, though a permanent space all native people April 28. had not yet been found. The exhibit would eventually “A lot of people just see it as this distinct 19-month find a permanent home on the Island. occupation of Alcatraz. What they don’t understand, “A while back I got an invitation to see an exhibit at and hopefully the exhibit will help with this, is that it San Francisco State, it was just getting ready to close. really sparked the Red Power movement,” said Philip When I saw the exhibit, I thought it really deserved to M. Klasky, exhibit curator and American Indian studies have a home here at Alcatraz,” Glassner said. professor at SF State.

A permanent home not only because of what it meant The 1969-1971 occupation of Alcatraz helped shed back then, but what it continues to represent for all indiglight on American Indian rights issues, and helped gain enous peoples. national and international attention to the plight of “A lot of native kids don’t know the history of American Indians, eventually leading to legislation that Alcatraz, they know a little bit about it, but they don’t resulted in the return of hundreds of thousands of acres know why we did it, and the reasons that we did it, and of ancestral lands to Native American tribes. how it changed everything, how it started a whole new The occupation succeeded when the federal government adopted a policy to end termination and adopted a new policy of Indian self-determination.

“This exhibit is going to allow us to tell our E NLIN story behind it. It’s going to allow us to express An O SIVE U ourselves in a way that America hasn't heard EXCL o on e d i v our voice," Frankie Rivera, member of the raz Alcatxpress.org Navajo tribe, said. "It’s going to give to a lot of e ngat tribes that have lost their ways and touch with golde their own culture, because of assimilation, lack of the language.”

The multimedia gallery of work is housed in a small, Civil War era brick case and is big enough to hold 20 people at a time. The exhibit includes photography and art, Native American poetry, an “audioscape” of native leaders and occupation veterans, and video collages of

way of looking at yourself as an indigenous person,” said Michael Horse, member of the Yaqui/Mescalero Apache tribe, who came to the Island during the occupation when he was 19 years old.

Mariah Cruz, a criminal justice and American Indian studies major, keeps Richard Oakes legacy alive by studying the Alcatraz occupation at SF State.

“It's always amazing to see what we study in school be applied to real life. I've been studying about the occupation of Alcatraz for over two years now,” Cruz said.

“I've written countless papers and I know so many facts and dates about the event, but to actually meet those who were there and were protesting for the rights of American Indian people is truthfully amazing.”

Richard Oakes, member of the Mohawk tribe, a former SF State student and Alcatraz occupation leader helped to create one of the first Native American studies departments in the nation. While the struggle to reclaim sovereignty continued, the power of an American Indian studies education grew stronger.

Occupation Veteran Eloy Martinez, member of the Southern Ute tribe, caught the attention of the crowd when he said if they would try to do now, what they did then, they would get arrested for terrorism.

“All you young adults, don’t let anyone tell you ‘you can’t do it.’ You can do it,” Martinez said.

Enlightening the young, which came after the occupation, seemed to be the most powerful takeaway from the event.

“When Richard jumped into the water it was education, it’s all about the next step, it’s bringing your history with you," said Betty Parent, professor Emeritus of the American Indian studies department at SF State. "If we don’t do that, then we will become invisible.”

And the winner is...

LAUREN!

On April 29, 2013, Lauren, a Communication Studies major here at SF State, won a free Taqueria Girasol lunch for getting caught reading the Golden Gate Xpress!

8 OPINION

05.01.13 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG STAFF EDITORIAL

IN WAKE OF SCANDAL, A CALL FOR JUSTICE KALE WILLIAMS

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

BRAD WILSON

PRINT MANAGING EDITOR bradw949@mail.sfsu.edu

ADRIAN RODRIGUEZ

ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR arrodrig@mail.sfsu.edu

ELISSA TORRES

ART DIRECTOR elissat@mail.sfsu.edu

WYATT McCALL

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR wmccall@mail.sfsu.edu

NENA FARRELL

PRINT COPY CHIEF haydee@mail.sfsu.edu

SAM MOLMUD

ONLINE COPY CHIEF smolmud@mail.sfsu.edu

VIRGINIA TIEMAN

PRINT PHOTO EDITOR tieman@mail.sfsu.edu

JESSICA WORTHINGTON

ONLINE PHOTO EDITOR jlwphoto@mail.sfsu.edu

ELLIE LOARCA

CAMPUS EDITOR emloarca@mail.sfsu.edu

ERIN DAGE

CITY EDITOR erindage@mail.sfsu.edu

MATT SAINCOME

A&E EDITOR saincome@mail.sfsu.edu

LINDSAY ODA

OPINION EDITOR loda@mail.sfsu.edu

J

We also question the accountability system (if it exists) at our UST WHEN WE THOUGHT THE WORST University. Contracts involving outside businesses and the school had happened — years of budget cuts, deshould be subject to a higher level of scrutiny, given that large creased classes, tuition hikes and prolonged bureaucracies — like public universities — can be easily preyed graduations — news broke last week of a upon. Even if colleagues weren’t aware of possible bribes, they University official and his accomplice being should have enough common sense to smell a scam. charged with cheating SF State out of milAccording to a 2011 SF Weekly article, Cheung’s company lions. charged $161,510 for an emergency cleanup, more than some Robert Shearer, former director of EnviCSUs spend on hazardous waste disposal in an entire year. Even ronment Health and Occupational Safety at SF State, allegedly a small amount of research would’ve shown that the deal was bad bilked the University out of millions in a bribery scheme involvbusiness. Which leaves us asking, ing a hazardous waste contractor. what else is our University overIn essence, Shearer is accused of steering a spending on? lucrative hazardous waste disposal contract While Shearer still deserves between SF State and Stephen to have his day in court, there are Cheung, vice president of some things that the administration Chemical HazMat Techcan do in the meantime to make sure that nologies. Shearer looked this type of thing doesn’t happen again. the other way while CHMT The University should do everything overcharged the University to in its power to recover any of these stolen the tune of roughly $7 million, funds that haven’t already been spent. Students according to the District Attorney’s ART BY KIRSTIE HARUTA saw tuition increase by about $1500 from 2005 estimate. kharuta@mail.sfsu.edu to 2009, the years of Shearer’s alleged bribery. Any Shearer started his job at SF State in money recovered should be divided and distributed to 1994. Cheung and Shearer were allegedstudents in attendance at SF State during those years. ly engaged in “pay to play” corruption in 2002.

We also ask the administration to launch a full investigation He recommended a contract with Cheung’s company in 2005 into how this happened. It is possible that the scandal rose no and encouraged renewal of that contract for the next four years. higher than Shearer, but the officials in charge of him should be Shearer resigned in 2009, was accused by a University colleague questioned thoroughly to make sure they didn’t have their hand in in 2010 and was arraigned in court last week on more than 100 the cookie jar as well. felony counts.

If the administration wishes to garner the faith of its student But the revelations of the past week leave us with more quesbody, it will institute a policy of full and complete transparency, tions than answers. including the complete public disclosure of the contract between How could a scheme this dubious — involving multiple payouts, a gifted Volvo and more than 50 trips to China — be left SF State and CHMT and all invoices for services rendered during the term of that contract. undiscovered for so long?

Anything short of that will leave students asking where the Who was in charge of oversight of Shearer’s department and University’s priorities lie, with the protection of SF State’s public should they be held accountable for failing to see what was hapimage or with the trust of its student body. pening right under their nose?

DAN NELSON

ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR danelson@mail.sfsu.edu

JONATHAN RAMOS

ASSISTANT A&E EDITOR jonaramo@mail.sfsu.edu

HOLLY NALL

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR hnall@mail.sfsu.edu

RACHELE KANIGEL

FACULTY ADVISER kanigel@mail.sfsu.edu

KEN KOBRE

PHOTO ADVISER ken@kobre.com

JESSE GARNIER

ONLINE ADVISER jgarnier@sfsu.edu

JUSTIN OROZCO

CIRCULATION jaorozo@mail.sfsu.edu

ARUN UNNIKRASHNAN I.T. CONSULTANT arun@mail.sfsu.edu

EVA CHARLES

Music festivals: dirty, drugged up and pricey

BY BRAD WILSON | bradw949@mail.sfsu.edu

ADVERTISING & BUSINESS echarles@mail.sfsu.edu

SADIE CROFTS

STUDENT GRAPHIC DESIGNER sgcrofts@mail.sfsu.edu

WRITE US A LETTER The Golden Gate Xpress accepts letters no longer than 200 words.

Letters are subject to editing.

Send letters to Lindsay Oda at:

The dust and LSD has finally cleared after two smelly, hippie weekends of Brochella.

We have reached that time of year between music festivals. Starting May 8-12, we will have Bottlerock in Napa Valley and at the end of summer, Outside Lands, shortly followed by the free music fest known as Hardly Hipster, or something. Not to mention other popular music festivals going on throughout the summer, it is no real news that these outings are just a hoot for people.

My big question is why the hell are these so popular? Not to sound like a bitter old man, but damn, I hate these festivities.

The first festival that comes to mind when complaining about these music gatherings is Coachella; a time to celebrate overrated bands, some not-so-popular bands so hipsters can still feel obscure enough, hot weather in the middle of nowhere, atrocious electronic music and people either too inebriated or fried on hallucinogens. Is that the secret?

Should I be on a ton of acid or really drunk to fully appreciate what is going on? I live in San Francisco so I don't need to spend $300 to watch people fry, not bathe and listen to overrated music while pretending to be enlightened; I have Dolores Park.

In "Top Ten Reasons Coachella Music Festival Totally Sucks" for Crossfade Music Blog, Matt Priera wrote, "Festivals are sort of the Costco of live music. If you purchased individual concert tickets for every artist on the lineup, the cost would far exceed the festival's more-or-less $400 fee. But when you visit Costco to buy a swimming pool's worth of mustard or a 1000-box supermegapack of Cap'n Crunch, you're not expected to eat it all

before you even walk out the door. The modern music festival — built upon excess (more bands!), cheap nostalgia (more old bands!), and straight-up selling you shit (better bring more money!) — is a bloated, fiendishly trend-oriented marathon of total overkill."

I speak negatively about this because of perspective. I've gone to Coachella, Warped Tour, Ozzfest, Outside Lands, Sun God Festival and others. I don't want to sound too pessimistic and I'll admit, there is usually one band I'd enjoy at any of the aforementioned festivals. The problem is, you pay a substantial amount of money to see a band you like, if any, and they play for only about 30 minutes. Call me crazy, but if I'm going to dish out the bucks for a festival, there better be at least 10 bands I like, especially at a multiple day festival, like Coachella or Bottle Rock, which feature over 60 bands.

The best shows I have been to have one or two bands, if the opener is decent, playing at a moderate sized venue. This creates a much more intimate musical experience, with a longer set list and a lower ticket price. I'd rather pay $15 to see a band like The Gaslight Anthem play for almost two hours than to see The Lumineers and Of Monsters and Men play for 40 minutes each, while pretending I'm not getting groped by an E-head. Plus, it's not 12 hours of continuous music blaring from five different stages; oh yes, that sounds great!

To end my rant, I'd like to quote Daniel Tosh.

"The worst thing about music festivals is they're full of the one thing I try to avoid; you."

loda@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 Kale Williams at: kale@mail.sfsu.edu

RETRACTION FOR XPRESS PRINT EDITION 4.24.13

In the article “Punk activist fights cops, founds venue,” the Xpress mistakenly reported that Eppard found out that “Ost and other officers were having sex with underage girls.” Neither Ost nor any of his fellow officers were ever convicted of having sex with minors.

We regret the error.

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I A WEEKLY COLUMN BY BRIAN RINKER brinker@mail.sfsu.edu

Close call: how I almost ended up a felon

The teachers looked around suspiciously and then glared at USED TO SIT IN MY CAR LISTENING me. A sheriff drove by, and they tried to flag him down. to the public radio station while I waited for my This was not good. I panicked. drug dealer to arrive. Shows like the BBC News I started the car and sped off, zipping around the corner. I Hour, This American Life and Wait, Wait Don’t pulled in to the parking lot of a nearby liquor store. I couldn’t Tell Me droned in one ear and out the other. leave, I still needed my drugs. I phoned my dealer. He told I could rarely concentrate on anything except me to drive by his house and he would be there on the street drugs, but I thought these shows made me seem waiting. smart, liberal.

I drove back, passing the school. A sheriff car was now Since my 20s, I secretly wanted to be an intellectual liberal parked there. I continued on like everything was cool, until yuppie. I had a simple dream of living in a nice apartment in I saw my dealer standing on the street. I sped up, swerved at Manhattan, drinking wine, writing books and discussing literahim, slammed on the brakes, got the dope and raced off. My ture over dinner with other like-minded friends. house wasn’t too far. Maybe I could make it. Another police That could explain why I ended up living in San Francisco. car passed in front of me at a stop sign. I prayed to God, I was never politically aware, partly because I was too high on "Don’t let him notice me." He did a U-turn, and pulled me heroin and booze to care about anything except myself, until I over a few blocks down the road. I knew I was busted. I didn’t became a journalist. While it’s still not my forte, I’ve become want a felony possession charge so I swallowed the dope, increasingly interested in drug policies. which was wrapped in plastic still, and hoped I could barf it up Last week, April 23, Senator Mark Leno's new drug bill, later. which would reduce drug possession from a mandatory felony to At first the cop thought I was a pedophile. He made snide a misdemeanor, was approved by a senate committee and will be comments and tried to make me feel guilty and bad about voted on by the full senate in May. The SB 649 bill doesn’t automyself. It worked. matically change the law. It just allows I was on unsupervised probation, the prosecutor to lessen the charge if Journalism student Brian Rinker which allowed the cop to search me. the case merits it. takes the ideals of full disclosure He found a Narcotics Anonymous Leno attempted a similar bill last and transparency to an exteme level work book in my car and some old syyear that would've made all small when he reflects on his days as a ringe wrappers. Good thing I cleaned drug possession charges a misdeheroin junkie. out all my dirty old needles from the meanor, but it failed to pass. The idea center compartment the day before. is to reduce the burden on the state's Unfortunately, he still arrested me overcrowded prison system by not for being under the influence of a controlled substance. My car sending so many drug users to jail.

Once a felon, the path is hard. It’s a tough stigma to shake. was towed and I was taken to a holding cell downtown where I immediately tried to puke up the baggy of dope I had swalJobs are hard to come by, cops can search them without warlowed. It was too late. But at least I spent the next ten hours rants and if they’re on parole they can’t vote. comfortably high before getting released.

For the junkie who gets a severe charge, like burglary, and I’ve had a lot of embarrassing moments in my life, but ends up in prison, a small possession felony can violate his parole and send him back to prison or at least to county jail for being suspected as a pedophile tops the list.

Looking back, the whole thing seemed so predictable. Of a few months. It can be a vicious cycle. course, getting arrested and accused of being a child molester Luckily, I never got popped for a felony charge that stuck. would have happened, but at the time I was shocked.

I did get close once.

Good thing I swallowed the dope otherwise it could have For years, I parked in the same general area near my drug been much worse. The cop might have found it and arrested dealer’s house, often multiple times a day. It was a suburban setting with blocks of ranch-style houses. This day though, my me for possession of an illicit substance. The District Attorney would have had no choice but to charge me with a felony. At dealer got more paranoid than normal and had me park a half least with the proposed drug bill SB 649, the DA could choose block down from my usual spot, landing me right in front of a either a felony or misdemeanor. preschool.

A felony would still haunt me today, probably would’ve But I didn’t care. I stayed parked on the street in front of landed me in prison. the school for a half hour waiting for my dealer to deliver me I support Leno's bill and the decriminalization of drugs, if heroin. I had the windows down and was leaning back in my only to keep more people out of prison, including myself. seat chain smoking cigarettes with the stereo dialed to the loNow that I don’t use drugs, I no longer get arrested. Instead, cal public radio station. I sat up and looked around. Then I noI spend my free time at the gym, fast-walking on the treadmill, ticed some women at the school were acting abnormal. They listening to This American Life and Freakonomics podcasts. gathered the children playing outside and herded them inside.

SFSU FALL EMPLOYMENT

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS

ADVERTISING OFFICE

STUDENT DESIGNER WANTED FOR FALL 2013 QUALIFICATIONS • Knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) • Flash and web design programs are helpful • Thorough understanding of layout design • Creativitiy!

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10 S P O R T S

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PLAYER

NOLAN SHERIDAN

WEEK

BASEBALL

of the

Freshman pitcher Nolan Sheridan improved to 6-1 on the season with a complete game shutout against Cal State East Bay. Sheridan gave up one hit while striking out three, walking three and throwing 111 pitches.

PHOTO BY TYLER DENISTON/SF STATE SPORTS

Softball breaks even BATTER UP: SF State Gators’ Sarah Catania (19) slugs a ball at the Cal State East Bay Pioneers defense during the second game of a doubleheader at the SF State softball field. Catania went 1-for-2 in the game with a walk. The Gators lost the game 1-5 and split the four-game series with the Pioneers 2-2. Photo by Frank Leal

HUDDLE UP:(left) The SF State Gators defense, breaks after a short timeout to discuss the Cal State East Bay Pioneers offense during the second game of a doubleheader at the SF State softball field. The Gators lost the game 1-5.

STRETCH OUT:(right) SF State Gators’ Cara Spence (20), catches a ball thrown by middle infielder Kelsey Murakami (13) for an out against the Cal State East Bay Pioneers during the second of a doubleheader at the SF State softball field. The Gators lost the game 1-5. Photos by Frank Leal

SP OR T S SCHEDUL E THURSDAY (5.2) WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD CCAA Outdoor Track & Field (Turlock, Calif.)

S C O R E

SCORES FROM THE LAST WEEK OF GATOR SPORTS

B O A R D

SOFTBALL

L

APRIL 27 SF STATE VS. CAL STATE EAST BAY 1-5

W

APRIL 27 SF STATE VS. CAL STATE EAST BAY 7-0

BASEBALL

W

APRIL 28 SF STATE VS. CAL STATE EAST BAY 3-0

L

APRIL 27 SF STATE VS. CAL STATE EAST BAY 0-5

L

APRIL 27 SF STATE VS. CAL STATE EAST BAY 4-8

WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD APRIL 26 AND 27 BRUTUS HAMILTON INVITATIONAL ONE SECOND-PLACE FINISH FOUR PERSONAL BESTS

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D

to grow.

Facebook reported plans to build a $1.5 billion data center in Altoona, Iowa. The social media behemoth already has cloud storage facilities in Oregon and North Carolina.

The New York Times found that data centers often waste 90 percent, or more, of the electricity they consume.

Energy is wasted by back-up generators that are in place if a power failure occurs. There’s even more energy going into ensuring the systems are maintaining a suitable temperaparticular space. ture, according to the Chartered Institute for IT. The carbon footprints left behind by large businesses' Silicon Valley, right down the peninsula from San operating systems are causing friction in the environmental Francisco, has had many data centers pop up on the Calcommunity. The problem lies with the massive amount of ifornian government’s Toxic Air Contaminant Emissions energy — used and unused — that goes into the data sysInventory list, which shows the top diesel polluters in the tems of large Internet companies. state. According to Data Center Map, currently there are 21 One of the largest and most used operating systems data centers in San Francisco, most of which are located on is Google. The company provides email support for 425 California Street. million Gmail users; it processes 72 hours worth of video Companies like Facebook and Google are trying to use uploads per minute to YouTube while refreshing 20 billion re-engineered software to cool their data systems down and Internet pages a day. reduce the amount of wasted power they produce. Currently This is equivalent to the power used by all the homes in Google’s data centers use about 300 million watts a day and Irvine, Calif. — approximately 200,000 homes — roughly Facebook uses about 60 million. a quarter of the output of a standard nuclear power plant, To put into perspective how involved the government according to the MIT Technology Review. is, no single government agency has the authority to track Most of the energy that data systems need in order to the industry’s energy consumption. The federal government function is created by using heat and water to generate was unable to determine how much energy its own data steam, which turns turbines that generate electricity. The centers use, according to officials involved in a survey commassive amounts of energy is then distributed through a pleted in 2011. What is known is that the number of federal network of electric wires and into a transmission system data centers grew. In 1998 there were 432 and in 2010 the through which it travels to your computer. The process number jumped to 2,094. of creating electricity harms the environment by emitting First of all, our government, businesses and consumers greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. need to closely monitor the energy consumption of cloud The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates storage systems and use incentives for green innovation. that servers and data centers are responsible for up to 1.5 Second, companies need to respond with ways to make percent of the total US electricity consumption, or roughly their growing businesses greener. Apple is trying to make half a percent of United States greenhouse gas emissions its cloud storage system run entirely on renewable sources. for 2007.

If one company implements a change that works, the others In 2007, the entire information and communication technologies sector of large internet businesses was estimat- should follow.

Lastly, consumers need to pressure cloud service proed to be responsible for roughly 2 percent of overall global viders to create a cleaner business. Consumers should know carbon emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from data what systems they are using and what they can do to ensure centers are projected to double from 2007 levels by 2020, the impact on the environment lessens. according to the "Report to Congress on Server and Data It's time for businesses to get Center Energy Efficiency" from their heads out of the clouds and the U.S. EPA Energy Star Program. realize, although they are making If the business community continWhen Elissa Torres isn’t rescuing strides in technology and in global ues to use this amount of energy in wounded marine mammals or communication, they are doing order to operate, who knows what hugging trees, the environmental studies minor spends her time irreversible damage to the envienvironmental impacts humans writing this column. ronment. Clear skies aren't on the will have to deal with.

It’s based on equal parts opinion, horizon if business profits are priorDespite the environmental statistics and life experiences. If you itized over the health of our planet. impacts, data storage is continuing ATA COVERAGE, OR CLOUD storage, is a model of networked online pools of storage where data is saved and usually hosted by third parties. The “hosts” are companies like Google or Facebook that operate the large data centers. A “cloud” is a set of computers jammed into a

A WEEKLY ENVIRONMENTAL COLUMN BY ELISSA TORRES elissat@mail.sfsu.edu

Data storage results in wasted watts

don’t like it, read and recycle.

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