GOLDEN GATE XPRESS //
STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER PROUDLY SERVING THE SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1927.
// 05.08.13
VOLUME LXXXXVI ISSUE 14
THE WAY YOU MOVE: SF State students watch Big Boi perform at SF State’s Rhythms Music Festival held in the Annex. Big Boi was paid $30,000 for the concert, but many students complain they weren’t aware it even happened. Photos by Andy Sweet
Big Boi plays expensive concert to small crowd
W
ITH A HEADLINER AS prominent as Big Boi, of the Grammy award-winning hiphop duo OutKast, and a price tag of $30,000, one might expect Thursday night’s Rhythms Music Festival to be a jam-packed affair. That just wasn’t the case. The Atlanta-based rapper played the jams, but to a noticeably dismal student turnout. The concert, hosted by the Associated Students, Inc. of SF State, was part of a five-day music festival that’s now in its third year.
BY JONATHAN RAMOS | jonaramo@mail.sfsu.edu
It was held in the Annex — a space with a capacity of 1,100. However, it was evident by the approximated 15 students in line when the doors opened at 7 p.m. that perhaps the event would unfortunately become the school’s best-kept secret of the night. Regardless, students eventually trickled in, dressed in their neon best and by the time Big Boi hit the stage, the Annex was at least at a one-third capacity although organizers pegged the final tally somewhere between 600 and 800. That is still a remarkably low figure considering the venue’s capacity and the overall student population of nearly 30,000. Horace Montgomery, director of programs and
services at ASI, views the turnout as a success and welcomes the possible criticism of overspending on such a distinguished artist. “In my opinion there is no tab on quality from our students,” Montgomery said, who confirmed Big Boi’s rate for the hour-long set. “We have the money and we’re spending it. I couldn’t think of anything better to give these students to do during finals week or at the end of their college careers,” he said. Montgomery described the show as a celebration and it truly was for those lucky few in attendance. Students crowd-surfed and twirled in their tutus while Big Boi SEE COSTLY ON PAGE 6
Freshman tragically dies after frat party
A
WOMAN DRESSED IN red robes raised an urn of lit incense up to the sky to guide the young man’s spirit into the afterlife. Buddhist nuns chanted prayers as more than 200 mourners in the memorial hall of McAvoy O’Hara Evergreen Mortuary walked to the open casket to pay their final respects. Most were teenagers, but then again, so was the deceased. In a story that is becoming sadly familiar on college campuses across the country, 18-year-old SF State freshman Peter Tran passed away April 24 while attending a Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternity party, held by the campus chapter. The fraternity was placed under immediate suspension pending investigation and individual students “may also go through the University's conduct review through the Office of Student Conduct as appropriate,” Dean of Students Joseph Greenwell said. Greek Life Coordinator Monolito Twyman, who oversees the fraternities, did not respond to calls or emails. Fraternity parties and alcohol have been notorious for student fatalities all over the country. According to a Fresno Bee article from this past March, only one charge against students for a hazing death has ever resulted in a sentencing in California — a severe case at Chico State University involving water torture, hypothermia and alcohol poisoning. The sentence was one year.
BY JOE FITZGERALD | jfitzger@mail.sfsu.edu
The particulars of the party that claimed Tran's life are not yet known, but he was no stranger to adventure. He owned his own motorcycle, snowboarded and skydived. Tran was pronounced dead at 1 p.m. by police April 24 at a house on the 1200 block of Plymouth Avenue, according to SFPD Officer Albie Esparza. The cause of death is still under investigation by the medical examiner, who did not return phone calls or emails. The Xpress reached out to Tran’s family but his parents declined interviews. One of Tran’s cousins, an SF State student who asked not to be named, confirmed Tran is survived by his father, mother and younger brother. One student took to the Facebook page “SFSU Confessions” voicing outrage over the fraternity students' conduct at the party. “His permanent death was not worth the fun of the night... he deserves more than what he is getting now,” the unidentified writer posted to the public page. “His death is not justified." Greenwell wished to pay his respects. “My thoughts and condolences go out to his family and friends...there is nothing sadder to me than a student death,” he said. Tran was a championship running back for George Washington High School’s football team, the Eagles, number 24. He was a pre-nursing major at SF State. At Tran’s memorial his friends and family wrote every possible expression of love on a large sheet of
paper hung on the wall of the mortuary. “Hey Petey Pablo, It’s me again. I talked to you last night because I prayed to you,” wrote one friend. “We were two (Tenderloin) kids who were supposed to make it out,” a commenter wrote. “Peter, I don’t know why the good die young,” wrote another. Inside the hall a projector played images of Tran’s life: A baby being held by a relative, a child standing in front of the fireworks at Disneyland, taking goofy webcam pictures with classmates, and smiling at a Giants game at AT&T Park. The only sounds in the room were the bang of a hand drum, the clang of a bell, and the lilt of a flute. The nuns walked Peter Tran’s casket to the funeral procession, headed to Golden Hills Memorial Park. “After death we guide him past the bridge into another world,” Mary Tran said, a nun from the Shuen Yeung Temple. They had performed the ritual many times, she said, but rarely for one so young. As the hearse drove away it began to rain. Nena Farrell and Maegan Tingling contributed to this report. Dean of Students Joseph Greenwell is collecting condolence cards and letters at SSB 403 and will send them to the family. If students would like to speak with a counselor, the Counseling and Psychological Services Center is available and students can make an appointment by calling 338-2208 or visiting SSB 208. To donate to pay for Tran’s memorial visit: http:// www.youcaring.com/memorial-fundraiser/in-lovingmemory-of-peter-tran/56672.