Wednesday, march 16, 2016
Issue
#8
Volume CII goldengatexpress.org Serving the San Francisco State community since 1927.
Daddy
Dating at
SF State
EMILY CHAVOUS
echavous@mail.sfsu.edu
*Names omitted for privacy
T
heir first date introduced her to Michelin Star cuisine – 12 decadent courses at a fine-dining spot downtown, each paired with the sommelier’s choicest wine. “It was just the fanciest thing I
had ever experienced,” she said, recounting an estimated $1,100 bill and the beginnings of a lavish eight-month relationship. “I didn’t grow up with great affluence, but I think at a young age I took it upon myself to know what I wanted. I knew I wanted to be successful and be of a higher stature.” She described him as one of the top financial advisors on the west coast, a dapper, self-made 36-yearold divorcé with two children, looking for a girl who promised
not to nag him about settling down. She was half his age, a 19-yearold sorority girl attending SF State with a full-time job and a mounting pile of student debt. She said they met online after friends recommended she sign up for Seeking Arrangement, a dating website that connects millennials with millionaires seeking nostrings-attached relationships – ”sugar daddies” willing to pay for “arrangements.” “I’ve been financially
independent since I was 17,” she said. “I needed money. We went on another date to an Italian restaurant. He called me a car, and as I was leaving he gave me $600. He was like, ‘I know you need to get your nails done as well as pay your rent.’ That was my allowance.” She is one of 194 sugar babies at SF State, according to Brook Urick, Seeking daddy Continued ON PAGE 6
The above illustration is the silhouette of an SF State student and former sugar baby. The drawing is modeled after an original photo taken by Connor Hunt.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 goldengatexpress.org
NEWS
SF State solidifies relationship with national parks internship NASHANTA WILLIAMS nwillia1@mail.sfsu.edu
S
ince 2012, SF State students have been part of an exclusive parks conservation internship available only to students on a few San Francisco campuses. The internship gives students firsthand knowledge and work experience, and has reconstructed the way students feel about conservation and national parks services. Wednesday, March 9, a memorandum was signed to solidify the internship and the relationship between SF State and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Its significance marks the first public commitment between these institutions to uphold and maintain the integrity of the blossoming program. In honor of the memorandum being signed, SF State, the National Parks Service and all of the organizations behind the implementation of the program held a ceremony to commemorate the milestone. Students who have successfully gone through the internship spoke highly of the experience at the event, and reiterated the importance of having the internship
available to students on campus, now and for semesters to come. “For people like me, who practically grew up in the Presidio with its programs, it’s really an important program,” said Dennis Chang, an SF state student who spoke alongside other signees and students who have been through the internship. “There’s not really that bridge between high school and college (for parks conservatory studies), so it’s a great way to continue developing, continue being involved, and hopefully become future park leaders. This internship is more than a graduation requirement; it’s more than making a lot of money – I am learning whole new skill sets.” The memorandum signifies the commitment that both SF State and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area are making to the program. It will also ensure financing for the internship in the National Parks Conservancy that is available to students who are interested in parks services. This memorandum is the collective first step to try to structure a program that will attempt to maximize student growth in the national parks realm. It will be set up for the students who go through the internship to gain knowledge and excel in public lands education, volunteer and internship opportunities.
“We are trying to provide a way to create a more solid relationship that actually offers an exchange of specific resources that will be provided by each (of the organizations involved) and a different level of commitment for the future,” said Nina Roberts, a recreation,
”
This opportunity today brings people together in perpetuity, for the long term, to provide these experiences for students across campus, and I am thrilled! -Nina roberts parks and tourism professor. The projected goal for students once they have finished the program is to obtain work experience relative to public land management, network and establish connections with future
employers and mentors, and get actively involved with a career post-graduation. “Today, this is the most important memorandum of understanding that I have been a part of in the eight years that I have been here,” said Keith Bowman, dean of the College of Science and Engineering. The first students went through the program in 2012, and over the last four years more than 100 students have completed internships with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, according to a campus-wide release about the memorandum. The memorandum confirms that many more students will have the opportunity to gain the skills and knowledge that the program contains. “We are appreciative of the amazing opportunities provided by this partnership of the National Parks Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy,” Roberts said. “This opportunity today brings people together in perpetuity, for the long term, to provide these experiences for students across campus, and I am thrilled!”
Deans weigh in on Ethnic Studies funding controversy AHALYA SRIKANT
ahalyasrikant@mail.sfsu.edu
L
ast Tuesday, five of the deans of SF State’s six academic colleges signed a letter supporting the initiation of a task force to investigate the funding concerns in the College of Ethnic Studies. This suggestion follows weeks of protests by students at the College of Ethnic Studies after hearing about the possibility of spending cuts in the wake of an announcement by the administration that Academic Affairs would no longer be able to make up the gap between the College’s budget and its spending. Outraged students claim that the College has been systematically underfunded and its budget disproportionately cut by the administration in recent years. The task force would be what the letter describes as a neutral third party who can investigate the financial concerns of the College of Ethnic Studies and insure the long-term well being of all the SF State Colleges. The dean of the College of Ethnic Studies did not sign the letter. Students from the College of Ethnic
Studies expressed their opposition to the suggested solution. The idea of a task force and having students look at a long report that they won’t be able to understand isn’t fair, according to Nikko Martinez, a fifth-year Environmental Studies major and president of the
“
My view, given the tension around the issue, is there's a lot of misinformation going around and a lot of misrepresentation in the media. -daniel bernardi
(Interim dean of the college of Liberal and Creative Arts)
Ethnic Studies Student Organization. “We need to have a clear and transparent budget to look at,” Martinez said. “Not just spending for the colleges, but for the whole administration.” Sofia Cardenas, a third-year
women and gender studies major and employee of the Ethnic Studies Student Organization said she thinks the letter is an attempt by the administration to take control of the narrative and distract from the larger issue. “I don’t think that’s the solution,” Cardenas said. “The task force is not applicable because there’s no money to begin with.” Cardenas thinks there needs to be a panel of deans, students and faculty to come up with a solution to the financial problem. “My view, given the tension around the issue, is there’s a lot of misinformation going around and a lot of misrepresentation in the media,” said Daniel Bernardi, the interim dean of the College of Liberal and Creative Arts. “Someone like, maybe Wong, who cares about the community, and cares about the school could be the one to ease people’s fears, and may be able to ease the tension.” The College of Ethnic Studies faculty, including Dean Kenneth Monteiro and Associate Dean Amy Sueyoshi, is echoing the concerns of the students, saying the task force is not enough action. “My personal position is that the first step in moving the process forward is for the student-led activists, and all three parts of shared governance, the
administration, the Academic Senate, and Associated Students, to agree to the processes for finding resolution,” Montiero said. “So, for me, all suggestions for task forces or other methods should be seen as suggestions. I find that when trying to get to agreement on solutions, the first mutual agreement should be on the vehicle for getting there.” Cardenas said it was disgraceful that the deans had written the letter. “You may notice the Liberal Studies dean didn’t sign the letter, the interim dean did,” Cardenas said. “That’s because the Liberal Studies dean wrote a letter in solidarity with the (College of) Ethnic Studies ... last week.” Cardenas also said Monteiro didn’t sign the letter in protest. “I didn’t expect a letter from the deans, but I wish they had been a little more supportive of the College,” Sueyoshi said. For more on the College of Ethnic Studies funding controversy, visit goldengatexpress.org.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 goldengatexpress.org
NEWS
GABRIELA RODRIGUEZ / XPRESS
SF State track and field team members (left to right) Jacqueline Foley, Sophie Tait and Camille Hansen enjoy free Taqueria Girasol tacos at SF State’s Founders Day Tuesday.
Students come together to raise money during SF State’s 117th anniversary celebration JORDAN VAIL
jmv@mail.sfsu.edu
Heavy beats and the fragrant smell of grilled chicken wafted through Malcolm X Plaza Tuesday afternoon as students celebrated SF State’s 117th anniversary. The event was centered around SF State’s founding and its transformation into the school it is today. SF State opened its doors in March 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School, a small, women-only teaching academy on Powell Street. The school was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and reopened at Buchanan and Waller streets. After students protested against the crowded conditions, then-President Alexander Roberts persuaded the state to purchase land near Lake Merced for the construction of the campus at 19th and Holloway avenues, where the University continues to reside today. Since its founding, the University has also undergone several name and accreditation changes, but throughout these changes remained committed to providing students with quality education, according to Ryan Jones, the assistant director of the Parents & Early Engagement program. Jones, who has planned Founders Day for the past three years, considers Founders Day to be a significant event on campus. “It helps us have an appreciation for the history of the University,” Jones said. “What we really try to emphasize is support for the University by the University community, (which) includes faculty, staff, alumni and students.” Part of that support emerged in the form of the student organizations that tabled at the event. Twelve student organizations tabled at the event,
including Alpha Phi Alpha, whose members danced in the quad during the celebration, and the Holistic Health Network, which focused on promoting its organization. “We try to promote our center every year,” said Kevin Mai, Holistic Health Network intern. “So it was a great opportunity to showcase to the world what kind of health practices there are out there.”
the organizations trying to raise money for the HOPE Fund and has participated in Founders Day in the past, specifically helping serve food. The campus eatery Taqueria Girasol gave away 1,899 root beer floats last year and 1,899 tacos the year before that. This year, Taqueria Girasol gave away tacos again, and successfully reached their goal for the third year in a row.
"I think 1,899 tacos sounds like a lot of tacos, so (that's why) we went with that idea," owner Marco Ballesteros said. "And we've been doing it for three years now, so it's very successful." Founders Day started in 1999 to commemorate the 100year anniversary, where the SF State community celebrated with 100 feet of sheet cake, but ended in 2002 for unknown
reasons, according to the Alumni Association. After a 13-year lapse, the Alumni Association brought the event back as a way to increase campus spirit. “There's not that much of a student life on SF State,” said Andrew Mendoza, who DJed for the event. "I like anything at school that brings anyone together."
”
it was a great opportunity to showcase to the world what kind of health practices there are out there.
-Kevin mai
(Holistic health network intern) One of the goals of the student organizations was to raise money for the HOPE Fund Crisis Loan, a loan administered through the Student Affairs office that provides students with financial support in the event of a personal, unexpected crisis. “Say a student’s house burned down,” Hermanos Unidos member Julian Jauregui said. “The school would try to help them get back on their feet by helping pay for things they need for classes.” So far, no students have applied to the HOPE Fund, which is part of the reason why Founders Day has adopted it as this year's cause, Jones said. The fundraising campaign, which will run into the summer, has a goal of $65,000. "Today is a day where we emphasize student giving," Jones said. Hermanos Unidos is one of
GABRIELA RODRIGUEZ / XPRESS
SF State junior Delana Ha donated to the Hope Fund at the Alumni Association table at the Founders Day Celebration Tuesday.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 goldengatexpress.org
NEWS
QING HUANG / XPRESS
SF State student Skyler Trent, left, talks about supporting a student strike during the No More Stolen Lives Tour at Cesar Chavez Student Center Thursday.
Revolution Club calls for student strike against mass incarceration in April JORDAN VAIL
jmv@mail.sfsu.edu
H
alfway through a speaking event hosted by the Stop Mass Incarceration Network and the Revolution Club, main speaker D’andre Teeter proposed something radical to the attending students on Thursday. Teeter, the Bay Area organizer for the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, demanded a student strike in April against mass incarceration. “We want to issue a broad challenge to students,” Teeter said. “We want you to build and lead a movement. (The founders of Stop Mass Incarceration Network) Carl Dix and Dr. Cornel West have a message to take up the cause and organize a one-day, nationwide student strike in April to stop mass incarceration.” The mood shift was palpable. The SF State and BayviewHunters Point Center for Art and Technology students, who had dutifully clapped and offered cheers of support for every speaker who had come up before to share their experiences with police brutality, were now silently squirming in their seats. Several gathered their stuff and slunk out of the Rosa Parks conference room at the Cesar Chavez Student Center. Teeter’s proposal threw those
in attendance off guard, but not without reason. The theme of student leadership fueled the earlier parts of the meeting, where family members of victims of police brutality stressed the importance of student support and involvement in standing up against social issues. Among them were Richard Perkins Jr.’s mother Ada Henderson and Derrick Gaines’ aunt Dolores Piper. Perkins was killed by Oakland police in 2015 and Gaines was killed by South San Francisco police in 2012. “Anything you can do, any article you can read, any dialogue you can have with your friends, is important for the future of all of you,” Piper addressed the thenpacked room. “Because you are the generation that will now have to deal with this. It’s up to you to decide what side you’re on, and what you’re going to do.” She earned applause and emphatic nodding from students, many of whom had clustered in the first two rows of seats. The black and Hispanic men killed in the Bay Area, including the high-profile shootings of Oscar Grant and Mario Woods, were just a few of many police murders that the Stop Mass Incarceration Network calls “epidemic in numbers and genocidal in trajectory.” A study conducted by The Guardian found that the number of young black men killed by
police was at its highest rate in 2015, with 1,134 deaths recorded. Despite making up only 2 percent of the total US population, African American males between the ages of 15 and 34 comprised more than 15 percent of all deaths logged this year by an ongoing investigation into the use of deadly force by police. Their rate of police-involved deaths was five times higher than that of white men of the same age. According to data from the 2010 census, African American and Hispanic people make up about 30 percent of the U.S. population. However, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that they account for 60 percent of those imprisoned in the U.S. Data from the Department of Education and the Sentencing Project also showed that black and Hispanic students are arrested far more often than their white peers, and are more likely to be sentenced to adult prison. After the speakers were finished and Teeter made his surprise statement, Revolution Club organizers Rafael Kadaras and Liz Roj urged students to join them onstage in support of a student strike. Revolution Club organizer Rita Akayana passed out No More Stolen Lives banners to some of the students in the front rows and waved them onstage. They shuffled up, looking uncomfortable. “There has never been and
there will never be a revolution without radical student involvement, and we believe SF State can be the place for revolution again,” Roj said, gaining cheers of agreement, though this time the applause seemed a little strained. “It’s up to you to fight the power. You guys did it in ’68 and you can do
”
There has never been and there will never be a revolution without radical student involvement, and we believe SF State can be the place for revolution again,
-liz roj
it again!” The club then ushered students into a circle for an informal meet-up regarding the potential strike. The positive
energy that previously permeated the meeting was now nervous as students voiced their concerns over how striking could affect them academically. “I came to this (meeting) because this kind of stuff like mass incarceration is what I’m learning about in class and I wanted to come and show my support,” said liberal studies major Christina Espinosa. “But I don’t know if striking will get me in trouble or hurt me.” A few others mumbled their agreement. The students from BAYCAT slumped in their seats and resolutely avoided eye contact with the organizers, who seemed desperate to wring definite interest in organizing a strike from the small, tense group. Kadaras argued that any action people are willing to take is welcome, but continued to push for a strike. “A strike is us challenging our peers to think about the society we live in,” Kadaras said. “It’s worth it to take a risk.” Still, the meet-up broke without any definitive plan for action. “We didn’t want this to just be, you know, a passive thing where the students came and listened to us speak and then left,” Revolution Club organizer Joey Johnson said as the room began to clear out. “We could really use the support. Students are more powerful than they think.”
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 goldengatexpress.org
NEWS
Students affected by El Niño’s wrath GABRIELLA POVOLI gpovoli@mail.sfsu.edu
Power outages and flooding affected SF State and its students this past weekend due to the increased rainfall from El Niño. This weather has hindered on-campus Café Rosso, nearby Stonestown Galleria and student housing. “On Thursday we got a lot of rain, and it caused one of our drains to clog, making the water unable to drain,” said Sam Freeman, Café Rosso’s location manager. “We had to close early – we closed around 4 p.m.” Water problems weren’t the only issues to affect SF State students. Over the weekend, Stonestown Galleria experienced a power outage that lasted almost two hours. Mary Nguyen, a division advisor at Stonestown’s Uniqlo and a senior business management major, was working when the power outage occurred. “Around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, all of a sudden all of the lights went out in the mall,” Nguyen said. “All stores started to close. It was weirdly calm – people couldn’t leave because there was really bad weather outside. After about an hour (and) a half the back-up power source gave out, and by that time there was no one left in the mall so almost all stores closed.” The rain and wind also affected on-campus housing. Kaylee Fagan, the University property management student assistant, spoke about the damages that have occurred around campus. “When storms happen, we have a lot of calls about windows breaking due to wind, storm drains overflowing, and leakage of windows has been a huge problem,” Fagan said. For several months now, San Francisco has been experiencing a fluctuation in its climate. Back in January, the city began to
experience more rainfall than it has for quite some time. “January had much greater than average precipitation in San Francisco,” said John P. Monteverdi, an SF State professor of meteorology, in an email.
”
January had much greater than average precipitation in San Francisco.
-john p. monteverdi
Frank Fasano, interim associate vice president of facilities and services at SF State said in an email that the department has continued to perform weekly maintenance checks on drains. Monteverdi has been gathering information since November about El Niño, and said it has been the strongest since scientists began gathering comprehensive data in 1950. “El Niño is not a storm, but a phenomenon observed in the sea surface temperature patterns in the tropical Pacific,” Monteverdi said. “This present El Niño and the sea surface temperature anomalies ... has been the strongest since the dense network of sea surface temperature observing sites have been in place.” The various problems that occurred last week affected SF State and its students. The extreme weather had an impact for on campus businesses as well as off. Predicting weather like El Niño is nearly impossible; but being prepared is essential.
CONNOR HUNT / XPRESS
SF State students Melissa Barba (left) and Daniel Villegas attempt to avoid the rain outside the Humanities Building during a downpour Friday.
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Wednesday, March 16, 2016 goldengatexpress.org
LIFESTYLE & CULTURE
CONNOR HUNT / XPRESS
An SF State student and former sugar baby views the Seeking Arrangement website Wednesday, March 9.
Daddy Dating at SF State
daddy Continued from front
Arrangement’s public relations manager. That implies every 700-seat lecture hall has at least four sugar babies in attendance. Urick said one-third of the site’s 4 million “babies” are college students trying to pay off scholastic debt. They encourage students to join by offering a free premium membership when a baby registers with a .edu email address. San Francisco ranks among the top 10 cities to find a sugar daddy, according to data from Seeking Arrangement. The numbers show one in 70 adult men in the city is a registered daddy. “It has a lot to do with the cost of living, which is outrageous in San Francisco and the surrounding areas,” Urick said. “Tuition rates just keep rising, scholarships become less and less available, and people have to look to alternative methods to pay for their schooling.” Deborah Cohler, chair of women and gender studies, said many students are paying out of pocket for their education and they finance their expenses in diverse ways. “It’s an extraordinarily expensive place to live,” Cohler said. “So we have all kinds of working students on campus.” SF State approximates living expenses for the 2015-16 academic year will cost students $18,172 plus tuition. In 2014, the average SF State graduate left school with $22,741 in debt, according to The Institute for College Access and Success. “I had to move,” the sugar baby said. “So (my sugar daddy) gave me the deposit money. He put it on Google Wallet because he was in New York that week and couldn’t see me. I asked, and he was like, ‘Here you go.’” The typical daddy is 45 years
old with a net worth of $5.2 million and works in technology, business or finance, law, healthcare or public administration. There’s a 34 percent chance he’s married, according to Seeking Arrangement’s data. “We invite (daddies) to be open and honest about the fact that they’re married,” Urick said. “I would like to hope that a lot of these relationships are sort of a don’t-ask-don’t-tell thing. I feel like that’s what a lot of longterm marriages turn into, where it’s okay to stray extramaritally as long as you’re safe.” Urick noted seven percent of Seeking Arrangement benefactors are sugar “mommies” and 10 percent of the site’s members are LGBTQ+. “There are all kinds of relationships on the site,” Urick said. “(Sometimes) it’s a sugar daddy and his girlfriend or wife and they’re looking for someone they can spoil or a playmate to have fun with (together). Also, some girls join together as friends. They’ll join as a sugar baby and say, ‘If you want to hang out with me, you have to hang out with my friend too.’ You don’t see it too often, but it isn’t uncommon.” The sugar baby said the sign-up process was similar to other dating sites, but everything felt more “adult.” “It’s a lot more civil,” she said. “On Tinder, you get guys like, ‘Come over and I can show you a good time.’ On Seeking Arrangement, it’s like, ‘I’m a business man in San Francisco, and I’m looking for an arrangement with someone who understands that I’m busy and I can only see you once a week.’” Unlike other dating sites, Seeking Arrangement search results can be filtered by a daddy’s net worth. Users can specify a “lifestyle budget” ranging from minimal (“up to $1,000 monthly”) to high (“more than $10,000 monthly”). But Urick said this allowance isn’t a payment – ”sugaring” is a gift.
”
I would like to hope that a lot of these relationships are sort of a don't-ask-don'ttell thing. I feel like that's what a lot of longterm marriages turn into, where it's okay to stray extramaritally as long as you're safe.
-brook urick “Escorts or prostitutes are paid for sex,” Urick explained. “What’s going on here is a lot different. Sometimes there isn’t sex. Sometimes there isn’t money. Here, it’s a relationship and it’s a gift. The idea is that these people are generous, they’re willing to spoil. They might not have time for traditional relationships, but they’re willing to provide something else.” Cohler noted that the societal stigmatization of certain relational expectations may make sugar babies reticent to share their experiences. “Almost all romantic or sexual relationships have some form of reciprocity expected,” Cohler said. “These relationships, it sounds like, have a more explicit expectation of a certain kind of material reciprocity up front. If we didn’t pathologize or stigmatize this kind of material expectation, these relationships wouldn’t have to be so coded or secretive.” The sugar baby said some daddies are forthright with a distinct sexual
agenda, but it wasn’t difficult to decline those offers. For her, things didn’t get physical until the fourth date.
“I’ve heard from other girls obviously some guys are a lot more pushy than others,” she said. “But he never made it seem like that’s the only reason we were there. That was definitely my concern going into it, because I had never done this before. But it wasn’t, which was really refreshing. You do actually try and find someone you want to talk to, you want to be around.” She said the relationship felt real, but she knew it would never transcend an arrangement. Eight months later, she ended the relationship with her daddy and rekindled things with an exboyfriend her own age. “That was hard,” she said. “I had to think of the lifestyle along with the person, which was weird. It was like: who do I like more? My ex. But then I have to give up all this easy living; I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to pay rent next month, or when I’m going to be able to buy groceries.” She said the daddy dating will be her secret. It’s not a conversation she’s ready to have with her parents, and she wouldn’t recommend Seeking Arrangement to a friend. “If that’s what they want to do, they’ll do it,” she said. “But I would feel wrong in a way to influence anyone to do it, because it does change your morality. I never, coming to college, thought that I would do that – have a sugar daddy.” Personal ethics aside, she said she sometimes misses the sugaring and the grown-up repartee. “I feel like I grew up a lot faster than people my age, so I really appreciated the conversation and the honesty,” she said. “(My sugar daddy) really taught me how to look forward in life.”
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 goldengatexpress.org
OPINION
o ldaetne GGX
XPRESS
DARCY FRACOLLI
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF dfracoll@mail.sfsu.edu
REID CAMMACK
MANAGING EDITOR reidcamm@mail.sfsu.edu
EVA RODRIGUEZ
ART DIRECTOR erodrig2@mail.sfsu.edu
JARED JAVIER
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR jjavier@mail.sfsu.edu
BRIAN CHURCHWELL
PHOTO EDITOR bchurchw@mail.sfsu.edu
JOEY REAMS
NEWS EDITOR reams94@mail.sfsu.edu
MIRANDA BOLAR
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR mbolar@mail.sfsu.edu
STAFF EDITORIAL
El Niño isn’t a cure for California’s drought
S
an Francisco recently experienced nearly two straight weeks of rainy weather thanks to El Niño, which was enough to make some people forget about one of the largest issues still facing California – the devastating and ever-mounting drought. When a relatively large storm rolls in and engulfs the city in a dense, gloomy haze of wetness, it’s logical to focus on the immediate effects. It can make daily activities such as commuting to work or going to the grocery store feel like more of a pain. More dramatic storms can cause minor flooding or power outages that lead to street closures and other inconveniences. With all this rain pouring down, it’s hard for people to imagine the drought is still a pervasive issue, and it’s easy to assume a few weeks’ worth of downpour is the savior increasingly arid California has been waiting for. However, following this logic is incredibly flawed and will only lead to more damaging mentalities. The drought didn’t just appear from
nowhere – it has been gradually building up and worsening in California over the years until it reached the point we’re at now, and it can’t be reversed with a few weeks of precipitation. Californians have only recently begun to accept the idea of utilizing water conservation techniques or devices in their daily lives after extensive regulations and conservation mandates were brought forth by the State Water Resources Control Board and California Governor Jerry Brown last year. These efforts are finally beginning to have an impact, but all that effort could be for nothing. If Californians let their guards down after a bit of rain and fall into the trap of believing that it won’t matter if they stop worrying about conserving as much water as they can, all the progress and effort that they have made thus far could be squandered entirely. In the case of the drought, every small, seemingly insignificant action such as turning the sink off while you brush your teeth or swapping out water-craving plants
for succulents makes all the difference. We all have a responsibility as residents of this state to do what we can to help out, even if it seems needless in the moment. Just because an El Niño storm comes barreling through California doesn’t mean that it’s okay to automatically assume there isn’t a more outstanding issue at play. It is perfectly okay, however, to be thankful our state is getting any rain at all. It’s okay to see the rainy weather outside your window and feel optimistic that one day, even if it’s farther down the line, we may be able to reverse the damaging effects of the drought plaguing our state today.
GRADY PENNA
Social Media Editor/Online Editor
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LIFESTYLE & CULTURE EDITOR anbowen@mail.sfsu.edu
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OPINION EDITOR jdn@mail.sfsu.edu
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SPORTS EDITOR tlehman@mail.sfsu.edu
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I can’t catch a ball, and I don’t care anymore
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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 Darcy Fracolli at: dfracoll@mail.sfsu.edu
JESSICA NEMIRE jdn@mail.sfsu.edu
I’m 24 years old, and I can’t catch or throw a ball. When I was in elementary school, I tried participating in after-school soccer and basketball and other sports like gymnastics, karate and dance, but never with positive results. My gymnastics teacher even asked me to drop out after four years of being enrolled in the class because I never advanced past the first level. During physical education at school, everyone was required to play sports, so I would try, even though my foot hardly ever made contact with the soccer ball and Frisbees always sailed way over my head no matter how high I jumped. Consequently, I was always picked last for every team sport – which was the single most humiliating thing I had been through as a first and second grader. When I was seven, my parents took me to a physical therapist, which is where we figured out that I have gross motor delays. This means that I have difficulty performing basic motor skills, like running or catching and throwing a ball. Gross motor skills refer to the skills used to move our arms, legs, and torso. Gross motor delays are one symptom of dysfraxia, which affect about 10 percent of toddlers in the U.S. For some people, like myself, these delays stick with them throughout childhood and sometimes into adulthood. After my diagnosis, I started attending a special “adapted P.E.” class after school two days a week, where we would practice catching a very large
ILLUSTRATION BY JARED JAVIER
foam ball from two or three feet away or see how many consecutive times we could jump over a rope. Because of the classes, I was then exempt from team sports during P.E. – but it meant that I had to hang out on the sidelines practicing throwing a basketball through a hoop or kicking a soccer ball through a goal by myself. This continued into my freshman year of high school. All children want to feel like they belong. Even the kids
who like being a little different (like myself – I never read Harry Potter solely because everyone else did) don’t want to feel like a complete outsider. My gross motor delays made me feel nothing but extreme alienation until I was halfway through my freshman year of high school, when I switched from a big public school to a much smaller college preparatory school, where P.E. wasn’t required. Since then, the only team sports I’ve played
have been when I decide to throw a Frisbee around with some friends at the beach or play a game of tag with kids I’m babysitting. This has helped me to embrace my gross motor delays instead of feeling ashamed about them. I’m loud, I have freckles, I’ve never read a Harry Potter book, and I can’t catch a ball to save my life. It’s all just part of who I am.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 goldengatexpress.org
OPINION
Celebrity gender identities aren’t news JORDAN VAIL
jmv@mail.sfsu.edu
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ollowing in the footsteps of sister Lana Wachowski, “Matrix” director Lilly Wachowski has come out as a transgender woman, but not entirely on her own terms. In a statement to the Windy City Times, Wachowski revealed that reporters have been hounding her agent for the past year, threatening to publish stories about her gender transition. After a Daily Mail journalist literally showed up at her doorstep, Wachowski felt cornered enough to preempt the inevitable tabloid story by reaching out to her hometown paper
instead. “So yeah, I’m transgender,” Wachowski said. “And yeah, I’ve transitioned.” Under any other circumstances, I would’ve been elated. Any time a trans person decides to live publicly as their authentic self is a little victory for the trans community, and proof of our society inching ever so slowly into a more progressive, accepting future. The important thing to consider here is that Wachowski did not get a choice. She explicitly stated that she was coming out despite not feeling ready yet. The tabloids that dogged her incessantly about her gender identity did so with blatant disregard for her life. In today’s environment of social and legal discrimination, 41 percent of trans
people attempt suicide. This number includes women, famous or otherwise, who were outed by the press. In 2014, golf club innovator Essay Anne Vanderbilt committed suicide after reporter Caleb Hannan discovered she was transgender during the course of his research for a story he was writing about her, and outed her to an investor. In a stunning display of disrespect, Grantland published the piece after her death, in which Hannan referred to her with male pronouns and called her “a troubled man.” The only mistake the publication felt fair to acknowledge was the failure to have someone familiar with the trans community check the piece for inaccuracies regarding terminology. Grantland seems not to realize or care that no amount of editing will bring Vanderbilt back from the dead. Even after we’ve witnessed multiple trans women take their own lives after painful, violating interactions with the press, it seems some reporters still care more about the sensationalist appeal of a forced outing than they do about the consequences. We saw it last year with the tabloid harassment of Caitlyn Jenner. Despite the frenzy, she managed to come out mostly unscathed, and with any luck Wachowski will as well. She has her support group of friends and family, and the wealth and privilege to keep her safe – as safe as any trans person can be living in the U.S. It should not have to happen this way. It doesn’t matter how much money Wachowski has in the bank or how much she’ll be celebrated as a queer hero for coming out. Every reporter who contacted her agent or solicited her on her doorstep was making an implicit decision to value a
scoop over a human life. As disgusted as I am over the Daily Mail, I also feel the need to point the finger elsewhere: its audience, and the audience of mainstream media at large. The fact that tabloids go to such lengths to scoop each other on stories about something that is a very personal choice that could very negatively affect the person coming out says something equally disgusting about society as a whole. They cover these stories because that’s where the profit is. As long as cis people continue to pay for the violent dehumanization and objectification of trans people, as long as they stay obsessed with us for no good reason other than the fact that we’re “different” and therefore not worthy of respect and privacy, these stories will continue to be put out, if not by the Daily Mail then by some other tabloid. There is some hope. The Daily Mail did face intense backlash for its invasion, and I’m thankful for it. Maybe we are moving towards “another world” as Wachowski puts it, one that accepts and celebrates transness without also tailoring it for public consumption. It’s a nice thought to have, but I won’t hold my breath. I don’t know if I can afford to.
ILLUSTRATION BY JORDAN VAIL
Adderall side effects outweigh benefits GABRIELLA POVOLI gpovoli@mail.sfsu.edu
Sitting in the library for hours on end studying for midterms is an all too familiar experience for many students. That one little pill can ease the stress and hassle of studying sounds more than tempting. More likely than not, you’re familiar with Adderall, a pill used to treat ADHD and frequently used by students to improve their study habits. I’m not prescribed Adderall, and I would be a hypocrite if I said I was against taking this pill for study purposes,
since I have before. At the same time, I know how severely un-prescribed drug habits accumulate. While this fear may be prevalent in numerous students, I know personally that this drug can sufficiently improve my ability to focus. It singlehandedly has helped me numerous times in the past when suffering through all nighters at the library. Pennsylvania State University’s website states that, “Out of the 31 percent of college students that take some form of ADHD medication, only 5.3 percent of them are actually prescribed.” The demand for Adderall becomes extremely high during midterms and finals week. From personal experience, I know that this forces students to pay a competitive
price to find this drug. Although I personally feel that Adderall increases my ability to perform in school, the side effects of this drug weigh heavy. The Clinton Foundation states that “between 1993 and 2005, the proportion of college students using prescription drugs went up dramatically: use of stimulants like Ritalin or Adderall increased by 93 percent.” This stimulant has an addictive reputation that has many students in a craze during exam weeks. Beyond the normal symptoms that most over-the-counter drugs give people, some common side effects of Adderall, according to WebMD, include chronic trouble sleeping, irritability, nausea, false sense of well-being, etc. Yet, somehow,
the incentive Adderall offers to students overrides all these side effects. The student use of un-prescribed Adderall is something that exists and is prevalent. The demand for this “miracle brain-enhancing” pill is constant and growing each semester. Students will continue to take Adderall in order to maintain of academic stability and walk away from college with the piece of paper they have been striving for.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 goldengatexpress.org
SPORTS
TAYLOR REYES / XPRESS
SF State sophomore Adriana Calva practices at Cox Stadium Monday. Calva shattered the school steeplechase record Feb. 27 during the Johnny Mathis Invitational.
Steeplechase record-holder unfazed by defining moment JOSUE DE LOS SANTOS dlsjosue@mail.sfsu.edu
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ophomore track athlete Adriana Calva has always been fast, even as a 7-year-old soccer player sprinting around the field and dashing past the defense. Fully aware of the natural speed she possessed, Calva decided to try out track and field her freshman year at Lynwood High School. She knew she wanted to commit to track and field after her head coach told her that he saw something in her. Calva’s high school track coach must’ve seen the record-breaking potential, because Calva set a personal and school record at the Johnny Mathis Invitational Feb. 27. Calva walked to her line not knowing that in 11 minutes and 10 seconds she would become the schoolrecord holder for the steeplechase. Calva definitely did not expect to crush SF State’s previous steeplechase record, held by Joanna Luk since 2003, by 11 seconds. “It wasn’t until the last three laps when I knew I had a chance,” Calva said. “I heard on the speaker, ‘She really has a chance of beating the record.’ I kept hearing, ‘She really has a chance,’ and I just went for it.” Leading up to the race, Calva felt that she wasn’t in top shape, especially early in the season, so she expected to finish with an 11:45 time. Calva said during the race she felt comfortable with her pace. She didn’t think she was close to the 11:10 mark. Calva remained humble and brushed off the fact that she’s now the steeplechase record-holder.
“I don’t try to think much of it,” Calva said. “I’m not trying to focus on that. I don’t want to get too cocky. I’m just trying to do my running.” Sophomore track athlete Jackie Foley was also part of the record-breaking moment, finishing with the third-fastest time in school history. Foley said sharing that moment with Calva was amazing, especially since
I'm not trying to focus on that. I don't want to get too cocky. I'm just trying to do my running.
-Adriana calva
they’ve been running together since their freshmen year. “Getting to see her now and how much she’s improved is an inspiration,” Foley said. “I know that, without her, my kick at the end wouldn’t be as strong.
She’s a good lead pack to get me through the race.” Foley enjoys and loves the dynamic of the three steeplechasers – herself, Calva and Jessica Betancourt. She said she looks forward to seeing Calva improve and excel for the rest of the season. “I see a confidence that grows inside of her and that makes me excited, makes me want to help her get better,” Foley said. “I just have to push her because she needs someone to push her, so that’s the goal.” The Johnny Mathis Invitational, one of two home track meets for SF State, was supposed to be just another track meet. No one anticipated what would be a recordbreaking day, including head coach Kendra Reimer, who said the feats were a “pleasant surprise.” “When they’re racing above expectations it’s a gift, so I’m very pleased,” Reimer said. The sky is the limit for Calva. Reimer hopes she can qualify for nationals this year and become an AllAmerican. Reimer had high praise for Calva and the hard work ethic she’s displayed since arriving at SF State. “She’s the epitome of what any of our track athletes can do if they have the dedication and believe in their coaches and what we’re doing,” Reimer said. “She’s the storybook fairytale of where hard work can get you. Track and field is one of those sports where, if you work really hard, then you can go far with it. It’s all about your individual effort that helps the team. It’s been awesome to watch her go.” Calva already holds the school record, but she’s ready to one-up herself. “I want to keep pushing for a better record,” Calva said.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 goldengatexpress.org
SPORTS
SF State discussing multi-million-dollar facility with Giants Community Fund TYLER LEHMAN
tlehman@mail.sfsu.edu
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F State and the Giants Community Fund are in preliminary talks to construct a $3.5 million multi-functional facility for the Junior Giants by Maloney Field, for which the California State University Board of Trustees unanimously approved the conceptual stages March 8. Vice President for University Advancement Robert Nava said the facility would include at least three classrooms, a conference hall that could hold at least 150 people and possibly indoor batting cages. In addition to the new facility, a new, natural-grass little-league baseball field could be constructed as well. The facility would be utilized by the Junior Giants, which is part of the Giants Community Fund, a nonprofit charged with looking for children ages 5-18 from underserved communities to teach about sports, sportsmanship and setting goals for college. Building a new facility for the Junior Giants at SF State is still at least a year away from coming to fruition, according to Nava, but talks have been ongoing for the past year and a half. “(The Giants Community Foundation) said they were interested in exploring and establishing an urban academy,” Nava said. “Those are called youth urban academies. There are six of them in the country. Urban youth academies are established with the financial support of major league baseball.” Nava said there is a mutual interest between SF State and the Giants Community Fund for a number of reasons. “The University was very interested, because one, the six academies in the country, none of them are affiliated with a university,” Nava said. “We’d become the first urban academy in the country that has a formal relationship with a university. And two, we have a little bit of land, not much, but down there by where Maloney Field is, there is some space down there that could perhaps accommodate building the academy piece.” The only cost SF State would be obligated to pay would be for maintenance, and for what Nava called “inkind support.” Nava said the in-kind support would constitute around
$200,000 of field repairs and maintenance. The money would be an opportunity to continue to improve the facilities accessible to the SF State baseball and softball teams. “Any improvements that are made at Maloney Field would be available to all our students, and they could use
”
Frankly, the improvements would help our athletic programs too, the baseball team and softball team in particular.
-Robert nava
the field,” Nava said. “Frankly, the improvements would help our athletic programs too, the baseball team and softball team in particular. (Our) facilities are in bad shape. The batting cages are in horrible shape.” The Junior Giants would use the facility for about three to four months out of the year, and then the rest of the time it would be accessible to students and student athletes, according to Nava. After a certain period of time, SF State would take control of the new facility, and it would become University property.
“If we did this as a 15-to-20-year agreement, if it’s that long, at the end of the 15 years, no matter what the improvements they made, the University takes possession of it,” Nava said. “It becomes a part of the University. All the improvements that are made benefit San Francisco State.” The talks have been a long, drawn out process, due to a few snags. One is the space required to build the new facility, according to Nava. In order to build the facility, a number of the tennis courts would most likely have to be torn down to do so. “You have to have tennis courts on a college campus right?" Nava said. "But we thought, 'Do we need 16 tennis courts, or could we just have four tennis courts? Six tennis courts?' That’s a part of the discussion we are having now.” Insurance liability is also an issue, according to Nava. If a child is injured, it becomes a question of who is liable and responsible. Something else that needs to be ironed out is scheduling, according to President Leslie E. Wong. “One of the biggest things right now is the scheduling,” Wong said. “We need to make sure we can meet our (California Collegiate Athletic Association) requirements, and not have conflicting schedules.” Athletic Director Charles Guthrie said for scheduling, academics get priority of the use of Maloney Field and the SF State softball field, and then athletics is next in line, followed by the Junior Giants. "It will not be a situation where our athletic department will be fighting with an outside group to have a quality program," Guthrie said. "We would not have signed up for anything that would be a detriment to our program, or to the kinesiology program for that matter." If the new facilities do come to fruition, they offer an opportunity for children to learn about going to college, according to Nava. “(The program) exposes them to SF State, so when it is time for them to apply to college, we’d hope for them to want to be interested in applying and attending here,” Nava said. “I would love to see some of our students serving as mentors for kids, perhaps doing some tutoring. Interfacing with our student athletes, could you imagine how powerful it is to have these kids (in) junior high school meeting together and telling their stories?”
Gators’ battle for All-American status comes up short CHRISTOPHER CONTRERAS ccontreras@mail.sfsu.edu
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he wrestling program ended its season Friday with two national qualifiers competing in the Division II National Championships in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Junior Sam Alnassiri went 1-2, grabbing the 12th spot in his weight class, while Fern Giron lost both of his matches. Neither wrestler won enough matches to become an All-American, which was the goal for both Gators, but head coach Lars Jensen was proud of how they performed. “It was a very competitive tournament,” Jensen said. “I thought we competed OK. I think we were more competitive than last year, but we just didn’t win the right matches.” Giron wrestled first against
the eventual 133-pound national champion, Nick Roberts of University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, and lost 8-4. “Coming off the mat I was a little bit nervous because I was wrestling the No. 2 in the nation,” Giron said. Giron didn’t let the feeling affect him as he jumped out to a 3-2 lead at the end of the first period. Wrestlers have the option to start on bottom, on top or in a neutral position at the beginning of either the second or third period, and Giron was confident he could handle Roberts in the neutral position. After talking to his coaches, they decided he would start on the bottom to hopefully get a quick escape to score a point. “I went bottom and he rode me,” Giron said. “He turned me twice before I could escape.” Roberts was able stretch the lead and get the win while sending Giron to the consolation bracket. In the heavyweight division, Alnassiri faced Mike Kennedy of Newberry College and had a heartbreaking 3-2 loss.
“I knew if I got a takedown I’d win the match,” Alnassiri said. “When I went to go do one of my moves that I usually do a lot, I kind of slipped and then he scored off that.” That slip was costly as Kennedy was able to score two points and take the lead. Alnassiri was never able to take the lead back. Both wrestlers were in a win-or-go home situation after the first round. Giron’s first consolation match was against seventhranked Jordan Simpson of Newberry College. “After that first match, I felt great,” Giron said. “I had just lost to the guy I knew who was going to win it. I knew I could compete at that level with anybody in the nation.” Simpson got an early lead on Giron in the first period and created an insurmountable lead, ending Giron’s promising first season with a 7-2 loss. Like Giron, one more loss would send Alnassiri home, but he wasn’t ready to make that trip. “I forgot about it," Alnassiri
said. "I had another match, so it was time to go. I had to win this one or else I’m done.” Alnassiri rebounded from his first-round loss with a 4-2 decision over Logan Bowman of Wheeling Jesuit University. One more win would guarantee Alnassiri All-American honors
”
I thought we competed OK. I think we were more competitive than last year, but we just didn't win the right matches.
-LARS JENSEN
but his next match was against Jacob Mitchell of Colorado State University – Pueblo. The two faced each other three
times this season, including at nationals. After facing Mitchell so many times, Alnassiri had a plan. “He gasses, so we were trying to push the pace,” Alnassiri said. “I felt like I was keeping it on him, but I messed up and he caught me for big points and I basically lost by the margin of points he got me by.” Alnassiri lost the match 10-4. Jensen was disappointed there were no All-Americans from SF State for the second season in a row, but was proud of how the wrestlers did at nationals. “(Giron) had a tough draw,” Jensen said. “Right of the bat he had the eventual champion. But a true freshman going to the national tournament, he’s got three more years left. Him and (Alnassiri) got the taste in their mouth to get better.” The Gators ended the tournament 41st out of 48 teams.