Issue 9

IN THIS ISSUE

Will you go?

Dobrik cancelled

Movie theatres are reopening with new safety protocols.

PAGE 7.

Re-entering society

David Dobrik, famous Youtuber, receives backlash on social media.

PAGE 3.

SSU students are experiencing social anxiety about returning to campus.

PAGE 10.

SINCE 1979

VOLUME 87 // ISSUE 9 APRIL 6, 2021 - APRIL 12, 2021

THE UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT RUN NEWSPAPER

@SONOMASTATESTAR

STAR // Genesis Botello Sonoma State students on campus in Feb. 2020, before the pandemic. SSU is hosting forums to discuss what repopulation in Fall 2021 will look like.

Sonoma State hosts series of repopulation forums for Fall 2021

EMILY ALVARADO STAFF WRITER

A

s Sonoma State University’s plans to lead a full return to campus for the upcoming Fall semester become more tangible, the Continuity Planning Groups at Sonoma State University are hosting a series of forums for faculty and students to discuss repopulation. Associated Students is supporting the Continuity Planning Groups open forums in an effort to have open discussions between staff and students about returning to campus.

The first forum of the month took place on April 1 from 5-6 p.m. on Zoom. The meeting began with quick introductions by the 15 panelists from all over the SSU campus. Erik Dickson, the Executive Director of Associated Students, served as a facilitator of the discussion by reading questions from students in the Zoom chat.

Students’ questions drove the discussion and covered a lot of uncertainties about on-campus housing. Associate Director of Residential Leadership and Development, Stacey Murray, was the main person answering questions regarding housing.

When asked about dorm visitation rules, Murray said that while housing officials are discussing the logistics of visitation in campus residential communities, they are not sure if guests will be allowed from off-campus. They are currently working out how things will look with visits between residential communities.

When asked if students living on campus will be required to get a Coronavirus vaccine, Murray said that students are encouraged to get vaccinated but not required. Missy Brunetta, the director for emergency services and associate risk manager, added that students living on campus that choose not to get vaccinated may be tested for COVID-19 periodically.

Another hot topic in the meeting was free parking permits for students. Murray

COURTESY // @hateisavirus on Instagram The Instagram account @hateisavirus shared this photo of two women protesting the recent situation regarding the increase of Asian hate crimes in the United States.

Sonoma County passes resolutions to support AAPI communities

GABRIELLA HERMOGENO STAFF WRITER

T

he rates of anti-Asian hate crimes have increased by nearly 150% in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic and communities in Sonoma County are making efforts to show support towards Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.

In an article published by NBC, data conducted by California State University San Bernardino’s Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism is highlighted and states, “It revealed that while such [hate] crimes in 2020 decreased overall by 7%, those targeting Asian people rose by nearly 150%.”

Rohnert Park and Cotati recently addressed resolutions during their city council meetings on March 23 to show support towards AAPI communities.

Cotati’s City Council unanimously approved a resolution in response to recent violence and hate crimes. The resolution states, “The values of the City of Cotati include diversity that ‘supports honesty and integrity in an environment

see FALL 2021 on pg. 5

see ASIAN COMMUNITY on pg. 4

Overdoses at all time high due to Fentanyl QUINN MCKIBBIN STAFF WRITER

A

onoma State engineering students and faculty are urgently requesting a waiver for the right to take over 120 units total, particularly in area A3, that is required to graduate from the major. The request took place at an Academic Senate meeting in early March. The waiver request is supported by the General Education subcommittee and also the Educational Policies Committee.

Many engineering students have been forced to take an extra semester or even year to graduate due to these requirements. This creates a ripple effect for current students looking to graduate because of a lack of available classes. It also makes it more difficult for the engineering program to recruit future prospects to the SSU engineering program.

This unit cap also greatly affects transfer students due to the fact they are required to take first year

s the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing requirements linger on over a year later, overdose rates have risen over 20% in the past couple years. Isolation, stress and financial hardships are reported as main contributors to the problem.

In a one year span, around 81,000 people have died from drug overdoses. That’s the highest number of overdose related deaths in U.S. history, and it’s 20% more than the previous all time high.

Of 102 overdoses in Sonoma County in 2020, 94 involved the synthetic Opioid Fentanyl.

With isolation and stress levels rising throughout the country, it has particularly been hard on certain segments of the population. Isolation and stress can be triggers to heavy drug use, which only worsens as those triggers linger on. According to RecoveryCentersofAmerica, “Loneliness or depression can result in using alcohol or drugs to deal with those feelings. Turning to the ‘comfort’ of alcohol or drugs becomes a way of coping with feeling alone, unloved, rejected, and confused.”

Another trigger has been the financial toll the pandemic has brought to most everyone countrywide. People all over the country are left wondering how they’ll get payments in on time.

All of these factors can lead to heavy drug use.

In particular, Fentanyl, a deadly synthetic drug, has had a rise in popularity over the past few years.

There are many people who have turned to using drugs within the time-span of the pandemic, and those new users sometimes run into new suppliers who lace their pills, stimulants and drugs with Fentanyl. Rural and urban areas have been hit hard with overdose rates in the past couple years due to Fentanyl use rising and being cut into other

see ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT on pg. 5

see INCREASE OVERDOSES on pg. 5

STAR // Brandon Sparks The Engineering Department is asking SSU to grant a waiver that will allow students to have more than 120 units count towards their major.

Engineering majors battling SSU for a change in unit requirements

WILLY LEPORI

STAFF WRITER

S

2 Editorial THE STAR Editorial Board

APRIL 6 - APRIL 12, 2021

sonomastatestar.com

New technologies, like automation, threaten job security

Kylie Rose Lawrence, Editor-in-Chief Kristina Schmuhl, News Editor Katelyn Dodge, Opinion Editor Christy Chew, Arts & Entertainment Editor Myles Grabau, Student Life Editor Emily Cripe, Health & Wellness Editor Brandon Sparks, Photo Editor Gil Chaffer, Copy Editor Bryce Gallagher, Distribution Manager Devon Pique, Format Editor Corinne Asturias, Faculty Adviser Staff Writers Callie Adams, Emily Alvarado, Jayline Alvarado, Julia Blair, Kaitlin Breen, Cheyenne Carroll, Katlyn Dodge, Casey Fabbri, Sumiko Fong, Bryce Gallagher, Gabriella Hermogeno, Olivia Hughes, Nancy Insua, Willy Lepori, Quinn McKibbin, Caroline Morales, Samantha Pezzola, Noah Philpott, Anthony Pilotti, Mary Helen Rowell, Matthew Smith, Vincent Spence, Isabelle Barkey, Pammy Meyers, Andrew Savedra

Photographers KC Holtemann, Ileana Aleman, Sondra Ottenstein, Morgan Mitchell, Zena Bounsall

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Editor’s Pick This week’s can’t miss article:

“Greater vaccine eligibility countered by chronic shortages” Read the article on page 10.

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L

ast week, auto giant Volvo announced a partnership with a San Francisco based automation startup company called Aurora. This is just the latest partnership between global heavy truck manufacturers and technology companies in a push to develop self-driving systems for trucking freights, a reality that is predicted to come to fruition long before selfdriving ‘robotaxis’.

Aurora, an Amazon backed company stacked with high profile executives hailing from Uber, Alphabet, and Tesla, aims to deliver self-driving technology “safely, quickly and broadly.” Estimates from the news program 60 Minutes predict that self-driving trucks with no driver behind the wheel will be on the road as soon as later this year.

This may seem startling to some, but the push for self-driving machines has been on the rise for over a decade with an extra push coming from pandemic related online retail activity.

Trucking is just one of a plethora of industries predicted to be gravely affected by the advancement in automation. The World Economic Forum predicts that “75 million jobs will be displaced by artificial intelligence, robotics, and automation.” Other industries that are vulnerable include healthcare, hospitality, education and agriculture.

Online publication Robotics Business Review predicts that 38% of US jobs across all sectors could be at risk by 2030 thanks to automation.

The push for autonomous trucking became a focus--in part, from a chronic shortage of drivers and a boom in ecommerce, exacerbated by the pandemic. The pandemic was the catalyst to an increase of approximately $105 billion in ecommerce revenue, just in the U.S., according to online publication Digital Commerce 360.

There is also a focus on creating self-driving semi-trucks because they are simpler to facilitate than self-driving cars. Semi-trucks delivering goods generally travel on large, well-mapped interstate routes and deliver to equally wellmapped locations, unlike the complex network of roads a self-driving car would be expected to handle.

While most college graduates

COURTESY // Flickr.com

probably weren’t planning on becoming semi-truck drivers, the rapid adoption of A.I. into this industry stands as a powerful example of what lies ahead. Job security, in multiple sectors, may not be a secure thing at all.

What can we do at SSU to prepare for the inevitable loss of certain jobs to a future society of automation?

The University can provide incentives for all current and prospective students to continue to expand on their critical thinking skills.

Professor of Engineering Science, Sudhir Shrestha, said it is important for students to prepare for the future by “...develop[ing] skills that outlast any technology, learning to learn, critically think, communication, leadership, management, creativity... learn to adapt in a dynamic environment.”

Director of the Electrodynamics Engineering Lab Mohamed Salem reiterated this point saying, “An integral part of SSU [is for] students to learn how to become life-long learners.

This means that students do not only learn certain topics, techniques, and subjects, but they also learn how to acquire new knowledge, form sound opinions, and make rational decisions when the need arises. The life-long learning aspect of education gives them the ability to adapt when certain changes occur in the job market.”

The University can advocate for incentives for workers in fields such as transportation or manufacturing, who are displaced by technological unemployment, to attend college. The trucking industry, for example, is made up of a whopping 91% of workers without a college degree. SSU could potentially incentivise those individuals to earn a college degree.

Shrestha pointed out that training might not provide complete support for all displaced workers. He said, “Many say, ‘train the workers in the new industry.’ Which is reasonable.

But there will still be some who won’t be able to find jobs at all. They will need to be supported in some other ways.”

One of the ways to support all workers is to advocate for policies like Universal Basic Income (UBI), as we live through a period of great technological transition.

Former 2020 Presidential candidate Andrew Yang proposed a “Freedom Dividend,” for every American adult, a UBI of $1,000 a month as a response to job displacement by automation. Yang believed that UBI was a

more viable option as opposed to complete retraining because studies showed that retraining of displaced manufacturing workers in the Midwest had success rates of 0–15%. Candidates and policies like this are essential to ensuring no worker is left behind during the transition.

The pandemic led to an increase in direct payments to American’s in need, similar to UBI, and we can use that mentality to continue to give aid to Americans whose jobs have been replaced by automation.

While jobs may be lost for some sectors, there are still great opportunities for SSU students to work in newly developing fields and work with automation, instead of against it.

Farid Farahmand, chair of the SSU Department of Engineering Science, said that a main focus of the program was ‘to make sure our students are well-prepared and fully confident to apply for these highpaying jobs.”

He said, “For many of our engineering students at Sonoma State University, the future is now. Over the past several years many of our students have been gaining handson research experience with various projects related to unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and...autonomous vehicles.”

SSU students in the Engineering Department recently earned two first place awards for their research project and presentation on “Autonomous Recharging of Aerial Vehicles.” The project was one of 190 student research presentations across the California State University system.

Shrestha encouraged the idea that automation will open doors to SSU students. “Automation will also create new jobs. More automation equals higher productivity, which creates a more vibrant economy and more jobs. Besides technical fields that are directly related to automation, demand for many other sectors, including service and arts related skills, will probably go up.”

We should continue to encourage students to not push against automation, but to lean into it. If we as students are prepared with adaptation and critical thinking skills, we will be able to tackle whatever job market the future holds.

Opinions

Opinions expressed in the STAR are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the STAR or SSU. The editorial reflects the views of the STAR Editorial Board on issues it considers to be of particular relevance to the campus community.

Letters to the Editor

Letter writers may expect prompt publication in the newspaper’s op-ed section, as space is available. Letters of up to 400 words will be allowed and must be submitted no later than the Friday before the publication date. Published letters must be free of libel, since the publication is held legally accountable for all content. Although personal controversy will be tolerated, it is the responsibility of the editor to check statements purporting the facts.

The STAR reserves the right to refuse publication.

COURTESY // Flickr.com

Editorial Policy: The commentary expressed in the unsigned editorial represents a majority opinion of the STAR Editorial Board on a topic facing the campus community in keeping with journalistic precedents of other major newspapers, and may not be shared by all staff writers. The board encourages readers to write letters to the editor about all topics, including the editorial.

Opinion 3

APRIL 6 - APRIL 12, 2021 sonomastatestar.com

SacAnime shuts down vaccination site Instagram targets for a “Swap Meet” underage users with

SUMIKO FONG

STAFF WRITER

A

fter an entire year into the COVID-19 pandemic, factors of prepandemic life are coming back.

A popular northern California convention has made its comeback this past weekend.

SacAnime is typically a semi-annual convention for anime fans and vendors that takes place over a span of three days. It is usually held at Cal Expo in Sacramento, but this year they have decided to switch venues to Roebbelen Event Center in Placer County to accommodate new safety guidelines considering the pandemic. However, the Roebbelen Event Center is currently being used as a COVID-19 vaccination site.

For the three days of the event, the vaccination site was shut down to host the 2021 SacAnime Swap Meet.

The Placer County Health and Human Services Spokesperson, Katie CombsPrichard, had an email conversation with The Sacramento Bee and explained the plans for the vaccination site and SacAnime. “The clinic has extended its hours this Monday through Wednesday into the evening to maximize the volume of doses administered this week, compensating for the closures,” Combs-Prichard stated.

However, it doesn’t seem likely that they can fit as many individuals that need vaccinations into the few extended hours in comparison to the number of shots they can distribute over an entire weekend.

The SacAnime Twitter responded to the backlash stating, “The clinic never had plans to be open during the scheduled time, and declined our offer to restrict our event space so they could remain open.” Even though the clinic didn’t have plans to open over the weekend, an event with a large number of people attending should not be held in a COVID-19 vaccination site that is still being used. Although the county has approved SacAnime with the new safety guidelines, residents of Placer county are not very happy with this decision to close a vaccination site for a “swap meet”.

A Facebook user commented on SacAnime’s recent post stating, “They are taking away the largest vaccination center in the county for this.” Another user implied that the organizers of SacAnime are labeling the event as a “swap meet” instead of a “convention” to bypass California’s COVID-19 restrictions. The California guidelines state that all conventions must remain closed in every county. However, swap meets are allowed to operate at 50% of the normal capacity in counties that are in the red tier, which Placer county is classified as.

Events like a swap meet, conventions or similar gatherings are not defined as essential, therefore they should not be happening at all. There is no way of monitoring who has come in contact

with the virus, especially those who are asymptomatic. It would have been beneficial if the event is postponed to a later date, especially if the residents of Placer County feel unsafe with this event happening.

Over the weekend, SacAnime has received a lot of social media traffic. Individuals who attended the event posted pictures where people were gathering in large groups and not social distancing. Individuals also posted pictures without masks on at all even though face masks were required at all times.

This continued with news clips being released from CBS13 where attendees passed the camera while wearing their facemasks incorrectly. There were no sanitizing stations provided on the main sales floor where people were seen touching the same items over and over again. The swap meet was held in an indoor event center where ventilation and air purification could not be reassured.

The safety guidelines were clearly not reinforced and ignored by SacAnime and those attending the event.

It is completely understandable that people want to have human interaction, they want to see their friends and attend fun events after being isolated for an entire year. However, the pandemic isn’t over yet and events like this are not 100% safe to have when the virus is still so easily transmitted, especially when the guidelines are being ignored by those partaking in the event.

The organizers in addition to the Placer County health officials should have either heavily reinforced the guidelines at the event or canceled the event completely.

David Dobrik and his “Vlog Squad” accused of sexual assault

RACHEL GONZALEZ

STAFF WRITER

D

avid Dobrik and his Youtube “Vlog Squad” are under scrutiny after sexual assault allegations have been made over the few past weeks.

The 24-year-old Youtuber has 18.8 million subscribers and recently launched an app called Dispo; an app that resembles the same attributes as a film camera and allows users to capture moments and share them among friends. It could be said that Dobrik is one of the most successful YouTubers on the platform. Due to his high status in the influencer world, he can seem “uncancellable”. However, in March, it was made clear that this is not the case.

The accusations began back in 2017, where Doprik filmed former Vlog Squad member Seth Francois as he was tricked into kissing Jason Nash, another Vlog Squad member, all the while he thought he was kissing fellow member and model, Corrina Kopf. It wasn’t til Nash revealed himself after the kiss that Francois realized he was not kissing who Doprik told

him he was going to kiss.

It wasn’t until three years later, on June 2, Francois uploaded a video in regards to his involvement with the Vlog Squad and how being part of such videos made him feel. On Feb. 12, 2021, Francois spoke up again on the H3H3 podcast where he shared to podcast hosts Ethan and Hila Klein that in that specific video with Nash, he did not give consent to Dobrik for that to happen.“I was touched by someone I did not consent to,” said Francois on the H3H3 podcast.

On March 16, Insider reporter Kat Tenbarge wrote an article about a vlog Dobrik uploaded on Nov. 28, 2018, which focuses on Vlog Squad member and childhood friend to Dobrik, Dominykas Zegaitis, also known as “Durte Dom”, having a threesome.

Tenbarge uses pseudonyms to keep the identities of the women anonymous; Hannah, Sarah, and Audry, who are the only individuals “named” out of the seven women who met with Dobrik and his Vlog Squad to film a video after conversing over Instagram with Zegaitis.

The women who came to see the Vlog Squad were under the age of legal drinking, therefore, it is shared to Tenbarge, that alcohol was provided for the woman by vlog squad members. “Sarah also said she remembers Smith and Wittek coming back to the apartment with Smith holding a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whisky.” wrote Tenbarge.

According to interviews between Hannah, Sarah, and Tenbarge, Hannah was sexually assaulted by Zegaitis while so intoxicated that her friend, Audry, recalls Hannah becoming incoherent when sexual acts began to take place.

“I remember you were starting to

close your eyes and just were drunk…” wrote Audry in a text that Hannah shared with Insider. Audry confirmed with Hannah that she intervened between Hannah and Zegaitis to get Zegaitis away, therefore transitioning to having sexual acts Zegaitis.

Due to the allegations made by Hannah, Dobrik has since lost a great number of sponsorships, one of those being Seat Geek, who allows Dobrik to give away Teslas on Instagram.

Sponsorships are extremely significant to a content creator’s life because sponsorships, like Seat Geek, bring in money to the influencer. Since then, vlog squad members have made videos either clearing their side of the story or, similar to Dobrik, apologizing to Hannah for the assault. It is under question whether Dobrik’s apology is sincere as it appears that Dobrik made his apology videos once he began losing sponsorships.

It is clear that Dobrik created the environment for this foul event to unfold and though Dobrik was not the one who committed the sexual assault, Dobrik provided a space for the events to take place, proceeded to upload the video, gain views, and simply benefit from someone else’s traumatic experience.

Being a creator, especially on Youtube, requires being consistent and creative. However, what most creators sometimes overlook, like Dobrik, is being a creator also requires responsibility. Not to mention, these creators are often looked up to by the young generation and take what they see as “tolerable” in the influencers world and could apply it to theirs.

CAPS is open and operating remotely. If you or a peer would like to utilize the services provided, you can contact CAPS at 707-664-2153.

new youth platform

ANDREW SAVEDRA STAFF WRITER

O

n Thursday, March 8, Instagram’s Vice President of Product, Vishal Shah, announced through an internal post (within the company) that Instagram will be looking into starting an Instagram for youth users.

“We will be building a new youth pillar within the Community Product Group to focus on two things: (a) accelerating our integrity and privacy work to ensure the safest possible experience for teens and (b) building a version of Instagram that allows people under the age of 13 to safely use Instagram for the first time,” said Shah. This means Instagram may have a youth-focused platform soon.

Currently, Instagram does not allow anyone under the age of 13 to use its platform on paper, which has proved to be a challenge to enforce in practice.

Mosseri told BuzzFeed News that Instagram knows that more kids want to use social media apps like Instagram, and verifying the age of every user was proving to be a challenge. He also said there were many things to do, and creating an Instagram for kids was one thing.

The development of Instagram’s new youth-focused project is not the first youth-focused project to come from Facebook. In 2017, Facebook launched Messenger Kids, which targeted children between the ages of six and 12. In 2019, however, the Verge reported that Messenger Kids had a bug that allowed its youth users to join chats with unauthorized users, which violated the core idea behind Messenger Kids.

Unauthorized users can be anyone, which means kids may find themselves talking with a grown person who could be a child predator.

The primary federal laws revolving around youth-focused media are the Communications Decency Act, which prohibits individuals from sending obscene or indecent messages to a recipient under 18, and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act made to help parents control media information their kids see. It is concerning that these are some of the only youth-focused media laws that Instagram will have to be compliant with when developing the youth platform. They are simply not strict or detailed enough to allow for a safe youth social media experience.

While this platform’s addition seems progressive, it cannot be as light-hearted as Instagram is portraying it. Adult Instagram is already associated with anxiety, depression, FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), and bullying. According to researchers from The Journal of Consumer Affairs, Instagram can foster poor sleep habits and a negative body image. If all of these adverse side effects are included in the kids’ version of Instagram, along with the stranger dangers that seeped through cracks on Messenger Kids, it doesn’t sound like a good bet.

When Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, its users were the guinea pigs taking the first dose. No one could have ever predicted how social media would affect the human brain or social experience, and now we are all learning that it may not be so good for our mental stability. It feels like that is happening again, except for children, making things more complex and sensitive because our youth is our future.

Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook in 2004, and bought Instagram in 2012. Take a step back and think about that for a second. How much has happened since 2004? 2012? How much has social media affected the lives of everyone on this earth? Considering the answers to these questions, it makes sense to hold back on creating a kid’s platform before strengthening the current infrastructure.

PayPal now accepting Bitcoin transactions

ANTHONY PILOTTI

STAFF WRITER

P

ayPal has announced it will be adding Bitcoin as an additional, viable form of payment on their money transfer platform. Bitcoin is a decentralized currency that uses energy miners to solve highly complex equations that produce Bitcoins. Bitcoin has garnered a lot of attention in recent months, as its price continues to climb.

Starting from almost nothing and now being worth upwards of $50,000 per coin, Bitcoin is now being accept-

ed as a form of payment. For the Bitcoin owner, this could finally mean a simple transaction through PayPal instead of the tedious transfer processes the cryptocurrency currently requires. With PayPal right there to help facilitate the transfer into an automated process, it makes it easier than ever to use as a common currency.

There are some concerns, however, that Bitcoin may be removed from trade, similar to how gold was banned. Former President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order in 1933 that prevented people from hoarding or using gold for monetary purposes, as a way to prevent the money supply from increasing. All gold was turned over to the Federal Reserve Bank at that time, taking gold out of rotation. Theoretically, President Joe Biden could remove Bitcoin from rotation, seizing the cryptocurrency and using it to cover U.S. debts.

If the government seized cryptocur-

rency, it could be a signal of a shift in monetary value. Bitcoin could possible become the standard. Unlike gold, which is malleable, Bitcoin is algorithmic and verifiable. Due to its decentralized location though, it would be more difficult for the government to seize as the main form of currency.

Tesla is also accepting Bitcoin payments, which is not surprising considering Elon Musk created Paypal and Tesla, and also recently bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. It is also very possible that as inflation occurs, cryptocurrency--including Bitcoin--could become a new standard currency. However, that would mean people would have to buy into the idea of digital dollars and would need to find ways to acquire it at the currently inflated price.

Considering the continual inflation of the U.S. dollar and its value, the Bitcoin price could continue to skyrocket.

People are searching for other curren-

cies to diversify portfolios. While the dollar is still strong, it is a good idea to diversify. Since the United States is a debt economy, it could, over time, strengthen the dollar. The dollar has largely remained a fiat currency, meaning it is derived based on faith and credit.

Paypal will be accepting dollars and Bitcoin, and this is big as new cryptocurrencies will continue to emerge and hopefully in the future be used as alternate currency. For now, the trail starts with Bitcoin. The light at the end of the tunnel is that now people have multiple options of accepted currency. People can pay or trade in Gold, Silver, Platinum, Dollars, Bitcoin, Etherium, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and so many others. Although they may have to transfer precious metals or cryptocurrencies into dollars, PayPal now conducts transactions accepting both Dollars and Bitcoins. This makes Bitcoin easier to use for payment via the PayPal platform.

4 News

APRIL 6 - APRIL 12, 2021 sonomastatestar.com

President Sakaki praises resiliency of Asian community at SSU continued from pg. 1

of collegiality and mutual respect,’ and compassion that includes ‘civic engagement opportunities that contribute to real world problem solving,’ and ‘empathy to identify the challenges and address the needs of others’.”

The local Rohnert Park Paper, The Community Voice, shared information about Cotati Mayor John Moore’s statement after the council meeting. Moore stated, “The Cotati City Council was clear and unanimous that racism against Asian-Americans, or against any Americans, has no place in society today.”

Despite Sonoma County having a small population of AAPI communities, less than 5% of the total population, local residents feel a strong need to have their voices heard.

Interim Director of the Educational Opportunity Program and the Preparing Underrepresented Educators to Realize their Teaching Ambitions Project at Sonoma State University, Khou Yang-Vigil, shared her feelings and thoughts on being a part of the small AAPI community within Sonoma County.

“That just shows that the community knows what’s going on and it shows their support.” Yang-Vigil stated, “Our issues are sometimes swept under the rug in the forefront. It’s important, we have to talk about it and we have to support each other. Specifically, in minoritized communities.”

Rohnert Park has also made efforts to not only inform local residents, but include SSU’s community in being involved.

During Rohnert Park’s city council meeting, Associate Vice President of Government and Regional Relations at SSU, Robert Eyler, accepted a certificate on behalf of President Judy Sakaki.

The certificate is a proclamation which denounces antiAsian racism and violence. The proclamation states, “The City of Rohnert Park is committed to inclusion and advancing equity and justice for people of all races, nation origins, and ethnicities.”

After the following events, President Judy Sakaki, the first Japanese-American woman in the nation to lead a four-year college or university and current president at SSU, released an update to the school’s community on March 30. It reminds the community of their resiliency despite going through a year of hardships involving social injustices, financial struggles and obstacles faced with the pandemic.

Sakaki states, “Even then, Sonoma State has stayed confident. We have continued to strive for student success, continued to serve our community, and continued to aid in response efforts.”

After receiving this update, students who identify within the AAPI community appreciated the support, but felt as though the progression towards diversity and inclusion should actively resolve social injustices towards all people of color.

Katelyn Castro, a third-year political science major and active member of the Filipino American Association of Sonoma State University (FAASSU), shared her thoughts regarding the school’s response towards anti-Asian hate crimes.

“The most I have heard about the school itself talking about social injustices that have happened in the Sonoma State community is through an email just stating that they don’t agree with it and how they are trying to hold people accountable, which I think is a great start but I think they need to do better,” Castro stated.

Another student, Leah Vallespin, a second-year biology major and philosophy minor, shared her observations surrounding diversity and inclusion within the SSU community.

“Aside from FAASSU and other people of color (POC) clubs, I don’t know of any more resources for us to feel ‘safe’

and acknowledged,” Vallespin stated, “Even with cultural clubs, they tend to stay to themselves and it makes me sad because I want everyone to feel comfortable with each other and that includes non POC people as well.”

The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) at SSU offers ways to target social injustices and to provide spaces for students and faculty in need of support.

In an email interview facilitated with the Strategic Communications department, they shared current and upcoming resources aiming to aid the SSU community to support, resolve, and educate everyone with experiences of social injustices.

These include providing spaces that discuss Critical Dialogues Across Differences for students and faculty, directing all social injustice matters to the Office for the Prevention of Harrassment and Discrimination and planning to work with CheckIt, a program which focuses on creating student-led movements.

The DEI Office stated in the email, “We will continue to use this frame to address anti-Asian hate and to raise awareness on how to be a supportive ally. The DEI Office will also continue to use an anti-racism approach to address inequities by working to change policies that disproportionality impact our students of color.”

In concurrence with Sakaki’s Strategic Plan 2025, the DEI plans to align its core values to make systematic changes and equity-minded leadership.

In an email interview, Sakaki, via written communication through the strategic communications department, said, “First, let me thank all of our AAPI students for the resilience and f lexibility they continue to demonstrate. These are challenging and isolating times, and I can imagine that everyone has had moments (and longer) when persevering feels difficult.”

“My best advice is to talk to someone; it is an act of personal strength to know you need support and to reach out. We are a community, and we are here to support each other,” Sakaki stated.

COURTESY// @rogacheva_illustration on Instagram Illustrator Anna Rogacheva created this digital art piece to raise awareness about hate crimes and Coronavirus related discrimination against the Asian community.

STAR // Morgan Mitchell Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Karen Moranski answered many questions students had about returning to campus during a forum on April 1.

What campus will look like Fall 2021 continued from pg. 1

explained that parking passes will now be included in the housing cost for students living on campus.

The housing department is covering the cost of parking permits; it will not be an additional cost.

Brunetta mentioned that the University is hoping to have all facilities open to a degree and will be releasing a list of what will be open soon. The Interim Associate Vice President for Academic Programs, Stacey Bosick, stated masks will be required on campus at all times and will be supplied in several locations.

Students raised concerns about getting into classes they need in fall, as COVID-19 restrictions will be reducing in-person class sizes. Karen Moranski, the University’s interim provost, addressed these concerns, “We are trying to respond to waitlists and demand as quickly as possible. We have been able to earmark some of the Stimulus Funding to add some additional sections.” She also said that classes may be smaller and that classes with over 60 people will be online.

As more Seawolves plan for their future return to campus, they wanted to know if vaccines will be available to them at the Student Health Center. The Interim Director of the Student Health Center, Tracey Eaton, explained that she is hopeful vaccines will become available on campus at some point, but for the time being, the Health Center can help students find vaccines elsewhere by phone. Eaton reminded students that COVID-19 tests are available for free at the Health Center and will continue to be offered in Fall.

The Repopulation Open Forums For Students presented by the Continuity Planning Groups will continue on Wednesday, April 7 from 5-6 p.m. Students can find more information and the link to the meetings on the Seawolf Living website. The University will continue to update students with information regarding the Fall and Spring semesters by email as it becomes available.

STAR // Morgan Mitchell Students asked important questions about what the next semester looks like during the Fall 2021 reopening forum.

Questions or suggestions for Sonoma State regarding repopulation and Fall 2021 plans?

Email: repopulation@sonoma.edu Next forum: April 7 @ 5 p.m.

News 5

APRIL 6 - APRIL 12, 2021 sonomastatestar.com

STAR // Sondra Ottenstein Sonoma State Police Chief Nadar Oweis does not want to speculate the cause of overdoses but has noticed an increase in overall cases.

COURTESY // National Insitute on Drug Abuse Synthetic Opiods have been the number one cause of overdose deaths in the United States for the last 5 years.

Increase in overdoses linked to pandemic and synthetic drug use continued from pg. 1

drugs.

Sonoma State Chief of Police Nader Oweis said, “I am aware of the recent Sonoma County Coroner’s report that several media outlets have reported on. I am also aware of overdoses surrounding Fentanyl, similar to what was reported by the Coroner, in many Bay Area communities.”

He also added, “I don’t want to speculate on whether or not the pandemic has directly resulted in the increase but as the various communities have reported the increase has been very noticeable.”

Over the past few months, the CDC has been coming out with updated death statistics. There has been an alarming rise in overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CDC Director Robert Redfield in a statement said, “The disruption to daily life due to the COVID-19 pandemic has hit those with substance use disorder hard.” He continued, “As we continue the fight to end this pandemic, it’s important to not lose sight of different groups being affected in other ways. We need to take care of people suffering from unintended consequences.”

The overdose rates started rapidly rising during the beginning of the pandemic, and have only continued to skyrocket into 2021. Fentanyl related deaths have doubled in the past few years.

According to StatNews, a health oriented online newsite, “British Columbia[n] officials reported nearly five overdose deaths per day in 2020, a 74% increase over the previous year.” Another study reported by StatNews showed that emergency room overdoses have gone up nearly 50% within the past year.

After reviewing all available overdose data, CommonWealthFund found that between January 2020 to August 2020, “estimates show that total overdose deaths spiked to record levels in March 2020 after the pandemic hit.”

They also said, “Monthly deaths grew by about 50% between February and May to more than 9,000; they were likely still around 8,000 in August. Prior to 2020, U.S. monthly overdose deaths had never risen above 6,300.”

The abuse of Opioids drove these numbers through the roof throughout 2020. Around 10 years ago every 1 in 100,000 people died from an overdose, but now in 2021, that number has skyrocketed and is at 20 in every 100,000 die from an overdose now. This number in deaths in recent years has been due to heavy use of Methamphetamine and other hard street drugs that are going around.

With the end of the pandemic in sight with vaccination numbers rising daily, many people are hopeful overdose rates in the U.S. will go down drastically.

STAR // Brandon Sparks Sonoma State Engineering Department is in a heated battle with the SSU Academic Senate in regards to taking more units so people can graduate on time.

Engineering Department seeks exemption for unit cap continued from pg. 1

classes once they have transferred to Sonoma State to fully complete graduation requirements.

“This then puts the transfer students at a disadvantage, and it also puts our Engineering program at a disadvantage in terms of recruiting students to their degree, so this waiver will also remedy that inequity for transfer students,” An unnamed student said at the early March Academic Senate meeting. The student at the meeting wanted to highlight the struggle that both transfer students and future students face in the program.

A few years ago, the California State University Chancellor made the decision to have all engineering majors be restricted to 120 units unless there were special circumstances for a particular student. A number of other CSUs have requested the same exemption from this unit cap and succeeded. 17 out of 23 CSU campuses have authorized exemptions for high unit majors like engineering, chemistry and computer science.

During the time period where other state schools asked for an exemption from this limiting requirement, SSU did not make the request to go from 120 units to 128 units. It is uncertain why Sonoma State did not make the request for its engineering students.

“The previous administration, President and Provost, were very adamantly against increasing it over 120 units. There was absolutely no support from the President and Provost, therefore, the department could not really request going over 120 units at that time”, said Farid Farahmand, chair of the Engineering Department.

Many engineering majors are frustrated about not being able not being able to go over 20 units a semester and the lack of support is making these students feel abandoned.

“There is a lack in resources to tell me what classes I need to take,” said ASB President Elect Noelia Brambila, talking about the lack of resources and how it contributed to her having to take an extra year of school.

Brambila said she had spoken to other Engineering students who feel the same way about the lack of resources at the University.

While many students feel that the lack of assistance is hindering their ability to succeed and graduate on time, the CSU system has loosened other requirements that they say are “overly burdensome policies and procedures that may delay the graduation process.”

One recent decision was the loosening of the requirement that all CSU students pass a Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement. The CSU system cited the pandemic and degree completion as reasons for the temporary suspension of the classes or tests normally necessary to graduate.

This request for a waiver comes from a desire from engineering majors to not have to take an extra year of school with an already rigorous workload that comes with the major.

“As you weigh your decision, just keep that in mind that we are being called upon to make sure that students can graduate in four years,” said Interim Provost Karen Moranski.

It is unclear what route the University will take for the future of this student population but many are hopeful that it is in the favor of timely graduation for engineering students.

6 Arts

APRIL 6 - APRIL 12, 2021 sonomastatestar.com

A conversation with playwright José Rivera CHEYENNE CARROLL

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STAFF WRITER

he Theatre Arts and Dance Department set up a webinar with playwright and screenwriter José Rivera, whose play, ‘Sonnets For an Old Century’ is being produced this semester by the department.

According to director of the play, Paul Draper, Rivera agreed to the webinar to provide students a chance to speak with him and ask questions after being approached via Facebook by faculty member Marie Ramirez Downing for permission to produce his play at the school.

“Sonoma State University is a Hispanic Serving Institution. I felt it would be a very important step to bring the work of a Puerto Rican playwright to tell stories that Spanish speaking and Hispanic identifying students can relate to,” Downing said.

“We wanted to make sure that our students would have the chance to have that conversation with the writer. But we also wanted people who were not directly connected with the production to be able to witness it and ask questions,” Draper explained.

In the hour-long webinar, students and faculty asked Rivera questions about the theater and film industries, insight to his plays, advice on be-

ing a successful writer, among several other topics including his own work and experiences in the industry.

When asked if he prefers writing for theater or film, he responded, “I love writing plays, and… it’s because they’re personal. They’re an impulse... I’ve said this in interviews before, I write plays for love and films for money.”

He explained that much of his work comes out of topics and ideas he’s focused on exploring, and said “a play is a kind of distillation of an obsession”, where he can deal with serious topics in an organized and creative way.

Rivera offered students in the theater program important career advice, and explained that for aspiring playwrights and screenwriters, that networking, graduate school, persevering through the industry, and diversification of work are among the most important aspects to success as a writer.

“You have to learn how to be a playwright in rehearsal. You have to know how to have conversations with directors and designers… how to cast… how to work within an institution…. for the young writers, amass as much writing as you can, and diversify your voice,” he said.

STAR // Zena Bounsall

Professor and Director of the Acting Program at Sonoma State Paul Draper hosts a webinar about ‘Sonnets for an Old Century.’

Both students and faculty members felt the webinar was really beneficial for everyone in the department.

Christine Cali, the department chair, wrote in an email,“Our faculty and staff are able to continue building community with artists for future collaborations at SSU and across the country…

Mr. Rivera’s conversation was incredibly inspiring, poetic, compassionate and hopeful,” she said.

Theater student and actor in the play, Maya Pratt-Bauman, said “The most beneficial aspect [of speaking with a guest speaker] in my opinion is getting to hear from someone in the position you want to achieve...It was… eye opening to talk with the person who wrote the material and to hear how the character I portray was created.”

Downing wrote in an email, “Jose was so hopeful for the future of the theatre. He was so human, and authentic in all of his answers. I believe what he said about continuing to stay curious about new plays, new movies, and what is going on in the world is so important for our students to keep in mind…. There is now more equity and authentic representation of the Hispanic/ Lantinx communities and we see it in the writing from playwrights like Rivera.”

STAR // Zena Bounsall José Rivera, the creative screenplay writer who crafted ‘Sonnets for an Old Century,’ talks with Paul Draper.

Disrupting domination with ‘Ezell: Ballad of a Land Man’ MARY HELEN ROWELL STAFF WRITER

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ast week, The Green Music Center welcomed Clear Creek Creative to share and discuss their theatrical work, ‘Ezell: Ballad of a Land Man’.

The creators and community builders of Clear Creek Creative and Ezell, Bob Martin and Carrie Brunk, joined Green Music Center Executive Director Jacob Yarrow for the virtual event hosted on April 1.

“Ezell: Ballad of a Land Man is an environmental, cultural and spiritual parable derived from living in the foothills of Appalachia, one man among many seeking to make sense of the time, place and condition in which we live. In the story, Ezell’s choices, traumas, ancestors and more intersect with themes of domination and resilience as he seeks to take advantage of an anticipated fracking boom and the opportunity to reconnect with the people and the land of his raising,” stated the Clear Creek Creative website.

The Clear Creek Creative and theatrical performances themselves are located in Kentucky, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

Martin stars as Ezell in the solo performance of a man struggling with patterns of domination, his relationship with the land and environment, his ancestry, and his beliefs.

“Ezell is a character that came up, I would say, organically through our dialogue with this place [the land in Appalachia] … It was a character who had a lot of hard questions to ask and had a real sense of, the world is telling me I have a lot of power based on how I show up in the world and yet I don’t feel my power,” said Martin.

The theatrical piece is intended to encourage and motivate viewers and participants to continue, or begin, looking deeper into their own relationships with the land and environment around them and to begin to break away from the themes of domination that surround them.

“I specifically don’t want to be, in any way, didactic in this work. This work definitely has a point of view, but this work is also meant to be accessible to anyone,” said Martin.

‘Ezell: Ballad of a Land Man’, intersects art and culture with a result that creates and inspires the possibility of global change.

“The art and cultural organizing is where we get to figure out how to envision and understand the world that we’re in and envision what could be better about it. To do the work of healing and to process and engage emotions in ways that people typically, or often I find in our current society, don’t have access to on a very deep level,” said Brunk.

‘Ezell: Ballad of a Land Man’ premiered at Clear Creek Creative in 2019 and is planning on going on tour through Appalachia and nationally in 2021 to 2022.

STAR // IIeana Aleman

Carrie Brunk and Bob Martin bring to life the character Ezell, based on their personal experience living in Appalachia.

STAR // IIeana Aleman

Ezell, the land man, expresses his frustation in having to work as a young boy.

Entertainment 7

APRIL 6 - APRIL 12, 2021

sonomastatestar.com

Alumni Spotlight of the Week: JULIA BLAIR

STAFF WRITER

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any people dream of producing famous film projects and seeing their vision come to light right in front of them. Sonoma State alumni, Alex Bretow, has made that dream a reality. His perseverance and out of the box thinking has set him apart and been developed through and after his time at Sonoma State.

He emphasizes the strong foundation of values he had during his college experience, and the great people he collaborated with and learned from. He went into depth regarding his time in Studio Blue on campus.

“There weren’t a ton of opportunities in film through SSU, but we found a way to harness what was available and go after our passions, regardless.

We would spend our weekends making movies, staying up all night editing in Studio Blue (which was then SSUTV) and persisted after our dreams regardless of what we thought was possible.

SSU is a place that encourages selfdiscovery and self-exploration, we took that freedom to heart and worked toward a vision of our future that we created for ourselves.”

Bretow is a standout alumnus because he has continued to break barriers and push beyond his own creative limits consistently and effectively. Additionally, he mentioned him alongside his peers working in the film studio

Alex Bretow

created a demand for additional programs, and the University created a Master’s Program for Film Studies, and he forged a path for future students and their creative endeavors in the process.

As an active film producer, Alex is interested in pleasing audiences with his creative films. He says his biggest reward in his current role “is seeing audiences and critics respond to our films, ideally in theaters or watching their reaction videos online, reading their reviews, etc. Watching people dissect the meaning of our film in an analysis video on YouTube, or reading reviews from critics who understood and connected with the film are incredibly rewarding.”

Since his time at SSU, he has continued to produce films, and his latest project, ‘The Night’, is a horror film surrounding a couple and their stay in Hotel Normandie. The film was released in the U.S. and Canada on January 29 and has already become “Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes”, according to Bretow. This movie has received rave reviews and has been admired for its high quality production and cast.

This spotlight inspires students who also want to harness their passion and creativity as a full time job and this story proves that hard work and determination are key facets in that

COURTESY // Instagram

Producer Alex Bretow (left) and Director Kourosh Ahari (right) on set for ‘The Night.’ process. Now, Bretow is behind a major film that is available on several streaming platforms (Apple TV, iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, etc.) as well as on their own website.

His story is a great tribute to someone who consistently followed their passion and believed in themselves and was able to put himself in a position to make his dreams come true. As a recent graduate, he serves as a great example of someone who utilized the University’s resources to learn and grow creatively and intellectually. The various outlets designed by the school can be amazing resources and tools to push students beyond their comfort zone and show them the importance of their creativity. Ultimately, his work has been noticed for its quality for years and many will be watching to see what is next for him.

‘Sonnets for an Old Century’ starts Thursday JAYLINE ALVARADO

STAFF WRITER

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he Theatre Arts and Dance Department will be live streaming the play ‘Sonnets for an Old Century’ by José Rivera starting Thursday. Directed

by Paul Draper, ‘Sonnets for an Old Century’ tackles the question, “Could you tell your life story in the space of a moment, the length of a Sonnet,” by letting multiple individuals tell their stories in sonnet form, “according to the Sonoma State’s Theatre Arts and Dance event page.

According to Director Paul Draper, “Well, we had actually selected a different play before covid-land had happened. That particular play, which was by Bertolt Brecht, was going to be really unwieldy on Zoom. So, we were looking for something else that would work better in a Zoom-world, where, because we had to both rehearse and prepare it online.”

The production took a lot of time and effort. According to Stage Manager and third-year student John Ruzicka, “We had auditions in late November and early December, and casting was in progress up until the actors began rehearsing at the beginning of the semester. We spent a lot of time individually with each actor working on the various elements of their piece so that each sonnet in the production was as strong as possible. Once we recorded them, we began to put together the programs that would capture a wide array of emotion and also individual stories.”

Having worked to put this production together Ruzicka “highly recommends going to see both programs being offered as there are wonderful and powerful tales in each program and you will want to see the

wonderful production and hard work of all of the actors.”

When asked about what an audience should get from their performance, Santa Rosa Junior College student and actor Alexsander Bravo responded that, “working with Paul opened up my performance to new possibilities to tell the story in creative ways” and that they “had a great time working with Paul and the tech crew to bring this performance to life and it was a new experience that made me ask myself what it means to be Hispanic in America.”

When asked about the lack of audience Bravo responded that as an actor “in a real performance the audience gives you energy but when you’re alone you have to find the energy within yourself and really find yourself in that character you are portraying.” Ruzicka stated that a “key difference is the energy that gets provided when dealing with the space becomes different. In some ways it’s more unique and interesting, but it becomes more like working in film or television than on stage.”

Draper stated that because he and Vocal Coach Marie Ramirez Downing had to find a play that worked in an online setting. “It’s easier to rehearse in some sense because it just me as the director working with the individual actor and the actor working, and we can do that from our own homes. Then at a certain point we recorded it, each of the sonnets, and we have a video editor- he’s really much more than that because he selects a lot of images.”

“And that they also wanted to do a writer of color,

it seemed important to do that this year. So that’s how we came to this particular play. And it’s a very diverse cast. There are a lot of different voices, Black, Asian, Hispanic, Latino, Latinx, and white,” said Draper.

The show will be livestreamed on April starting 8 until the 11 with two different programs and different sonnets and at different times so students can watch in the afternoon or evening. There will also be a Q&A after the show on April 9 and 10. Students also get a free ticket with code SSUStudent. Faculty and staff will receive a discounted ticket with code SSUFacStaff.

COURTESY // Instagram

‘Sonnets for an Old Century’ will be livestreamed April 8-11 on Zoom.

Movie theaters begin reopening process O NANCY INSUA

STAFF WRITER

n Sunday March 14, Sonoma County for the first time since entering the pandemic over a year ago has moved into the red tier and out of the previously occupied purple tier. This shift has allowed for many sites across Sonoma County to reopen for the first time, including movie theatres. Students for the first time since last March will be able to go to the movies across Sonoma County and experience the joy of the theatre once again.

After facing a devastating year, cinemas are finally gaining a glimmer of hope as their reopening’s have begun. 2020 resulted in nearly all of the revenue of these theatres being gone and subsequently being forced to implement virtual showings and experiences to maintain any income, which was not even possible for each theatre. In Oct. 2020 Sonoma County lost Sonoma 9 Cinema in the Fiesta Plaza after 8 months of no revenue, they had to close permanently.

Rohnert Park’s own Reading Cinemas has reopened and are currently having showings of 7 different movies. Godzilla v.

Kong and The Unholy are two of the most blockbuster movies currently being shown in Rohnert Park.

Reading Cinemas is located on Rohnert Park Expressway W convenient-

ly next to the Target. Students are also given a discount on tickets when they present their Sonoma State ID. Sonoma County’s Sebastiani Theatre has also reopened for select viewings. Sebastiani caters to a different audience then your typical movie theatre like Reading Cinemas. Students will be able to view films like Minari, the typically only show in art house theatres like Sebastiani. Several Santa Rosa theatres opened up this past week as well, showing various titles including some with Oscar buzz.

According to the websites of these theatres and CDC guidelines, strict precautions and restrictions are being put in place to ensure safety of both movie goers as well as staff. Movie theaters are allowed to open indoors with 25 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer.

Social distancing will be required and enforced through assigned seating.

Masks will also be mandatory except when consuming food or drink similar to as students may be doing at outdoor restaurants this past year.

The North Bay Business Journal explained, “Now that the county is in the red tier of the state’s four-stage com-

munity reopening plan, theaters are joining restaurants, gyms and other venues to reinstate indoor activities that were barred when the county was in the purple tier, the most restrictive stage.” Other theatres like Rialto Cinemas have opted to not reopen this month. They have decided due to the fear of a 4th wave of increased COVID-19 cases to begin reopening once things have settled more

permanently.

As Sonoma County continues to fight COVID-19 and progressively reopen our community, art and cinema returning to our city can be a bright spot this spring. Students as they need to destress and take a break from finals can revisit the theatres and relax in a form of escapism that we have not had access to for the past 12 months.

STAR // Morgan Mitchell

Reading Cinemas offers viewers COVID-19 prevention tips upon entering.

8 Student Life

APRIL 6 - APRIL 12, 2021 sonomastatestar.com

Previously, CareerFest was held in-person in the ballrooms, but Sonoma State has adapted to the guidelines and turned the event into a virtual one with the same impact.

STAR // Jacob Loher

CareerFest provides opportunities for students’ futures

MATTHEW SMITH STAFF WRITER

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areerFest began last week and continues this week for all Sonoma State students and Alumni. CareerFest is a great opportunity for students to connect with potential employers and potentially receive internship and job opportunities.

While there were workshops and panels that occurred last week, CareerFest starts this week. All of the potential employers are set to have Zoom sessions available to talk to students and take a look at their resumes.

There will be many potential employers that will be attending this event, according to the Career Center website. Some of the potential employers that they list include: Amy’s Kitchen, City of San Jose, Target, Ygrene Energy Fund, the U.S. Navy, among others. There is a nice combination of local businesses and companies, as well as many other nationwide businesses.

The CareerFest is designed to match students with their ideal employers based on their major. Each day of the Career Fair is designed to appeal to specific majors. April 6 is the Government & Non Profit Fair, April 7 is the Marketing Finance & Sales Fair, April 8 is the STEM Fair, and April 9 is the Educator Job Fair.

Although the CareerFest is an event that the Career Center puts on every year, the pandemic has made it a lot harder than previous years. Career Center Representatives Becky Young and Kelsey Bensky talked about the issues with having to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines during this last year. “Setting up a CareerFest is always challenging; it doesn’t matter if it’s virtual or in-person,” they said. “What makes virtual events challenging is really helping students and employers make connections with each other. In person, it’s easy to help students coming into the fairs find the right employers, while virtually, we have to do a lot more emailing.”

The Career Center has really tried to get ahold of students for this event, to make sure that they don’t miss out. This year, they used many techniques like emailing students to make people aware, as well as “partnering with the School of Social Science, the School of Business and Economics, The School of Arts & Humanities and the School of Social Science to make sure students are aware of all the opportunities,” Young and Bensky said. “This

partnership has changed the communication between us and our students for the better and really helped students see opportunities exist for them during CareerFest.”

While the CareerFest is designed to help people get jobs and set themselves up for the future, it’s not only for students that are looking for a job immediately. According to the Career Center, “There are many employers hiring for full-time positions, but there are also internship opportunities for lower & upper division students, and even a few career related part-time jobs and summer opportunities. Some companies are local, but many are not, and are hiring for a variety of locations.” CareerFest will have a variety of employers from all over California available to give students information about potential career opportunities.

“Even for students who are not necessarily looking for a job or internship now, there is a huge benefit in attending - to get familiar with how career fairs work, and to start building connections with companies early,” Young and Bensky continue to say. “It’s a great way to help yourself stand out!”

The biggest benefit to attending CareerFest is the chance to speak directly to employers themselves. Instead of applying for jobs online with just a resume, the CareerFrest gives students a chance to connect with potential employers face-to-face, even if it is online. “This can help students to bypass the process of “resume filtering,” where they apply online to a job but never hear back because their resume wasn’t relevant enough or did not make the cut for whatever reason,” Young and Bensky said. “Not attending means missing out on that opportunity for those critical, direct connections.

We encourage students to come dressed professionally and ready to engage with employers.” This opportunity is definitely one that won’t pop up often, so be sure to take advantage of the opportunity and speak to potential employers.

For more information about CareerFest and its many events, head over to the Career Center webpage to see the full schedule of the career fair as well as to see how to register for any one of the specific fairs.

Student Spotlight of the Week: NOAH PHILPOTT STAFF WRITER

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Trey Kujiraoka

s a fourth year undergraduate student, Trey Kujiraoka was always determined to reach his goals, not only within his education, but also in his social life throughout his college

career.

No matter what university Kujiraoka ended up attending, he wanted to leave a lasting impression on everyone that he came across. Planning to graduate in the Spring semester of 2022, the senior is majoring in Business Management, as well as serving as the president of the Sonoma State University Club Baseball Team.

This is Kujiraoka’s fourth year as a member of the team and his second year serving as president for the squad. The student athlete played third base and designated hitter batting clean up, as well as a little bit of first base. In the 2020 school year, Kujiraoka served as the vice president. Following his vice presidency, he was ready to take his leadership role a step further and try his hand at being president. “[As president], I am in charge of making sure everything gets done for the team,” Kujiraoka said. “I am the main communication between the club team itself, the university, and the league.

I am constantly in contact with the school and league representatives Mike Dominguez and Eric Curitore, making sure our dues get taken care of, making sure we are insured, as well as making sure our charter is renewed to be affiliated with the school year. In other words, I am the middle man.”

As president of the team, Kujiraoka does his best to ensure every player on the team is not only taken care of, but game ready as well.

“Trey has been a huge part of the club team. He’s done a really good job of continuing to be the president during the pandemic.

Not only is he a key contributor on the field, but has time and time shown himself to be a true leader both on and off the diamond,” teammate Clark Fahrenthold said.

Kujiraoka’s inspiration for joining the club - due in part to his passion for the game he’s been playing for 16 years - was coming across the Club Baseball team during his freshman year at Big Nite. “Joining the club was one of my best decisions I made over the course of attending SSU. I met some of my closest friends throughout my time here from this club. Coming to a new school, I wanted to get involved and meet new people,” Kujiraoka said.

Last Spring, the squad played every series against opposing universities, except playoffs, before getting the remainder of their season cancelled due to COVID-19. Each series consisted of a best of three games. The schools they did end up playing were Chico

COURTESY // Garrett Grubaugh Club Baseball Team President Trey Kujiraoka at bat on the baseball field.

State, UC Davis, and UC Berkeley. They missed series’ against the University of Nevada Reno and San Jose State. The team, as a whole, was ranked first in the league, on track to clinch playoffs. “We were a top playoff contention team ranked at 35 the last time we played a full season, and we ranked 32 in the nation out of 200 teams,” Kujiraoka said.

Kujiraoka’s most memorable moment while a part of the club was making a double-elimination playoff bracket two years ago in Lancaster. This was the second time the club had done well enough in their season to make the playoffs as the third seed.

After graduation, Kujiraoka is excited to be a part of the new opportunities in the aerospace industry. He currently works for a small family-owned business that his grandfather started over 60 years ago. At the moment, the student athlete works there part-time and plans to work there full-time, hoping to work his way up within the business.

Aside from school, work, and baseball, Kujiraoka likes to hang out with his friends and family, go fishing, and practice his archery skills. Throughout the rest of his college experience, Kujiraoka will continue to play for the SSU Club Baseball Team and continue to serve as president. He is looking forward to furthering his passion with baseball and work with high hopes to take what he has learned outside of SSU.

Student Life 9

APRIL 6 - APRIL 12, 2021 sonomastatestar.com

Drag Queen Cynthia Lee Fontaine hosts Bingo Night through Associated Students KAITLIN BREEN STAFF WRITER

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his week, Associated Student Productions invited Cynthia Lee Fontaine to host a Bingo Night here at SSU. Cynthia Lee Fontaine is the stage name of Carlos Diaz Hernandez, a Puerto Rican drag performer from Austin, Texas.

Fontaine was a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race, ultimately finishing in tenth place, while also winning the hearts of fans as well as the title of Miss Congeniality. Fontaine was well known to fellow contestants, as well as fans, for her memorable catchphrase, “cucu.” Before she started doing drag, Fontaine received a degree in Clinical Psychology and worked in the mental health field.

Around 20 students attended this event, and the energy was nothing short of high.

Meghan Miller, a senior at SSU, said that she “loved Cynthia’s energy throughout the whole evening! She kept cheering me on while I was losing.”

On top of already being starstruck, students had the opportunity to win prizes at this event. There were five gift cards up for grabs, with the amounts ranging from $30-$50 each. ASP staff ran the event through a shared screen on Zoom, which showed the numbers being called as Fontaine announced them out loud. Students would then send ASP staff their winning bingo card for verification once they won a game.

One lucky student, Hazel Calderon, won three gift cards at the event. Another round of bingo ended in a tie, leading to a tie-breaker round of RuPaul’s Drag Race trivia questions conducted by Fontaine herself.

Throughout the event, Fontaine answered questions about herself, and behind-thescenes details of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Fontaine talked about being diagnosed with Stage 1 liver cancer shortly after leaving the show during season eight. When asked about her close friends from the show, she named Acid Betty as her closest friend, who was a fellow drag queen on Season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. They became close mainly because of how she was there for Fontaine during her fight against cancer.

Acid Betty, also known as Jamie Ruhren, was eliminated from the show shortly after Fontaine, and ultimately won eighth place on Season 8. In a previous interview with Mic. com, Fontaine discussed Betty’s presence during her experience with cancer, and said, “She is just an extraordinary person ... the most honest and transparent I have met in my entire life. She’s like my mother.”

Fontaine welcomed Hispanic and Latinx students to the event, and alternated between calling numbers out in English and Spanish. Fontaine also talked with students throughout the event, emphasizing the importance of community and prioritizing mental health and relaxation during one’s time at university.

Associated Student Productions (ASP) shares this goal with Fontaine, and has been planning events for students to promote involvement and relaxation during these hectic

COURTESY // Facebook Hosted by Associated Students, Cynthia Lee Fontaine invites students to win lots of prizes at Bingo Night. times. Mac Patefield, the Events Director for ASP says, “It can be difficult to plan events in the virtual setting. We’ve had to find different ways to incentivize coming to our events.”

Patefield added that ASP has “found great successes in live cooking demos, virtual game nights, and celebrity Q and A” events, like this one. Patefield shared that events that were popular while university events were still in person largely relied on large catering and activity budgets (such as Big Nite, AS Free Bowling Night, or Paint and Sip nights) whereas online events with big prizes and celebrity guests are more

popular in a virtual format.

Patefield, and the other ASP staff members want students to know, “All you need to do to win most ASP event prizes, is to just show up to the event!” Exclusive information about ASP events and upcoming student programs can be found on their Instagram, @ssu_as.

Associated Student Productions has many exciting events planned for the rest of the semester, including an upcoming event this Monday, April 5 with Jonathan Van Ness, one of the stars of the Netflix show Queer Eye.

Seawolves SPEAK! “If you could travel anywhere right now, where would you go?”

PAMELA MEYERS STAFF WRITER

S

ince the pandemic has started, travel plans have been cancelled, festivals have been moved, and families and friends have been forced to distance themselves.

With vaccines coming out and businesses starting to open up, traveling seems like a possibility again. Usually during March, Sonoma State students are planning their Spring Break activities, like traveling to Cabo or many other locations across the country, or going to music festivals like Coachella, Outside Lands, or Bottleneck. With spring break just behind us, many students refrained from traveling and stayed local for this break. The weather heated up in Rohnert Park and some students cooled off in pools, and even in places like the Russian River in Sonoma County.

Since things are starting to open up in different cities, it looks like traveling could be a possibility this year. Music festivals, as well as other events

are scheduled to return later in 2021. Even Barrel Tasting, a popular Sonoma State rite of passage, has been postponed until March 2022. According to the Wine Road website with information on the event, “the magic of Barrel Tasting is to get into the cellar and taste wines directly from the barrels. With the current Covid restrictions in place, we would not be able to invite you inside the cellars…we would lose the magic.” Fortunately, they are hosting a new event called “Member May” from May 24-31, where you will get to experience being a wine club member for the day at participating wineries.

Students have had to be more creative and open to new activities to keep them busy with all of the changing restrictions on businesses and activities. With more people getting vaccinated, cities beginning to open up, and music festivals to look forward to, students are eager to travel and explore new things.

“I would go to Ireland because I want to see the castles.”

“I would take a trip to Europe and explore Portugal, Greece, Italy, Spain, and France.”

-Tea Mueller, Senior, Business Major

-Amanda Salvador, Junior, Communications and Media Studies Major

“I would visit England because I have never been to Europe and my dad grew up there. I am also a die-hard Chelsea fan and would love to go see a game.”

“If I could travel anywhere right now, I would go to Italy or France. I’d really like to understand their culture and try new foods and drinks.”

-Ryan Keene, Junior, Psychology Major

-Juan Curiel, Senior, Anthropology Major

“If I could go anywhere right now, I would go to either Costa Rica, Cancun, or Portugal!”

“I would go to New Zealand and go to a rave, because I really wanted to go to festivals when COVID-19 was happening.”

-Armando Santos, Sophomore, Business Major

-Nadia Quijano, Freshman, Early Childhood Studies Major

10 Health Greater vaccine eligibility countered by chronic shortages D

APRIL 6 - APRIL 12, 2021 sonomastatestar.com

CALLIE ADAMS STAFF WRITER

espite promises that all adults in California will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine

by April 15, chronic vaccine shortages still prevail in many counties, including Sonoma County.

With more adults eligible for the vaccine, demand is expected to increase sharply and exacerbate the supply unless more shipments arrive soon.

According to state officials, all Californians aged 16 and over will be allowed to begin scheduling vaccine appointments midway through this month, as will members of 25 other states. This is weeks ahead of President Biden’s original plan, wherein he declared that all American adults would be eligible for vaccination by May 1.

Although widespread increased vaccine eligibility seems to be an auspicious sign, many are concerned that greater eligibility is meaningless when there is a definite shortage of doses available all over California.

“We greatly look forward to this expansion, but want to remind everyone that its success will be dependent on receiving a substantial increase in vaccine supplies,” said Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer for the Department of Public Health in Los Angeles County, in a local update.

Last month, vaccination clinics all over Sonoma County were forced to cancel appointments when they received less than one third of the vaccine doses they needed in order to fulfill each appointment.

At this time, approximately 25% of residents 16 and over are fully vaccinated, meaning that three-quarters of the county remains vulnerable in some fashion to COVID-19.

According to the Press Democrat, Sonoma County is receiving disproportionately low vaccine shipments in comparison to similarly-sized counties in California. County officials released a plea for the state to send more vaccine shipments last week, citing that vaccine allocation by the state seems to have been mismanaged.

Sonoma County residents remain optimistic despite present concerns, however.

Tracey Eaton, interim director for the SSU Student Health Center, says that she hopes the state will prepare for increased demand, and that more students will be able to get vaccinated.

“We expect to have a limited supply of the COVID-19 vaccine in the county for at least the next few weeks. I am hopeful that supply will greatly in-

crease after that so we are able to vaccinate all those who wish to be vaccinated,” Eaton said, “As the county opens up restrictions more, it is concerning that we are not yet able to vaccinate all those who desire vaccination. This is especially relevant for students, as most have not had the opportunity to be vaccinated yet.”

Eaton’s hope is shared by Dr. Laura Williams, SSU’s director of Counseling and Psychological Services, who also provided insight on how the stress of vaccine insecurity may be affecting Seawolves.

“Generally, the COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult psychologically for many reasons, including the potential for increased isolation, limitations to activities and usual routes for coping like going to the gym, social events, and traveling, experiences of loss and grief, and fears about become infected or infecting others,” Williams said, “My guess would be that while the promise of the vaccine offers students hope, frustrations about securing the vaccine may cause additional stress. Hopefully though, this will be short-lived and students will be able to get vaccinated quickly. We’ll have to see how it all plays out.”

Dr. Courtney Avvampato, a clinician for CAPS at SSU, suggests that students feeling distressed by the vaccine shortages consider seeking help from CAPS and attending workshops like the upcoming “The Struggle Is Real, So How Do We Deal” workshop conducted by Dr. Irene Wise. More information is available on the CAPS website.

In the meantime, it seems that all Sonoma County can do is hope that more vaccine supplies arrive soon enough to prepare for April 15. For updates on this issue, visit https://sonomacounty.ca.gov/ CAO/Press-Releases.

STAR// Morgan Mitchell Many pharmacies have turned into COVID-19 vaccination centers, offering immunizations to the general public.

Re-entering society impacts those with social anxiety

CASEY FABBRI

STAFF WRITER

It’s a typical Monday morning for Sonoma State University student Gabby Angrisani. As she hears her alarm buzz with just minutes to spare before joining yet another Zoom lecture from her bedroom, she begins to think about how times used to be. The hustle and bustle of running up the stairs of Stevenson, the in-class activities with her peers, meeting friends for lunch on campus; she missed every bit of it.

After over a year into the pandemic, everyone is accustomed to limited forms of social interaction.

Zoom calls have become the new normal, and Americans are used to this new way of life.

“Humans are creatures of habit, so initially, adjusting to isolating at home was incredibly challenging, but now, a year later, we’re accustomed to the new normal,” explained Paraskevi Noulas, PsyD, a psychologist at NYU Langone Health.

A post-pandemic life is fast approaching. President Biden announced earlier this month that small group gatherings may be able to occur by the Fourth of July. With vaccine availability increasing and COVID-19 cases on the decline, Americans are feeling a mix of emotions about the idea of increased social interaction.

“This is a global example of what’s called reentry after trauma,” said Deborah Serani, a psychologist and professor at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. “The pandemic is a traumatic event.”

Americans are not only fearful of contracting COVID-19 as in-person interactions grow, but they worry about the state of their social skills that have been dormant due to isolation. Other individuals are concerned that the positive changes they have made in the past year will be diminished. Some of these include habits of self-care, exercise, and spending time with loved ones.

Health officials predict that individuals’ social anxiety could climb with increased interaction. According to the BBC, social anxiety disorders involve a fear of social situations and includes worrying about meeting strangers, how to act with groups of

COURTESY // Instagram Returning to normal life can be frightening for those who struggle with social anxiety and are used to staying home.

friends and generally feeling self-conscious. The acclimation to a post-pandemic life filled with regular social interaction could prove to involve challenges for many who suffer from social anxiety in any way, shape or form.

An effective approach in adopting past forms of social interaction is through a process called “fading.” This is the act of gradually integrating back into society. Some examples of fading stages are taking a walk, meeting with others outdoors, and so on.

The fading process may be shorter for some, as there are a number of individuals who are eager to escape isolation. On the other side of the spectrum, social interactions may help others with feelings of depression and loneliness.

“I’m excited to get back to in-person classes this fall,” Angrisani said. “I’m looking forward to being able to get more of a normal school routine back and interact with my friends and classmates in-person.

Zoom has made building new friendships much harder.”

With the announcement of college campuses reopening for the Fall 2021 semester, staff and faculty are working hard to make sure that this change goes smoothly for students. During the pandemic, departments have been accessible to students through online platforms. The Fall 2021 semester will bring many more opportunities for connecting with students.

When asked how Sonoma State officials can help students as we approach the beginning of a new semester, Angrisani said, “I think that the main way that we can be supported, as students, is staff offering flexible times and a variety of options for office hours, as well as organizing events for students to get reacquainted with campus and fellow students.”

The process of re-entering the world after the pandemic may be just as difficult as its abrupt beginning last March. It is important to take this transitionary period at your own pace, in order to monitor mental health and overall well-being.

APRIL 6 - APRIL 12, 2021 sonomastatestar.com

STAR // Zena Bounsall Sonoma County homeless encampments, such as the one above located on Yolanda Ave. in Santa Rosa, will soon be visited by volunteers looking to vaccinate residents.

Wellness 11

STAR // Zena Bounsall Santa Rosa has seen an increase in homeless individuals due to the pandemic

Sonoma County organizations working to vaccinate the homeless

VINCENT SPENCE STAFF WRITER

A

s California moves forward with their plans to vaccinate everyone 16 and older, the state’s next step is to provide vaccines to arguably the most at-risk population: the homeless.

In an article by Sonoma County’s news talk radio (KRSO), it is explained that the goal is to administer well over 100 vaccinations a week to the homeless community. Last week the vaccination programs provided over 150 vaccines and look to administer much more as the weeks progress. The goal is to start with the homeless in shelters, then move towards those that live in their cars or outside. The article described that a one day count last year tallied over 2,500 homeless people in Sonoma county, only 38% of which are able to stay in shelters. The county has plans to expand the vaccination program with local medical and health services around the area.

With the organizations focusing on the shelters first it gives them a way to centralize the vaccination program. In an article by the Press Democrat, Dr. Loie Sauer, a Santa Rosa surgeon, said, “The first and logical place to start was with the sheltered population because they live in congregant settings (where the virus can spread) and we know where they are.”

Sauer, like many others in the business, has been dedicating her time in helping combat COVID-19 especially with dealing with the homeless population.

Johnson & Johnson, one of the top companies who came out with a COVID-19 vaccine, has been key for vaccinating the homeless population. This

specific vaccine, unlike others, requires only one dose to provide full immunity, making it easier to receive.

In an article with CBS Sacramento, Sacramento Fire Chief Gary Loesch described some of the difficulties working with the homeless. He said, “It seems to be a challenge to get to the homeless community and make them aware that this is a good thing and that we really are here to strictly vaccinate them and nothing more. Once Johnson & Johnson came on the scene, it helped because we don’t have to track them as much.”

Putting the homeless community at the front of the line for the COVID-19 vaccines has not come without criticism. Those in opposition of this decision believe the average person should receive the vaccine first, as they are the ones participating in the work force and attending schools. California officials also understand that the homeless population is massive, and such a goal is quite the undertaking. Because of this, the organizations working to get all the homeless vaccinated need all the help and support from communities across the county they can get their hands on.

Rachel Vasquez, a sophomore at Sonoma State who is pursuing a nursing degree, has been working in her community helping distribute the vaccines.

When asked to comment on the topic of vaccinating the homeless, she said, “I actually believe it’s a great idea to give the vaccine out to the homeless because most of them can’t provide for themselves and by doing this we will extremely slow down the spread because there are so many of them.”

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APRIL 6 - APRIL 12, 2021 sonomastatestar.com

Asian hate crime rates increase; activists fight back

COURTESY // @hateisavirus on Instagram Artists showcase their recent illustrations about awareness of Asian hate crimes in America.

COURTESY // @hateisavirus on Instagram The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in Asian hate crimes committed in the United States, but many people are fighting back.

COURTESY // @hateisavirus on Instagram Young people are protesting against Asian hate crimes in person and on social media, urging others to join the cause.

Sonoma residents seek vaccinations for homeless

STAR // Isabelle Barkey As the poverty level rises, Sonoma County organizations band together to vaccinate the homeless.

STAR // Zena Bounsall Tents scatter Sonoma County streets, highlighting the struggle of many individuals who have been greatly impacted by COVID-19.

STAR // Zena Bounsall A recently-formed homeless encampment appeared on Yolanda Ave. in Santa Rosa, alongside the 7-Eleven.

STAR // Zena Bounsall Due to the pandemic, homeless populations are at risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19.