Spartan Daily Vol. 158 February 9, 2022

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Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022

Volume 158 No. 6

COVID-19

SJSU, local pandemic policies evolve

By Christopher Nguyen SENIOR STAFF WRITER

San Jose State University and Santa Clara County are continuing to update coronavirus pandemic protocols as the surge of COVID-19 cases begins to decline.

Interim President Steve Perez confirmed in a Tuesday campuswide email that classes will resume in-person instruction Monday after in-person courses were delayed due to a spike in COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant.

“We’re excited to have people back,” Perez said in an interview. “We’re still going to be as careful as we can and make sure that we’re making this healthy and safe.”

As of Feb. 7, Santa Clara County achieved an 84% vaccination rate among all age groups eligible to be vaccinated, and had a 14-day average test positivity rate of 13% according to a New York Times article updated Feb. 8.

Testing Perez said that the university administered around 4,000 COVID-19 tests at the SJSU Event Center since Jan. 18, resulting in a 3% positivity rate, according to the Tuesday email.

The university partnered with Fulgent Genetics, a clinical laboratory, to provide testing available at the center for all SJSU students, employees, volunteers, and auxiliary employees Monday - Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Mai Mai Cantos, executive director of the Student Wellness Center, said the university currently provides polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.

Polymerase chain reaction is a laboratory technique used in research and clinical practices to copy or amplify small segments of genetic material, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute.

“Our vendor on campus says the tests, with those being PCR, takes somewhere between 36 – 48 hours to get results,” Cantos said. “PCR-based tests will have greater accuracy.”

Many people have also relied on antigen-based tests, which are available to purchase at pharmacies and are provided by the U.S. government for free.

We’re excited to have people back. We’re still going to be as careful as we can and make sure that we’re making this healthy and safe Steve Perez interim president

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Kimberly Cazares, political science and anthropology junior, conducts a COVID-19 test on herself at the SJSU Event Center testing site on Tuesday. Cazares said she woke up with a sore throat and wanted to be sure it wasn’t COVID-19.

“We prepared staff to take over at least five to 800 tests a day, across the week,” Cantos said.

She said any students currently experiencing symptoms should call the Student Wellness Center to make an appointment to safely get a test.

Cantos said testing campus community members helps the university monitor outbreaks.

Booster shots According to a Dec. 22 CSU press release, booster shots are required by Feb. 28 for all faculty, staff and students accessing university facilities, but individual campuses may set an earlier deadline.

SJSU announced a Jan. 31 deadline for all booster-eligible students in a Jan. 12 campuswide email.

All other students registered for hybrid or in-person classes are required to upload a record of their booster shot as they become eligible, according to the same email.

Interior design junior Kyle Tran said he was unaware of the deadline change, but plans on getting his shot as he returns to campus.

“I did not know the deadline was changed. I thought the deadline was on Feb. 28,” Tran said. “I plan on getting the booster as soon as I can due to some of my classes being in-person.”

The university partnered with Safeway Pharmacy to host two booster shot clinics in the Student Wellness Center on Feb. 3 and Feb. 10 from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. by appointment only, according to a Feb. 1 campus wide email.

Cantos said she hopes SJSU booster shot clinics will be extended for the rest of the month.

“While there might be some prevention of being able to catch it, the intention of vaccines and boosters is really about preventing people from getting so sick that they need to be hospitalized,” Cantos said.

These tests detect antigens of the SARS-CoV-2 virus within samples taken from upper or lower respiratory tracts of test subjects, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. government announced households are able to order up to four COVID-19 test kits starting on Jan. 19 with an expected delivery by USPS in seven to 12 days, according to a Jan. 14 White House press briefing.

“Antigen testing works as well as it’s like a camera taking a snapshot of the presences in the moment,” Cantos said. “If you have symptoms, the antigen test will have a greater chance of the results to be confirmed as positive.”

As students, faculty and staff return Mask mandate to campus, she said test-taking staff is While the state will loosen mask preparing for a higher demand of restrictions next week, Santa Clara County COVID-19 testing.

INFOGRAPHIC BY LINDSAY VILLAMOR; SOURCE: CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION WEBSITE

is still reviewing the local mandate.

Sara Cody, Santa Clara County public health director, said during a Tuesday Board of Supervisors meeting that her office is “still reviewing figures” before making any policy changes, according to Tuesday Mercury News article.

SJSU will continue its mask mandate “until further notice,” according to the Tuesday campuswide email.

Perez said in an interview that the university will continue monitoring the

county’s health guidelines.

“We’ll reconsider and talk about what we need to do. But again, we’re here to make sure that we’re providing the safest atmosphere as we possibly can,” he said.

“And that may include masks, even if the state doesn’t require them. We may think it’s best to have them on.”

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SCIENCE & TECH

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 9, 2022

Virtual worlds offer to expand reality

By Royvi Hernandez SCIENCE & TECH EDITOR

Since Mark Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook as Meta, many people consider the metaverse the future; but how will it change day-to-day life?

Metaverse is the next evolution of social connection and 3D spaces created for people to socialize, learn, collaborate and play in ways that go beyond what we can imagine, according to Meta’s webpage.

Phylis West-Johnson, a San Jose State professor and director of SJSU’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications, who is also a virtual and augmented technologies researcher, said metaverse is universal. “[Metaverse] isn’t just one world, there’s multiple virtual worlds out there and they all contribute to a larger metaverse,” WestJohnson said in a Zoom call.

She said technology lends itself to “good and bad consequences” and people may question the metaverse because they fear technology, but the controversy isn’t new.

“Most companies are experimenting with virtual reality. The 2D-version was what Second Life was and then companies including Sansar introduced 3D,” West-Johnson said.

“People use these worlds to supplement their real life.”

Second Life is an immersive digital platform introduced in 2003 where users build worlds, create art and buy and sell digital goods including art pieces, clothing and cars. This isn’t too different from metaverse, according to a Jan. 27 Wired article.

Wired publishes information about how technology is changing aspects of life from culture and business to science and design, according to its webpage.

Yingjie Liu, lead instructional designer of eCampus, said metaverse is virtual and augmented realities combined. eCampus advances the effective use of current technologies to cultivate excellence in teaching and foster student learning at the university, according to SJSU’s eCampus webpage.

“From the learning perspective, you put on goggles and you are immersed in this simulated environment,” Liu said in a Zoom call. “Augmented reality combines the digital

ILLUSTRATION BY BIANCA RADER

and physical worlds, for example Pokémon Go, where you still see your surroundings but

because there are applications using these immersive technologies in education.

“Imagine nursing medical students in a virtual environment where they can conduct safe science labs. Virtual reality creates a safe space and innovative way of learning,” Liu said. “[Art students] can paint in 3D and engineering students can design and print their creation using a 3D printer. History students can tell stories and reveal scenarios in virtuality and put readers into the story scene. It’s an experience for both the creator and the learner.”

She said students can learn more by collaborating in virtual reality spaces rather than Zoom interactions in classes. “[Students] put on their headset or [they] Yingjie Liu eCampus lead instructional designer can join just web based through a computer and interact with others in a more social you see those digital avatars in your world.” friendly [manner],” Liu said. “[Students] Pokémon Go is a free smartphone app that may learn through visualization and this combines gaming with the real world. It uses helps them navigate through their research location tracking and mapping technology to on a topic.” create augmented reality where players catch West-Johnson also shared this sentiment and train Pokémon characters in real locations, and said people join these virtual spaces according to its webpage. because it enhances teaching methods.

Liu said virtual reality can help students “[Metaverse] is a cool way to teach and

[Students] put on their headset or [they] can join just web based through a computer and interact with others in a more social friendly [manner].

engage students; it’s a better version of a Zoom lecture,” West-Johnson said. “People create their avatars and they engage better with others when they see similar avatars.”

Digital Arts junior Sharon Tran, who interned for SuperWorld, said the metaverse seems futuristic and “something you see in movies” but it’s an experience that people should try.

SuperWorld is a virtual world in which users can buy, sell, collect and curate more than 64 billion plots of virtual land, according to its webpage.

Tran said she helped redesign the mobile and web platform of SuperWorld and make user experience better.

“I strongly believe [metaverse] is the future,” Tran said in a Zoom call.

After learning about the metaverse through her internship, she said she realized the importance and benefits of virtual worlds.

“I recommend [people] do their research… [the metaverse is] a gateway [for the future],” Tran said.

Follow Royvi on Twitter @lesroyvs

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 9, 2022

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ANALYSIS

ILLUSTRATION BY BIANCA RADER, INFOGRAPHIC BY SAUMYA MONGA; SOURCE: EVERYTOWN

‘The Fallout’ shows complex grief

By Saumya Monga A&E EDITOR

In my last year of high school, a terrifying nightmare of mine came true: a school shooting threat was written in the men’s bathroom and videos of a student holding a gun circulated on social media.

When I got to school that day, police officers surrounded the campus and teachers locked classroom doors. From outside my African American Literature class, someone was arrested and taken into custody.

We were simply moments away from our lives being altered forever by a teenager with an AR-15.

“The Fallout,” directed by Megan Park, Canadian actress, singer, and debut director, was released on HBO Max on Jan. 27.

The film explores the emotional aftermath of a school shooting.

These tragedies aren’t rare. After I graduated high school, there was a shooting at San Francisco State, the college I attended from 2018 to 2020.

Once again, I remembered the moment of fear I felt during my senior year.

In 2021, there were approximately 199 shootings at high school and college campuses around the United States, according to a study by Everytown, an independent research organization.

Media representation of school shootings has increased in recent years and most teen TV shows have episodes dedicated to such events, including 2003 teen drama “One Tree Hill” and Canadian 2016 teen drama “Degrassi: Next Class.”

Most shows don’t depict the long-lasting trauma students face after a shooting. By the next episode, they’ve moved on to another plot point.

“The Fallout’s” sole focus is how students address grief.

The movie begins with Vada, played by Jenna Ortega, and classmate Mia, played

by Maddie Ziegler, hiding in a bathroom as the sounds of shots ring throughout the school. Later on, Quinton, played by Niles Fitch, joins them after witnessing his own brother die at the hands of the shooter.

Unlike other media portrayals the movie focuses less on the shooting itself and draws attention to the way students cope with the tragedy.

Although some characters are inspired to make a difference, the focus is the grief that is often not depicted in films: silent suffering.

“I think the media wants to

typically being shown on the big screen since impulsivity is already common in young adults and can be exacerbated after a traumatic event.

This includes engaging with drugs and alcohol, Papa said.

“Anything that can give you this feel-good [to numb the pain],” he said.

After the shooting threat at my high school, most of us didn’t talk about what could have happened.

Lock the doors. Stay away from windows. Turn off the lights. Be quiet. Play dead. These instructions were ingrained in us when we began elementary

[the expectation is going to school is not going to] always be an expected place of safety,” Papa said.

This goes beyond just high schools, as 36.6% of school shootings occurred on college campuses between 2013 and 2019 according to a May 9, 2020 Everytown research report.

In November 2021, SJSU faced a shooting threat after someone hacked a Discord account, according to past Spartan Daily reporting.

I, once again, felt afraid.

Our response was more terrifying. Few of my peers were surprised and the

In a generation that has always been one eight-hour school day away from a school shooting, we have normalized the event and the feelings of fear around it.

really read this depiction of these very resilient young adults who are telling the grownups what to do [and] to fight the power [and] I think that’s a narrative that needs to be seen and also balanced by the fact that there are so many students who are also then suffering quietly [and] their stories are not being shared,” said Lesther Papa, San Jose State assistant professor of psychology.

Papa said both reactions to school shootings should be equally represented in the media: those who become activists and those who quietly deal with their grief.

Mia is so terrified that she can’t leave her house and Vada isn’t inspired to do much aside from trying to find a way to escape her grief.

Vada withdraws from everyone and chases any moment of relief from her pain.

She experiments with drugs and gets drunk.

Papa said this kind of response is normal, despite not

school.

After the Columbine school shooting in 1999, there was an increased push for active shooter drills in schools all over the U.S., according to a Dec. 2019 The Trace article.

The Trace is a publication dedicated to reporting on gun violence in the U.S. according to its website.

Although the effectiveness of shooting drills can be argued, the mere practice of preparing for the event instills more fear in students, according to a 2020 report by Everytown.

There is a 39% increase in depression and a 42% increase in anxiety as a result of active shooter drills in schools according to the same research article.

In a generation that has always been one eight-hour school day away from a school shooting, we have normalized the event and the feelings of fear around it.

“There’s going to be then an entire generation where

administration treated it as standard procedure: increase police presence and give professors the option to let students stay home.

When students face even the threat of a shooting together, they cultivate community over their shared fear.

Director Megan Park explored the idea of collective trauma through the bond between Mia and Vada. They become extremely close despite their opposing personalities because of the shared fear they faced.

Collective trauma is the impact a shared traumatic event has on a group of people, according to a May 23, 2020 Psychology Today article.

“This collective shared experience [helps] put them on a level footing in a lot of different ways where [they] both get each other in terms of they have survived the same event at the same time,” Papa said.

Many scenes between Mia and Vada have minimal dialogue.

They’ll be in a sauna together talking about love, or dancing in an empty parking lot.

It’s those moments of silence between them that say the most. The comfort is something that Vada and Mia both need which leads them to share an intimate moment because of unspoken camaraderie.

Papa said their friendship was likely since they shared such a significant traumatic moment with one another.

“They’re literally in the same place together, [so] then there’s a lot of comfort that comes with that,” Papa said. “They don’t have to explain their situation to anyone. They don’t have to really go into detail how it is they feel because the other person was there.”

Towards the end of the film, we see Vada reconcile with her turbulent feelings of anger and sadness as she goes through therapy and learns to lean on her family.

Although she’s having a hard time feeling her emotions, Vada screams “I am scared to go to school every day” and “life’s fucking hard” as we finally see her process the emotions she’d kept bottled inside herself.

It’s a heartbreaking scene because it reflects the sentiments of young adults all over the world who don’t feel safe anywhere anymore.

If it’s not the threat of a school shooting, it’s the threat of a global pandemic.

“The Fallout” is an exceptional film because rather than showing the courageous teens we have become used to seeing, it focuses on the quiet moments of one girl’s grief.

She isn’t trying to change the world, she is simply trying to make sense of what is around her.

In 2022, life is fucking hard but at least we have each other.

Follow Saumya on Twitter @MongaSaumya

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 9, 2022

Mitski navigates love & longing

By Christina Casillas MANAGING EDITOR

Vibrant ’80s synth and dark, vulnerable lyrics about despair and heartbreak beautifully fit Mitski’s mesmerizing and aptly named sixth studio album “Laurel Hell.”

The album’s title is borrowed from an Appalachian term for disorienting laurel thickets that supposedly trap those who get lost in their twisted branches decorated with colorful umbrella-shaped flowers, Mitski said in a Nov. 9, 2021 interview on Apple Music radio program, The Zane Lowe show.

Almost four years after the 2018 release of her critically-acclaimed album “Be the Cowboy,” Mitski’s latest album encapsulates loss and disconnect from one’s self and others.

Mitski, a 31-yearold Japanese-American s i n g e r- s o n g w r i t e r, released her first album in 2012 while she studied at State University of New York Purchase, according to a July 1, 2019 New Yorker article.

The artist grew up with a distorted sense of self as she attended a new school almost yearly because her family traveled often and she constantly assumed a different role at each new institution, according to the same article.

She invites listeners to step “carefully into the dark” of her album with the first track, “Valentine, Texas,” which has an entrancing and heavy synth-countr y vibe as she sings about revealing a hidden side of herself to her sweetheart.

Drums and an energetic beat replace the once dark and heavy synth as it suddenly grows weightless, literally making the listener feel as if they’re ascending

ILLUSTRATION BY JOVANNA OLIVARES

2019 to recuperate and find her connection to her art again after almost losing herself and style from music industry and listener pressure, she said in a Wednesday BBC article.

“I used to think I would tell stories,” Mitski sings, “But nobody cared for the stories I had about / No good guys.”

The gut-wrenching heartbreak of loathing what she once loved is embodied by dark instrumentation, giving a

album review “Laurel Hell” Rating:

to a higher plane of existence “where clouds look like mountains” and dancing ghosts kick up sand clouds.

After the first track fades to silence, Mitski sings of a lost passion in track two, presumably for her love of creating music in “Working for the Knife.”

Mitski stepped away from the music scene in

Artist: Mitski Release Date: Feb. 4, 2022 Genre: [ synth pop ]

feeling of dread. The dirge is cut by brief, hopeful piano notes leading to electrical guitar riffs signaling an eventual emotional resolution.

“Working for the Knife” has almost 20 million Spotify plays, the most of the eleven tracks on “Laurel Hell.”

While not all listeners understand the music industry pressure Mitski

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sang about, the frightful idea of losing drive for something that once brought you life is put into cathartic and eloquent verse.

The third track, “Stay Soft,” breaks the heavy, trance-like instrumentation from “Working for the Knife,” with a distinct, energetic beat and piano riff as Mitski sings of the painful physical and emotional vulnerability that comes with being in a romantic relationship.

Mitski’s smooth voice sounds defeated at points as disjointed energetic synth contrasts powerfully emotional lyrics that leave the listener tearfully head-bobbing as she sings, “You stay soft, get beaten / Only natural to harden up / You stay soft, get eaten / Only natural to harden up.”

“Ever yone” builds upon this sensitive vulnerability, showing the risk of giving and doing too much despite others’ advice and losing more than anticipated.

Mit s k i c aptu re s insomnia sufferers’ hopelessness after laying in bed and staring at a popcorn ceiling for hours in “Heat Lightning.”

Pulsing synth and delicate piano notes play as Mitski’s voice betrays a

EDITORIAL STAFF EXECUTIVE EDITOR MADILYNNE MEDINA MANAGING EDITOR CHRISTINA CASILLAS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AMANI HAMED PRODUCTION EDITOR BRYANNA BARTLETT

The Spartan Daily is written and published by San Jose State students as an expression of their First Amendment rights.

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defeated resignation that’s viscerally relatable and soul-shattering to anyone who has experienced unrequited love.

I’ve had the unfortunate experience of falling for a friend. While I knew he was very much unavailable, my mind couldn’t convince my heart to stop feeling.

I knew deep inside that my love for him wouldn’t be reciprocated, but I couldn’t deny my feelings.

“There’s nothing I can do / Not much I can change / I give it up to you, I surrender,” encapsulated my peaceful submission that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop loving him and my emot ions couldn’t influence him to reciprocate it. ’80s synth-pop opens Laurel Hell’s sixth track “The Only Heartbreaker.”

The upbeat rhythm juxtaposes lyrics about being the problem, or “the only heartbreaker” in a romantic relationship that’s not working.

The same ’80s energy continues with “Love Me More,” as Mitski’s dubious lyrics of needing “something more,” something to help her continue to live, is similar to the feeling of needing love to help break the monotony

of day-to-day life.

Track nine’s cheerful beat doesn’t make the listener oblivious to the sadness in “Should’ve Been Me,” as Mitski sings about regret after not being enough for someone in a relationship.

While tracks eight and 10, “There’s Nothing Left Here for You” and “I Guess” weren’t my favorite songs of the album, they weren’t bad.

The lyrics are amazing, but the songs are more subdued and not that interesting stylistically.

“There’s Nothing Left Here for You” continues with the album’s lyrical depth as a lover moves on and Mitski describes the consequential heartbreak.

The synth is haunting as it gains energy, almost as if one is thinking about what was once beautiful and then snaps back to a slower, sadder present.

“I Guess” builds upon this sadness and disconnection as Mitski encapsulates the

uneasy feeling of being unacquainted with oneself after a relationship’s end in her lyrics, “It’s been you and me since before I was me / Without you, I don’t yet know quite how to live.”

Mitski ends “Laurel Hell” with a return of funky synth-induced head-bobbing beats as she sings of a relationship on the brink of disaster.

The listener is torn apart by the lyrics and put together again by groovy synth waves in “That’s Our Lamp.”

“Laurel Hell” doesn’t leave the listener feeling completely happy or completely heartbroken – similar to life, the album is complex and intricate.

It’s raw, bittersweet and encompasses the beauty and wickedness of the human experience.

Follow Christina on Twitter @christina_casi

Correction On Tuesday, Feb. 8, the Spartan Daily published a story titled “2016 email details misconduct” in which Wiggsy Sivertsen was misidentified.

The Spartan Daily regrets this error.

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