Spartan Daily Vol. 160 No. 23

Individual dies by suicide at SJSU

By Rainier de Fort-Menares

An individual died by suicide falling from the North Garage on 10th and San Fernando streets, at around 2:15 p.m. on Monday.

Frank Belcastro, San Jose State UPD Captain, confirmed that the individual took their own life.

The individual “was not a faculty member, staff member or a currently enrolled SJSU student,” wrote Charlie Faas, vice president for administration and finance, in a campuswide email Monday.

“Our common humanity means that we feel this tragedy acutely, and it also serves to remind us of the importance of community and being open to asking for and accepting help,” Faas wrote.

Belcastro said there was no criminal activity or threat to campus following the events.

AlertSJSU notified the campus community that the North Garage was closed for police activity in the afternoon. After the garage was

Title IX forum addresses student, faculty concerns

By Alina Ta STAFF WRITER

The Title IX Office and San Jose State’s Chief of Staff, Lisa Millora, hosted a listening session for students to share what they want to see in SJSU’s new Title IX and Gender Equity Officer on Tuesday and Thursday.

SJSU’s Interim Title IX and Gender Equity Officer, Peter Lim, is helping the university rebuild its Title IX Office since Feb. 21, 2022, according to a May 30, 2022 email by the university’s former Interim President, Steve Perez.

Title IX is a federal law that protects students and employees in educational settings from discrimination based on sex or gender, according to a California Department of Education webpage.

Lim said the Title IX Office’s role is to respond to reports of any form of discrimination that is done based on sex or gender, including sexual assault, sexual harrassment, stalking and more.

“Our goal, of course, is always to foster gender equity across our campus and in all of our education programs or activities,” Lim said.

Lim said as SJSU’s current Title IX Officer, his role has four main functions.

He oversees the university’s response to reports of sex or gender discrimination, ensures investigations are done thoroughly within a reasonable timeframe and raises awareness on issues related to Title IX.

Lim also communicates with external agencies that interact with the Title IX Office.

He said he hopes the school will find a candidate to replace him by the summer.

“I think each individual that applies for the position will have a unique set of attributes that will evaluate and determine whether or not they are a qualified candidate to serve in this role,” Lim said.

Lim said no single individual will be in charge of deciding who will replace him.

He said instead, staff in the Title IX Office and Millora are aiming to include input from the campus community first.

“We want to include as many individuals as possible who have the technical expertise and who know the campus, to be part of the search process,” Lim said.

He said the listening sessions are meant to give the campus community an opportunity to share what they want from the Title IX Office and to share ideas on how it can improve.

“[Students] have a very specific perspective to bring,” Millora said.

The department and SJSU reached a $1.6 million settlement after concluding the university failed for more than a decade to respond adequately to reports of sexual harassment and sexual assault against female student athletes, according to a Sept. 21, 2021 news release

ALESSIO CAVALCA | SPARTAN DAILY

SJPD police cars sit parked in front of the North Garage on the intersection of 10th and San Fernando on Monday afternoon.

INFOGRAPHIC BY VANESSA TRAN SOURCE: SJSU WEBSITE

NEWS EDITOR

DEATH

Continued from page 1

reopened, 10th Street between San Fernando and Santa Clara Streets remained closed to traffic.

Belcastro said students already inside the garage after its closure were free to leave, but some of them were questioned by UPD as potential witnesses.

Associated Students President Nina Chuang said she was in the middle of an Academic Senate meeting when she found out about what happened at the North Garage.

“Something like this, it’s just shocking. Literally, in the senate meeting today, I tried not to cry,” she said.

Chuang said she sends her condolences to the family, people affected and to the commuter students who use the garage.

“I think it’s important for us as a

TITLE IX

Continued from page 1

from the U.S. Department of Justice, DOJ.

In June 2020, the Educational Opportunities Section of the DOJ also investigated allegations to retaliate against SJSU Athletic employees in connection to reports made against the athletic trainer, according to a resolution agreement between the DOJ and SJSU.

During the session, Lizeth Villarreal shared their personal experience with the Title IX Office.

Villarreal said in March 2021, during her freshman year, she had an incident with another student.

She said she reported the incident to the resident advisor, but she never heard anything back and she still doesn’t know why she hasn’t received a response.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t have a great experience with [the TItle IX Office],” Villarreal said.

She said since her first experience with Title IX, she hasn’t gone back to the office to make new reports, even though she has experienced similar incidents.

“We never want anyone to feel ‘Oh, I’ve got to have X, Y and Z before I come [to] the Title IX Office,’ ” Lim said. “We are the subject matter experts and we want to share your experience and allow us to carry that burden for you.”

He also said he doesn’t want students or faculty to feel they can’t reach out to the Title IX Office because of issues on whether or not their matters will fall under the office’s jurisdiction.

community to really band together and support one another during this time,” she said. “My hope is that for any really saddening event like this, that [students] don’t lose hope on their future – they don’t lose hope on who they are as individuals – and to know that our

San Jose State community is trying its best and it’s doing its best to really support them.”

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. Call or text 988 or chat at its website.

SJSU’s Counseling and Psychological Services provides confidential online and limited in-person services relating to stress, depression, anxiety or relationship problems.

“I don’t want there to be limitations on who accesses our services, because individuals need care and support if they feel or suspect that they’re being mistreated,” Lim said.

Millora said the effects of a poorly run Title IX Office can last longer than what most would expect.

“I think [what is] not always obvious to folks is that because the negative impacts of doing Title IX badly can last for years, decades, you know, a lifetime,” she said.

Villarreal said she felt

the forum gave her some clarification and relief after meeting the Title IX Office staff in person.

“It is kind of intimidating,” Villarreal said. “You know, you don’t know if they’re older, if they’re not gonna understand you or not . . . That’s what I wanted clarification on.”

Millora said she agreed with students during the forum. She said she thought all of the input was really valuable and that it is important to educate the campus on what Title IX is and what the

Title IX Office does.

Lim said he agreed with students when they shared ideas about finding new ways to help the Title IX Office become more familiar to the campus community.

He said he thinks it is a brilliant idea to find ways to encourage people to engage with the office’s resources before they need their services.

Millora said it’s important to demonstrate to the campus community that their input matters.

“It’s another way of making

good on our commitment to be open, and sharing information and consulting with our community about matters that are really important,” she said.

Millora said the input they received from students will inform the search committee while the office searches for a new candidate to take the Title IX and Gender Equity Officer position.

Feds open investigation after bank fail

By Alessio Cavalca MANAGING EDITOR

Morew than 10 days after the Silicon Valley Bank collapse on March 10, the United States Department of Justice opened an investigation on the company on Friday, aiming to clarify and establish the causes behind the failure.

The Federal Reserve, the central bank of the U.S., announced that it will review the supervision and the regulations of Silicon Valley Bank, according to a March 13 press release.

“We need to have humility, and conduct a careful and thorough review of how we supervised and regulated this firm, and what we should learn from this experience,” said Michael Barr, the Vice Chair for Supervision who is leading the review, in the press release.

Although the results of the inquiry will be public starting May 1, legal experts say the

ALINA TA | SPARTAN DAILY

SJSU’s Staff of Chief Lisa Millora (left) and Peter Lim (right) SJSU’s Interim Title IX and Gender Equity Officer, responding t o students’s comments on Thursday’s listening session in room 3B at the Student Union.

Follow the Spartan Daily on Twitter @Spartan Daily

Our common humanity means that we feel this tragedy acutely, and it also serves to remind us of the importance of community and being open to asking for and accepting help.

Charlie Faas vice president for administration and finance

Continued from page 2

may focus the attention on the share sales by some of the bank executives a few weeks before the failure, according to a Sunday New York Times article.

Joseph Dworak, adjunct faculty at Lucas College and Graduate School of Business at San Jose State, said since the Great Depression, there have been laws and bills regulating the conditions and rules regarding companies selling its stock to the public.

“What [the regulations] do is they not only regulate what conditions a company can sell its stock to the public at large, but also further regulation about reporting requirements, and what people who are in control position can do, and when they can sell their stock,” Dworak said.

He said the practice, also known as insider trading, is illegal and both on federal and state levels.

Insider trading is the practice of trading on the stock exchange to one’s own advantage by having access to confidential information, according to the Oxford dictionary.

Dworak said it is illegal for executives who own a bank or company to buy or sell their bonds when they know they made a bad business decision.

Greg Becker, Silicon Valley Bank CEO, sold more than $3.5 million in stock weeks before the bank collapse, according to a March 10 Newsweek article.

Dworak said even though a crime may have been committed, the case will still be sent to a U.S. attorney who will evaluate the evidence if a crime actually occurred.

However, the Silicon Valley Bank failure is not the only tumultuous event involving the U.S. banking and financial system.

On March 12, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation seized Signature Bank, another American financial institution presenting similar issues to those affecting Silicon Valley Bank, according to a March 14 New York Times article.

The event also generated consequences for multiple U.S. banks that faced a significant drop of their stocks.

First Republic Bank stock values slid down by 47% right after the Silicon Valley Bank failure precipitated down to nearly 90%, according to a Monday New York Times article.

SJSU economics assistant professor Justin Rietz said the stock market is unpredictable

even if he was expecting some kind of movement after the Silicon Valley Bank collapse.

“You always have to make the assumption that the market knows more than you do,” Rietz said.

He said because these events tend to happen rapidly, it is not easy to predict the following consequences.

“Wednesday [March 8], no one publicly knew anything was wrong with Silicon Valley Bank,” Rietz said. “Suddenly they’re bankrupt and the government is, more or less, bailing them out in a matter of days.”

Although recent share value dropped in the stock market, the U.S. banking system seems to be further from the situations that led to the financial crisis in 2008.

Dworak said there are always ups and downs in the economy, but people have a tendency to

overreact both on the high and the low side.

“This is not the Great Depression, this will come and pass,” Dworak said. “It’s not 2008 with the craziness they did with the bond market. It is not the ‘92 recession.”

SJSU finance assistant professor Matthew Faulkner said he thinks the Silicon Valley Bank collapse is more an isolated incident rather than the starting point of an extended and contagious financial crisis.

“I think overall since 2008, there’s been a lot more guardrails, a lot more stress testing around banks, banks are typically much better capitalized and issue better loans,” Faulkner said.

Webinar discusses police accountability

By Matthew Gonzalez STAFF WRITER

Students for Police

Accountability and People

Acting in Community Together asked the San Jose State public to join them in a webinar on Monday.

Students for Police Accountability is an organization looking to increase authority for San Jose Independent Police Auditor, Shivaun Nurre, according to their Instagram.

People Acting in Community Together is a grassroots organization providing leadership training and experience to community members of different ethnic, religious and socio-economic backgrounds, according to their website.

The IPA’s office is a government agency separate from the San Jose Police Department, which suggests policy changes and addresses officer misconduct, according to their website.

Nurre discussed a number of ways the San Jose community can help the IPA’s office achieve better police accountability.

“The most important function I believe [the IPA] have is to hold officers accountable, and there’s only one way to do that, through the complaint process,” she said.

Nurre said the main issue with the current complaint process is that further investigation falls to SJPD’s Internal Affairs.

The department receives any allegations against officers from the public and looks to show responsiveness to any concerns community members may have.

Ray Montgomery, executive editor of People Acting in Community Together, said the biggest issue with investigations going to SJPD’s Internal Affairs, rather than the IPA, is it disallows the auditor to conduct their own investigation.

“Through this process, the

officer does not lose his job because the D.A. doesn’t have any power over the employment process,” Nurre said. “There may be an injunction, but the individual officer is not going to be losing his job unless the department initiates an investigation.”

The IPA can only look at investigations conducted by SJPD’s Internal Affairs, and checks for a number of variables such as thoroughness, objectivity and fairness.

Should the IPA disagree with SJPD’s Internal Affairs’ decision, they can discuss it with them and potentially reopen the case,

according to the office’s FAQ document.

Nurre said it’s frustrating when SJPD resorts to extraneous measures when handling disturbances.

“A person was naked and outside somebody’s porch and masturbating, and officers put the canine on him and we had real concerns about why they did that,” she said. “In that case, officers were not interviewed, which we thought was so ridiculous.”

Nurre said Moeel Lah Fakhoury LLP, a consulting company, sent an exposition to the city council to create an

send a letter to the editor

Letters to the Editor may be placed in the letters to the editor box in the Spartan Daily office in Dwight Bentel Hall, Room 209 or emailed to spartandaily@gmail.com to the attention of the Spartan Daily Opinion Editor.

Letters to the Editor must contain the author’s name, year and major. Letters become property of the Spartan Daily and may be edited for clarity, grammar, libel and length. Only letters of 300 words or less will be considered for publication.

Published opinions and advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views of the Spartan Daily, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication or SJSU. The Spartan Daily is a public forum.

alternative model for police accountability, but it did not identify a way to involve the community.

Nurre said while involvement on behalf of the community is not outlined, other places, including Oakland, give public volunteers the ability to question officers and review evidence.

She said she has a few concerns regarding civilian involvement in investigations.

“Having a civilian review board, at least in California, entails the question of who’s on the board, and this creates a lot of, frankly, a lot of political fights,” Nurre said.

She said the limited nature of the auditor’s role makes it difficult to go beyond police supervision and recommending policy changes.

“We’re only supposed to be an advocate for the system, and I know this frustrates some of our complainants because they feel that we’re not pressing hard enough for them, and their side and how they view the situation,” Nurre said.

Follow Matthew Gonzalez on Twitter @MattG2001

Crime Blotter

Theft of Personal Property

March 16, 5:00 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Library/ 100 Block of E San Fernando St Active/Suspended

Probation Violation

March 17, 3:25 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Library/ 100 Block of E San Fernando St Cleared by arrest

Occupy Property without Consent

March 16, 10:37 p.m. at Industrial Studies/ 100 Block of S 9th St Still open

Vandalism

March 16, 8:58 p.m. at Student Union, 200 Block of S 9th St Still open

Grand Theft: Stolen Copper Materials

March 14, 2:00 p.m. at North Garage, 0 Block of S 10TH St Still open

Obstruction

March 14, 8 p.m. at 100 Block of E San Fernando St Cleared by arrest

San Jose Independent Police Auditor, Shivaun Nurre discusses potential advancement for her position on Monday evening.

SCREENSHOT BY MATTHEW GONZALEZ | SPARTAN DAILY

Follow the Spartan Daily on Twitter @SpartanDaily

Loss to Radford ends SJSU’s season

By Oscar Frias-Rivera SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The SJSU men’s basketball historical season came to an end Monday after losing to Radford 67-57 in the quarterfinals of the Discount Tire College Basketball Invitational in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Senior guard Omari Moore led the team with 17 points, going 6-14 on field goals, and ended his Spartan career fifth all time in points with 1,312 points. Moore also recorded 429 assists in his career.

Sophomore forward Tibet Görener came off the bench and had 11 points with 3 rebounds in just 22 minutes.

“It was disappointing when you don’t play your best in a big moment and we did not tonight,” said SJSU head coach Tim Miles. “We were not good all night.”

After losing the previous week in the Mountain West Tournament, the Spartans had another opportunity to extend their season, as they were invited to the CBI Tournament.

BASEBALL

SJSU won its first game in the CBI tournament against Southern Indiana on Saturday in a 77-52 blowout. This was the Spartans’ first postseason in school history.

Sophomore point guard Alvaro Cardenas led SJSU with 22 points

in 23 minutes. Moore helped scoring 15 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists to help secure the win.

In SJSU’s second round game, the Spartans led by two points at the half, but Radford bounced back, as they scored 41 points in the second half while San

Jose only scored 29.

SJSU lost the turnover battle 12-6 and were outrebounded 40-35.

The Spartans will finish off the season with a 21-14 overall record, having its best record since 1980 with a 22-9 record. They won the most Mountain

West games ever in school history with a 10-8 record.

“I’m grateful for these guys. They’ve been awesome all season long and they’ve accomplished so much,” Miles said.“We didn’t make history tonight, but we were right there and we put

ourselves up against some of the best teams San Jose has ever had.”

Spartans drop series to Air Force at home

By Enrique Gutierrez-Sevilla STAFF WRITER

The San Jose State baseball team couldn’t get a series victory against Air Force Academy over the weekend at Excite Ballpark, as the Spartans lost two of three games.

SJSU has struggled as of late, losing three of its last four games which all have been at home.

In game one of the series, utility Charles McAdoo got the offense going early, driving in outfielder Jack Colette on a double to left in the first inning.

In the second inning, sophomore third baseman Nathan Cadena hit a solo home run to left field, giving the Spartans an early 2-0 lead.

Starting pitcher Jonathan Clark gave up three earned runs in six innings pitched against the Falcons in game one.

Clark exited the game with a 2-3 deficit and earned a no decision. His record remains 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA on the year.

The Spartans wouldn’t score again until the ninth inning after right fielder Jeriah Lewis drove in McAdoo to tie the game 3-3.

SJSU kept the game tied until pitcher Darren Jansen came into the game and gave up six runs.

The Spartans’ offense was unable to score in the twelfth inning and was defeated 9-3.

Jansen lost his first game of the season with the defeat.

Left-handed pitcher Micky Thompson started game two and pitched six innings while allowing 9 hits and 2 earned runs with 3 strikeouts.

He was hit with a comebacker twice, once in the fourth inning and again in the fifth, which allowed hitters to crowd the bases.

Thompson was able to escape both jams, minimizing the damage.

He said it was a great feeling getting back into the count during those innings.

“I had to get through some self-prescribed adversity, but knowing my defense had my back all game kept my mind right to keep filling up the zone,” Thompson said.

“Definitely a great feeling only letting up two earned runs with how much traffic was on the bases.”

Thompson would earn a no decision this game and his record is 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA through four starts.

“I definitely didn’t have everything going for me,” Thompson said. “It was a rough day around the edges but keeping the fastball heavy and mixing in just enough off speed kept me in a spot to have success.”

The score was 4-1 in favor of Air Force until the bottom of the eighth inning when the Spartans rallied three runs, two of which were scored by wild pitches to tie

the game 4-4.

Right-handed pitcher Keaton Chase came out of the bullpen on the oneyear anniversary since his Tommy John surgery.

He pitched three innings while striking out three batters and earning the win.

“This appearance was the first time I’ve felt in rhythm and had all my pitches working for me,” Chase said. “My curveball was my go-to to put their hitters away and it helped that my command has picked up since I continue to get live reps.”

He said it felt good to have success against a good lineup, especially on the oneyear mark of his surgery.

“My repertoire of pitches is coming along nicely up to this point,” Chase said. “I’ve got the feel back for my curveball and also have added a new cutter grip that has allowed me to be comfortable throwing it at any time.”

Chase has a 1-0 record with a 1.04 ERA in five appearances through 8 ⅔

innings this season.

The Spartans walked off the game in the bottom of the eleventh inning when McAdoo reached on a single and third baseman Dalton Bowling doubled down the left field line to score McAdoo from first.

“It felt pretty good, I didn’t get to play Friday because of illness, so I wanted to get out there as soon as possible just to give my team a chance to win and we came away winning it,” Bowling said.

The Spartans celebrated their 5 - 4 walk-off victory and prepared to play their third game within 30 minutes.

In game three, the offense started the scoring in the first inning when Bowling hit a double down the left field line to score two.

Bowling has a .315 batting average in 54 at-bats through 14 games played this season.

Right-handed pitcher Aaron Eden started the game and pitched 4 ⅔ innings and allowed three earned runs.

Eden did not get much

run support from the offense after he exited the game in the fifth inning to a 3-2 deficit.

Left-handed pitcher

Ethan Ross came out of the pen in the sixth inning and gave up 5 runs in 2 ⅔ innings across seven hits.

The Falcons took advantage of runners in scoring position, something the Spartans couldn’t capitalize on.

SJSU left 11 runners left on base with 11 hits in a game they lost 9 - 5.

Eden earned the loss as his record moved to 1-3 with a 4.98 ERA in five starts.

SJSU Head coach Brad Sanfilippo said he wasn’t thrilled with the outcome of the series against Air Force.

“I mean, we played a 12 inning game on Friday, an 11 inning game game one of the doubleheader and we didn’t play great in game three,” Sanfilippo said. “We’ve got to be a little more detailed than we were today.”

Sanfilippo said they could have won the series

if the team took advantage of scoring with runners in scoring position.

“Obviously, we would have liked to have won the series but our best opportunity was to win that game before the 12th inning on Friday and we didn’t do that,” Sanfilippo said. “If you figure out a way to win when we have those opportunities to win, then you win a series against a good league opponent, but, it didn’t work out that way and hopefully they’re good learning lessons for us to move on.”

The Spartans have a 7-8 overall record and a 4-2 record in Mountain West Conference play.

SJSU is scheduled to face Sacramento State at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SJSU ATHLETICS

Senior guard Omari Moore bumps fists with Radford guard DaQuan Smith before SJSU’s matchup against Radford University on Monday.

ENRIQUE GUTIERREZ-SEVILLA | SPARTAN DAILY

Right-handed pitcher Keaton Chase walks to the dugout during SJSU’s game against Air Force on Saturday afternoon.

Follow Oscarv on Twitter @oscar_frias408

Plushies take over Student Union

around the ballroom for seating, however, the overwhelming amount of people in attendance meant there was limited space.

It’s no surprise they ran out of unstuffed animals after an hour.

Some students grabbed the materials needed for their plushie and left, but

photo [of the Instagram flier] and I just love cows,” Vera said. “And I even came an hour early just to be first in line for the cow.”

Accounting senior Manit Dassani said the Student Union had already hosted Make - A - Plushie while the pandemic guidelines were in place,

during COVID that time, and it was pretty fun that time,” Dassani said.

Comparing his previous experience to Thursday’s event, Dassani said it’s very different to be in a huge space with so many students.

“I didn’t expect [the event] to be in this huge ballroom and I didn’t expect so many people [to attend],” he said.

By Christine Tran STAFF

By attending campus events like Make - A - Plushie, San Jose State students can alleviate some of the tension that usually comes with midterms approaching.

Make - A - Plushie seemed to be one of the more popular events among the student population. Students were lining up for the event before it began at the Student Union Ballroom, with the line stretching to the first floor.

Those who attended the event had the option of choosing an unstuffed plushie cow, duck, giraffe or elephant and were given a bag of cotton stuffing.

Omar Garcia, manager of events and programs for the Student Union, said approximately 451 people registered and attended the event on Thursday.

Tables and chairs were scattered

many were able to snag a table and sit with their friends.

Political science freshman Maria Vera said she expected a big line for Make - A - Plushie, so she rushed from her lab to be able to get first dibs on the cow plushies.

“I really love plushies and I saw there was like a cow plushie in the cover

and he participated in the event through Zoom. He said students picked up their materials in person, but they met remotely on Zoom to make the stuffed animals together.

“I actually did this during COVID, when they actually had it, and [The Student Union] had us pick up the stuff

Social science, preparation for teaching junior Caitlin Miller said the activity of making plushies definitely relieved her stress over midterms.

Miller said it’s nice having something to hug, which is why she uses stuffed animals to cope with stress in general.

“I have a lot of stuffed animals at my place, so [I’m] adding to the collection,” she said.

Miller came with her group of friends and said it wasn’t hard to convince them to attend this event.

“I think they went to the previous one last semester or something,” she said. “They said ‘“Oh yeah, let’s go,’ because they wanted another stuffed animal.” Overall, Miller rated her experience at Make - A - Plushie an 11 out of 10. “I haven’t gone to any events like this before,” she said. “It was nice for a first event.”

A member of the Student Union Inc. hands a giraffe plushie to an SJSU student during Make -A- Plushie event on Thursday at Student Union.

I really love plushies and I saw there was like a cow plushie in the cover photo [of the Instagram flier] and I just love cows. And I even came an hour early just to be first in line for the cow.

Maria Vera Political science freshman

WRITER

Make- A - Plushie encouraged students to make stuffed animals before midterms

SJSU groups put on talent show

1. Students from the Nigerian Student Association dance on stage.

2. Students from the Nigerian Student Association dance on stage.

3. Singer BIGBANKZ performs two songs to an audience of students at SJSUʼs East x West Culture Show at the Student Union Theater.

4. Students from the Nigerian Student Association dance on stage and wave the flag of Nigeria.

5. Students from the Nigerian Student Association dance on stage.

6. Chike C. Nwoffiah, educator, arts administrator and advocate, and a founding board member of the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, speaks to students in the audience about Ethiopia, the only African country that successfully defeated European colonizers, and Nigeria.

7. A alumni sings on stage at SJSUʼs East x West Culture Show.

8. Students from the Nigerian Student Association and the Habesha Student Association Dance Team dance together on stage.

9. Student performers from the Habesha Student Association Dance Team dance on stage.

Students chill at Throwback Thursday

By Brandon Nicolas STAFF WRITER

San Jose State students caught a break from the rain and enjoyed the weather as they gathered at Tower Lawn, relaxing on hammocks and inflatable sofas, eating snacks and participating in arts and crafts, on Thursday.

Throwback Thursday was the final event in the 3rd annual commuter appreciation week coordinated by SJSU Student Involvement.

Hammocks surrounded Tower Lawn as students signed into the event with their SAMMY app near tents that provided snacks and drinks.

Business administration

freshman Andrea Reyes said she was on the way to the library with a friend to study when she heard music and saw students relaxing on Tower Lawn.

“We saw [the event] and was, like, ‘Wait, we should stop there for a little bit,’ ” Reyes said. “So now we are relaxing and not thinking about studying.”

Before settling into a hammock, Reyes said she grabbed Goldfish crackers and made flower origami at the art station.

“I didn’t think I could do it,” Reyes said. “It’s not that hard but it seemed hard in the beginning – it was fun.”

Kinesiology senior Alan Morett was playing Connect Four in the center of Tower Lawn lawn, where students were playing other games including Giant Jenga and Frisbee.

“We just walked out of class and saw little bean bags over here,” Morett said.

Yellow and blue inflatable sofas were scattered across Tower Lawn, where students got

comfortable waiting for their next class.

“I think it’s good because you have a break from classes,” Morett said. “It clears your mind honestly, and you get to relax and chat with your friends.”

Morett said more centers on campus should plan events to help students decompress and relax.

“A lot of students’ mental health, especially during midterms, are really important,” Morett said. “We all have different things going on.”

Japanese language and literature junior Kevin Huynh said he heard about the event from his friends who were playing frisbee.

He said with the rise of mental health issues over the last decade, campus centers should help students now before the problem gets worse.

“[Centers] should cater toward students,” Huynh said. “Do any events, as long as it takes their mind off of work or class work for a bit.”

Biochemistry freshman Anh

Pham said she saw the event flier on Instagram weeks prior.

Pham said she felt her friends have more of a social life than she does because they live on campus while she commutes.

“I feel like this event supports commuters and tells them, ‘You are involved – we care about you,’ ” Pham said.

Public health freshman Frances Pasion said she was very interested in the event being a commuter herself.

“Especially after midterms, I feel like everyone needed this

relaxation,” Pasion said.

After grabbing snacks, drinks and free stickers from the stations, Pham and Pasion enjoyed the cool breeze by running across the grass to inflate a blue sofa to relax.

“I had two exams this week . . . it was really bad,” Pham said. “Just now I sat down and was like, ‘This is so nice – I needed this.’ ”

Follow

BRANDON NICOLAS| SPARTAN DAILY

Members of student involvement set up an arts and crafts station at Throwback Thursday on Thursday at Tower Lawn.

the Spartan Daily on Twitter @spartandaily

COVID-19 is still present in our everyday lives

more of a stance than ever.

Bojana Cvijic ASSOCIATE EDITOR

March 15, 2020 is a day I don’t think many of us will forget.

I still remember the couple months prior, comforting my friends and coworkers, reassuring them that everything’s going to be fine. I was sure it wouldn’t be as serious as it turned out to be because it never happened before.

There’s a first time for everything.

In December 2019, a new virus emerged from Wuhan, China, with the disease spreading quickly throughout the world. That disease became known as the coronavirus.

Attempts to contain the spread failed, and the world quickly realized how contagious the virus actually was.

COVID-19 spreads through droplets and small airborne particles containing the virus, which creates a highly contagious environment for us to exist in along with this disease, according to an article by the World Health Organization.

It was the first time the people in our generation have lived through a pandemic that has affected so much of the world.

A pandemic is an epidemic of a disease spreading through a larger region, specifically multiple continents or worldwide and affecting a significant number of people.

So my reassurances, ended up being totally and completely wrong.

I still think about that time, how no one really saw

it coming, including myself.

I remember celebrating my partner’s job as a teacher a few days before the shelterin-place order, wondering if we even should be at this sushi restaurant to celebrate the fact he didn’t get laid off from work.

Then on March 15, 2020, when California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered bars, restaurants and gyms

All the days during that time blurred, considering the fact that every day really felt the same, trying to survive, trying to cope being inside all the time.

Ironically, it gave me time to focus on things that I wouldn’t be able to focus on prior to the shelter-in-place because of the time I had now that we needed to stay home.

My roommate and I just had our other tenant move in two weeks prior to the shutdown in California. We all got to know each other more because we had to navigate how to pay our rent and live together, while

“laid off” from my retail job until further notice. We would get retroactive pay for the weeks we were scheduled to work, but that was all.

The only thing that kept me afloat was the extension to California’s unemployment benefits from the extra funding from the federal government.

I would get $400 dollars a week, plus $600 on top of it every two weeks.

So from then on, I was being paid more than my retail job ever paid me. It was the first time I had ever seen money like that in my account. I actually had disposable income.

may possibly be lost.

The country was dealing with the virus everyday.

It was so difficult to try to ignore the reality of the situation; thousands of people dying or getting sick daily, reading stories about children who would lose their entire families over the course of a few weeks, and donating to mutual aid funds for people’s funerals or care funds for when they got sick.

It was a horrible scenario knowing that at any minute, this could be my very own reality, worrying about my parents who didn’t live with me, having an

Now in 2023, things don’t really feel any different.

Sometimes, I look back at 2020 with a very nuanced nostalgia.

I do miss the disposable income I had, and the peace and quiet I got from not having to work.

But also, the nostalgia leans into what could happen if our government actually cared about what happened to us, what could happen if protests weren’t so largely suppressed in this country.

It seems like now, more than before, with the government and everything relating to work and income, it is becoming harder to imagine a world with healthcare and a safety net in case disasters like the COVID-19 pandemic happen again.

What would society look like if we didn’t live in one of the most carceral and policed countries in the world?

to close, we realized things were never going to be the same again.

This unease really hit while I was in bed with my partner, on March 19, 2020, reading the news release that was spreading like wildfire on social media telling us the shelter-in-place was starting in Santa Clara County for two weeks.

We almost saw it as a vacation from the grind, work-hard culture, if we weren’t so worried about what was going to come next.

Shelter-in-place, which was supposed to be two weeks, ended up spanning over a seven month ordeal of the entire world completely changing the way we live all of our lives.

making sure we were taking care of each other during the quarantine.

This time also gave me a chance to reconcile with my mental health and realize I was dealing with something much bigger than depression, having a nervous breakdown which led to a suicide attempt my partner had to drive over and comfort me through.

There were so many things in my life culminating at once, the trauma I had surrounding relationships and housing, while also worrying about where my life was going to go after these two weeks. Would it ever go back to normal?

Those two weeks came and went, and more continued to happen. I was

I was able to work on my credit, save money for a car, buy a new bed and do so many other things than I was able to before, because this time I had the help most people got from the government.

One of my roommates was able to get unemployment, but my other roommate wasn’t, because of her undocumented status.

Then the reality of the system we live under really started to kick in.

There were multiple stories of landlords trying to evict people from their homes.

People with undocumented statuses were struggling to survive in a world where their income

immunocompromised mother and a father who is getting older.

I had so many people to worry about while worrying about myself and the community I was a part of.

Not only this, but on May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, sparking protests around the world against police brutality.

It was incredible to watch everyone come together, even in the face of sickness, to protest injustice and inequality in the country.

This is not the first nor last instance of police brutality, and the virus, along with how large and widespread the protests were, showed people taking

What would happen if we continued to take COVID-19 as seriously as we did then?

People don’t really wear masks anymore, lines at Target and grocery stores aren’t a thing anymore and there’s not much social distancing either.

Vaccines have gotten us to a world where we can go back to normal, but I think there’s still so much we can do to mitigate the spread of a virus that stopped our world for a whole year. Follow Bojana Cvijic on Twitter @bojanaacv

GRAPHIC BY JILLIAN DARNELL

But also, the nostalgia leans into what could happen if our government actually cared about what happened to us, what could happen if protests weren’t so largely suppressed in this country.