Spartan Daily Vol. 161 No. 37

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Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Volume 161 No. 37 SERVING SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934

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BRANDON NICOLAS | SPARTAN DAILY

Members of Teamsters Local 2010 march across San José State University’s campus in a strike against the California State University system for unfair labor practices.

Teamsters march on campus

By Brandon Nicolas SENIOR STAFF WRITER

San José State skilled trades workers from Teamsters Local 2010 went on an unfair labor practice strike across campus on Tuesday.

Unit 6 Teamsters Local 2010 represents 1,100 skilled trades workers at the California State University, including plumbers, electricians, elevator mechanics, HVAC technicians and other trade workers, according to its website.

Jason Rabinowitz, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 2010, said he participated in two other CSU strikes in the Bay Area before arriving at SJSU. “Our unions are standing together all across the state,” Rabinowitz said. “There are 22 CSU campuses that Teamsters has shut down . . . we are shutting down the streets, we are shutting down construction sites and we are turning around the trucks.”

Unit 6 is requesting a general salary increase that would ensure workers receive a 7% increase in salary during the 2023-2024 fiscal year, followed by an increase of 5% for the next

two years, according to a bargaining contract proposed

by Teamsters Local 2010 in September.

Teamsters also demanded a step progression that would move an employee’s current salary step to higher salary steps depending on their time of service at a CSU, according to the same source.

A step increase is a periodic increase in an employee’s rate of pay from one step of the grade of a person’s position to the next higher step of that grade, according to the Office of Personnel Management website.

The implementation of a step progression would benefit long-term employees who currently receive no additional benefits than incoming hires, according to the same contract.

Workers began striking early Tuesday morning near the North garage where almost half a hundred workers marched with picket signs across campus.

Teamsters Local 350, which represents workers in the solid waste and recycling industry, as well as California Faculty Association Union members, showed their support by marching with

Teamsters Local 2010.

“Sisters and brothers, we are showing our strength, we are showing our power and we are showing them something the CSU has never seen before,” Rabinowitz said.

“If we look back at the history of the CSU, we have never seen a statewide strike like we have done today.”

because of a bad review.

“That’s the language that we don’t want in the contract,” Flores said.

Flores said students and faculty can expect trade workers not to report to work on campus.

He said this includes not responding to complaints about heating issues in

Our unions are standing together all across the state. There are 22 CSU campuses that Teamsters has shut down . . . .

Jason Rabinowitz

secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 2010

Trade workers marched several times around campus and through Seventh Street picketing and chanting their long-standing demands for improved wages and step increases.

Aaron Flores, a steward of Teamsters Local 2010 at SJSU in Unit 6, a refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic said an employee could be declined a step raise

classrooms or offices, water leaks, deliveries and other skilled trade issues on campus.

“The California State University system is the only state employer that doesn’t give steps to their employees,” Flores said. “The only way you can get moved up in pay is if you put in for an in-range progression, which management has control of denying you.”

He said by offering paperwork that complies with the labor strike goals, any union drivers who stand with or are a part of the Teamsters union do not have to deliver their packages.

Trevor Florez, information technology and equipment specialist, said he has worked at SJSU for five years and is a part of the California State University Employees Union.

The California State University Employees Union is an organization that represents 16,000 CSU support staff covering information technology, healthcare, campus operations and more, according to its website.

Florez said he planned on striking in solidarity with SJSU skilled trades workers hoping that it would build unity and community amongst the workforce while bettering their contracts.

“Hopefully (Teamsters workers) support us and we support them,” Florez said. “I don’t think there’s anything that heavily differs, but I demand more pay from the CSU.” Florez said his projected outcomes from the strike include long-standing

solidarity amongst workers in addition to better benefits for all skilled workers and the CSU staff.

“For us, we’re going to stay out of campus, meaning we will not be supporting the work system here,” he said.

“We’re basically vetoing our work for the day.”

Bob Filice, an HVAC facility control specialist, said he has been working for the CSU for 21 years.

Filice said he is striking to bring attention to the lack of trade workers on campus.

He said retired employees are not being replaced and the lack of tradesmen is making it hard for campus trade workers to do their job.

“We have an extreme skeleton crew trying to take care of these buildings,” Filice said. “It’s like you have too many customers coming into your restaurant, but you’re not hiring any new waitresses and waiters . . . and not putting in more tables.”

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SJ talks cannabis regulation and police misconduct

By Aaliyah Roman STAFF WRITER

San José councilmembers motioned to pass certain updates to the city’s cannabis regulations and police oversight in a meeting at City Hall on Tuesday.

Cannabis Regulations San José has a higher amount of fines relating to cannabis regulations compared to Oakland, Mountain View, Redwood City and other nearby

cities based on a review of the city’s Administrative Citation Schedule of Fines schedules, according to the memorandum.

Councilmembers unanimously motioned to pass updating certain fines, including identification badge display, various registration and operational violations, security and public safety violations and other more egregious violations, according to the same source.

District 5 Councilmember Peter Ortiz said he felt concerned about the

increasing popularity of vape products and smoke shops.

“You can throw a stone in East San José and hit a smoke shop,” Ortiz said. “Then right next to the smoke shop is a liquor store and then a short distance away from that is a fast food joint on any given street in my district.”

Dan Georgiadis said he represents Purple Lotus, a cannabis business in District 3 near Highway 1.

Georgiadis said there are smoke shops in San José that sell hemp and synthetic Te t r a hy d r o c a n n a b i n o l

(THC) products and flavored tobacco.

THC is the main active ingredient marijuana, according to the National Library of Medicine.

Georgiadis said because synthetic products are not tracked, lab tested or taxed, they are likely being illegally sold to people under 21 years old.

He said the Purple Lotus supports anything the city can do to make improvements on the issues of drugs being sold to minors and issues related to out-of-state

licensed cannabis businesses coming into the city without being registered with the Division of Cannabis Regulation (DCR).

DCR is the application process new cannabis businesses register through, according to the San José Police Department.

Wendy Sollazi, the police department's division of cannabis regulation division manager, said they realize some community members may not know where to go for any concerns or questions relating to

cannabis regulations.

Sollazi said the department encourages community members to call 911 if they witness a drug deal that includes illegal substances.

San José Police Sgt. David Woolsey said the success of that call is based on the volume and priority of calls at the moment.

“If there was absolutely nothing going on, absolutely,” Woolsey said. “Officers could be dispatched to that.”

CITY COUNCIL | Page 2

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023

CITY COUNCIL Continued from page 1 Police Misconduct

ANGEL SANTIAGO | SPARTAN DAILY

City councilmembers listen as agenda items are presented during the weekly City Council meeting held in Downtown San José on Tuesday.

He said Moeel, Lah and Fakhoury LLP recommended the city to use a “hybrid model” for investigations into police conduct after analyzing the different models.

A hybrid model entails investigations being completed not only by sworn law enforcement personnel, but also professional civilian investigators who are independent of the police department, according to the same presentation.

“It (the hybrid model) really combined both the best of both worlds where we can rely on (the) training experience of police officers . . . while the inclusion of civilians brought a certain level of independence outside of the normal chain of command,” Wilcox said.

Wilcox said the hybrid model requires the city to hire more staff members to work as Independent Police Auditors.

Councilmember Ortiz said the Independent Police Auditors have experienced ongoing trouble in witness interviews because they don’t have enough staff.

Cofresí-Howe said being able

to attend interviews is one of the strongest tools the city has given them. However, she also said they have only been able to attend around 80% of interviews because of staffing shortages.

She said the overall system functions well, but they just don’t have enough staff.

“To have that additional auditor would really complete our toolbox,” CofresÍ-Howe said.

Katherine Alvarez, San José Police Officers’ Association vice president, said the Independent Police Auditors supports adding additional staff and other changes to assist them.

However, Alvarez also said getting rid of their internal affairs unit will only make matters worse.

“This is a solution in search of a problem and will have a chilling impact on our recruiting,” Alvarez said.

Steve Slack, president of the San José Police Officers’ Association, said the city’s police department is already struggling with recruiting new officers and keeping current ones.

Slack said the current police

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it is not necessarily going in the wrong direction.

Mawakana said it is too soon to make the decision to completely change the office.

“What I see us doing is making long-term decisions based on temporary hurt that the office is going through,” Mawakana said.

District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan said it's important that everyone supports the San José police department and continue encouraging the Independent Police Auditor’s office for their diligent work.

Doan said the police department is doing a great job and should have the trust and integrity they deserve.

“It doesn’t mean that the IPA can’t look at some of these complaints and reports, and dig into it and give it their recommendation,” Doan said. “It’s important that while encouraging the best practice, we give our IPA a clear (expectations).”

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JOKIN’ AROUND Did you hear about the new corduroy pillows?

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1. Issued a command to 5. Had the bug 10. Capital punishment?

14. Novelist Haley 15. Treeless plain 16. Clued-in regarding 17. Tuning fork's output 18. Murk 19. Three cheers 20. Speedy New World bird 23. Impede 24. Oppose 28. Employ scissors 30. Hurried, to Haydn 31. General Arnold's nickname 34. VCR option 36. Native American people 38. "I ___ a Name" (Croce) 39. Award for "Curse of the Starving Class" 40. Sweeney Todd's milieu 45. Erie mule of song 46. Large political campaign contributors 47. Popular hwy.

49. Set one's mind at rest 50. Verdi opera 54. Commuter's alternative 58. Star witnesses?

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SUDOKU PUZZLE Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 1

force is already overworked and introducing the hybrid model would create uncertainties around job security.

“There is no trust for private contractors to take over the important work that's performed by our dedicated internal affairs yet,” Slack said.

District 10 Councilmember Arjun Batra said the current model needs to be improved instead of completely changing it.

Batra said hiring new staff for the Independent Police Auditors is dependent on whether potential hires would be willing to take on a high level of responsibility.

“We’re going to be asking that person to take a leap of faith, that the model (in) which we choose to work under would be the model that person is comfortable with and (they) may not really like to work for us,” Batra said.

Kemit Mawakana, housing department division manager, said he is on the public safety committee and that the Independent Police Auditor’s office has simply been taking the wrong approach and

They're making head lines.

Councilmembers turned the discussion to acknowledging investigations on police misconduct, which was based on a report by the Moeel, Lah and Fakhoury Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).

Moeel, Lah and Fakhoury Limited Liability LLP is a litigation boutique located in San Francisco that represents individuals, businesses and institutions, according to its website.

Assistant city manager Lee Wilcox said the Independent Police Auditors’ (IPA) office oversees investigations relating to police misconduct allegations.

Assistant director of finance Luz Cofresí-Howe said the Independent Police Auditor has unfettered access to just about anything relating to police activity including body-worn camera footage, photographs, police reports and more.

Wilcox said the oversight process is based on the “Internal Affairs” model.

In the Internal Affairs model, the internal affairs department investigates alleged police misconduct alongside the Independent Police Auditor and Office of Employee Relations through sworn law enforcement personnel, according to a presentation by Wilcox and acting Independent Police Auditor Karyn Sinunu-Towery.

An Independent Police Auditor also examines investigations to ensure they are “complete, thorough, objective and fair” and the Office of Employee Relations focuses on violations outside of the normal train of command, according to the same source.

Wilcox also said police misconduct allegations can be further investigated by civilians, outside of the city’s police department. He said this is known as the “civilian oversight model.”

61. Unruffle one's feathers 62. Bema neighbor 63. Brief notice in passing 64. ___ living (support oneself) 65. Sports unit 66. Declare untrue 67. Pertaining to the kidneys 68. Directional suffixes DOWN 1. Quantity of cookies 2. Sunny farewell 3. Stonewashed material 4. Free from an obligation 5. One of the Barbary States 6. "Beauty is jealous, and ___ bears ..." (T. Jefferson) 7. Mekong River land 8. Once it was enough 9. Tenor Plácido 10. Pair of blackjacks?

11. ___ New York minute 12. Last in a series 13. Hyperion's daughter 21. Indoor ball material 22. Weather word 25. Volvo rivals 26. Places in the heart 27. Song accompanied by an

alpenhorn, perhaps 29. High noncoms 30. Happily ever ___ 31. Labor leader who mysteriously disappeared 32. International hold-up man?

33. "Dead ___ Society" 35. "High ___" (Anderson play) 37. Word with blanket or guard 41. Fictional estate 42. Dancer, informally 43. Kind of life 44. Word form for "trillion" 48. Evident since birth 51. ___ your instructions 52. Jewish calendar month 53. Agenda contents 55. Dies follower 56. Laura or Bruce of film 57. Long, narrow shoe size 58. '60s-style fashion 59. "Honest" president 60. Mixologist's staple

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L I D B L I M P M A A M I N E L A N A I O N T O C H E E R O D E I A M B H A M P A G N E T A S T E E L O R E N T H N E E L A M O K E A R D O U B L E W H A MM Y T R A K E A N E R A Y E H A M B E R M U S I C E T A S T O C H A F E H O B F R O M E N A B RA H A M L I N C O L N L O D A L O U D E R I E O N E S T A K E L A N A E E R H O N E R S L E D

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023

3

PLAY REVIEW

VANESSA REAL | SPARTAN DAILY

The cast of "The Addams Family" musical breaks into song as they are eating dinner in a scene from their production presented at the Hammer Theatre Center on Friday.

‘The Addams Family’ comes to SJSU

By Vanessa Real STAFF WRITER

Projected talented vocals, flashing lights, smoke and catchy sing-along songs played by the orchestra filled up the Hammer Theatre Center for a San José State-run production of “The Addams Family” musical on Friday.

“The Addams Family” is a musical written by American playwrights Marshall Brickman and Rick Elic that tells the stories of a father’s worst nightmare, according to the

Hammer Theatre Center’s website.

Wednesday Addams, the daughter of the Addams Family, falls in love with a man her family has never met.

Wednesday confesses this to her father, Gomez Addams, and then begs him to not tell her mother Morticia Addams.

I would best describe the Addams family as a dark and strange dynamic whose family members love each other, but they’re interested in death, darkness and continuing to be strange.

VANESSA REAL | SPARTAN DAILY

Wednesday Addams (right) tortures her brother Pugsley Addams (left), for fun while she tells him about her new boyfriend.

The audience watches Gomez Addams go through a rollercoaster of an adventure while having to keep a secret from his wife for the first time of their relationship.

Once the secret was out that Wednesday has a boyfriend, the Addams family has to dread their biggest fear of all – having to act “normal” for a family dinner with Wednesday’s boyfriend’s parents, Mal and Alice Beineke, and him, Lucas Beineke.

The suspenseful and hilarious storyline is incorporated into each of the many different songs throughout the play. I myself have heard of the Addams family but had no idea what any of their stories were or their family storyline.

While watching, it feels like the play doesn’t go longer than four minutes without another song played by the characters.

Gomez, Wednesday and multiple other main characters each had more than two of their own solo songs.

Music junior Ivan Vielma, who plays the role of Gomez Addams, said there were other songs that held a lot of personal meaning to him, but the song “Not Today” has been his favorite song to sing and perform.

“It is just so fun, with so

much agility that comes with it,” Vielma said. “It was so hard to learn, but I learned it and that’s just one of my favorites to perform now.”

The audience watches as Gomez Addams and the rest of the Addams family react to Wednesday’s love interest and the settings of the stage change along with them.

A giant glowing moon shines through the Addams’ house, tall dark windows float up, grave stones in their front yard, and glowy pink, green and blue sky lights fill up the theater.

Vocal and music director Amy Young is a San José State Alum who said the easiest and fun part about the production of “The Addams Family” is the students and staff that are involved.

“These people are so fun, passionate, upbeat and have the greatest energy,” Young said. “Even though the hours are so long, it’s so fulfilling and I leave in such a better mood than when I came in. I think that’s the mark of a really good process and a really good team.”

She said that everyone on every staff team made the production come together both easily and beautifully through hard work and rehearsals.

Theater arts sophomore Jordan Michelena is the stage

manager of the play and said her job is to coordinate everything from the beginning in the auditions, to every little detail managing every person’s job and role.

Michelena said she was beyond happy with the turnout of opening night.

“Everything about tonight was unbelievable,” Michelena said. “I could not have expected a better outcome.”

She said that for other performances of “The Addams Family” and future San José State plays, she has hope that more students will get involved and either watch more shows, audition for roles or join the production crew.

Other showings for the San José State-run “The Addams Family” can be continued to be watched and enjoyed by everyone from Nov. 15-19, according to the official San José State production’s calendar.

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SPORTS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Spartans go down in Montana

By Nathan Canilao SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The San José State womens basketball team’s first road test ended in a loss Tuesday night as the Spartans were defeated 62-49 to Montana State University.

The game was much closer than the final score appeared as the Spartans (2-2) were down by just 3 points with 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Freshman guard Jyah LoVett led the Spartans with 16 points and 4 assists. Sophomore guard Sabrina Ma added 11 points

SPARTANS

49 BOBCATS

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and 5 rebounds.

The Spartans were without leading scorer Marisa Davis-Jones as she suffered a lower leg injury last game.

“That was a really good test for us on the road,” SJSU head coach April Phillips said in a postgame X video.

“I’m proud of my team for competing. Obviously being down Marisa hurt us a little bit. I’m proud of our squad for competing. I think it’s a really good learning lesson.”

The Spartans had moments in the first half, but couldn’t string together stops to add onto their lead.

The Bobcats (1-2) shot 50% from the field in the second quarter and went into halftime with a 24-23 lead.

Montana State continued its momentum in the second half.

With under 10 seconds left in the third quarter and the game tied, SJSU gave up 5 points in the final seconds of the quarter.

Montana State made a layup with 10 seconds left and forced a turnover on the inbounds pass which led to a shooting foul.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SJSU ATHLETICS

SJSU freshman guard Jyah LoVett shoots the ball in its first road loss of the season against Montana State.

The Bobcats made the for the Spartans, but two first free throw and missed the second, but got the UPCOMING offensive rebound and put back a layup at the buzzer GAME to go into the fourth quarter SJSU @ LMU with a 45-40 lead.

Nov. 19 @ 2 p.m.

The start of the fourth TV: ESPN+ quarter was competitive

costly 3-pointers in the final 2 minutes led to the Bobcats taking the lead down the stretch.

SJSU will continue its road trip at 2 p.m. Sunday when it’s scheduled to face Loyola Marymount University at Gersten

Pavilion in Los Angeles.

The Lions are 0-2 thus far, losing to University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the University of Arizona.

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CANILAO’S COMMENTARY

Brennan’s coaching flipped SJSU’s season

By Nathan Canilao SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Just over a month ago, I wrote a column handing out grades for the San José State football team.

At that point, SJSU was 1-5, coming off an embarrassing road loss to Boise State University in which the Spartans were up by 20 points in the second quarter.

In said column, I gave the SJSU coaching staff a “D.” Partially because the Spartans had just dropped three games in a row where they held a doubledigit lead at some point in those games.

But since then, head coach Brent Brennan and the coaching staff has turned the ship around.

SJSU is on a four-game winning streak, and not only has a shot to go to its third bowl game in four years, but also has a shot at making it to the Mountain West Conference title game for the first time since 2020.

Even after a tough schedule to start the season, injuries to key players and bad losses on the road, the Spartans still remain in the hunt to win the conference.

If this team, after all they went through to start the season, makes it to the Mountain West title game, it will be Brennan’s most impressive season to date.

Yes, even more impressive than winning the Mountain West championship three seasons ago.

The bounce back has been fascinating to watch up to this point.

TITUS WILKINSON | THE SPEAR

SJSU head coach Brent Brennan smiles in the Spartans’ 42-18 victory against Fresno State on Saturday.

The Spartans started the season losing to thenNo. 6 University of Southern California, along with losses to a previously 10th-ranked Oregon State University and a currently 10-1 University of Toledo team.

On top of all that, they lost all-conference receiver Justin Lockhart to start the season because of an undisclosed injury.

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In the first six games of the year, SJSU was outscored 202-168. During the winning streak, SJSU has outscored its opponents 171-63.

A lot of that has to do with the Spartans switching their offense from a spread it out, pass the ball offense to a runheavy, slow paced attack.

Senior running back Kairee Robinson has been SJSU’s best

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player during the win streak.

He won Mountain West Player of the Week for the second time this season after rushing for 200 yards and two touchdowns against Fresno State Saturday.

Defensively, SJSU has grown into one of the better defenses in the conference. Fresno State was thoroughly shut down on Saturday in part because of key plays made in the secondary.

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But just as Brennan got the brunt of the blame for the team’s slow start, he should get the bulk of the credit for the team’s turnaround.

After starting 1-5, he could have easily lost the locker room, and he could have easily thrown this season away.

But he didn’t.

Instead, the Spartans are in the best position they could be in after the slump and could be on their way to postseason glory.

“It’s a tremendous credit to the players,” Brennan said during a Tuesday news conference.

“They have to make that choice to work their tails off every day in practice, they have to make that choice to get in the training room. I think we’re playing better football right now. It is a collective effort and everybody is all in on it.”

A season turnaround like this is the type of turnaround that gets players and coaches paid.

With Brennan’s contract ending at the end of next season, a trip to a bowl game and possibly a conference championship game berth is what could keep Brennan here … or what could make him leave.

But that’s a conversation for another day.

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EDITORIAL POLICY Columns are the opinion of individual writers and not that of the Spartan Daily. Editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Editorial Board, which is made up of student editors.