A&E
“Abracadabra” is nothing short of magical
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A&E
New Baskin-Robbins location opens on Camden Avenue
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SJSU drafts plans to expand campus
By Nageena Shinwari STAFF WRITER
On Feb. 5. San José State had a public forum where faculty and students discussed the campus master plan including the effects of construction regarding noise and air quality for the expansion project.
At the beginning of the meeting, the phases of the master plan process were presented, which was initiated in 2020, and was shown by the slides in the presentation.
In the public forum, during the presentation Phase 1 was completed in the summer of 2021 where they had interviewed
SJSU has been looking to expand its main campus downtown and South Campuses of the University to accommodate the increase in demand for housing, academic facilities, recreation, and athletic facilities as well as student support facilities, according to a Jan. 17, California state government attachment.
Corrections
On Thursday, Feb. 6 the Spartan Daily published a story titled, “SJSU celebrates Black History,” in which Dominique Thomas was misquoted. See www.sjsunews.com/spartan_daily for corrected version.
In the same edition, the Spartan Daily published a story titled, “Impact of Moss Landing fire uncertain,” in which Ivano Aiello’s name was misspelled in the highlighted quote.
stakeholders and research, as well as a preliminary background report
Phase 2 was completed in Spring 2022, when the draft vision and direction for campus came in, then followed by Phase 3 which was completed by Jan. 2025 according to the same Feb. 5, presentation.
Phase 3 includes the development of the master plan and preparation of the Draft Environmental Impact Report, according to the same Feb 5, public forum presentation.
The core goal for the expansion is to work on the main and south campus, and through 2040, looking at properties to expand in Santa Clara County, according to the SJSU website.
The plan has been discussed for the past five years in collaboration with the campus and community members, according to the same website.
Ariana Montemayor, a first-year undeclared student at SJSU, said she was not aware of the expansion.
“I had no clue there was a master plan regarding the expansion of SJSU,” Montemayor said. “I think it is a really cool thing that they are expanding SJSU. That means more opportunities are going to occur for the students.”
The main plans from the Environmental Impact Report report are to increase school facilities, housing for students and staff, and facilities in the South Campus according to a Jan. 23 SF Yimby article.
Hawa Aman, a firstyear biological sciences and systems physiology student, said that she didn’t think the physical expansion was necessary.
“In terms of the campus itself I don’t think there is a necessary physical expansion that is needed but due to the great number of admissions of students each year there could be an expansion of classes to prevent too many waitlists,” Aman said.
SJSU is expecting to increase its admissions from 36,000 to 44,000
throughout the renovation, according to a Feb. 3 San José Spotlight article.
The goal is to expand the campus capacity from 7.86 million square feet to 10.55 million, according to the same SF Yimby article.
The Environmental Impact Report included that there will be a process that involves the demolition of 1.06 million square feet of already existing facilities and the construction of 4.75 million square feet of new space.
“There definitely needs to be an expansion of parking spaces because of all the commuters and people who live on campus, there are not enough spots for everyone,” Montemayor said.
In the Feb 5, public forum there had been no discussion about the expansion of parking lots.
The school plans to maintain the existing parking, according to the same SF Yimby article.
“As a commuter to the
school, I did hope there would be more parking spaces because I am constantly depending on it,” Aman said. “I think it is really important for there to be more spaces because SJSU is primarily a commuter school and a ton of students might not be able to make the time to spare to look for parking.”
The master plan is expected to add 2,100 beds for student housing, which brings the total beds up to about 7,270 total and the percentage of students living on campus is expected to grow from 13% to 19%, according to the same Feb. 3 San José Spotlight article.
“I am not sure about what the plan consists (of), but I am curious to see what is going to happen,” Aman said.
SCREENSHOTS & ILLUSTRATION BY CHARITY SPICER | SPARTAN DAILY
Screenshots of the campus master plan map and renderings of new reconstructions taken during the Feb. 5 public meeting to garner feedback from the community.
Lady Gaga gave her fans a look at her upcoming album “Mayhem” with her latest song “Abracadabra” and it is nothing short of magical.
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, most commonly known by her stage name Lady Gaga, released “Abracadabra” on February 3rd, according to a Genius Q&A.
Before the full release of the song, a clip of the music video for “Abracadabra” was shown on the night of the
Grammys, grabbing the attention of myself and I'm sure the 15.4 million people viewing at home, according to Feb. 4 The New York Times articles.
When I saw the music video after seeing countless remakes of the dance on TikTok, I was in awe.
The video shows Gaga standing in a dark room with an eye-catching red leather spiked outfit announcing, “The category is: Dance or Die,” into a microphone setting an intense and almost unsettling tone. An intense, warriorlike feel is heightened when a group of dancers
chant rhythmically while keeping a composed and disciplined aura.
The music that accompanied the video was upbeat and similar to some of her previous works like “Stupid Love” and “Judas,” truly giving it that iconic pop feeling.
Because of the similarity to previous songs, it was already ranked high on my list even before finishing the song.
The repetition of lyrics such as “Abracadabra, amor-oo-na-na / Abracadabra, mortaoo-ga-ga / Abracadabra, abra-oo-na-na" made the song so catchy especially since it was paired with the upbeat electronic tempo.
What I really liked about the song was that although the song itself was upbeat the lyrics told a different tale making the listener pay close attention to the lyrics.
Lyrics such as, “Save me from this empty fight / In the game of life,” add
to the feeling of intensity that paints the scene when they are dancing for their life.
Not only was the music addicting, but the dancers truly mesmerized the viewer with beautiful choreography that allowed it to be a mix of chaos and a natural flow.
In scenes of chaos, the dancers would look to be dancing as individuals all with different moves but then would come together with delicate movements when they were in scenes surrounded and guiding Gaga
Throughout the music video, there were several points in which if it was paused, it would look like a high-action Renaissance painting.
I think this Renaissance feel can be attributed to the dancer's unique outfits with many drapes and not one dancer seeming to wear the same thing. Along with this, the contrast of the dark room and the white wardrobe of
the dancers added to the artistic look.
A scene of a dance battle is easy to assume when the music video pans from seeing the dancers in white dance to different dancers wearing all black dancing with the version of Gaga that was seen in the beginning with the red hat.
This song honestly got me excited to hear the rest of the album and it seems a lot of people also liked the song, resulting in it landing at No. 8 on Spotify's global chart and has climbed higher on the ladder since its release, according to a Monday Variety article.
As of the time of this review, “Abracadabra” sits at No. 5 spot on Spotify’s global chart, according to Spotify
I have already added this song to my “favorites” playlist on Spotify and I am sure that more songs from Gaga’s album will soon be joining.
I hope the catchy
pop sound will follow throughout most of the album with a couple of songs with a different type of beat to bring some uniqueness to the album.
“Mayhem” would mark Gaga’s seventh studio album and is planned to be released on March 7th with a total of 14 tracks, according to a Jan. 27 Billboard article.
The album is said to be chaotic, with different genres symbolizing the chaotic life of Gaga but will end with a mellow and soft beat to symbolize when she has found peace and love in her life, according to the same article.
While audiences wait for the rest of the album to be released this song will be on repeat for myself and many others providing that magical feeling every time.
GRAPHIC BY ANAHI HERRERA VILLANUEVA, PHOTOS FROM FLICKR
Locals get the grand opening scoop
By Nicole DeVries STAFF WRITER
Baskin-Robbins held its grand opening celebration for a new location on Camden Avenue in San José on Saturday. The event was packed with activities, community camaraderie, and of course ice cream.
Attendants of the grand opening were greeted with a live DJ, Baskin-Robbins’ mascot Coney ready with photo ops, and a spin-thewheel game for a chance to win free ice cream.
While the DJ, the wheel, and Coney’s appearance made everyone energized at Camden Park, it promoted more than they could’ve hoped by bringing new people together.
Baskin-Robbins’ grand opening demonstrated the power of community through social media, particularly Facebook featured event ads such as store openings, live artists, special deals, and more. These ads can connect, build anticipation, and promote support for local events.
The store’s interior was decorated and ready for the crowd with balloons and streamers lining the walls. Each scoop of one of their iconic 31 flavors came with a free waffle cone and coupon to commemorate the occasion.
Derick Smith, BaskinRobbins franchise business consultant for this opening spoke about his anticipation for their
new store opening,
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“This is a brand new Baskin Robbins in San José and this is store No. 15…The franchise is local,” Smith said. “(The franchisees) live here in San José they have four other stores in San José. We’re very excited to be in Camden Park with their latest brand new store.”
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Even before the start of the opening, the line was filled with eager customers waiting with friends and family that stretched down across the park.
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The location also hosted a special $1.30 per scoop deal, to continue the celebration. These deals can be found around the Bay
Similarly in 2023 when the Diversified Restaurant Group opened a new Taco Bell Cantina at San José Westfield Oakridge Mall, the first 100 people in line received a free cup and were entered into a raffle for a year of free tacos.
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PHOTOS BY NICOLE DEVRIES | SPARTAN DAILY
Community members celebrate the grand opening of the Camden Baskin-Robbins and line up to try and spin a wheel for the chance of free ice cream.
Spartans escape the Wolf Pack
By Israel Archie SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The San José State women’s basketball team (10-15, 3-9 MW) managed to defend home court on Saturday, defeating Nevada (10-15, 5-7 MW) 72-67.
The game was a hard fought match for the Spartans with 13 ties and 14 lead changes occurring throughout the game.
The Spartans mainly have sophomore guard Sydni Summers to thank as she dropped a career high 21 points with eight coming from the free-throw line and nine of them coming from behind the arc.
“I mean, it’s what I practice,” Summers said. “For my teammates to be able to just hit me in the right spot and give me good passes that helps a lot.”
Summers also gave credit to junior big Finau Tonga and senior forward Djessira Diawara for setting good screens that allowed her to attack the basket and draw the fouls resulting in her perfect free throw shooting.
“With the getting downhill, Finau and Jess (Djessira) set amazing screens so the opposite team just didn’t know what to do,” Summers said.
Tonga, who was also a huge offensive presence in the paint, scored all 12 of
BASEBALL
her points at the basket at an efficient 6 for 9 shooting, giving some of the credit to Summers’s shooting.
“I really think just playing off the double team (and being) able to work that inside outside game is nice,”
Tonga said. “When you have a shooter (Summers) that’s consistent and showing up like that, it’s hard to defend both.”
Although she played well offensively, Tonga did lead the game with seven turnovers and plans to patch that up in the coming games.
“Take care of the ball (and) make quicker decisions,” Tonga said. “I feel like I got stuck thinking too much, which gave them enough time to double (or) triple me.”
Sophomore guard Rylei Waugh also scored doubledigits for the Spartans with 10 points, scoring 8 of those points in the second quarter and shooting perfect from the field in the quarter.
The Spartans outshot and outrebounded the Wolf Pack in all categories, much to SJSU head coach April
Phillips’ delight.
“(I) was very proud of them,” Phillips said. “(We) shot the ball well (and) I thought we shared the ball really well and we just came ready to play.”
and saw their most efficient shooting, at 57% from the field, 75% from downtown while going perfect from the free-throw line.
line
God for that third quarter because it helped us a lot.”
By Hunter Yates SPORTS EDITOR
The San José State baseball team attended a Bay Area college media day hosted by Stanford University.
Some other college baseball programs involved included Santa Clara University, Saint Mary’s College of California, University of California, Berkeley, San Francisco State University and Stanford University.
The meeting was held over Zoom and each team was given 25 minutes for the media to ask each team different questions.
SJSU head coach, Brad Sanfilippo led the meeting for the Spartans with optimism for the upcoming season.
“Despite having 26 new guys to have, these guys (Jeriah Lewis and Jesse Gutierrez) that really have had an impact on our program, both on and off the field (including) in the classroom, in the locker room, in the weight room,” Sanfilippo said. “At least they understand and can show our new guys what it is that’s important here.”
Last season, the Spartans went (24-33, 16-14 MW).
SJSU played in the Mountain West Championship series against Fresno State and fell short by losing both games in the series, according to a Mountain West web page.
“It’s no fun to go out there and get your head
kicked in every week, for your freshmen to learn what it takes to win,”
Sanfilippo said. “So we tried to add as many guys that were hungry for an opportunity in the (transfer) portal.”
Left-handed pitcher Jesse Gutierrez shared how he felt about the 2025 roster and what the season will look like.
“I think they (teammates) showed us what the Spartans are, what we need to do for our team this year,” Gutierrez said. “They paved the way for us.”
SJSU will open its against University of Louisiana at Lafayette in Moore Field at Russo Park, according to an
SJSU shot 41% from the field, 33% from the 3 point line and made 90% of its free throws compared to Nevada’s 39% from the field, 14% from 3 and 82% from the charity stripe, according to SJSU athletics web page.
I thought we needed more depth on the mound and for us that meant more experienced guys like Win Scott.
Brad Sanfilippo SJSU baseball head coach
SJSU athletics web page.
“I thought it was a really good opportunity, having a lot of new guys, to go to a place in which they really care about baseball,” Sanfilippo said. “I’ve
The best quarter came in the third for the Spartans when they scored 23 points
shared the ball d we just came ” 41% from the om e 90% ared to Nevada’s field rom the rding to SJSU page. quarter came in r cored
“That’s been admittedly somewhat of an achilles heel for us sometimes coming out of the half,” Phillips said. “So they were locked in, they were focused and thank
“That’s been an us coming out of the said. So in, w e r e a n d t h a nk
had a good relationship with Coach (Seth) Thibodeaux, (since) my first year we went down and played at Nicholls (State University)... We have a good relationship and we text quite often.”
It will be Sanfilippo’s eighth season as the head coach for San José State baseball, having an all-time record of 133-195, entering the 2025 season, according to an SJSU web page.
Center-outfielder
Jeriah Lewis also talked about his thoughts of the preparation for the season over the summer.
“We’ve been doing a good job of continuing the culture and continuing the
1 p.m. on Saturday.
winning s scheduled on the ro Saturday
SJSU partakes in Bay Area media day
standards for the new guys,” Lewis said. “It was hard at first with transfers and incoming freshmen this fall.”
One important transfer player the Spartans obtained over the off-season is left-handed pitcher
We’ve been doing a good job of continuing the culture and continuing the standards for the new guys
Jeriah Lewis Senior center-outfielder
Win Scott who previously played for North Carolina State, according to an SJSU athletics web page.
“I thought we had key pieces here in which we could continue to be successful,” Sanfilippo said. “I thought we needed more depth on the mound and for us that meant more experienced guys like Win Scott.”
The first home game for the Spartans is scheduled on Friday against Utah Valley at Excite Ballpark in San José.
PHOTOS BY DONOVAN NOCHE | SPARTAN DAILY
Rylei Waugh (9) dribbles and fights off defenders, against Nevada during Saturday's game at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
SCREENSHOT BY HUNTER YATES | SPARTAN DAILY
During the Bay Area collegiate media day center-outfielder Jeriah Lewis (left) SJSU baseball head coach Brad Sanfilippo (center) and Lefthanded pitcher Jesse Gutierrez (right) listen to questions from media members thursday morning with its season beginning this friday.
With the win, the Spartans broke their four game losing streak and look to start a winning streak as they are scheduled to play Wyoming on the road at