04-26-2017

weekly PRINT EDITION

wednesDAY, april 26, 2017 – Tuesday, May 2, 2017 volume 103, Issue 32

SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1913

W W W . T H E D A I LYA Z T E C . C O M

Student dress questioned by SDSUPD officers

Will Fritz Senior Staff Writer ____________________________

Bins of food sit at the mobile food pantry at the farmers market. The food pantry will be open two days a week starting fall semester.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GERARDO CABRAL

Mobile food pantry to expand in fall KAYLA Jimenez News Editor JOCELYN MORAN SENIOR Staff Writer ____________________________ After encounter food insecurity at San Diego State, alumnus Rachel Beck, along with the Agape House, created a resolution that would make the current mobile food pantry accessible to more students on campus.

Beck, who graduated in December 2016, said she remembers going to a fellow student’s house and asking if he had any food.

When the student opened his pantry, only Cup Noodles with three different flavors lined his shelves.

“He had the chicken, the beef and the veggie flavors,” Beck said. “He was like ‘this is my

breakfast, lunch and dinner.’

The different flavors gave him a sense of variety.”

She said he made a joke out of it, but it was something she felt awful about because she was going home to vegetables and other necessities.

Resolution to Fight Food Insecurity and Expand Food Pantry Beck and the Agape House turned in a resolution on Feb. 24 to fight food insecurity at SDSU by proposing to make the current mobile food pantry available two days of the week, instead of the one day it is currently.

The resolution passed with a unanimous vote at an Associated Students University Council meeting on April 19.

Beginning in fall 2017, the

mobile food pantry will be available two days a week for four or more hours per day, and starting in fall 2018, the pantry will be open three days a week for the same amount of hours.

It will also expand to include toiletries and sanitary items.

Originally, the resolution proposed the establishment of a permanent food pantry, but Beck said the A.S. Student Support Commission removed the word “permanent” because they thought of its technical definition as “unchanging,” or binding. “(The Student Support Commission) wants the food pantry to change if it needs to be expanded to help more students,” Beck said.

PANTRY continued, P4

A San Diego State student said she and two friends were stopped by university police officers and told their clothing made them susceptible to sexual assault the morning of April 13.

Business administration freshman Anita Wang said she and her friends were walking back to her dorm room in Chapultepec residence hall from a party at around 1 a.m. that Wednesday when they were approached by four SDSU police officers across the street from the university police station on 55th Street.

A pedestrian stop was recorded in front of the station at 12:45 a.m. on April 13 in a police media bulletin, though SDSUPD did not confirm it was the same incident Wang reported. The involved parties were “advised,” according to the bulletin, meaning officers spoke to the involved parties but no arrests were made.

Wang said one of the officers asked one of her friends how much she had to drink before asking all three students for identification.

At that point, she said one of the officers told them it was dangerous for them to be walking around at night, and then asked her how her father would feel if he saw her in the outfit she was wearing.

“That’s so uncalled for,” she said. “I don’t see how you can pretty much just sexualize my body when I’m doing nothing but the right thing.”

She said it was particularly insulting because of a sexual assault that occurred a few hours earlier, on Wednesday, April 12, in which a woman was touched inappropriately while sitting in her parked vehicle on Montezuma Road.

This sexual assault incident was later reported to students in an email two days later.

“She was literally just sitting in her car. She was not intoxicated.

She was probably not wearing anything provocative,” she said.

“She did everything right in their eyes and she was still in that uncomfortable situation. So if someone is going to assault you it’s not because you’re asking for it or anything — it’s because they’re an awful person.”

Twitter user @karly_nolan tweeted a screenshot of a text message regarding the incident the morning of April 13.

SDSUPD’s twitter account responded with two tweets within four hours of @karly_ nolan’s tweet.

“We do not condone this behavior,” one of the tweets read.

“Our goal is to provide superior services while maintaining respect and professionalism.”

The next tweet advised the Twitter user to contact the chief of police to discuss the incident.

SDSUPD continued P3

Aztecs’ road to NFL begins on Draft night Austin Gayle asst. sports editor ____________________________ Four former San Diego State football players are set to start the next chapter of their careers on the league’s biggest stage the 2017 NFL Draft.

The three-day event scheduled for April 27-29 should feature former Aztecs Nico Siragusa (OG), Damontae Kazee (CB), Donnel Pumphrey (RB), and Calvin Munson (LB), as all four players are currently projected to come off the board within the seven rounds of the draft.

Former SDSU offensive tackles Daniel Brunskill and Kwayde Miller and defensive end Alex Barrett are also preparing to take their talents to the next level, but the three are not expected to be selected

in the draft. However, both Brunskill and Barrett are expected to draw significant interest as undrafted free agents.

Headlining the slew of drafteligible Aztecs, Siragusa is considered a lock for Day 2 of the draft, meaning he should hear his name called in either the second or third round on April 28.

The Chula Vista native first came to the Mesa as a threestar recruit out of Mater Dei High School to play offensive tackle. However, he was soon kicked inside to play guard with SDSU and never looked back.

A three-year starter with SDSU, Siragusa is an experienced athletic guard prospect with proven ability as a run blocker. He started in 41 games over the last three

seasons with SDSU, leading to back-to-back first-team AllMountain West honors (201516).

Siragusa paved the way for Pumphrey to help him break the NCAA’s all-time career rushing yards record last season, drawing attention to both him and Pumphrey.

In 54 career games at SDSU, Pumphrey rushed for 6,405 yards and 62 touchdowns and brought in 99 receptions for 1,039 yards and five touchdowns.

At 5-foot-8, 176 pounds, Pumphrey will be limited to a rotational role in an NFL backfield, as he simply doesn’t have the necessary frame to bang in between the tackles on first and second down.

DRAFT continued, P10

Former Aztec running back Donnel Pumphrey breaking a run against San Jose State.

File photo

2 news

April 26 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: Kayla Jimenez • news@thedailyaztec.com

A.S. members resign over mascot jasmine bermudez senior staff writer ____________________________________ Following the Associated Students University Council’s April 19 decision to reject retiring the Aztec mascot, 10 students resigned from their positions in A.S. Since then, two more members, the Student Diversity Commission Chair Rachel Muntz and Representative Natalie Martinez, announced their resignations on Facebook.

Muntz said she took issue with the University Council’s overruling of her commission’s decision to pass the resolution.

“My commission made a unanimous decision to pass it , and when it was brought to University Council, it was treated like what the commission had done was worthless,” she said.

Muntz said she took issue with the way some of the executive officers, including outgoing A.S. President Jamie Miller, handled the issue.

“Jamie (Miller) had talked about respecting the work of the lower commission,” Muntz said. “And our work was completely disrespected.”

She said Executive Vice President Patty Masengale’s decision to consult with athletes didn’t seem right to her.

“I was sick of feeling like the cultural organizations on this campus weren’t being taken seriously,” she said.

Chloe Sension said she resigned

SAN DIEGO

from her position as Board of Directors student-at-large because A.S. does not uphold its value of diversity.

Sension said she also felt the Student Diversity Commission’s voice was not heard.

“A.S. has repeatedly disregarded different communities,” Sension said.

“I no longer want to be affiliated with an organization that is not serving all students and is not advocating and being inclusive of all these different communities.”

Before casting her vote against approving the mascot resolution, Miller said students on both sides of the topic were not being respectful during the meeting.

“I felt like throughout that entire process, whether it was in that meeting space or not, there was a lot of negativity and undercutting of individuals on both sides,” Miller said.

Sension said she was bothered by Miller’s reasoning for voting against the mascot resolution.

“I think that students of color have repeatedly had their tone and approach policed,” she said. “And I don’t think it’s right and I don’t think it was the point of the resolution.”

Sension said it seemed to her as if A.S. leaders were more concerned with the way students were addressing each other than the actual conversation.

A.S. Vice President of University Affairs and President-elect Chimezie Ebiriekwe said he doesn’t think the

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A.S. resignees alongside supporters of the resolution to retire the Aztec mascot courtesty of kevin yabes

members should have resigned as a result of the resolution.

“Quitting and resigning when you don’t get your way isn’t how to effect change,” he said. “Things don’t always go your way but you need to get back up and keep fighting for the cause that you set out for.”

Farris Nabulsi, who resigned from his position as a judicial affairs council justice, said he disagrees with the criticism he has heard about his decision to resign from A.S. “There (are) only two weeks left so we actually didn’t quit, we lasted throughout the whole semester,” he said. “Resigning actually shows that we aren’t doing this for the title, we aren’t doing this to put on our resume, we are doing it to help all the people of color on campus.”

Sension said she supported the food pantry resolution the University Council voted on immediately after the mascot vote.

“After we walked out and resigned some of us did speak with Rachel who is the author of that resolution and

let her know that we were not going to be present to vote on it and she completely understood,” she said.

Sension said she felt like the food pantry resolution would pass and it was more important that she took a symbolic stand in resigning than staying and voting for the food pantry resolution.

The mascot resolution was a 12-14 vote with one abstention. If one more person from University Council had voted to pass the resolution Ebiriekwe would have had to cast a tie breaking vote.

“My vote would have been a no,” Ebiriekwe said. “I see one side who claims that if you are not with them you are against them and frankly I don’t see that as productive. I see it as counterproductive.”

He said people should have been more open to the opinions of their peers.

“Although people have differing opinions than you, it does not mean they are against you and racist,” he said.

Students speak up about trans issues Arianna shier staff writer ____________________________________ The SDSU Pride Center held a panel titled “Trans-sending Barriers,” on Apr. 19 as part of SDSU’s third annual Trans Week of Empowerment.

The panel featured interdisciplinary junior Shane James, multicultural counseling graduate student Aiden Flowers and psychology senior Alex Ramirez as trans student speakers.

The panelists focused on barriers trans students have to overcome to succeed academically, mentally and socially.

“It makes me self-conscious going into office hours to get help,” Ramirez said. “I feel like I have to be better than everyone else since I will already be judged upfront.”

Ramirez said it is hard to focus in class when he has to go the bathroom and there are no appropriate bathrooms available.

The three also discussed the absence of mental health resources for transgender students.

Shane said he does not seek out certain resources because there is a lack

of understanding and support for trans students.

“One of the biggest challenges has been finding support for my mental health and finding providers that are more competent with my intersectionalities,” Flowers said.

The panelists were asked how being a person of color has shaped their trans experience.

“When I’m in black-centered spaces, I feel like my trans identity is threatening because it is not understood in those communities,” James said. “It changes my interactions with people.”

Ramirez said as a Mexican-American, being trans makes him a minority within a minority.

Flowers said the intersectionalities of his identity has caused him to experience social stigma.

“I know what it feels like to be the most hated person in society,” he said.

“Whatever I had to say was disregarded.”

The panelists concluded their discussion with advice for others in the trans community.

“You are not alone,” Flowers said. “You have an entire force behind you made of people who are fighting for you and fighting with you.”

From left : Aiden Flowers, Alex Ramirez and Shane James arianna shier, staff writer

news 3

April 26 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: Kayla Jimenez • news@thedailyaztec.com

Community panel ‘breaks down barriers’ allyson myers staff writer ____________________________________ A student honor society, Scholars Without Borders, hosted a panel discussion regarding President Donald Trump’s immigration and travel-ban executive orders in Templo Mayor on Thursday, April 20.

The discussion, titled “Breaking Down Barriers,” focused on how the executive orders affect students at SDSU, how the university administration is handling it, and what students can do to support undocumented individuals on campus.

The event was hosted by co-president of Scholars Without Borders Asha Alshabazz and membership director Luda Ivette Gonzalez. The panel included Brandon Rivera, an SDSU alumnus with a master’s degree in Communication, Rodrigo Gutierrez, who is a special programs coordinator in the office of Educational Opportunity Programs and Ethnic Affairs, and senior sociology major Aisha Sharif,.

Taylor Trummel, co-president of Scholars Without Borders, asked the panel about the fact SDSU has not declared itself a sanctuary campus.

Gutierrez said although the campus is not a sanctuary, SDSU announced in an email the university police department will not be working with federal immigration enforcement.

“This runs parallel with the city of San Diego,” Gutierrez said. “Kevin Faulconer,

SDSUPD: Officers allegedly victim-blame Continued from P1 “Somebody who was involved with the tweet responded that they would contact us,” SDSUPD Chief of Police Josh Mays said. “They have my phone number, so they know the best way to get a hold of me, but without having all of the information in front of me and talking to everyone there, it’s difficult to comment on a tweet.”

Wang also said the friend who posted the tweet was emailed by SDSU police, though she has not responded.

Sexual assault is a continuing problem at SDSU. University police recorded 27 sexual assaults in 2015 and 11 in 2016, according to SDSUPD statistics.

Four were recorded in 2017 as of April 12, though the victim changed her mind about pressing charges in one case, SDSUPD Lt. Greg Noll said.

However, none of the assaults reported in 2016 took place during the spring semester.

Noll said it is unusual to receive zero reports of sexual assault during an academic semester, and it is difficult to find a reason why this was the case.

He attributed it to chance.

“I would just say it’s one of those cycles,” he said. “We were fortunate that we didn’t have anything for that one period of time.”

Dr. Huma Ahmed-Ghosh, an SDSU women’s studies professor and a former member of the university’s Sexual Violence Task Force, said it did not sound right to her that there were no sexual assaults during an entire semester.

the city’s mayor, said San Diego is not a sanctuary city. However, he also says [he is] not going to be using resources of local law enforcement to work with federal authorities as immigration agents. So it’s kind of like a double-edged sword. I’m not a sanctuary city, but at the same time, I’m not going to follow your rules.”

Rivera said that the university is prevented from releasing immigration status to the federal government by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects student information from being released.

But Rivera also said that while the university administration has promised not to work with federal immigration enforcement, individuals, such as students, can report undocumented students to immigration agencies. He said undocumented students, even those who were protected under the DACA program during the Obama administration, should be careful about sharing their status.

“If I were on a college campus, and I were a DACA student, I would keep that information on a need-to-know basis,” Rivera said. “Even if you call yourself a sanctuary city, or a sanctuary campus… there is nothing safe about that. If you disclose your undocumented status to a classmate, there is no guarantee that information stays here.”

According to the Department of Homeland Security, 43 students who were protected under DACA during the Obama administration were deported during the first two months of the Trump

administration.

Sharif said that while the email from the university helped to reassure students, more is needed to create awareness and dialogue around immigration policies and their affect on students.

“It’s one thing to send out an email and say, listen, we’re not going to give you guys up to ICE, we’re not going to work with federal immigration agencies,” Sharif said. “But what I would like to see out of students more often is that these conversations are happening all the time.

We need more space, more conversation, more dialogue, about these issues that affect our students.”

Gutierrez also spoke about a project he is working on to develop a program for allies of undocumented students.

“We’ve started the groundwork for undocumented AB 540 ally training on the campus,” he said.

AB 540 is a California bill that provides

undocumented students with access to financial resources to attend college.

Gutierrez said later this spring, the EOP is also creating a resource center and hiring an undocumented resource center coordinator for undocumented students.

“This person is going to be focusing on undocumented student issues here on campus, inside the classroom and outside the classroom, and working with them to get a safe space on campus,” Gutierrez said.

Gonzalez ended the discussion by asking how students and staff at SDSU can support undocumented students and others who are affected by the executive orders.

Gutierrez said students and staff can provide emotional support, but can also try to affect political change.

“If you want to start towards making change, it sounds cheesy, but call your representative,” Gutierrez said.

“Just from the probability standards, it is not possible that none occurred,” she said. “My first reaction would be: Why are (students) not reporting it to the police?”

Of the 38 sexual assaults reported to campus police in 2015 and 2016, six were made by university employees or medical professionals who are required by law to inform law enforcement of sexual assaults.

Often, these mandatory reports include little or no identifying information.

Noll also said when it comes to sexual assault, sometimes “people get

careful and it is the girl’s fault,” she said.

Ahmed-Ghosh said it sounded to her as though Noll implied sexual assault victims lead assailants on, and she questioned who the misinterpretation and miscommunication Noll mentioned is referring to.

She said the comments “reek of the kind of victim-blaming we have been seeing forever,” and suggested SDSU police need gender-sensitization training.

“They need levels of training about what is sexual violence, so that such obnoxious

SDSU Chief of Police Josh Mays later attempted to clarify SDSUPD’s stance on sexual violence.

“Sexual assault is a very serious and complex issue that we at the university police department take very seriously,” he said.

Mays said any time a report of a sexual assault occurs, SDSU police do not second guess any individual reporting the crime.

SDSUPD officers are required to attend a 40-hour sexual assault investigators course, and during this training, a large amount of time is spent on the best ways to support victims, he said.

Ahmed-Ghosh said if Noll received this training and still making statements like this, he needs to be removed from any duty related to sexual assault.

“I’m not saying he should lose his job,” she said. “But this is definitely not the area in which he should be employed or allowed to interact because it’s a dangerous zone that he creates.”

Panelists talk President Trump’s executive orders kristian carreon, Staff Photographer

“ and many times, the guy thinks it was ok for this to happen, and the girls after the fact are regretting what happened.”

- Greg Noll, SDSUPD Lieutenant stuck in situations where things are allowed to go to a point where there’s miscommunication or misinterpretation of what they want.”

“And many times, the guy thinks it was OK for this to happen, and the girls after the fact are regretting what happened,” he said. “And as a result of that regret, they think back and think about things that they probably might have done or could have done earlier than allow it to get to a point where this type of crime occurs.”

Wang said given the April 13 incident and the way Noll addressed sexual assault, she is not confident in SDSUPD’s handling of such cases.

“I’m sure (Noll) was trying to say it in a nicer way and it was definitely less blunt and not directed to anyone in particular, but I guess the general mindset is kind of the same,” she said.

Ahmed-Ghosh called Noll’s statement problematic because it excuses men from the crimes they commit against women.

“Basically what the police officer is saying is that the girls still have to be more

comments are not made in public,” she said.

Noll said the penal code is very specific when it comes to sexual assault, but the problem is both parties usually know each other, and the assault took place without any witnesses.

“It becomes one person’s word against another person’s word,” he said. “That’s a really difficult case to prove from an investigative standpoint when you don’t have any other additional witnesses or anything to corroborate statements of fact that both people are displaying differently.”

SDSU Title IX Coordinator Jessica Rentto said Noll’s statement is not the type of language she would use, but she has worked with SDSUPD extensively and has full faith in its ability to handle cases of sexual violence.

“It’s not the language that many of our police officers use,” she said. “We don’t want victim survivors to hear those type of snippets and think they’re not going to be supported if they report. And that’s a risk.”

4 news Pantry: Expansion coming to SDSU Continued from P1

At the University Council meeting, A.S. Executive Vice President Patty Masengale said the needs of students may change after the opening of Trader

April 26 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: Kayla Jimenez • news@thedailyaztec.com

each year. This is the first year the agreement was made to bring some of the donations back to SDSU students.

The university has used 36,040 pounds of the credit it has with the food bank so far Ebirierkwe said.

The used amount reflects the 19 cents per pound the university is charged by the food bank for the delivery and processing of the food, and is deducted from the donated amount. Bread and produce are provided and delivered at no cost.

Since the university only receives donated food from the food bank, there are no additional costs for the food that supplies the mobile food pantry.

Boxes of sorted and categorized food, and 45 bins hand-stocked for the pantry

“ We’re one of the schools that has the most needs, in addition to rising rents and rising tuition.”

- Rachel Beck, SDSU alumnus Joe’s in South Campus Plaza. She said this may increase the number of students who sign up for CalFresh.

Beck said one of the reasons behind creating the resolution was that undocumented students at the university do not qualify for government assistance for food, such as CalFresh.

CalFresh provides monthly food benefits to people with low incomes but is only accessible by U.S. citizens and residents.

The undocumented and international students enrolled at San Diego State this semester cannot apply for government assistance for food.

According to a CSU study released in February 2015, 21 percent of students were food insecure and 11 university campuses had programs for these students through food pantries and additional services. SDSU was not one of the 11 campuses at the time.

“Most CSU campuses do have a food pantry, and we are one of the largest CSUs and the one closest to the border,” Beck said. “We’re one of the schools that has the most needs in addition to rising rents and rising tuitions.”

Associated Students Presidentelect and Vice President of University Affairs Chimezie Ebiriekwe helped start the original mobile food pantry in November 2016.

“Suffering from food insecurity personally my freshman year, I sometimes saw how there was literally not enough resources to pretty much assist me as a student,” he said. “Using those personal experiences drove me to allow students to have this resource.”

Current status of the mobile food pantry A.S. Government Affairs Coordinator Gerardo Cabral said 252 students of the more than 33,000 students at SDSU accessed the campus food pantry on April 20, the most recent food pantry opening at the campus farmers market.

This number compares to the average of 90 students per week who accessed the pantry last semester.

With the additional day the food pantry will be open next fall, A.S. will not have to worry about funds for food.

The mobile food pantry is funded by the money raised through Aztecs Rock Hunger donations.

Associated Students raised a combination of food and money totalling 448,420 pounds of food.

The funds raised from Aztecs Rock Hunger are donated to the organization

are currently stored in a heated Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union storage near the loading dock.

The food is categorized into pasta, spaghetti and sauce, canned soup, dried and instant soup, dried rice and beans, canned meat, pre-made, canned beans, canned corn, green vegetables, canned fruit, peanut butter, snacks and miscellaneous.

There are three bins for each category packaged per week, along with refrigerated fruits and vegetables, and bread.

Produce is stored in Oggi’s Pizza’s refrigerator since there is not a designated space for the food that comes from the food bank each Wednesday afternoon.

The amount of produce picked out

by A.S. Director of Facilities Glen Brandenburg and Assistant Director of Facilities Ron Cortell during Wednesday morning shopping trips at the warehouse is dependent on the amount of space in Oggi’s fridge, Cortell said.

Cortell works with two custodial workers on campus to sort the food by categories and pack it into the bins.

The food continues to increase due to student demand when it is delivered by the Food Bank the day before the weekly farmer’s market.

“This is like a one day operation and works okay for us, but truly two days we’d need more,” he said. “We just started doing the three (sets of 15) bins here recently. And we give three of them away every week.”

He said 95 to 100 percent of the food packed for each week is handed out to students, requiring more trips back and forth from the loading dock to the centrally located food pantry.

“We would have to go do more shopping which means we need more people, and we need more storage,” Cortell said. “I’m not saying we can’t do another day, but we would need shipments to come in bigger and infrastructure would need to be greater.”

Brandenburg said to supplement Beck’s original idea to make the food pantry a permanent campus resource, the only cost to the university would be the salary of a full-time staff member to run it throughout the week.

He said it would cost A.S. $45,000 to $65,000 a year, with 2,080 work hours a year, to pay for a full-time position to create a permanent pantry.

Brandenburg said it would likely be located in an empty room in the Student Union, and there would be no

The A.S. Mobile Food Pantry at the SDSU Farmer’s Market kayla jimenez, news editor

cost to occupy the space.

“There’s not a lot of open rooms, so I don’t know where they would do it,” he said. “But if they found a space, I don’t think they would charge themselves for the room. The position is the primary cost.”

The food pantry is also run by student volunteers. Cabral said about 180 students are trained to assist with the food pantry, 100 of which are SDSU ambassadors. These students help with tabling at the food pantry on Thursdays.

Cortell said while he thinks more students should be involved in the behind-the-scenes work of the food pantry, the cause is great and thinking about the impact it makes for hungry students is what makes it easy for him to continue each week.

“To me, to be honest, that’s what pulls me through,” he said. “It’s a lot of work, but I just think about the impact that it makes and the difference it makes for some of these kids.”

Vice President-elect of University

Affairs Chris Thomas said he thinks the passing of the resolution is an amazing feat because it’s a step in the right direction for SDSU. He said he wants to open the conversation more and wants to sit down with people who are food insecure to find a way to help and move forward.

“It’s a tough place to be,” Thomas said. “And a lot of people, even myself, have felt that ‘I’m just a charity case that needs food,’ and that’s not the way it should be, ever.”

Thomas said he wants to look for a permanent space where the food pantry can be open Monday through Friday next year.

The last day of the mobile food pantry will be May 4, and it will be closed over the summer.

To read more about SDSU students’ experiences with food insecurity, read part two of this story at www. thedailyaztec.com

Michael Leggerie 1996-2017 amal younis contributor ___________________________________ San Diego State student Michael “Mikey” L. Leggerie, died on Sunday, April 9.

Leggerie, 21, was a music composition and mathematics double major. He was born in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, on January 7, 1996. He was brought up by two loving parents, Michael and Judy Leggerie, and a caring brother, Benjamin Leggerie.

A graduate of the Girard Academic Music Program in Philadelphia, Michael Leggerie’s passion was composing and performing music, and he was known for his musical talents and abilities.

He also achieved numerous distinctions in the Boy Scouts of America, won first place in a high school mathematics competition and was a member of the National Honor Society.

Much of his time was spent volunteering for causes and organizations such as ABC 6 Philadelphia, Breast Cancer Awareness, Women in Transition and many others.

SDSU alumnus Shannon Camp, a friend of Michael Leggerie’s, said one of her favorite things about him was his political activism.

“He had all these really poignant opinions and really on-point insights about stuff in the political sphere,” Camp said.

Music composition professor Joseph Waters said Leggerie was a sweet,

Photo courtesy of judy leggerie

sensitive, idealistic young man with a strong moral compass, as well as a talented composer.

Judy Leggerie said because of the circumstances of her son’s death, she encourages any student who feels he or she is alone ”to always remember there is joy in reaching out to others and sharing your story.”

“Because no matter how hard it may be, there is no better gift you can give yourself, than to love yourself,” she said.“I know it’s hard to be away from family and the people that care about you, but we’re always here and only a phone call away.”

Students experiencing a mental health crisis can contact the San Diego Crisis Team 1 (888) 724-7240 or SDSU Counseling & Psychological Services (619) 594-5220.

Who’sWho? Editor In Chief Jacob Sisneros Managing Editor Jamie Ballard News Editor Kayla Jimenez asst. News Editor Adriana Millar Sports Editor Anthony Reclusado

April 26 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: andrew dyer • opinion@thedailyaztec.com

opinion 5

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Study abroad requirement unjust CASSIDY MCCOMBS staff columnist ____________________________________ Studying abroad is the new black. What used to be a program required for international majors has now become a stereotypical experience for most college students. While most students seem to capitalize on the opportunity to spend a semester abroad, the financial barrier also puts a significant number of students at a loss for options.

As of 2017, there are 31 majors at SDSU that require students to study abroad, according to the Office of International Programs.

Study abroad programs used to be offered in specific cities that fulfilled all requirements for the students who had to travel for their major.

Now SDSU offers seven different study abroad programs in 50 countries, which can last anywhere from a week up to a full year and vary from internships, to traditional programs.

In a 2016 report by Open Doors, SDSU is ranked number nine of the top 25 institutions awarding credit for studying abroad. In 2014-15, there were 2,422 SDSU students who studied abroad. To put this in perspective, in 2014 there were 25,230 full-time enrollments, according to SDSU’s Analytic Studies and Institutional Research. This number includes all

undergraduates — about 10,000 of whom were sophomores and juniors.

This makes the 2,422 students who studied abroad about 25 percent of the sophomore and junior classes — the usual two academic levels of students who participate in study abroad.

While SDSU is recognized nationally for its study abroad opportunities, much of what is highlighted are the romantics of the programs. As previously stated, some of SDSU’s study abroad programs last only a

compromises that must be made when getting a degree that are masked by the tuition hikes and general stress of the work load. Students now have families, careers and expectations that compromise their free-time and flexibility during a semester.

Some students even commute from Tijuana to campus every day. It seems counterintuitive to require some of these students to meet a study abroad requirement. There are other ways to achieve cultural diversity that do not involve hasty attempts to accommodate all students needing to study in another country. Especially since making study abroad mandatory does not make the experience affordable.

Studying abroad is an opportunity that most students would not have otherwise. It is a beneficial experience SDSU offers that is irreplaceable and educating. But it is also not feasible for some students.

What seems like a golden opportunity is more of another hurdle to jump across in the race of trying to receive a higher education.

It should be a minimal requirement that is easy to opt out of through other internships and work experiences — not something to cheat on through week-long rushed travels. Besides, doesn’t that ruin the whole idealism of studying abroad?

“ If a student cannot afford the time, money or

lifestyle of a study abroad experience, why must the requirement exist?” week while some last a year. One program SDSU offers is a study abroad in Tijuana where students can choose to commute to their program every day, which hypothetically accommodates those who cannot afford to study abroad otherwise. But this seems illogical. If a student cannot afford the time, money or lifestyle of a study abroad experience, why must the requirement exist?

Transfer students, campus commuters and a variety of SDSU students have a life beyond their undergraduate degree. There are

6 opinion

April 26 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: Andrew Dyer • opinion@thedailyaztec.com

Social media ‘stars’ dim the issues Millenials concerned with irrelevant topics due to popular social media users’ distractions.

Talia raoufpur staff columnist ____________________________________ Social media appears to be the driving force behind the flow of communication in present day.

Rewards of this ever-present lifestyle tool are fame and fortune — two entities many desire. It looks as though the more vulgar, unrealistic and plastic a person appears on their feed, the more likely they are to gain fame and fortune.

The most infamous example may be the Kardashian empire. A mediocre sex tape evolved into a brand that consumers cannot seem to escape from. The Kardashians are not the only ones who achieved this power.

Danielle Bregoli, famously known as the “Cash Me Outside Girl,” unintentionally became an internet sensation after uttering a single sentence while appearing on the Dr. Phil show on October 2016. This made the infamous catchphrase “Cash me outside, how bow dat” circulate.

Bregoli appeared on the show for her history of stealing credit cards and cars, as well as for her abusive relationship with her mother at the age of 13.

By consuming these images, young fans are advocating for these obscene lifestyles. According to a Pew Research study released in January 2017, 90 percent of 18 to 29 year olds in the United States use social media and almost 60 percent use Instagram, while over 80 percent use Facebook.

Pop culture celebrities who are aware of their popularity on social

media are monetizing Hollywood’s toxic culture while their young followers are perpetuating the cycle.

Every “like” prolongs the sequence.

Celebrities have become billboards — with staged, over-edited photos featured on millions of smartphones, many of which belong to adolescents.

Social media users force-feed themselves these messages.

These famous individuals are not role models. Let’s classify them for what they are — talentless, selfabsorbed fools who are out of touch with reality and seek fame for the wrong reasons.

Anyone with a smartphone can claim this power by generating their own brand. If this is the case, why are women such as Malala Yousafzai not awarded the same amount of awareness?

The world was introduced to Yousafzai after a failed murder attempt by the Taliban. Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for female education. Her peaceful platform might not have gained attention had she not been threatened.

On the other hand, infamous stars are gaining more and more attention.

Rather than being locked behind bars for her criminal behavior, Bregoli was featured in a Kodak Black music video, released a clothing line featuring her signature phrase, amassed over nine million Instagram followers, received tens of thousands of dollars for her appearances and has offered to star in her own reality show. According to TMZ, her reality show is set to air soon although she was recently cited for possession of

Letter: May day walkout supports many causes ____________________________________ For many decades May Day was celebrated as International Workers’ Day in most countries around the world except for the country of its birth, the United States. 2006 suddenly put the holiday back on the map in the U.S. in a big way, as more than 1.5 million people marched in the streets against a Congressional bill attacking migrant rights. The action was a success, as the bill was defeated in a strike by some of the most vulnerable workers in the country. Many who walked out of work or school remember the day vividly as one of power and pride.

As May Day approaches next Monday, we students, workers and migrants find ourselves again in a confrontation.

The richest one percent dominate our new Gilded Age as they did when May Day began in the 19th Century. A

wildly unpopular president is leading attacks on our undocumented and Muslim sisters and brothers.

Can we call this “The People’s University” with a straight face when our university is paying workers less than the San Diego minimum wage and wants students to pay an extra $270 per year starting in the fall? Join us as we follow in the footsteps of the students, workers and migrants in May Days’ past by walking out at 12:15pm this Monday, May 1, advocating behind these three demands: Sanctuary on Campus, Campus Living Wage, and No Tuition Hike! We will rally in front of Hepner Hall, and buses will be provided to continue to the downtown Federal Building to join students and workers from around the county. Together, we can make this a May Day for the history books!

Bo Elder

marijuana. Bregoli is set to become a millionaire by the end of the year — How bow dat?

Marketing sophomore Andrew Kaitcer, shares Curiel’s view. He recognizes a power imbalance between social media stars and the greater population.

“When we see someone nutty or unconventional, we find it entertaining and therefore do not consider the implications of our normalization of this kind of behavior,” he said. “If the behavior is not destructive, not harming anyone, then it is acceptable.”

Growing up, Kaitcer’s role models were athletes. He said that even though they were not perfect, they strived to create a positive impact on the public — unlike these reality stars.

Public relations sophomore Alexis Henry views the issue differently.

She says these stars are useful to companies.

“Brands are closely following their tactics to increase their consumer basis,” she said.

She said she understands it does not always guarantee success — take Pepsi’s recent commercial featuring Kendall Jenner. Henry views Kim Kardashian’s claim to fame different from most. She said Kim Kardashian built an empire on her own after being sexually exploited and has managed to remain relevant.

Accounting freshman Simone Leibowitz said she does not find these individuals harmful to society and believes the worship stems from millennials’ wish to feel special.

Because these ordinary people become famous, they are easier to connect with

as opposed to actors.

“Our generation believes they have the potential to become famous for doing nothing,” she said.

While these people appear entertaining, they inherently promote unhealthy and unrealistic lifestyles.

The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Inc. published a report January 2017 stating that 56 percent of plastic surgeons report the number of patients under age 30 who opt for cosmetic surgery or injectables rose dramatically in 2016, largely due to social media. 99 percent of AAFPRS members agreed that celebrity influence is largely to blame for the rise.

These people may be considered as guilty pleasures. However, millennials are guilty for stuffing money into the hands of those who do not deserve it. The Kardashians have been known to promote a body-positive image yet continue to go under the knife.

If Kim Kardashian truly loved her natural body, why is she in a rush to lose weight following the birth of her children?

Hollywood’s hypocrisy is only growing. Are these the kind of people millennials wish to be remembered by? They have the power to bring attention to issues and influencers who matter, individuals who are changing the world for the better. People who can influence this generation’s lives positively rather than profiting off them. With the touch of a finger, social media enables its users to have the capability to welcome the messages that matter to society — ideas that enhance people’s lives.

April 26 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: ANDREA LOPEZ-VILLAFAÑA • MUNDOazteca@thedailyaztec.com

Mundo Azteca 7

Ventajas de tomar clases online monserrat torres escritora ____________________________________

online son convenientes tanto para el instructor como para el estudiante.

“He tenido alumnos de Japón, Arabia Saudita, Vietnam, Italia y Argentina”, dijo Dodge. “Esto quiere decir que podemos servir a más estudiantes”.

Dodge dijo las clases online también permite traer profesores que no son de San Diego para que los estudiantes puedan aprender de profesores que no son de SDSU.

Cursar materias online ayuda a que la cursada se ajuste a las necesidades de cada estudiante, pero para muchos, implica poder aprender desde la comodidad de sus casas.

Uno de cada cuatro estudiantes cursa por lo menos una materia a distancia, según informó el Seguimiento de Clases online en sincronía Educación en Línea en educación superior en 2015.

Dodge dijo que lo que más ayuda Las universidades y colegios permiten de una clase online es cuando son que la educación superior sea más en sincronía. Esto quiere decir que flexible y accesible con las materias el estudiante y profesor se conectan online. En algunos casos, son solo en línea a una hora específica para algunas materias, pero en otros, hasta se interactuar como si estuvieran en clase. pueden completar carreras.

“Todas mis clases que tengo son en Esto no quiere decir que el método sincronía”, dijo Dodge. “Nos reunimos a tradicional donde el estudiante se la misma hora, ellos interactúan, hacen presenta en un salón de clases a escuchar a su profesor ha dejado de tener demanda, - Bernard Dodge, sino que Profesor de diseño de aprendizaje y tecnología más bien, las clases preguntas, hacemos actividades que no online son cada vez más populares. solo les permiten escucharme pero que Para Bernard J. Dodge, profesor de me permiten desarrollar un problema y diseño de aprendizaje y tecnología de discutirlo”.

San Diego State University, dijo las clases

“ HE TENIDO ALUMNOS DE JAPÓN, ARABOA, SAUDITA,

VIETNAM, ITALIA Y ARGENTINA”,

¿Quieres obtener experiencia como redactor?

Las clases online permiten a los estudiantes organizar su tiempo de modo más eficiente. kelly smiley, editora de fotos

Dodge dijo las clases asíncronas, donde el alumno maneja su tiempo y donde todo el material está grabado, retrasa el aprendizaje porque el maestro se convierte en una forma de libro, sin interacción o vida.

Beneficios de las clases online Profesor de comunicación en SDSU, Michael J. McHan, dijo que las clases online le permite trabajar de forma remota, le da más libertad de organizar su tiempo y le deja tener más tiempo para construir una plataforma de conocimiento que le tomaría más tiempo si fuera diseñada para una clase presencial.

McHan dijo que considera que la ventaja de las clases online para los estudiantes es la conveniencia de poder acomodar sus horarios de trabajo, poder asistir los compromisos familiares y la oportunidad de trabajar a su propio ritmo.

La universidad donde muchos estudiantes empiezan a trabajar por primera vez implica que encontrar un balance entre estudiar y trabajar puede llegar a ser más fácil con clases que no son presenciales.

El futuro de las clases en línea A pesar de las ventajas de las clases online, McHan dijo que cree en este

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momento, la mejor forma de aprender es con las clases presenciales. Esto no es porque las clases online sean malas, sino porque considera que aún siguen siendo recientes y los profesores aún están aprendiendo cuál es la mejor forma de impartir las clases.

“A medida que vayamos progresando y las herramientas online sean más prevalentes, veremos cuán eficaz es enseñar online”, dijo McHan. Una vez que los profesores encuentren la mejor forma de impartir estas clases, McHan dijo que considera que podrían llegar a ser el futuro de la educación ya que no siempre hay suficiente espacio en las clases presenciales.

“La matrícula continúa creciendo y las aulas solo pueden acomodar a un cierto número de alumnos, mientras que las clases online acomodan a muchos más”, dijo McHan. “Puedes hacer mucho más con muchos menos recursos online”.

Experiencia positiva de alumna Estudiante de justicia criminal Breanna Aispuro dijo que las clases presenciales todavía son más efectivas porque aprende más.

Sin embargo, Aispuro dijo que considera que las clases online son más fáciles.

“Puedo hacer el trabajo cuando sea más conveniente para mi”, dijo Aispuro.

“Las clases que curso online, por lo general, son créditos generales”.

8 Mundo Azteca

April 25 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: ANDREA LOPEZ-VILLAFAÑA • MUNDOazteca@thedailyaztec.com

Se celebra 47 años de Chicano Park concepcion guzman escritora ____________________________________ El 22 de abril, se celebró el 47 aniversario del histórico Chicano Park. El parque, el cual es adornado por muchos murales revolucionarios hechos por artistas locales, está ubicado en la comunidad de Barrio Logan justo bajo el puente Coronado.

Un día como este en 1970, se conmemora por la comunidad cual tomó poder de esa tierra.

El evento comenzó a las diez de la mañana con una larga lista de artistas, músicos y organizadores.

Este año, en especial se le trajo homenaje a “Ramón” Chunky Sánchez, músico y líder del Chicanismo. Mejor conocido como “El Corazón del Pueblo”, Chunky fue una gran pérdida para la comunidad.

El evento tuvo dos escenarios, uno en el kiosco y otro dedicado para la música. Algunos de esos artistas fueron: Ballet Folklórico Yaqui, Nanahuatzin, Danza Azteca/ Calpulli Mexican, Mariachi, Mujeres en Resistencia y Chinelos de Morelos.

Las calles de Chicano Park también fueron adornados por lowriders y automóviles clásicos gracias al grupo de colectores “Amigos Cars Club”.

Este día de celebración fue completamente gratuito y familiar.

Mucha gente se vistieron en trajes

Personas de todas edades participaron en la celebración del aniversario de Chicano Park.

Andrea lopez-villafaña, editora de mundo azteca

típicos mexicanos o estilo pachuco.

Todo el parque estaba lleno de familias, muchas quienes trajeron sus propias sillas y carpas de acampar. Al igual, las personas que asistieron esta celebración fueron muy diversas.

Simplemente, no fue un evento de Chicanos, pero también anglosajones, asiáticos, africanos, de todas razas y colores “Está genial el ambiente”, dijo Luke McFarland, estudiante de UC San

Diego. “Me encantan las tiendas de artesanía”.

McFarland dijo que le gusta venir por la artesanía única que solamente encuentra en Chicano Park.

“La comida, los tacos de carne asada son los mejores”, dijo Juan Aguilar.

Aparte de la música, Chicano Park tiene una gran selección de artesanía y comida. Mucha de la artesanía son hechas por artistas Chicanos de la comunidad. Muchas

de las representaciones artísticas eran homenajes a líderes revolucionarios como Emiliano Zapata, Che Guevara, y a la famosa pintora Frida Kahlo.

“Es bueno comprar localmente, apoyar al arte del barrio”, dijo Yadira Roman.

Chicano Park, el cual se convirtió en un lugar histórico nacional en enero de este año, tiene mucho que ofrecer como el arte, la cultura y la comunidad.

sports 9

April 26 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: Anthony REclusado • sports@thedailyaztec.com

Kent running for more than records Christina corona contributor ____________________________________ In the era of one-and-done, the term student-athlete is becoming more scrutinized, however for one Aztec, the term is literal.

San Diego State track and field’s Christine Kent, who also ran for the cross-country team last semester, is a graduate student working on her master’s degree in nutritional science.

Kent arrived to the Mesa as a graduate from the University of South Carolina as Magna Cum Laude with a degree in nursing and for all eight semesters as a Gamecock she was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

As a part of the cross-country team, she was the first Aztec finisher in five of their seven races and the university’s record holder in the 6K. Kent’s most recent success on the track was a top-10 finish in the 5,000-meter race at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 13.

Her time of 16:55.51 was the eighthfastest in program history and her personal best.

While competing against others is the primary goal of a track and field athlete, the race against oneself for personal records also plays a role.

“I’ll sometimes go into a race and think wow, this competition is amazing,” Kent said. “These are some

of the top girls in the nation, I’ll be happy to be last. There is no losing when you excel your personal record.

But breaking records, school or personal, doesn’t come alone.

Sometimes its takes a team even in an individual sport.

“Winding down to the last few seconds, the pressure is present when crossing the finish line,” Kent said.

“Having a cheering squad or coach that has been training you - that knows your capability - hearing all of their encouragement pushes you even more.”

While Kent’s life has revolved around academics and running for years, her story on the track began on the pitch.

To train for soccer, she started to run and the passion for the sport crept in.

“You feel free when you’re in that time frame, that is why I crave the races,” Kent said. “You feel free in this power moment and get to be competitive. Your body is entirely the sport. You’re not relying on anyone else and what comes out of it is so beautiful.”

After placing in the top-10 in the 5,000-meter race, Kent has set her aim on higher rankings and loftier goals.

“It was my first 5K and I feel honored to be here to do that,” she said. “I’m a fifth year graduate senior. Overall, it’s proving what I’m capable of and I can’t wait to show what else I can do.”

As her achievements atop the Mesa began to rack up, her teammates

Graduate senior Christine Kent running in the San Diego Collegiate Classic on March 11.

Courtesy of SDSU Media athletics

and coaches began to notice her competiveness.

Track and field head coach Shelia Burrell said Kent is always looking to better herself and is mature enough to know what she wants.

The maturity helped Kent with the

return to Southern California from South Carolina. It was a long process, which consisted of back-and-forth emails between the coaches along with transferring her to a junior college, which led her into the graduate program at SDSU.

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10

Sports

April 26 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: Anthony reclusado • sports@thedailyaztec.com

Aztecs fail to podium in MW tourney Joe Faria staff writer ____________________________________ After three long days of competition on the greens, San Diego State men’s golf came in fourth with a combined score of 15-under par at the 2017 Mountain West Championships in Tucson, Arizona. Senior Gunn Yang was the top individual Aztec performer, as he finished in a three-way tie for third (-7).

SDSU came in ranked 36th nationally according to Golfstat and was the No. 2 seed in the tournament. UNLV, ranked 18th nationally, was the No. 1 seed.

The Aztecs were looking to claim their fourth conference title in school history.

In the 18-year existence of the MW, their three victories came in 2011, 2012 and 2015. They have also placed second seven times, fourth on four occasions, fifth twice and seventh once.

The men on the Mesa started day one paired with UNLV playing on the 54-hole Catalina Course at the OMNI Tucson National Golf Club.

The Aztecs finished in a tie for first (-9) with Boise State and had four of their five starters finish the day in the top-10. Yang led the way by placing fourth and shooting a 3-under par. He also recorded his first tournament holein-one of his collegiate career on the fourth hole.

“Coach told me to aim right of the hole, but I decided to shoot a little more

Draft: Aztecs wait to hear name on Day 2 & 3 Continued from P1 As such, he must prove he can add a spark to an NFL offense with limited touches on offense and as a returner.

Pumphrey drew significant interest at SDSU’s pro day from Jets special teams coach Brant Boyer and running backs coach Stump Mitchell, as both were eager to see him field punts from former Aztec

left and cut into it,” Yang said. “That’s my go-to shot. It was an incredible feeling to sink that early into the tournament.”

Head coach Ryan Donovan praised the senior’s work, saying “it was a great weekend for him” and “he put us in contention.” Yang also holed six birdies through 17 holes on the final day.

Senior Nahum Mendoza III, junior PJ Samiere and redshirt freshman Trevor Norby weren’t far behind as they all tied for eighth (-2).

Day two saw the Scarlet and Black drop to fourth (-9) in the team standings, which put them behind firstplace Colorado State (-13) and tied-forsecond Boise State and UNLV (-11).

Yang still carried the team in fifth place with a combined score of 4-under.

Norby and teammate junior Blake Abercrombie were the next best in 15th (-1). Both Samiere and Mendoza slipped into 21st (E) and 41st (+5), respectively.

“The second round really set us back,” Donovan said. “We didn’t hit the shots we really needed to sink. It allowed some of those schools to surpass us.”

On the third day, despite SDSU improving its score by six strokes, it couldn’t surpass the three teams in front on the leaderboard. UNLV took its second consecutive MW Championship with a score of 18-under while Colorado State was the runner up (-17) and Boise State finished in third (-16).

The Aztecs led by as many as two

strokes on the leaderboard during the day as they were able to sink multiple birdies on the back nine holes. However, they were outlasted by the Rebels, who led the tournament in birdie shots.

“There were only a couple swings that made the difference,” Donovan said. “We were right there. But luckily we can take a lot of positives from this weekend.”

Yang finished the weekend off by logging his lowest three-round total of the season at 7-under. He tied Ryan Wallen of Wyoming University and Andre Garcia of University of New

punter Tanner Blain.

Because he fielded just five kick returns and zero punt returns on the Mesa, Pumphrey will need to learn to contribute as a returner on the fly in the NFL. His dynamic skill set and pass-catching ability, however, should keep him from falling outside of the fifth round on Day 3 of the draft.

Similarly to Pumphrey, Kazee is also expected to come off the board on Day 3 of the draft in either the fourth or fifth round.

Kazee flew up draft boards with an outstanding showing during Senior Bowl week in Mobile, Alabama. He also has the production and accolades to back up his play, recording 15 interceptions and earning two MW Defensive Player of the Year awards in his final two seasons with the Aztecs (2015-16).

Despite having played outside the

hashes at the collegiate level, Kazee is expected to step into a slot cornerback role at the next level to protect his 5-foot10, 184-pound frame from some of the bigger receivers in the NFL. Rounding out the group, Munson is valued for his position versatility and athleticism, but he still shouldn’t hear his name called until the bottom of the seventh and final round.

Throughout his 44-game career on the Mesa, Munson amassed 301 combined tackles (159 solo), 35.5 tackles for loss, 18 sacks, seven interceptions and three forced fumbles. His production and premier athletic ability should push an NFL team to take a chance on him as a depth player in an off-ball linebacker role and a special teams maven.

If drafted, Munson should be the last Aztec to hear his name called in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Senior Nahum Mendoza III with a follow through off a tee shot.

Courtesy of Derrick Tuskan, SDSU Athletics

Mexico for third place on the individual rankings. Boise State’s Brian Humphreys claimed the individual title (-12) after starting out in the second position.

As for the other Aztecs, Samiere captured 14th (-2), Norby came in 21st (+1) and Mendoza and Abercrombie tied for 28th (+2).

SDSU’s postseason fate is in the hands of the NCAA committee, which will announce the regional bids on Thursday, May 4 on the Golf Channel.

From there, only the top-5 from regionals qualify for the NCAA National Championships.

Former Aztec Damontae Kazee waits after a play.

Kelly Smiley, Photo Editor

sports

April 26 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: Anthony reclusado • Sports@thedailyaztec.com

11

Baseball takes two of three in SB Mayer Pohlod staff writer ____________________________________ In its first non-conference series since its three-game sweep of Cal Poly back in early March, San Diego State baseball won two of three against UC Santa Barbara this last weekend.

SDSU 5, UCSB 3 The Aztecs drew first blood in the top of the second, thanks to junior outfielder Tyler Adkison and freshman outfielder Julian Escobedo.

After Adkison singled and stole second, Escobedo hit a two out single up the middle to drive him in.

SDSU kept the pressure on in the fifth inning, taking advantage of a miscue by the Gauchos’ defense.

In the top half of the frame junior second baseman Alan Trejo singled with one out. Senior third baseman Andrew Brown followed that up with a ground ball that was misplayed by UCSB’s second baseman Colton Burns.

The error would come back to bite the Gauchos, as sophomore first baseman Jordan Verdon and Adkison hit back-toback singles following the error to put the Aztecs up 3-0.

However, UCSB wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

Thanks to some shoddy defense on the men on the Mesa’s part, the Gauchos responded with one run

Junior right-hander Jorge Fernandez tosses a pitch against UC Santa Barbara.

Kristian Carreon, Staff Photographer

in the bottom of the fifth and two in the bottom of the sixth, all unearned against senior southpaw Marcus Reyes to tie the game at three apiece.

That tie went into the ninth inning, where Verdon would be the hero, driving in senior shortstop Danny Sheehan to take the lead.

After junior outfielder Chase Calabuig added an insurance run with a sac fly, senior closer CJ Saylor recorded his tenth save of the season in the 5-3

victory.

UCSB 6, SDSU 5 In the second game the Aztecs didn’t fare as well, facing an early 5-0 deficit after UCSB scored one run in the second inning and two in the fourth and sixth.

The Scarlet and Black flipped the script from last game though, as they would be the ones to mount a comeback.

In the top of the seventh inning, SDSU received two-out RBI singles from freshman infielder Jacob Maekawa and Brown.

With the Aztecs down by three runs, Sheehan saw a pitch he liked and promptly sent it over the fence in left field for his third home run of the season to tie the game at five.

However, the Gauchos answered back immediately in the bottom half of the seventh, taking the 6-5 lead.

While SDSU would get its chances in the last two innings, they couldn’t muster anything across, losing by the same score.

All runs were charged to senior lefty Dominic Purpura, who suffered his first loss of the season, dropping to 6-1 on the year.

SDSU 5, UCSB 4 The rubber match of the series was a back and forth effort, with the lead

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changing four times throughout the contest in the 5-4 victory on the Aztec’s part.

UCSB struck first blood in the bottom of the first to take a quick 1-0 lead, one that was erased in the top of the third when SDSU answered back with two runs of its own, thanks to a pair of two out RBI singles from Sheehan and Verdon.

In the bottom of the frame, the Gauchos immediately answered back with three runs off of senior starter Cody Thompson to take a 4-2 lead.

The Aztecs scratched across another run in the top half of the fifth and would take the lead the following inning.

Escobedo drove home senior designated hitter Andrew Martinez with a triple to tie, and then was subsequently driven home on a two-out RBI single from Calabuig to take the lead.

SDSU’s bullpen held strong after that, throwing four scoreless innings between Reyes, Trejo and Saylor to record the series win.

The last game was the thirteenth win in the last 16 games for the Aztecs (2912), who now head back to San Diego for a four game homestand.

In a three game series, starting on Friday, April 28, SDSU will take on first place University of New Mexico.

The Lobos are 2.5 games ahead of the Aztecs in conference with only nine MW games remaining for both programs after this showdown.

12

Sports

April 26 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: Anthony reclusado • sports@thedailyaztec.com

Aztecs buck the Broncos in Idaho Raman sidhu staff writer ____________________________________ San Diego State walked in fresh off a victory sweep over University of New Mexico from the previous weekend series.

Junior catcher Jenavee Peres was named Mountain West player of the week with 12 home runs for the season.

Senior pitcher Erica Romero was named MW pitcher of the week with 46 strikeouts against 12 walks this year.

The women of the Mesa were tied for second place in the MW standings with San Jose State.

SDSU headed to Boise State to play against the Broncos April 21 through 23.

Boise State 6, SDSU 4 SDSU walked on the field with determination and a streak of confidence having won its last five games.

Romero was the starting pitcher for the 15th time. Aztecs’ head coach Kathy Van Wyk mentioned how she learned a lot from watching Romero.

“Romero’s had her ups and down, but continues to battle and come back, come through with things this year,” Van Wyk said. “She’s shown me a tremendous amount.”

Junior left fielder Zaria Meshack and

sophomore utility player Katie Byrd each scored a run to lock in the Aztecs’ first lead of the game at 2-0 in the top of the first inning. However, after a couple of strikeouts and a groundout, they were shut down.

With no luck in the second inning, Boise State stacked up five runs while taking its lead to 5-2.

With a scoreless third and fourth for the Scarlet and Black, the Broncos were able to get in one more run.

In the seventh and last inning, the Aztecs looked to close out the game with a win. Sophomore third baseman Molly Sturdivant doubled to right field which allowed for Peres and Byrd to score.

Romero had allowed five runs for the game while junior pitcher Alex Formby gave up one run on five hits.

SDSU took the loss 6-4.

Van Wyk was optimistic despite the loss.

“We needed to learn from it,” Van Wyk said. “We’ve got more games to play. We’ve got to keep fighting, keep battling back.”

SDSU 14, Boise State 0 Van Wyk was ready to prove to the Broncos that it was wrong that they lost on Friday.

The women of the Mesa came back strong for their second game on

Senior catcher Frankie Orlando following through on her swing after a hit against UCLA. kelly smiley, photo editor

Saturday against Boise State with a shutout victory.

“They played with a different mentality than when they came in on Friday,” Van Wyk said.

In the top of the first inning, Sturdivant hit a fly ball to right field, which allowed for Byrd to score. SDSU took the lead 1-0 and planned to stay on top for the rest of the game.

Freshman pitcher Marissa Moreno

With a scoreless Boise State, the women of the Mesa had no mercy.

Thompson walked while Sturdivant scored. Ignacio hit to center field, allowing Cable to score. The Aztecs squeezed in two runs to finish the inning.

Moreno had four strikeouts, while McDonald had one. Both pitchers kept the pressure on the Broncos throughout the entire game.

“ we got more games to play.

We got to keep fighting, keep battling back.”

was the starting pitcher for three innings.

In the second inning, the Aztecs kept the adrenaline rush and its agility going.

Redshirt freshman center fielder Kiera Wright singled to left field to help junior designated hitter Taylor Stewart come across home plate for the score. Meshack then singled to the left side, picking up a RBI with a run from freshman shortstop Shelby Thompson.

The Broncos decided to switch out pitchers in hopes of striking out the Aztecs’ momentum.

Due to an error by the shortstop, Byrd reached first base while senior right fielder Jaylene Ignacio scored.

The Aztecs finished out the second inning 4-0.

SDSU kept busy in the third inning.

Senior first baseman Sydnee Cable hit a home run. Ignacio singled up the middle for Thompson and Steward to score two more runs.

At this point, the Broncos switched pitchers again, but to no avail. The Scarlet and Black were too focused and amped up to let anyone rain on their parade.

Byrd doubled to right center as Meshack scored. Sturdivant hit a 3-run home run, which scored Peres, Byrd, and Cable.

SDSU held on to its lead 12-0.

Sophomore pitcher Julie McDonald was put in for Moreno.

- Kathy Van Wyk, Softball head coach

SDSU redeemed itself by winning the game, 14-0.

“We played with some pride,” Van Wyk said.

SDSU 10, Boise State 6 The Aztecs came out on top for the weekend series by defeating the Broncos 10-6 on Sunday, April 23.

SDSU showed just how ready they were to win with Byrd, Meshack and Peres bringing in runs for the first and second innings. These three players continued to stand out for the rest of the game.

In the third inning, Byrd’s hit allowed for Thompson to score. Peres doubled to left field while Meshack and Wright scored.

Things started to slow down a bit in the fourth inning with the Scarlet and Black getting in only one run from freshman designated hitter Megan Smith.

After seven innings, the Aztecs won.

Van Wyk said she was satisfied with how their defense had been playing and limiting errors. She didn’t feel as if there was any change with the team since the beginning of the season.

“We’ve got a good team,” Van Wyk said.

The Aztecs will start its next series Friday against Utah State, which is ranked No. 1 in the Mountain West.

April 26 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: christine whitman • features@thedailyaztec.com

Arts & culture13

‘Moving from surviving to thriving’ nicole badgley staff writer ____________________________________ Associated Students’ Green Love and Green Fest hosted keynote speaker Mustafa Santiago Ali to speak at their Environmental Justice in America event.

Ali spoke to SDSU students and faculty on April 19 from 4 to 6 p.m. in Montezuma Hall of Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union about revitalizing vulnerable communities.

The motto and repeated phrase of the event was “moving from surviving to thriving.”

Ali is a renowned national speaker, trainer and facilitator focused on improving communities that are suffering environmental injustices.

For 24 years, Ali worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where he eventually became the Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice.

Ali is also an active member of the Hip Hop Caucus, an organization that connects the Hip Hop community to the civil process to bring change and economic empowerment.

Because race is ultimately a factor in which people are more prone to environmental injustices, the hip hop Caucus uses music to bring these people together and bring awareness about human and civil rights, according to Ali. One of the issues Ali discussed, for

example, was the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

Flint, a majority-black city where over 40 percent of people live in poverty, switched its water supply source over to the Flint River in 2014, according to the National Public Radio official website.

Old damaged pipes carried leadpoisoned water to the city and all its residents. The U.S. EPA classified the city as in a state of emergency, as running

“ if you really care about something, you should show it through genuine action.”

- Alessandra Casey, Green Love Representative

water in Flint is contaminated by lead and undrinkable and unusable.

“Access to clean water is a human right because it is something that you need to live,” Ali said.

The lead in the water has already begun to take a toll, most predominantly in young children whose brains are still developing. Children exposed to lead have lower IQs and grades, and therefore those children are more prone to dropping out of school and not going to college, Ali said.

This means that they are more prone to being economically unstable as adults.

Ali said that not only is this environmental racism, but environmental

‘Vibe Night’ offers music, rap and poetry Ceighlee fennel staff writer ______________________________________ On April 20, the Student African American Brotherhood put on an event called Vibe Night from 7 to 9 p.m. in Scripps Cottage.

The two main performers of the night were Deion Selma and Phoebe Williams with three other openers, Asha Alshabazz, Haki and Danelle Garrett. The host, Nnagozie Odeluga, vice president of SAAB rapped for the audience.

The event was a mix of dance, music and poetry. The openers did their own poems and a couple raps.

“It was interesting and I did not know what to expect,” computer science freshman Matt Rose said. “The people seemed really comfortable, which made it fun for everyone.”

Selma was the first main event of the night and he rapped lots of his own songs.

Some of them were from a project he has done before called the Vibrations of the West. This album can be heard on Spotify, Apple Music and SoundCloud.

Some of the songs he performed for Vibe Night were also a part of something new he is working on.

The other main event was with Television Film and New Media Production senior Phoebe Williams, who performed her personal series of poems called the Yellow Paint series.

“My series is called Yellow Paint because Vincent Van Gogh swallowed yellow paint to make him happy even though it was something toxic to him,” Williams said. “A girl said that everyone has their yellow paint and I thought about that. My poetry is my yellow paint.”

Williams performed 18 pieces because

inequality and injustice. These factors ultimately lead to more social, economic and racial inequalities in the U.S. Green Love Representative Alessandra Casey was one of the Green Love members to speak on behalf of the organization before Ali spoke.

As a representative and a sustainability major, she said she attends Campus Life Council meetings and Green Fest meetings in order to help plan events for

that was all that would fit into her time slot.

One of her professors, Tishna Asim, helped Williams through the process of picking the poems.

The event began as an idea between Selma and Williams because they both wanted to bring poetry and music together in a concert atmosphere.

This was the first time this event was held, but Williams expressed that they wanted to do more, more often and even have other people hosting similar events.

“I get inspiration for my poems from my life experiences and I wanted to perform them because it was a purging of emotions for me, like a catharsis,” Williams said.

“Also, Selma was a huge help because he was really supportive and we both wanted to do it for a while. Everything just fell into place.”

Williams had a positive view on the outcome of the event.

“The whole thing went really well,” she said. “We filled up the venue and had a diverse group of people come. I got a standing ovation and the fact that people were so touched really means a lot to me.”

Williams said their goal was to get people to show up and get into the vibe of everything. They wanted people to feel the good energy and get into the flow.

“An event like this is important me because I was able to reveal a different side of me that most people never see, so I was being completely vulnerable and opened up in front of an audience,” Williams said. “I could show people my talent and not be afraid to show my story.

I think it’s important to have a concert be put on by local student artists.”

Williams said she wants to eventually compile her poetry into two books.

the yearlong initiative of sustainability, diversity and SDSU pride.

“Following the advice from (Ali), in order to create change in a community you must create genuine relationships and understanding that there will already be expertise, and you should listen in marginalized communities,” Casey said.

“If you genuinely care about something, you should show it through genuine action.”

Ali said other environmental injustices are destroying access to fresh air for marginalized communities in our own backyards.

At one point Ali asked the audience, “By

a show of hands, how many people in the last 60 seconds have taken a breath of fresh air?”

Of course, everyone in the audience raised their hands.

There are seven million U.S. children who have asthma and a huge amount of money goes to health bills for them, said Ali. This effects low-income families most prevalently because they are usually the families that cannot afford medical care.

Social work junior Jessica Michel is taking a sustainability class this semester and said she is also much more interested in sustainability since taking the class.

“It’s really important to work from the bottom up, not the top down,” social work junior Jessica Michel said. “To have sustainable growth, you really have to speak to the community and actually ask them, ‘What do you need?’ and what they think could be better.”

At the end of the event, Ali had audience members stand by one another and hold hands in the air together, a symbolic gesture of the fact that change only happens when people stand united.

“We want to label ourselves as Democrats or Republicans or say I grew up on the West or I grew up on the East.

I think it’s important to really question, ‘Is this what I actually believe in?’ and not being quick to make judgements about communities that you don’t know or situations that you’ve never been in,” Michel said.

14 Arts & culture

April 26 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: christine whitman • features@thedailyaztec.com

Mitski resonates with Irenic crowd julianna Ress senior staff writer ____________________________________ Indie rock artist Mitski graced the stage at The Irenic on Wednesday, April 19 with her emotionally bare music resonating with the crowd of fans who look to her for meaning in the confrontation of complex feelings.

Ten months removed from the release of her critical success “Puberty 2,” Mitski’s hard-hitting lyrical themes, range from love to racial identity to alienation and were often shouted against a backdrop of distorted guitars, still cut just as deep as they did last June.

Mitski opened the set with backto-back “Puberty 2” tracks “Dan the Dancer” and “Once More to See You,” both songs exploring the pursuit of love against repressive outside forces.

The former got the crowd singing along to the song’s defining moment: “He liked her more than life itself, I’m sure.”

Right off the bat it became clear that Mitski was not necessarily there to banter with the crowd, typical of many artist’s concert rituals.

Instead her goal was to create a space for fans to feel, safely and openly, by connecting with them through the raw vulnerability she expresses through her music.

“I always love artists who don’t try to put on a hype front between their songs,” rhetoric and writing studies senior Jackie Husted said. “(Mitski) was super laid back and her gratefulness for our being there felt very genuine.”

Mitski went back to her 2014 album “Bury Me at Makeout Creek” to perform the heartbreaking fan favorite “Francis Forever.”

“I don’t know what to do without you,” she sang to open the song. “I don’t know where to put my hands.”

This poignant expression of sadness is what hooks many fans into Mitski’s style.

“What draws me to Mitski is the heartbreak of her music,” rhetoric and writing studies senior Sarah Tanori said. “It seems she’s always lamenting a part of her past life and it’s not desperate or anything, just pure.”

She continued with “Bury Me at Makeout Creek” tracks, the dreamy

as the problem was being solved.

The crowd got to dance around a bit to the upbeat “Townie,” a song dealing with the self-destructive nature of rebellious youth party-frequenters, and one of the overall best tracks in Mitski’s catalog.

She returned to “Puberty 2” songs for “Thursday Girl” before going into the album’s most iconic track “Your Best American Girl,” which was hailed as one of the best songs of 2016 by many music publications.

The audience joined Mitski in the

“ i always love artists who don’t try to put on a hype front between their songs ... Mitski was super laid back and her gratefulness for being there felt very genuine.”

- Jackie Husted, Rhetoric and writing junior

“I Don’t Smoke” and the melodically enveloping “First Love/Late Spring.”

“Wild women don’t get the blues,” Mitski sang on the latter. “But I find that lately I’ve been crying like a tall child.”

She spoke softly into the microphone between songs, contrasting with the loud candidness of her music, to tell one of the sound technicians that someone in her band had trouble hearing her.

“I am a voice that’s often unheard,” she said in a tongue-in-cheek manner

song’s explosive, triumphant hook, “Your mother wouldn’t approve of how my mother raised me, but I do, I think I do,” addressing identity in the context of a relationship.

After “Bury Me at Makeout Creek” tracks “Drunk Walk Home” and “I Will” and “Puberty 2” track “Happy,” Mitski had the band leave the stage to her and a guitar, somehow making the show more intimate than it already was.

The performance of one of her few acoustic songs “A Burning Hill” saw Mitski at her quietest yet most

emotionally exposed, making it the most compelling song of the night as the crowd watched in awe.

“I’ll go to work and I’ll go to sleep,” she sang. “And I’ll love the littler things, I’ll love some littler things.”

“A Burning Hill” displays pinnacle Mitski lyricism, expressing a niche sadness in such a tangible way that it is still incredibly resonant due to its sheer honesty.

The set rounded out with “My Body’s Made of Crushed Little Stars” and “Last Words of a Shooting Star,” leaving Mitski to walk off the stage to roaring applause that led her back for an encore.

She went back to her second album, 2013’s “Retired from Sad, New Career in Business,” to end the night with “Class of 2013.”

During the third verse she held her electric guitar up to her face, and shouted the passionate words into the pickups.

“Mom, will you wash my back this once?” she sang. “Then we can forget and I’ll leave what I’m chasing for the other girls to pursue.”

“I really like (Mitski’s) music because she speaks about things that most people seem to only disclose to close friends or loved ones,” Husted said.

“And she doesn’t just speak about them, she kind of screams them, and it’s really powerful.”

“Class of 2013” ends with Mitski asking, “Mom, am I still young? Can I dream for a few months more?”

These questions are the same kind of feelings of displacement and existentialism Mitski fans come to her shows to ponder and even if they do not leave with clarity, they leave with the articulation of these feelings and the strength to face them.

Timothy DeLaGhetto visits San Diego State jocelyn moran senior staff writer ____________________________________ Timothy DeLaGhetto, known for Wild ‘N Out on MTV and his YouTube videos, attracted students to the Templo Mayor room in the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union on April 24 to hear him speak about his journey getting to his “destination.”

DeLaGhetto said the name “DeLaGhetto” comes from “Raphael DeLaGhetto,” the name Will Smith used in a poetry club to get girls in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. “Growing up, I feel like The Fresh Prince raised me,” DeLaGhetto said. “I remember seeing Will Smith and just feeling like ‘I want to do everything Will Smith did.’ I made a plan for my life when I was like 10. It was called the Fresh Prince Format.”

He said he remembers watching an episode where an Asian guy is portrayed as a nerdy guy wearing a baby blue tuxedo.

“I remember thinking like ‘man, that is the only Asian guy I’ve ever seen on TV, ever,’” he said. “And I remember thinking like, that’s not me. I kind of felt like I needed to get out there and show the world there is more to Asian dudes than nerdy dudes or Kung fu dudes.”

DeLaGhetto said he began making

videos for his website and then on YouTube when it came out.

“YouTube was kind of the hub for Asian people at one point, before everyone caught on,” he said. “Asian people were like ‘finally, somebody that looks like me doing stuff that I like to do.’”

DeLaGhetto eventually auditioned for Wild ‘N Out after Nick Cannon brought it back, and they just wrapped their fifth season.

He said he didn’t look at where he wanted to be as a dream, rather a destination.

“I knew I wanted to act, so I was like ‘I’m gonna go on auditions. I’m gonna make funny videos,’” he said. “I just kept making strides toward what I wanted to do.”

DeLaGhetto said a dream is something that’s not real or tangible, but a destination is something that can be reached.

“As long as you keep moving forward, you’ll get there eventually, regardless of how long it will take or if you might not go the path you thought you were gonna go,” he said. “You’ll get there eventually because it’s there. That’s what I’m doing. That’s what I did.”

Aztec Music Group President Anthony Lee said getting DeLaGhetto to come to San Diego State was in the works for almost a year.

“He is one of the unique individuals

Timothy DeLaGhetto signs autographs for students at Conrad Presbys Aztec Student Union. jocelyn moran, senior staff writer

who can touch on both ends, entertainment and music,” Lee said.

“He’s well known. He’s a special guy, special talent.”

Lee said students can now know it’s important to not quit or let someone else tell them they can’t make it.

“If you really know Tim’s story, it’s really about ‘I’m doing this, and I don’t care what nobody else says, and I don’t care about how many times I fail,’” Lee said. “He just kept doing it and doing it, and he made it.”

Computer engineering senior

Huy Tran said he’s been watching DeLaGhetto since he was 12.

“He’s the big bro Tim,” Tran said.

“He’s someone you can relate to, going through the struggles as an AsianAmerican.”

Tran said he attended the event because he wanted to seek guidance and apply DeLaGhetto’s experiences to his own life.

“He just took increments, increments, step by step on a day-today basis,” Tran said. “It means a lot to me.”

Arts & Culture15

April 26 - may 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: christine whitman• features@thedailyaztec.com

Downtown Gallery goes ‘All Natural’ Danny dyer staff writer ____________________________________ San Diego State Downtown Art Gallery ushered in one of its most ambitious art exhibits to date on Thursday, April 20.

“All Natural” is a poignant display of just how creatively limber artists can be when faced with the constraint of being allowed to only use natural materials in their pieces.

The brainchild of the gallery, director Chantel Paul, the overall project aims to incorporate every fathomable terrain of the natural world through diverse channels of art.

“With this exhibition we are going from mountainous and desert landscapes to the ocean, in terms of imagery and process,” Paul said.

“It is very rooted and when you see the works, everything has this sort of natural tonality with colors and concepts that you would see in nature.”

What emerged from this idea is a vibrant concoction of organic materials, artistic mediums and a healthy underlying notion of renewability.

The roster of hand-picked artists is as talent-riddled as it is all-encompassing in variety.

For instance, Jennifer Ann Bennet, School of Art & Design alumni, infuses her usage of encaustic wax with plucked branches and stems to formulate panels such as “Branch and Brine,” an entanglement of floral twigs that appear to be drowning in an oozy structure of creamy wax.

Beautifully contrasting this are works done by Roman De Salvo, a sculptor

who was compelled to etch finite trails upon small rocks to mimic landscapes of rugged mountainsides.

Other artists vocalized the challenges with which they had to grapple due to the limited resources available.

This was particularly difficult for John Oliver Lewis, a ceramic specialist and acrylic painter who had to prance around the usage of synthetic materials.

He unearthed a solution through extensive research in chemistry, ultimately recognizing that he had to create a firing process that would permit the clay to collect and retain pigmentation while simultaneously using natural minerals that would actually conjoin with the clay.

“Throughout many tests, I arrived at a process that was successful,” Lewis said. “This challenge - and it has been a true challenge - has really expanded my practice, as the research conducted will continue to be incorporated into my work. I really appreciate the opportunity to be pulled out of my comfort zone as an artist and Chantel’s innovative approach to this exhibition has done just that.”

While Paul’s project requires these artists to exercise a striking sense of unorthodoxy, it also called upon each artist to voice a relevant meaning behind their respective works.

Photo-artist Meghann Riepenhoff may be one of the most effective at this, given her pieces’ jab at the human trend of trying to differentiate ourselves from our natural ecosphere.

“By working directly in the landscape and with materials that are of the landscape, I aim to point to the simple truth that we are deeply and inherently

CROSSWORDS

Across 1 Reduce drastically 6 Skyscraper girder 11 Bobby on the ice 14 Willowy 15 Impudent 16 Baltimore Ravens mascot named for an author 17 Attendant who invites Hamlet to duel Laertes 18 Blubbers 19 Potato part 20 NOTHING 22 “Stillmatic” rapper 23 Equinox mo.

24 Secure at the pier 25 Small bite

27 Sulky state 28 L.A.’s region 29 Jessica of “Fantastic Four” films 32 Waimea Bay island 35 First sound of the day, for many 38 Provide missing info ... and what four clues do to their answers 41 Author Asimov 42 Ratio phrase 43 Boxing stats 44 Explosive experiment 46 Vote for 48 “I wanna go too!”

50 “Psst!” kin 52 These, in Nantes

Photographer and artist Meghann Ripenhoff showcases her piece in the Downtown Gallery.

Courtesy of Lizbeth Price

connected to that which surrounds us,” Riepenhoff said.

“All Natural” is open to the public between 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday through Monday. The gallery is closed weekly on Tuesday and Wednesday.

This exhibit will close on Sunday,

July 16 to make room for future exhibits.

The exhibition and events are sponsored by the School of Art + Design, the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts, and Arts Alive SDSU.

Classifieds

55 Roadside respite spot 56 NAUGHT 59 Word with Iron or Bronze 60 Enter on a laptop 61 Tropical porch 62 Hi-__ image 63 Año Nuevo month 64 Ham it up 65 Cockpit abbr.

66 Building leveler, to a Brit 67 Like horses Down 1 Neatniks’ opposites 2 Stocking thread 3 “It’s __!”: “They tricked us!”

4 Climb, in a way

5 Badger from the bleachers 6 Anvil-shaped ear bone 7 Ocean bed?

8 Burnett of CNN 9 ACTIVE NATURALS skin care brand 10 Otherworldly 11 SPACE 12 Fit for a queen 13 Piece maker?

21 It may be passed 26 Golf ball material 27 Sense of taste 28 Bird feeder food 29 John Williams won its 2016 Life Achievement Award: Abbr.

30 Fleur-de-__ 31 EMPTY 33 Busy, busy, busy 34 Dept. that oversees the FDA 36 “Citizen Kane” studio 37 Ed.’s backlog 39 Fridge feature that needs water 40 Bergman’s “Gaslight” co-star 45 Title Tejano singer in a 1997 biopic 47 Starbucks’ mermaid, e.g.

48 Sparkly crown 49 Broadway backer 50 Blazing 51 Roll out the red carpet for 52 Pachelbel work 53 Related on mom’s side 54 Hit the slopes 57 Caustic cleaners 58 Tibetan spiritual adviser

Internships Seeking Social Media Climate Action Intern Groundwork seeks a 10/hr week Spring/Summer intern ($12/hr) to support a climate action campaign in the Chollas Creek Watershed.

Excellent writing and communication planning skills required .

Send letter of interest to Leslie@ groundworksandiego.org. www.groundworksandiego.org ________________________________

Announcements NEED A GOOD EDITOR? We make sure your work is correct in all aspects. Editing since 1971. pkuhlkraft.jimdo.com. ________________________________

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PLEASE NOTE: The Daily Aztec does not endorse or support and has no affiliation with the products or services offered in the Classifieds section. To place an ad in the Classifieds section, please visit thedailyaztec.com/classifieds ______________________________ The views expressed in this issue do not necessarily reflect those of The Daily Aztec. Comments? Email us at letters@thedailyaztec.com

16

The back page

April 26 - May 2, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: christine Whitman • features@thedailyaztec.com

Testing my comfort zone abroad zachary engberg International staff writer ____________________________________ If someone told me two-and-a-half years ago that I would be spending this semester in Rotterdam, I don’t know if I would have believed them.

Despite the fact that I was insistent, and that my mom was even more persuasive, I have a long and thick history of being, for lack of a better term, full of sh-t.

I am the king of empty promises ,not to others as much as to myself.

Considering my attitude when I first began at San Diego State, I would have never thought of myself as able to withstand this journey.

I was somewhat right.

While it has improved over the past few years, anxiety is still something that I struggle with on a daily basis.

It is a phenomenon that is hard for me to qualify or explain, but the best way I can describe it is this: Some days, it is challenging for me to get out of bed and take on the world.

Some days I am scared of even the simplest tasks, like going to class, calling my parents or making breakfast.

My freshman year, this anxiety was only heightened.

At first, I kind of liked it, it was more uncertainty than it was fear.

Not knowing anyone at the school, not entirely sure of where my life was headed or the person I would become was exhilarating for the first few months.

That was the feeling that I wanted to relive abroad, coming to a new place, with brand new people, not knowing exactly what I am doing or how it

The Netherland’s Keukenhof Park tulips in full bloom.

Zachary engberg, international staff writer

would change me.

And I got that, when I couldn’t sleep and had to share a hostel with smelly old men.

I even woke up one morning realizing I had blacked out, fallen over, cut my head, spent the night on my friend’s floor in front of the bathroom with a bucket on my head and sent a string of embarrassing, self-hating and nearly unintelligible messages to opinion editor and future editor-inchief Andrew Dyer.

But that pit of fear in my gut, that little voice in the back of my head telling me to “worry, worry, worry … overthink, overthink, overthink” never really goes away.

#DASNAPSHOTS

PHOTO GOES HERE

It may take a nap once in awhile, may go out for a drink, but always comes back.

It is very loyal, and it makes for some very bad days.

This is something I have always struggled with, but never with these circumstances.

At least in middle and high school, when it was at its most debilitating, after a rough day I could go home, see my mom or my dad, depending on the day, eat some homemade spaghetti and meatballs or my dad’s famous chili mac, a dish where he mises a box of Kraft mac & cheese and a can of chili and watch an Oakland Athletics game or an episode of Spongebob with my

family.

Even in college, it was always nice to come back to my dorm or my apartment or my house and see my friends, play some basketball, or even go to the newsroom.

But out here, I feel more vulnerable.

There is no real comfort zone for me, no place I can feel rested or at peace.

That is, however, part of why I came out here, if not the underlying reason, to test my comfort zone.

But it makes dealing with my anxiety much more challenging.

It is sad too, because I spend time dreading things and overthinking things that I could be using to travel and better myself and experience new things.

I will say though, that the bad days make the good days that much more enjoyable, I know they are fleeting.

There are some little moments during the day that help lift my spirits, the bike ride through the park back to my house, waking up in the morning and seeing Snapchats from my friends back home or remembering I have stroopwafel in my cupboard.

This is not all to say that I regret studying abroad, I thank my lucky stars everyday I had the guts and the support system to do it, even though, as it turns out, I didn’t have the money to.

But it hasn’t been easy, and it hasn’t been what I imagined it would be.

But here’s to two more crazy, uneasy, unpredictable months in the land of legal weed.

Now that I’ve thoroughly depressed you all, or the few of you who are actually reading this, I’ll tell you my number one city I have experienced so far: It’s Amsterdam.

SUDOKU HOW TO PLAY: Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box contains every digit 1 to 9.

Difficulty Level:

4/4

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Mirror, Mirror

Photo editor Kelly Smiley snapped this photo at an art insallation in Palm Springs called, “Desert X.”