Wednesday, Aug. 15 - Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018 Weekly Print Edition
Vol. 105, Issue 1 www.thedailyaztec.com
e d i u G r’s o t i s i V
San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913
City loses appeal to block Mission Valley ballot initiatives by Bella Ross NEWS EDITOR
Photo by Jocelyn Moran
San Diego State President Adela de la Torre walks toward guests after a flag-raising ceremony on June 28.
Adela de la Torre becomes university’s newest president by Bella Ross NEWS EDITOR
On the morning of June 28, a small instrumental performance of the national anthem signaled new beginnings at San Diego State as Adela de la Torre began her first day as the university’s new president. She is taking her position following a months-long presidential search that began with former president Elliot Hirshman’s resignation announcement in May 2017. De la Torre’s selection was announced in January. A former UC Davis administrator, she’s San Diego State’s first permanent female president. “I am honored and humbled to join San Diego State University as its 9th president,”
de la Torre said in a June 28 welcome email to students. “I am also excited to be part of this community as we continue building on the strong legacy that has made SDSU one of the most sought-after universities.” Associated Students President Chris Thomas had high praise for interim President Sally Roush, who held down the fort from Hirshman’s last day in office to de la Torre’s first day. Sally cleared a lot of things off her plate,” Thomas said. “She wasn’t just an interim president. She was a president.” Thomas said Roush’s work set the stage for many of the changes he hopes to see from de la Torre, including increased efforts to create educational opportunities surrounding the Aztec mascot and the creation of a stronger sense of family and
community around campus. De la Torre only spoke briefly to thank attendees at her first public appearance as university president. In an April interview with The Daily Aztec, she said she wanted to focus specifically on helping marginalized groups, such as undocumented students. She said she has vast experience in creating support centers for these kinds of student populations from her time as the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs and Campus Diversity at UC Davis. At UC Davis, de la Torre said she started one of the first AB540 and undocumented student centers. “Every group that feels the SEE ADELA DE LA TORRE, PAGE 2
Following a long summer of legal drama surrounding the two ballot measures with dueling plans to redevelop the Mission Valley stadium site, an appellate court ruling on Aug. 6 affirmed the SoccerCity and SDSU West initiatives’ spots on the November ballot. City Attorney Mara Elliott made the decision late last month to appeal a prior ruling that had affirmed the initiatives’ legality. While the courts have made it clear they like to be liberal in their assessments of citizens’ initiatives to protect the democratic process, Elliott challenged that the goals of these initiatives in particular were questionable enough to remove them from the ballot. “The Soccer City and SDSU West initiatives essentially force the lease or sale of City assets on terms set by the proponents,” Elliott said in a statement. “By filing writs with the Fourth District Court of Appeal, the City seeks clarity on whether this unprecedented use of the initiative process is legal.” In the appellate court’s Aug. 6 decision to deny the petition, the same concern for protecting the democratic process became the grounds for upholding the prior ruling that had allowed the competing initiatives their spots on the ballot. “Under these circumstances, and given the substantial public interest involved, we decline to eliminate the right of the public to express its views on the competing
initiatives,” the ruling states. The ruling continued to cite a 2006 case titled Costa v. Superior Court that had previously protected the right of citizens to use the initiative process to “propose statutory or constitutional changes.” While a thorough examination of the initiatives may have been favorable, the ruling identified that pursuing such would make the initiatives unable to meet the deadline to print the ballots, thus compromising the right of the citizens to vote on the initiatives. However, a statement from the City Attorney’s Office said the decision keeping the competing initiatives on the ballot could have lasting implications. “We did everything we could to lift the cloud of legal uncertainty over these measures so San Diego voters could participate with confidence in a decision that will impact us for generations,” the statement read. Meanwhile, the SDSU West initiative has identified this ruling as a major win. “With no further legal barriers in our path and overwhelming support from San Diegans, SDSU West is officially headed for the November ballot,” said Friends of SDSU Spokeswoman Katy Temple. “The Court’s decision confirms what we’ve known all along – SDSU West is in the best interests of the community.” Both the SoccerCity and SDSU West initiatives will be voted upon on Nov. 6. Should both initiatives receive over 50 percent of the vote, the one with the higher percentage of support will be implemented.
Upper division students pushed out of on-campus housing by Bella Ross NEWS EDITOR
In May, about 400 upper division students hoping to live in campus housing during the 2018-19 school year opened their inboxes to an email from the Office of Housing Administration. “Due to an unanticipated demand for both freshmen and non-freshman housing, we do not anticipate being able to accommodate any students
other than freshmen and sophomores for the 2018-19 academic year,” the email said. Eric Hansen, director of Housing at San Diego State, said the Office of Housing Administration had underestimated the number of lower division students who would end up wanting to live in campus housing. Hansen said interest from populations such as local students who are not required to live on campus was much higher than expected.
Hansen said the implementation of the Sophomore Success Initiative, which requires all non-local students to live on campus for their first two years at SDSU, also helps explain the stress to campus housing. “We have been asked by the past two presidents to transition over from a commuter institution to a residential institution,” Hansen said. “The reason is not to create more housing for housing’s sake, but really
the data shows that students living on campus are typically doing better academically.” Hansen noted that, starting in mid-July, some changes had occured that have cleared some room for upper division housing applicants. “Since mid-July we have no longer been in a waitlist status due to cancellations and have begun to accept new applications from any and all SDSU students,” Hansen said. “At this time, we
have 54 upper division students living with us for the fall.” However, many students who were rejected earlier in the summer for housing have since found housing off campus. Some local residents have voiced concerns that forcing upper division students off campus could create overcrowding in the College Area housing SEE HOUSING, PAGE 2