News

Oct. 13 - 19, 2021

2 The Daily Aztec

News

EDITOR: Katelynn Robinson • news@thedailyaztec.com

President Ashley Tejada pulls from

Peruvian roots as student leader

by Jayne Yutig ASSISTANT MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

Associated Students President Ashley Tejada is the ninth woman to represent over 33,000 students that make up the San Diego State student body since 1921. She said it’s her Peruvian heritage that guides her in the role.

Tejada said her first months as A.S. President were busy. SDSU students have returned and are still getting accustomed to in-person classes. A proposed controversial University Senate resolution sparked student outrage and opposition across campus. But during this period of adjustment on campus, Tejada said she remembers the stories from her Peruvian grandparents as her motivation to lead.

During the over 3,000 mile flight from Lima, Peru to the United States, a propeller of the plane carrying Tejada’s grandparents failed.

Tejada said the plane flew tilted in the air throughout the entire flight and metaphorically represented the journey it took for her grandparents to get to America.

“It was a ride of fear and adversity,”

Tejada said.

“It was such a monumental endeavor for them. And really just creating that legacy, my grandmother brought over her seven other siblings,” Tejada said.

As Tejada navigates decision making in her role as president she said it’s all about her roots.

“My grandmother was a very strong woman in leadership,” Tejada said. “That is something that I want to continue to live on.”

Going out and connecting to other students of color within student leadership on campus is one of Tejada’s priorities.

“Being in this role as a woman of color, also seeing others across campus, not just in A.S., being within their respective roles as well and the adversity they face,” Tejada said. “It’s important to myself to use the lessons from my family setting and carry it into this role.”

Tejada is looking ahead to achieving the priorities of her administration, which include the message of community.

“We noticed over COVID, virtual learning was not easy for a lot of our students,” Tejada said. “But our

Photo courtesy of Ashley Tejada Associated Students President Ashley Tejada said she is inspired to lead by the stories from her Peruvian grandparents.

retention stayed so high and I believe that’s not because of the academics but because of the community that exists.”

Three weeks into a historic return to in-person classes at SDSU, a University Senate proposal by Cezar Ornatowski, a professor in the College of Arts and Letters sent shockwaves throughout the campus.

The proposal would have provided

professors with discretion over the modality of their courses. Although University Senate proposals are not university policy and couldn’t change the modality of courses, students were outraged.

SEE ASHLEY TEJADA, PAGE 3

Students cross the border to attend classes at SDSU

Students who live in Mexivo cross the border on a daily basis to attend classes at SDSU.

Photo by Karelly Vidrio

$15 MILLION AWARDED TO SDSU FOR LATINX DISPARITY RESEARCH

by Brittany Cruz-Fejeran STAFF WRITER

The Faculty United Toward Excellence in Research and Transformational Engagement (FUERTE) program at San Diego State has been awarded a $15 million grant to dedicate research towards health disparities amongst the Latinx community while prioritizing diverse hiring for scientists who focus on this field of research.

Health disparities are preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence or opportunities to achieve optimal health experienced by socially disadvantaged populations, according to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website.

María Luisa Zúñiga, social work professor and co-leader of FUERTE with Mark Reed, a professor of public health said it was a natural move to apply for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant when she and Reed heard about it.

“It’s such a huge lift to have the opportunity to bring 11 new colleagues to SDSU,” she said. “As faculty we are the stewarts of this opportunity and we want to do everything possible to make sure the faculty feel welcome and that they will be able to thrive with the rest of our community.”

Of those 11 new faculty, three will work from SDSU’s Imperial Valley

SEE DISPARITY RESEARCH, PAGE 4

by Karelly Vidrio CONTRIBUTOR

San Diego State has a community of Latino students who cross the border between Tijuana and San Diego in order to have an education on campus. Hundreds of students who live in Mexico cross the border port entry of San Ysidro every day to attend class.

Mathematics freshmen Luis Vargas, explained his experience last semester of a student living in Tijuana and crossing the border every day in order to take classes.

“I cross to have a better education, that was the idea of ​my parents,” Vargas said. “My day started at 3 or 4 in the morning.”

Vargas explains this motivation comes from his parents who instilled the importance of hard work in him since he was a child. Since his childhood, he has been familiar with crossing from one country to another when it comes

to going to school.

Some obstacles he faced included having to get up very early to be able to line up at the border by car when he had to travel from one country to another in order to take his classes in the United States.

“I had the normal pass. Now, I have ready lane and it is much better than the normal line and lasted less time,” Vargas said.

Vargas shared there are students who have certain types of passports that help them cross more quickly. Not every student has the same pass, however, and this greatly affects how they plan their class schedules because they need to be able to cross on time before class begins.

Now that Vargas has the opportunity to live in the city of San Diego this

SEE BORDER , PAGE 3

The SDSU Latinx Resource Center is located on the first floor of the Love Library.

Photo by Noelani Sapla

Oct. 13 - 19, 2021 EDITOR: Katelynn Robinson . news@thedailyaztec.com

News The Daily Aztec 3

Indigenous People’s Day rally highlights Kumeyaay history

by Sara Rott SENIOR STAFF WRITER

On Oct. 11, San Diego State students, faculty and staff gathered in front of Hepner Hall to rally for Indigenous People’s Day.

Tribal Liaison Jacob Alvarado Waipuk welcomed the crowd, speaking personally about protesting against the day dedicated to Christopher Columbus.

“For too long, native people, we’ve known how to be an American, but a lot of people don’t know how to be American Indians and learn our culture and who we are,” Waipuk said.

He encourages learning the history, culture and foundation of the Native Americans and to be proud to learn on Kumeyaay land.

Waipuk led the crowd in a prayer, reminding everyone to honor their ancestors and listen to stories to pass on to the next generation. A moment of silence followed as Waipuk recited the prayer in Kumeyaay language.

Waipuk then proceeded to smudge the crowd, a ceremony practiced by some Indigenous peoples, involving the burning of sacred herbs.

Fifth year interdisciplinary studies major Joy Becenti was the master of ceremonies, inviting individuals to come up and speak on behalf of Indigenous people and share experiences, stories and lessons.

One being Dr. Gabriela Kováts Sánchez, Faculty Scholar for the Native

Photo by Sara Rott Students held hand-made posters and gathering around Hepner Hall during the Indigenous People’s Day rally.

En Confianza provides fun and safe space for Latinx, Chicanx, Hispanx students

by Lucelis Martínez STAFF WRITER

En Confianza (In Confidence) is a group focused on offering a safe space for students who identify as Latinx/ Chicanx and/or Hispanx, according to the university.

The official website mentions that the students enforce community, discuss their problems and support each other.

The group meets on Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m., according to an online flyer on the official Instagram page of the Latinx Resource Center (LRC).

En Confianza encourages people to come whether or not they speak English, Spanish or a mix of both.

Maria Elena Garibay functions as the moderator for the group and is a licensed clinical therapist. An SDSU alumna, Garibay has experience providing therapy to both individuals and couples, according to SDSU.

Garibay said the group has existed for a year.

Garibay explained that the group’s name came after various conversations about what the group represents. Garibay said the group focused on culture and getting students together to have fun and share their experiences with each other, although the group is not intended or allowed to provide professional therapy.

Senior Jeremy Garcia is a member of En Confianza and is studying to also become a therapist.

Garcia said he is happy to be a part of En Confianza, since he is looking

Resource Center, lecturer and academic advisor for the department of American Indian Studies.

“I’m really grateful for all of us to be here today because despite the efforts of colonization to erase, assimilate and deindianize us, Indigenous people are still here and still resisting,” Sánchez said.

Reminding everyone it’s an ongoing conversation involving unlearning and relearning how we show up for Indigenous people.

Many students, faculty and staff stood

Graphic courtesy of FreePik

En Confianza provides a safe and fun environment for Chincanx, Latinx, and Hispanx students in their weekly meetings.

for opportunities to connect with other undergraduate students.

“I love the growth, dealing with different identities and trying to hold onto the ones we have,” Garcia said.

Raul Caleb Perez another member of En Confianza graduated from SDSU in 2020, after majoring in child development.

“Listening to others, you learn more from them,” Perez said.

Perez mentioned that he missed socializing. He also shared he had never been in a group dedicated to Latinx

up in front of everyone to share personal experiences of honoring the Indigenous people before them and to ask the same for all in attendance.

Tamara Strohauer, social work professor and advisor of Indigenous Social Work Alliance (ISWA) spoke about what SDSU has done in the past and what was created.

SEE INDIGENOUS RALLY, PAGE 4

peoples such as En Confianza but he was happy because the group provides an opportunity to connect with Mexicans who have roots in different parts of Mexico.

For many students, it is important that SDSU offers these kinds of programs, especially because the university holds the distinction of being a Hispanic Serving Institution.

According to an article published in 2012, “a school must have a Hispanic population of at least 25 percent to qualify for the designation.” Just for the 2019-2020 school year, SDSU had a population of 11,140 Hispanic students, according to a report.

According to the same report, Hispanic students make up the second largest race/ethnicity to enroll at SDSU that school year, since they made up about 31% of the population.

More information about En Confianza can be found on the LRC’s official Instagram page. More information can also be found in the LRC in person, on the first floor of the Malcolm A. Love Library, next to the Chicanos/as.

The LRC also promotes events by coming to other support groups, like Joteria Sin Fronteras.

Joteria sin Fronteras is a group dedicated to supporting Latinx students that also identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. The group gets together to create a sense of community with joy, friendship, knowledge and fun activities, according to the LRC. They hold meetings on Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Ashley Tejada: continued from page 2

Tejada said she led the student opposition and helped create an online movement against the resolution.

“It really shined light on the fact that at SDSU, students care,” Tejada said. “Being that there were over 300 students on the Zoom, I think that it really just showed that our SDSU students care about every single thing that happens on this campus.”

In preparation for the Sept. 9 senate meeting, Tejada said she compiled a list of speakers representing various campus communities to voice their opposition to the resolution.

“It was the collective group that we all organized and planned for to create that student advocacy and really have it hit home and make an impact,” Tejada said.

The resolution failed in a vote 77-2 but Tejada succeeded in uniting the diverse student body at SDSU and SDSU Imperial Valley.

“You could see in the chat that it was going off the entire time and that’s because our students aren’t just bystanders,” Tejada said.

Tejada sees the unity within the student body displayed during the semester so far and wants students to pay attention to the stories of the Latinx voices on campus.

“In Latinx culture there really is no one definition,” Tejada said. “You have students from Peru, South America, Mexico, there’s such a large array of space and area that encompasses what it means to be Latinx. I’m just really proud and grateful to be in this position and feel that I can lift up the Latinx voice.”

Crossing the border: continued from page 1

semester and has more hours to sleep, he said his health has improved. This transition he had this semester from moving to San Diego has been reflected in his diet.

“I used to eat more, I was hungrier, I was overweight and now I eat less ... and it’s much better for my mental health as well,” Vargas said.

Criminal justice graduate, Tony Evelyn Ruvalcaba had the same experiences similar to those of Vargas.

At twenty-four year old, Ruvalcaba graduated in the winter of 2020. The student shared some of the sacrifices she had to make from a very young age in order to go to school in San Diego.

“My school started at 8 in the morning and I had to get up at 3 in the morning,” Ruvalcaba said.

From a very young age, her parents crossed her in the car, she slept while standing in line to be able to cross before her classes began.

The former student also feared for her safety when crossing the border. Ruvalcaba mentioned that during her college years there was a group of men carjacking in the port entry of Otay Mesa inside of Mexico. One day, on her way home when leaving through the border port from San Diego to Tijuana in Otay, she witnessed an attempted assault on her person.

“There was a car that stopped in the middle of the street at midnight, and there was a man outside the car waving his hands to make me stop my car,” Ruvalcaba said. “I did not stop and when I turned around I saw that behind the car there was a hooded boy hiding.”

Ruvalcaba currently works and lives in San Diego. The former student says her schedule is now much more flexible and she can commute from her home to work without having to travel back to Tijuana compared to previous semesters.

4 The Daily Aztec News

COVID update: thegood, bad and ugly

Bird secures partnership after previous campus ban

Oct.13 - 19, 2021 EDITOR: Katelynn Robinson • news@thedailyaztec.com

EDITOR IN CHIEF Catlan Nguyen

MANAGING EDITOR Trinity Bland

by Katelynn Robinson NEWS EDITOR

One year ago today, San Diego State announced there had been a total of 1,157 COVID-19 cases, over 400 being on campus and 726 from students off-campus.

Since then, three COVID-19 vaccines have rolled out, one has been FDA approved, the county has opened most businesses and over 95% of SDSU’s on-campus population has been vaccinated. This year the university has had a total of 220 main campus student cases, and a cumulative total of 246 cases among students, faculty and the Imperial Valley campus combined.

SDSU currently has the highest vaccination rate in the California State University System, according to a university-wide email sent on Oct. 1. However, the university also has the highest positive cumulative case count for this semester according to the CSU database the CSU Office of the Chancellor maintains.

When reading this chart, it is important to note the graph is only representing on-site COVID-19 cases, and cumulative total starts from the beginning of case counting on

Indigenous rally: continued from page 3

“In 2019 we held the ​Native Truth and Healing conference here on this campus and a fire was lit,” Strohauer said. “We cooked for the elders to ask their permission to have such a conference and talk about this building here,” she said, referring to Hepner Hall.

Strohauer spoke about honoring their people and how Waipuk put a resolution through to permanently raise the Kumeyaay flag.

This was before the world shut down and the pandemic arised, unlike most of the world, Strohauer sees the COVID-19 lockdown as a blessing.

“When that first began it honestly felt very sacred to me,” she said. “It felt like mother

July 21, 2020. The total also includes students, faculty and staff on campus. The graph also provides the number of new positive COVID-19 cases on a week by week basis. For the week of Oct. 5, SDSU had 27 positive COVID-19 cases.

Accounting fourth year Allison Sandoz received her booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine. She said like the first two doses of the vaccine the side effects lasted about 48 hours.

“Overall, I would get another vaccine again and suffer through those side effects just to have that extra bit of protection from COVID,” Sandoz said.

Sandoz said the booster had slightly more intense side effects than her second dose, since this time she experienced a fever and vomiting. However, she emphasized she has underlying health conditions and does not want to discourage anyone from getting the booster. In fact she said she would do it again.

“If I can make it, y’all can make it,” Sandoz said with a laugh. “It was worth it, I would get it again to avoid COVID.”

Sandoz qualified for the vaccine early on last year because she was employed as an RA through the university.

SEE ONLINE

Photo by Noelani Sapla SDSU has both the highest percentage of vaccinated students and the highest case count.

earth had put the human race on time out and everyone had a collective experience across this earth.”

Strohauer can still feel the power that was created at SDSU and the people they honored along with it.

“I really like seeing all these new faces here to celebrate Indigenous People’s day not Columbus Day,” second year Derrik Herrera, political science and American Indian Studies major said. “For this land is the land of my people as well as so many prior to San Diego, America and California existing.”

People clapped at the end of the rally, standing for the Indigenous community and supporting them. Encouraging students to use their voices to speak up in classrooms and bring up topics like colonization, fighting to become better.

Photo by Katelynn Robinson The Bird company came to SDSU to hand out free helemets to promote helmet safety.

by Josh Petrofsky STAFF WRITER

San Diego State has announced a partnership between San Diego State Parking and Transportation and micro-mobility company Bird. The company will bring e-scooters and e-bikes back on campus.

The partnership will see the official return of micro-mobility transportation options to the campus community. Bird will be the exclusive provider of micromobility scooters and bikes to the SDSU area; other similar companies are still banned from campus.

This partnership comes after SDSU updated its ban on micromobility devices in May.

“The decision to return micromobility devices to campus was made following a noted change in the micro-mobility rental landscape and technology, and a California State University system requirement to review transportation demand and accessibility on campus,” a statement given after lifting the ban, from the university said.

The partnership comes with several safety measures for the e-scooters and e-bikes. Bird

Disparity

research: continued from page 2

campus.

The recruitment of FUERTE will prioritize scholars with committed research interests in Latinx health disparities focusing their research on addiction, environmental health, nutrition, physical activity and more, according to the program’s report on the NIH website.

Eileen Pitpitan, Evaluation Core Director for FUERTE said her role is to analyze whether the program has an impact on improving faculty success and the SDSU campus climate around diversity, equity and inclusion. She said she acknowledges the need for diversity and inclusion at all

has implemented geofences and geospeeds to the campus area. Slower speed, no parking and no ride zones will be implemented using geotagging. Information will be available to riders in the Bird app about where they can and cannot ride and park e-scooters and e-bikes.

Riders will also be incentivized to follow proper parking procedures. If an e-scooter is returned correctly to a designated parking zone on campus, the rider will receive an automatic credit to their Bird account.

The micro-mobility devices were initially banned from campus at the start of the Fall 2019 semester. The primary reasons given for the ban included an increase in accidents involving the scooters as well as scooters being left around campus, cluttering walkways and common areas.

The ban received criticism when it was announced. The school had voted to ban the scooters in March of 2019 but did not inform students until a week before the start of the fall 2019 semester.

SEE ONLINE

levels of science and research. This is the gap FUERTE will attempt to improve.

Zúñiga said one of the issues she hopes to understand more are the higher rates of cervical cancer in Latinas, especially in our border region. What FUERTE aims to study are deeper and shared reasons for why the worst outcomes are disproportionately affecting the Latinx community.

This research can also be a springboard for other marginalized communities to understand health disparities amongst them, according to Zúñiga.

“This grant that’s been funded belongs to everyone,” Zúñiga said. “It is something that should support our students, faculty [and] our community and for that reason it is a grant that goes to SDSU, not to one group or one person. It goes to all of us.”

NEWS EDITOR Katelynn Robinson

OPINION EDITOR Aaliyah Alexander

MUNDO AZTECA EDITOR Noé Sandoval

ASST. MUNDO AZTECA EDITOR Karina Bazarte

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Ryan Hardison

ASST. ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Cristina Lombardo

SPORTS EDITOR Jason Freund

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR Andrew Finley

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Amanda Orozco

PHOTO EDITOR Noelani Sapla

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Mackenzie Stafford

ASST. MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Jayne Yutig

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Hemen Mesfin

STAFF WRITERS Eugénie Budnik Brittany Cruz-Fejeran Lucelis Martinez Megan Oytas Morgan Prickett Xiomara Villarreal-Gerardo

SENIOR STAFF WRITERS Juan Daniel Avila Jenna Meyer Jessica Octavio Sara Rott Morgan Prickett

CONTRIBUTORS Taylor Harris Tania Gallardo Avalos Karelly Vidrio ________________________________

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Brian Arnold

________________________________

GRAPHIC DESIGN SPECIALIST Luis Valenzuela

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