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The Daily Aztec
News
Nov. 10 - 16, 2021 EDITOR: Katelynn Robinson • news@thedailyaztec.com
New and improved, the ARC
expansion offers new features by Mackenzie Stafford MULTIMEDIA EDITOR
After over a year of expansion on Nov. 8, Associated Students held the Aztec Recreation Center’s grand reopening to present the newly rebuilt gymnasium. As the news spread through campus it created a major buzz amongst students. Over 50 students, faculty and staff gathered around the new front doors on the south end of the building awaiting the opening. The doors opened at noon. The new ARC is nearly complete with 94,000 square feet, two floors, an indoor track, many activity rooms, almost all brand new equipment, a rock wall, different fitness areas and more. ARC employees were ecstatic with the results and attendance at the reopening event, finally being able to see how all of their hard work paid off. “I feel like the new ARC will fit a variety of people’s needs and next semester we should have a new basketball court,” ARC employee and SDSU student Rachel Browne said. The construction on the ARC renovation will continue throughout the upcoming semester until the summer of 2022 in order to finish the basketball court, activity rooms and heart rate monitors throughout the gymnasium. This will result in seven multi-use courts on the north portion of the facility according to the Associated Students website. “There was some noise with the construction, but I was more excited about more machines and more space,” second year student Marcus Duggs said. The anticipation for the grand reopening was heightened especially due to the lack of an indoor campus recreation center due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mike Hastings new interim police chief by Lucelis Martinez SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Photo by Owen Ekstrom
The new and improved Aztec Recreation Center officially opened on Nov. 8.
“It was really hard during the pandemic. I had to go to my friend’s gym,” second year student Parsa Pourmoula said. In order to follow COVID-19 protocol facial coverings are required in the ARC, there are only touchless water fountains and there is a touchless entry with the Aztec Rec app. This app allows members of the recreation center to access the facility with a barcode and access drop-in events. The new ARC continued to fill in as time continued, packed with students taking tours, trying out new equipment and fitting in workouts they were unable to get in days before due to the closure of the Aztec Recreation Center
on Nov. 6 and 7 to prepare for the grand reopening. For one student this was a momentous occasion. “There was so much equipment, so many happy people working out, probably one of my best experiences on campus so far. I was just thrilled to be a part of it,” a first year student Liam Riley said. This excitement could be felt throughout the new section of the ARC. Students were able to discover new sections and get a better understanding of the new layout of the recreation center. To learn more about what the new ARC offers, visit the website
Mike Hastings has become the interim police chief for the San Diego State police department as of last week. The University Police Department (UPD) sent out a brief email on Nov. 5. “With this message I would like to share that while UPD leadership has changed, we remain committed to building public trust while cultivating partnerships with our community members and stakeholders,” the email said. According to the email, UPD will proceed with community-based policing efforts by working collaboratively with the SDSU community to improve engagement and relationships. Hastings has become the interim police chief after former UPD Chief Josh Mays became the associate vice president of Public Safety and Community Empowerment. According to the SDSU News center, Hastings joined the UPD in January and has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience. “It is my belief that upholding a high level of professionalism and accountability within a police department reinforces the quality of public safety everyone deserves,” the Nov. 5 email said. The email explained that even though leadership has changed hands from Mays to Hastings, Hastings is committed to building upon the community-centered police culture Mays is identified with. Hastings said in the email he encourages feedback and looks forward to working together with campus partners and stakeholders to collectively identify areas and opportunities of improvement.
ASSOCIATED STUDENTS APPROVES NEW WAITLIST POLICY FOR FALL 2022 by Eugènie Budnik STAFF WRITER
At the University Senate meeting on Nov. 2, the governing body passed a new policy which will change the course waitlist process starting in the fall 2022 semester. The current waitlist policy ranks students based on multiple factors such as “completion of course prerequisites, total units completed, whether or not the student is already enrolled in a section of the course, and the date/time added to the waitlist,” according to the SDSU Office of the Registrar website. The new policy, which was introduced by the Academic Policy and Planning Committee, ranks students on the waitlist based on the order in which they are added to the waitlist. Effectively, when space becomes available in a course, students will be automatically added in order of the waitlist to the course over the first five instructional days of that semester. Pamela Lach, chair of the Academic Policy and Planning Committee, said at the meeting the new policy will “align with the shift to the PeopleSoft Student Information Session, as well our [SDSU’s] move from a prepaid to a postpaid campus.” The Academic Policy and Planning Committee explained the university’s switch from being a prepaid to a
Photo by Kelly Smiley
The new waitlist system will implement a first-come first-serve system.
postpaid tuition campus and the Senate policy change approved in spring 2021 to the order of registrations which mandates students must register in a seniority based tiered order. However, the new policy also allows instructors to have the option of adding students to their classes using “permission numbers” in the days leading up to the schedule adjustment deadline. “Permission numbers” are private codes which can be given to
students from instructors which allow them to register in the instructor’s course. This element of the new policy brought up concerns of favoritism from a few senators. “I would urge senators to oppose this policy if it means an instructor can select ‘this’ student over ‘that’ student for enrollment in the class rather than an anonymous waitlist,” Senator and philosophy professor Steve Barbone
said. “It could make it possible for it to seem as if some instructors are ‘cherry picking’ their students.” The creators of the policy fought back against this concern, and instead discussed how this new policy of allowing instructors to invite students to their courses through permission numbers could help instructors keep track of their rosters. “In creating an automated waitlist, there were quite a lot of faculty who were concerned that they needed to have some degree of control of their rosters to ensure that only students who were prepared would be entering in their courses,” said Associated Vice President for Academic Affairs Stefan Hyman. Ultimately, 44 senators voted in favor of the new policy, while 22 senators voted against the new policy. Five senators chose to abstain. Adrianna Redmond, a first year criminal justice and psychology student, found the new policy to be perplexing and unfair. “I prefer the current policy because I think it is more fair to students,” Redmond said. “I think picking and choosing students to be in your class is a little odd. I don’t feel like the professor should be able to choose who they get to have in class.” The new waitlist policy will take effect starting in the fall 2022 semester.
