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THURSDAY JANUARY 14, 2016
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Obama's last address inspires hope
Unsolved homicides increase in Hayward
Hayward below national average in clearance rate
By Louis LaVenture
NEWS AND SPORTS EDITOR Hayward Cold Cases Hayward isn’t known for its number of homicides, it rarely reaches double figures in a calendar year. However, in 2015 it was known as the city where those cases became increasingly harder to solve. Three out of the 10 homicide cases that occurred in Hayward in 2015 have resulted in a suspect being taken into custody. The other seven have been classified as “cold” or “under investigation,” according to Hayward Police Sgt. Ryan Cantrell. This is a far cry from the two previous years in the East Bay c it y. According to FBI crime statistics, Hayward had nine crimes classified as a murder or manslaughter in 2014 and they were all cleared. In 2013, the city had seven, and five of those cases were cleared. Contrary to that trend, in 2012, there were six ho-
Raiders lose relocation attempt By Louis LaVenture
NEWS AND SPORTS EDITOR When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell scolded the Oakland Raiders last week for their lack of viable options to keep the franchise in the East Bay city, it was a clear indicator of things to come. The silver and black have no current plan in place to keep the team in Oakland, while they do have a rough plan to move to Carson in Southern California. However, all of that was temporarily dashed on Tuesday when NFL team owners approved the St. Louis Rams and San Diego Chargers relocation to Inglewood next season, effectively ending the Raiders plans of moving. The Raiders Southern California stadium venture would have been in conjunction with the Chargers and the two would have shared a facility similar to the current situation between the New York Giants and New York Jets in their New Jersey complex. However, Rams owner Stan Kroenke already purchased land in Inglewood for a stadium that will be done in 2019 now that his franchise has the approval to move. The owners gave the Chargers until 2017 to figure out a plan to move or plans to lease the Inglewood complex. Where does this leave the Raiders? Temporarily it means staying in Oakland. If the silver and black want to pursue a move to Southern Cali-
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micides and only one was cleared, similar to 2011, where only one of seven was cleared. Nineteen of the 37 homicides in Hayward over the past five years have resulted in a suspect in custody or have been cleared, which gives the city just over a 50 percent clearance rate for those crimes. According to the FBI, the national clearance rate for homicides is 64.1 percent. The process: the first 48 hours The HPD Homicide and Major Assaults unit consists of a sergeant and five detectives. According to Cantrell, detectives are assigned cases on a rotational basis and are called out immediately once the death has been reported or discovered. “The detectives work the cases on a team concept, with a primary detective assigned to coordinate all the investigative efforts,” Cantrell said. “Some evidence is collected via search warrants and court orders issued by the courts and
By Shannon Stroud EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
other evidence is supplied by witnesses and other involved parties via consent.” Cantrell said that there are several barriers that prevent the investigation team from solving cases. Some of those include uncooperative witnesses, family members and/or lack of physical evidence. He went on to say that just because they develop information that points to suspects, “proving it beyond a reasonable doubt can often be difficult.” Cantrell did acknowledge that some of the crimes are gang related; however that is not always the primary reason. “We have gangsters that get murdered, but that doesn’t mean that the cause of their death was from their gang related activities,”
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Not all disabilities are visible Panel helps students and staff understand unseen illnesses
Equal access includes things like a sign language interpreter for deaf students to customized furniture for students with physical ailments. According to Baird, students at CSUEB have issues that range from vision to learning disabilities including dyslexia, as well as audio and visual processing disorders. Joshua Everett went to CSUEB for two years and utilized the accessibility services for his anxiety, a disability he didn’t even know he had. “I just get really nervous around big groups of people,” Everett said. “They let me take my tests in a class with pretty
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NEWS AND SPORTS EDITOR
ILLUSTRATION BY BRITTANY ENGLAND/THE PIONEER
few years. She also said that the office’s primary focus is to provide legally mandated accommodations to students that need them. According to the United States Census Bureau, approximately 96 percent of people who live with an illness have an illness that is invisible. These people do not use any assistive device and may look perfectly healthy, which is why a disability cannot be determined solely on whether or not a person uses visible assistive equipment. “We are not here to make sure students succeed,” Baird said. “We are here to make sure students have equal access.”
Last night, the world watched as President Barack Obama delivered his final State of the Union address. Throughout every politician’s career promises are made, lines are drawn, stances are taken, opinions waver and those promises, intentional or not, are broken. When Obama first ran for office in 2009, his political campaign inspired hope and now in 2016, his final speech did the same: inspired hope and change in American citizens. The State of the Union was a much-needed break from the presidential race. As candidates like Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, and Jeb Bush campaign, as a voter, all I hear left and right are the things that are wrong with the country I live in. As I listened to Obama’s speech it was a positive reminder that yes our country has its issues, but there has also been a lot of progress since our previous president. These are the five points that I took away from his speech. 1. Guantanamo Bay is really expensive “I will keep working to shut down the prison at Guantanamo. It is expensive. It is unnecessary. And it only serves as a recruitment brochure for our enemies. There’s a better way,” Obama said in his speech. According to a report by former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the detention at Guantanamo costs roughly $397 million a year. According to that report, this includes money spent on maintenance, personnel, contracted work, military commission and Department of Defense funded studies. In 2014, there were 155 people detained, that means roughly 2.6 million dollars is spent on each detainee, according to an article by PolitiFact. $397 million dollars, that’s thousands of students’ tuition — shut it down! 2. Obama is all for peace between the parties Obama wants everyone to get along. Polarity between the Republican and Democratic parties act as distractions from the issues at hand and have stifled progress instead of aided in their resolution. “Too many Americans feel that way right now. It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency — that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better,” said President Obama. He expressed that he understands that regardless of peace between the parties there will still always be disagreements. He stated that we are a country of different beliefs, attitudes and interests, and at the end of the day there will be arguments. “But democracy does require basic bonds of trust between its citizens. It doesn’t work if we think the people who disagree with us are all motivated by malice.” 3. He loves students In January 2015, Obama proposed that two years of community college be free for all responsible students; in his speech he stated that he would continue to fight for that this year. Throughout my college career, I’ve worked multiple jobs
By Louis LaVenture
When the term disability comes up, for many the first thing that comes to mind is something of a physical nature. However, the Accessibility Services department at Cal State East Bay is trying to shine a light on invisible disabilities that can cause confusion. Asperger’s syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorders or ADHD, brain injuries, learning disabilities, psychiatric conditions, seizure disorders and Tourette’s syndrome are just some of the disabilities that aren’t necessarily noticeable and can lead to conflict with others. CSUEB held a panel discussion on the topic Tuesday through the Office of Diversity, the first of a diversity development series that includes various workshops and presentations throughout the year. “There is a stigma that surrounds some of these invisible disabilities,” Accessibility Services Coordinator Pamela Baird said. “Many students have encounters where they are questioned about their disability because you can’t see it. This is something we are trying to raise awareness about not just for students but for instructors as well.” Baird said that there are over 1,000 students that utilize their services and they have had a net gain of roughly 100-150 students per year for the last
Winter 2016 Issue 2