Covering the East Bay community since 1961
THURSDAY OCTOBER 27, 2016 California State University, East Bay
NEWS
First student food pantry celebrates grand opening
News, Art, & Culture for the East Bay
www.thepioneeronline.com
Fall 2016 Issue 6
No “creepy clowns” at campus costume contest
By Kali Persall MANAGING EDITOR One in five students go without consistent meals, a CSU study reported in February 2015. Since the report was released, Cal State East Bay has been cooking up a solution. Last Wednesday, East Bay cut the red ribbon on the university’s first student food pantry, a resource that many hope will satiate the hunger that many Pioneers face daily. Volunteers handed out fresh strawberries, apples and oranges to anyone who visited the pantry on opening day, according to Alex Baker, case management coordinator at East Bay’s Student Health and Counseling Services center. The pantry was well stocked with fresh produce and shelf-stable food donations from the Alameda County Food Bank, whom Student Affairs has partnered with, and 800 items from the Enrollment Services department, according to Baker. The program is currently in the process of gathering volunteers and interns to run the food pantry, which operates on an appointment only basis and by referral only. Baker explained that referrals are made by faculty or staff through an anonymous reporting system, or by students who can create a referral for themselves or others by emailing the H.O.P.E. email address. After he receives the referrals, Baker follows up with the students to coordinate a time and date for them to access the food pantry. Foods are categorized and assigned a value by a points system. Students can access the pantry once a week and have an allotted number of points that they can use at that time. Baker said the pantry opened during Make a Difference week, an expansion of Make a Difference Day, which celebrates volunteerism and took place from Oct. 17 to Oct. 22 this year. The food pantry is part of Pioneers for H.O.P.E or Helping Our Pioneers Excel, an “intervention” program that was created following the CSU study to provide hungry and homeless students with food, shelter and emergency funds. Since Baker was hired last February, plans for the food pantry have been in the works. During this time, an advisory board and five subcommittee groups focusing on food, housing, funding, campaign and resources were created. The study, commissioned by CSU Chancellor Timothy White revealed that only 11 of the 23 campuses in the CSU system offered programs that assisted food insecure students. At the time of the study, East Bay’s only alternative dining option was meal cards for the on-campus dining commons. Baker said the Pioneers for H.O.P.E. program is the first of it’s kind at East Bay. Baker said the study was a call to
SEE PANTRY PAGE 3
ILLUSTRATION BY DINA ARAKCHEYEVA/THE PIONEER
SEE HALLOWEEN PAGE 7
San Leandro to open new Tech Campus By Michele Dennis
SPORTS
CSUEB men's soccer unable to get a win
CONTRIBUTOR A crowd of nearly 900 people gathered to watch the inaugural lighting of a 55-foot tall polished steel skin female sculpture known as “Truth is Beauty” in celebration of the grand opening of the San Leandro Technology Campus on Oct. 18. Hundreds of people held candles as the statue’s 2,500 LED lights began to glow, softly illuminating the Tech Campus courtyard. The statue is representative of the movement to encourage women to become more involved in the technology industry, said Gaye Quinn who works for Westlake Urban, a property management and development organization in the Bay Area and one of many, including the city itself, responsible for bringing “her” here. The “Truth is Beauty” statue was first introduced at Burning Man Festival four years ago. San Leandro Mayor Pauline Cutter said at the event that the statue, whose bare female form gestures to the heavens, represents not only the new campus, which opens this fall, but the transformation this city envisions for the future. The Tech Campus is located on the west side of the downtown San Leandro BART station and is one of several new projects underway in the city, including a nearly completed 200-unit affordable housing project right across from the
By Marissa Marshall STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY MICHELE DENNIS/CONTRIBUTOR
A statue in front of the new San Leandro Tech Campus is on display on
In its past two games, the California State East Bay men's soccer team was unable to score any goals against California State San Marcos or UC San Diego. On Friday night, the team faced California State San Marcos (5-4-4 overall, 4-2-4 conference), which ended in a physical yet scoreless game. By the end of the game, each team had 15 fouls to their name. East Bay received four yellow cards and one of San Marcos’s players was ejected with a red card. San Marcos had the upper hand on the Pioneers in terms of shots, leading 15-9. Neither team was able to put the ball in the back of the net. This was the first game of the season for the Pioneers that resulted in a 0-0 score. Both teams had a difficult time capitalizing on the opportunities given to them, but were solid defensively. East Bay goalkeeper freshman Carlos Moreno led the Pioneers with three saves for the night. On Sunday before they faced UC San Diego, the number one team in CCAA, the Pioneers honored the eight seniors who would be playing their final home game: Douglas McNiell,
SEE TECH PAGE 9 October 18.
SEE SOCCER PAGE 11
Increased mice sightings on Hayward campus raises safety concerns SEE MICE PAGE 4