The Golden Gate [X]press

SEE MULTIMEDIA, SLIDESHOWS, VIDEOS AND MORE ONLINE AT:

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG ]X[ ]GOLDEN GATE

PRESS[

VOLUME LXXXX — ISSUE 12

[X]pressThe Golden Gate

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

UPAC: Staff feels excluded from merger discussions-

goldengatxpress.org

Have a QR scanner? Scan here to see our new mobile website!

Campus - 2Photo Story- 4City - 5A&E- 6. 7Opinion - 8Sports - 10

INSIDE:

AHOY! Unique class sails Lake Merced

In an emergency, students with disabilities must wait

By Jennifer [email protected]

While everyone else is rushing out of a campus building during a drill or an evacuation, students with disabilities are often left be-hind, waiting for extra assistance from emergency personnel or volunteers.

Students with disabilities who do not receive assistance from classmates or faculty must go through the process of calling an emergency organization and waiting for help to arrive. This happened to several students af-ter the April 17 regional power

outage.“Pretty much, being in my po-

sition, you should always know something like this could hap-pen,” said microbiology major Fekadu Andeberhan, who uses a motorized wheelchair to get around because she has a muscle weakness that makes it difficult for her to walk.

When the lights went out, An-deberhan was in the computer lab on the second floor of the Hu-manities building.

“Some students waited with me,” she said. “It’s not good to be stuck, but I had help from kind people.”

After the lights went out, An-deberhan called the Disabled Student Program on campus, which arranged for her to be as-sisted by the fire department.

“We try to provide accessibil-ity as much as possible. If peo-

ple are stuck in elevators, we call the fire department,” said Mikael Miller, the front desk clerk at the Disability Program and Resource Center. “During an emergency we still run a system of call-ins, but there is staff designated in-side the buildings to help if some-one needs to get downstairs.”

Some students said that pre-vention is better than waiting for outside help. SF state visitor Carlos Zentella was in the Ce-sar Chavez Student Center at the time of the power outage.

“I think it’s better to take the necessary precaution before pan-ic strikes,” said Zentella, who has polio. Fortunately, the elevators in the student center worked af-ter the outage, unlike most other buildings on campus.

“I went back up the elevator

SAFETY continued on Page 9

Calls to school group coordinate aid to stranded

GREGORY MORENO — [X]PRESS

By Sara [email protected]

In a time where much of the anger over academ-ic woes has been directed toward administrators, Leroy Morishita has maintained an image of integ-rity.

After a 29-year tenure, executive Vice Presi-dent and Chief Financial Officer Morishita will be leaving his home at SF State to become the inter-im president of Cal State East Bay. Morishita, 58, is best known for his role in the acquisition of Uni-versity Park North and the development of the Uni-versity’s physical master plan.

Considered by fellow administrators to be a huge asset to the University and integral part of the ad-ministrative team, Morishita’s reputation of being a friendly, honest and hard-working man will present the University a challenge in finding a comparable replacement.

“Dr. Morishita is a rare combination of visionary and pragmatist,” said President Robert A. Corrigan in a recent press release discussing Morishita’s de-parture. “(These are) qualities that will serve him well as East Bay’s leader, and qualities very much in demand during this most challenging time for public higher education in California.”

Morishita acknowledged his enthusiasm at his appointment to the new position by CSU Chancel-lor Charles Reed.

“It was quite humbling,” Morishita said. “It was very exciting. I’ve gotten well over a hundred emails from people around campus. They all con-gratulated me. They all said that they were going to miss me and that they are going to miss what I do for the University.”

Morishita’s long history at SF State began in 1978 when he worked as a counselor in the Education Opportunity Program, after which he attended Harvard University where he obtained his doctor-ate degree. He returned in 1984 to work in the ad-missions and records office doing analysis and en-rollment projections.

It did not take long for Morishita to get noticed.Don Scoble, the University vice president at

the time and current vice president emeritus, saw enormous potential in Morishita.

“I recognized that he was an extraordinary tal-ent,” Scoble said. “I asked the president if I could have Leroy come and work with me.”

In 2001, Morishita excelled and became the vice president of physical planning and developing.

Since then, he has won important battles for the University, particularly in the attainment of

INSIDE: Cherry Blossom fesitval - pg. 6

TRANSFERRED: Leroy Morishita, SF State executive vice president and chief financial officer, was recently named interim president for CSU East Bay. Morishita will make the transition to his new job July 1.

SAM E. HELLER — [X]PRESS

Did you know we have a sailing class? All hands on deck!

See page 4 for story and photos

Losing a leaderLongtime SF State administrator

appointed president at CSU East Bay

VP continued on Page 9

By Megan [email protected]

For Scott Ruddello, a Japanese major, the earthquake and tsuna-mi in Japan not only devastated a country he loves, but also set back a year’s worth of plans.

The California State Univer-sity has issued a 90-day travel ban on Japan, prohibiting study abroad until at least June while leaving many prospective study abroad students discouraged.

“I was just angry and frustrat-ed because I knew it couldn’t be helped,” Ruddello said in refer-ence to an email sent by the study abroad office March 15. “I felt like I was left with so many unan-swered questions.”

The continuation of the fall study abroad program in Japan will be determined based on the status of the national travel warn-ing and Japan’s progress in deal-ing with the disaster.

“Right now there are risks and the situation poses danger,” said Yenbo Wu, director of in-

ternational education at SF State. “When things get back in shape, we will re-open the program, but right now it just depends.”

Japan’s northeast coast, which was hit with a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and a tsunami March 11, is currently combating a nu-clear crisis amid the destruction. The severity level reached a max-imum level of seven last Tuesday, putting it on par with the Cher-nobyl disaster.

“Our concern is students being exposed to radiation and getting sick,” Wu said. “It’s a health risk, and we want to keep them safe.”

As a result, the 12 SF State stu-dents who were studying abroad in Japan during the disaster were sent home four days after.

Wu is optimistic that the pro-gram will be open for students at least by spring, but he is hoping to have students back in Japan by fall at the latest.

“We still have students ap-plying,” Wu said. “The CSU is already planning for the fall, though it’s not been clearly an-

nounced.”While applicants are disap-

pointed by the change of plans, they are still anticipating a future of studying abroad in Japan.

“At first it was really upset-ting,” said Japanese major Clif-ford Phan. “I still got an accep-tance letter that said they were looking to let people apply again in spring, so I’m hopeful.”

Phan, who did not have to make significant financial chang-es prior to his departure, said he feels luckier than most.

“I know people who had to go as far as selling their cars and got an email days later say-ing they weren’t going anymore,” Phan said. “It could have been a lot worse for me, so I can’t com-plain.”

Wu suggested that students who applied to study abroad visit a study abroad counselor to es-tablish a back-up plan for their academic year.

“Right now we’re facing an un-known, so no one can really say for sure what students should

do,” Wu said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen. There could be another earthquake to-morrow and we’d have to deal with that, too.”

Though Ruddello still does not know what his future entails, he knows he will be applying again to study abroad in spring.

“I’m not really sure what my plans are now,” Ruddello said. “My hope is to apply again and that those who could not go be-cause of the travel warning will get priority over those who new-ly applied.”

Campus2 Wednesday, April 20, 2011 goldengatexpress.org- GOLDEN GATE [X]PRESS

“I was pissed off and irritated. I need my education.”

Stanley Chang, child development, senior, 23

“What was your reaction when class was canceled Monday due to the blackout?”Reporting by Jennifer Terman,

Photos by Sasha Tivetski

SF STATE SPEAKS

OUT

“When they blacked out, I blacked out.”

Ronald Nguyen,undeclared, freshman, 19

“I tried to find power and went to the mall to try to get Internet. Borders was hella crowd-ed, so I gave up trying to

be productive and had an early dinner at the mall.”

Felicia Escalona, electrical engineering, junior, 20

“None of my classes were canceled, but I did take a comparative literature test in the dark. We had light outside so we

just opened the windows.”

Enya Barcelon, Japanese, sophomore, 19

A weekly unscientific survey of SF State students.

“I didn’t come to school and found out from the email about it.”

Renee Goree,

humanities, junior, 21

[X]PRESS ONLINEFeatured media for this week

Dancing in the dark, spinning in the rain

The eerie gloom that fell upon SF State after Monday’s rainy weather and power outage sent just about every class to a screeching halt.

One class that did persevere through the chaos, however, was Wendy Diamond’s advanced

ballet class. Relocating from a dark

classroom to the rain soaked concrete by the Creative Arts building, about 20 of Diamond’s students leaped, spun and sashayed as they practiced their final routine under her direction.

- Gil Riego, Jr.

FIND THE FULL ARTICLE AND VIDEOS :

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG[ ]

Family takes on campus

X[ ]GOLDEN GATE

PRESS

THE BLOTTER Campus crime log from the past week

Park it in the garage Two reports of auto burglary

were made this week. The first occurred along Winston Drive on April 12 between 4 and 5:30 a.m. The total loss was estimat-ed at $400. The second burglary took place on Holloway Avenue between 5 and 7:45 p.m. April 12. There are no leads in either case.

Garbage burns well Officers responded to reports

of a burning dumpster on the first floor loading dock of Hensill Hall around 5 p.m. April 15. The officers extinguished the fire by closing the lid of the dumpster. A brief investigation determined that an inappropriately disposed cigarette caused the blaze.

— Compiled by Tom Garcia

Earthquake, tsunami halt study abroad in JapanPROHIBITION Student travels

By Megan [email protected]

Frank and Shally Meng, employees at Asia Express in the Cesar Chavez Student Center, work tirelessly 14 hours nearly every day and barely make more than $20,000 combined each month.

They recently mortgaged their house in or-der to pay off their $51,411.37 debt to the stu-dent center.

The rent is due today. They don’t have nearly enough money to pay it.

“Nothing has changed,” Shally Meng said. “It’s all the same.”

Last month, the two were served a three-day notice to close after an attempt to retract the original eviction notice, which ordered them to vacate by April 1.

Today, they are still fighting to reduce their $10,000 rent. However, their rent has de-creased $1,000 since the business opened in 1997. Adjusted for inflation, it is a decrease of more than 50 percent.

The fight began in 2009, when the Mengs first experienced financial hardship. Since April 2010, the restaurant pays half their rent.

The attempt to save the business picked up momentum late February when Frank started a petition that collected 1,300 student signa-tures and generated letters of support.

The couple also planned to meet with As-sociated Students Inc., March 8 to explain their case.

“The board only gave us two minutes to speak and we did not have time to show our presentation,” Meng said in an email.

Meng claims that the business office lost the petition and letters of support from fac-ulty and staff.

“It was a big petition with so many sig-

natures. How could they lose it,” he said. “I had extra copies of some of the letters. I sent them two copies of each extra I had. I said: ‘You lost them, so here’s two more so you won’t lose them anymore.’ They never con-tacted me.”

Students also pulled together to provide support for the Mengs.

“Forty percent of students at SF State are of Asian background,” said Shi Zeng, presi-dent of the Chinese student and scholar as-sociation, in a letter. “We are very proud of our university to have a restaurant like Asia Express that serves real Asian food.”

In addition to rent, the Mengs pay for upkeep on their business, including heat, power and new renovations. Last year, the Mengs paid $350,000 for improvements. Only $89,000 of it was returned, according to doc-

uments shown to [X]press by Meng.“This is my business, but not my space,”

Meng said. “I put money in to help them. They owe me still.”

The Mengs must also pay a Pacific Gas and Electric bill that Meng finds disproportionate to his actual energy use.

“I don’t even use the elevators, I just use what’s in here,” he said. “I don’t know what to think. I ask to see a copy of my energy bill and no one can show me.”

Guy Dalpe, managing director of the stu-dent union, declined to comment on the al-legations made by the Mengs.

When the eviction notice was sent out in March, the Mengs hired a lawyer whose cost comes to $350 an hour. Due to financial con-straints, they could not afford to pursue the matter.

Asia Express copes with reality of shutting down

GRUB: Students line up to grab some Chinese food at Asia Express in the Cesar Chavez building Tuesday, April 19.

ERIK VERDUZCO— [X]PRESS

Golden Gate [X]press - goldengatexpress.org Wednesday, april 20, 2011 3

Focus4 Wednesday, April 20, 2011 goldengatexpress.org - GOLDEN GATE [X]PRESS

Sail

LEFT TO RIGHT

BEGINNERS: Jamieson Prevoznak, foreground, and Kyle Day sail Lake Merced. Each had only sailed once before.

RIGGING: Sailing assistant Dash Johnson (left) helps Jacqueline Co rig a sail. The sailboats had to be assembled before setting out.

OBSERVATION: Jamie Hamel sails past a fisherman on Lake Merced.

SAILING: Professor

McCreary (left) and Adrianna

Lantorno bring sailboats from the boathouse to the dock at

Harding Park in Lake Merced so

students can set sail.

KNOTTY: Freshman Anthony Burt practices tying a knot in preparation for sailing Lake Merced. Away

Unbeknownst to many students at SF State, the recreation, parks and tourism department offers a sailing class that meets on Lake Merced during the last four Fridays of the spring semester. The class has been offered since the 1970s, but was down-graded from a semester-long three-unit class to a one-unit class two years ago due to budget cuts. Patrick Tierney, chair of the recreation, parks and tourism department, said the class is very popular for GE units. Although, “most people take it not so much for the units. I think they take it because they want to take it,” Tierney said.

Photos and Text by Gregory Moreno [email protected]

By Krissa [email protected]

Students and faculty picketed outside the Student Ser-vices and Administration building at California State Uni-versity East Bay April 18 as Chancellor Charles Reed met with its President Mohammad Qayoumi on the building’s fourth floor.

Reed was on campus to meet with Qayoumi, who is slated to transition to his new role as president of San Jose State University at the end of the academic year. He also agreed to meet with members of the academic senate while in Hayward.

Frustrated students and faculty used the visit as an op-

portunity to voice their displeasure with the CSU system.“Our goal is to draw attention to a lot of the stuff that

has been going on within the system and to join with our sister schools, such as San Francisco State, to present a unified voice,” said Nicholas Baham, an associate profes-sor and chair of the department of ethnic studies.

Baham joined others in picketing and handing out fli-ers to passers-by, explaining the California Faculty Asso-ciation’s anger that many teachers are working without a contract and students’ ire at rising tuition costs and class cuts.

“We understand that we may not see Chancellor Reed, but we are out here and it is important that they know we are here,” said Frank Quintana, a junior at CSUEB study-ing political science. Quintana is also president of the campus’ Students for Quality Education.

He explained that the group’s purpose was to support student demands.

“We try to inform students on budget issues and try to engage students on some of the issues they are facing,” Quintana said.

The picketers chanted slogans such as “Bye, bye, Porky Pig!” and “No cuts, no fees, Chancellor Reed should work for free,” while carrying signs that read “We want a fair

contract now,” “Proud member of the CFA” and “Resign (G)Reed.”

Dianne Rush Woods, chair of the academic senate at CSUEB, was prepared for a last-minute meeting with Reed and explained that her hope was to discuss many concerns that directly affect the campus.

“He is coming to talk to us about the campus,” Woods said. “We want to ask him some types of questions about what our concerns are. We want to hear what is going to happen and who our president will be.”

She also noted that one of the faculty’s biggest con-cerns is that they have been working without a contract since June 30.

“Chancellor Reed’s strategy is to delay giving us a con-tract by hiring outside consultants to negotiate out of the chancellor’s office,” Woods said. “That is just a waste of $4.3 million of money that we can’t afford to lose.”

As Woods met with Reed upstairs, other faculty re-mained downstairs picketing in support.

“We are picketing outside the building in support of members of the academic senate of our university who are meeting with Chancellor Reed inside the building,” said Brian McKenzie, chapter president of the CFA at CSUEB.

Chancellor’s visit marred by picketers

CSUEB students, faculty call for contract, halt to fee hikes

City Wednesday, April 20, 2011 5GOLDEN GATE [X]PRESS - goldengatexpress.org

SFSU SPECIAL FREE DELIVERY plus2 liter soda free with $20

purchase*

415-753-60043627 Taraval Street at 46th Ave.Coupon can not be combined. Expires: 5/31/11

WRITING: Students scrawled goals in chalk in front of the Student Services and Administration building.SCOTT HOPKINS — SPECIAL TO [X]PRESS

CUT THE FAT: A protestor pickets at CSU East Bay during Chancellor Charles Reed’s visit Monday.

SCOTT HOPKINS— SPECIAL TO [X]PRESS

A&E6 Wednesday, April 20, 2011 goldengatexpress.org - GOLDEN GATE [X]PRESS

CATHOLIC CAMPUS MINISTRY NEWMAN CLUB

St. Thomas More ChurchFather Labib Kobti, Pastor

1300 Junipero Serra Blvd.San Francisco, CA 94132

(415) 452-9634www.stmchurch.com/newman

email: [email protected]

Weekly Meeting,Cesar Chavez Student Center:

Mondays: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Close to campus! Please call

For Current Activities:St. Thomas More:

(415) 452-9634

Verbum Dei: (415) 573-9062

herrylossom

CBBy Chris [email protected]

Amid the sounds of heavy Taiko drum-ming, shamisens and cheering crowds, the call for aid in Japan could still be heard and, more importantly, answered.

In the wake of the devastating tsunami in Japan, participants and attendees alike celebrated Japanese culture and tradition at San Francisco’s 44th-annual Cherry Blossom Parade in Japantown as one of many ways of supporting those in need.

“My feelings are a little bit of a mixed bag, since people donated more for Haiti than Japan, they have the impression that Japan can take of itself, etc.,” said Kendall Shelffo, a Sonoma State University student and member of Hands for Japan. “People are still suffering over there right now. Some people have forgotten, but the festi-val is still here and you know Japan is still alive and well on the other hand, the cul-ture and people here that is.”

The SSU-based organization was one of several groups hoping to raise money at the festival and was a reminder that in light of the disaster, attendees could still give aid in addition to celebrating.

“This is a very good association for us,” said Yoshimi Nimura, a Hands for Japan member. “We have already passed one month, but its kind of a reminder. After one month, two months, little by little, we

might forget, so that’s why it’s good for us to be here.”

The group made a goal to raise $10,000 through the sale of wristbands.

Many patrons donated cash, but other attendees showed support in other ways, like musician Tom Yamashita who brought a message flag, a banner on which individ-uals could write messages of solidarity.

“There are no borders for taking care of the people, so even this can give the soul peace,” Yamashita said.

Yamashita thought the messages were both strong and touching.

“I feel like I’d almost cry,” Yamashita said. “Some people would take 20 or 30 minutes drawing these beautiful pictures and some people would just write ‘be strong,’ it’s so beautiful. There’s over 15 international languages, 4,000 messages, with more and more coming, and by the time I get to Japan it will probably be six or seven thousand.”

Festival attendees had many opportu-nities to demonstrate support, as vendors — selling everything from Okonomiyaki, a Japanese-style pancake, to beer — pledged to give a portion, if not all, of their profits to those in Japan.

“It’s kind of good to see that, that people are coming out here and thinking about not just having fun, but helping,” said Ja-mie Wilson, a 23-year-old graduate from Waseda University.

RHYTHM: Drummers with the Taiko Dojo perform for onlookers during the Cherry Blossom Festival April 17.

GREGORY MORENO— [X]PRESS

Festival

HONORING Japan relief COSTUMED: A man dressed as a Samurai is assisted out of his costume as the Cherry Blossom Festival’s Grand Parade winds down April 17.

GREGORY MORENO — [X]PRESS

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 7GOLDEN GATE [X]PRESS - goldengatexpress.org A&E

Alien ‘sightings’ at UniversityBy Spencer [email protected]

Break out the tinfoil hats—SF State is under an alien attack.

In order to fight alien anxiety, graduate student David Daw and re-nowned SF State metaphysics pro-fessor Dr. Richard Pearson held the campus’ first Martian Life and Visi-tation Conference last Friday. The conference discussed the strange oc-currences at the University with doc-uments, firsthand accounts and other “evidence.”

The only problem with the confer-ence: It was a hoax.

Daw, a broadcast and electronic communication arts student, orga-nized the convention as part of his creative project required to receive his degree.

His plan was to organize an inter-active, multimedia re-creation of Or-son Wells’ 1938 “War of the Worlds” broadcast.

“It says something about people’s relationship with media that they were kind of so willing to go along with this, even in the face of it being so patently ridiculous, so I wanted to do a project that would explore that idea,” Daw said. “When you actually listen to the broadcast, there’s a lot about it that is absolutely brilliant. … But it’s also kind of pathetic because, in a weird sort of way, it’s like so ob-vious that it’s fake and yet people had such a visceral reaction to it.”

As a part of his project, Daw worked with students from the BECA class Writing for Electronic Media throughout the semester.

The students served as actors for

the convention and also helped cre-ate a reliable background for the event.

The students created a Facebook group titled “Explosions on Mars,” a reference to “War of the Worlds,” and posted videos, evidence and person-al testimonies of weird occurrences around campus to build an unfailing suspicion of extraterrestrial activity.

On the night of the event, Daw and his team led several dozen par-ticipants from room to room in the Creative Arts building to experience individual presentations, from infor-mative speeches to faux broadcasts and special effects.

Daw said he wanted to create an entertaining experience without be-ing too frightening.

“Unlike Orson Wells, I’m trying to get a degree out of this, so I can’t cre-ate mass panic throughout the entire state, and I’m actually trying to avoid that a little,” Daw said. “I don’t think it’s going to have that kind of viral ef-fect, but I would be shocked if there weren’t at least a couple of people who thought it was real when they ar-rived.”

Several attendants found out about the event from friends and were not sure of what to expect.

“I was hanging out with my pals and they said, ‘Hey do you wanna go see some Martians?’” said Mike Bush, a freshman BECA major. “And I thought to myself that I would go be-cause it sounded like a lot of fun.”

Pearson, an “expert” in metaphys-

ics, was actually former Associated Students Inc., Vice President Travis Northup, who is also the leader of SF State’s Improv Nation.

He gave a speech about paranoia leading to a physical manifestation of alien life. From there the lights shut off and a glowing red alien eye ap-peared.

Then a faux radio broadcast report-ed attacks on San Francisco by Mar-tians.

The project used multiple forms of media such as radio, PowerPoint and even a silhouetted scene on a projec-tor made with an Xbox Kinect.

All of the characters were humor-ous references to science fiction clas-sics: BECA student Ashley Lindnere’s character, Kim Robinson, was a refer-ence to Kim Stanley Robinson, author of “The Mars Trilogy;” Pearson was a character directly from the original Orson Wells broadcast in 1938.

After each group had experienced all of the presentations, Daw gave a director’s commentary on how the organizers had created the special ef-fects.

“I thought that the whole thing was great,” said conference attendee Riley Bright. “It was very immersive and did an excellent job at creating an en-vironment that used all of our imagi-nations.”

The BECA students had to devel-op their own characters and put in hours on their Facebook group page, but Lindnere, a BECA senior, said the work was part of the reward.

“It’s been a great time working with David, and we’ve done a lot of inter-esting projects,” Lindnere said. “In a sense it’s not that I don’t believe, but it’s the fact that we’re going with this and playing all this up, and it’s brought forth a lot of information out in the world.”

Martian conference turns out to be hoax

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Fashion ShowEvent:

Runway 2011: Enchantment

Venue: SF De-sign Center

101 Henry Adams St.

Date: April 21Time: 7 p.m.Price: $15-$25

Age: All Ages

MusicEvent: Battle of the BandsVenue: The

Depot1600 Holloway

Ave.Date: April 22

Time: 5:30 p.m.

Price: FreeAge: All Ages

OUT OF THIS WORLD: Students at the “Martians on Campus” conference watch and listen to a performance on alien encounters Friday, April 15 at SF State.

JASMINE BEAGHLER — [X]PRESS

Opinion8 Wednesday, April 20, 2011 goldengatexpress.org - GOLDEN GATE [X]PRESS

OPINION EDITORJessica Heller

[email protected]

ART DIRECTORGeena Stellato

[email protected]

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR

Daniel [email protected].

edu

A&E EDITOREric Green

[email protected]

CAMPUS EDITORTom Garcia

[email protected]

CITY EDITORKelly Goff

[email protected]

COPY CHIEFCaitlin Olson

[email protected]

COPY CHIEFJohn Blomster

[email protected]

PHOTO EDITOREric Soracco

[email protected]

SPORTS EDITORAlberto Penalva

[email protected]

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

Aaron [email protected]

FACULTY ADVISER

Rachele [email protected]

PHOTO ADVISERKen Kobre

[email protected]

MAGAZINE ADVISER

Don [email protected].

edu

ADVERTISING Eva Charles

[email protected]

PRODUCTION & BUSINESS

Barbara [email protected]

Erika Rae [email protected].

edu

Justin Morrisonjjmorrison88@yahoo.

com

CIRCULATIONCory Rayden

[email protected]

I.T. CONSULTANTArun [email protected]

[X]pressThe Golden Gate

A PUBLICATION OF SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY

ABOUT THIS PUBLICATIONThe Golden Gate [X]press is a student-produced publication of the journalism department at San Francisco State University. For more information or comments, please contact Chris Haire at [email protected].

WRITE US A LETTERThe Golden Gate [X]press accepts letters no longer than 200 words. Letters are sub-ject to editing. Send letters to Jessica Heller at [email protected].

Students and faculty gathered at California State University East Bay Monday morning to picket against CSU Chancellor Charles Reed and make a

demand for quality education.Unfortunately, they are targeting the wrong

man.Reed is not the source of the budget cuts affecting

our school system. The problem originates with the current state of the California budget.

Students complaining of budget woes should not picket the chancellor; instead, they should take their aggression to a higher power and confront the state legislature itself, as well as the voters.

California is currently facing a $28-billion budget deficit. This deficit has inevitably led to many heart-wrenching cuts to the CSU, forcing the system to operate with a general fund of about $1.6 billion, which is approximately $600 million less than what the state fund supported a decade ago – not taking into account the 100,000 more students that are in the CSU now.

The money to curb the deficit is not going to appear out of nowhere, either.

Reed cannot simply pull money from the sky and use it to close our deficit. Gov. Jerry Brown

already proposed a $500 million cut for the 2011-2012 fiscal year, and more potential cuts could further harm the CSU budget.

As a business model, Reed is doing all he can: The CSU officials are allocating the little funds we have in the way they see fit, raising student fees and reducing each university’s overall budget.

It is unfortunate but necessary.If students want to make a difference, they

need to press the state legislature to resist cutting education.

More over, they need to target the California voters and urge them to vote for the sales, vehicle and income tax increases in the upcoming special election.

If California voters decide to pass the tax increases, the $12.5 billion in revenue could help prevent another potential $500 million cut from the CSU system, which equates to another $35 million cut for SF State alone.

In general, students should urge voters to get over their visceral opposition to raising taxes and put revenue-increasing measures on the ballot.

Otherwise, picking the chancellor seems like petulance from those who do not clearly understand fiscal responsibility.

EDITORIAL CSU budget cuts

AARON TEIXEIRA Investigative Cartoonist

CASTROS Capitalism

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kelsey Avers - [email protected]

MANAGING EDITORChris Haire - [email protected]

MANAGING EDITORAudrey Arthur - [email protected]

BIBLE: Eve’s apple

Picketing petulance

Cuba needs to embrace move to privatization

One lost paradise and women get blamed for everything

By Chris [email protected]

There are few constants in global poli-tics: American imperialism, Israeli-Palestinian tensions - and the Castro brothers ruling Cuba.

The latter, however, may soon change.And for the first time in the more than five de-

cades since the revolution, capitalism could materi-alize without the admission of Cuba’s leaders.

Since assuming the presidency from his brother Fidel in 2008, Raul Castro has been as blunt about Cuba’s economic outlook as a worn out grandfather bitterly complaining about dry holiday ham.

But unlike the fragile ego of a below-average cook, Cuba’s depressed economy needs such criti-cal realism.

Besides proposing that politicians should be lim-ited to two five-year terms (which is ironic coming from one in a pair that has been at the helm of Cuba for 52 years), Raul is supporting the elimination of ration books, the government’s giving of 180,000 li-censes to small businesses, and the loosening of re-strictions on purchasing and selling homes.

The president contradicts these capitalistic pro-posals by maintaining that socialism will not fail and that he simply wants to modernize the mod-el; however, considering the potential changes, he comes more than a tad disingenuous.

Plus, if Cuba continues its progression to an open market, the United States may become inclined to lift its embargo.

Castro can claim all he wants that his changes, proposed during a speech at the first party congress since 1997, do not contradict socialism; but privatiz-ing certain industries and stating that two plus two is “never five or six,” does, in fact, lay the founda-tion for capitalism.

And that is good news for the people of Cuba.With most once-socialist countries now in the

“former” category and the few remaining that still practice socialism renowned for subpar living con-ditions, it is clear that socialism does not work.

Now, while capitalism is not perfect and Cuba should attempt to privatize certain sectors while still giving its people universal health care and edu-cation (as should the U.S.), holding onto a failing system is counterproductive.

Castro, who could very well cast himself out of the job in two years, needs to admit to what his pro-posals are: a first step toward liberalizing the Cuban economy.

Not only would doing so allow Cubans to finally have a sense of where the country is heading, but it would also give marching orders to those who will take over after he retires and make the U.S. more willing to re-engage with a long-lost neighbor.

Castro, it’s time the system changes and you know it all too well. As such, it’s time that you cop to it.

By Audrey [email protected]

In the beginning, God created a glorious being called Adam, man, and when he got bored he scrounged up the leftovers

and made some chick named Eve. According to Genesis, Eve really

screwed up the whole humanity game one day when she nibbled on a Gran-ny Smith.

Because of Eve’s Vitamin C defi-ciency, God got pissed, threw them out of this really epic garden and, ever since, the girl’s reputation has been in the pits.

Eve hasn’t been the only girl picked last on the Bible’s all-star kickball team; women have been historically excluded from consideration in the

religious text.Saturated with phrases such as the

Father, the son, Him, brothers and mankind, it seems an impossible feat for women to get in this creed conver-sation. Can I get an a-women?

Luckily, the New International Ver-sion Bible has given a woman-word or two in the book that structures more than 2.1 billion worldviews through-out the globe.

Though the capital “Him” and “He” terms are kept in their patriar-chal preservation, words like brother are accompanied by an “or sister” and the new Bible refrains from the usage of “he” or “him” when referring to an unidentified person.

The benefits of gender inclusivity in the text read by more than 33 per-cent of the world’s population is im-

measurable. Since many young Chris-tian girls often hear a sermon before a history lesson, acknowledgement from the supposed almighty entity might give a small boost of confidence for later years, wouldn’t you say?

However, the gender-neutral Bible has been met with heavy opposition. Namely, the Council on Biblical Man-hood and Womanhood, an organiza-tion dedicated to spreading the word of Christ’s love through male domi-nation, believes that such equality would shift from the “natural” order permitted by God.

“In the home, men lovingly are to lead their wives and family as women intelligently are to submit to the lead-ership of their husbands,” the CBMW website says.

According CBMW, the rise of femi-

nist egalitarianism has become a huge threat to the gender divisions that serve as a foundation to Christian men and women.

Are we really supposed to be-lieve that when Mother Theresa en-tered heaven, accompanied by her renowned compassion and incompa-rable kindness, Jesus took one look at her and said “Make me a pie, woman”?

Gender-neutrality must be imple-mented into religious texts in order for society to work toward a state of equality.

If we can apply equality to a text considered so cardinal to centuries of oppressive chauvinists, think of the implications this could have to each little girl in her Sunday best.

And to the CBMW, for the love of God, get over yourselves.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 9GOLDEN GATE [X]PRESS - goldengatexpress.org

State bids farewell to accomplished admincontinued from Page 1

University Park North, which Morishita attributes as one of his greatest successes at SF State. The acquisition added 25 acres and 697 apartments to the University.

The University budget, which Morishita admits has been his biggest challenge during his vice presidency, is another issue for which he has earned respect and recognition from his colleagues.

“He has refined the budget process,” Scoble said.

“Among all the vice presidents in the system, he understands how the budget works. Even in a time of difficulty with resourc-es shrinking, he has managed to keep the budget balanced and to minimize the pain.”

The ongoing issue of the bud-get is something that Morishita admits will challenge him at his new position.

“We’ll have to confront the budget issues and try to provide as much access as we can for stu-dents to come to CSU East Bay and further their education,” Morishita said.

“Those are the two biggest challenges that I’m going to con-front right away.”

In addition to combating bud-get woes, Morishita has taken on various other endeavors. He pre-sides over the Academic Senate, chairs the CSU Risk Manage-ment Authority, and founded and co-chairs the campus sustainabil-

ity committee — which he ac-knowledged as one of his many passions.

“We’re trying to reduce our carbon footprint on the environ-ment,” Morishita said.

“I’m very proud that San Fran-cisco State is now below our 1990 levels of our carbon emissions, which is the goal for 2020 for the state.”

Morishita, a Buddhist and reg-ular practitioner of Tai Chi, has managed to preserve a reputa-tion of honesty and likeability, and has been described as friend-ly, forthright, confident and sup-portive.

Throughout his long and var-ied experience as an administra-tor at SF State, Morishita learned that good character, above all, is a vital part of being an effective campus leader.

“You have to have a lot of in-tegrity,” Morishita said. “You have to garner peoples’ trust and you have to be able to laugh at yourself and have a little humor.”

Morishita explained that he wanted to be remembered and respected for having “the highest integrity,” a revered quality that his colleagues admit will leave an undeniable void around campus.

“I told him this morning that I am sorry to see him leave,” Sco-ble said. “It won’t be the end of our friendship, but I’m sorry that he won’t be here as a friend and a colleague to talk to on a regu-lar basis.”

SAFETY: Outage leaves some students in needcontinued from Page 1

quickly because it would be more difficult if I waited,” Zentella said. “I don’t know what I would have done if the elevators weren’t working.”

Waiting for help would have been the only option. Not only did the power go out, but the rain also added to the difficulty of the situation. But in order to alleviate such chaos, the fire department has a system of helping people get out of buildings and evacuat-ing them to safe areas.

“Generally what we do, if we’re notified, is we instruct peo-ple to stay in place or assist,” said Mindy Talmadge, a San Francis-co Fire Department spokeswom-an. “And how that would happen would be that an area of refuge would be designated and the fire department would direct people to that area.”

However, the compounded problem of rain and a power out-age makes things interesting.

“It’s like a domino effect with the lights out and the rain,” Zentella said. “It creates chaos.”

One Month Free Storage!• Storage unit rentals 24 hours a day from our kiosk.• Our virtual assistant Megan is here to help you or use our live help line to rent from our Kiosk anytime.• State of the Art Video Surveillance and Door Alarms• Call today to reserve your storage unit!• Of ce Open: Monday - Friday 10am - 6pm, Saturday 8am - 4pm and Sundays 10am - 2pm

Central Self Storage307 87th Street

Daly City, CA 94015(650) 755-1901

Call now to make a

reservation!

10” 1-TOPPINGPIZZA SALAD

2 CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKES & 20 oz DRINKTWO 2 LITER DRINKS

555$Plus Tax

eachDelivery charge with min. $11.25 order

415-586-9400Parkmerced/ SF State/ Ingleside

VALUE MENU

[X]pressYourself

32,000 ReadersWill see your message with this ad!Ad deadlines are one week in

advance of publication

Barbara [email protected]

Eva CharlesAd [email protected]

TOENAIL INFECTION

STUDYAre your toenails thick and discolored? Researchers in the Department of Derma-tology at UCSF are doing a research study using an

experimental topicalmedication for

fungus infected toenails. Subjects (age 18 and up) who currently have their large toenail(s) infected with fungus are needed.

Study related medication, exams, and tests will be provided free of charge.

You will be compen-sated for your time if you

qualify. Call Dermatology Research, UCSF at

415-476-7122 or email:[email protected]

Find out more about the study and complete the

initial screening questions online here:

www.tinyurl.com/ucsftoenail

SMILE CHOICE DENTAL PLAN

Includes cosmetic$81.35 per year!Save 30%-60%

1-800-655-3225www.studentdental.com

TRANSITION: Leroy Morishita, SF States executive vice president and chief officer for administration and finance was recently named the new interim president for CSU East Bay. Morishita takes office July 1.

SAM E. HELLER — [X]PRESS

By Sara [email protected]

Sunday’s much-needed victory over Sonoma State could be the inspiration that the SF State baseball team needs to regain a positive outlook on what has been a challenging season.

The Gators (13-27, 8-24) snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 5-4 victory over their bitter rivals, the 28th-ranked Sonoma State Seawolves.

The Gators, who have been struggling to piece togeth-er a winning season, saw an opportunity in the successes of Sunday’s game to turn it all around.

“We’ve been battling,” said junior infielder Will Klein. “It’s been a tough season for us, but everybody stuck to-gether today and had each other’s backs. I think that’s a lot of what gave us the win today.”

Klein had an impressive three RBIs, including a two-out, run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth inning that would lock down a Gator victory.

After several tough losses in close games, Klein admits that the team had been struggling to maintain a positive outlook.

“The team morale was kind of down in the dumps af-ter all the losses,” Klein said. “But it feels good to get that win.”

The Gators and Seawolves battled back and forth for the first several innings; Sonoma opened up the second inning with a run by infielder Randy Wells.

Disaster was averted, however, as SF State junior pitch-er Nic Banaugh shut down the Sonoma bats and got out of a bases-loaded jam.

SF State evened the score in the bottom of the second inning with an RBI single from Will Klein that scored ju-nior outfielder Chris Schindler.

Klein added another RBI single in the bottom of the fourth that would reclaim the Gator lead 2-1.

“(Klein’s) been having pretty good at-bats and he found the hole today,” said head coach Mike Cummins. “He’s a

scrapper. Today it all came together for him.”The sixth inning belonged to the Seawolves, who re-

corded three runs to reclaim the lead 4-3. But a combination of solid pitching, strong defense,

good hitting and a touch of luck would turn it around for the Gators by the eighth inning.

Banaugh, who pitched the first six innings, allowed four runs, struck out four and walked two before being lifted for reliever junior Jeff Clegg.

Clegg also played an instrumental role in the Gator vic-tory, preserving the one-run deficit with three scoreless innings. The junior noted that such crucial moments are when he truly thrives.

“I felt I did my job to keep the game as close as possible and give our hitters a chance to win,” Clegg said. “I like those pressure situations; I like coming in in those close spots. I feel that’s when I do best.”

While the win was a sigh of relief for the team, Cum-mins recognized the challenge that lies ahead in upcom-ing matches, including a non-conference duel with Divi-sion I University of San Francisco Tuesday.

“We’ve got 10 games to go, we want to finish strong and build some momentum for next year,” Cummins said.

“Our goal all year has been to play good baseball. We’ve had our moments, but not enough of them.”

By Juan [email protected]

Amid the clouds and the fog, gold balloons floated and giant purple posters hung last weekend on the outskirts of a tall black fence in what turned out to be an emotional day for seven SF State softball players.

Family, friends and supporters of the SF State softball team came to-gether for Senior Day April 16 to cel-ebrate the accomplishments of seven graduating seniors and the journey they took to get there.

It was a memorable sendoff during their last home game of the season against the Humboldt State Lumber-jacks.

In a pregame ceremony before the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, loved ones took the time to remember the accomplishments of the graduat-ing seniors - Lea Cardenas, Alyssa Es-quibel, Ashley Jackson, Rachael Kro-neder, Kelly McDonald, Kelsey Wood and Kendra Wood.

“Oh, Senior day. Yeah, it was emo-tional,” said head coach Cristina By-rne. “I have been with this first group of freshmen for the four years. They have helped build up this program and I am real proud of all the records that some of them have met.”

After the ceremony, the Gators (9-23) split the series’ final two games with the Lumberjacks (12-16), though they failed to win the series.

After dropping the first three games, SF State avoided a sweep by

winning their final home game of the year 6-1, though losing the series 3-1 and failing to move up in the Califor-nia Collegiate Athletic Association standings.

“I was happy with the way we came out today,” Byrne said. “We swung the bats well and scored some runs.”

The Lumberjacks swept the Gators in the first doubleheader, winning 6-2 and 8-3 respectively.

Despite walking five batters and receiving her 15th loss of the season, Jackson pitched well considering the amount of appearances she made in the series, Bryne said.

Heading into game three, Jackson, who leads the team in wins, losses and ERA, had already accumulated 11 innings of work.

“Ashley works hard for us,” Byrne said. “I was very proud of her perfor-mance.”

The Gators’ offense did most of their damage in the final game of Sat-urday’s doubleheader.

They scored six runs on 11 hits while stranding eight runners in scor-ing position.

“I think in game three we were not doing the little things,” Kelsey said. “In game four, we scored a lot of runs. The difference was that we turned things around in that last game.”

The Wood sisters led the way for the Gators in the series as they com-bined to go 3-10. Together they drove in two RBIs, were walked six times and scored a total of three runs.

“It is nice to see that one of them

is the pitcher and one of them is the catcher,” Byrne said. “They have been here for all four years. They are great technicians of the game and have taught the rest of the girls on this team.”

Byrne also said that it is always special when Kelsey and Kendra play together, especially bearing in mind that each has had several lingering in-juries in their athletic careers.

“Kendra and Kelsey have dealt with severe injuries,” she said. “They’ve had elbow and leg problems. Kendra hasn’t been able to pitch much in re-cent years.”

For Kendra, who toed the rubber in game four, her first win of the sea-son came when her twin sister Kelsey took her place behind the plate, call-ing and catching the game.

Kendra picked the Lumberjacks apart one-by-one. She notched a com-plete game while allowing just one earned run on five hits, while striking out four on 91 pitches.

“It was great to finish this game out,” Kendra said. “I am more reserved and optimistic than my sister. She is more vocal and speaks her mind. It is a good mix. We make a good combo because we balance each other.”

Kelsey explained that the reason they make such a good pair is because she and her sister are always on the same page.

“As the catcher, I know her the best,” she said. “I really don’t need to think. I read her. I do not have to call timeout to communicate with her. This gives us an edge. I obviously know her bet-ter than any other pitcher.”

Sports10 Wednesday, April 20, 2011 goldengatexpress.org - GOLDEN GATE [X]PRESS

Softball sends off seniors with win

THE GATOR SCOREBOARD The latest game scores and statistics

BASEBALL4/12 vs. Nevada L 3-44/15 vs. Sonoma State University L 3-74/16 vs. Sonoma State University (DH) L 4-6, L 0-54/17 vs. Sonoma State University W 5-44/19 vs. Cal Baptist L 1-11

SOFTBALL4/15 vs. Humboldt State University (DH) L 2-6, L 3-84/16 vs. Humboldt State University (DH) L 3-4, W 6-1

[ UPDATED SPORTS COVERAGE AT: @XPRESSSPORTS

YOUR SOURCE FOR GATOR SPORTS ]

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Baseball4/26 at

University of San Francisco

1 p.m.

Softball4/20 vs.

Academy of Art University

(DH) 1 p.m.

4/22 vs. Cal State

Stanislaus (DH) 1 p.m.

4/23 vs. Cal State

Stanislaus (DH) 12 p.m.

Women’s Track and

Field4/22-23 Brutus

Hamilton Invitational

Berkeley, CA TBA

For more information

on game dates, visit www.

sfstategators.com

Gators wrap upseries with win over SeawolvesSeven-game slide ends after baseball team focuses efforts

THE END: SF State senior Kendra Wood pitches her last home game for the Gators against Humbolt State Saturday, April 16.

KAREN M. KINNEY — [X]PRESS

CLOSER: SF State pitcher, Jeff Clegg throws the final pitch against Sonoma State outfielder Steven Filippi in the final inning of the April 17 game. The Gators won with a final score of 5-to-4.

GIL RIEGO JR. — [X]PRESS

SENIOR DAY Last home game

Wednesday, April 20, 2011 11GOLDEN GATE [X]PRESS - goldengatexpress.org

ABOVE: A student walks down a darkened hallway in the gym during a power outage at SF State. The entire campus was affected by a loss of power at approximately noon Monday.

LEFT: Students wait outside the Humanities Building during a campus-wide power outage that triggered the buildings’ fire alarms Monday, April 18.

JON WEIAND — [X]PRESS

GREGORY MORENO— [X]PRESS

goldengatexpress.org - GOLDEN GATE [X]PRESSWednesday, April 20, 201112

Documents

The Golden Gate [X]press