spring 2013 issue 10
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Spring 2013 Issue 10TRANSCRIPT
DISTRACTED DRIVERS: A ROAD BLOCK TO SAFETY
GRADUATION: LAVISH CELEBRATION PRICES OUT STUDENTS
SEE OFFICERS ON PAGE 11
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Sneaking a peek at your phone while behind the wheel is never a good idea, but it could be extra costly this month as the California Highway Patrol cracks down on distracted drivers.
When approached for the 2011 State-wide Traffic Safety Survey conducted by the California Office of Traffic Safety, drivers felt that cell phone usage while driving topped the list as the biggest safety problem on California roads.
Distracted Driving Awareness Month, an April tradition spearheaded by the CHP
and OTS, seeks to raise awareness for this hazard. Chris Cochran, OTS spokesman, believes that Distracted Driving Awareness Month serves as a time to remind drivers that operating a vehicle while distracted is a dangerous act on the rise that can take lives.
THREE OF THE four years of her col-lege career, Lea Lun-den worked anywhere from 25 to 40 hours a week as a server while pursuing her dream of being a psychology
researcher. In her senior year, she injured herself while moving furniture at work and was diagnosed with scoliosis.
Many students may have backed down, but a dedicated Lunden is now ready to graduate after a grueling four years of school and work with honors as the pres-ident of the SF State chapter of Psi Chi,
a national honors society for psychology students. She even interned at one of New York University’s research labs, one of the most prestigious universities in the country.
All Lunden wanted was for her father and grandmother to see her graduate and walk the stage as proudly as she’s walked through school; to have her determination recognized.
She’s not getting that wish.The San Francisco Chronicle broke the
news of Lunden’s struggle with SF State’s psychology department. The department is charging $85 a ticket for a graduation “celebration” aboard a local yacht called
the Hornblower, a price that Lunden and many other stu-dents say is too high and would stop their families from seeing them graduate.
A family of four, plus the graduating student, would end up paying $425 to hear the graduate’s name called, and see them walk the stage. Notably, students must purchase tickets
R E L A T E D E D I T O R I A LSOME STUDENTS MUST PAY FOR GRADUATION CELEBRATION
PAGE 8
SEE HIGH ON PAGE 3
Distracted Driv-ing Awareness
Month highlights the dangers of
multitasking on the road
GOLDEN GATE XPRESS STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER PROUDLY SERVING THE SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1927. 04.10.13 VOLUME LXXXXVI
ISSUE 10 // //
BY JOE FITZGERALD | [email protected]
CAPSIZED: Lea Lunden, a psychol-ogy major, says the $85 per ticket price is too high for her and her family to attend the department’s graduaton celebra-tion that will be held on the Hornblower — a local yacht in San Francisco. Photo by Virginia
BY ERIN DAGE [email protected]
Arleen Winkelbauer, a recent graduate of SF State, sits on a dead tree at Ocean Beach. Photo by Sam Dosick / Special to Xpress
PHOTO OF THE WEEK:The Golden Gate Xpress will fea-ture a photo every week in print
and online from SF State students — and it could be yours!
email your photos: [email protected]
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG C A M P U S 04.10.132 |
SF STATE SPEAKS OUT
KRYSTELLE DELEON, 20 PRE-NURSING MAJOR
I saw someone FaceTiming, that’s pretty dangerous and
weird.
WHAT’S THE WEIRDEST THING
YOU’VE SEEN SOMEONE DO
WHILE DRIVING?
Photos by: Dan Nelson and Mike Hendrickson
Reporting by: Ellie Loarca
KAT KIRKEBY, 22 WOMEN AND GENDER
STUDIES MAJOR
I see people yelling at their kids a lot, or if their children
are like throwing things around, I always see parents bending down to grab things.
ALFREDO HUERTA, 21 BUSINESS MAJOR
I saw someone shaving once, with the shaving cream and everything. I was like ‘do you real-ly have to do that right
now?
TONY FLORES, 23 HISTORY MAJOR
I saw someone getting road head on the 5. It’s called the
Interstate 5 experience.
International studentof the week
STUDENTS TAKE RESPONSI-BIN-ITYBY LINDSAY ODA | [email protected]
Name: Mika Segawa Age: 22
From: Tokyo, JapanMajor: Sociology and Political
ScienceBiggest difference between here and home? People living in Cali-
fornia are very friendly and we are very shy in Japan. We treat others
like foreigners and tourists but here there are a lot of immigrants and people are treated more equally.
First thing she noticed about the U.S.: The weather is so nice. In Japan the winter is very cold
and California’s winter still stays somewhat warm. What do you miss the most about home? I miss the food.
There are a lot of Japanese restaurants in San Francisco, but sometimes the chef isn’t Japanese and I can tell because
that’s the food we cook everyday. I miss my mom’s Japanese food.
Future plans? I want to be a Japanese diplomat and work at the Japanese consulate. I like communication and social-
izing, for me that would be the best job.
A YOUNG WOM-an reaches into a black trash bin and grabs what another student quickly tossed in only a moment before. She diverts his
waste into the compost and recycle bins, and warns the student bin monitor trainee beside her: “See, sometimes that happens. People just don’t care or are running late.”
Taha Shaikh is one of about 10 students volunteering in the new bin monitoring program run by Cesar Chavez Student Center's Campus Sustainability. The proj-ect, under the supervision of Sustainable Initiatives Coordinator Sharon Daraphon-hdeth, started last month and aims to educate students on waste diversion.
SF State and San Francisco have set goals to reach 100 percent waste diversion by 2020. San Francisco is currently at 80 percent diversion, while SF State is at 70 percent.
“You’d think San Francisco (State) would be a greener campus, but it’s a commuter school. People are so busy, and don’t live around here,” CCSC's Sustain-ability Initiatives intern Alex Ansari said.
Ansari guesses that since there is less community on campus, people care less about issues like waste diversion and sustainability.
It is estimated by Daraphonhdeth, who can be spotted around campus digging through “three bin systems” in her free time, that about 80 percent of the black bins are contaminated with recyclable and compostable items.
Once in the black bin, items are des-tined to end up in the landfill. There is no sorting process to remove compostable and recyclable materials after being tossed.
SF State is currently trying to combat the lack of environmental consciousness in students with new programs, student initiatives and educational events, such as establishing the environmental action group ECO Students and landscaping the campus with native plant species.
The Campus Sustainability Committee was founded in Fall 2008 to “monitor its relationship with the environment,” and instituted student leader positions like Daraphonhdeth’s in 2009.
Student bin monitors volunteer to work
for an hour or two at hot spots like CCSC or Malcolm X Plaza educating students. They are identified by a badge hanging from their neck, and sometimes a handwritten sign stating, "Student bin monitors on duty."
Most bin monitors are from SF State's ecotourism class. This semester, Professor Sue Pon gave her students the option of writing a paper or getting involved in ongo-ing campus sustainability projects. Pleased with the engagement of her students in the campus community, she plans to provide volunteers for the new bin monitoring program as well as other projects every time the course is offered in the future.
SF State produced about 32 tons of waste, 36 tons of recycling and 13 tons of compost last month according to Sustain-ability Programs Manager Caitlin Steele.
SF State recently installed more three bin systems, which feature the blue recy-cling, green compost and black landfill bins in more public areas of campus, and signage of what typical items go in each.
The new initiatives for better waste diversion are a good start says Daraphon-hdeth, but admits that student bin mon-itoring isn’t the best solution to lack of education on campus.
“There’s better, more efficient ways to educate than having students stand around for hours asking people to divert their
waste properly,” Daraphonhdeth said.Business administration major Chris
Magistrado said that even though the bins are clearly marked, the signs can be con-fusing. Magistrado, who also diverts waste at home, was receptive to the bin monitors, and actively asked Ansari questions while he was on duty.
"Sometimes I have no idea (where the waste should go). I try to match the pictures (of typical items that go into the separate bins) on the signs," Magistrado said.
San Francisco has a history of being the most innovative and successful when it comes to waste diversion. State laws have required municipalities to reach a certain percent of waste diversion, but San Fran-cisco has always set the standard, reaching 25 percent more than those laws required.
“We’re (San Francisco) the best in the country. Seattle and Portland are right behind us,” said assistant professor Jennifer Blecha, who teaches geography of garbage.
Offering businesses and residents free compost and recycling bins, and charging fees for the landfill bin have been incentives for San Franciscans to divert more waste.
Similar obstacles to zero waste come up between SF State and San Francisco, but the biggest for SF State, both Steele and Daraphonhdeth agree, is education.
ORGANIZATION: Sharon Daraphonhdeth (left), manager of student bin monitors and sustainable initiatives coordinator for Cesar Chavez Student Center, shows Taha Shaikh (right), bin monitor volunteer and busi-ness management major, how to sort out trash and put it into the proper bins. Photo by Virginia Tieman
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG 04.10.13| 3C A M P U S
and they are the same price as for their families or guests.
Though the school has a formal graduation ceremony, many departments have their own ceremony because there are too many students graduating at once to read individual names. Therefore, each department has a smaller ceremony, called a “celebration” or “recognition ceremony,” where they are able to read names of individual stu-dents.
It was when Lunden tried to organize an alternative celebration ceremony that she was rebuked by the chair of the psychology department, Julia Lewis.
Lunden presented a survey of 40 psychology stu-dents who shared personal stories of financial hardship, and why they would not attend the yacht celebration, which 60 more students also signed. Her pleas did little to sway the department chair.
According to email conversations between Lewis and Lunden, Lewis pressed Lunden to cease seeking an alternative venue.
“I understand that you have had a conversation with Dr. Howell who explained to you why the department cannot sponsor more than one graduation-related event. That event is the Hornblower,” Lewis wrote. “I am willing to meet with you again to discuss this and hope-fully to achieve understanding and closure.”
In an email between a psychology student, who asked not to be named, and John Michael Cable, the psychology department office coordinator, Cable acknowledged that the department is aware of the problem, and despite that, chose to continue with the Hornblower.
“I can understand your frustration,” Cable wrote. “The department knows that the cost of the Hornblower event will price some families out of attending.”
Lewis offered a response to the situation with Lunden via email. She pointed out that it was Lunden’s group, Psi Chi, that asked for the yacht cruise in the first place.
“Ms. Lunden represents Psi Chi, the Psychology Honor Association. It was Psi Chi who, five years ago, found the Hornblower and initiated the celebration on the Hornblower,” Lewis wrote.
She also added that only this past year did the price jump up, due to the Hornblow-er’s rates increasing. In previ-
ous years, the graduation ceremony was $55 per ticket, Lewis wrote. But that price is still well above most departments’ ticket price for their own ceremonies.
Student and management major Colin Mahin, 25, is the president of the Management Organization for Business Students — a group on campus whose sole and only purpose is to raise money and find a venue for business students to celebrate graduation.
Mahin whistled loud when he heard how much the Hornblower yacht cruise would cost per ticket for psychology department graduates. At first, he didn’t quite believe it.
“I personally would be totally on for going on a yacht, that sounds amazing,” he said. “But at the same time I’ve seen hesitance from students on paying even $20 to go (to a graduation celebration).”
An informal survey of numerous departments at SF State shows that the psychology department has one of the highest rates for graduation celebration tickets. Most departments surveyed had free ceremonies, or ceremonies costing $25 or less.
One exception was the English department, which has no ceremony separate from the University’s main graduation.
Change may be coming next year. In his comment to The Chronicle, University President Leslie E. Wong said that the University would revisit the structure of graduation school-wide in which Lewis agreed.
“In his statement to the Chronicle President Wong expressed his vision that next year commencement will be structured so that all graduating students will have a chance to have their names called and recognized,” Lewis said in an email. “We support this vision.”
Lewis may support Wong changing the way graduations are run, but she hasn’t welcomed it in her department.
Lunden said the psychology department tried to stop her from forming a student-run committee to find a cheaper alternative, but elsewhere in the University, some departments have adopted the practice successful-ly for years.
CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE
High prices affect family attendance
THE GOLDEN TICKET: An example of tickets given out for a departmental graduation. Photo by Virginia Tieman and Jessica Worthington
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG C A M P U S 04.10.134 |
ON A COMMUTER CAMPUS, there aren't a lot of opportunities for student forums, but with the new addition of the Dream Tree to the quad, SF State now has a place to connect the dreams and hopes of everyone on campus.
The Dream Tree is a place on campus where students can write and hang their dreams upon the tree for fellow students, staff and visitors of the campus to read. Ken Burrows, a holistic health assistant professor who worked with the tree's creator, SF State student Danielle Barnett, has high hopes for the tree's impact on campus.
"Right now you see largely the cultural lacking of a real shared moral story that keeps us together, so in some way, bringing out the dreams, and finding the best of our dreams and sharing them is really part of what could move us toward a future that would make a lot more sense than we’re in," Burrows said.
Barnett, a communications major, signed up for Burrows' holistic health internship class after recom-mendations from her colleagues. What she found in the class was a platform to create the project that she'd been in love with for the past year.
"I got the idea for the Dream Tree about a year ago. I went to the Jewish contemporary art museum (and) they had a handful of little tiny trees in front of the museum (that) were dream trees," Barnett said. "Yoko Ono was the one who made that happen, and she was doing it in front of a lot of different museums around the country. And so I loved that idea, and then I never knew how I was going to make that happen until I got in this class."
The Dream Tree can be found in the quad, labeled with a painted sign. The idea of the Dream Tree is to take out one of the cloth pieces in the mailbox, write one of your dreams or aspirations on it, and use the attached string to tie that dream onto the tree. So far, many spots on the branches have dreams strung onto them.
"There's a little red mailbox attached to it (the Dream Tree sign), and you can just come in and open it up, and it says 'Share Your Dreams.' I want everyone to share their dreams on this dream tree," Barnett said.
Burrows, the internship class teacher, assigns each student an assignment to create a project related to ho-listic health. There are several types of projects besides the Dream Tree, such as weekly massage sessions or feelings circles, and events such as Create to Relate, an event that had different holistic heath exercises in the campus quad for students to take part in. Barnett credits him for helping her come up with the idea for using the cloth as the medium for writing the dreams.
"Initially I was thinking, I’ll use paper and we’ll laminate it," Barnett said. "But he gave me the great idea. And then I found the fabric, these two old pillow-cases, on the side of the street one morning on my way to work, and I was like 'yes.'"
Burrows doesn't take credit for the idea, but is curi-ous about the tree itself and loves the idea.
"Arts, I think, are extremely powerful and often misunderstood by a campus that’s naturally devoted to academic studies, but arts really help awaken imagina-tion, and help us get in touch with and make real certain aspects of our lives," Burrows said.
Creating the Dream Tree wasn't as simple as paint-ing a sign.
"I had to go through grounds department, I had to go through a few different hoops to make it happen and make it like an official thing," Barnett said.
She had to dedicate herself to constantly approach-ing grounds workers and emailing the ground operations manager, John Cahill, until she finally found the office and had the chance to talk to him.
Students have definitely been noticing the Dream Tree. The branches are already starting to fill up with all the attached dreams. One of Barnett's fellow holistic health colleagues saw other students discover the tree.
"So I was walking by on my way to class and I saw a group of girls stop by and they were really excited to see the Dream Tree, they were like 'oh what's this? Oh there's a mailbox, can I write on it, can I do one?' And then all of their buddies wanted to get involved and to write one," 22-year-old biology major, Marissa Sasuke, said. "I couldn't stay for very long, but I overheard them being really excited about it. It was awesome to see."
Barnett is hoping the word will continue to spread, as she's planning different events for the Dream Tree.
"We're going to have a dream ceremony after every-one writes their dreams, hopefully everyone, on May 13, from 11 am to 12," Barnett said. "And it'll be right here at the Dream Tree, and we'll do some sort of meditation, but the idea of it is just to give energy to all of these dreams and let them flow into the universe and make them reality."
All students are encouraged to post a dream on the Dream Tree, or at least take a look at the dreams already written. Some may be surprising, or could be as true to the reader as the writer. The only way to find out is to stop by and check it out.
BY NENA FARRELL | [email protected]
Branching out and sharing dreams
SWEET DREAMS: Danielle Barnett created the Dream Tree for her holistic health internship class. Located between Cesar Chavez Student Center and the Business building at SF State, it is for students to write their dreams on scraps of fabric and tie them in the tree. Photo by Samantha Benedict
Communications major and dreamer Danielle Barnett was
inspired by Yoko Ono to start an on-campus Dream Tree where
students can share their thoughts and goals
Want more sloshball pics?
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Brandon Cusak holds Drew Reitz in a moment of excitement during the sloshball game at Golden Gate Park. Both Cusak and Reitz played on team “Players Club” against “Cinema Collective.” Team “Players Club” won 19-16. Photo by Erica Marquez
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG 04.10.13| 5C I T Y
San Francisco bike-sharing program: rolling to a city near you
The Bay Area Air Quality Management Dis-trict is launching a bicycle-sharing program
in August that allows people to rent bikes
BY GUADALUPE GONZALEZ | [email protected]
The City Attorney’s Office officially jumped on the technology bandwagon when it announced a new smartphone app that allows users to report non-emergency violations directly to code enforce-ment offices.
Officially launched April 1, the app, UP2CODE uses pictures and GPS to help agencies easily identi-fy potential violations. Many posts are of vandalism, illegal dumping, businesses operating without a li-cense and building violations like peeling paint. With the app, a user can see a list of reported issues near their location. For example, near SF State’s campus, most reports were vandalism violations, showing pictures of stickers on parking signs.
“If we don’t know about the problem we can’t fix it,” Assistant City Attorney Yvonne Mere said. “Getting us involved the earlier, the better.”
For the last ten years, complaints were taken by phone. While the hotline works fine, Mere said it was time they reevaluated the process to include the latest technologies.
The app’s platform is almost identical to other apps that request government services already used in cities nationwide, like Fix 311 and SeeClickFix. But UP2CODE is specifically tailored to the city’s municipal code and all complaints go through the City Attorney’s Office.
Once a complaint is uploaded, the code enforce-
ment team collects the data and sends the issue off to SF 311, a data portal, which then sends the com-plaint to the appropriate city department.
The City Attorney’s Office investigates and enforces through court action public nuisance issues, which are defined by California law as anything that could injure a person's health, including the comfort-able enjoyment of life or property.
According to their offices, the 311 app doesn’t send complaints to the City Attorney's Office, so if the case does go to court, attorneys have to track that information down from other departments.
“Already having the data will help us if the issue goes to litigation. It saves time and money,” said Kevin Easton, community relation coordinator for the City Attorney’s Office. Litigation for the City At-torney means going to court either because the city is being sued by someone or the city is suing someone.
The app was in the makings for a year, Easton said, who worked during that time with community groups gathering feedback. He said that most people liked the app and found it useful. However, he re-fused to name any of these groups.
Robert Davis is an outspoken figure in the Bay-view. He hates blight and spends much of his time cleaning up the neighborhood. Davis was at a meet-ing where Easton presented the app for community testing. Davis took one look at the app and wasn’t
impressed.“The utility of the app is extremely marginal,”
Davis said. “It’s a complete waste of time.”He added that the app seemed eerily similar to
other apps the city used. He decided not to use it and to stick with his favorite method of complaint: calling the relevant department directly and speaking with an expert on the issue.
“People have different levels of comfort,” Mere said, referring to the app’s utility. “Some people will love it, and others would rather pick up a phone and talk to someone.”
Another Bayview resident experienced the app and asked to remain anonymous fearing retaliation. He said that it is hard enough getting complaints resolved in the Bayview.
“UP2CODE sucks to begin with,” he said, adding that he beta tested it for six or seven months. “When you report something it goes into a black hole.”
He said he reported a business operating without a license, but never got an update.
Mere said that each complaint got a reference number that could be tracked. Plus, she added, users get updates on the app.
Davis said the app is the result of city officials wanting to feel like they are in touch with technolo-gy, an ongoing trend among government officials.
“It’s a complete smoke and mirrors job,” he said.
UP2CODE app gets city UP2DATE with code violationsBY BRIAN RINKER | [email protected]
ROLL OUT: A group of bicyclists commute through Golden Gate Park. A bike-sharing program is slated to arrive in San Francisco this fall. Photo by Andy Sweet
COMMUTING through San Francisco usually entails searching for parking or waiting long hours for a bus, but those looking for a quick and healthy way to get around the city may have
found their solution.San Francisco is ready to join many inter-
national cities in offering more accessible and healthier transportation to its residents and visitors this summer by launching a bike-shar-ing program, along with Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose and Redwood City. The pilot program is a partnership between the cities and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and will launch this August, allocating 700 bi-cycles at 70 stations throughout San Francisco and the peninsula.
Rental rates for the bikes have not yet been deter-mined, but the BAAQ said they will resemble Boston's and New York's system, which cost roughly $100 for a yearly membership, with the first 30 minutes being free, and an hourly fee thereafter.
The 350 bicycles slated for San Francisco will be spread out in 35 stations in the city's Financial District, Market Street and the South of Market areas, connecting public transit systems such as Caltrain and the Transbay Terminal.
According to the San Francisco Municipal Trans-portation Agency, the areas were chosen because they contain the densest bikeway network in the city.
“Our overall goal is to increase bike ridership in San
Francisco,” spokesman for the SFMTA, Paul Rose, said. “As we enter this first phase of the program, we hope to identify plans for the second part.”
The second phase of the program will expand into other neighborhoods like the Castro and Mission Districts and increase the number of bikes to 1,000, with 100 sta-tions. Rose said that will happen once funding is secured for the program.
The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, a local bi-cycling advocacy group, is an adamant supporter and contributor to the project, pushing for that expansion.
“Bike share is a natural fit for San Francisco. We're a small, dense city and bikes are a great way to get around,” SFBC’s spokeswoman Kristin Smith said. “To be really successful, we're pushing for a much bigger launch. Three hundred bikes is too small to meet the
needs of our large city.”According to the SFMTA’s Bicycle
Count Report released earlier this year, bike ridership increased 71 percent in five years.
The city is pushing for 20 percent of trips to be done by bicycle by 2020. Smith said the bike share will help reach that goal.
Jimmy Yarbro, 28, is a cook who lives in SOMA and works in the Hayes Valley neighborhood. He says he is look-ing forward to the program because it will make his commute easier and more enjoyable.
"I would prefer to ride a bike instead of waiting for the bus all the time any-ways. Even running simple errands will be easier," Yarbro said. "The only reason
I don't have a bike right now is because I have no where to keep it."
Cities throughout the country like Miami Beach and Boston already have bike share programs, and others are being planned in Los Angeles and New York.
The San Francisco program will resemble the coun-try’s largest bike share system located in Washington D.C., dubbed Capital Bikeshare.
With a fleet of more than 1,670 bicycles, the program increased daily bike ridership in one year from 6,313 to 7,805, according to the city's Department of Transporta-tion.
Alta Bicycle Share, the company that started Capital Bikeshare, will be running San Francisco’s program. Its stations will be solar powered and rental rates include hourly, daily and monthly passes.
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG A R T S A N D E N T E R T A I N M E N T 04.10.136 |
Saeed Shafa has never been one to follow the crowd. In 1972, he was just one of a few journalism students at SF State when suddenly the political floodgates burst wide open with the Watergate scandal.
As a result, President Nixon resigned and overnight journalism departments nationwide were flooded with applicants, hoping to be the next Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. SF State was no exception.
A dismayed Shafa noticed the trend, decided to shift gears and pursue a degree in film instead; a not-so secret passion of his as evidenced by the movie reviews he used to write for his high school paper in Iran.
This sense of individuality has since served him well as the founder and director of the Tiburon International Film Festival, a showcase for the latest in world cinema running from April 11-19.
“I felt a little awkward,” Shafa said of the unexpected influx of students enrolling as journalism majors in the wake of Watergate. “There weren’t many journalism students at that time. Journalism wasn’t hip. I didn’t think any of those wannabe journalists were serious enough and I didn’t want to be part of it.”
However, even before Watergate, it was clear to Shafa that he wanted to be part of the film community. Growing up as a kid in Iran, he would watch classic Westerns and idolize the leading man, John Wayne.
Westerns remain Shafa’s favorite genre and he remembers at times thinking that John Wayne must be fluent in Farsi because the dubbing was so precise.
From there he started to develop his tastes and became interested in films from the French New Wave, Stanley Kubrick and Orson Welles, who directed his favorite film “Citizen Kane.”
Growing up the son of a doctor, Shafa was always exposed to art from the Western culture. It was only natural that he would follow in the footsteps of his two older brothers and make the move from Iran to San Francisco.
“It was a smooth transition as I didn’t experience any culture shock,” he said.
He eventually went on to earn a mas-ter’s degree in film post-Watergate, but once again found himself at a crossroads where he would have to decide whether to follow the crowd or go his own way.
Shafa has attended many film festivals throughout his career and he became dis-illusioned when he noticed that, what was once a platform for emerging filmmakers hoping to get distribution, had turned into a financial enterprise for big studios.
“This in a way was good, and still is, for many festivals to earn revenue. But (it's) not good for the young, talented and aspiring filmmakers and so I decided to do the opposite and give the opportunity back to those who deserve it,” Shafa said.
In 2001, Shafa launched TIFF and it has become a prominent destination for local and international filmmakers wanting to share their work, including that of SF State faculty members and alumnus like Warren Haack, whose documentary “Santiago is Santiago” will have its world premiere at this year's festival.
"It celebrates humanity," Haack said of the festival.His film explores Cuba's thriving music scene in the
50 years since its revolution."It's surprising how much love and life there is and I
just want to make a document of the music so people in the United States can experience what goes on," Haack said.
Haack describes his film and TIFF as representive of the diversity at SF State.
"It's a celebration of international culture and I think that's something very important to the Bay Area. It real-ly provides a rich cultural texture," he said.
Daniel Bernardi, chair of the cinema department, believes that Shafa's efforts with TIFF reinforce the sense of obligation that SF State hopes to enstill in its graduates.
"We uphold the values of our university: equity and social justice. This is at the heart of everything we do and teach in cinema at (SF) State," Bernardi said.
Bernardi and Shafa both agree that students should never lose sight of their individuality and the unique perspective that will set their work apart. Film festi-vals and distribution should come second to producing meaningful work.
"Learn from the masters but be yourself," Shafa said. "We don't need another Spielberg, Tarantino, or Lucas. We need a new breath and a new talent who will bring a new idea and vision to our screen."
Alumnus paves way for emerging filmmakersBY JONATHAN RAMOS [email protected]
TABLECLOTHS AS DRESS-es, wire hangers as a lighting fixture and leftover scraps of lumber used to build a stool may look like ordinary do-it-yourself projects, but together they make up SF State’s latest exhibition working to inspire
students to partake in a new trend of recycling — upcycling.
Upcycling is a term used to describe the process of taking a material item and instead of throwing it away, recreating it and giving it a new life.
Connie Ulasewicz, SF State design and mer-chandising professor, teamed up with the Cesar Chavez Student Center Art Gallery and other instructors to lead their students in an upcycling themed exhibit. Students took items that are usually identified as waste and used them to make clothes, furniture and other accessories for display in the gallery.
"I hope the show (UpCycling exhibition) pulls in conservation aware-ness and a compassion for the environment having students pass it down to their chil-dren’s children,” said Carolyn Ho, Cesar Chavez Student Center Art Gallery director. “Hopefully with the information from the exhibition, you go home and are inspired to make something.”
"UpCycling: Trans-forming Old into New through Apparel and Furniture Design," the current exhibition locat-ed at the Cesar Chavez Student Center Art Gallery, was a collabo-ration that formed when Ho called Ulasewicz to apologize for drop-ping a mannequin she borrowed for another
exhibition. Ulasewicz reassured her it was fine, all the mannequins she used had been upcycled. Stu-dents who work in the retail field had given them to her before they were thrown out.
Gus Vouchilas, an assistant professor in the consumer & family studies/dietetics department, got his students involved when he assigned a project for them to design a kiosk based on the biomimetic principle of replicating and mimicking life.
“The students came up with their own ideas and everything here is made of upcycled materials,” Vouchilas said. “We get the message out of repur-posing, redesigning and what we call upcycling to recreate new products and to keep things out of landfills as much as possible, but also bring life to something to make it meaningful again.”
Vouchilas’ student Jenny Russell, a 22-year-old interior design major, participated by creating her own stool, the start to a complete wine bar set. What makes Russell’s stool unique is the fact that it is made of all upcycled wood.
“I hope to use upcycling as my art outlet and build more of these; they’re fun, easy and practical-ly free,” Russell said.
The exhibition gallery showcases not only the beauty that can be made through upcycling discard-ed items, but shows students the importance of re-using salvageable items and reducing raw materials to help build a sustainable environment.
“We don’t really think about our landfills but they’re filling up, they’re limited,” liberal studies major Ayden Bremner said. “We just have to start thinking to buy less crap, buy just what we need and recycle what we need.”
The exhibition participants want people to ultimately utilize the exhibit as a model of inspira-tion to raise awareness for textile recycling, and for students to do something to help our world.
“In San Francisco there is a bin for plastic, for bottles for cans and for newspaper. Is there a bin for textiles? No. It’s an undervalued commodity,” Ulasewicz said. “This is more than a gallery, it’s an experience. I hope they’re inspired to do something on their own and share it with other people, we’re all a part of the problem and the solution.”
The UpCycling exhibition is open until April 22, 2013 at the Cesar Chavez Student Center Art Gallery.
Exhibit gives discarded
items new life
BY LOVELIE FAUSTINO | [email protected]
POP ART: Colton Coty and Megan Enme visit the opening of the UpCycling exhibition at SF State. UpCycling features recycled fabrics and materials made into clothes and furniture. Photo by Samantha Benedict
CELL PHONES OFF: Saeed Shafa, SF State Alumnus and Festival Director of the Tiburon International Film Festival, is showcasing emerging filmmakers in a festival that celebrates the latest in world cinema. Photo by Frank Leal
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My little sister was diagnosed with a specific form of autism, Asperger's Syndrome, at a very young age. I didn't understand what it meant or what she had until I was nearly a teenager, but I understood that she was different. I used to have to organize things for her and hunt down her bullies, but we also would argue over the television and who's turn it was to play The Sims, just like any other sisters.
April is Autism Awareness Month, in case you didn't know, and it's a big deal. The most recent data shows that one out of every 88 U.S. children, including one out of every 54 boys, is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Diagnosis isn't always an easy task. It’s done by a developmental examina-tion, which looks at many behaviors; saying very few words, not making eye contact and getting upset by any changes to their routine are some usual factors.
Children with autism, or anyone at all with autism, are not necessarily alike. My little sister withdrew socially at a very young age, and still has a lot of social difficulties today.
She had friends in middle school, but since high school, her social interactions have declined. She happens to have a high I.Q. but nearly failed out of high school because she didn’t do her assign-ments.
These were normal areas of concern for her, but others with similar diagnoses can have very different problems.
We write off those with obvious disabilities, but we don't bother to under-stand our peers who are just "different" without realizing they have disabilities as well. As a community, we need to under-stand what autism, in its many forms, is and look not to push these people away for being socially awkward or uncom-fortable to be around.
A lot of my friends meet my sister and have no idea she's different. If they know beforehand, they usually try to navigate her over-excited awkward forms of talking. If they don't know, they usu-ally react to her with smirks and jokes, not realizing she doesn't understand. My sister usually has no idea how she's making others feel, unless the expression is obvious or clearly said. Her differences don't scream "autistic" and others just assume she's weird.
Autism is best understood as a “spectrum.” There are high-functioning autistics, like my sister, and others who range on numerous areas of the scale. While my sister does have developmental problems in the areas of social interaction and maturity, she ranks as high function-ing for her ability to clearly communicate and look others in the eye. Many others don’t have those skills, and can lack in other areas when growing up.
Some stereotypes of autism are imagining people who rock back and forth in their chairs or shake and throw fits. But these are a small fraction of what autism can mean for its bearers. Autistic people can be incredibly smart, the way my sister is, or have many other talents. Their disability isn't always obvious to the untrained eye.
So to be aware, understand that au-tism doesn’t just fall under the “Special Ed” kids from high school who rode a different bus.
For all you know, the kid next to you has autism and you wouldn’t even know it. And that person deserves to be treated with an understanding of who they are, not just ignored if they made a few so-cially awkward comments.
Awareness breaks autism stereotypes
STAFF EDITORIAL Graduation has a price, for attendance
AFTER FOUR plus years of college, gradu-ation is the one, albeit cheesy, but well-de-served ceremo-ny we can all
look forward to. The handshake of our department chair, the toss of our caps in jubilee, and yes, even the photo with dear grandma, are all something to be excited about. Why? It’s a salute to our hard work, and our hopefully promis-ing futures.
That’s why we at the Xpress were disappointed to hear the psychology de-partment was charging an exorbitant $85 a head for its department graduation tickets.
The graduation, held on the Horn-blower Yacht, might be a department tradition, but traditions that make gradu-ation unaffordable and inaccessible need to end.
Do your parents really want to pay $170 to see you walk, after helping you pay $25,000 (and more) of tuition for that very degree you walk towards? Not to
mention the textbooks and student fees added to that.
The fee just to apply for graduation is already $100. Renting a cap and gown is $60 at minimum, and if you have honors, it’s $15 for the gold neck cord. Adding $85 for you and each member of your family is a price too steep to handle. It seems like an unnecessary cost added to your increasing student loan debt you have to finally face in your new career (assuming employment follows gradua-tion).
We can understand the draw of the psychology department’s planned cele-bration. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate the end of college bobbing around on a luxurious yacht in the middle of the bay?
But, when weighed against the idea of commencing your college career surrounded by those who supported you along the way, the choice is clear.
This plan fails to serve the students and give them the graduation ceremony they deserve. By making it too expensive for many students to attend, the psy-chology department is running the risk
of leaving their graduates with a bitter taste in their mouths. It’s hard to imagine a graduate speaking highly of a depart-ment that priced them out of their own graduation.
If they really understood their stu-dents and wanted them in high atten-dance, they’d make tickets cheap and give out many.
The psychology department’s efforts at damage control — trying to help low-income students by having an essay contest for free tickets — is in bad taste. Students who don’t have the money to pay for $85 tickets now have to write an essay to earn them? That’s the last thing we want to do when we’re crippled with senioritis. This contest translates to: hey poor students, graduation is free if you do one last piece of menial work.
So thank you psychology depart-ment. If we were psychology students and were willing to enter your offensive essay contest, we’d write you this exact essay and tell you why your costly graduation tickets would be thrown overboard.
ART BY KIRSTIE HARUTA [email protected]
BY NENA FARRELL | [email protected]
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG 04.10.13| 9
PEOPLE OFTEN ASK ME how I got sober. It’s a diffi-cult question to answer. The truth: I have no idea.
I didn’t decide one day to get sober and then set off to accomplish the task. No, for years my life
was shit and I knew it. Yet I was torn between two contradictory thoughts: One, heroin had ruined my life and I needed to get clean; two, that being loaded on heroin was better than life sober and worth the consequences. The latter thought always won. Heroin just seemed better than everything else. If it had been up to me, I would’ve stayed high forever. A life of sobriety could always wait until tomorrow. But tomor-row never came. Until the one day that it did. While I can’t tell you why it happened, I can tell you what happened.
At 24, I was strung out on heroin, meaning I shot dope daily. If I failed to inject heroin for just one day, I would get violently ill, both physically and mentally. For the next five years, I did my best, or worst, to remain high. I couldn’t stop using. And when I did manage to scrape together more than a handful of clean days, which were few and far between, I did so because I found myself in a tough position where getting sober was the only way out.
One of those times was at the jail farm, which I recounted last week, but in the end I had no intention of really staying sober once I was released. I thought the punishment entitled me to have another drug run.
The other two times began with rehab. And during both experiences, I really wanted to stay sober.
“Rinker, roll it up,”
the jailer yelled. I rolled my sleeping mat up and got ready to be released. I was so excited to get it out. I had just done three days in the county jail, a sentence I got for trying to a steal a power drill from a department store. It was my first time in jail. It was the longest time I had gone without heroin and I missed it. I had great fantasies about what I would do when I got out. First, I would go steal some sporting shorts from the nearby gym and then sell them to the kitchen help of some taqueria. Then I would call my dealer and get loaded. I had never before pulled a hustle like this one, but had heard about it from an inmate, who offered lots of junkie advice. I planned on giving it a try. The anticipation was killing me.
The sheriff’s deputy led me away from the jail pods, down the hallway and into a little a room where I changed into my street clothes. I was released. I couldn’t wait to hit the streets and get loaded. I stepped into the waiting room heading for the door and there stood my par-ents. I was dumbfounded.
They needed to talk. We went outside. It was a grey morning with a gentle rain. I bummed a cigarette off my dad and took a deep drag. My first smoke out of jail wasn’t nearly as satisfying as I’d hoped.
My parents weren’t there to take me home. I needed help. They offered two choices: I could either go directly to rehab or I could wander off and find a bush to live in. I needed to think. Was living in a bush really that bad? I really wanted to get heroin, but being homeless and having to fend for myself sounded miserable.
I was beaten and I knew it. I gave in and decided on rehab.
I got in their car and we drove straight to a treatment center.
Journalism student Brian Rinker takes the ideals of full disclosure
and transparency to an exteme level when he reflects on his days as a
heroin junkie.
A WEEKLY COLUMN BY BRIAN [email protected]
Sobering details: reluctantly
ditching the needle
PART ONEIN A THREE-PART SERIES
“
“
This is the first part of a three-part getting sober series, which explores some of the more memorable moments that led up to my
sobriety date, Dec. 19, 2008.
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG S P O R T S 04.10.1310 |
PLAYERof the
WEEKKELSEY MURAKAMI
SOFTBALL
Junior Kelsey Murakami batted .529 for the Gators over the weekend. Murakami tallied nine hits, three runs and two RBIs in a six-game tournament in Turlock, Calif.
PHOTO BY TYLER DENISTON/SF STATE SPORTS
L
W
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LAPRIL 7
SF STATE VS. WESTERN WASHINGTON
UNIVERSITY7-8
APRIL 6 SF STATE VS.
UC SAN DIEGO6-9
APRIL 7 SF STATE VS.
GRAND CANYON1-3
APRIL 7 SF STATE VS.
UC SAN DIEGO 11-3
SOFTBALL BASEBALLS C O R E
B O A R D
SCORES FROM
THE LAST WEEK OF
GATOR SPORTS
S P O R T S S C H E D U L EFRIDAY
(4.12)
SF STATE VS. CAL STATE MONTEREY
BAY (DH) 1 AND 3 P.M.
(SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.)
WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELDCHICO DISTANCE
CARNIVAL TBD
(CHICO, CALIF.)
SATURDAY (4.13)
SOFTBALL SOFTBALL
SF STATE VS. CAL STATE DOMINGUEZ
HILLS 11 A.M.
(SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.)
BASEBALLSF STATE VS. CAL STATE MONTEREY
BAY (DH) 12 AND 2 P.M.
(SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.)
SUNDAY (4.14)
BASEBALLSF STATE VS. CAL
STATE DOMINGUEZ HILLS3 P.M.
(SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.)
BASEBALLSF STATE VS. CAL
STATE DOMINGUEZ HILLS (DH)
11 A.M. AND 2 P.M.(SAN FRANCISCO,
CALIF.)
WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD
CHICO TWILIGHTS TBD
(CHICO, CALIF.)
APRIL 6 SF STATE VS.
UC SAN DIEGO5-7
LWAPRIL 6
SF STATE VS. DOMINICAN (CALIF.)
5-0
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG 04.10.13| 11
IT’S A NICE SUMMER DAY, 85 degrees and sunny. You decide to go to the beach, not only to show off your new sum-mer bod, but to cool off for a swim in the Pacific. While swimming, you find yourself amongst plastic bottles that bob like buoys and you become tangled in white plastic bags with Safeway labels.
Over the last 60 years, plastic has become essential to our lives and mankind has subjected the planet to a tsunami of plastic waste. According to the environmental group Ocean Crusaders, there are believed to be 46,000 pieces of plastic in every square mile of ocean.
The Pacific contains one of the highest concentrations of plastic materials, suspended between North America and Asia. The clus-ter of plastic materials is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex is a culmination of pelagic plastics, chemical sludge and other debris that have been trapped in the ocean cur-rents of the North Pacific Gyre. The material is naturally gathered from all across the North Pacific Ocean, which includes coastal waters from North America and Japan. Although the size of the patch is unknown, it is estimated to be around 700,000 square kilometers or roughly the size of Texas, according to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch website.
Plastic is not a material that can be easily broken down.
The building blocks for making plastics are small organic molecules. These molecules contain carbon along with other substances. They generally come from oil (petroleum) or natural gas, combined with plant extracts, crude oil and toxic chemicals like Bisphenol A (BPA), vi-nyl chloride and dioxin. The small molecules are known as a monomer, meaning one part, because it's capable of joining with other monomers to form very long molecu-
lar chains called polymers, meaning many parts, during a chemical reaction called polymerization. Imagine a paper clip as a monomer, and a paper clip necklace as a polymer.
But how does all that plastic get from the factory to the ocean? The answer is simple: humans + ocean cur-rents = trash vortex, according to How Stuff Works. More specifically, the plastic stems from trash that was blown off of cargo ships and plastic that was thrown into the ocean, both by mistake or on purpose, that then found its way into the middle of the ocean.
According to scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, nine percent of fish lo-cated in the Pacific had plastic waste in their stomach. The Scripps Environmental Accu-mulation of Plastics Expedition traveled 1,000 miles off the coast of California in August 2009 and found an alarming amount of human generated trash. Most of the plastic had been broken down to the size
of a fingernail, floating across the ocean.Not only are plastics made with toxic materials,
but they continue to leach toxicants wherever they are. Chemicals are leached from plastics, which can affect fish, mammals and other marine life. We, as humans, are also affected. We surround ourselves with plastic, eating products that are wrapped in plastic and drinking from plastic containers that put toxicants into our bodies.
It is vital that consumers ask questions about where their recycled products go. Ensure they are taken to a re-cycling facility where the collectors are using the plastic to make refurbished products like automotive accessories, bags and carpets, according to the Plastics Division of the American Chemistry Council. Also buying less plastic is a must. The less plastic that is incorporated into your life, the less likely you are to get toxicants in your body from that bottle of water or that Tupperware you used to warm up last night’s pasta.
When Elissa Torres isn’t rescuing wounded marine mammals or
hugging trees, the environmental studies minor spends her time
writing this column.It’s based on equal parts opinion,
statistics and life experiences. If you don’t like it, read and recycle.
A WEEKLY ENVIRONMENTAL COLUMN BY ELISSA [email protected]
Dive into the dangers of
plastic’s toxicants
“We didn’t have as much of a problem with distracted driving twenty years ago,” Cochran said. “But with the advent of cell phones, distracted driving is a different animal. This month is about ensuring that the public knows that distracted driving is dangerous.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safe-ty Administration, in 2011, 3,331 people were killed in crashes caused by distracted drivers, and 387,000 people were injured. In 2010, 3,267 people were killed and 416,000 were injured.
SB 1310, commonly known as the Cell Phone Ban Law, went into effect July 2008 in an attempt to curb deaths and injuries from distracted driving. The law prohibits people from using electronic cellular devices to send text messages and to make and receive calls while driving. According to the CHP, drivers who violate this law pay $159 for their first offense, and $279 for their second.
During the month of April, CHP officers and police officers will be hyper-vigilant, keeping a watchful eye out for distract-ed drivers, handing out two to three times more tickets for this offense, according to Cochran.
During last year’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month effort, 6,000 tickets were issued to driv-ers in the Bay Area who were texting or talking on their cell phone behind the wheel, which accounted for more than 10
percent of the citations handed out by CHP officers all over California.
Though all ages of drivers can be found guilty of distracted driving, Cochran finds that some age groups are more guilty of distracted driving than others.
“Virtually everybody out there is guilty of dis-tracted driving, in one way or another,” Cochran said. “What we have found is that the older you are, the more likely you are to talk on the phone while driving — as opposed to the 16-25 age group that remains guilty of texting while driving the most.”
Joyce McGrath, an SF State student studying history, does not text and drive because it not only puts herself in danger, but also other drivers on the road.
“I’m a nanny, so most of the driving I do, I do with small children,” McGrath, 23, said. “I don’t text while driving because I’m driving a death machine. Texting while driving is dangerous, and it isn’t worth the danger that I’d put people under if I did so.”
Drivers aren’t the only ones who feel that they are put at risk by distracted driving. Elizabeth Stampe, executive director of Walk San Francisco, a pedestrian coalition raising awareness for safety in the streets for those who choose not to drive but walk, believes that distracted driving can be poten-tially harmful for her fellow pedestrians.
“In San Francisco an average of three people get hit by cars in a day,” Stampe said. “One of the most dangerous factors with drivers is that they’re not paying attention to the road because they are
distracted by other forces.”
Cochran urges California drivers to put away their phones while they are driving, and focus on the road.
“Looking at your phone is addictive, so just put your device in a place where you can’t reach it while driving,” Cochran said. “Usually that text message or call you just received can wait.”
RIDIN’ DIRTY: A driver talks on the phone near Dolores Street. During the month of April, California Highway Patrol officers and police officers will be handing out two to three times more tickets for driving while being on a phone. Photo by Andy Sweet
CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE Officers to keep a watchful eye on drivers
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