NAMED NATIONAL FOUR-YEAR DAILY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR FOR 2020-21 IN THE COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION’S PINNACLE AWARDS
Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023
Volume 160 No. 3 SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
SJ mourns mass shooting victims By Alina Ta
STAFF WRITER
Community members lit candles and huddled together in a circle outside San Jose City Hall to grieve for mass shootings victims in Monterey Park, Half Moon Bay, East Oakland and Los Angeles. Therese Santiago and Leika La Roque, two of the vigil organizers and outreach coordinators for Asian Law Alliance, said they held the vigil in response to the violence occurring recently. Asian Law Alliance is a non-profit organization that provides equal access to the justice system for Asian Pacific Islander and low-income populations in Silicon Valley, according to their webpage “We want to have a moment where we can have a bit of a peace from all that violence and take a moment to stand in solidarity with each other across all our communities and minorities, and stand with each other,” Santiago said. Since Jan. 23, three mass shootings have occurred. On Jan. 23, a gunman killed 11 people at Lai Lai Ballroom and Studio during a Lunar New Year celebration near Monterey Park, Los Angeles according to a Jan. 24 article by the East Bay Times. Two days later, another gunman, Chunli Zhao, 66 years old, killed seven people at California Terra Gardens and Concords Farm in Half Moon Bay, according to a Jan. 26 East Bay Times article. The same source also reported that during the same evening, another gunman killed one person and injured four others at a Valero gas
ALINA TA | SPARTAN DAILY
MASS SHOOTINGS | Page 2 A demonstrator at the Candlelight Vigil for victims of the Half Moon Bay shooting lights a candle in front of San Jose City Hall.
SJSU provides on campus medical abortions By Jillian Darnell STAFF WRITER
As of Jan. 1, Senate Bill No. 24 mandates medical abortions be available in all University of California and California State University campuses across California. Kayla Lam, vice president of the Public Health Student Association at San Jose State, said the implementation of medical abortions on campus will have a positive impact on students. “Imagine you’re in a period of time and stress, essentially when you find out that you are pregnant you are in a time crunch,” Lam said. “By allowing students to be reassured that they have that plan at the Wellness Center, and it’s known to be cheaper than a drug store or a department store, it is just a lot more accessible all around.” Catherine Voss Plaxton, associate vice president of the Health, Wellness and Student Services, said the medical abortion pill is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the termination of pregnancies within the first ten weeks of gestation. The bill represents an expansion of healthcare options for students who test positive for pregnancy at the Student Wellness Center. “Now, as part of typical pregnancy-options counseling, students will have the option of receiving medication abortion from trusted SJSU healthcare providers,”
Plaxton said. Medical abortions consist of a pregnant patient taking two abortion pills called mifepristone and misoprostol, according to Planned Parenthood’s website. SB 24 also requires the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls to allocate $200,000 worth of funding to each campus to help health centers provide the best care for medical abortions. The California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls is an organization that works towards eliminating inequities in state laws, practices and conditions affecting women living in California according to its website. Over 6,000 students may seek medical abortions or other related services each year, according to a Dec. 2017 study done by the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health from the University of California, San Francisco. Lam said by allowing students to access medical abortions on campus, it can reduce the emotional stress and offer a safer environment for patients to get the treatment they need. “It is a safe space for women or pregnant people in general,” Lam said. “Some women are victims of clinics that pressure you into keeping the baby, putting their own advice onto the poor patient who can be 16 or 17 or even younger. With the Wellness Center, there won’t be any HEALTHCARE | Page 4
NATHAN CANILAO | SPARTAN DAILY
Darlene Tenes, founder of the Farmworker Caravan, speaks to the media Thursday at the San Jose Women’s Club. Tenes said 40 families were displaced after the Half Moon Bay shooting on Jan. 25.
Community provides supplies to farmers By Alessio Cavalca MANAGING EDITOR
The San Jose non-profit organization Farmworker Caravan and local volunteers met at the San Jose Woman’s Club on Jan. 25 to gather food and supplies intended for farmworker families who have been displaced from their lands over the past weeks. One of the causes behind the displacement these families face is the California Terra Gardens farm shooting in Half Moon Bay, where 66-year-old farmworker Chunli Zhao killed seven people, on January 23, according to a Thursday New York Times article. Darlene Tenes, the founder of Farmworker Caravan and director of diversity and inclusion at San Jose Woman’s Club, said they collected
different products and supplies to meet the farmworker families’ needs. “There were a lot of families that lived on that farm,” Tenes said. “So there have been about 40 families that have been displaced at this moment, and they have not been able to return to their homes . . . because of the police investigation.” She said those people do not have access to their food, clothes and money. “We do have some people who have stepped up to provide some warm meals for them,” Tenes said. “We’re collecting other goods for them where they don’t have to cook or heat it up, and then, we’re collecting clothing as well.” In addition to the Half Moon Bay shooting, FARMERS | Page 4