NAMED NATIONAL FOUR-YEAR DAILY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR FOR 2020-21 IN THE COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION’S PINNACLE AWARDS
Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023
Volume 160 No. 10 SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
SJSU talks violence prevention By Mat Bejarano STAFF WRITER
After Monday’s mass shooting at Michigan State University, San Jose State faculty members reflect on their feelings and emotions regarding if a shooting were to happen on campus. Justice studies assistant professor Shawna Bolton said she hopes to see an improvement in active shooter training. She said she wants staff and students to both be aware of what to do, who to call and what exits to take in an active shooter situation. “If push comes to shove the only plan that I have is to tie a whole bunch of lab coats together and try to get my students out of the window somehow, so that they can get to safety as quick as possible,” Bolton said. On Monday, 43-year-old Anthony Dwayne McRae opened fire on Michigan State’s campus, killing three students and injuring five. According to the Gun Violence Archive, a mass shooting is defined as an incident in which four or more people are shot. Since 1966, there have been nine shootings on college campuses in CAROLYN BROWN | SPARTAN DAILY
A campus security vehicle sits parked in front of the University Police Department on Washington Square on Wednesday afternoon.
TRAINING | Page 2
Internment survivors recall imprisonment By Matthew Gonzalez STAFF WRITER
San Jose State students were invited to the Day of Remembrance event held in the Student Union room three on Wednesday, aiming to bring awareness to the struggles shared by Japanese Americans in the U.S. during the internment period in 1942. Internment camps were installed under Executive Order 9066 with over 120,000 Japanese Americans on the West Coast being incarcerated on the basis of suspicion of loyalty to Japan after the Pearl Harbor attacks on Dec. 7, 1941, according to an article by Britannica. Students heard from a variety of speakers, including two former internment-camp survivors and a San Jose councilmember. Councilmember Rosemary Kamei said it was important to recognize this was an act of civil betrayal. “I want to emphasize the word ‘Americans’ – that this happened to Americans,” Kamei said. “As we lead through today, let us reflect on the impact of this decision that it has had on Japanese Americans.” Kamei said she wanted the event to serve as a reminder that freedom in the U.S. is not always promised. “Let us use this as an opportunity to educate ourselves and others on the fragility of civil liberties, especially in times of crisis,” Kamei said. “As we look around with everything that’s happening, we know how fragile it can be.” Lisa Millora, vice president for Strategy and Institutional Affairs and chief of staff at SJSU, led the event with a memory exercise. She said she wanted to emphasize the incredible persistence Japanese Americans had amidst such a detrimental injustice. “Let me say again, memory is powerful, and it can motivate our behaviors,” Millora said. “I hope that by remembering the injustice of interning 120,000 people, and by remembering the power of human spirit to persist in the face of adversity, we are called to act in ways that will bring greater justice to our communities into our world.” The Day of Remembrance included a “fireside chat” with SJSU alumna Shirley Kuramoto and former U.S. house
MATTHEW GONZALEZ | SPARTAN DAILY
SJSU alumna Shirley Kuramoto and former U.S. house representative Mike Honda recall their time in Japanese internment camps, at the Day of Remembrance event at The Student Union on Wednesday morning.
representative Mike Honda, who were both in internment camps as children. Kuramoto said shortly after World War II, she was met with racial discrimination from a boy in her elementary school.
She said although she is 90 years old, the memory of racial discrimination is still fresh. “I was in class or in school and this little boy – and it’s really amazing I can still see his face and still remember his name – he
I want to emphasize the word “Americans” – that this happened to Americans. As we lead through today, let us reflect on the impact of this decision that it has had on Japanese Americans. Rosemary Kamei
San Jose City Councilmember
started calling me ‘jap’ and I never heard that word before,” Kuramoto said. She said being on the receiving end of the slur was not a one-time occurrence. “Once again he kept shouting that word,” Kuramoto said. “And he didn’t say it in a friendly manner and so I thought it’s not a good term, but I didn’t understand it at all.” She said the introduction to her new life was abrupt and unexpected, but her main concern was leaving her canine companion behind. “One day I went home and my mother says to me, without any explanation, ‘we’re gonna move,’ ” Kuramoto said. “And I said ‘you know what’s going to happen to our dog Shiro?’ ” REMEMBRANCE | Page 2