Issuu

Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020

Volume 154 No. 16 WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY

SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934

Opinion

A&E

Science & Tech

Jury miscarries justice in Weinstein case

Student DJ mixes his way into Bay Area music scene

Our elections need a lot more work before we can trust them

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Poet shares journey to freedom Formerly incarcerated lawyer and author recounts struggles to students By Eduardo Teixeira SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Author, poet, lawyer and criminal justice reform advocate Reginald Dwayne Betts took to the podium for an hour and a half in the first Spartan Speaker series event of the semester, sharing stories and poems about his past struggles as an inmate. “It’s cold!” he exclaimed to roughly 100 people present Wednesday night in the Student Union Ballroom. Betts shared his experience of incarceration at the age of 16 after being arrested and sentenced to nine years for carjacking. “I was 16 years old and I had never touched a gun before in my life,” Betts told the audience. “I picked up a gun with a group of friends and I carjacked somebody.” Betts explained the epiphany he had while in prison – he wanted to be a writer. “I didn’t know what it meant to be a writer,” Betts said. “I just knew that writers wrote books and I loved books.” Betts also told the story of how he decided to go to law school, in an equally epiphanous fashion. BLUE NGUYEN | SPARTAN DAILY

POETRY | Page 2

Reginald Dwayne Betts speaks to students about his career as a lawyer, author and poet Wednesday at the Student Union Ballroom.

Transit, e-cigs top council priorities By Diana Avila SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The San Jose City Council picked priority items for the 2020-21 fiscal year during Tuesday’s meeting. “The goal for us today as we move forward is to rank council policy priorities,” said Lee Wilcox, chief of staff for the city manager’s office. Roughly 200 residents attended the meeting, which is about 150 more than the usual turnout. The council discussed 24 items to vote on and potentially add to the priority list, which city officials will be working on

this upcoming fiscal year. “[The] council and the administration collectively implemented a lot of changes over the past year,” Wilcox said. City staff explained that an intensive and strategic planning session took place with departments in the city manager’s office. During the 2019-20 fiscal year, six new items were added to the agenda and 16 items are on track to be completed by August. The council voted on tasks that were completed off the priority list. “All of these items have been to the full council and committees and have

A.S. BOARD OF DIRECTORS

been done and are now in either programmatic implementation, or being resourced in the budget,” Wilcox said. Many residents lined up to address the council and discussed several items to potentially add to the city’s priority list for the next fiscal year. Locals advocated proposals to ban electronic cigarettes and improve citywide transit. Transit-first polic y framework Councilmember Pam Foley proposed Item X, a policy which aims to increase the efficiency of Santa Clara

ELECTIONS 2020

YOUR VOTE. OUR PRIDE. Applications due Friday, 2/28, 5pm

City Council priority items Transit framework

E-cigarette regulation

What is it - Item X would develop and adopt a citywide transit-first policy framework with the goal of increasing efficiency in bus and light rail travel throughout San Jose.

What is it - Item E would prohibit sales of certain electronic cigarettes and flavored tobacco products and amend zoning to prevent sales of those products near schools.

Who supports it - District 9 Councilmember Pam Foley

Who supports it - District 5 Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco and District 9 Councilmember Pam Foley

INFOGRAPHIC BY JOHN BRICKER; ICONS COURTESY OF FREEPIK

Valley Transportation Authority. Monica Mallon, public relations senior, transit advocate and co-leader of the San Jose Youth Climate Action Team of Silicon Valley, requested that the council vote for Item X.

“I think to accommodate the projected job and population growth in San Jose, we really need to get people out of their cars and improving transit speeds and prioritizing transit is a great way to do that,” she said.

LEARN ABOUT EXECUTIVE POSITIONS

Students, such as political science junior Daniel Huynh, urged the council to vote for improving public transit as the city is known for being technologically advanced. COUNCIL | Page 2

LEARN ABOUT DIRECTOR POSITIONS

02/13, THURSDAY, 11AM-1PM Student Union Room 4A

02/12, WEDNESDAY, 10AM-12PM Student Union Room 2A

02/19, WEDNESDAY, 2-4PM Student Union Room 3A

02/18, TUESDAY, 5-7PM Student Union Room 3A

02/25, TUESDAY, 5-7PM Student Union Room 3A

02/24, MONDAY, 11AM-1PM Student Union Room 3A

02/28, FRIDAY, 11AM-1PM Student Union Room 3A

02/28, FRIDAY, 1-3PM Student Union Room 3B

For more information, visit sjsu.edu/as/vote.

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NEWS

THURSDAY, FEB. 27, 2020

POETRY Continued from page 1 He said he portrayed his passion for literature through a large tattoo on his back. “I got a stack of books with wings tattooed on my back,” Betts said. “It took 22 hours to finish.” However, the poet declined the audience’s request to see his tattoo. “I’m not going to show y’all my tattoo because Title IX is a motherfucker,” he laughed. Betts pens uses his poems to portray his personal experience to tell a greater story, as well as commentary and criticism on the current criminal justice system. Line by line and stanza by stanza, Betts recited to the audience the trials of a fellow inmate who he said is innocent and still imprisoned. In between each of his poems, Betts told short stories about other experiences

COUNCIL Continued from page 1 “We are Silicon Valley, the global leader in developing the latest technology, but yet the speed at which our transit moves throughout the county and [the Cal State Student Association] has slowed down,” Huynh said. “Our white wheels are delayed by red lights, our buses are stuck in traffic.” He said the city is not living up to its potential. “This is the time we start acting like the global leader in technology, that we are Silicon Valley, and develop a transit-first policy,” Huynh said. Ban on e-cigarettes Several parents of young teens

I’m not going to show y’all my tattoo because Title IX is a motherfucker. Reginald Dwayne Betts author, poet, lawyer and criminal justice reform advocate

that shaped him into who he is today, such as his son’s reaction to learning of his criminal past. Shortly after his poems concluded, Betts moved into an open 45-minute Q&A session with the audience members. Students asked Betts for advice on applying to law school. “I know that right now engineering is the top major to get into law school, so I was wondering what your major was and how that helped you out?” public relations

supported Item E, a proposal to ban certain electronic cigarette sales within the city of San Jose. State law prohibits businesses from selling e-cigarettes to minors, however, many parents advocated for a complete ban on all sales. Several parents attending the meeting mentioned an increased use of e-cigarettes in schools during public comment. Councilmember Foley commented on the negative outcomes e-cigarettes have in schools. “We have young adults that vape in school,” said Foley. “E-cigarettes are as small as a flash drive.” Item E would amend zoning to stop sales of e-cigarette products within a half mile of middle and high schools. Additionally, it would ban sales of tobacco products within a mile of elementary schools, middle and high schools.

sophomore Emily Rainey asked. Betts said not to hesitate because of a major. “You should never make a decision on your major based on what’s going to get you into law school,” Betts concluded. “It’s absolutely meaningless.” Business finance senior Jorge Lopez asked Betts how he overcame the hardships of incarceration. “When you served time in prison, what gave you hope throughout that time?” Lopez asked. “I kept myself busy,” Betts responded. “Whether it was me learning Spanish, getting a poem and an essay published, all of those things provided me with hope.”

BLUE NGUYEN | SPARTAN DAILY

Follow Eduardo on Twitter @eduardo_teix97

Reginald Dwayne Betts answers a variety of student questions ranging from asking for school advice to ones about his time in prison.

This is the time we start acting like the global leader in technology, that we are Silicon Valley, and develop a transit-first policy. Daniel Huynh political science junior

Local health officials said that they would partner with the city and assist with funding to deter underage smoking. “The Public Health Department is currently working with the city on the smoke-free housing priority,”

said Nicole Coxe, Tobacco-Free Communities program manager at the Santa Clara County Public Health Department. Coxe said the program has already provided funding for community outreach and research on the issue. “We’ve provided grant funding to help assist the burden on staff related to this workload,” Coxe said. However, several business owners came to speak against the possible ban. “The convenience store industry checks more IDs than TSA,” said Riley Muster, representative for Rotten Robbie gas stations. “It’s been said we check IDs all the time [and] our industry compliance rate is about 95%.” During the voting process, the council submitted enough votes to green list the item, meaning it

will be added to the priority list, although no bans on e-cigarettes have been put in place. Although the council voted on the priority list for the next fiscal year, the final items will not be presented by city staff members until the next city council meeting. However, a few items were green listed, as described by city staff, meaning they will be added to the new calendar. The items that make the priority list are not the only issues the city will be working on in the coming year. “This is a prioritization process so if even it doesn’t make priority setting, we can still do the work,” councilmember Lan Diep said.

Follow Diana on Twitter @dianaavila284

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OPINION

THURSDAY, FEB. 27, 2020

Rape victims deserve full justice By Brian So & Chris Core STAFF WRITER & OPINION EDITOR

Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein was partially punished for his sex crimes, but the New York supreme court did not serve justice fully. Weinstein was found guilty on a first-degree criminal sex act for forced oral sex on former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and a third-degree rape account for the sexual assault of actress Jessica Mann in 2013. According to The Washington Post, Weinstein could face 5-25 years in prison for the criminal sex act and up to an additional four years for rape – a sentence that could run up to a total of 29 years if the judge decides to hold the sentences consecutively.

There should not be differing degrees of rape. Rape is rape.

In what world does four years for committing a rape sound reasonable? According to the New York Penal Code, firstdegree rape is when someone is forced into

sexual intercourse by force, second-degree rape is when someone is forced into sexual intercourse and the victim is incapable of consent and third-degree rape is sexual intercourse with no consent, but is witheld for some other reason that is then incapacity to consent. The acts Weinstein performed were atrocious and he deserves to go to prison for the things he did for far longer than he is expected to be sentenced. Women carry the emotional burden of sexual assault forever. Weinstein’s case encouraged the public to revisit the #MeToo movement. Celebrities spread awareness about the movement, with multiple women in the entertainment industry voicing their concerns about the allegations and going as far as mentioning the movement in acceptance speeches at awards shows. Dozens of women broke their silence to accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct, according to a 2018 article from The New York Times. Actress Annabella Sciorra accused Weinstein of rape, but he could not be put on trial for the act and could only be taken to court for sexual predatory assault because of New York’s statute of limitations, according to the Times. Statutes of limitations

are laws which say how long after certain events a case may be persecuted based on those events according to the New York State Unified Court System. In the state of New York, the statute of limitations on rape is 20 years for second-degree, 10 years for third-degree. There is no statute of limitation for firstdegree rape as of 2018, according to HuffPost. As reported by the Times, Sciorra testified in January that she did not consent to sex and that when he made sexual advancements, “My body shut down.” He was ultimately acquitted of the charges brought forth by Sciorra, partially because one of her friends testified against her and said Sciorra described the incident as a “crazy thing” she had done with Weinstein and not as a rape, according to the same Times article. The justice system failed Sciorra because the statute of limitations was up and Weinstein’s guilt could not be proved. Despite the fact that the law has failed dozens of other women who reported horrible experiences with Weinstein, it is great to see a punch finally land on him, even though that punch should have been stronger than it was. Actress Jessica Mann brought charges against Weinstein for first-degree rape, but was forced to

CLASSIFIEDS CROSSWORD PUZZLE

CREATIVE COMMONS PHOTO FROM FLICKR

Harvey Weinstein was convicted of a first-degree criminal sex act and third-degree rape on Monday and could face up to 29 years in prison. settle for third-degree rape charges because the jury did not believe that he used force. The whole idea is horrendous. There should not be differing degrees of rape. Rape is rape. Although justice was partially served because Weinstein was convicted of third-degree rape, Mann had to sell her story and experience short. The crimes committed against her deserve full equity. Additionally, his former producer Miriam Haley was forced into having oral sex with him, only to have the experience defined as a first-degree criminal sexual act instead of rape, despite the fact that she had given absolutely no

consent, according to the Times. The definition of rape itself, according to the United States Department of Justice is, “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” In all definitions of the law, even oral penetration is rape and it should be treated as such. Weinstein’s disgusting actions are an example of a situation sadly seen too often in our society. Countless other men have got off the hook, such as former Stanford University student Brock Turner. Turner is not as high

SUDOKU PUZZLE Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.

profile as Weinstein. He was sentenced to serve only six months at the Santa Clara County jail, but only served three months for raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster, according to CNN. In cases as notorious as Weinstein or as localized as Turner’s, our laws should crack down on rape and other various sex crimes because these acts cause severe psychological and physical trauma.

Follow the Spartan Daily on Twitter @SpartanDaily Alyson Chuyang contributed reporting to this article.

JOKIN’ AROUND What do you call a cow with no legs?

Ground beef.

SOLUTIONS

ACROSS 1. The outer layer of the Earth 6. Balls of yarn 11. Eagle’s nest 12. Sailing competition 15. Hypnotic state 16. Brutality 17. Petroleum 18. Gnarled 20. Suffering 21. Hard work 23. Algonquian Indian 24. Stage 25. Aquatic plant 26. Sun 27. Dagger 28. Gave temporarily 29. Consume 30. Chinese “bear” 31. Depicting 34. Desiccated 36. Martini ingredient 37. Wagers 41. Pig sound 42. A box or chest 43. Angle of a leafstalk 44. Skin disease 45. Lack of difficulty

46. It ebbs and flows 47. Dowel 48. Associate 51. Defraud 52. Makes bigger 54. Ability 56. Germless 57. Mimicking 58. Sometimes, works with lions 59. Schoolbooks DOWN 1. Open one-horse carriage 2. Adjust 3. A large vase 4. Ill 5. Adolescent 6. A bowl-shaped depression 7. Embankment 8. Quaint outburst 9. Move from side to side 10. Flight attendant 13. Group of three 14. Yeses 15. Whole 16. Planners 19. Group of eight

22. Public toilet 24. Simpleton 26. Transmit 27. One of the tribes of Israel 30. Half a quart 32. Startled cry 33. Ascended 34. Instructor 35. Curl 38. Demanding attention 39. News 40. Napped 42. Profession 44. Mimics 45. American symbol 48. Dainty 49. French for “State” 50. Sexual assault 53. Genus of macaws 55. 59 in Roman numerals

02/26/2020

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SPORTS

THURSDAY, FEB. 27, 2020

Spartan sluggers blast past Dons By Austin Turner SENIOR STAFF WRITER

After starting the season with a dismal five-game skid, the San Jose State baseball team triumphed for the third straight game Tuesday with a 13-10 win over the University of San Francisco. SJSU (3-5) wasted no time building a huge lead on USF (2-6). Despite spotting two outs to the Dons’ freshman pitcher Eric Reyzelman in the bottom of the second, the Spartans opened up an offensive barrage. “We got to be able to put our foot on the throat. Don’t let up, and put them away early instead of giving them life,” sophomore pitcher Ben Polack said. With a walk to sophomore catcher Ryan Belluomini and a single from junior infielder Santiago Cantu, the Spartans appeared to rattle Reyzelman. He seemed to lose control, giving up an RBI single and allowing another run to cross the plate on a wild pitch. With two runners on, sophomore infielder Ruben Ibarra stepped up to the dish and delivered. He smashed his second home run of the young season, putting the Spartans up 5-0. “There were a lot of different guys that chipped in, some two-out hits from different guys,” head coach Brad Sanfilippo said. “[Ibarra] had a big swing right there.” USF’s starter was then removed after giving up five earned runs in just 1 2-3 innings pitched. Polack had a considerably stronger outing than his USF

counterpart. He gave up four hits in three full innings, while striking out five Dons’ batters. He allowed just 1 run on a third inning RBI single from USF senior catcher Robert Emery. “[The] offense gave me a lot of confidence early on,” Polack said. “Just try to go in there and throw strikes, get the game going, don’t let my defense get complacent.” The Dons added 3 total runs in the fourth and fifth innings off Spartan freshman Trevor Allen and junior Dom Eberle respectively. After building a big lead, the Spartans were suddenly ahead by just a single run. “You can’t get complacent especially when you get up big and you kind of feel comfortable,” senior infielder Troy Viola said. “A team could just chip one at a time, and all of sudden by the ninth inning they’re making it in the game.” Right on cue, the Spartans slammed their feet on the gas in the fifth inning.

PAUL HANG | SPARTAN DAILY

Sophomore Ryan Belluomini is thrown out in a close play at home plate in the bottom of the fifth inning.

A single from freshman outfielder Robert Hamchuk sealed the deal for a 4-run inning – all occurring with two outs.

We got to be able to put our foot on the throat. Don’t let up, and put them away early instead of giving them life. Ben Polack sophomore pitcher

Thanks to a pair of walks and a single, SJSU loaded the bases. The Spartans then took a ride on the merry-go-round with a walk and hit-by-pitch pushing in a pair of runs.

The sixth inning was deja vu for the Spartans. They tacked on 4 more runs, highlighted by a two-run single from Viola. In a two-inning span, the

Spartans bumped their lead from 5-4 to 13-4. The Dons, however, didn’t go away quietly. In the eighth, they pushed 5 runs across the plate. They added another in the ninth but it was for naught, as the Dons simply couldn’t keep up with the Spartans’ red-hot bats. The midweek single-game set topped off an impressive offensive stretch for SJSU. The Spartans have now scored 30 runs over the last few games, in big part to Ibarra. After his two-hit, 3 RBI and 3-run performance, he now has 5 RBIs and 6 runs to pair with a .414 batting average. “He’s hit fastballs, he’s hit breaking balls, he’s used the whole field,” Sanfilippo said. “He’s

Dons Spartans really been kind of a monster.” The Spartans resume their homestand Friday when they kick off a four-game series against Utah Valley University.

10 13 UPCOMING HOME SERIES Utah Valley vs. SJSU Game 1 Friday @ 6 p.m. Game 2 Saturday @ 1 p.m.

Follow Austin on Twitter @AustinTurner_ Paul Hang contributed reporting to this article.

Game 3 Saturday @ 4 p.m. Game 4 Sunday @ 12 p.m.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

THURSDAY, FEB. 27, 2020

DJ Gatz rises from college to clubs By Gia Pham STAFF WRITER

Inspired by the energetic hip-hop and R&B culture of the Bay Area, business management senior Andrew Gatdula went from mixing tunes in his dorm to DJing at major clubs in San Jose and San Francisco. Gatdula attended the University of Portland as a freshman and struggled to establish himself and make friends there. He isolated himself in his dorm and started using

a basic DJ controller to mix his favorite songs. “Instead of being a simp about my situation, I could use music as an outlet,” Gatdula said. “I downloaded a DJ program on my laptop and just started going with it every day.” He began producing beats under the name “Gatz” and slowly started building up his reputation by playing at house parties and community events. “People started asking me to do their parties as a joke, but I was like, ‘fuck it, I’mma do it,’ ” Gatdula said.

Although Gatdula first learned how to DJ by using a controller, he also learned how to work turntables and digital music players for CDs (CDJ’s) at venues. Gatdula combines classic hits from his biggest influences such as Kanye West, Playboi Carti, Drake and YG with songs from lesser-known artists. By pausing and scratching on turntables, Gatdula moves like a skilled chef in the kitchen. “I like to take a lot of my influences off SoundCloud and try to mesh that into

PHOTO COURTESY OF JONATHAN LAU

DJ Gatz performs for a sorority formal at the art gallery Local Color in December.

mainstream hip-hop and add my own flavors,” Gatdula said. “I would, you know, sprinkle in some old Kanye West with maybe some top 40s.” Along with paying attention to trends through social media such as Twitter and Instagram, Gatdula explores playlists on Spotify and recommendations from friends. He also listens to sets from other DJs to discover new music and styles he can mix with his own. He currently likes to incorporate rappers Don Q from Stockton and Offset Jim from Oakland into his music because he anticipates that they will expand from their cities and hit the charts in the future. Gatz’s dedication to learning the tricks of DJing powers his unique image. California State University, East Bay nursing junior and Gatdula’s girlfriend of four years, Sheyanne Marie, said he is passionate about DJing. “It’s really something he’ll put his time into. Like, he’ll set aside time just to work on DJing or put something together for his club,” Marie said. Gatdula said the diverse environment of the Bay Area allows him to continuously learn new techniques and how to make better transitions to further his style as an artist. “Every time I go out now . . . It’s kind of hard not to pay attention to the DJ,” Gatz said. “I’m always taking mental notes on what works and what doesn’t.” By staying on his toes with new trends, Gatdula

impressed his colleagues throughout the years. “It was definitely a great time when we had him out and seeing him do club events now, I can say he improved in a professional sense and knows when to play the right songs at the right times,” said Tyler Doan, a classmate who studied abroad with Gatdula. He had Gatz perform at his fraternity parties in the past. Doan added that Gatz

I just want to be known as bringing unexpected sounds into the club. I like that ‘wow’ factor of playing something that I don’t think anyone else would play and then getting that reaction out of the crowd.” Andrew Gatdula business management senior

heavily captures the Bay Area culture in his sets by combining gritty dance music with a splash of EDM. Noah Panlilio, Gatdula’s fraternity brother from Delta Sigma Phi, admires his ability to gauge the crowd and mood of the scene by generating creative intros.

“The biggest area of growth I’ve noticed is his creativeness in his song transitions and intros,” Panlilio said over text. “He has the ability to transition a rap song into an EDM smoothly.” Panlilio said he is always ready to press record on his phone to capture the vibrant energy and action Gatdula generates whenever he is creatively mixing transitions. Gatdula said he strives to differentiate himself from other artists by finding songs that blend together in harmony, all while creating an energetic flow. His pop-esque transitions keep the crowd guessing and dancing. “I just want to be known as bringing unexpected sounds into the club. I like that ‘wow’ factor of playing something that I don’t think anyone else would play and then getting that reaction out of the crowd,” Gatdula said. “I think that is one of the best experiences of DJing.” Although his priority is working in project management, he said he would like to expand his career as a musician outside of the Bay Area. “I feel like my DJing career has just been so unexpected to where if the opportunity presents itself to say, in SoCal, I would for sure hop on that and adapt to the culture, learn the culture,” Gatdula said. Follow Gia on Instagram @phamtasticxx

Taco truck pleases with plant-based food By Erica Lizarrago COPY EDITOR

Hidden in the shadows of downtown San Jose’s high rises rests a humble white trailer that exudes the savory smells of Mexican chiles and of sweet horchata. In a few short minutes, the ding of a metal bell announces the arrival of hot-off-the-grill tacos adorned with fresh cilantro, crispy onions and topped with fragrant salsas and juicy lime. Vegan Veganos, a Mexican-inspired street food truck, put the brakes on and planted its wheels in April 2018. “There’s really nothing out here that’s just [strictly] plant-based Mexican [food] so we said ‘Let’s be the first,’ and we hopped on it,” said Emmanuel Villa, coowner and vice president of operations and procedures. “We started building our trailer and started making moves and now it’s been pretty successful.”

Its menu features classic flavorful tacos with a plantbased spin on asada, pastor and chorizo meats.

Our food is authentic Mexican food, don’t even let the word ‘vegan’ scare you.” Emmanuel Villa co-owner of Vegan Veganos

The truck also whips up novelty Mexican food items such as super nachos and burritos, flavorful shrimpless ceviche, crispy potato and mushroom flautas and a vegan spin on a classic Mexican breakfast, chilaquiles. “Our food has originality and what makes us unique and different is that we replicate meat dishes but it’s

ERICA LIZARRAGO | SPARTAN DAILY

Dalena Bui, co-owner of Vegan Veganos taco truck works the front of the house to serve customers.

plant-based and that’s what attracts people to us,” said Dalena Bui, co-owner and vice president of marketing and management. “They see our website and see stuff like super nachos and they’re already comfortable with that, so for them to already feel that way, trying our food can already be a nobrainer,” she said. Co-owners Villa and Bui both dove into the food truck business after finishing college. Bui graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in cognitive psychology and human development, while Villa attended a trade school for information technology in Sacramento. After watching what they said were influential documentaries such as “What the Health” on Netflix, which shows the implications of both meat-based and plantbased lifestyles on human health, Bui and Villa decided to change their habits. “We said . . . ‘We have to go vegan. There’s no way that we cannot become vegan,’” Bui said. “We didn’t even know what to eat, so we [had] to start experimenting with something.” With a love for home cooking, Bui and Villa began curating ways to express their new-found vegan identity through cuisine. “We started coming out with all of these recipes and eventually we said we need to start showing these to our community back in San Jose,” she said. After fully transitioning their diet, Villa and Bui began showing success with

ERICA LIZARRAGO | SPARTAN DAILY

Vegan Veganos offers a variety of vegan versions of meat tacos, which include chorizo, asada and pastor “meats.”

traditionally meat-based Mexican recipes. With little knowledge of the food truck industry and while still living in Davis, they decided on the idea of a popup-based truck which would appear in various locations in San Jose. They said a food truck is cost-effective and gives them freedom within their business operations. Villa and Bui want to encourage non-vegans to be open to the idea of their food, regardless of whether patrons regularly eat vegan or not. “Our food is authentic Mexican food, don’t even let the word ‘vegan’ scare you,” Bui said. “It’s just authentic Mexican food and all of these recipes we took from original ideas and just tweaked or substituted.”

Bui said that with veganism on the rise and more information pushing consumers toward a vegan lifestyle, being a part of the mainstream movement excites them and they hope foodies continue to come back. “I never really frequently ate vegan food before, but Mexican has always been my favorite,” San Jose resident Jazmin Quinones said. “After a friend showed me the truck, there’s something about it that keeps me coming back.” With dreams for future success in the business, Bui and Villa are excited to share their love of great food and flavor. “From there we hope to continue making more trucks and hopefully spread them out and maybe even

go into different cities if we learn how to master this one perfectly because it’ll be easier to replicate the next one,” Villa said. Their goal is to have five sister restaurants with cuisine that can excite vegans and non-vegans alike, aiming to break the stigma of bland plant-based food. Coming up on their two year anniversary of Vegan Veganos, the plantbased pair is planning a re-launch of their establishment with an updated food truck at the beginning of April. “‘Vegan’ scares people . . . But just try one taco, there’s nothing to lose,” Bui said. Follow Erica on Instagram @erica.lizarrago

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SCIENCE & TECH

THURSDAY, FEB. 27, 2020

BINARY BOMBSHELLS

Don’t have faith in elections . . . yet Kunal Mehta SCIENCE & TECH EDITOR

My mind reeled as the election integrity advocate I was interviewing told me that he didn’t have faith in the integrity of our elections. “I have no choice, you have to play the game and keep on pushing,” Jim Soper, co-chair of the Voting Rights Task Force, said. “I’ve been doing this for 15 years, if I had faith, I wouldn’t be doing this anymore.” I met Soper on Sunday through my former manager and friend Roan Kattouw, who is vice chair of the San Francisco Open Source

Voting System Technical Advisory Committee. The committee advises the San Francisco Board of Elections on how to implement open source voting technology. Soper explained that the biggest threats to having free and fair elections weren’t foreign actors – they were insiders. He asked if I knew who wrote the software for voting machines. I didn’t. Turns out that while writing vote-by-mail software that “came to dominate the U.S. absentee-voting market,”

Paper ballots for everything

In 2006, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors mandated a paper trail for everyone, getting rid of the county’s directly-recorded electronic voting machines, Soper said. This practice spread to the rest of California under Secretary of State Debra Bowen. Having paper ballots ensures that in the event of a contested ballot or a recount, officials can go directly back to the voter’s intention. Same for audits as well. A major problem with mandating paper for everyone, is that for those with disabilities, such as blind voters, filling out a paper ballot can be difficult, if not impossible. In those cases, a ballot-marking device that prints out a paper ballot is used.

Simplify the ballot

Part of the reason elections are so complex in America is that the ballot is so complex. Lately, ballots have been four or five pages – it’s intimidating for people not actively following politics. Part of this has to do with Santa Clara County eliminating odd-year elections so we have elections less often, but they encompass more. I believe it is important for ordinary citizens to have the ability to place propositions and measures on the ballot as an alternative legislative process. But when we start running out of letters in the alphabet and hit Measure Z, it’s clear there’s a problem. Simpler ballots mean simpler elections.

programmer Jeffrey Dean was serving a sentence for 23 counts of embezzlement, according to a 2012 Harper’s Magazine story. While U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren said California is leading the nation in election security, at the election security town hall on Feb. 20, Soper said there is still plenty of work to be done. Kattouw, Soper and I brainstormed what the ideal election system would look like. Without further ado, I’d like to present my election integrity manifesto. Alone, these aren’t enough to ensure fair and free elections – we also need to tackle issues of voter disenfranchisement and getting money out of politics.

Kunal’s election integrity manifesto

Paper ballots for everything

Implement independent risk-limiting audits

Use oﬀline, open source software to scan ballots

Simplify the ballot

Publish scanned ballots online

Get involved

Implement independent risk-limiting audits

California requires that counties conduct 1% audits after each election, meaning 1% of precincts are audited to ensure the votes on the ballots match the results. But once you know which ballots are going to be reinspected, you know exactly what you need to rig. Instead, we need to look at risk-limiting audits, which counties in California can optionally use now. Instead of checking by precincts, the number of ballots that need to be inspected is based on the margin of victory. The closer the results, the more ballots that should be recounted. And if discrepancies are found, audit more ballots. It’s important to note that these need to be independent audits – not run by the local Registrar of Voters.

Publish scanned ballots online

In 2008, Humboldt County posted scans of voters’ ballots online for anyone to conduct their own audit – and people did. The Humboldt County Transparency Project rescanned everyone’s ballots and discovered 197 paper ballots were dropped from the initial count, according to a 2008 Wired story. Now, San Francisco has begun posting ballot scans as well for those interested in performing an additional audit. With digital storage being so cheap, there’s no reason for counties to not perform this step so that voters have additional confidence that their ballot was scanned properly. The public could write their own scanning software to provide a second, independent vote count.

Use oﬀline, open source software to scan ballots

Ballots should be scanned centrally, using machines that are fully offline and running open source software. The code should be readable by anyone and developed in the open. Soper emphasized that the public should know who is making changes so we don’t have another Dean situation. For the March 3 primary election, voters in Los Angeles County will be using an open source system named Voting Solutions for All People, which is fully owned by the county. Well, it’s open source in theory at least – they haven’t given anyone the code yet.

Get involved

It’s easy to complain, but the real value comes out of us getting down in the trenches to take back our democracy from those who have stolen it. The easiest way to get involved is to become a poll worker, which feels especially gratifying because you get to directly interact with voters and assist them in casting their votes. You can also observe the vote-counting process, something that California Secretary of State Alex Padilla emphasized, at the Feb. 20 Election Security Town Hall, as one of our rights. But most importantly, Soper suggested to me, is that people should do their homework before getting involved.

SOME WAYS TO VOTE ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS Paper ballots

Paper ballots are the gold standard for election integrity advocates, as they leave a more physical trail and are harder to destroy compared to digital votes.

Digital-Recorded Electronic (DRE)

anta Clara County previously used Santa directly-recorded electronic voting machines that saved votes onto an internal memory chip.

Voter-Veriﬁed Paper Audit Trail

In California California, lif i DRE DREs are re required to have a voter-verified paper audit trail that allows voters to check that the machine recorded the correct votes for them.

Punchcard voting machine

In the 2000 U.S. S presidential election, doubt was cast on votes with “hanging chads,” referring to when the piece of paper doesn’t cleanly detach from the punched hole.

Ballot-marking device

Instead of a DRE, ballot-marking devices allow voters to enter their selections electronically, but then print a paper ballot with their choices to create a paper trail.

Lever voting machine

Originally ginally from the 1890s, these thes were used as recently as 2013, when New York City needed a fallback instead of its electronic voting machines.

SOURCES: SANTA CLARA COUNTY REGISTRAR OF VOTERS, SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE, THE NEW YORK TIMES; ILLUSTRATIONS BY CINDY CUELLAR