Thursday, March 25, 2021
Volume 156 No. 25 SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
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A.S. passes Johnson resolution By Ruth Noemi Aguilar
the resolution included Johnson’s mother, Denise Johnson and Lana Gomez, a representative for the advocacy group Students for Gregory Johnson, according to A.S. Director of Sustainability and co-author of the resolution Jocelyn The San Jose State Associated Students Board of Directors Jones-Trammell. approved a resolution during its Wednesday meeting that Students for Gregory Johnson is a student-run organization asked the university to acknowledge racism was involved in demanding justice for Johnson’s death. Gregory Johnson Jr. ‘s death and to offer more resources for Black students. Demanding support for Black Students Anoop Kaur, director of academic affairs co-authored The resolution also introduced ways the university can the resolution “Gregory Johnson Junior: Addressing help Black Students including: investing in more programs to Anti-Blackness and Systemic Racism at SJSU” and said it’s “recruit, retain and empower” Black students, addressing the crucial for the board to speak out against anti-Blackness. needs of Black student-athletes and evaluating the resolution to “It’s important for [the A.S. Board] to not be silent when annually track progress. it comes to anti-Blackness and systemic racism at SJSU,” Kaur said in a Wednesday email to the Spartan Daily. “Many folks may point out that there is work to be done outside, but we as an organization must actively fight racism on our campus.” In the resolution, A.S. board directors will create and fund a scholarship in Johnson’s name intended to support Black students. They also asked the university to publicly recognize the circumstances surrounding Johnson’s death are representative of systemic racism at SJSU. Johnson was an SJSU student who was found dead in the basement of the Sigma Chi fraternity house in 2008. His death Anoop Kaur was ruled a suicide by the University Police Department and A.S. director of academic affairs the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office, according to the autopsy report. Black students make up 3.4% of the student population, Johnson’s family has called his death a hate crime, as Johnson according to a Fall 2020 Student profile from SJSU’s Office of was the only Black member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, and Institutional Research. have been advocating for a re-examination of the case. In June, SJSU students and faculty members sent a In a Feb. 18 campuswide email, SJSU President petition demanding the school cut its police funding and Mary Papazian stated SJSU is aware some community reallocate the money into the Black community, according to members are calling on the university asking for justice. a June 24, 2020 San Francisco Chronicle article. “SJSU recognizes that for many members of our Petitioners stated, among other things, the university needs community, the circumstances surrounding Gregory’s death to hire Black coaches and create more academic and mental are emblematic of longstanding systemic racism in our nation,” health counseling services specifically for its Black students. “I would like to say that I’m very happy about the Papazian stated. She also stated the coroner’s office agreed to a new review of approval of the resolution in honor of Gregory Johnson its 2008 autopsy report after the coronavirus pandemic eases Jr. which addresses the eradication of anti-Blackness and systemic racism from SJSU,” Jones-Trammell said during the and stated SJSU will cooperate with county officials. Other people involved and consulted in the creation of meeting. “It was a long journey to this point and I’m excited to
IN BRIEF
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Many folks may point out that there is work to be done outside, but we as an organization must actively fight racism on our campus.
A.S. board directors passed a resolution that asked San Jose State to provide more resources to Black students and to acknowledge racism was a factor in Gregory Johnson Jr.’s death. The university was asked to recognize the circumstances surrounding Johnson’s death are representative of systemic racism. The resolution also stated SJSU should invest in programs that “recruit, retain and empower” Black students and address the needs of Black student-athletes.
ensure that this document gets out to the correct parties.” Some students are not entirely sure of the effectiveness of the resolution and the impact it could have for Black students. “It sounds like a step in the right direction in the school addressing systemic racism at SJSU, but I hope that it’s not performative,” said Tiffany Yep, a sociology junior through an Instagram message. Some students have expressed the resolution is not sufficient. “While the resolution may seem like it is attempting to address the racial injustices on campus with resources and such, it doesn’t feel like it’s enough,” said Kristin Hoang, a liberal studies junior through an Instagram message.
Follow Ruth Noemi on Twitter @RuthNAguilar
Campus leaders urge university police reform
OR
at the event who shared frustratio over the handling frustration the two cases by SJSU of these and UPD. About 70 participants attended the event that was sponsored by the departments of African American studies and Chicana and Chicano studies. Lana Gomez, an SJSU senior and vice president of the student-run group Students for Gregory Jo Johnson, said the group’s D prev previous efforts to discuss IN L Y campu police reform with campus NB TIO A TR UPD dur during an October forum ILLUS was ineffective. “I asked the [UPD] officers more questions about their de-escalation tactics and with every question I asked, I was given no direct answer and was told to refer to their website,” Gomez said during the event. “I did not walk away from that police forum with my questions answered and no accountability was taken . . . I strongly believe that we need police officers off our school campuses.” In support of CFA demands, Kil said all 23 CSU campuses need to redirect resources university’s spend on campus police to Black and ethnic studies, hire Black Sang Kil faculty and endorse California justice studies associate professor Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 5, which would abolish Van der Hoek for unreasonable Proposition 209. search and seizure, violation of The proposition passed in due process and wrongful death 1996 and prohibits state and local and negligence, according to the government affirmative action 2016 CSU Board of Trustees programs in public employment Annual Litigation Report. and public education from Denise Johnson and Valdez considering race, sex, color, were joined by multiple staff, ethnicity or national origin, faculty and student speakers according to Ballotpedia. LA M
A discussion about alleged incidents involving corruption of the San Jose State University Police Department was held by some SJSU community members who advocated for abolitioning armed police officers on campus. The event was hosted on Zoom by the California Faculty Association’s (CFA) Anti-Racism Social Justice Transformation committee on Wednesday. The CFA is a union including 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches who are employed by the California State University system, according to its website. “CFA demands that the CSU divest from its relations with public institutions throughout the state, define campus policing, remove armed police from our campuses and join CFA in exploring community-based strategies as alternatives to policing that are based in community accountability and transformative justice,” said Sang Kil, a justice studies associate professor. Kil was an event organizer and said it was in response to the CFA’s demands for the California State University system. She opened the floor to Denise Johnson and Laurie Valdez who spoke about the deaths, police investigations and racial injustices involving their loved ones. Denise Johnson is the mother of the late Gregory Johnson Jr., a 20-year-old student and Sigma Chi fraternity member who was found dead in the basement of the fraternity house on Nov. 22, 2008.
The UPD and the Santa Clara County Medical E x a m i n e r - C o r o n e r ’s ase Office ruled the case a suicide, accordingg to the coroner’s office autopsy report. Denise Johnson has gained community support and demanded justice for her son since his death, calling the case a murder and a hate crime. In a slide n show, Denise Johnson detailed a timeline of the investigation and said she’s “hit a walll of lies d the UPD] [from the university and from day one.” SJSU President Mary Papazian stated in a Feb. 18 campuswide email that although no new evidence has surfaced since 2009, the county coroner’s office and the county district attorney’s office will re-examine the case after the pandemic eases. Valdez presented a timeline of Antonio Guzman Lopez’s 2014 death. She was the partner of Lopez, a 38-year-old man who was shot by UPD Sgt. Mike Santos and Officer Frits Van der Hoek after they responded to a report of a man carrying a knife near campus. Lopez’s case was independently investigated by the Santa Clara County and San Mateo County District Attorney’s offices and was deemed legally justifiable “in response to an immediate threat” that could “result in great harm or death,” according to a university statement from previous Spartan Daily reporting in a March 11, 2019 article. However, Lopez’s family brought claims against Santos and
VIL
STAFF WRITER
SA Y
By Sarah Dwyer
The CSU says it welcomes Black students yet on each CSU campus, armed police exist, many highly militarized by virtue of the clothing, equipment, weapons and culture we witness.
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Its repeal was proposed in the 2020 California elections through Proposition 16 but nearly 57% of California residents voted no and about 56% of Santa Clara County residents casted that same vote, according to Ballotpedia. Kil said there’s a “rising tide of hate here at San Jose State University” and in our greater community and only the intersectionality between race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, disability and citizenship can fight white supremacy and resist hate and violence. “The CSU says it welcomes Black students yet on each CSU campus, armed police exist, many highly militarized by virtue of the clothing, equipment, weapons and culture we witness,” Kil said. “The police represent a real threat to Black lives.” Emma Hollenbeck, a member of the student-run group Students for Police Accountability, gave a slideshow presentation on the campus police budget. She said student tuition is allocated to the UPD and more specifically, UPD salaries. Kenneth Mashinchi, SJSU senior director of strategic communications and media relations, confirmed in a Wednesday email the UPD is 50% funded by tuition and because the UPD budget is mainly salary and benefits, it primarily goes to those areas. He said the UPD also receives state funding and its budget makes up 1% of the campus budget as a whole. Hollenbeck and Gomez said UPD funds should be reallocated to students and faculty, but also to hire more counselors instead of heavily armed police officers. Follow Sarah on Twitter @SarahDweezy
2
OPINION
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THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
Cancel culture is temporary backlash Chris Padilla
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
“Cancel culture” has been weaponized by the court of public opinion in an attempt to hold wrongdoers accountable, yet ultimately fails to “cancel” anybody at all. There have been numerous examples of celebrities being canceled throughout pop culture history, but in the end, these individuals resurrect themselves from the grave and brush off the dust from any scandal. Cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for (or canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive, according to Dictionary.com. Cancel culture has become such a big movement recently that it has entered political discourse. This seems to be a major theme with Republican party leaders including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley. They talk about the “woke mob,” referring to liberals on the internet who cancel people. But who has actually fallen victim to cancel culture? Very few people, it seems. Consider the case of Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty to the felony assault of his then girlfriend Rihanna
in 2009, according to a June 23, 2009 CNN article. Though the public turned on him initially, Brown continues to make music, having made nine studio albums and most of his singles receiving platinum status, according to the Recording Industry Association of America website. Cancel culture has indeed failed if someone as vile as Chris Brown can rehabilitate his image so well that there’s a cheeky reference to his “controversial past” in the song “Freaky Friday” made in collaboration with rapper Lil’ Dicky. The assault charges are so far in the pop culture rear-view mirror that most people have chosen to forget about them. A more recent example is British TV host Piers Morgan, who left his job on Good Morning Britain after he made controversial comments about Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, according to a March 19 CNN Business article. According to a March 12 post on his Instagram, Morgan believes he is the internet’s latest victim of cancel culture but doesn’t consider himself fully canceled, which sums up just how ineffective cancel culture actually is. Sure, he’s currently
ILLUSTRATION BY DAISHA SHERMAN
But who has actually fallen victim to cancel culture? Very few people, it seems. jobless, but that could be attributed less to cancel culture and more to the fact that he walked out of his job on live television. On the other hand, cancel culture has proven effective in exposing cases of sexual assault allegations against some powerful men. The downfall for people including Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby, who’ve had the whole media turn on them, had less to do with cancel culture and more to do with the fact that they
CLASSIFIEDS CROSSWORD PUZZLE
were actual criminals who got caught. Both Weinstein and Cosby were found guilty in a court of law and are now convicted rapists who are only now paying for their crimes. Although justice was served, the men were effectively canceled by the internet long before court charges stuck. Another recent case is “The Mandalorian” actress Gina Carano, who was fired by Lucasfilm over posts in
which, among other things, she compared Republicans to Jews in the Holocaust, according to a Feb 16. article in The Hollywood Reporter. Though Carano had opportunities to apologize, she has not. She bounced back fine and signed on to star in and direct a film with conservative media source The Daily Wire, according to a Feb. 12 article by the same news site. J.K. Rowling, author of the “Harry Potter” series, has also come under fire for transphobic comments on Twitter. Rowling has not faced lasting consequences and continues to collect more royalties than anyone can spend in one lifetime from “Harry Potter” books, movies and video games.
SUDOKU PUZZLE Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.
If cancel culture was the behemoth ruining careers left and right, as some have made it out to be, then it might be an issue. But at best, it can call attention to some legitimately bad people and at worst, a really stupid thing to use as a scapegoat. So who has cancel culture actually hurt? People found to have committed sexual assault. Everyone else seems to get off scot-free. So much for being canceled.
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JOKIN’ AROUND What kind of award did the dentist receive?
A little plaque.
SOLUTIONS SOLUTIONS
ACROSS 1. Mouthful 5. Potato state 10. Hint 14. Operatic solo 15. Relocation company 16. Steering mechanism for a ship 17. Observed 18. A strong liking 20. Slender double-reed instrument 22. A small kitchen appliance 23. Female sib 24. Tale 25. Next-to-last 32. Agitated 33. Fanatical 34. Mayday 37. Gait faster than a walk 38. Celebrations 39. Cab 40. A very long period 41. Scintillas 42. Femme fatale 43. Getting excessively hot 45. A type of small mammal 49. Vigor
50. Scholarly 53. Stronghold 57. Drugs 59. Applications 60. Annul 61. Fortuneteller’s card 62. Search 63. Beams 64. Stalks 65. Makes a mistake DOWN 1. Deep cut 2. Component of urine 3. Place 4. Slack suit 5. Customs duty 6. Small boat 7. “___ Maria” 8. Significance 9. Chocolate cookie 10. Thorax 11. Slowly, in music 12. Canker sore 13. Manicurist’s board 19. Levelled 21. Tab 25. Head
26. River of Spain 27. Midday 28. Angry 29. Of the cheekbone 30. Humble 31. “___ the season to be jolly” 34. Indian dress 35. Beasts of burden 36. Make melodious sounds 38. Governor (abbrev.) 39. Chickadee 41. Classical Greek 42. Told 44. Happenings 45. Take exception to 46. Turf 47. Mucky 48. “Bye” 51. Makes lace 52. French for “State” 53. Space 54. End ___ 55. Ale 56. Sounds of disapproval 58. Fury
3/24/2021
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SPORTS
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
3
OPINION
Thompson crucial for Dubs’ success Giorgina Laurel STAFF WRITER
Despite being a dominant team in past years, the Golden State Warriors need some time before they’ll be championship contenders again. The Warriors haven’t won a championship title since 2018, the end of their four-year reign in the NBA. In those four years, they were an unbelievable force that had three superstars at one point: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant. The only time they were beaten during their reign was against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors blew their 3-1 lead in the seven-game series but even with that setback they were a force to be reckoned with and are most definitely due for another title. But it won’t be from this season. This current season is a bit different than it was during the Warriors’ dynasty. After a terrible 2019-20 season, they ended up placing last in the Western Conference with a 15-50 record, according to an official NBA recap. There has been doubt that the Warriors are contenders for the championship title this year.
The team this 2020-21 season is also different from the previous year. From watching the Warriors play, it seems like they’re an overall good team that works well together. But without Thompson playing because of his injury and with stronger teams to face, it would be a very difficult task. Thompson is one half of the “Splash Brothers” so of course he’s an important asset to the team and their success. Thompson, like Curry, is a superstar and with him being out for the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles tendon, it sets the team way back. Thompson is one of the best shooters on the Warriors with an average of 21 points per game, according to the official NBA website. That equates to a lot of potential missed points without him playing. The NBA website shows Thompson’s field goal percentage for the 2018-19 at 46.7%, his 3-point percentage at 40.2% and free throw percentage at 81.6%. It’s clear that just by himself Thompson is a key offensive force. Having him on the court puts the Warriors at a good advantage, PHOTO EDITOR SANDRA SANTOS-CRUZ COPY EDITORS HAILEY FARGO ISALIA GALLO REBECCA LEE SAVANNAH NATIVIDAD ALAN BAEZ KAH MUN CHIA
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Unfortunately without Thompson and with so many strong teams this season, I don’t think they’ll be contenders this year. so without him it’ll be difficult to make it far in the playoffs. Not only that but him and Curry are the perfect pair. Their rhythm on the court together makes it challenging for opposing teams to contain them. If teams focus too much on just Thompson, then Curry is left open to make shots and vice versa. ENSIYAH SYED ISABELLA VICTORIA HAGGERTY JOHAN ROMANI-CACERES JOSHUA TORRES JUAN TAPIA ZAVALA KENNETH TRIEU LINH LAM LINH THIEU MOISES CARATACHEA SAM LEE SEAN MARTIN SEVERIANO MENDEZ YULIAN FRANKIV
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Davis on the Lakers, and Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert on the Jazz. I have been a Warriors fan since I was 6 years old. I love the team and I do think they are due for another championship title. Unfortunately without Thompson and with so many strong teams this season, I don’t think they’ll be contenders this year. Give them a year or two and they’ll be back to bring home the title.
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Without Thompson, Curry is easily isolated compared to when both of the Splash Brothers play. The Warriors have a good shot at playing a decent regular season by playing a different team every night and opposing teams don’t tend to focus on strategies for specific teams or players. But when it comes
down to the playoffs, it’s completely different. Instead of a different team every night, teams are put in a best-of-seven series where they play best of four wins. With a seven game series, teams are able to strategize how to defeat specific opponents. Without Thompson on the roster, opposing teams can plan to isolate Curry which will make it hard for the Warriors to score. In addition, the Warriors have strong teams to face just in their Western Conference including the Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz. Both teams have notable players including LeBron and Anthony
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