NAMED NATIONAL FOUR-YEAR DAILY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR FOR 2020-21 IN THE COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION’S PINNACLE AWARDS
Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022
Volume 159 No. 7 SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
INFOGRAPHIC BY BRYANNA BARTLETT; SOURCE: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BAY AREA, TUESDAY KRON4 NEWS ARTICLE
Historic heat hits San Jose By Bojana Cvijic EXECUTIVE EDITOR
San Jose State students are feeling the heat this week, with Tuesday having the highest recorded temperature since 2017 in San Jose, according to reports from the National Weather Service Bay Area. The California Independent System Operator on Tuesday extended a call for consumers to reduce energy consumption because of the impact of record-breaking temperatures that have created higher demand for power, according to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) webpage.
Heat-related outages have begun across the Bay Area with parts of East and West San Jose having power outages, affecting thousands of people, according to PG&E’s outage map webpage. The California Independent System Operator issued an energy emergency alert using a scale that gauges how severe the situation is. The state is currently at level three, where the power grid is unable to meet the demand for energy, leading to power outages across California, according to the same PG&E webpage. Interim president Steve Perez asked in a Sept. 2 campuswide email for students, faculty and staff to help assist in reducing
SJSU says masks to no longer be mandatory
power usage particularly in the late afternoon and early evening. “Reduction of power usage allows us to conserve and utilize our generators to power the most critical campus operations and to minimize service disruptions to the campus,” Perez said. “SJSU’s Cogeneration Plant can supply much of our daily campus electrical needs, but we still are required to purchase electricity through PG&E.” Mikaela Dorch, digital media art senior who commutes to San Jose State from Dublin, said her neighborhood experienced a two-hour power outage on Monday.
The extreme temperatures is caused by a heat dome enveloping the Bay Area trapping hot air over the western U.S., which triggered the intense temperatures over Labor Day weekend, according to a Sept. 1 San Francisco Chronicle article. However, temperatures are expected to drop by the end of the week, according to the San Francisco Chronicle article. Michelle Smith McDonald, SJSU senior director for strategic communication, said the university is monitoring weather forecasts and educating community HEAT | Page 2
CAMPUS IMAGE
By Bryanna Bartlett PRODUCTION EDITOR
San Jose State announced that it expects to change its indoor mask policy from required to “strongly” recommended and encouraged on Monday. Interim President Steve Perez said in a Sept. 1 campuswide email that the shift in the mandate involves all indoor buildings on campus besides healthcare settings including the Student Wellness Center. Business management senior Keith Hertzberg expressed mixed opinions about masks being non-mandatory soon. “In some ways, it’s a positive that we are at the point in society where we can start thinking about these things and start transitioning to a non-COVID environment,” Hertzberg said in a phone call. “But on the other hand . . . we have to take into account that not everyone is able-bodied and some people in our classes could be immuno-compromised or have family members [at-risk].” Hertzberg said he’ll keep his mask on in class both to be mindful of other students and to prevent himself from catching the virus. Associated Students (A.S.) Board of Directors responded to a Spartan Daily Instagram Story poll Tuesday regarding the mask policy change, stating that it wants to say “finally” about MASKS | Page 2
BOJANA C CVIJIC | SPARTAN DAILY
Several San Jose State Students sit down on the turf to watch h “Finding Nemo” during the Flicks ‘N Float event, which was hosted d by the Student Union Inc. and was its first movie night of the year att the Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center on Tuesday night.
SE MORE PHOTOS SEE ON PAGE 2