NAMED BEST CAMPUS NEWSPAPER IN CALIFORNIA FOR 2022 BY THE CALIFORNIA COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION AND CALIFORNIA NEWS PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
Thursday, September 7, 2023
Volume 161 No. 08 SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
INFOGRAPHIC BY MAYA BENMOKHTAR & ALICIA ALVAREZ
SJSU talks campus safety protocol By Maya Benmokhtar STAFF WRITER
A total of 50 active-shooter incidents with casualties occurred in 2022, according to an article published in Aug. 2023 by the U.S Department of Justice. Sandy Hook Promise is a nonprofit organization that was established in 2013 after the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in 2012 and advocates for gun violence prevention programs. According to its website, there were more shootings in 2022 than any year since Columbine. The Columbine shooting took place in 1999 and was at the time the worst shooting in U.S. history. According to an article published by History, the shooting prompted debates on gun control and school safety. Frank Belcastro, San Jose State University Police Department captain, said he encourages all students to visit the university website and watch a training video about a “Run, Hide, Fight” protocol. “This is a video from Homeland Security, it basically explains the three things that you really want to consider. Run, hide, fight,” Belcastro said. “Do I want to flee? Can I get out of this building safely?”
Belcastro said it is extremely important to alert SJSU . “We may not have great information at the time, you might know something in a building before we do, but we’ll put out as much as we can on that alert,” he said. “Then we will try to get as much info, but again, sometimes the people in the area know more than we know.” Belcastro said as important as alerting campus police of suspicious activity is, it’s strongly advised that any building you enter, scout out the exit routes. He said knowing the exits within a building can be life saving if there is any kind of emergency. Belcastro also said in the event of an active shooter, the choice of what to do is up to the student, however if you cannot flee, the next step is to lockdown. He said it’s important for students to know exactly what it means to “lockdown.” “ ‘Lockdown’ means we’re going to barricade, I’m gonna take that door and put furniture in front of it,” Belcastro said. Belcastro said in a life and death situation, students have to think smart and fast. “I’m gonna make it as impenetrable as possible. I’m going to shut off my cell phone.
I’m going to go in a corner, hunker down and wait for an ‘all clear.’” said Belcastro. An article written by the New York Post elaborates on a viral video showing how to barricade a door after the Robb Elementary school shooting in Texas in May
shooter situation. “There’s a lot of mention about the possibility and how to go about following certain protocols, yet drills for this possible situation aren’t emphasized like earthquake drills,” said Ford. Belcastro said the university police department has to undergo special training in order to be prepared for an active shooter. “Most of us have gone through this large-scale event up in Santa Cruz,” he said. “They put on training over a course of multiple days. They simulate an active shooter, they have tactical medicine, training and all that and our officers are tack mentoring.” Belcastro said along with the active-shooter simulation, first-aid training also happens every year. He said first aid and medical training is crucial as blood loss is the number one cause of death from active-shooter situations. “We’ve learned that the quicker you get them aid, the more lives we can save so that’s the protocol,” Belcastro said. He said students should know ILLUSTRATION BY JOANNA CHAVEZ that the campus response time is 2022. between three and four minutes. Interior design senior Jaelynn “The last thing that we always Ford said she doesn’t think any tell students is fighting may have institution prepares its students to be okay if your life’s at stake,” enough for a potential active- Belcastro said. “You’re gonna have
to fight. You’re gonna have to hurt someone and it might go against you to hurt but it’s the way you’re going to stop them.” Many things can be used as a tool to assist students in an activeshooter situation, according to a commercial from Sandy Hook Promise. If there were an active shooter on campus, a pen or a pencil can be used as a weapon, according to the same commercial. “It’s not an easy thing to think about, but you’re gonna have to suspend your human feelings at that point in time because you got to hurt the person to stop that person,” said Belcastro. Belcastro said students and faculty need to follow the run, hide, fight protocol if there was an active shooter on campus or anywhere someone may find themselves. Senior public health student, Diborah Awoke said she doesn’t believe SJSU adequately prepares students for a situation of this magnitude. “Schools could schedule dorms to active-shooter-protocol drills and info sessions as well as flyers and general drill for students that don’t live on campus,” Awoke said. Follow the Spartan Daily on X (formerly Twitter) @SpartanDaily
SJSU receives budget increase By Nikita Bankar
plans and is a resource for those on campus and surrounding communities. In the SJSU 2022/23 The budget outlined Annual Budget Report, a multi-year compact a 7.1% increase pathway to grow CSU was decided for the base funding each school, creating varied year from 2022-2023 responses from faculty through 2026-2027, and staff. according to the The document is a budget report. detailed presentation of The plan is to San Jose State’s budget increase the General
STAFF WRITER
GRAPHIC BY ALICIA ALVAREZ
Fund appropriation by at least 5% each year in return for the CSU to meet student-centric goals including expanding enrollment, student success and equity, affordability and supporting workforce preparedness. The California State University is a collection of 23
universities that educate nearly 460,000 students each year, according to its website. Jolene Koester, who has faced backlash for her response video to faculty regarding an increase in salary, is the current CSU Chancellor. General Fund appropriations provide funding to
agencies that do not generate revenues, receive federal funds or generate sufficient other funds to support their approved programs, according to oregon.gov. State appropriations and student fees are the main sources of BUDGET | Page 2