Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021
Volume 157 No. 18 SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
PHOTO COLLAGE BY NICK YBARRA | SPARTAN DAILY ARCHIVES
University disputes DOJ findings By Madilynne Medina & Christina Casillas NEWS EDITORS
San Jose State administrators don’t agree with certain aspects of the Department of Justice’s findings regarding Title IX investigations into former director of sports medicine Scott Shaw. SJSU inadequately responded to reports of sexual harassment by Shaw including assault, according to a Sept. 21 Justice Department report. The report also confirmed instances of retaliation against whistleblowers. Shaw was director of sports medicine from 2008 to his resignation in August 2020. Kenneth Mashinchi, senior director of strategic communications and media relations, said while the university agreed the 2009-10 investigation into Shaw and cases of sexual harassment and/or assault didn’t meet current Title IX standards, it’s crucial to keep the policies of the time in mind. “It is important to recognize that the federal law and
We do not agree that there was ‘widespread knowledge’ because there were no new reports of harassment against Mr. Shaw by student-athletes between the conclusion of the 2009-2010 investigation and the beginning of the external 2019-2020 investigation. Kenneth Mashinchi senior director of strategic communications and media relations
guidelines have evolved significantly in the past 12 years,” Mashinchi said in an email. He said the university disagreed with claims of “widespread knowledge” of student-athlete reports of harassment from Shaw, disputing the Justice Department’s claims of heightened risk of sexual harassment while Shaw still worked at the university. Sage Hopkins, swimming and diving head coach, alerted university officials of accusations from more than a dozen swimming and diving athletes in 2009, according to the department report. An initial investigation into assault claims against Shaw was opened in 2009 but former equal opportunity manager Arthur Dunklin found Shaw’s trigger-point therapy to be a “bona fide” muscle injury treatment, according to the SJSU For Your Information (FYI) webpage. President Mary Papazian reopened the investigation in 2020-21 according to the Justice Department’s investigation summary. ATHLETICS | Page 2
City council apologizes to San Jose Chinese community By Christopher Nguyen STAFF WRITER
San Jose City Councilmembers unanimously voted Tuesday to adopt a resolution to apologize to Chinese immigrants and their descendants for the city’s role in systemic racism and oppression, and the 1887 Chinatown destruction.
I felt all these years, anger, an annoying sense of injustice and something unresolved. Connie Young Yu Chinese Historical Society of America board emeritus, local historian
District 3 Councilmember Raul Peralez said he believes the resolution is a profound
moment for San Jose. District 3 includes San Jose Downtown, encompassing various neighborhoods, San Jose State, the SAP Center at West Santa Clara Street and Barack Obama Boulevard and the Mineta San Jose International Airport, according to its website. “This is not actually our first time acknowledging our mistakes to the Chinese community,” Peralez said. “There was a plaque there in the Fairmont Hotel to honor that but we have not done a formal resolution.” The Fairmont hotel is located on South Market Street, three blocks adjacent to San Jose State’s main campus. Peralez said it’ll be important to continue recalling this effort, both with Fairmont’s plaque and this resolution. Since the 1800s, San Jose has hosted five Chinatowns: First Market Street Chinatown (1866 -70), Vine Street Chinatown (1870-72), Second Market CHINATOWN | Page 2
SAUMYA MONGA | SPARTAN DAILY
The nonprofit’s executive director Tamsen Burke (left) and it’s finance committee student chair Hoon Cho listen as Charlie Faas, SJSU vice president for administration and finance, presents overall budget, fees and costs Monday.
Student Union, Inc. settles its funding By Saumya Monga STAFF WRITER
The San Jose State Student Union, Inc. Finance Committee decided on pulling $4 million from the university trust fund to pay for the nonprofit’s operations, passing with a 3-1-1 vote in its hybrid meeting Monday. The Student Union, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that oversees the Spartan Recreation and Aquatic Center, Event Center, the Student Union and ATM facility, according to its website. David Alves, the nonprofit’s associate accounting director, said there will only be $9,801 left in the Student Union, Inc. checking account by Friday. The organization needs at least $4 million to maintain
its operating budget, Alves said. Charlie Faas, SJSU vice president for administration and finance, differed in opinion from the rest of the nonprofit’s finance committee, which is composed of student chair Hoon Cho, student chair Soumya Trivedi, student chair Aarushi Sharma and university Associate Vice President Sonja Daniels. Faas, who voted against taking out $4 million from the university trust fund to operate the nonprofit’s facilities, vied for dipping into Student Union, Inc. reserves instead. Faas said the board of directors should spend the nearly $8 million of reserves before tapping into SJSU’s trust-fund money. UNIVERSITY | Page 2
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NEWS
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 29, 2021
ATHLETICS Continued from page 1 Mashinchi said during Papazian’s first week as president at SJSU in 2016, she and former Provost Andrew Feinstein received an informal email from outgoing Interim President Sue Martin that detailed observations and notes of the athletics department. He said there were two mentions of an athletic trainer and that allegations against him had been investigated. “I feel like [Papazian] should definitely be clear on what she knew and what she didn’t know [upon assuming the president position] just for everyone’s awareness,” Taylor Lehr, 2019 swimming and diving alumna, said in a phone call. The Justice Department said in its report the university neglected to interview potential sexual harassment victims in its 2020 external investigation. Mashinchi said the university didn’t receive any new complaints of sexual harassment against Shaw by student-athletes between the conclusion of the first investigation and the beginning of the recent reinvestigation. “We do not agree that there was ‘widespread knowledge’ because there were no new reports of harassment against Mr. Shaw by student-athletes between the conclusion of the 2009-2010 investigation and the beginning of the external 2019-2020 investigation,” Mashinchi said. The Justice Department said the 2020-21 investigation was “only” initiated after Hopkins filed a 300-page dossier circulated through the National Collegiate Athletics Association and other organizations. Hopkins sent out his dossier, which detailed the accounts of over 17 swimmers alleging Shaw in sexual misconduct, after it disappeared from the Title IX office in 2019,
according to the Saturday Mercury News article. In addition to the 300-page dossier, Hopkins filed a lawsuit in March alleging California State University and SJSU administrators retaliated against him. The lawsuit alleges that former athletics director Marie Tuite and other administrators ignored reports of Shaw’s misconduct, according to the 93-page court documents obtained by the Spartan Daily.
This was definitely kind of a slap in the face. I think that they’re doing the right thing in terms of getting the right people out so hopefully they can make amends and then move forward and not make the same mistakes. Taylor Lehr 2019 swimming and diving alumna
Mashinchi said consistent with the Department of Justice’s findings, the CSU external investigator concluded Hopkins was retaliated against when part of his performance evaluation was lowered. The Department of Justice’s resolution agreement stated that retaliating against an individual for complaining about sexual harassment constitutes prohibited sex discrimination. According to SJSU’s employee reporting obligation, all SJSU employees are required to report any knowledge of possible Title IX related incidents to the Title IX office.
CHINATOWN
public nuisance and ordered it’s removal, according to the same memorandum. Continued from page 1 The removal was to make way Street Chinatown (1872-87), for the reconstruction of a new Woolen Mills Chinatown city hall and led to the destruction (1887-1902) and Heinlenville of homes and businesses that (1887-1931), according to its displaced more than 1,400 San Jose Tuesday memorandum. Chinese community members, The most well-known according to the memorandum. Chinatown, Second Market Connie Young Yu, board Street, collapsed from deliberate emeritus of the Chinese arson in 1887 after city Historical Society of America, is a c o u n c i l m e m b e r s descend descendent of kin who lived unanimously declared through two different Chinatowns the site a in San Jo Jose. Young Yu, a local historian Youn and author a of “Chinatown, San Jose, USA, U ” said she’s glad the resolut resolution includes that the city was responsible for policies that stopped the Chinese th ccommunity from rebuilding after the Second Market Street Chinatown Fire. “My grandfather never expressed bitterness for the hardships that HANZ PACHECO | SPARTAN DAILY ARCHIVES his kin suffered during
UNIVERSITY Continued from page 1 “The Student Union, [Inc.] is flush with cash,” Faas said during the meeting. “There will be absolutely no shortage of funding [for] those activities and events.” The organization’s board is made up of 11 members including five students, five student at-large representatives and the Associated Students president.
Board chair Isaiah Andrews said the finance committee’s majority pushed for trust-fund use instead of the reserves because all of the student fees are in the trust fund along with about $450,000 of revenue. The nonprofit’s reserves are usually only used for three categories: major maintenance and repairs, catastrophic events and capital development of new projects, Andrews said in an email. The money used to operate
However, Mashinchi said the university disagrees that former deputy athletic director Steve O’ Brien was retaliated against but the matter is being litigated and investigated by an external investigator. O’ Brien filed a lawsuit against university administrators in August 2020 after he was fired earlier that year on March 2 by Tuite, following his opposition to orders to discipline whistleblower Hopkins, according to a Sept. 17 2020 USA Today article. Papazian stated in a May 21 campuswide email Tuite was reassigned from her position as athletic director to special director of external relations and capital project development. Tuite resigned from this university position on Sept. 1. Hopkins spoke publicly for the first time Saturday to the Mercury News. Hopkins told the news organization he faced a personal toll during the 12-year-long series of allegations against Shaw, saying he felt a sense of relief after the Department of Justice report because he was ignored by the university for so long trying to protect female athletes from Shaw. Mashinchi said Papazian will have to issue a written letter of appreciation for Hopkins in accordance with the Justice Department resolution agreement. Papazian is required to issue the letter 30 days after the Department of Justice Resolution, according to its report. The Justice Department reached a $1.6 million settlement with the university that requires SJSU to financially compensate those sexually harassed and/or assaulted by Shaw, according to its report. The Justice Department offered $125,000 to 23 female swimming and diving student-athletes who experienced sexual harassment, 13 of whom have accepted the offer, according to the university’s FYI webpage. Payments made to the students won’t come
the [Second] Market Street Fire. I felt all these years, anger, an annoying sense of injustice and something unresolved,” Young Yu said. “Until now, a weight has been lifted from my shoulders and I’d like to say it was a superb experience working with Chris Cambises [San Jose’s immigrant affairs manager].” Gerrye Wong, Chinese Historical and Cultural Project and the Chinese American Historical Museum cofounder, spoke before the council about passing the resolution. “I helped form the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project that rebuilt the historic Ng Shing Gung Temple [that’s inside the museum],” Wong said. “We presented it to the city of San Jose in 1991 as a token of friendship from the Chinese community to be placed as part of San Jose’s history.” The Chinese American Historical Museum is located at 635 Phelan Ave. “In recognition of this ongoing
Student Union, Inc. facilities typically comes from a $381 fee every student pays with tuition, according to the SJSU Bursar’s Office website. The nonprofit’s executive director Tamsen Burke asked Faas if these student fees, which fund Student Union, Inc. facilities, are being withheld until the nonprofit and the university finish negotiating their operating agreement. Faas confirmed. “Why are we limited to the funds that we have now and
SAUMYA MONGA | SPARTAN DAILY
The Student Union, Inc. Finance Committee discusses funding sources and budget during its hybrid meeting in the Student Union and through Zoom Monday afternoon.
from student fees or affect employee payment or athletic scholarships, Mashinchi said. Lehr said while the financial aspect of the settlement was a step in the right direction, it wouldn’t rectify the university’s mishandlings. “It’s just obviously such a sad situation,” Lehr said. “I feel like no amount of money can make right the situation but I hope that moving forward things will be different.” Athletic director Jeffrey Konya said he’s encouraged by university leaders’ attempts to improve the campus community’s safety and health. “We continue to build an inclusive and supportive culture in the athletics department for all of our student-athletes, coaches and staff,” Konya said in an email. The Wellbeing Attendant (chaperone) policy will allow student-athletes to request a supervisor at sports-medicine treatment appointments, according to the university policy document. The university will be improving the Title IX department in compliance with the Department of Justice agreement by adding new experts, expanding its office and enhancing education programs, according to a Sept. 21 campuswide email. The Justice Department will monitor implementation of the agreement through the 2024-25 academic year, including the financial relief requirement totaling $1.6 million, according to its report. While Lehr said these are steps in the right direction, the university must continue to remedy misdoings. “This was definitely kind of a slap in the face,” Lehr said. “I think that they’re doing the right thing in terms of getting the right people out so hopefully they can make amends and then move forward and not make the same mistakes.” Follow the Spartan Daily on Twitter @spartandaily
City council resolution San Jose City Councilmembers voted on a resolution to apologize to the Chinese Community for systemic racism including the destruction of the 1887 Chinatown.
Since the 1800s, San Jose has hosted five Chinatowns: First Market Street Chinatown (1866-70), Vine Street Chinatown (1870-72), Second Market Street Chinatown (1872-87), Woolen Mills Chinatown (1887-1902) and Heinlenville (1887-1931).
The city will hold a ceremony of apology to the Chinese community from 12 to 1 p.m. Wednesday in Circle of Palms Plaza, which is across from Plaza de César Chávez. friendship and acknowledgement of the city’s past, I ask the city today to adopt this long-needed resolution of apology which will be a significant part of today’s Chinese American history.” The city will hold a ceremony of apology to the Chinese community from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday
we’re resorting to reserves when a lot of our student fees are in a trust [fund] that we’re not able to touch?” Hoon Cho asked Faas before the committee finalized their votes. As the Student Union, Inc. is undergoing an organizational turnover with the university, the organization voted on the transition of financial resources Monday, passing the SJSU trust fund use, but has not completed the totality of the operating agreement. Burke said some of the remaining negotiations relate to the transition of other resources and employees between the Student Union, Inc. and the university, which include configuring differences in benefits and salaries. She said the operating agreement will settle whether the Student Union, Inc. employees will remain with the nonprofit or transition to university employment. After Burke mentioned the organizational transition, Faas warned her: “You cannot have that type of conversation in this open forum with staff here and present because you’re talking about a [potential] layoff of staff or rehiring of staff.”
in Circle of Palms Plaza, which is across from Plaza de César Chávez on South Market Street between West San Fernando and San Carlos streets.
Follow Christopher on Twitter @chrisnn2020
Burke said she wants to ensure that all employees are taken care of in terms of benefits and retirement. Faas said there hasn’t been any discussion regarding
support for students but is [also] supporting student programs and so again, as I’ve said before, I think it is likely that the budget needs to increase,” Day said.
You cannot have that type of conversation in this open forum with staff here and present because you’re talking about a [potential] layoff of staff or rehiring of staff. Charlie Faas university vice president for administration and finance, Student Union, Inc. Finance Committee member
finishing the operating agreement for the past two months despite the end-ofSeptember deadline set by him and Patrick Day, director of student affairs. The hybrid meeting that streamed through Zoom Monday was rescheduled from Sept. 20. Day said the university and the Student Union, Inc. need to consider providing more financial support for students, which makes it likely that the overall budget has to increase. “I would suggest that part of the story needs to be: How we can provide additional
While Day suggested an increase in programs, Burke said she was concerned student fees will consequently be increased. “You’ll never hear me say increase fees, alright. I don’t want that to be the headline in the Spartan Daily.” Faas said. “We have fees and we have the ability to expand our operation and we want to make sure we’re offering the programs that our students need.”
Follow Saumya on Twitter @saumyamonga
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OPINION
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 29, 2021
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Bukele’s Bitcoin buyout is bad business Jamie Bennett SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies shouldn’t be legal tender in any country. The market is too brittle and a Bitcoin crash could destroy people’s livelihoods. Cryptocurrencies are a form of digital token or coins that exist on a distributed and decentralized ledger called a blockchain, according to Investopedia. By accepting Bitcoin as legal tender, a country forces business owners from mom-and-pop shops to large corporations to accept Bitcoin as currency. This month, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as a form of official currency. The law was passed June 8, according to El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly. El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele hopes the implementation will help families receive money from their families abroad, which accounts for one fifth of the country’s gross domestic product, according to a Sept. 10 New Scientist article. New Scientist is a global weekly science and technology publication, according to its website. Many Salvadoran citizens don’t have bank accounts and when they receive money from abroad it comes with high transfer costs, according to the same article. President Bukele believes Bitcoin can solve this problem by allowing citizens to store Bitcoin in a digital wallet. However, not even Salvadorans want Bitcoin to be legal tender and most don’t even know what
ILLUSTRATION BY BIANCA RADER
cryptocurrency is, according to a Sept. 3 BBC article. While it’s groundbreaking to accept a cryptocurrency as legal tender, conducting experimental currency changes like these in a country that is already impoverished is outright ridiculous. Bitcoin is an investment, where prices rise and drop based on events or demand. In other words, it’s a risk. Bitcoin should be something you put your savings into and let sit in your digital wallet as your assets increase, not as everyday currency. Bitcoin is volatile, with multiple factors contributing to its fluctuating value including its use in illegal activity, government regulation and bad press, according to a June 16 Investopedia article. While Bitcoin has increased in value over the years, big drops in prices could lead families to lose thousands of dollars in investments. This month alone, the value of one Bitcoin had a high of $52,000
and a low of $42,000, according to a Cryptonator webpage. A $10,000 difference is huge, especially when it’s affecting currency throughout a whole country. Cryptonator is an all-in-one Bitcoin wallet which supports multiple cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and others, according to its website. Let me give some examples of why Bitcoin being a main form of currency is bad. What if a big drop occurred right before a college tuition payment? Imagine if San Jose State’s tuition was originally $7,000, but because of a Bitcoin value drop it ends up being $10,000 when it’s time to pay. What if someone pays a day earlier when the market is high and ends up paying less? It would cause the whole process of paying for tuition to become a cat-and-mouse game. The Bitcoin market is just too unstable and unreliable for people
CLASSIFIEDS CROSSWORD PUZZLE
to put their trust into it as a viable currency. President Bukele’s digital wallet plan didn’t even work because he had to help his people connect to their accounts over Twitter, according to a June 14 The Next Web (TNW) article. TNW informs and connects people who love technology through media, events and tech hubs, according to its website. If people are struggling to get access to Bitcoin, how can a government expect its people to navigate and protect that currency. Scammers can easily ruin someone’s life if they get access to their digital wallet because Bitcoin can be hard to track once stolen, according to a June 6 MSN article. Bitcoin does not require any personal information and cannot be confiscated by law enforcement unless there is a court order, according to the same article. If the Salvadoran government wants to implement Bitcoin as a
SUDOKU PUZZLE Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.
currency, it needs to think of a way to protect its citizens from fraud. In June, $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin was stolen from the South African crypto-investment company Africrypt when the founders disappeared, according to a June 24 Fortune article. Fortune is a global media organization that helps readers learn and participate in business, according to its website. If such an event happened to El Salvador’s digital-wallet server, families who rely on payments from abroad would be financially devastated with no way to get their money back. President Bukele’s move to make Bitcoin a legal tender is dangerous and unreliable. The Salvadoran government shouldn’t change its currency and other countries shouldn’t consider a change, but stick to cold hard cash. Follow the Spartan Daily on Twitter @SpartanDaily
JOKIN’ AROUND “What did Baby Corn say to Mama Corn?”
“Where’s Pop Corn?”
SOLUTIONS
ACROSS 1. “Just the _____, Ma’am” 6. Verse 10. Not front 14. Turn away or aside 15. As well 16. Wings 17. Fragrant wood 18. Close 19. A title of address 20. Marvelous 22. A ship’s beam 23. Ocean 24. Things that happen 26. Justify 30. Divided 32. King of the jungle 33. Romantic encounter 35. Hemorrhagic fever 39. A long narrow passage 41. Average for a hole 42. Cart 43. Gunpowder ingredient 44. Shantytown 46. Gave temporarily 47. Cherub 49. Assert without proof 51. Wonder 54. To and ___ 55. Sword 56. Filled to excess
63. Not closed 64. Wait 65. Bad-tempered 66. Farewell gesture 67. Seaweed 68. Delete 69. Sleigh 70. Scallion 71. Appointed DOWN 1. A piece of information 2. Affirm 3. Formally surrender 4. Streetcar 5. Pressure 6. A chinese bamboo eater 7. Margarine 8. Jacob’s brother 9. Choice bit 10. What they play in the NBA 11. Unearthly 12. Mark of insertion 13. Beams on ships 21. Require 25. Scene 26. Flair 27. Thirteen in Roman numerals 28. Price
29. Unraised 30. Procrastinate 31. South American country 34. Basilica area 36. Arch type 37. Not short 38. ___ meridiem 40. Coastal raptor 45. An earthy deposit rich in lime 48. Worldwide 50. Make less taut 51. Cat sounds 52. Dismay 53. Christopher of “Superman” 54. Mutant 57. Loathsome 58. Border 59. Certain something 60. Apothecary’s weight 61. If not 62. Turned blue, maybe
Sept. 28
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 29, 2021
Spartans advocate for nipple normalization
ILLUSTRATION BY BIANCA RADER
By Jamie Bennett
others and men’s bodies exist for themselves,” Bakhru said. Bakhru said nipple bias is deeply ingrained in western culture, objectifying women. Nudity and sexual content policies tend to vary on social It’s not just men who perpetuate these biases. Many women media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. in powerful positions allow for such biases to continue because However, most nudity policies are consistent about one thing: they’re used to the American patriarchal system of power, banning images showing the female nipple. Bakhru said. Juliette Duran, San Jose State business marketing junior and president of “She’s the First,” said while men can shamelessly flaunt their mammary glands with pride, women are held to a double standard. She’s the First is a CSU-wide club that focuses on empowering This kind of double standard about nipples is women across the world, according to its website. “We want ‘everybody to be equal,’ yet men have it easier,” really reflective of a larger double standard Duran said during a Zoom interview. “The rules don’t apply around how men and women’s bodies are to them and I think that’s odd because I can look at a man shirtless and think ‘he’s sexy,’ just as a man can look at me portrayed and also consumed in the media and shirtless and think I’m sexy. So if we both have sexual thoughts, the scrutiny that women’s bodies undergo in a why are their nipples allowed to be shown and mine are not?” Tanya Bakhru, a Women, Gender and Sexuality studies way that men’s bodies don’t. professor, said women’s nipples are censored because the media Tanya Bakhru is male-dominated and men sexualize them. Women, Gender and Sexuality “This kind of double standard about nipples is really studies professor reflective of a larger double standard around how men and women’s bodies are portrayed and also consumed in the media and the scrutiny that women’s bodies undergo in a way that “Even when women hold those spaces, they’re often women men’s bodies don’t,” Bakhru said through Zoom. who are really deeply invested in a racist, patriarchal system and Images of female nipples are seen as offensive by some social they’re benefiting from that so they’re going to uphold those media sites because of an inherent male-dominated desire to principles for their own gain,” Bakhru said. control women and how they express themselves, Bakhru said. Arlene Spilker, a graduate nursing professor and nurse since “I think that’s what it boils down to, this double standard that 1989, said men need to take time to self-reflect and think about we have about men’s bodies being subjects and women’s bodies where these biases stem from. being objects. [In our current culture] women’s bodies exist for “A lot of men have been socialized to be like this. We’re SENIOR STAFF WRITER
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supposed to enjoy the female body and pornography and all of that kind of stuff,” Spilker said in a Zoom interview. “But we should be better than that. We should recognize that [breastfeeding is] our baser instincts and if you’re triggered by a pair of breasts, I wonder what else you’re triggered by.” However, this bias is not just confined to Instagram feeds and Twitter posts. In western society, breastfeeding is shunned away. According to a Nov. 2, 2015 poll by Start4Life, a public health website focused on childcare, one in five people who took the survey felt women shouldn’t breastfeed in public, with 60% of women reporting they take steps to hide breastfeeding in public. Spilker said expecting a woman to go somewhere private when breastfeeding is ridiculous. “If you examine why am I so freaked out about this, like, what if that was my daughter? What if that was my granddaughter and she needed to be fed? What would I think? Or would I turn to the other side and say she needs to eat? The kid needs to eat! I think it’s completely ridiculous,” Spilker said. Spilker believes female nipples should be more accepted by western society because, in reality, there’s not really anything special about them. “I mean, nipples are nipples, some breasts are bigger than others, I’ve seen 1,000s of sets of breasts in my long career. There’s this quote from Notting Hill, ‘like what is it with men and breasts? They’re just breasts! Every other person on the planet has them,’ ” Spilker said.
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