NAMED NATIONAL FOUR-YEAR DAILY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR FOR 2020-21 IN THE COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION’S PINNACLE AWARDS
Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022
Volume 159 No. 18 WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
ALESSIO CAVALCA | SPARTAN DAILY
UPD Sgt. Justin Celano pauses during his speech about violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the Martin Luther King Jr. Library on Thursday.
UPD discusses campus hate crimes By Alessio Cavalca STAFF WRITER
About a month after a hate crime occurred on campus, San Jose State’s UPD hoped to discuss those incidents that affect the Asian American and Pacific Islander community during its event in the Martin Luther King Jr. Library Thursday. UPD Chief Michael Carroll said the goal of the event was to start a conversation between the
police officers and the university community to analyze possible solutions and preventive measures against hate crimes. “This space is an opportunity for us to be transparent with the community in regards to some of the things that we’re encountering, some of the things that we have done and some of the things that we plan on doing in future,” Carroll said. The most recent hate crime on campus occurred the morning of Sept. 2.
“A hate incident . . . occurred this morning during which two Asian American students were verbally confronted by a non-affiliate woman of Latinx descent who told them to leave the country,” Interim President Steve Perez stated in a campuswide email. Perez said UPD were called to investigate and the students opted not to pursue the matter, though the assailant has been banned
A hate incident . . . occurred this morning during which two Asian American students were verbally confronted by a non-affiliate woman of Latinx descent who told them to leave the country.
UPD | Page 4
Steve Perez interim president
ASSOCIATED STUDENTS
A.S. gives students free transit across Bay Area Access randomly granted to 7,000 students By Alessio Cavalca STAFF WRITER
Since August, 7,000 San Jose State students have been granted free travel across the Bay Area through public transit in part of the Associated Students (A.S.) BayPass Pilot Program. During a news conference in front of the Black Olympic Power Statue Thursday, A.S. said it has partnered with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) to test the effectiveness of the program. “This pass allows you access to all 24 transit agencies, which includes the BART CalTrain, VTA and light rail,” said Dhruv Varshney, A.S. director of sustainability affairs. “You can access all of them for free.” Varshney said the pilot program is ALESSIO CAVALCA | SPARTAN DAILY only available for the quarter of SJSU Dhruv Varshney, A.S. director of sustainability affairs discusses the logistics of population that was randomly selected as the BayPass Pilot Program in front of the Olympic Black Power Statue on Thursday. its current phase is meant to gather data
and numbers to analyze its effectiveness. “This is just in its testing phases right now, but if we see that these numbers are actually appealing and encourage more people, we will try to make it available for all the students,” Varshney said after the news conference. The BayPass grants those students free access to the 24 Bay Area Transit Operators for the next two years, expanding the pre-existing SmartPass Clipper Card. Offered by A.S., the SmartPass Clipper Card permits access to the VTA local and rapid buses, limited routes and light rail lines, and student payment is required. Varshney, who is a commuter student, said he spent more than $1,000 in Clipper Card fees in the spring. He said with the BayPass Pilot Program, his transportation to and from school will be free. TRANSIT | Page 4