NAMED NATIONAL FOUR-YEAR DAILY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR FOR 2020-21 IN THE COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION’S PINNACLE AWARDS
Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022
Volume 159 No. 20 SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
New law prompts UPD changes By Nick Zamora STAFF WRITER
On Sept. 30, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1997, a new California State University-wide initiative that addresses on-campus crises through a trauma-informed response team. The bill states that every CSU campus will have a crisis response team available to address non-criminal health and safety incidents, which includes classroom disputes and interpersonal conflicts among community members. Roy Buyco, president of SJSU’s California Faculty Association chapter, mentioned how the bill would empower student voices and listen to how they want to be served on their campus. The California Faculty Association is a union representing about 30,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches throughout the CSU system. “We think the students ought to have a say on this, right?” Buyco said. “That’s our number one. We want to support the students and their views on the kind of campus safety they want.” The Assembly Bill 1997 states that before July 1, each CSU campus must convene a stakeholder meeting that includes students, faculty, campus health and safety personnel, staff and bargaining unit representatives. The stakeholder workgroup is then expected to submit a report to the CSU Chancellor’s Office nine months after its first meeting to provide alternatives to the campus’s current response to non-criminal altercations and employee conflicts. The bill specifically mentions that the respective response teams must “separate and distinct” themselves from university police to shift responsibilities away from UPDs. SJSU’s UPD is responsible for processing, investigating and prosecuting all crimes committed on university property and grounds owned, operated, controlled or administrated by the CSU, according to the UPD jurisdiction and enforcement webpage. The SJSU chapter of Students for Quality Education said it believes this is an obvious step in the right direction. “It is no secret that university police are ill equipped in responding to mental health UPD | Page 2
INFOGRAPHIC BY BRYANNA BARTLETT; SOURCE: ASSEMBLY BILL 1997
San Jose State student wins prestigious CSU award By Rainier de Fort-Menares STAFF WRITER
PHOTO COURTESY OF OME GARCIA
Ome Garcia, San Jose State psychology sophomore, is one of very few to receive the highest-acclaimed award, the California State University Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement, this year within the CSU system. “[Ome] is a wonderful student, really smart, really hard-working,” Interim President Steve Perez said about choosing Garcia as his nominee. “Ome has overcome significant hurdles put in front of them and uses those to inspire themselves to do great work to support others.” Garcia received the award on Sept. 13. in Long Beach, California. According to a Sept. 12 blog from SJSU NewsCenter, the annual CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement is the
A mural painted in 2017 by Ome Garcia, SJSU psychology sophomore, is portrayed in Watsonville, about 30 minutes from SJSU. Garcia said murals like that are meant to repurpose public spaces into messages that express identity and is a tradition of Muralismo, a form of storytelling.
GARCIA | Page 2