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Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021
Volume 157 No. 34 WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
Ethnic studies sparks SJSU dialogue By Madilynne Medina & Christopher Nguyen NEWS EDITOR & STAFF WRITER R
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San Jose State professors, s, students and associates of a local leadership group held a Zoom webinar Wednesday, discussing ways ays ethnic studies education affects the community. munity. Nonprofit leadership collective American Leadership Forum Silicon Valley partnered with the university in part of a two-week -week series by the SJSU Officee of ing the President, “Transforming nt Communities: A Movement to Racial Justice.” Ethnic studies is an area of study that includes literature, histor y and philosophy from communities of color in the U.S., according to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library ethnic studies webpage. The panel featured SJSU professors and community professionals including: Leon Beauchman, president off Santa Clara County Office of Education; Travis Boyce, SJSU SU department chair of African ican American studies; Hien Do, SJSU sociology, interdisciplinary plinary
Panelist Travis Boyce said implementing ethnic studies courses helps student students receive a diverse education. “We are not just deve developing an engineer or an educator,” Boyce said during the event. “We are develop developing a well-rounded student.” Panelist Hien Do said it’s diffi been difficult to assert ethnic studies ccourses in educational institut institutions. “Et “Ethnic studies have had a lo long tradition and legacy of struggles to assert it itself in the academy,” D said during the Do event. “It has not been historically supported, validated and provided the necessary resources for its research, yet it persisted.” Student panelist Vargas Tapia said she believes the U.S. population’s differing opinions regarding e ethnic studies has cr created a political div divide. “A lot of people think that ethnic studies and critical race theory is bad because their argument is that ‘we are making people hate Amer America,’ ” Vargas Tapia e said. “But ethnic studies makes TA people appreciat appreciate [the U.S.] even more AR P |S R because it makes u us [people of color] see MO A IL L own contributions. our contributions.” V Y SA St Boyce said California State University (CSU) IND YL B N students are required to t system take one 3-unit ethnic TIO A R T ILLUS studies course as part of their general education American studies minor Andrew Nuland. requirements for graduation, which went into effect Castillo, 32, said ethnic studies positively affected beginning with SJSU’s incoming class of students his education after discovering the discipline later in this semester. life. The requirement is a result of a legislative bill in “Ethnic studies has given me the knowledge that I do California, AB 1460, which was passed by California bring qualities into the classroom, I do have something Gov. Gavin Newsom on Aug. 17, 2020, according to an to offer to society,” he said. “And I think that that’s the Aug. 18, 2020 CalMatters article. power that ethnic studies gives all students.” CalMatters is a nonprofit news organization for Akemi Flynn, panel organizer and American California politics, according to its website. Leadership Forum Silicon Valley chief impact organizer, The bill mandates that starting in the 2021-22 said the student panelists gave her confidence in the academic year, the 23 CSU campuses are required to future generation. provide ethnic studies courses, beginning for students “I felt totally reassured and inspired about the finishing their degrees in the 2024-25 academic year, future,” Flynn said. “When you have San Jose State according to the CalMatters article. students [that are] this knowledgeable and passionate Ethnic studies fulfills the CSU’s new general about ethnic studies, we have so much change that PANEL | Page 2 is needed.”
We always learn about white history. We never learn about our own history. Being able to have that space where we talk about our own strengths and everything that we [brought] to the table provides me with empowerment. Brenda Vargas Tapia political science senior
social science & Asian American studies professor; Marcos Pizarro, SJSU associate dean of the College of Education and Chicanx studies professor; and Toni Vanwinkle senior director of digital Workplace Experience at Adobe. Three SJSU students also shared their experiences in SJSU’s ethnic studies courses including political science senior Brenda Vargas Tapia, ethnic studies junior Jorge Castillo and history senior and Asian
SJSU research & policy institute booklet details university’s unjust past By Evan Reinhardt STAFF WRITER
EVAN REINHARDT | SPARTAN DAILY ARCHIVES
Scott Myers-Lipton discusses social justice at an Oct. 19 Tommie Smith & John Carlos legacy event.
San Jose State’s Human Rights Institute (HRI) released a booklet on Oct. 19, outlining multiple cases of injustice and community activism throughout the university’s history since 1872. The HRI is a research and policy institute at SJSU that aims to create policy solutions to social problems, according to its SJSU webpage. Titled “Racial and Social Justice at San Jose State University: Students Respond with Social Action,” the booklet was compiled by Scott Myers-Lipton, sociology professor and HRI advisory board member, after years of witnessing and participating in activism in San Jose. Myers-Lipton stated in the booklet that its purpose is to educate the San Jose community on the legacy of racial and social activism on campus.
“My hope is that the administration reads it and looks at it and then they create ultimately anti-racist policies for our community,” he said in a Zoom call. The booklet contains 11 chapters, 10 of which describe individual cases of injustice and activism including Japanese internment on campus during World War II, Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ Olympic protest for racial justice and students’ 2010 battle to raise minimum wage. Myers-Lipton said the booklet’s main message ties to Martin Luther King Jr.’s idea of the “Beloved Community.” The “Beloved Community” is a global vision free of poverty, hunger, discrimination, bigotry and prejudice in which people of all backgrounds peacefully work together to achieve mutual success, according to The King Center website. ACTIVISM | Page 2
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NEWS
THURSDAY, NOV. 4, 2021
Spartans celebrate Dia de los Muertos PHOTOS & REPORTING BY SANDRA SANTOS-CRUZ
Vibrant altars adorned with orange cempasuchil flowers on the fifth floor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library honored the Mexican holiday of Dia de los Muertos. Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is an annual celebration from Nov. 1-2 which honors deceased loved ones and includes altars, also known as ofrendas, decorated with candles and food enjoyed by those who’ve died, according to a Monday Oregon Public Broadcasting article. Oregon Public Broadcasting is a service that highlights Oregon community voices, according to its website. The MLK Library exhibit will be available for viewing until Friday. Sociology senior Amy Estrada Magaña, who included photos of her uncle and grandfather on an altar for the San Jose State Chicanx/Latinx Student Success Center, said the exhibit reminds her of her family and home. “I felt blessed with the opportunity to have been able to include a picture on one of the [altars],” Estrada Magaña said. “I think this is one of the many forms which students who celebrate Dia de los Muertos can get involved and feel included in the SJSU community.” Above: A tall and colorful altar by Carlos and Martha Villez is lined with sugar skulls and candles in honor of La Virgen de la Soledad of Oaxaca. Decorated with fruit and Oaxacan pottery, the ofrenda is the first altar those see at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library’s of the remembrance exhibit. Left: Former Mexican President Benito Juarez is honored in a traditional altar that’s decorated with cempasuchil flowers, pan de muerto and sugar skulls. The multi-layered altar is a contribution to the exhibit by the Oaxacan Organization Lazos Oaxaqueños of San Jose.
PANEL Continued from page 1 education “Area F” requirement, according to the CSU Policy website. Boyce said SJSU currently offers “eight unique ethnic studies courses in general education,” which include: Introduction to Asian American Studies; Asian American Media Representations and Popular Culture; The Humanities in African American Culture; The Black Civil Rights Movements; Race, Sport, Activism & Social Movements; The Aesthetics of Hip-Hop; Introduction to Chicana and Chicano Studies; and Race and Ethnicity in Public Space.
I felt totally reassured and inspired about the future. When you have San Jose State students [that are] this knowledgeable and passionate about ethnic studies, we have so much change that is needed. Marcos Pizarro
Chicanx studies professor
Boyce said next semester the university plans to offer 35 sections of ethnic studies courses and projects 100 sections in the following academic year, 50 of which
are expected to be offered in the Fall 2022 semester and 50 in the Spring 2023 semester. Marcos Pizarro, SJSU Chicanx Studies professor, said the purpose of implementing ethnic studies is beyond covering mandated education as it is intended to “link the hearts and minds of students.” “Ethnic studies is not just covering content [in classrooms],” Pizarro said. “It’s about embodying commitments to the holistic wellbeing of students, families and communities of color.” He said well-trained ethnic studies teachers who are committed to the discipline will help students become engaged in schools. “[The requirement] is also to build courses that are grounded in the communities in which they exist and that center the assets, strengths, resources and power of those communities,” Pizarro said. Vargas Tapia said ethnic studies classes allowed her to feel welcomed in educational spaces. “Ethnic studies have allowed me to see how powerful, knowledgeable and amazing our communities are to the contributions to the making of America,” she said. Vargas Tapia also said learning about her culture’s history has provided her with a sense of empowerment. “We always learn about white history. We never learn about our own history,” she said. “Being able to have that space where we talk about our own strengths and everything that we [bring] to the table provides me with empowerment.” Follow the Spartan Daily on Twitter @SpartanDaily
ACTIVISM Continued from page 1 The King Center is a community resource center that serves as a traditional memorial and nonprofit organization, according to its website. Emma Segura, justice studies senior and Stories for Solidarity club president, said the booklet strengthened her bond to other marginalized groups. Stories for Solidarity is a club dedicated to creating solidarity in marginalized communities by providing educational, cultural and social resources, according to its Instagram account page. “When reading the booklet, people can empathize and understand what it means and what it feels to be oppressed. Whether you’re Black, Mexican, Japanese, whatever you are, at the end of the day we’re all people,” Segura said in a phone call. “Just being human, we can understand that humans go through things and it’s important that we empower each other and stand together. That’s my biggest takeaway from the booklet.” Segura said although she may not be able to identify with the exact perspective of each activist in the booklet, her experiences as a Mexican American woman help her relate to the struggle and pain that the booklet describes. HRI founding director William Armaline said he anticipates the booklet being incorporated into classes and educating students about the local social justice history. “[The booklet] really needs to be a part of our curriculum, a part of what we teach,” Armaline said. “It might help to create connections that students have to the campus and the way they think about where they’re going to school.” He said he recommends reading the booklet to learn something new about SJSU’s past even if the content doesn’t apply
to students’ area of study. “I encourage people to check it out. I thought I knew what there is to know in terms of that history but I learned quite a few things myself,” Armaline said.
have a ton of work still to do, but I don’t remember these same conversations happening seven years ago. I am optimistic.” He said he hopes the booklet will reach the greater community
When reading the booklet, people can empathize and understand what it means and what it feels to be oppressed. Whether you’re Black, Mexican, Japanese, whatever you are, at the end of the day we’re all people. Just being human, we can understand that humans go through things and it’s important that we empower each other and stand together. That’s my biggest takeaway from the booklet. Emma Segura
justice studies senior, Stories for Solidarity club president
Myers-Lipton said the booklet was also compiled to inspire future students to advocate for social change. The booklet’s final two sections urge readers to add chapters to the book and continue the legacy of activism on campus, according to the text. “Which SJSU students will write the next chapter? Maybe it will be you!” Myers-Lipton stated in the booklet. It also includes possible topics for other chapters including student relief committees during World War II and The Great Depression and the start of the women’s movement and women’s studies on campus that couldn’t be included in the current version. Jahmal Williams, director of advocacy for racial justice, said although the campus community might not yet be close to King’s “Beloved Community,” it’s headed in that direction. “We’re not there. Who knows how long it takes to get there?” Williams said. “We
outside of the university and send the message that activists here are advocating for more than just issues on campus. “We can inspire community members to know that San Jose State is having a positive impact locally. We’re not just educating students, but we’re helping to change the region,” Williams s aid. “I think we have to do a better job at telling these stories and framing them in a way that does allow people to know that we are working and fighting on behalf of them.” The first step to achieving justice in the future is learning about the injustices of the past, Myers-Lipton said. “This booklet is about uncovering the hidden history of San Jose State,” Myers-Lipton said. “If you read it, you’re going to learn a lot that the students probably don’t know, the faculty don’t know and the staff don’t know.” Follow Evan on Twitter @ReinhardtEvan
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SPORTS
THURSDAY, NOV. 4, 2021
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OPINION
PETA ‘bullpen’ protest is pointless, hypocritical By Estevan Lopez STAFF WRITER
As Major League Baseball’s World Series ended Tuesday, an animal rights group is hypocritically slandering the league for its use of the moniker “bullpen.” In baseball, a bullpen is where pitchers warm up before they start pitching, according to Merriam-Webster. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the largest animal rights nonprofit organization in the world, is calling on the MLB to change the name to “arm barn,” which it says is a more animal-friendly term. But PETA has no grounds to call for change. The animal advocacy group stated in a Twitter post that a bullpen refers to the area in a bull’s pen where they “are held before they are slaughtered,” according to an Oct. 28 Sports Illustrated article. “Words matter and baseball ‘bullpens’ devalue talented players and mock the misery of sensitive animals,” PETA stated in an Oct. 28 news release. Many believe the true term of bullpen came from a Cincinnati Enquirer writer O.P. Caylor who coined the term during a 1877 game recap. He wrote, “The bullpen at the Cincinnati grounds with its ‘three for a quarter crowd’ has lost its usefulness,” according to the Sports Illustrated article. Now I can see the idea behind this but can’t help to think this quite a stretch to force a term change, especially as PETA has already proven its blatant lack of concern toward human lives. In November 2016, PETA posted an advertisement called “Women Explain What Rape Feels Like for Animals in the Food Industry,” featuring a series of women sharing their experiences with rape. However, this seemingly meaningful beginning is undermined by what follows: “Every year, billions of animals are born into the meat, egg and dairy industries. Almost all of them are a result of forcible artificial insemination. Almost all of them are a result of rape. Don’t participate, go vegan,” PETA stated in the advertisement. Yes, animals experience of sexual
ILLUSTRATION BY BIANCA RADER
violence needs to be addressed. But that could easily get accomplished without dehumanizing rape survivors and invalidating their traumas. The holier-than-thou PETA is sexist, it exploits women’s bodies as allegories for suffering animals endure. In an advertisement called “Boyfriend went Vegan,” a woman is depicted in a neck brace, injured from “BWVAKTBOOM: Boyfriend Went Vegan And Knocked The Bottom Out Of Me,” according to an Aug. 21 article from History.com. PETA’s advertisement implies that the boyfriend had an overwhelming amount of strength and power from going vegan that caused him to violently slam her head into a wall, also known as: abuse. The nonprofit has done great things for animals including convincing some of the world’s largest fashion brands not to use fur, helping ban animal-testing by
CLASSIFIEDS CROSSWORD PUZZLE
thousands of personal-care companies and ending the use of animals in automobilecrash tests, according to the History.com article. However, PETA doesn’t sit on a pedestal. While there is a conversation to be had about animal suffering, objectifying women to make a point about animal abuse is cruel dehumanization and sexism. There are many more outrageous PETA advertisement campaigns to sort through, but the bottom line is the nonprofit is hypocritical to try to force MLB to rename the bullpen. Although I disagree with PETA, MLB isn’t exempt from any wrongdoings of its own when it comes to others petitioning for name changes. As of December 2020, the Cleveland Indians decided to drop its team name and announced in July that it will be now known as The Guardians, according to a
July 23 article by The Wrap. The Indians’ logo, which depicted Chief Wahoo, has been a part of the team since 1947, according to the same article by The Wrap. This isn’t the first time name changes have been petitioned in sports and there is evidence that generating petitions can work. However, a strong and convincing argument needs to be made for it to be a reasonable change. The baseball term bullpen just shouldn’t garner as much attention as PETA expects it should. People in and around baseball aren’t perpetuating animal cruelty when they say or hear ‘the bullpen,’ they’re thinking about the game.
SUDOKU PUZZLE Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.
Follow Estevan on Twitter @9estevan
JOKIN’ AROUND “What’s brown and sticky?”
“A stick.”
SOLUTIONS
ACROSS 1. Picnic insects 5. Quibbles 10. Skin disease 14. “Comes and ____” 15. A kind of macaw 16. As a result 17. Unsalted 19. Spheres 20. Snake-like fish 21. Circumscribe 22. Licorice-like flavor 23. Endurance 25. Roof overhangs 27. Nigerian tribesman 28. Descent 31. Desert plants 34. Mammary gland of bovids 35. Japanese apricot 36. Anger 37. Ceased 38. Shocked reaction 39. Big fuss 40. Cavalry weapon 41. Adhesive 42. Burdened 44. Weep 45. Earthquake 46. Carouse 50. Jester 52. Utilizers
54. Card with one symbol 55. Not short 56. Apparent 58. Forearm bone 59. Deafen 60. Weight to be borne 61. Gusted 62. Nosed (out) 63. Plenty DOWN 1. Chills and fever 2. A nine-piece musical group 3. Electrical pioneer 4. South southeast 5. Gambling house 6. Smell 7. Hindu princess 8. Imposter 9. Unhappy 10. Makes amends 11. Xmas 12. Central points 13. Anagram of “Sees” 18. Pretext 22. Anagram of “Rave” 24. Small amount 26. Breezed through 28. Supplemented 29. A musical pause 30. Cry of pain
31. A pouch in some birds 32. Orderly 33. Type of enamelware 34. Not bewildered 37. Dines 38. Homosexuals 40. Tibia 41. One who is excessively proper 43. Trinket 44. Meat cured in brine 46. One of the Canterbury pilgrims 47. Forbidden 48. Panache 49. Marsh growth 50. Association 51. Take it easy 53. Male deer 56. Lyric poem 57. Sick
Oct. 28
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OPINION
THURSDAY, NOV. 4, 2021
ILLUSTRATION BY AUDREY TSENG
‘Big Tech’ is a con, forgoes efficiency for profit Christopher Nguyen STAFF WRITER
Smartphone manufacturers are taking away basic features including micro-SD card slots, the headphone jack and removable battery covers, which used to be standard in phones. Without these basic features, the value of owning a smartphone diminishes. Apple was one of the first companies to remove the 3.5 mm headphone jack from its phones, starting with the iPhone 7, according to a Sept. 8, 2016 CNBC article. After Apple decided to take away its headphone jack, it introduced AirPods, its proprietary Bluetooth earbuds, for the price of $159, according to the same CNBC article. The current price for a pair of Apple earbuds with a 3.5mm connector is around $20, according to Best Buy’s website. Samsung followed suit and decided to sell its own wireless earphones, Galaxy Buds, after
removing the headphone jack from its smartphones even though it mocked Apple for not including one, according to an Aug. 8, 2019 CNBC article. Phone manufacturers are price gouging consumers to buy additional products to fix problems they created by taking away basic features. Another feature that’s being stripped from smartphones is the micro-SD card slot. A micro-SD card is used to expand storage space in a phone or any device that can store digital files, according to a Jan. 28 Business Insider article. Smartphone manufacturers have removed the micro-SD card so they can charge a premium for additional storage, according to a May 8, 2015 ZDNet article. ZDnet is a news coverage site that covers trends on technology that matter to technical professionals, according to its
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website. Not only are phone prices climbing, now people are getting charged for a manufacturer’s limitation of space. Samsung’s Galaxy S21 5G lineup is the latest line of phones that doesn’t include a micro-SD card slot, according to a Jan. 14 Cnet article. Cnet is an editorial site that covers consumer electronics, according to its website.
Smartphone batteries have a limited life, degrading over charge cycles, according to a Sept. 3, 2018 IFixIt article. IFixIt is an independent repair company that believes everyone should have the right to repair the things they own, according to its website. While Apple may not have offered removable batteries since the inception of the iPhone, it suffered through Batterygate.
Phone manufacturers are price gouging consumers to buy additional products to fix problems they created by taking away basic features. The Samsung S21 5G has an initial storage of 128GB that can only expand up to 256GB because it lacks a micro-SD card slot, according to Samsung’s website. Phone manufacturers have also made it common practice to glue battery covers to smartphones, making battery replacement difficult when needed.
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Batterygate was a scandal in which Apple knowingly and secretly slowed down old iPhones released between 2014 and 2016, according to a Nov. 18, 2020 NPR article. Samsung also went through a public relations nightmare regarding removable battery covers.
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The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 had cases of it exploding because of its battery, to the point of having two recalls, according to a Jan. 22, 2017 NBC News article. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is still the only phone that is banned from flights, according to the Transportation Security Administration’s “What Can I Bring?” webpage. If removable batteries were still around, maybe there wouldn’t have been such a large public relations nightmare that ended in a meme. Although new phones are being manufactured without micro-SD card slots, headphone jacks and a removable battery cover, there are still smartphones that have these basic features. The Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro is the most recent smartphone that has all the basic features, but phones like it aren’t promoted to the public. Taking away basic features should not command a higher price on phones.
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