WINNER OF 2023 ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS PACEMAKER AWARD, NEWSPAPER/NEWSMAGAZINE NAMED BEST CAMPUS NEWSPAPER IN CALIFORNIA FOR 2022 BY THE CALIFORNIA COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION AND CALIFORNIA NEWS PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
Thursday, November 7, 2024
Volume 163 No. 33 WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
SERVING SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
Trump is elected 47th U.S. President By Jackson Lindstrom STAFF WRITER
The Associated Press projected Donald Trump as the winner of the 2024 Presidential Election on Tuesday evening. The Bay Area was ranked as one of the most Democratic areas in California, according to a Feb. 2020 report by Public Policy Institution of California. As one of the colleges in the Bay Area, students at San José State were not enthusiastic about PresidentElect Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris. Only 5% of students at SJSU were conservative, according to a Niche.com poll. Abigail Sowers, a first-year biological sciences student, said Trump’s win was disappointing. “As a member of the female community, I’m very afraid of what my future is going to be,” Sowers said. “I’m worried that our rights are going to be taken away as soon as (Trump) goes into office.” Trump’s stance on women’s reproductive rights is a concern many women are fearful of after his boasting about appointing three of the justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to a Nov. 5 CBS News article. Sowers also said she was scared for other historically
marginalized communities. “I’m worried for my friends that are people of color (and the) LGBTQ community, it's very clear that he does not like those people, even though they're some of the best people in the world,” Sowers said. “So a lot of people are going to end up going back to being positive, because they're afraid that his supporters are gonna attack them if they express themselves.” Sowers is not the only student who is afraid of what Trump’s victory will mean for these communities. More Americans thought Donald Trump’s policies would make things worse for women, black people, Hispanic people, Asian people and poor people than Kamala Harris, according to a Sept. 25 Pew Research Center report. Cody McElyea, a thirdyear microbiology student, said Trump’s win was disheartening. “I’m very worried for the stability of our democracy, having all three branches of government as ‘yes men’ to someone who wants to be a dictator day one is very concerning,” McElyea said. “I’m still hopeful for the future of our democracy, and I won't give up hope for it, but I'm definitely devastated.” Another topic some students are worried about is Trump’s policy on immigration.
GRAPHIC BY KAYA HENKES-POWER | SPARTAN DAILY
The former president has also promised mass deportations of immigrants, most notably Mexican immigrants, according to a Nov. 6 Reuters article. Isaac Cervantes, a firstyear business administration and finance student who has immigrant parents, said Trump’s victory was troubling. “I’m not really for him, as his policies do consist of the mass deportation of immigrants and actually puts my parents at risk of being deported,” Cervantes said. “A bunch of people say ... when he was in office, he had a better economy, but I feel like he just kind of piggybacked right off of (Barack) Obama.”
The economy recovered from a crisis during the beginning of the Obama administration into a period of economic prosperity, according to a Jan. 12, 2017 PBS News article. San José has a large Hispanic population and makes up 33% of its people, according to the Bay Area Census. Cervantes said despite Trump’s desire for greater border control, he still isn’t too worried about Trump being elected. “Back when he was still in office, I would say I wasn't as worried, because we are in California. It's a Democratic state,” Cervantes said. “There's not really much that
ICE does here, compared to Republican states. When my parents were traveling during those times (and) when I would travel, my parents would (go) to Nevada, (and) it was actually riskful for them to be deported.” ICE, short for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is the federal organization that enforces U.S. Immigration laws, according to its website. Victor Valencia, a fourthyear accounting student, said Harris could have done better with media appearances. “I think she definitely could have done better on media, like going on more outlets,” Valencia said. “Trump was going on
(about) everything under the sun, like he really wanted his word out there, and I feel like Kamala didn't do enough to make her voice heard.” Cervantes also said Trump’s victory was predictable, in part to Harris’s lack of media representation. “It was pretty obvious. I think I saw (Trump’s victory) coming. A lot of people share the same opinion,” Cervantes said. “He had some good policies going, but she just seemed really unprepared, kind of ... nervous compared to Trump, (and) he’s just really good at arguing.” Follow Jackson on Instagram @jacksontlindstrom
Students talk California props By Israel Archie STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS BY SAMLICCARDO.COM
While the presidential election was on the minds of many Americans and the focal point of the 2024 election, local elections left students at San José State University with a lot to discuss. There were a plethora of propositions and local officials on the ballot to choose from, giving the opportunity for a lot of different feelings on the outcome of the results. Fourth-year math student John Dwyer found the ballot to be a little easier to comprehend compared to ballots from past elections. “This felt like the most simple and straightforward ballot I’ve had in a while,” Dwyer said. “It was a lot of choosing from two (sides) and very clear differences between the two.” The California propositions this year included rent control, minimum wage and same-sex marriage. Dwyer’s opinion of the ballot also included the propositions being voted on in this election. “Propositions are always kind of a clusterfuck,” Dwyer said. “But I don’t feel like they were too dramatic one way or the other.” State Assemblyman Evan Low was running for the representative seat against former Mayor of San José
Sam Liccardo. Liccardo is projected to win the seat holding 59.9% of the vote compared to Low’s 40.1% according to the Associated Press. Although SJSU Associated Student vice president Chima Nwokolo was involved in Low’s campaign, he gave Liccardo his flowers and acknowledged him as the winner. “I commend former Mayor Liccardo for running a good campaign and getting his message out across the airwaves,” Nwokolo said. There were 10 propositions on the California ballot and the votes needed to be over 50% in order to pass, according to the New York Times. One proposition that students had a lot to talk about was Proposition 6. This proposition w o u l d
prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude as a punishment for crime according to the New York Times. While 53% of the vote has been reported, the same source shows most voters are currently voting ‘No’ at 55% while 45% are voting ‘Yes.’ Based on the proposition vote count, forced prison labor currently stands as a punishment for crime in California, outraging a lot of SJSU students. Communications junior Samantha Sternstein finds it hard to believe that California still has slavery in the prison system. “It’s insane that we still have slavery in prison labor,” Sternstein said. “ The fact that Californians voted to keep it and voted ‘No.’ I don’t
understand why. Maybe they didn’t understand the implications of it but it’s right there for you.” Black and Hispanic males make up 72% of the California prison population, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Other students shared this same shock of slavery being a discussion in California. An anonymous source talked about how slavery was a part of American society centuries ago and that it doesn’t make sense to practice it today. They wanted to remain anonymous because they don’t feel comfortable releasing their name after learning of presidential candidate Donald Trump’s victory. “We come from a long history of being enslaved 400 years (so) why go back,” they said. “The fact that we have it on the ballot is terrifying.” Another proposition that students had a lot to comment on was Proposition 36. This proposition increases penalties for repeated crimes and certain drug crimes, according to the Associated Press. It would also create a drug court treatment program for people with multiple drug convictions according to the same source. With the Associated Press reporting 54% of the votes being counted, 70.4% voted ‘Yes,’ while 29.6% voted ‘No.’
“I feel like that’s targeted towards the African American community,” the anonymous source said. “There are rapists, murders and things much more terrifying than people having a drug.” Another anonymous source who wanted to remain so for the same reason said that it reminded them of the war on drugs under former president Ronald Reagan and that it is like having a legal way to attack minorities. “It’s cruel because these people are getting these drugs from their doctors so it’s not their fault that they get addicted,” they said. One of the repeated crimes that are listed in this proposition is shoplifting according to a web page from the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Sternstein finds it odd that shoplifting is on the ballot measure and that it has gotten so serious to the point where propositions have to be written about it. “The fundamental reason why people shoplift is because they don’t have those basic needs,” Sternstein said. “There are many who are put in that situation because they have no choice.”
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