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NAMED NATIONAL FOUR-YEAR DAILY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR FOR 2020-21 IN THE COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION’S PINNACLE AWARDS

Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021

Volume 157 No. 38 SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934

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Gregory Johnson Jr.’s cause of death remains unchanged: suicide By Madilynne Medina & Christina Casillas NEWS EDITORS

Content warning: this story and infographic mention graphic details of suicide

PHOTO COURTESY OF JAKOB VAN VLIET | HET PAROOL

Massoud Hossaini accepted the 2021 Hearst Award for excellence in journalism in an online ceremony.

Afghan photojournalist given Hearst Award by SJSU department justice studies, hosted the ceremony and presentation on Zoom. While Kazem-Stojanovic presented from campus, San Jose State’s School of Journalism and Hossaini received the award and shared his work and Mass Communications granted the William Randolph experiences from his home in the Netherlands, where he’s Hearst Award to Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist been since the day Kabul, Afghanistan fell to the Taliban Massoud Hossaini Monday afternoon for his bravery on Aug. 15. “Historically, [the Hearst Award] event has always in capturing powerful images of life and war in excited and inspired the minds of future generations Afghanistan. Halima Kazem-Stojanovic, Afghan American HOSSAINI | Page 2 investigative journalist and professor in journalism and

By Amani Hamed STAFF WRITER

Supporters and family members of late San Jose State student Gregory Johnson Jr. expressed concerns about Santa Clara County’s Nov. 2 report, re-declaring his death as a suicide. Gregory Johnson, a then-Sigma Chi fraternity member, was found dead in the fraternity house’s basement on Nov. 22, 2008, according to the county district attorney’s office re-examination findings. While his death was ruled a suicide in the 2008-09 investigation, community members including university students, Gregory Johnson’s mother Denise Johnson and local activists believe his death was the result of a hate crime. Sociology senior Tiffany Yep said she thinks the re-examination was done without clarity or complete inclusion of Gregory Johnson’s family. “I just think that no matter what they’re ruling it, the bottom line is that they are not showing any respect and transparency,” Yep said in a phone call. After 13 years of family members and supporters calling for a re-investigation, the Santa Clara County DA’s office asked Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner Dr. Michelle Jorden to re-examine the 2008-09 investigation. The reviewed materials included: the autopsy report and complete file and toxicology report, autopsy photographs, the investigation reports, SJSU police reports and five CD discs, according to the re-examination report. Jorden stated in the report that a re-enactment of the scene of his death was also performed on Aug. 17. Jorden’s findings were consistent with those of the late

Dr. Glenn Nazareno, the forensic pathologist who first conducted Gregory Johnson’s autopsy and ruled the cause of death suicide by hanging. Gregory Johnson’s family said in a 2015 federal civil rights complaint it wasn’t possible for him to hang himself “as a 6-foot2-inch man in a basement less than 6 feet high,” according to a Friday Mercury News article. Jorden said the 2008-09 investigation and re-enactment of the scene confirms Gregory Johnson was capable of suicidal hanging based on his weight and height. Jorden stated in the Nov. 2 report that suicide hangings can occur as complete or incomplete suspension. She concluded Gregory Johnson died of an incomplete hanging. “In this case, the hanging occurred as an incomplete suspension based on the height of Mr. Johnson, scene measurements and initial Medical Examiner-Coroner investigative report in November 2008, which captured the original position of the body when found,” she stated in the report. While Gregory Johnson’s family members said they don’t believe he killed himself, Jorden stated in the report that “not all suicides have notes present at the scene.” She stated possible reasons for his suicide from the investigative reports into his death include negative “childhood experiences and financial issues.” Gregory Johnson supporters have asked the county coroner’s office and SJSU to reopen the investigation through an increase in protests in the past year. Multiple protests occurred in REPORT | Page 2

Student club plans mural installation to recognize SJSU’s wrongful Japanese American history By Evan Reinhardt STAFF WRITER

San Jose State’s Stories for Solidarity club is proposing a mural installation in Yoshihiro Uchida Hall as part of its Justice for Japanese campaign, which aims to raise awareness about the campus’ involvement in Japanese American internment. Two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces in 1941, former President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 that led to the internment of Japanese Americans, according to the U.S. National Archives. The Dec. 7, 1941 surprise attack on Naval Station Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii resulted in more than 2,300 American deaths, leading to U.S. involvement in World War II, according to an Encyclopedia Britannica webpage. Many Japanese Americans along the Pacific coast were targeted and interned. Some lost their homes, farms, businesses and personal belongings, according to the same U.S. archive. During the internment from 1942-45, the

Spartan Complex West was used to register 2,487 individuals of Japanese descent, according to a Feb. 14, 2016 NBC article. Emma Segura, Stories for Solidarity club president and justice studies senior, said the mural would be one step closer toward reconciling SJSU’s past. “We can’t ignore what happened and we can’t take it back, but we can do everything we can to educate the community so we can discontinue cycles of injustice against ethnic minorities,” Segura said. “Doing so will create a space for our Japanese brothers and sisters on campus within our communities.” The club aims to fundraise $6,000 for art supplies and demonstration materials, Segura said. Miko Baker, Stories for Solidarity club treasurer and sociology community change senior, said the university should support the mural for better representation and respect for Asian American community members. “We’re on campus but we don’t take up space anywhere. That’s weird, it doesn’t add up,” Baker said in a phone call. “How do you expect people EVAN REINHARDT | SPARTAN DAILY

MURAL | Page 2

Several SJSU students are pushing for a mural installation in Yoshihiro Uchida Hall.

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NEWS

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 17, 2021

REPORT Continued from page 1

INFOGRAPHIC BY CHRISTINA CASILLAS; SOURCE: SANTA CLARA COUNTY DA REPORT

HOSSAINI Continued from page 1 of communicators and challenged them to always be at their best, what matters the most,” Kazem-Stojanovic said during the presentation. “Our honored guest today embraces those values and has spent two decades creating compelling and powerful images in Afghanistan for Western news organizations.” Hossaini spoke about photojournalism’s power to communicate the horrific realities and conditions of war and the toll capturing scenes of carnage and destruction has on photojournalists. “[Photojournalism] records history and shares human experiences,” Hossaini said during the event. “As one of the photojournalist branches, war photography plays an important role: to reflect the truth on the ground for the public who needs to act or decide.” During the last 20 years, Hossaini has photographed a changing and turbulent Afghanistan and witnessed the deaths of friends and colleagues. He was injured 11 times in the process by shockwaves and shrapnel from the explosions that claimed the lives of those around him. “War photographers always face life’s threats and violence during their duty, [post-traumatic stress disorder] and rights violation by their news companies,” Hossaini said. “To record the truth and evidence, a war photographer needs to attend in the frontline, where the risk to lose their lives is much higher.” Hossaini shared a collection of his work during the event. Many of the photographs hadn’t been previously shared or published and others included Hossaini’s renowned work including the photo for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news photojournalism, “The Girl in Green.” Throughout his photographs, stoic children dressed in colorful traditional Afghan clothing are juxtaposed with the violence of war, which is constant in their lives. Among Hossaini’s work are photographs he said were shot while he recovered from the shock of an explosion, injured and realized the colleagues who had been standing nearer to the source of the explosion were dead. “The Girl In Green” was taken when Hossaini sought to photograph a little girl in an emerald-green salwar kameez, a long tunic paired with loose-fitting, cuffed pants, attending a religious gathering at Abul Fazel shrine in Kabul on the day of Ashura, the tenth day of the first month of the Islamic calendar. Though Ashura is a holy day for all Muslims, it’s especially significant to Shia Muslims, a religious minority in Afghanistan, as it commemorates the anniversary of the murder of Hussain Ibn Ali, a revered social justice figure and the grandson of Islam’s

support of Gregory Johnson including a demonstration at SJSU President Mary Papazian’s house on April 11 and another at the Sigma Chi fraternity house on Aug. 30 where protesters alleged a cover up regarding his cause of death. Gregory Johnson’s family also filed a letter on March 2, 2010 to the U.S. Senate, in which Denise Johnson expressed concerns regarding head trauma she observed on her son. Jorden stated the “autopsy report and photographs do not document evidence of head trauma or a neck fracture.” The Nov. 2 report included the head trauma documented by Denise Johnson in 2010 “may represent changes from the autopsy exam and/or funeral home preparation.” Autopsy examinations in Santa Clara County include analyzing the brain and incisions to the scalp and skull that can create visual and feelable abnormalities, according to the report. In a Friday Instagram statement, the

prophet Muhammad. A suicide bomber caused an explosion that killed more than 50 people and injured 100 more, according to a Dec. 6, 2011 BBC article. Hossaini said he was injured and snapped the photo of Tarana Akbari, age 12, standing above the body of her dead baby brother, her salwar kameez stained with blood, screaming for help. He referenced Vietnamese-American photojournalist Nick Ut’s famous Vietnam War photo of the “Napalm Girl” that depicted a child fleeing a napalm bombing as her clothes burned away. Hossaini said just as Ut’s photograph was credited with helping to end the war, he hoped that his photographs, especially of the girl in green, would bring an end to the suffering in Afghanistan.

To record the truth and evidence, a war photographer needs to attend in the frontline, where the risk to lose their lives is much higher. Massoud Hossaini

Pulitzer prize-winning photojournalist

“But I was from Afghanistan. I didn’t have any power in the world,” Hossaini said. “And I couldn’t do anything for that girl. I tried my best but just imagine right now.” Reviewing the photos now is difficult for Hossaini, and he gets emotional seeing them. He said he’s concerned for the welfare of those who were alive in the photo, especially for Taran. Hossaini said just as Ut cared for and developed a lasting relationship with Phan Thi Kim Phuc, the “Napalm Girl,” he wishes he could have done more to help Tarana but today he doesn’t know where she is or if she is alive. He said now that the Taliban has taken control of Afghanistan, he’s worried how Tarana will be treated as a girl and knows she will likely not have access to an education. “I really wanted to help this girl. I really wanted to find some opportunity that this girl [could] get more educated and do something against war,” Hossaini said. “But unfortunately, it didn’t happen.” He said he hopes to one day return to Afghanistan and until then, he will continue to document the realities and violence of war in other parts of the world.

Follow Amani on Twitter @Amani_Marie_

“Justice for Gregory Johnson” campaign account shared a post that they don’t believe “a real investigation has taken place,” and have conducted an “independent investigation.” Kenneth Mashinchi, SJSU senior director of strategic communications and media relations said unless new evidence surfaces, “this is an unfortunate loss of a young man’s life [because of] circumstances we will never fully know.” Mashinchi said the university acknowledges that the pain from Gregory Johnson’s death will never go away but “[the university] hope[s] this is an important step that will help diminish pain brought on by speculation and accusations.” Yep said as someone who has been involved in the campaign’s efforts, she will continue to support the family. “I believe that the institutions involved have shown a complete lack of transparency and respect for Gregory Johnson’s family above all else,” she said.

MURAL Continued from page to feel a part of something if they don’t see themselves anywhere? That’s why we want the mural. Seeing that art up at Uchida Hall would be so validating.” Yoshihiro Uchida is a 101-year-old SJSU alumnus and martial arts pioneer who served as a medical technician in a segregated army unit during World War II while his family was interned, according to a U.S. Judo Federation webpage. The Spartan Complex West was renamed to honor Uchida in 1997, according to the university’s King Library Digital Archives. Uchida led SJSU to 45 national judo championships over six decades of coaching and served as the judo coach for the 1964 U.S. Olympic Team, according to a booklet titled “Racial and Social Justice at San Jose State University: Students Respond with Social Action.” The booklet was published on Oct. 19 by the Human Rights Institute, an SJSU research and policy institute that aims to create policy solutions to social problems, according to its university webpage. Baker said Uchida regularly stays in contact with current judo students and the Stories for Solidarity Club. “I’m thankful for the younger generation. They’re telling the truth about Japanese Americans,” Uchida said during a Nov. 5 open-mic event at Peanuts Deluxe Cafe. “Many Americans born here, they go on trips to Japan and are very happy . . . unaware of the culture and history of this land.” Peanuts is located at 275 E. San Fernando St. Baker said while many older Japanese descendants are unwilling to rehash past trauma, Uchida commonly talks about his past and encourages young

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people to carry on the fight for representation and equity. Kenneth Mashinchi, SJSU senior director of strategic communications and media relations, said a mural would be a great way to establish Japanese American solidarity while ensuring Uchida’s life remains a relevant story in the university’s history. “SJSU is supportive of the mural proposed by Stories [for] Solidarity, and is committed to working with the organization to install it in Uchida Hall,” Mashinchi stated in an email. “Including this mural in the building named after him will continue to honor his incredible life and Spartan legacy.” University President Mary Papazian met with club members and voiced her support for the club and the proposed mural, according to an Oct. 19 Stories for Solidarity Instagram post. “Stories for Solidarity is currently waiting on university approval and communication before plans continue,” Baker said. “It seems like everybody’s for it, it’s just a matter of figuring out how,” Baker said. “That’s when the trickle down of power comes in, when working with different departments and advisory boards . . . All the typical bureaucratic powers.” Baker said if plans are properly achieved, the mural should be finished in time for Uchida’s birthday on April 1. She said she’s grateful to advocate for Japanese Americans and their history through art with a legendary member of the SJSU community like Uchida. “We’re gaining representation and we’re doing it with someone who has lived through this,” Baker said. “Art provokes thought. I’m not doing my job if what we create isn’t causing people to think.” Follow Evan on Twitter @ReinhardtEvan

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 17, 2021

ANALYSIS

Latinx band breaks genre norms By Jovanna Olivares A&E EDITOR

It’s hard for Latinx artists to break through in the mainstream music industry but indie-pop group Luna Luna is marching to the beat of their own drum and blazing trails with their distinct and ever-evolving sound. The Dallas-based band was established in 2017 by a serendipitous cross of mutual paths and desire to make unique music that blends their musical taste. Luna Luna is led by drummer Kaylin Martínez and consists of Kevin “Kavvi” González, Colombian-born producer and singer-songwriter, bassist Ryan “Gordo” Gordon and Danny Bonilla, keyboardist/backup vocalist and singer-songwriter. The group’s sound is genre-bending with influences ranging from rock, pop and bedroom tunes from both English and Spanish music. Their sound will have you grooving and daydreaming no matter where you are.

with English music; it just creates a clash,” González said in an interview before their Sunday Flower Moon Tour, San Francisco show. “Our music is a sound to that clash of the two cultures, that [is what] makes up Luna Luna.” The four-person Latinx band doesn’t conform to marketing itself to a single musical category. Latinx talent is typically only recognized when it reaches mainstream media, which usually consists of a widely recognized one-size-fits-all “Latinx” image. “Despacito-Remix” by Puerto Rican singer-songwriters Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, featuring Canadian singersongwriter Justin Bieber became the most streamed song worldwide in 2015, according to the Guinness World Records website. The pop-based tune gained traction primarily for the well established voice of Bieber despite the original song being released four months prior to the remix. Catalan singer-songwriter Rosalia is constantly categorized and marketed as Latinx for her

Where I came from [Colombia], and my culture, just listening to Spanish music growing up, from Salsa, Merengue to Bachata, and contrasting it growing up here with English music; it just creates a clash. Our music is a sound to that clash of the two cultures, that makes up Luna Luna.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KIMBERLY VICTORIANO

Luna Luna performs Sunday night at the Rickshaw Shop in San Francisco on their “Flower Moon” tour.

growing discography consists of their 2018 debut album “For Lovers Only,” a collection full of groovy, romantic vibes that will have butterflies dancing in your stomach. The band has come a long way since their beginning and Kevin, “kavvi,” González is on tour for the first time since Luna Luna singer-songwriter and producer the pandemic. Their 19-date headlining tour “Where I came from [Colombia], flamenco-infused pop music, has been illuminating their latest and my culture, just listening to yet authentic and representative album “Flower Moon,” which was Spanish music growing up, from creatives struggle to find the released on Aug. 13. Salsa, Merengue to Bachata, and spotlight. “We’re really glad to be touring contrasting it growing up here, Luna Luna’s already wide and again,” Martínez said. “It’s been

CLASSIFIEDS CROSSWORD PUZZLE

a while because we’ve worked a lot on this album so to be able to hear people sing the lyrics, that sensation, it catches me by surprise every time.” Bonilla said Flower Moon required experimental work and collaborative writing sessions, making it one of their most personal and representative pieces. The band authentically depicts the defiance of fitting into categories and fearlessly produces content reflective of genuineness and passion.

SUDOKU PUZZLE Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.

“It’s pretty scary to try new things as musicians, just choosing between doing what works because it’s already working,” González said. “We make music based on who we were in that moment so it’s constantly changing. It’s like a timestamp of who we were at that time and we’re different people. That’s music and life. That’s growth.”

Follow Jovanna on Twitter @Joo_Zuniga

JOKIN’ AROUND “How do you make 7 even?”

“Take away the s.”

SOLUTIONS

ACROSS 1. Tycoon 6. Church alcove 10. Iridescent gem 14. Great black cockatoo 15. Genuine 16. Wicked 17. Lifeboat crane 18. Achy 19. L L L L 20. Powered by electricity 22. Part of a plant 23. Hotel 24. Cantankerous 26. Rattle 30. Synagogue scroll 32. Winged 33. Vistas 37. Craving 38. Foreign 39. Dell 40. Balsam or touch-me-not 42. Make a counterfeit 43. Unit of weight for gems 44. A coarse linen cloth 45. Autumn color 47. Tavern 48. Baby buggy 49. Careful 56. Connects two points 57. Frenzied

58. Steam 59. Black, in poetry 60. Bloodsucking insects 61. Colonic 62. Weight loss plan 63. Goddess of discord 64. Ascends DOWN 1. Fabricated 2. By mouth 3. Donated 4. Relating to urine 5. Framework of strips of wood 6. Malicious burning 7. Hireling 8. Indian dress 9. A subatomic particle 10. Eclipse 11. He flies a plane 12. Mixture 13. “___ we forget” 21. Ribonucleic acid 25. Hearing organ 26. French Sudan 27. Astringent 28. Coarse file 29. A supplementary part 30. Corrupt 31. 1 1 1 1

33. Urgent request 34. A crumbling earthy deposit 35. Aquatic plant 36. Views 38. Popular terrier 41. Black gunk 42. Evermore 44. Spot 45. Small African antelope 46. Small boat 47. Bicycles 48. Implored 50. Arab chieftain 51. Hubs 52. Hindu princess 53. Mimics 54. Hefty volume 55. Historical periods

Nov. 16

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OPINION

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 17, 2021

Climate summit won’t result in real change Saumya Monga STAFF WRITER

World leaders love to put on a performance. At the Conference Of Parties 26 (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, representatives from countries are once again showing off their acting chops. COP26 hosted representatives from more than 200 countries to discuss reducing their emissions. While it’s great to see world leaders take responsibility for their carbon emissions, it’s hypocritical that they aren’t talking about the real culprits of the climate crisis: businesses. In 2015, world leaders met for the first time to discuss solutions to the climate crisis at a conference known as the Paris agreement, according to an Oct. 25 BBC News article. They agreed to prevent the global temperatures from rising and to review their respective emissions in 2020, which was delayed until November this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the BBC News article. This year’s event was also attended by activists including Greta Thunberg and thousands of protesters, according

to a Nov. 6 NPR article. But what did they avoid talking about? Big businesses and their executives, who watched world leaders let them get away with further polluting the planet. There was barely any conversation about how to regulate businesses including Chevron, which is responsible for 43.35 tons of carbon dioxide emissions alone, according to an Oct. 9, 2019 article by The Guardian. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and other big oil company leaders did testify in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Oct. 28, just days before the COP26 summit, according to an Oct. 28 CNN article. They were being investigated as major culprits of spreading climate denial and spending millions of dollars lobbying the federal government to continue using fossil fuels, according to the CNN article. Lobbying is one of the biggest issues perpetuating the climate crisis because many will go directly to representatives to get their taxes reduced, find loopholes in climate change laws and garner mass support for polluting the environment. At COP26, 503 delegates out of 40,000 total attendees had connections to the fossil fuel industry including three lobbying for the oil company BP, according to a Nov. 9 BBC News article. BP is responsible for 34.02 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from 1965 to 2017, according to an Oct. 9, 2019 article by The Guardian.

ILLUSTRATION BY BIANCA RADER

ABOUT

EDITORIAL STAFF

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The Spartan Daily is written and published by San Jose State students as an expression of their First Amendment rights. Reader feedback may be submitted as letters to the editor or online comments.

MANAGING EDITOR SAMANTHA HERRERA EXECUTIVE PRODUCER MADISON FAGUNDES NEWS EDITOR CHRISTINA CASILLAS NEWS EDITOR MADILYNNE MEDINA A&E EDITOR JOVANNA OLIVARES OPINION EDITOR ROYVI HERNANDEZ SPORTS EDITOR ISALIA GALLO SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR SARA WILER

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INFOGRAPHIC BY SAUMYA MONGA; INFORMATION FROM THE GUARDIAN AND BBC NEWS

Oil and gas company leaders are too scared to come to the climate summit themselves so they send in delegates to lobby on their behalf. They cower at the face of 18-year-old Thunberg and other climate activists who rightfully prove that large corporations are the real enemies of the climate crisis. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos did show up to the conference and offered 2 billion dollars to be put toward restoring nature, according to a Nov. 2 New York Times article. That amount is a penny in an ocean for Bezos, who has a 204.3 billion dollar net worth, according to Forbes. Companies including Amazon shouldn’t be a part of the conversations happening at COP26 but world leaders need to talk about how to regulate them. The issue is that they aren’t. They announced plans to end deforestation, send money to developing countries to help them transition to clean energy and reduce coal usage, according to a Nov. 15 BBC article. This might sound great but many are frustrated with the decision to change the final agreement to only “phase down” coal instead of “phase out,”

STAFF WRITERS AMANI HAMED EVAN REINHARDT CHRISTOPHER NGUYEN SAUMYA MONGA DON LE CHRISTINE STEVENS ESTEVAN LOPEZ SANDRA SANTOS-CRUZ PRODUCTION CHIEF MIKE CORPOS NEWS ADVISER RICHARD CRAIG

ADVERTISING STAFF ADVERTISING DIRECTOR MIA WICKS CREATIVE DIRECTOR KALEB FARNETTI ADVERTISING REPS ABAS ALTUWARISH ASHLEY BARCELON BRANDON VU DONOVAN FRANCIS ENSIYAH SYED ISABELLA VICTORIA HAGGERTY JOHAN ROMANI-CACERES JOSHUA TORRES JUAN TAPIA ZAVALA KENNETH TRIEU LINH LAM LINH THIEU MOISES CARATACHEA SAM LEE SEAN MARTIN

according to a Sunday article by The Guardian. World leaders couldn’t even come to a decision to absolutely reduce coal usage, one of the largest contributors to the climate crisis. The agreement also didn’t address the way oil businesses have spread climate disinformation and how social media platforms including Facebook contribute to that crisis. They didn’t talk about big businesses avoiding taxes which makes it easier for them to continue pursuing oil. They didn’t discuss the possibility of making them pay restitution for their contributions to the climate crisis. As Thunberg said, COP26 was a “two-week-long celebration of business as usual and blah, blah, blah,” according to a Nov. 5 CNBC article. It’s clear that young activists need to be a bigger part of the discussion since they are the only ones who seem to understand the gravity of climate change while CEOs including Bezos play around with gravity in space.

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WEDNESDAY, NOV. 17, 2021

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WEDNESDAY, NOV. 17, 2021