NAMED NATIONAL FOUR-YEAR DAILY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR FOR 2020-21 IN THE COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION’S PINNACLE AWARDS
Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022
Volume 159 No. 38 SERVING SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
New SJSU president announced By Rainier de Fort-Menares STAFF WRITER
After a year of searching for San Jose State’s next president, the California State University Board of Trustees announced in a Wednesday news release that it has selected Cynthia Teniente-Matson. Interim President Steve Perez stated in a Wednesday campus wide email that Teniente-Matson, who is currently Texas A&M University-San Antonio’s president, is expected to assume the position on Jan. 16. When she officially begins her role, she will be the university’s seventh president since 2010, the sixth being Perez, according to the CSU Past & Present Leadership webpage. Perez, who was named interim president on Jan. 1, stated that he is committed to a seamless transition in leadership. Teniente-Matson was chosen by the trustee and advisory committees, who were appointed by Wenda Fong, the CSU trustees chair. Teniente-Matson told Kenneth Mashinchi, executive director of strategic content and college marketing, in his Wednesday interview that she hopes to maintain the school’s momentum going into the second half of the school year. “I’m excited but we have a lot of work to do and I have a lot to learn with you,” Teniente-Matson said. “I want to co-learn, co-pilot, co-conspire on what we’re doing going forward.” The trustee committee, which includes Fong, has four trustees and the interim CSU chancellor, handled the recruitment, selection and appointment of the next SJSU president.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SJSU MEDIA RELATIONS
LEADERSHIP | Page 2 Cynthia Teniente-Matson, Texas A&M University-San Antonio president, will assume the SJSU president position on Jan. 16.
Student groups divided over MOSAIC events By Nick Zamora STAFF WRITER
PHOTO COLLAGE BY BRYANNA BARTLETT; SOURCE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Matt Mahan becomes San Jose’s new mayor 123,436 votes for Mahan and 48% or 117,085 votes for Chavez, with 90% of the votes counted with Mahan having a lead of 6,351 votes over Chavez. Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez “I have called Matt Mahan to wish him the best of has conceded the mayoral race to San Jose luck in his two-year term as mayor,” Chavez said in Councilmember Matt Mahan, making him the a Wednesday statement. “San Jose faces numerous next mayor of the city following exiting-Mayor challenges in the months and years ahead, requiring Sam Liccardo. that we all work collaboratively with the entire The race between Mahan and Chavez has been City Council to reach meaningful and equitable the longest since 2014’s mayoral race. solutions.” Results from the Santa Clara County registrar of voters as of Wednesday showed 51.32% or SAN JOSE | Page 4
By Bojana Cvijic EXECUTIVE EDITOR
San Jose State community members differed in their feelings surrounding some speaker events held at the MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center in the past two weeks. Students for Justice in Palestine held a guest speaker event and exhibit in the center Wednesday night, discussing how Palestinians and Muslims are perceived in the West. Students for Justice in Palestine is the SJSU chapter of the national campus-based organization that advocates for the human rights of Palestinians, according to its Instagram page. More than 30 students attended the event, which was promoted and supported by several Arab student organizations including the Muslim Student Association, the Arab Student Union, the Pakistani student association, the Persian Student Association and the Afghan Student Association. The guest speaker Amir Abdel Malik Ali spoke on the changing perception of Islam in America and what Zionism means to Muslims and Palestinians. Amir Abdel Malik Ali is the Amir of the Oakland Islamic Community Center.
Amir is an Islamic title of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat or a high-ranking political or military official. It is also used to refer to a leader of an Islamic or Arabic organization, according to FairObserver.com, an independent nonprofit media organization. Zionism is a Jewish nationalist movement with the goal of creation of a Jewish national state in Palestine, citing it as the ancient homeland of the Jews, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica Zionism Definition and History webpage. “They’re saying that [Palestinians], who are impoverished, these people don’t even have a standing army. [Palestinians], who live in a state of just complete degradation,” Amir Ali said. “They’re supposed to be Goliath and then the people with the M1 tanks, the helicopter gunships, the F16 fighter jets, the nuclear weapons, they’re supposed to be David?” A portion of the speaker event also covered the common conflation from between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. “If I were to voice my support to the Palestinians and voice my outrage against how the Israelis are MOSAIC | Page 4