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
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Volume 163 No. 40 SERVING SAN JOSÉ STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1934
WWW.SJSUNEWS.COM/SPARTAN_DAILY
Boise forfeits against SJSU amid lawsuit By Charity Spicer STAFF WRITER
Following a federal lawsuit aiming to disallow the San José State University women’s volleyball team from playing in the Mountain West Conference tournament, Boise State University team withdrew from a semifinal match against SJSU. The federal Judge S. Kato Crews ruling the case, appointed by President Biden in the U.S. District Court in Colorado, denied the motion to block the SJSU team from competing in the Mountain West Conference tournament, as reported on Nov. 26 by The Spartan Daily. Filed by SJSU’s current co-captain Brooke Slusser, suspended assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose and two former players for the team, the lawsuit alleges that the National Collegiate Athletics Association transgender participation policy infringes First Amendment rights and contributes to Title IX violations. “As explained below, because the (National Collegiate Athletics Association transgender participation policy) purports to allow men to participate in college sports on sex-separated women’s teams the (National Collegiate Athletics Association transgender participation policy) cannot be lawfully adopted, implemented or relied
SATURN WILLIAMS | SPARTAN DAILY
Brooke Slusser (10) and Melissa Batie-Smoose, second from right are both involved in the lawsuit filed against SJSU.
upon by an entity subject to Title IX,” stated in court documents. Chris Kutz, the Boise State University’s associate athletic director, emailed the Spartan Daily a statement on behalf of Boise State Athletics. “The decision to not continue to play in the 2024 Mountain West Volleyball Championship tournament was not an easy one,” Boise State Athletics said in an issued statement. “Our team overcame forfeitures to earn a spot in the tournament field and fought for the win over Utah State in the first round on Wednesday.” The statement said the team should not have to forgo the opportunity of
playing while waiting for a thoughtful and better system that serves all athletes. Boise State, Utah State University, University of Wyoming and University of Nevada, Reno forfeited against SJSU this past season. SJSU (No. 2 seed) lost to Colorado State University (No. 1 seed) on Saturday, Nov. 30 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, scoring 3-1. Samantha Garcia, an SJSU third-year forensic science major, said that the issue facing the teams needs to be solved and talked about. “I know for me personally when it comes to sports, I love sports and I wouldn’t
want to win on a forfeit,” Garcia said. “I would actually want to go on the court or the field and play my heart out and deserve to have that championship or win that game. Instead of knowing that a team forfeited.” Garcia expressed her perspective on the transgender participation policy saying that it goes against her morals. “I personally believe that if you were born a male, you should not be allowed to play women's sports, even if you identify as a woman,” Garcia said. Todd Kress, SJSU’s head coach of the women’s volleyball team, issued a statement regarding the
forfeiture. “I will not sugarcoat our reality for the last two months,” Kress wrote. “Our team prepared and was ready to play each match according to established Mountain West and (National Collegiate Athletics Association) rules of play.” According to the Mountain West Conference which follows suit of the (National Collegiate Athletics Association) policies, SJSU follows their outlined rules, as stated in the Mountain West Conference handbook. “Sadly, others who for years have played this same team without incident chose not to play us this
season … Each forfeiture announcement unleashed appalling, hateful messages individuals chose to send directly to our studentathletes, our coaching staff, and many associated with our program,” Kress said. Austin Eberhart, an SJSU first-year civil engineering student, talked about how harmful the rhetoric being spread about the trans community is as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. “There should be some sort of funding, whether that be state or federal, to organize research of trans players in women's sports and see what their performance actually is,” said Eberhart. The NCAA specifically outlines its policies on transgender student-athlete participation which consist of an approved testosterone threshold of <10 nmol/L for women’s volleyball, according to the NCAA policy document. “I think that the (National Collegiate Athletics Association) as a whole is really going to have to really dive into trans players, period,” Eberhart said. “I’ve done a paper on this for an English class in high school, that's my final project. There’s really not a lot of research done now and I think that research needs to continue.” Follow Charity on Instagram @charity.spicer
Students decompress before finals week By Sofia Hill STAFF WRITER
San José State’s Fall 2024 semester is starting to wrap up, and exam season and finals week quickly following behind. While the pressure of finals is stressful enough for students, it is even harder for those who already struggle with their mental health, food insecurity, housing and financial troubles, wellness and more, according to a Jan. 11, 2023 article from EdSights. International Student and Scholar Services hosted a Global Connections event on Monday in the College Professional and Global Education building to increase student morale with upcoming finals. International Student and Scholar Services provides support to international students at SJSU and creates connections by offering resources, hosting events, holding programs and providing a welcoming community, according to SJSU’s website. The event was open to all students on campus, and provided snacks, board
games, puzzles, cards, crafts and art supplies in order to help students relax during finals week. Suhaas Teja Vijjagiri, a computer engineering grad student and a global leader for International Student and Scholar Services, facilitated the workshop. “It really helps a lot of students make new friends who are maybe shy initially, it kind of gives them the (opportunity) to make connections,” Vijjagiri said. Vijjagiri said that as an international student, it was difficult at first to create relationships with other students on campus because of cultural differences and feeling overwhelmed in a new country. He said with the Global Connections program, any student can come in, have fun and make friends. The goal was to have students de-stress during finals week with a chill vibe. “We International Student and Scholar Services Global Leaders) work as the face of (International Student and Scholar Services) and we help conduct events which can foster international connections and we try to
organize events which can help international students improve their connections and meet new people,” Vijjagiri said. Yash Kumar, a grad student in software engineering, was one of the students who came to this event to take advantage of its resources. Kumar played card games and made origami lucky stars with one of his good friends, Sebastian, who he said he met through Global Connections. “It provides me with an opportunity to meet people outside of my country. It gets my mind off of the stress that I’m thinking of the rest of the week,” Kumar said. Programs like Peer Connections, Accessible Education Center and the Writing Center are also available to all students for academic support, according to SJSU’s website. Peer Connections provides a space where students can be tutored and mentored by peer educators, according to another website from SJSU. SJSU’s Writing Center provides assistance to supplement student’s writing skills, by providing tutoring, workshops, support for writing assignments and
SOFIA HILL | SPARTAN DAILY
Students gather together and to take a moment to de-stress before finals week.
resources about several different areas of the writing process, according to another SJSU website. SJSU Cares hosts the Spartan Food Pantry, available for eligible students. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Mondays through Fridays every week, according to their Instagram. It can also help with CalFresh Food (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) applications for students in need to receive a
debit or a Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card to buy groceries, according to a web page from SJSU. SJSU Cares even provides temporary emergency housing to students who are unhoused or who are experiencing housing insecurity. SJSU Cares also provides help with searching for housing, according to SJSU’s Housing Assistance website. Sebastian Sutjipto, a thirdyear psychology student,
also attended the Global Connections event to de-stress and connect with his peers. “It’s (Global Connections) every week, so it’s pretty helpful for me, especially on Monday, where people are usually very stressed on the first day of the week,” Sutjipto said.
Follow Sofia on Instagram @sofiafromvenus