TOP LEFT: Trey Allen is taken into custody by San Francisco Police officers to be cited for public nudity. Allen was one of the many protesters outside San Francisco City Hall. The protest was in response to legislation making it illegal as of Feb. 1, 2013 to be publicly nude in San Francisco. BOTTOM LEFT: George Davis, after announcing his candidacy for District 8 Supervisor, is escorted away from the scene by San Francisco Police officers. Davis is one of the four protesters arrested for public nudity during the protest, and has been cited 22 times and arrested 15 times for baring it all in public.RIGHT: Trey Allen takes a moment away from protesting in order to escort a blind woman into San Francis-co City Hall. Photos by Dariel Medina / Special to Xpress

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER PROUDLY SERVING THE SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1927. 02.13.13 VOLUME LXXXXIV

ISSUE 3// //

A GATHERING OF NUDISTS and naturists bared all at a protest against the citywide ban on public nudity at San Francisco’s City Hall Feb. 1. In light of the situation, political nudity advo-cate George Davis announced his candidacy for District 8 Super-

visor.If Davis goes through with his plan to run for office,

he would be going against supervisor Scott Wiener, who wrote the ordinance banning nudity. The legislation, passed Nov. 20 and finalized last December, prohibits

nudity on San Francisco’s streets, sidewalks and various other public spaces. The ban went into effect Feb. 1.

“The concept of the nudity ban is that there is some-thing wrong with the human body,” Davis said. “This campaign is to make sure political expression through nudity is recognized.”

Davis was arrested shortly after his announcement to run for political office. According to Davis, he has been cited 22 times and arrested 15 times for public nudity.

Those who choose to ignore the ban will be charged $100 for their first violation, with fines increasing with each offense. The ordinance does have exceptions, however. Public nudity has been deemed permissible for

children under the age of five and during public events such as street fairs and parades. There is no exception for political expression.

In trying to lift the ban, public nudity activists filed a lawsuit to challenge the ordinance on the basis that the law violates the first amendment — free speech. The lawsuit was later thrown out by Judge Edward Chen, a former ACLU attorney, Jan. 29.

“The nudity ban is not a violation of the First Amendment,” District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener said.

SEE NEW ON PAGE 6

SEE TEA ON PAGE 9

Nudity ban spawns political activity

Untold story of SF State treasure

BY ERIN DAGE | erindage@mail.sfsu.edu

San Francisco State is surrounded by a city filled with culture and tradition, but recently retired facilities manager John Holman knows about a small treasured piece of culture and history tucked away inside the Humanities Building.

A Japanese tea house sits in Humanities 117. Do-nated to the school by Adachi Industry in 1992, Toshi-ko Mishima, then-Japanese Program Coordinator, took advantage of the tea house and put John Holman in charge of collecting the pieces and keeping them safe.

“The Humanities Building was still being built at this time. I located a room in Burk Hall, Room 24,” said Holman. “The tea house arrived here in pieces, I had to report back to her of the upkeep and situation of the tea house.”

Once all the pieces of the tea house were received it was constructed for one day of celebration then torn down to be stored. After being kept in Burk Hall, the tea house was then moved to the basement of the old library.

“The campus was always pressured for space,” Holman said, “but after the Humanities was built I no longer had responsibility.”

Shortly after the house was erected in its current location, Mishima passed away.

“I feel a special connection with the professor MEMORIES: Retired facilities manager John Holman once had a key to Room 117, but it had been years since he last saw the tea house. Photo by Virginia Tieman

The Humanities Building is home to an old tea house covered in bamboo flooring

and is a place for ritual ceremonies

BY ELLIE LOARCA | emloarca@mail.sfsu.edu

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SF STATE SPEAKS OUT

LAUREN YAPO, 20 KINESIOLOGY MAJOR

Working in physical thera-py, so this guy pushed the

three of us around in rolling chairs. He was working on his knees. He had surgery.

WHAT’S YOUR WEIRDEST WORK

EXPERIENCE?

Photos by: Andy Sweet Reporting by: Joe Fitzgerald

DAVID WHITEHEAD, 25 PRE-HEALTH PROGRAM

At this nursing home, I went room to room painting toe-

nails and fingernails. I didn’t get the mani, I gave them!

JESSICA CANONOY, 20LIBERAL STUDIES MAJOR

Not weird, but interesting — I worked in this Pizzeria run by deaf people. They used Italian and American sign language at work... and I only studied ASL one semester in high school.

FELIX PORTILLO, 23 COMPUTER ENGINEERING

MAJORI was the parking director at the U.S. Open, and I had to kick out this guy who appar-ently also tried to sneak into the White House, according

to rumors.

Name: Kien TranAge: 29

Major: MarketingFrom: Vietnam

What is the first thing you noticed about the United States:

“Homeless people, there are just so many. It bothers me because I didn’t experience that in Vietnam, also I live near Civic Cen-

ter, it is sad for me to see them sleeping on the floor.”

After Graduation: “I have two more years here then I want to get my MBA in market-

ing here at State.”

International Student of the Week

SAN FRANCISCO State serves up a variety of dining options, but for students who are on restrictive diets, grabbing a meal on campus can be a challenge.

Not to be confused with “fad diets,” the short-term weight loss plans which enjoy fleeting popularity, restrictive diets are usually a long-term or even lifetime commitment for which motivations vary. Many people choose to eliminate various foods from their diet due to health concerns, allergies, personal or re-ligious beliefs and environmental benefits.

Vegetarianism is a widely-followed re-strictive diet, with Gallup’s 2012 Consump-tion Habits survey showing that 5 percent of Americans choose to eat meat-free. A further 2 percent follow a vegan, or plant-based diet, which eliminates all animal products including eggs and dairy.

SF State student Jackie Ho is president of the Health Education Students Association and has been a vegetarian for 16 months.

“Being a health education major you watch many different documentaries, and I watched ‘Food, Inc.,’” he said. “It got me. Right there and then I stopped eating meat.”

Ho says the biggest challenge has been access, since some restaurants still do not offer vegetarian options.

“It’s a growing process, but there are

still certain restaurants I can’t go into,” he said.

As a vegetarian at SF State, Ho feels his needs are being met, with nearly every eatery offering meat-free alternatives. His personal favorite is Ike’s Place, located on the lower conference level of the Cesar Chavez Student Center. Ike’s offers a wide selection of vegetarian and vegan options, as well as optional gluten-free bread.

“We are very careful not to cross-con-taminate,” General Manager Patrick Manière said. “Especially with the gluten, because some people are very highly sen-sitive.”

According to the National Association of Celiac Awareness, an estimated one-in- 233 Americans have celiac disease. This amounts to roughly 128 SF State students. Celiac disease is a degenerative digestive disease activated by gluten consumption, and is a common cause for gluten elimina-tion from the diet.

According to Manière, gluten-free re-quests are less common at Ike’s, but he es-timates that 5-10 percent of the sandwiches ordered are vegan or vegetarian.

Non-vegetarians can be faced with din-ing challenges on campus as well. Nutrition and dietetics student Jamie Starzyk recently started meat again after following a vegan diet. She is very careful to investigate the source where her meat comes from, as-suring that it is grass-fed, organic and free from antibiotics and hormones. After doing

her research, Starzyk says she prefers to eat vegetarian on campus.

“I don’t eat any of the meat (at SF State),” she says. “It’s not sourced well.”

In spite of the many options, some students still express concerns over the nu-tritional value of these alternatives. Holistic health major Hannah Grasso has been a vegetarian for six years, and prefers not to eat on campus.

“My main concern is that campus food is not actually nutritious and does not provide us with the sustained energy we need to get through our classes,” she said. “Whether you eat meat or not, a fresh and healthy meal is simply not available.”

Grasso says she would love to see a restaurant that makes fresh, organic food cooked to order, as well as a pressed juic-ery.

“I see that the school tries,” Grasso says, “but perhaps they are not bringing someone in who has this sort of dieting lifestyle and can make informed decisions about what students will want or need.”

In spite of its shortcomings, Starzyk admits that SF State has better options that any other school she has attended.

“Comparatively, I think San Francisco State is pretty high up there,” she said. “Overall, I don’t feel like there’s enough vegetables. There’s very solid vegetari-an options, but I can tell that the sodium content is really really high, and there’s not really much organic, either.”

Selective eaters lack healthier food options Demand for more meal options leaves SF State

falling behind

TOP: Ike’s Place in The Dungeon at Cesar Chavez Student Cen-ter. The “Vegan Meatless Mine” is a popular alternative sandwich that includes vegan meatballs and soy cheese.

BOTTOM: SF State students line up for lunch at Ike’s Place. The location offers a variety of options for alternative diets, including: veggie meats, vegan cheese, and gluten free bread. Ike’s Place is open Mon.-Thurs. 10-7 and Fri. 10-4. Photos by Gabriella Gamboa

BY HOLLY NALL | hnall@mail.sfsu.edu

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GETTING DEFENSIVE: SF State students taking Dr. Judith Fein’s self-defense class on Monday nights learn how to intimidate and aggressively shout “back off” to prevent an attack. Fein has been teaching self-defense for 38 years and runs both programs at SF State and CCSF. Photo by Jessica Worthington

BY HOLLY NALL | hnall@mail.sfsu.edu

Fierce professor teaches self-defense

Alum returns to campus with innovation

JUDITH FEIN’S small stature and casual demeanor may give the appearance of a gentle woman, but make no mistake, as the cliche goes, there’s more to Fein than

meets the eye.“She’s amazing,” nursing major Jessi-

ca Jordan, said. “She could probably beat me up.”

Fein teaches a Monday night self-de-fense class to about 50 SF State students, most of them female.

Originally from New York, Fein was first introduced to martial arts while serving in the Army during the Vietnam War. As a military intelligence captain stationed in Korea, and the only woman in her unit, Fein was often restless.

“There was very little to do,” she said. “You could go to the officers club and drink or gamble, and I didn’t want to do that. So I went to the gym, where they had free instruction in taekwondo.”

With disciplined practice, Fein ac-quired her black belt in less than a year.

“Normally it takes people years,” she said, “but when you take six days a week for two hours a night, you condense time.”

While in Korea, Fein was harassed and discriminated against because of her gender. After resigning her commission in the Army, she decided to make a differ-ence by teaching self-defense to others.

Upon her return to San Francisco, Fein was the subject of a newspaper arti-cle. Wadsworth Publishing Company took notice, and asked her to write a book.

Four books later, her latest, “Break-ing the Intimidation Game — The Art of Self-Defense” is based on about 35 years of rape resistance studies. According to Fein, the focus is on the psychology of self-defense: “what works, what doesn’t work, and why.”

Fein has now been teaching self-defense for more than 38 years, and currently runs the programs at both SF State and City College of San Francisco. She says the most rewarding part of the job is the feedback she receives from former students.

“I like to empower people and it’s very thrilling for me to keep getting suc-cess stories back from people who fight back and win,” Fein said.

CCSF student Ashley Suehiro says she feels safer and more empowered now that she is taking Fein’s class.

“I was a victim of domestic violence,” Suehiro said. “So I decided to learn new techniques to defend myself and help with my confidence.”

Suehiro hopes to become a therapist and use her self-defense training to help

others.Fein posts success stories on her

website, and uses them as teaching tools to inspire her students. She also shares her personal self-defense experiences with the class. One of these stories involves her being threatened at an art exhibit while carrying expensive photography equip-ment.

“I looked up and I was surrounded by six (attackers). They came in like a pack of wolves,” Fein said.

Once approached, she assumed a fighting stance, screamed aggressively and “turned into the incredible Hulk.” The men backed off.

In addition to the physical skills she teaches in her class, Fein stresses the psychology of self-defense.

“Whoever wins the battle for intim-idation wins,” she said. “People that are passive lose.”

Fein believes that most attacks can be prevented by remaining alert. Her greatest annoyance is the sight of people walking around in public engrossed in their phones.

“They’re going to get targeted,” she said. “If they can be aware while they are using their cell phones, and send signals that they are aware, they’re going to pre-vent most attacks from happening.”

With continued practice of the self-de-fense techniques taught in her class, Fein says her students will build the muscle memory necessary to act instinctively in an emergency.

“When you fight back, you don’t have any time to think,” she explains. “You have to act.”

Fresh out of SF State, business graduate Michael Perry entered the world of Silicon Valley with fire and passion, and a plan for a simple mobile phone app that he knew would sell like hotcakes.

Nobody cared.“No one wanted to believe in us because we were

from SF State,” Perry said.Perry would attend networking party after networking

party searching for investors. He shook hands with tech luminaries like Ron Conway (who was one of the earliest investors in Twitter, Facebook, and Google), and saw the same reaction time after time when he mentioned his work-ing class credentials from SF State — a look of distrust.

“There’s a dirty reality about Silicon Valley,” he said. “If you’re not from Cal or Harvard, or not a Facebook alumni, it can be really hard to succeed.” He didn’t let that get in his way, though.

Eager to prove valley investors wrong, the East Bay born 26-year-old decided to fund his company himself. He raised money working at his father’s Volkswagen dealership and fundraising any way he could.

Thanks to the sweat of his brow and a need to prove him-self, Perry succeeded — making a mobile phone app adopted on campus at SF State and at eateries across San Francisco.

“Gving” is an app for the Android and iPhone that is like a loyalty card for cafes and restaurants, as well as select retail stores. It’s like those stamped cards you get for ten coffees, and then your eleventh is free; but done via app. It’s free for customers to download.

Gving is used by over 400 restaurants, cafes and retail locations in San Francisco, with a few outside the city as well. The app is supported at eight locations at SF State: Taqueria Girasol, Tuk Tuk Thai, Sushi Grub and Go, Tur-tle Tower, Underdog, Taza Wraps to go and even Rac ‘n Cue. Bring up the app while you’re in line at one of those spots, and Gving will use location data to determine where you are, and bring up a list of the closest restau-rants that support the app. The cashier enters a short pin,

and boom, you’re stamped.Store owners can track how often you’re using the

Gving app at their location, and they can use that data to “give” the customer more freebies and promotions. This wealth of data is the kind of thing Facebook and Twitter are monetizing on their own web pages.

And though money is vital to every business, the tech startups are a boom and bust venture — three out of four startups don’t return their investments, according to research by Shikhar Ghosh, a senior lecturer at Har-vard’s business school. His report, which came out late last year, paints a dismal portrait of most Silicon Valley startups’ futures.

Allam El Qadah, owner of several campus restau-rants, said he was “incredibly impressed” by Perry’s business ethic.

El Qadah supports Perry not just because of his busi-ness savvy, but because they are fellow alumni. El Qua-dah graduated over a decade earlier in 1991 from SF State with a degree in international relations and economics, and has owned businesses on campus for over 18 years.

“I always look up to people who graduate from our campus and are street-wise,” El Qadah said. Though his locations only just started using Gving, and therefore have seen modest use so far, he’s optimistic things will pick up. “I love the idea,” he said.

Taqueria Girasol is seeing more success with Gving, though. Fatima Zepeda, a cashier at the taqueria, which is housed in the Cesar Chavez student center, said she sees at least ten students using the card a day.

“The campus users are vital to Gving’s business,” Perry said. “When you look at our data set, 70 percent

of our users are under 35 years old. Students really em-brace the app, and embrace saving money.”

Notably, he has signed up stores at UC Santa Cruz and CSU Channel Islands, and is in negotiations with MIT and Washington State University.

But Perry’s drive to succeed isn’t just monetary. The working class guy from the East Bay has something to prove.

“[SF State students] need to have a chip on their shoul-der,” he said. “We all need to start fighting to change the perception of what SF State brings to the table. There are so many students at SF State that are in this mindset that they’ll put their resume on LinkedIn and get any old job.”

The competition out in the world is much fiercer he said, noting the pushback he got in Silicon Valley. Your degree doesn’t guarantee you anything but mediocrity, the rest comes from yourself.

“You could be someone that just goes along for the ride,” he said. “Or you could decide to say ‘hell with it’ and change things for yourself.”

You can download “Gving” from www.gving.com, and follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GVINGapp.

TECH SAVVY:Since graduating from SF State, Michael Perry has used his entrepreneurial spirit to create the Gving App— an iPhone and Android application helping out local businesses by rewarding loyal customers. Photo by Frank Leal

BY JOE FITZGERALD jfitzger@mail.sfsu.edu

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When Elissa Torres isn’t rescuing wounded marine mammals or

hugging trees, the environmental studies minor spends her time writing

this column.It’s based on equal parts opinion,

statistics and life experiences. If you don’t like it, read and recycle.

A WEEKLY ENVIRONMENTAL COLUMN BY ELISSA TORRESelissat@mail.sfsu.edu

“That argument is specious, as the federal court found.”Gypsy Taub, organizer of the protest, was one of

the four individuals arrested for protesting the citywide ban on public nudity. Taub is a single mother of three that stars in the local cable television show, “My Naked Truth,” which advocates nudist ideals. She speculates that the public nudity ban has its roots in San Francisco’s changing demographics.

“The main reason for this ban is gentrification,” Taub said. “It’s about catering to people who have more money and making San Francisco ‘more clean.’ It’s about paving the road to charge more for housing and break San Fran-cisco’s spirit.”

Wiener and fellow supervisor Mark Farrell have re-cently brought a bill to the floor the would effectively get rid of rent control for 2,000 housing units in San Fran-cisco and could raise the prices of those living spaces, according to a BeyondChron report.

Though both Davis and Taub would like to see supervi-sor Wiener out of office, Wiener encourages the competition.

“George Davis, as with any District 8 voter, has every right to run for supervisor,” Wiener said. “I have no problem with competition. It’s a privilege for me to hold (this seat), and when it’s time for my reelection, I’ll remind the voters about the work I’ve done for the district and the city and ask the voters to grant me the privilege of representing them for another four years.”

This isn’t Davis’ first time running for political office. In 2007, he was one of many that ran to oust then-may-or Gavin Newsom. After his loss in that election, many expected him to give up.

“Many thought I should have felt bad and (left) with my tail between my legs,” Davis said. “My runs have al-ways been strategic, and not necessarily to win. My goal is to put the naturist movement out there more and prove that nudity is a form of political expression.”

CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE

New political runner aims to oust Wiener

IMAGINE YOU STUMBLE UPON a clear container filled with bright green dish soap. It reads: “for every bottle of soap you buy, twenty cents will be donated to help save giant kapok trees found in the Amazon

Rainforest.” Realizing you can kill two birds with one stone, you put the product in your cart and feel charitable because you’re doing your part to help preserve the Amazon. You just got played.

Every day, we are bombarded with advertise-ments showing how environmentally friendly certain products and services are. This concept is called greenwashing. The act of greenwashing is mislead-ing and makes the consumer believe they are doing a noble thing for the environment when they aren’t.

Companies are obviously more than willing to jump on the green bandwagon in an effort to appear en-vironmentally aware. The truth is that the little “green” things they do, or claim to do, are so slight that they aren’t green or environmentally conscious at all.

There are several examples of greenwashing products.

Coal is one of the leading greenwashing prod-ucts. The term “clean coal” is a term that we’ve heard politicians use, but there is no such thing as clean coal. Coal is not sustainable, whatsoever. The burning of coal emits carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere.

Soft drinks have also unfortunately been in-ducted into the greenwashing hall of fame. All soft drinks use an enormous amount of water and leave behind tons of waste. Coca-Cola came out with a “go green” campaign partnering with the World Wildlife Fund to preserve seven of the world’s major rivers. This is greenwashing at its finest.

It takes 2.5 liters of water to produce a one liter bottle of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola sells 1.5 billion bev-erages a day in over 200 countries.

According to a study from Business Pundit, “in 2006, Coca-Cola and its bottlers used 80 billion gallons of water to produce its beverages — equivalent to one-fifth of the daily water usage of the U.S. Approximately 40 percent of that went into producing their line of drinks that include Coke, Sprite and Fanta.”

“A few years ago I noticed an increase in prod-ucts advertised as green. I always thought it was the company’s way of adapting to the new market,” broadcast electronic communication arts student Al-lison Pulido said. “It was in my environmental issues in the media class that brought the idea of green-washing to my attention. It made me upset that com-panies would extort a cause like the environment for profit. I was also upset because it made me realize I have probably fallen victim to greenwashing.”

Not all products claiming to be “green” actually are. Companies are more than willing to take advantage of customers and their willingness to help the environ-ment. The first step in dodging greenwashing is to look at the labels. Don’t be fooled into purchasing a product because it says it is environmentally friendly. Second, check out the companies’ website and educate yourself on what makes them “green,” if in fact they are. Third, compare products to others like it, and investigate the changes they are making to be “green.”

Greenwashing: buying into false advertising

College Labor provides unique job opportunities

“Honestly, College Labor is a godsend. It’s

nice to have extra money without it conflicting with school. I always recommend it

Kevin Mendizabal,SF State Sophomore

MOVIN’ ON UP: Nick Martino (left), a marine biology major, and Kevin Mendizabal (right), a political science major, are both employees of an online job search called College Labor which helps provide “odd” jobs to students. Martino and Mendizabal help pack An-drea Lamari’s belongings. Photo by Erica Marquez

WHEN SF State soph-omore Kevin Men-dizabal was in

dire need of a job, two of his closest friends directed him to a website where he doesn’t have to look for work. The work looks for him.

The website, College Labor, is a Bay Area network founded by San Francisco natives Joey Toboni and Justin Ohanessian. The site connects students like Mendizabal with people who are willing to pay college students for their labor.

Thus far, students from nine Bay Area schools, including SF State, have collectively earned themselves about $11,500 at $29 per hour for doing jobs like catering or helping with a move, according to the Col-lege Labor website.

“Our goal is not only make money, but how we can make this a good experience,” Ohanessian said.

The idea for College Labor came up when old high school friends Toboni and Ohanessian returned home from college during the summer of 2004 and their funds started to run dry. When searching for the perfect job had negative results, the pair started posting advertisements saying they would do anything for money.

Since then, they have both finished college, but continued with their business model and launched College Labor in September 2012.

Through College Labor, stu-dents sign up for the service and go through a brief screening before being admitted into the network. Students are then notified via text message, email or Twitter when a job becomes available.

The first person wanting to pick up the job has to pay a small percentage of the total job quote. According to the College Labor website, this is to ensure that the worker is committed to “show up on time, and to get the job done.” Ultimately, it is the student who is paying for the service.

“It’s easier than going out and handing out resumes,” second-year psychology major Ben Meis said.

Meis believes it’s a good idea, especially since it works with students’ schedules, but was unsure about the fee, calling it “kind of a turn off.” He also showed concern that the jobs don’t provide steady, secure income.

Maria Guadalupe Diaz, a liberal arts senior, had a different perspec-tive.

“You could see it as getting paid back,” she said. “I’m a little skep-tical, but I do understand. It shows you’re responsible and dedicated to do the job. I would be up for it.”

Mendizabal now has a perma-

nent job making deliveries, but still plans on doing gigs for College Labor. As of now, College Labor has not lead to any career moves for him.

“It only benefits me so I don’t see why I would stop. The way the system works, I guess, it’s perfect,” Mendizabal said. “Honestly, College Labor is a godsend. It’s nice to have extra money without it conflicting with school. I always recommend it.”

Plans for the website are to expand the network throughout the rest of the Bay Area, and eventually the entire state.

BY GUADALUPE GONZALEZ | ggonzale@mail.sfsu.edu

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Alexandra Sessler has just finished a day at the office teach-ing students and, while most working people are heading home for the night, she is now rushing to her nighttime performance. Teacher by day and performer by night, SF State professor and recent alumna Sessler has a true passion for her singing.

Since Sessler realized her dreams as a student, she’s partici-pated in multiple performances for various companies, started her own music ensemble and taught for three years at SF State.

Sessler may have an accomplished music career already un-der her belt at age 27, but that choice wasn’t always clear to her.

“I went to community college first for psychology, and I was getting all As, but I was pitifully bored. I excelled at it, but I require a challenge, I enjoy challenge. After a year, I was like, ‘What else am I good at?’ and I was like, ‘I think music could be good.’ It’s kind of hard, the academic side of it is difficult for me, but performance-wise I’ve always excelled,” Sessler said.

With the change in direction, Sessler found herself at the University of Miami. Af-ter attending for her Bachelor’s of Music in classical voice performance, Sessler worked her way to SF State for graduate school.

“I had the goal of finding a school where I would have the opportunity to perform and to teach, and SF State had a small enough program where I would get that individual attention,” Sessler said.

While Sessler was attending Univer-sity of Miami, Joshua Habermann came from SF State to become Head of the Uni-versity of Miami Choral Department. Con-versing with Habermann opened Sessler’s eyes up to the possibilities at SF State.

“He made it sound like SF State was exactly what I had wanted to reach those specific goals, so I came in feeling like ‘Okay, this is what I want and I’m going to make it happen by going to this school,’ and luckily everything fell into place,” Sessler said.

As a student, Sessler taught private lessons at Bronstein Music starting in 2008 when she first moved to San Francisco. She later began teaching as a

graduate assistant for Professor David Xiques in Fall 2010 and then moved on to become a teaching associate to teach with Professor Cyrus Ginwala.

“When she was still a student, Alex demonstrated so much lead-ership in the voice area of the School of Music and Dance. In my teaching, I often encourage and depend upon student leadership and I am grateful for her expertise in vocal production and in language pronunciation,” Xiques said.

During her education, Sessler performed with many local music companies including Lamplighters Music Theater, Golden Gate Opera and Opera Cultura. Xiques also encouraged Sessler to join the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, of which she is now an American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) union member.

Sessler graduated from SF State Summer 2012 with a masters in music, concentrated in classical voice performance, which advanced her to a “lecturer” title.

“I’ve always felt that singing, many times, is really a night job. Rehearsals are at night, performances are at night. I wanted music to be my day job, and I wanted my day job to be teaching: teaching music, teaching private voice, teaching voice in a class-room setting,” Sessler said.

Though she has achieved her goal of teaching music to col-lege students, the constant challenge she enjoys so much hasn’t escaped Sessler in her career.

“That’s part of what I love about teaching voice: there’s al-ways a problem to solve and it’s different for every person. That’s the thing that keeps me really committed and really interested,”

Sessler said.Pushing for constant change and

improvement in her students stems from Sessler’s own philosophy, which her students appreciate.

“The most wonderful part about her teaching is that she always wants to improve. This philosophy also applies in her attitude towards her students: she al-ways wants our best efforts. In return, the rewards are great because we get to create beautiful music,” Rachel Larsen, one of Sessler’s students, said.

“I don’t tolerate anything less than my best, but my best can always get better, unlike perfection that’s like, once you get there, that’s it. What do we get after that? So I just keep on striv-ing for a better best and I encourage the same in my students. I encour-age risk-taking, like if you’re afraid of being too loud, who cares? I try to encourage my students that it’s a safe place,” Sessler said.

Along with teaching at SF State, Sessler still teaches private lessons with Bronstein Music, performs regularly with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and has recently co-founded an early music ensem-ble called Mission Baroque.

REHEARSE: Alexandra Sessler, 27, SF State instructor by day and opera singer by night, leads an opera lesson at SF State as Osvaldo De Leon, 31, plays piano. Photo by Andy Sweet

BY KRISTEN MARTZ kmartz@mail.sfsu.edu Professor practices what she preaches

‘That Jones Gal’ set to make history

Stephan McGrue, 22, is making history by producing and directing the first all-black leading musical cast at SF State with “That Jones Gal.”

As a theater arts major, McGrue was inspired to have an all-black cast by watching his best friend, Jasmine Williams, 22, direct the SF State Theater alum’s production “36th Street Blues” presented by SF State’s Brown Bag Theatre Company. Williams wrote and directed the play. Starring an ethnically diverse female cast, she told stories of personal love, struggle and triumph through movement and poetry.

“I felt honored that Stephan was so inspired by my piece to do one of his own,” Williams said. “It’s really historic what he’s doing and I’m honored that my work could encourage him, it’s amazing.”

McGrue’s independent musical “That Jones Gal” is his own adaptation of the 1954 musical film, titled “Car-men Jones” directed by Otto Preminger. The all-black lead cast musical is set during World War II and tells the story of sassy factory worker Carmen Jones, who sets her sights on Joe, a young and handsome soldier already taken by the sweet Cindy-Lou. Carmen uses her seduc-tive tactics throughout the musical to tempt Joe and claim him as her beloved.

In the film, Dorothy Dandridge played the lead role of Carmen Jones and was the first African-American to be nominated for the Academy Award for best actress category. It was the ideal story for McGrue to showcase an all-black leading cast and provide issues that an audience could appreciate and relate to.

“It’s so relevant today even though it was made back in the ‘50s, it’s just timeless,” McGrue said. “It’s love, tragedy, betrayal, sex. They are all topics that take place in our time today; it’s a film that holds stories that young people can relate to and connect with.”

McGrue pitched the idea of an all-black leading musical to his theater advisor as an independent study project. William “Bill” Peters, theater professor at SF

State, encouraged him to find a cast and crew and pursue his dream production.

“When he first told me about his project I thought it was really exciting. It’s always exciting to see someone grabbing onto fresh ideas,” Peters said. “I’m absolutely proud of him, all of our students are self-motivated and it’s always great to see students setting challenges for themselves.”

When McGrue started, he went in search for his cast and held school wide open auditions. It was a way to find and embrace the black students at SF State.

“I don’t see too many black students in the depart-ment; I feel like I can count the number of them on my fingers and when it comes to the main theater productions it’s usually the same people,” McGrue said. “I wanted to show the black community, I wanted to show that we have talent too.”

McGrue finalized his script and had the perfect cast, but needed just the right music to complete the story. Oscar Villagrana, 26, music major and music director of “That Jones Gal” was approached by McGrue after his school jazz concert. McGrue really thought that Villagra-na could help bring classical ‘40s jazz to the musical.

“My first reaction to Stephan was that this guy had re-ally big musical ideas,” Villagrana said. “But I was willing and hopeful to get it as close to his vision as possible.”

McGrue had his fair share of highs, but like most productions, also had problems throughout preparations. He had a space, but due to priority, a different director received it. Professors offered him a smaller venue but he had his mind set on his ideal production. He looked at oth-er outside options, but workers at the Creative Arts Tech-nical Services helped get him Knuth Hall for the end of February, and SF State’s Black Student Union made sure McGrue would have a space to premiere his hard work.

“The reason why BSU wanted to help sponsor and promote “That Jones Gal” is for the simple fact that our

members are like family and we try to create a fami-ly-like environment; Stephan seemed very passionate and strong willed about his senior project and when he shared his goals with us we were immediately on board,” BSU coordinator. Skky Foster, 21, said. “BSU is here as a resource for students here at SF State to use and network with; we have to be supportive of one another and try to point each other in the right direction.”

McGrue accomplished all that he set out to do, but he credits his achievements to the students who helped him make his dreams come alive.

“I’m humbled that I could represent the black com-munity at State but I honestly am nothing without the students who came together for one goal,” McGrue said. “Everyone who worked on this team deserves their cred-it; I’m just the one who happened to lead them there.”

“That Jones Gal” will be shown at Jack Adams Hall, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m.— Knuth Hall Feb. 21 - 23 at 7 p.m. — and Feb. 24 at 2 p.m.

TEAMWORK: Student director Stephan McGrue huddles with the cast of ‘That Jones Gal’ Photo by Samantha Benedict

BY LOVLIE FAUSTINO faustino@mail.sfsu.edu

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG 02.13.13| 9

Listen to Holman recall his experience watching over the tea house at

www.goldengatexpress.org

“I feel a special connection with the profes-sor who was in charge of curating the house, she was a terrific person, everybody loved her,” Holman said.

Holman greatly respected Mishima and took good care of the tea house. He worked at SF State for 34 years and always felt a close connection to it.

“My best experience was the safe keeping, this (is) a very important piece because it brings a real culture,” Holman said.

Sitting unused for almost a decade, Professor Midori McKeon decided to make use of the tea room and began studying the tea ceremony in Japan. The Japanese program now uses the tea house to instruct undergraduates on Japanese architecture and culture.

“The very existence of the tea room prompt-ed me to learn the tea ceremony, to get certified. It took eight years of weekly practice for me to get certified as a tea teacher in the 400-year-old Omotesenke tradition of tea,” McKeon said.

The tea house is not only used for instruc-tion but also has annual tea ceremonies for the

campus community.According to Holman these tea ceremonies

are long rituals, lasting anywhere from 40 min-utes to four hours, he had been invited to many but only found himself attending once.

“I don’t have that kind of patience to wait, it’s a long process, they light candles and they take tea and they pour it and pour it, it’s a ritual thing. It’s not something where you think you go in rock and rolling and drinking tea like its a coffee shop,” Holman said. “I mean you don’t want to get up and leave, but I did.”

Holman is now one of the only people who took part in the history of the tea house since its inception at SF State. Before he went into retirement he contacted Associate Dean Susan Shimanoff to share his story.

“He said to me ‘I am the person who helped take care of it and helped assemble it,’ John didn’t want to leave the university without leav-ing his part of the story,” Shimanoff said, “I was touched by his wanting to us to have this history, he has such a wonderful demeanor.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

REMINISCING: Holman reflects about collecting pieces of the tea house and stresses his obligations of keeping the tea house safe and well maintained. Photo by Virginia Tieman

Hidden tea house showcases Japanese

culture, ceremony

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Now that the smoke has cleared and the tears are almost dried up from a 49ers Super Bowl loss, we can now address what no success-ful sports franchise is without: a bandwagon. San Francisco certainly was decorated in much more red last week than it would have been five years ago and yes, this is a result of bandwagoners.

No, I’m not talking about an elaborately decorated wagon used to transport musicians in a parade.

What I’m talking about is a group of people adopting a popular point of view for the primary purpose of recognition and/or accep-tance of others, at least according to Urban Dictionary.

I’m a big sports fan and I understand what being falsely labeled a bandwagoner is like. I was born and raised a Detroit Red Wings fan thanks to my mom, however, I was born and raised in Southern California; two places that just don’t seem to match. If you are truly a fan of the team, you learn to take the irritating accusations and brush it off.

Fortunately for myself, when I get accused of riding the Red Wing bandwagon, I get to counter their accusations with, “Hey, my favorite football team is the Oakland Raiders.” Boy, does that shut them up quickly.

Now, in defense of the people who yelled at me when I was a 12-year-old boy in a Red Wings hat, I can understand where they are coming from. I can maintain a calm demeanor about this whole situa-tion rather than screaming a string of alcohol-fueled profanities.

A lot of sports fans begin their allegiance for a team at a young age, so as corny as it sounds, it becomes a part of them and their

lifestyle. It’s why sports fans are crazy when their teams lose; it’s like they were emotionally defeated by a metaphorical concept brought to life through a sports team. So when a team like the 49ers gain a solid winning streak and random people start rocking the red and instagramming their TV game days, life-long fans are insulted. It’s juvenile, I understand, but unless you’re a sports fan, this may go over your head.

I can guarantee that at the Giants Fan Fest, there were probably fewer fans at AT&T park than during the World Series. Just a biased opinion, the surplus of “fans” during the World Series probably found celebrating a team year round at the aforementioned festival may not be as cool.

If you’re not present during a team’s struggle, why do you get to enjoy in their success? Please stop worshipping Joe Flacco when Eli Manning was your main squeeze a year ago.

But hey, without bandwagoners, that dude in front of the 76 gas station on 19th and Judah probably would not make any money. Knock off souvenir and T-shirt stands depend on that type of fandom. I was in Los Angeles when the Kings won the Stanley Cup last year and thanks to a soulless city who ignored the their struggles for the past 20 years, an average joe was able to make a profit off of a would-be sports fan who just wants to buy a name, authentic or not.

Yes, a bandwagon does have its financial profits and brings people a sense of belonging, but have some pride even in the losses. When the San Jose Sharks continue to blow their playoff appearances, don’t hide that ugly logo, rock it with a smile.

BY BRAD WILSON | bradw949@mail.sfsu.edu

Get out of here, this is my bandwagon

STAFF EDITORIAL

Become a global citizen: study abroad

YOU’VE ALREADY heard this speech: study abroad is an opportunity not to be missed. But only about 500 SF State students study abroad every semester, ac-cording to the Office of

International Programs at SF State. This means the majority of SF State students will not have studied abroad by the time they graduate.

So although most of you have heard of this amazing, life-altering, fascinating experience, you still have reservations about doing it. We’re here to clear up some of those concerns.

The most obvious concern is that study abroad will prolong graduation. For some, this is true, but for others, with careful planning, it can give students the units they need. Accord-ing to the Coordinator of Study Abroad Ser-vices, David Wick, study abroad can be helpful for students in impacted majors like psychol-ogy and business who can’t enroll in needed classes at SF State, but have no problem doing so in other countries.

If you’re at all interested in studying abroad (which you will be after reading this editorial), the best thing is to start researching what’s out there for you, and plan how you will enroll in classes until then.

Studying abroad gives you an edge in the global labor market. Right now there is a whole world of college stu-dents who are equally ambitious, equally talented, who can probably speak more languages than you do and are trying to get the same jobs as you. You might already be at a disad-vantage, but studying abroad coupled with a semester of basic language skills can turn you into an ideal job candidate internationally. Employers are constantly seeking people who understand other cultures and markets.

To fully appreciate and be critical of our Western, American society, you need to have lived elsewhere for an extended period of time. Study abroad makes you, in es-sence, a better citizen — bringing back the best ideas from a different country, and making you an advocate of what is already done well here. Seeing other countries also makes you more aware of your own privilege as an American.

Study abroad gives you the opportunity to travel for a semester or more. After graduation, it is difficult to take

time off from work to travel for so long, especially in your first years on the job. Many adults will not get the opportu-nity to travel again until after their kids are grown and they retire.

Study abroad causes students to be completely indepen-dent. Complete independence gives you the freedom to fig-ure out who you are without friends and family’s expecta-tions. You are forced to choose your own roles and purpose. Like the experience of leaving home for college for the first time, study abroad gives you the chance to find yourself.

And lastly, once you’ve spent a semester or two in some far-off land, you will become the cool, experienced, cultured world-traveler that everyone wants to talk to at dinner parties. You’ll have the best stories about riding camels through the countryside and bartering at exotic flea markets. You’ll have wisdom to share about other cultures and peoples. You want to be this person. You want to study abroad.

ART BY KIRSTIE HARUTA kharuta@mail.sfsu.edu

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG 02.13.13| 11S P O R T S

S P O R T S S C H E D U L E

FRIDAY (2.15)

SF STATE VS. CAL STATE L.A.

2 P.M.(LOS ANGELES,

CALIF.)

SF STATE VS. CAL STATE L.A.

11 A.M.(LOS ANGELES,

CALIF.)

SATURDAY (2.16)

BASEBALL

BASEBALL

For same-day coverage, go to

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.ORG

S C O R E

B O A R D

SCORES FROM THE LAST WEEK OF GATOR SPORTS

SF STATE VS. HOLY NAMES UNIVERSITY2-0

SF STATE VS. CHICO STATE63-59

SF STATE VS. CAL STATE STANISLAUS64-50

BASEBALL MEN’S BASKETBALL

WW

WW

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

SF STATE VS. CAL STATE L.A. 5:30 P.M.

(LOS ANGELES, CALIF.)

MEN’S BASKETBALL

SF STATE VS. CAL STATE L.A. 7:30 P.M.

(LOS ANGELES, CALIF.)

SF STATE VS. SONOMA STATE

7:30 P.M.(ROHNERT, CALIF.)

SOFTBALL

SF STATE VS. CAL STATE DOMINGUEZ

HILLS 7:30 P.M.

(CARSON, CALIF.)

MEN’S BASKETBALL

SF STATE VS. SONOMA STATE

11 A.M.(ROHNERT PARK,

CALIF.)

SOFTBALL

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

SF STATE VS. CAL STATE DOMINGUEZ

HILLS 5:30 P.M.

(CARSON, CALIF.)

PLAYER of the WEEKMARK LINDSAY

BASEBALL

Sophomore catcher Mark Lindsay went 3-for-5 with four RBIs, including a walk-off single to complete a three-

game sweep last weekend. He also caught two runners stealing.

PHOTO BY TYLER DENISTON/SF STATE SPORTS

WSF STATE VS. HOLY NAMES UNIVERSITY9-8

SF STATE VS. HOLY NAMES UNIVERSITY6-4

ON THE MARK: SF State catcher Mark Lindsay (19) bats during a baseball game against the Holy Names Hawks at Maloney Field on Sunday. Photo by Erica Marquez

GATOR PILE: Teammates swarm catcher Mark Lindsay after his walk-off single on Sunday. Lindsay hit a 2-0 pitch to right-center field to win the game 9-8 in the bottom of the ninth inning. Photo by Erica Marquez

Gators roll over Hawks

Baseball squad wins three straight games and caps

weekend with walk-off

GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG 02.13.1312 |