Although lead singer Pharell suffered a migraine through the Homecoming concert, students were enthused to see N.E.R.D perform. Photo by Akima Brackeen/Foghorn

Hip-hop group N.E.R.D kicked off homecoming weekend with an entertaining show that excited the students in attendance. Artist Bobby Ray, formerly known as B.o.B, opened the concert, showing his versatile musical skills as he rapped, sang and even played the guitar.  His unique music proved a good opening act to complement N.E.R.D’s upbeat and pounding sounds.

“N.E.R.D was very entertaining and they exceeded my expectations,” senior Nina Sasson said. “Bobby Ray was a great opening act because he got everyone excited and he was a fantastic singer, his voice was really nice.”

In October, N.E.R.D added a new member to their group, Rhea, who handles the vocals alongside Pharrell Williams. Rhea and Pharrell’s styles complimented each other nicely; Rhea’s strong and harmonious voice works well with Pharrell’s smooth style of singing. Backup vocalist Shay Haley excited the students by continuously bouncing all around the stage. The crowd seemed to feed off his energy, as he was the only band member dancing for most of the concert.

Pharrell disappointed everyone when he announced that he couldn’t put on his usual high-energy performance because he was suffering from a migraine headache. However despite his migraine, Pharrell still managed to entertain the crowd.

“That was a great concert, it was fun and both [N.E.R.D and Bobby Ray] put on good performances” said Billy Cistone, a student from San Jose who was at the concert with his USF friends. “I didn’t expect the concert to be as fun as it was, it was definitely worth it.”

From the actions of the crowd, it seemed that everyone in attendance enjoyed the show. During the show the band had to tell the crowd a few times to take a step back from the front of the stage. The crowd was jumping around and dancing to the music but their excitement caused the people in front of the stage to be squished into the barricades; no one was hurt though.

N.E.R.D performed all of their hit songs including, “Spaz,” “Everybody Nose,” “Lap Dance,” and “She Wants to Move.” They even performed some of their new songs off their upcoming album Instant Gratification, which were all well received by the audience. For the entire two and a half hour concert, Bobby Ray and N.E.R.D managed to keep the crowd upbeat and into the show, providing everyone in attendance with a great homecoming concert.

Anja Francesca reads from her poem at the Black Student Union’s Expressions event on Tuesday, which incorporates spoken word, music, and poetry. Photo by Akima Brackeen/Foghorn

An ordinary conference room in Fromm Hall took on the vibe of a hip, jazzy cafe as friends, new and old, came together for Expressions open mic night.

USF students arrived en masse, along with friends and family. Even a group of San Francisco State students bussed in from across town. Guests mingled, piling up plates with fresh berries, ice cream and eclairs as they talked excitedly.

The room was packed with guests, nearly completely filling three rows of seats and many large tables in the back. The crowd hushed as sophomore Abesha Shiferaw welcomed everyone and announced the first act. Experssions had begun.

Expressions is a semi-annual open mic night put on by the Black Student Union. Abeshaw explained it as, “A chance for everybody to come and express themselves.” The expression took various forms, from soft poetry, to dramatic spoken word, to melodic singing, to skillful guitar.

One by one, the performers took the stage and displayed a spectrum of human emotions. Each brave participant bared a bit of his or her soul to the audience. Topics ranged from the lighthearted (love, relationships) to the more serious (domestic violence, death) to the thought-provoking (race, gender).

Each act performed, each a delightful surprise from the one before it. Junior Saidah Jones popped loudly onto the scene with her shocking and raw poem about gang violence, drug abuse, AIDS, and overcoming obstacles. “I know where I’m going, I’m going straight to the top,” she read from her ultimately inspiring piece.

Sophomore Evelyn Obamos showcased her vocal and guitar skills, performing two original songs. The first was a sweet and breezy love song; the second, a reggae tune about the relationship between love and sex. “This is my first attempt at a reggae song,” she explained. “I hope you like it.” The crowd bobbed their heads with approval.

Jasmine Williams, an SF State student, performed a heart-wrenching spoken word about domestic violence. The poem was written from the perspective of a child convincing her mother to leave her father. “He loves you, he loves you not,” was a central theme of the poem, comparing the insecurity and uncertainty of a domestic violence victim to the wistful wondering of a little girl. At the end, she said to the father, “I want my words to blacken your eyes.”

Perhaps the most poignant act of the evening was a poem by senior Courtney Ball. Though it began simply, speaking of Thanksgiving and the true meaning behind it, the audience soon learned that the reason Thanksgiving is important to Ball is because it is around that time that her mother passed away a few years ago. Ball dedicated the poem to her sister, who was in the audience. There was hardly a dry-eye in the room.

After each expression, Shiferaw nodded and said, “That was dope,” and encouraged additional rounds of applause for the performers. The participants ranged from seasoned performers to first-timers convinced by their friends to step up. Many admitted nervousness, but seemed happy to have expressed themselves by the time they were done. “Why were you nervous?” Shiferaw would ask. “If I had your voice, I’d be singing all the time.”

The BSU welcomed performers and spectators of all ethnic backgrounds. Shiferaw, who is a member of BSU and also a poet, explained, “There aren’t a lot of places people can feel free to express themselves. This is an open space to come perform. There’s no judgement.”

No judgement indeed. There was a small baby in the audience who would cry after each applause, apparently upset by the loud noise. Rather than become annoyed, one member of the audience shouted, “Express yourself!” And that they did.

Paul McWilliams, director of music and liturgy at University Ministry (UM), said, “It’s not just the Jesuit Martyrs, but an awareness about what happened in El Salvador.”

The civil war was a collision of the rising tension between El Salvador’s military-controlled government and the Farabundo  Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a left-wing organization comprised of five militias. The United States financially supported the military government, which in turn killed thousands and displaced over a million people to maintain political control. The Archbishop Oscar Romero was also killed a month after asking the U.S. to discontinue their military aid.

University President Rev. Stephen A. Privett, S.J., has invited the USF community to take part in the scheduled events. The deaths are “very personal” to Rev. Privett, said Kique Bazan, director of social justice and community action at UM, because Rev. Privett knew the six Jesuit priests. During Rev. Privett’s speech, “A Reflection on Ignatian Spirituality,” he will elaborate on the importance of spirituality and “bear his heart in the context that he can,” Bazan said.

However, Bazan said he looks forward to the Mass of Commemoration in St. Ignatius Church, to observe what Rev. Privett has to say in connection with the killings.

If students are unable to attend the entire conference, McWilliams highly recommends that students go to keynote speaker Kevin Burke’s speech at the church, the third scheduled event. Burke is the academic dean at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, and “one of the most interesting people,” McWilliams said. Burke is an expert on the theology of Ignacio Ellacuria, former president of the University of Central America, also killed by the Salvadoran army in 1989, who has “always lived with the poor and knew them as human beings,” Bazan said.

The 6 p.m. candlelight vigil will be the highlight of the events. It will include a procession from St. Ignatius Church to Lone Mountain and the white crosses that represent the victims of the war that were displayed in Harney Plaza will be relocated to the Martin-Baro garden on Lone Mountain. A small service to remember the Jesuit Martyrs will then take place, McWilliams said.

Freshman Londi Diaz-Jimenez said, “It’s great that USF is acknowledging the civil war.” Diaz-Jimenez said her father was sought out by the military government during the civil war; the military even came into her family’s home unexpectedly to take her father hostage. Soldiers often took people who were suspected rebels to be tortured or killed. In worst cases, people simply “disappeared” and were never seen or heard from again.

Although Diaz-Jimenez is hesitant to attend anything in connection with her father’s past, she said, “A part of me does want to go because it might be enlightening.”

The conference will also host three workshops in the afternoon, centered around lobbying and advocacy, “very practical for people that want to know how they can make a difference,” Bazan said. The workshops will elaborate on the Central American Resource Center’s  efforts to mobilize services for Salvadoran refugees, since there were none when the founders of the organization migrated to the U.S. Bazan said 20 years after the war, there is still a need to cope with the aftermath and El Salvador’s growing gang population.

The Performing Arts Department is also sponsoring a reading of the bilingual (English/Spanish) play, “Wounds of the Izote,” based on testimonies of gang members and gang intervention workers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and El Salvador.

McWilliams said the commemoration is important for USF to honor because “it’s very much part of the mission of the university and the social justice we’re trying to do from [the University Ministry] office.”

A new banner shows the future site of the Center for Science and Innovation. Melissa Stihl/Foghorn

The Harney Science Center is home to the departments of biology, chemistry, computer science, exercise and sport science, environmental science, mathematics, physics and astronomy. Though these fields require innovation and ingenuity in their practice, the building which houses them at USF is far from cutting edge.

Constructed in 1966, Harney Science Center has not been significantly updated in over 40 years. The laboratories are outdated, according to students and faculty, which impedes students’ learning and research. There is also a serious shortage of student space; classmates currently can be found sitting on the floor in hallways to review notes between classes.

As an answer to these concerns, a new science center is in the works. NBBJ Architecture Firm has drafted extensive blueprints, and the USF Department of Advancement has been hard at work raising funds to construct what will be called the Center for Science and Innovation (CSI). Construction of the center may begin as soon as May of 2011.

The CSI will be an entirely new structure that will attach to the current Harney Science Center. It will include new, state-of-the-art laboratories that emphasize interaction between the different scientific disciplines. Study spaces, from small atria to little nooks with comfortable couches, will be built in throughout. The center will also reshape Harney Plaza, literally putting some of the plaza underground.

Though some of the grassy lawn in front of Harney will be covered up by the CSI, more grass will be planted on the roof of part of the first floor. Students will literally be able to lie on the green roof of a science lab. Native foliage will also be planted around the plaza.

Dean Jennifer Turpin of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the new center is necessary for student success. “Harney Science Center has become outdated, so the building limits our ability to teach science in innovative, effective ways,” she said. “[Students] will have state-of-the-art facilities and a first-rate experience when the new building comes online.”

Mike London, Assistant Vice President of Facilities Management, agreed that the current facilities are outdated and unusable. “Technology and science and teaching approaches have made significant advances and changes since those existing facilities were last addressed.  To bring the facilities into a modernized condition, this project plays a very important role.”

Labs are among the most crucial spaces in need of updating. Kendra Liljenquist, a senior exercise and sports science major, said when she got to USF, her impression of the science center was “dismal.” She said, “The labs really need to be seriously updated.”

Physics professor Brandon Brown is accustomed to hearing such student comments. “I hear it all the time,” he said. “I teach freshmen physics, and they tell me their high schools’ labs were better than ours.”

Aside from teaching, Brown is working to advance the progress of the center by raising awareness and, hopefully, funds. So far he said the University has raised about half of the estimated $50 million that the CSI will cost.

According to Brown, the donors have been a mixture of alumni, members of the board of trustees, and charitable foundations such as the Koret Foundation and the Fletcher Jones Foundation. Brown said the fundraising was going better than expected in a down economy, noting that over 1,500 alumni have already donated.

Brown is also concerned with making the center as useful to students as possible. He blogs about the CSI’s progress and seeks student feedback via the blog and other research methods. Part of this research has included visiting 13 different universities around the country. Often, he said, what faculty liked about the building was different than what students liked. “Administrators would show me a big, airy atrium that they were so proud of, but students would hate it,” Brown said. For that reason, he said, “We want lots of student input here.”

The new center will not just be beneficial to students majoring in the sciences; Dean Turpin reminds that all students are required to take science classes, and will take advantage of the new facilities.

But also, the building will remake the look of the entire campus. She said, “Our goal is not to just remake the science building, but to remake the center of campus, with a beautiful ‘living room’ for all students.”

London estimates the construction of the CSI may begin in 2011, depending on when sufficient funds are raised and when city permits are issued. City inspectors will also evaluate the environmental impact of the building, which is projected to be low. “The building is attempting to reach the LEED gold standard,” he said. The plans to make the science center as low-impact as possible include solar power, a green roof, passive ventilation, and controls to minimize energy consumption. Rainwater will be gathered to irrigate the plants and even flush the toilets. The center itself will be a lesson in environmental science.

To Dean Turpin, the CSI is about more than just new labs, classrooms and study spaces. It’s a way of enacting USF’s very mission. “It’s going to make USF a higher impact institution as we educate leaders who will create a more humane and just world,” she said. “The sciences are critical to that effort, particularly in the realms of human health, digital technology, and the environment. The CSI will take USF to a whole new level of academic excellence and impact on society.”

The Republican Party prevailed in three key elections on the east coast. In the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, Republican candidates unseated their Democratic competitors. The promise of financial reform aided Republican Christopher J. Christie in defeating Democrat Jon S. Corzine in New Jersey and in Virginia Republican Robert F. McDonnell prevailed with a sweeping 59 percent of the vote, while democratic opponent R. Creigh Deeds carried only 41 percent.  In Maine, the GOP and conservative organizations celebrated victory on Question 1. Previously, gay marriage was made legal in the state, but on Tuesday the ballot initiative sought to overturn gay marriage rights and prevailed with 53 percent of the vote. Some say the prevalence of the GOP this year is a reflection on President Obama, while others see it as a demand for individual state financial reform.

On the national level, the debate over healthcare reform has finally hit a turning point. Congress voted 220 to 215 on Saturday for a healthcare bill designed to cover healthcare for uninsured citizens using state and federal tax revenues. The House of Representatives is the first to vote on the bill, next it will travel to the Senate. The controversy over the bill, however, continues to rage. Many Republicans claim that the government should not be increasing domestic spending during a recession, while many democrats see the rising number of unemployed and uninsured Americans as a call to action. Currently, the United States is under international scrutiny, as one of the few developed western countries with no universal healthcare. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was instrumental in promoting the bill, which was backed by President Obama. Many democrats, however, expressed frustration with the bill when a last minute change was made to the abortion policy. The change indicated that no abortions would be covered under the public option should the bill pass into law.

In San Francisco, much of the ballot initiatives were somewhat trivial. On propositions D and E voters opted to limit advertisement on city owned property and on Market Street. Proposition A received sweeping approval (68 percent of the vote), determining the time frame allotted for government budgets. Proposition B overturned previous restrictions on the number of aides members of the Board of Supervisors are allowed to have and Proposition C determined that the city can sell naming rights to Candlestick Park. Dennis Herrera and Jose Cisneros were re-elected as Attorney General and Treasurer respectively.

The class studied philosophers like Aristotle and Descartes in the first few weeks of the semester, and then moved on to more theoretical discussion. For example, The Human Animal examines how and why humans are afraid of being animals and why, as a society, we distance ourselves from our animal roots. The course includes a weeklong unit on ethical issues related to human exploitation of animal welfare. Kuperus, however, tries to keep this section short in order to avoid off-topic debates. Currently, the class is covering the works of Peter Singer, an author who cites human elitism as a cause of animal abuse. Kuperus prefers Singer’s work to that of Jane Goodall, who wrote Harvest For Hope, a required reading for incoming freshmen. Kuperus describes Goodall’s book as a, “summary of facts” and prefers authors who make direct arguments.

In addition to in-class discussion, readings, and lectures, the class also participates in several excursions into the city. Mailyng Blair is a student in the seminar who originally took the class to fulfill a core requirement, but admits that she has actually learned a lot. Blair went to the De Young Museum with the class to view how different cultures display animals in artwork. She found that exposure to foreign cultures helped her to understand the different opinions about human and animal hierarchy across the globe. The class also went to a Zen Center, where they investigated Buddhist interpretation of human-animal relationships and participated in meditation. Later in the semester, Kuperus is also planning to take the class to the California Academy of Science.

Blair, an economics major, says the class has inspired her to start, “thinking about humans as closer to animals.” Philosophically, Kuperus tries to educate his students about the different perceptions people can have about living things. Specifically, he mentions the philosophical debate about whether reason is an instrument of the body, or if the body is an instrument of reason.  This kind of controversy is prevalent in much of philosophy and the class is highly recommend to philosophy majors, although all majors are welcome and will, most likely, learn quite a bit from it. Kuperus plans to teach the class again in the fall of 2010 and will be teaching existentialism next semester.

In order to have been vaccinated, students “needed to have shown proof of pregnancy, asthma, diabetes, or another pre-existing or chronic medical condition,” said Karmal Harb, Director of Health Promotion Services. Harb said nursing students undergoing clinicals were also considered high-risk subjects due to their face-to-face contact with patients.

The vaccine was issued to the USF Health Clinic through the San Francisco Department of Public Health, which receives all H1N1 vaccines directly from the California Department of Public Health.

Harb said that USF Health Promotion Services has requested 5,000 vaccines for future immunizations, although there is no promise or deadline for this request. Harb explained, “there is a worldwide shortage of this vaccine, so, we have no idea when it will be distributed.”

If the request is answered, all immunizations will be provided through Maxim Healthcare Services, a private healthcare company with experience in vaccine delivery.

“All students will have the opportunity to be vaccinated, to meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation that all people under 24 are vaccinated,” Harb said.

Despite the CDC’s suggestion, research has assured that the threat of swine flu is no greater than the traditional seasonal flu for people without chronic or pre-existing medical conditions.

On September 21, USF Health Promotion Services vaccinated 220 students for seasonal influenza. The turnout this year was more than triple the outcome in previous years. Harb attributed this to “heightened awareness because of the media’s treatment of swine flu last spring.”

“I got vaccinated in September for the regular flu, and if I had the opportunity for swine flu I would, as well,” said USF sophomore Jack Taylor. “I don’t think it is anything serious unless you have another medical issue. In April and May when H1N1 first made headlines I was a bit freaked out, but it all seems under control now,” said Taylor when asked abou the seriousness of the swing flu.   Other USF students did not seem concerned about getting the vaccine. Freshman Mary Heapes does not plan to be vaccinated for either strand. “Both of the types of flu aren’t a big threat to me because I’m relatively healthy. I’d rather not put the vaccine in my body if I don’t need to,” she said.

“I’m pretty sure I don’t need to get vaccinated for swine flu because I don’t have any medical issues going on. I don’t think I would for the traditional flu either – generally, I think my immune system is strong enough to handle that kind of stuff,” said sophomore Austin Montanari.

Harb recognized that the student body seems aware of general information surrounding swine flu.  Still, he cautioned students to be vigilant of the emails sent out by Health Promotion Services about the availability of both flu vaccines at clinics throughout San Francisco. He also urged students to avoid contact with people with flu-like symptoms, and to regularly wash and sanitize hands.

For more information about H1N1 and other vaccines visit the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites

Plans to completely redesign the University Center to accommodate student organizations, SLE and the bookstore are in the works and will be finalized in December. Photo by Melissa Stihl/Foghorn

The UC Renovation Project is in the “staging process,” according to Christina Sanchez, assistant vice president for University Life.  The goal is to modernize the aged building and then make it the center of the university, as its name and location indicate, by putting student groups and services in renovated areas within the building.

Sanchez said the UC Project has been put on hold for the past 9-12 months due to financial uncertainty, but USF has recently approved collaboration with Sasaki Associates, an architectural and design company to develop a design plan for the UC’s fourth and fifth floors.  Sasaki Associates was hired in 2007 to assist in planning and constructing the UC.

Sanchez said the project is a “staged process” and the cost is unknown. “It is a process of exploration,” she said, adding that an estimated cost will have to be approved by the Board of Trustees and more definite answers will come “within the next two months.”

Within those months, USF Project Planner JJ Thorp, assistant vice president of Facilities Management Mike London and Sasaki architects will present their UC plan to the President’s Leadership Team, an 18-member team headed by University President Rev. Stephen A. Privett, S.J. The team will give a decision this December on priorities and a timetable.

Vice president of University Life Margaret Higgins said the new Center of Science and Innovation is the university’s first priority, but she and Thorp see room for multiple projects to take place simultaneously.

The UC plan is intertwined with the Phelan Renovation Project, as offices of some student groups and the USF Bookstore, currently at the bottom of Phelan Hall, will relocate to the UC.

According to Greg Wolcott, director of Student Leadership and Engagement, the goal of the Phelan Project when it was first conceptualized 5-6 years ago was classroom efficiency.  Plans have since shifted to focus on residence hall space.

Photo by Melissa Stihl/Foghorn

Living space has been an issue at USF for years. In the Sept. 9, 2004 issue, the Foghorn’s Street Talk asked students about campus space.  Some expressed frustration over crowded dorms and campus remodeling.  Freshman Dhruv Patel described his Hayes-Healey dorm room experience in detail.

“I’m living half out of my suitcase,” said Patel in 2004.  “There are screws sticking out of the floor where the TV stand used to be.  I’m still waiting for a room to live in for the rest of the year.”

In the Sept. 23 issue of this year, the Foghorn reported that the Office of Residence Life (ORL) was reconsidering housing policies including but not limited to the requirement of second-year students to live on campus.  ORL was also reportedly aiming to modify residence halls by redesigning bathrooms and creating more student lounge space.

Clearing out the bottom of Phelan Hall will free space for approximately 80 more beds, allow a front desk to take the place of the bookstore, and provide an opportunity to fix the building’s leaky plumbing system.

Photo by Melissa Stihl/Foghorn

The plan calls for College Players, ASUSF Voices, USFtv, Foghorn and Residence Hall Association to join the bookstore in moving to the UC.  The lone survivor would be University Ministry, which would expand into the next door Foghorn Office.  According to Higgins, the newsroom will likely become an interfaith chapel.

“No decisions have been made yet,” said Higgins.  On Monday, Oct. 26, Higgins joined Associate Vice President of University Life Mary Wardell, JJ Thorp and architects from Sasaki Associates on a tour of offices that could be relocated.  Wolcott said student groups can expect to begin packing by this coming spring semester and to move shortly afterwards.  The goal of the tour was to find out how much space each group would need in their new home.

In a 2008 intensive study of the USF campus, with the involvement of the ASUSF Senate, Sasaki consultants concluded there was not enough student lounge space on campus.

The finding fueled the plan to recreate the fourth and fifth floors of the UC with administrative offices on one end, student organizations on the other, shared conference rooms in the middle and student lounge spaces in locations that would give them the most natural sunlight possible.

Student grievances have centered around shared space, visibility and after-hours access.

On Tuesday, Oct. 27, London introduced parts of the UC plan to the ASUSF Senate and received feedback and reactions from both senators and students in attendance.  Editor in Chief of the San Francisco Foghorn Laura Plantholt and Executive Producer of USFtv Alex Platt both expressed concern during the meeting pertaining to the amount of space their organizations would have in their new homes.

In response, London explained that modern corporations are shifting towards shared work spaces such as community conference rooms.

“Shared space is a reality in design and has been part of the University’s projects” said London, adding that his office is in his department’s conference room.

JJ Thorp’s primary job is to make suggestions for what the UC should look like.  He envisions the future UC as a shared space, meaning a sign-out system in which faculty and students would have to reserve work spaces when needed. But with this plan comes the issue of late hour access.  Student groups rarely work on a rigid 9-5 schedule, with some groups working over nights and well into the morning.  According to Wolcott, USF is open to late hours for student groups, though Higgins said 24/7 access is not a guaranteed part of the plan, and such a system would have to be worked out with the Public Safety Department.

ASUSF President Bobby Marquez, who along with Wolcott is a student advocate throughout the process, says 24/7 access is vital to student work schedules.

“I am absolutely an advocate for 24/7 student access,” Marquez said, adding that he is confident it will happen.  Marquez said his two biggest concerns are more bed space in Phelan and following through in his role of being an advocate of student concerns throughout the process.

USF’s undergraduate enrollment made significant increases in 2001, 2003 and later in 2006, prompting the Foghorn staff to say in its September 9, 2004 staff editorial, “It’s very clear that there is a huge space issue at this school and there’s a dire need for expansion in order to keep up with the growing number of faculty and students.”  The staff was not in favor of the increase at the time, saying “On an everyday basis, it is becoming more and more clear that the there are too many students at this school,” and going on to say that USF is putting too much of an emphasis on the future and neglecting the present, as Sam Sharkey said.

The future of 2004 is today’s student body, and the future is looking much like it did five years ago. At this point, there seems to be a strong commitment to incorporate student input in the plans.  Higgins and Thorp both said they are willing to listen to student concerns through e-mail.  Wolcott said he would like to hear from students who have ideas about the projects, and Marquez encourages students to talk to him or any ASUSF Senator about what they would like the future USF campus to look like.

In Thorp’s ideal plan, the UC would be an open space of community lounges and meeting spots, full length windows would replace walls, and individual offices would be an idea of the past, replaced by small work stations that encourage collaboration among and between students and faculty.

The fourth and fifth floors would look very similar, and Sanchez insists they would be half student organizations, half administrative space, and shared meeting rooms.

Thorp’s idea for the third floor include adding to Harney Plaza and extending it behind the current ITS computer lab, around the UC, and back towards Harney Plaza near the Public Safety Office.  Thorp discussed the possibility of removing the ITS computer lab in order to create more student lounge space, while disbursing the lab’s computers throughout other parts of campus.

The second floor would remain largely unchanged because the level is almost entirely a cafeteria, but Thorp envisions a merger of the USF Bookstore, Outtahere, and Crossroads into what he called a “Barnes and Noble atmosphere” on the bottom level of the UC.

The bookstore would take the place of the Student Leadership and Engagement Office, which will move to either the 4th or 5th floor of the UC.  Next would come a complete redesign of how the bottom floor looks, as the wall that creates the hallway between the ASUSF Senate Office and Crossroads would be torn out, eliminating the separation of the Bookstore, Outtahere and Crossroads.

As it stands, the fifth floor of the UC where renovations would begin is merely a 13,000 square foot clean canvas from corner to corner, outlined by windows on all sides.  The level is clear of doors and desks, yet full of plans and potential to transform this former maze of faculty offices into the epicenter of student life.

“It is just a matter of painting that canvas,” said Marquez.

The “Trafficking of Persons Report,” released by the U.S. government in 2007, cites the International Labor Organization’s estimate that 12.3 million people are enslaved in the world. This slavery ranges from forced manual labor to sexual servitude to child soldiers. Of those trafficked across national borders, 50 percent are minors and 80 percent are women.

Bazan began work in 2007 with members of the USF community (specifically students in the Erasmus living and learning community) to combat the wide variety of human trafficking that occurs in the United States and San Francisco.  Thus, the “Not For Sale” club was created as an on campus activism program for students and USF community members.

Bazan described the club as a group of people dedicated to social justice who want to do more than just raise awareness about the cause. Members of Not For Sale, he says, “mobilize and engage” the community because “raising awareness is not enough.” The club is part of a larger Not For Sale Campaign that was originally inspired by USF Professor David Batstone’s book Not For Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade—and How We Can Fight It. The club, along with its parent campaign, relies on the diversity of skills amongst its members to meet the needs of the cause. Bazan ensures that any talent or ability can be applied to activism.

One of the biggest concerns of the club is conveying to the public how slavery has changed. “You don’t see slaves in shackles anymore; the shackles are in their mind,” Bazan explained. According to the 2007 “Trafficking of Persons Report,” most human trafficking and involuntary servitude involve children or young women being tricked into traveling to foreign countries for work and the promise of better pay. Upon arrival in the foreign country, the victims are stripped of their passports and belongings by their new employers and paid no money to perform sexual duties or manual labor. Often, children are sold into the industry at a very young age and have no concept of running away or seeking help. Some victims are physically restrained from leaving their employer or abuser, while language barriers and poverty restrain others.

Last summer, three USF students participated in an investigative program about human trafficking. The students attended a two-week training academy in San Francisco and then traveled overseas to investigate and document cases of human trafficking and involuntary servitude in foreign countries. Now, the Not For Sale club is trying to get even more people involved in the cause, creating a scholarship for USF students who want to do social research about the modern slave trade. The scholarship is part of the senior gift and money is currently being raised for it. Bazan says students with financial need and significant interest in social justice should consider applying. If enough money is raised, the scholarship will cover the cost of attending the two-week academy as well as part of the student’s trip overseas to research the patterns of human trafficking in foreign countries. Not all students involved are required to go overseas, however. Many students involved in Not For Sale are doing work right here in San Francisco.

The application process for the scholarship has not been solidified yet, but any interested students should contact University Ministry.

The Not For Sale club meets every Tuesday at 7:15pm in UC 417.

Tensions were high at last week’s ASUSF Senate meeting, where Michael London, assistant vice president for Facilities Management, addressed funded account leaders and senators about the plans for campus renovation. Illustration by Elizabeth Brown/Foghorn

“I can’t answer your question,”  said Michael London, assistant vice president for facilities management at USF, at the weekly ASUSF Senate meeting on Tuesday.At the meeting last Tuesday night, London was invited to share his future vision for campus building renovations and to answer concerned senate member questions regarding these possible developments.

With just over two months of school underway for the 2009-2010 school year, ASUSF Senate has had a bit of a slow start, but has so far sponsored the bi-annual Club President’s Council (CPC), and invited administrators Holly Winslow of Bon Appetit and Mike London of Facilities Management to speak about changes to the campus. On the agenda for this semester’s Club President’s Council was a “Community Action” update from vice president of mission, Alia Al-Sharif, a budget and Superfund presentation from vice president of business administration, My Nguyen, and a short list of brainstormed student issues on campus from President, Bobby Marquez. Traditionally, CPC has been one of only two mandatory club events hosted by Senate in the fall semester, the second being Fall Summit. This year however, Senate also mandated that all funded accounts give a short presentation at a Senate meeting that explained where the club is at this point in the semester, what their goals are for the year, and if and how Senate can assist. The idea behind these presentations is that it would hold clubs more accountable throughout the year.

A few clubs went early on in October, giving longer presentations, including a beautiful performance from ASUSF Voices. The rest of the eight clubs however, were asked to present in one meeting on October 27th, after an hour long presentation from Mike London on the status of the now gutted University Center 5th floor. Despite the request to talk about UC plans, London’s presentation focused mostly on future projects of USF, including the new “Center for Science and Innovation,” to be completed down the road around the year 2028. With almost every Funded Account present, questions quickly turned to the move of club offices out of lower level Phelan and UC 100, into the UC 4th or 5th floor, ultimately uprooting every student club space. London answered almost every question by indicating he was not the authority on that move, and that any specific space allocation for clubs after the move was an issue for the architects. Before entertaining the senate’s questions, London explained his job title.  “I’m in charge of master plans for the university,” said London.  He spoke about the need to revamp the entire Phelan dormitory structure, particularly its leaky plumbing, and to update the aesthetics of the fourth and fifth floors of the University Center building to “bring it out of the 60s.”

While London’s propositions were well received by the senators and “the board of trustees think they are good ideas,” the excitement of his plans seemed to fade when it came time for students to ask him questions.  London did not seem to agree with the students.

Sophomore and international studies major, Maggie Kennedy, started off the round of questions by addressing the toilet-seat cover issue, which London said goes back twenty years.  USF claims that toilet-seat covers are not issued because they do not protect against the spread of bacteria.  Kennedy asked if toilet-seat covers would be added to the newly remodeled Phelan bathrooms.  “There’s no empirical evidence that the covers help,” said London, “I’d rather spend money on a science center than on toilet-seat covers.”

Jon Coon, senior business major, asked London about adding additional recycling and composting bins on campus and in dormitories.  During this questioning, however, there seemed to be a general miscommunication between the two, which lead London to become agitated, and somewhat defensive.  “I don’t understand what you’re saying,” London repeated.  After Coon made his questions more understandable, London dismissed notions of adding more bins on campus.  He refuted Coon by saying that there are already enough recycling bins all over the campus, and that composting bins will never go in dorms because of the stench.

The tension continued to escalate as London struck a nerve with the Foghorn, USFtv, and College Players representatives, saying that the future renovation plans for the UC building include conjoined offices for the three organizations. Several organization representatives, including students from The Foghorn and USFtv both with offices in lower level Phelan, expressed concern for adequate working space, as well as security for thousands of dollars worth of ASUSF funded equipment. London addressed these concerns by stating that, “Everyone wants their own space” on campus, and that we all may need to share. Wide eyes all around, the club representatives were visibly upset by the lack of attention to their valid opinions, as well as London’s curt responses.

Editor-in-Chief of the Foghorn, Laura Plantholt, argued against the combined offices, in which she included issues of personal space, privacy, and noise.  London responded “This isn’t the time to express those feelings,” and told Plantholt to make her feelings clear at a later date with the Board of Trustees.

Because London did not extend much interest to Plantholt’s concern, a USFtv producer also spoke to London about her inclination towards separate offices, and brought to light the “larger security issues” at hand - theft in the offices.  Even after USFtv offered London examples of the equipment theft, he had nothing to say, and quickly moved on to the next question.

At the end of the questioning period, junior Dennis Walker really irritated London.  Walker reiterated the toilet-seat cover issue, asking if not buying toilet-seat covers was just to save the school money.

“Don’t put words in my mouth,”  London said.  The real offense was taken when Walker asked London about his salary, at which London became visibly flustered, and paced back and forth shaking his hands and head.  He refused to answer the question.

On the tension with the students, London said there was “no tension. I am just direct with journalism students. I thought the salary question was disrespectful. All of the rest was fine.”

Illustration by Elizabeth Brown

1. Awkward Halloween

Awkward Silence, USF’s comedy improv team, will host a special Halloween themed show. The audience is encouraged to dress in costume and the best one will win a prize. Friday at 10:30 in the UC building, room 222.

2. After Hours Halloween Costume Party

Sponsored by the October Signature Event Committee and Late Nights @ Crossroads, this event boasts live music, a screening of the classic film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” dancing and free food. Thursday at Crossroads at 9pm.

3. Sin & Celebrities Halloween party at Glas Kat

The evening promises to be “A Glorious Hollywood-Esque Ensemble of Lights, Camera & Satisfaction” with three dance floors and a DJ. Celebrity costumes are required and paparazzi activity is guaranteed. Glas Kat is on 4th and Bryant. Festivities start at 9pm.

4. The Haunted Presidio

A one mile walking tour of the park which includes “spine-tingling tales of the Presidio’s history” from 6:30 to 8pm on Saturday is sure to turn spooky after dark.

5. Winchester Mystery House

This carefully designed house of trap doors and secret rooms hosts a special 65 minute flashlight-led tour through the mansion. Mrs. Winchester, the widow of William Wirt Winchester, founder of Winchester rifles, began construction in 1884 after being disturbed by ghosts. She continued until she died in 1922.  The house is located at 525 South Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, CA.

6. Landmark’s Clay Theater

The theater has a midnight showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” starting at 11:45. Theater is located on 2261 Fillmore St. at Clay.

Want more? Here is a list of “haunted” places in San Francisco to check out:  Click Here

Fr. Lucas designed the compass rose which leads to important places on campus. Photo by Melissa Stihl/Foghorn

Another aesthetic aspect to add to the bedazzled phoenix displayed in Harney Plaza is the compass rose, a design that adorns the pavement between Phelan Hall and the Market cafeteria.  Like the phoenix, this emblem was also planned and designed by Fr. Tom Lucas, S.J., an art and architecture professor.

Lucas explained that he adapted the design from ancient models as the compass rose has appeared on nearly every map throughout history.

The eight points of the design indicates all important points of direction: north, south, east, west, northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest. Lucas said, “The eight-pointed star is set into a circle, the most universal symbol of infinity.”  Legacy Pavers, a Santa Rosa-based pavement and design company, donated their time and materials to create the compass rose. The company finished the work in two days in late September.

When asked why the walkway between Phelan Hall and the cafeteria was chosen, Lucas said, “It marks one of the most used and important crossroads on the campus: with points that lead us to nourishment (Cafeteria for food, church for spiritual nourishment); to intellectual pursuits (classrooms and library), to living and social situations in the dorms, but also points us out to the city and the world and universe beyond: to downtown SF to the east, to the great expanse of the Pacific to the west, to the rising and setting sun.”

Lucas views this latest addition as: “A landmark where people can meet; a reminder of belonging to a larger world, a bit of beauty in the midst of getting there.”

Senior Ivana Rosas speaks three languages and has traveled to Europe and Central America during her career at USF. Photo by Melissa Stihl/Foghorn

Through study abroad opportunities and service learning trips, senior Ivana Rosas has seen many countries including Nicaragua, El Salvador, and France. Rosas, an international studies major focusing on the environment and development, considers herself a citizen of the world.

Born in San Cristobal, Venezuela, Rosas’ family moved to Los Angeles when she was five years old. Her family returned to Venezuela frequently and of these visits she remembers, “I would spend time with my cousins, aunts and uncles. We would celebrate birthdays. I had my first communion there.” Adjusting to her new life and learning English was not difficult for Rosas. She said, “I was in an ESL kindergarten class. My teacher spoke in English all the time. I don’t have recollections of [learning English] being really hard.” At her parents’ insistence, Rosas spoke only in Spanish at home so she could maintain her native language. Today she listens to music in Spanish and also speaks with her parents and cousins in Venezuela to keep her Spanish sharp.

Rosas studied French in high school and continued to take courses at USF. In the spring of 2008, she studied for a semester at the Catholic Institute of Paris in France. By the end of the semester, she was fluent. Rosas now speaks three languages and is learning a fourth: Portugese.

Of the study abroad experience, she said “I really enjoyed feeling like a foreigner and being completely lost to my surroundings, regaining a sense of self, making my own niche in a different society and discovering what it means to be a global citizen.”

Through a liberation theology course, Rosas was offered the opportunity to travel to El Salvador to observe firsthand how liberation theology was affecting communities.  Within a few months of this trip, Rosas again boarded a plane for Central America. Last summer as part of a service learning based project, Rosas interned at the Foundation for Sustainable Development in Nicaragua. She worked with a women’s environmentalist group that sells products made from recycled paper, specifically working on marketing and internal management. “The knowledge I gained was how to do more with community organizing and questioning what is development and taking it further by asking what is sustainable development especially in “third world” countries,” Rosas said.

After she graduates in December, Rosas plans to continue her work at the Global Women’s Fund, where she is part of a team that receives fund proposals from different organizations, like the Central America Women’s Fund.  After taking a year off, she plans to apply to graduate school to study urban planning or architecture. She said, “Studying space is so interesting and the relationship that humans have with space and their surroundings, both manmade and natural.”

Rosas holds her world traveling experiences very dear and strives to maintain her global citizenship, which to her means “being aware that while we may have our own identities be they multicultural or not, we are all responsible for our own existence and we have to be aware of and respect others’ right to exist as well.”

“She had a neat personality,” Delta Zeta Alumna Jacqueline McCawley said. “She was always enthusiastic and she was just one of those people that had a great sense of humor; one of those sisters that everyone loved.”

Five months after being diagnosed in June 2006, Facella lost her battle with leukemia, a blood cancer caused by an abnormal increase of blood cells (usually white blood cells).

Her passing “came as a shock,” McCawley said, “no one really expected it.”

Roughly 100 people attended this year’s dinner, including Delta Zeta alumnae who knew Facella during her treatment.

Guest Speaker Heidi Wolcott spoke on behalf of LLS, providing information about the organization’s commitment to blood cancer research and patient services. Wolcott is the Special Events Manager for LLS’s Team In Training (TNT), a program that offers sports training for people participating in marathons, bike rides, and mountain hikes.

Last year Delta Zeta raised $1,300 that went directly to LLS, which donates money to researchers in pursuit of a cure. Since LLS was founded in 1949, it has contributed over $680 million to blood cancer research. LLS also provides financial aid to those living with blood cancer.

The organization estimates that 900,000 people have been diagnosed with blood cancer.

For the past two years, the benefit dinner has placed more emphasis on their late sister, but Delta Zeta philanthropy chair Minoti Mehta wanted this year’s dinner to have the same somber atmosphere, but focus on how people could get more involved, she said.

Spokesman for the National Bone Marrow’s “Be the Match” Program Jerry Quintana also presented at the dinner, providing information on how to become part of the bone marrow registry, which helps those seeking a bone marrow donor.

One form of treatment that leukemia patients undergo is allogeneic bone marrow transplantation, a procedure that transplants stem cells from a genetically-compatible donor, which may not always be the patient’s relatives.

“A lot of people simply died because people were not willing to donate bone marrow,” Mehta said, “[Be the Match] can get people to directly help.”

Be the Match compiles a registry of 7 million people willing to donate bone marrow if a DNA match is made with a patient. Quintana said that leukemia patients first look within families for a match, and if it is not possible, the program is their second option.

Quintana said that 4,000 people search for a match every day.

“It’s such a great thing because you’re saving somebody’s life,” Quintana said, “and [the program] is the last resort that they have.”

Delta Zeta designated a table for guests who wanted to register with the program that night, which included filling out an application and giving a sample cheek swab, a process that Quintana says takes only 40 seconds.

Registration was also available online, and anybody between 18-60 years old could fill out the online application and send a cheek swab through the mail. Quintana said the potency of bone marrow is best in people who are in their 20s and 30s.

During Facella’s 5-month battle, she was looking for a donor because her siblings were not a match, McCawley said. Facella did not continue attending school that fall semester, but when she spoke to people, she gave an update on her new treatments and mentioned she was going to beat cancer.

“She always felt like something could be done,” McCawley said.

When Facella began losing her hair, McCawley said she would post new pictures of her different colored wigs on Facebook. According to McCawley, “she always had tenacity.”

The USF community has supported Delta Zeta’s efforts since their first benefit dinner in 2006.

“I think it’s our continued effort to bring awareness and how it affects a lot of us,” McCawley said. “We do it for Ali, but also in recognition of everyone else that [has] fought the battle.”

The sisters of Lambda Theta Nu joined the Latina sorority at USF in order to celebrate their shared experience as female Latin American college students. For them, stepping is a way of showing pride in their sorority and their culture.

In another number, the Lamba Theta Nu sisters each took out a pair of machetes, which they rhythmically clanked together. The long silver blades created a loud clanking each time they touched, as the sisters danced in well-coordinated steps, creating a visual and audio performance. The machete dance was meaningful to the Lamda Theta Nu sisters; more than just a flashy show. Senior Anita Buitrago explained, “We wanted to show that women could also step with machetes.” The machete dance is a traditional Mexican art, usually performed by men to display their masculinity, according to Buitrago. The Latina students use the masculine dance as a source of female empowerment.

The San Francisco Taiko Dojo group performed a portion of their drum set at the Harney Nooner Heritage Festival on Friday. Photo by Melissa Stihl/Foghorn

Lambda Theta Nu was one of four culturally focused USF student groups to participate in the first Heritage Harney Nooner, sponsored by Campus Activities Board (CAB). CAB decided to bring these groups out to the center of campus that day to show the many cultures that make up the university. The event was wrapped up with a bang, literally, with the Japanese drumming, dancing, and martial arts of the  off-campus organization, San Francisco Taiko Dojo.

USF is home to roughly 20 culturally-focused clubs and Greek organizations. U.S. News and World Report ranked the University of San Francisco as one of the 20 most ethnically diverse universities in the country in the category “National Universities-Doctoral. CAB Music Director Evelyn Obamos wanted to bring this diversity into the forefront for an afternoon. “We have such a diverse school,” she said. “I think we should show it.” The festival invited clubs to perform a cultural song or dance, or just show up to promote their organization.

In addition to Lamda Theta Nu’s dance, another highlight performance was from Hui O Hawaii Club, which performed several Hula dances to celebrate the diverse culture of the Hawaiian Islands. The dances varied from slow, swaying hula to the rapid hip-shaking Tahitian dances. This diversity represents the Hawaiian islands, where, senior Mahe Lum said, “everyone is a mix of everything.” Lum is a quarter Hawaiian, a quarter Chinese, and half Filipino. She co-founded the Hui O Hawaii Club her freshman year because she wanted to have a “halau,” or hula family, like she had in Hawaii, where she began dancing at age six.

Other performances included a traditional Salvadorian dance performed by the Latin American Student Organization, where the male and female dancers donned elaborate costumes and acted out a love story, followed by a short hip hop performance by Kasamahan, a club for Filipino students.

The Heritage Harney Nooner also provided an opportunity for other culturally-focused clubs to mingle in the plaza, and attract new members. Junior Shelly Saini, events coordinator for the Indian Student Organization (ISO), said cultural clubs can help students feel a sense of community at a large and diverse school. “I knew I wanted to join an Indian club when I got to USF,” said Saini, who joined ISO her freshman year and has been involved ever since. “I wanted to get to know other Indians and learn more about the culture.” ISO holds events for different Indian holidays and promotes social justice issues. Saini also pointed out that members do not need to be of Indian descent to join ISO. She said, “Half our members are not even Indian; they are just interested in the culture.”

San Francisco Taiko Dojo performed last to give a sample of their full show, which they travel throughout the Bay Area and the world to perform. Dressed in black martial arts uniforms with purple belts and headbands, the Japanese drummers showed their art to be an exhilarating combination of pounding percussion, loud chanting and dramatic movements, including jumping and dancing around the drums as they played.

The event was successful in the eyes of CAB member Obamos, who began planning for it last semester with the help of the Culturally Focused Club Council. Obamos said she was just glad to see everyone out there enjoying themselves.

Those who want to see more cultural performances by USF students can look forward to Culturescape, a signature event of the International Student Association, which will take place Nov. 20 in the Presentation Theatre.

In July of 2009, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the University of California voted to cut $813 million from their budget. At the same time, Charles Reed, CSU chancellor, also began implementing cuts in hopes of reducing their budget. According to the article, these budget cuts affect staff and faculty salaries and course availability for students as a result. The Golden Gate Express, San Francisco State University’s newspaper, reported that 81 sections of courses had been cut and that many students were crowding into classrooms in hopes of adding the courses.

USF has four regional campuses in Santa Rosa, San Ramon, Sacramento and Cupertino. BJ Johnson, vice provost for academic and enrollment services, said these locations primarily serve working adults by offering courses on evenings and weekends. State students will receive a fifty five percent discount on the seven general education courses that USF Steps Up will offer; each unit will cost $560 versus the $1200 per unit on USF’s main campus. These discount courses are available only at the regional campuses.

Johnson said that there is no room on main campus and that “the experience of being on campus is very different. These students will not benefit from the services offered on main campus.” The extension campuses will offer art, math, philosophy, public speaking, Spanish, social science and writing. Johnson said “We (College of Arts and Sciences) have been hearing from administrators and faculty, especially CSUs, about how difficult it has been and that many students have not been able to get their courses. We wanted to help students so they don’t lose time.” The courses are tailored to fulfill general education classes required by every four year college. With the exception of Spanish, the other courses are all three units so they can transfer back to CSUs and UCs, which operate on a semester schedule.

Johnson said that USF Steps Up will run in the spring of 2010 as a pilot run. After the semester, the College of Arts and Sciences will evaluate how the program went and decide if they want to continue it.

To budget Flexi, Winslow suggested decreasing impulse purchases and also limiting the consumption of boutique bottled water, like Dasani and Evian. She said that the tap water available in the cafeteria is from Hetch Hetchy, a water reservoir near Yosemite National Park, which is “pure and free.”  Winslow said, “I would much rather see students using their own (reusable) water bottles.” Purchasing bottled water “has a tendency to drive the check up,” she said.

USF students typically make about five trips through the cafeteria each day. Winslow said that these fly by trips and spontaneous buys can also eat away at Flexi points. She cautioned, “Be aware of how many times you are walking through.”

While the current meal plan does provide for three hot meals a day, replacing scrambled eggs and tater tots with a bagel could help students conserve Flexi.

Sophomores Morgan Harper and Jenae Lozada both have about $900 left. Harper isn’t concerned with running out of Flexi, she said, “ I can estimate it because I don’t eat here on the weekends.”  Lozada said, “I eat out too. I get sick of the cafeteria food.”  Sophomore Quin Herron has a $634 balance and is being a bit more careful about his spending than at the beginning of the semester. For those concerned about running out of Flexi points, Winslow said that last year she made her phone number available to students to discuss their low balances. She met with ten students, five of whom began working for Bon Appetit. Bon Appetit offers student workers Flexi and complimentary employee meals as additional benefits. Winslow said, “Before students revert to inappropriate behavior, (they should) come talk to Jon or myself. We will always help the students.”

While USF has a thorough recycling and composting system in place, the university was deducted points for low student involvement. Illustration by Elizabeth Brown/Foghorn

With compost and recycling bins collecting waste responsibly throughout the campus, solar panels lining many a rooftop, and locally-grown organic produce being served up in the cafeteria, USF appears to be on the right track in its quest for environmental responsibility. The College Sustainability Report Card (an independent organization that ranks colleges’ and universities’ environmental policies) seemed to think so too. USF received a grade of a B+, up significantly from last year’s disappointing grade of a C.

According to Glenn Loomis, chair of the Green Team Committee and director of community relations at USF, the university worked very hard to bump up their grade. Loomis attributes the improved ranking to two main achievements. The first was the use of the photovoltaic  panels that collect solar energy on top of five different buildings on campus. Loomis said these panels now supply 18 percent of the electricity on campus. Another step that improved USF’s grade was University President Rev. Stephen Privett, S.J. signing two different sustainability agreements, including the international Talloires Declaration and the national Presidents’ Climate Commitment.

The College Sustainability Report Card ranked USF in nine different categories of sustainability. USF earned A’s in most of the categories, including Climate Change and Energy, Green Building and Food and Recycling. USF fell shortest in the category of Shareholder Engagement, earning a D. This category measures the involvement with which USF’s investors interact with corporations to push for more sustainable business practices. However, the majority of universities surveyed earned a D or F in this category.

The second lowest grade USF earned was a C in the category of Student Involvement. Junior environmental studies major Brittany Rowles is president of Back to da Roots, one of the only environmentally-focused clubs on campus. She said she believes that “definitely, USF deserves a C grade.” An active member of the environmental movement at USF, she said she sees a lot of people care about the environment, but they’re not actively doing anything about it. She said, “Our e-mail list contains about 200 e-mail addresses, but our meetings consist of about 15 people. A lot of people can write down their e-mail address and say they care, but they can’t drag themselves to a meeting.”

Still, compared to other universities, USF is doing very well. Among other Jesuit schools, USF tied in first place with Seattle University, which also received a B+. Among all universities, 22 schools tied for first place with an A-. Neighboring school  UC Berkeley scored a B, Santa Clara University scored a B, and Stanford University scored an A-.

USF strives to further improve their sustainability and perhaps their College Sustainability Report Card grade for next year. This year, USF is trying to retroactively apply for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification for finished buildings Kalmanovitz Hall and the Gleeson Library. Plans are developing for the Center for Science and Innovation, which will be built to replace Harney Science Center, and will feature the latest in green technology.

For students, a new program is being tested within the on-campus apartment complex, Loyola Village. This year, each apartment unit is competing to utilize the least amount of electricity. Those who conserve the most will be awarded eco-friendly prizes like a yearlong ZipCar account or $1,000 in Flexi.

Overall, Loomis is impressed with the progress he has seen at USF. “Everybody is getting on this bandwagon, and a lot of changes have taken place,” he said. “But on the other hand, we have a long way to go.”

The market was supported by the Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association (PCFMA), but according to Glenn Loomis, USF’s Director of Community Relations, there was not enough business to keep the farmers from the PCFMA interested.

“USF supports a farmers market, but we can’t support having a market if there are only four to five vendors,” he said.

An attempt to restart the market this fall was unsuccessful for similar reasons, and now a group of students and faculty are working to break ground on a new market with a new model beginning in the spring semester.

USF students Jon Coon and Brittany Rowles and alumnus Landon Leu are working with professors Melinda Stone and Seth Wachtel, as well as other USF faculty and administration to gather more student support for the market.

“It failed because there wasn’t enough publicity,” said Rowles, who is also the co-president of Back to Da Roots.  She is convinced that student interest in a farmers market and healthy food options exist at USF.  Look no further than the new Outtahere Café to prove her point.

According to Holly Winslow, Manager of Bon Appetit, two surveys were conducted and two presentations were made to senate this past spring semester to find out what type of food choice students wanted in place of Jamba Juice.  The 800 respondents helped shape the new organic-oriented Outtahere Café.   According to Winslow, the surveys showed that there was a great call for natural products.

Pertaining to the farmers market, Winslow said that Bon Appetit is a “huge supporter” and guaranteed that they would purchase $3-4 thousand a week of produce from the market.  Landon Leu said this never happened.

“Bon Appetit made a pledge to buy some of their goods from the farmers market,” he said.  “But as I talked to Holly Winslow, she said she was never informed about the opening.”  Leu also said that he and Professor Wachtel, who had been working to bring a farmers market to USF since the fall of 2007, were informed a week before it opened.  Leu also said he was informed that the school would take care of publicity and opening day ceremonies, neither of which ever happened.

Winslow maintains that Bon Appetit is committed to buying from the farmers market if it were to once again exist on campus.  Senior Jon Coon is confident it will happen.

Coon first got involved in the farmers market last summer while interning with the Quesada Gardens Initiative.  Professor Wachtel works with the group, which is how Coon met him and became aware of the farmers market project.  Coon said the market needs a better location, possibly somewhere closer to Harney Plaza where many students spend their free time on campus.  Ideally, both Coon and Rowles would like to have the farmers market in the middle of the week to ensure that students would see it rather than depending on people to seek out the market on weekends.

The economic burden of having a farmers market is an obstacle in bringing it back to USF.  The San Francisco Department of Health issues permits to become a Certified Farmers Market (CFM) for a $500 fee.  Additionally, each market must pay 60 cents for each day the market is open.  The total cost to run a weekly farmers market on campus has been estimated to be $1,982 per year.  A general rule of thumb is that each stall needs to make a minimum gross of roughly $550 a day in order to make it worthwhile for the farmer.

The Garden Project is trying to obtain an agricultural permit in order to sell their produce at the farmers market next semester and help overcome the financial burden.  The profit would allow the Garden Project to fund itself and relieve USF of its expense.

Gabriel Avina. Photo by Melissa Stihl/Foghorn

It’s not every day that one meets a person who has traveled extensively or has lived outside of the United States, except, that is, if you are from San Francisco. Gabriel Avina, a sophomore and Asian studies major, knows how important and how different cultures can be, having spent most of his life living in Asia.

As a six-month-old infant, Avina’s family moved away from New York where Avina was born and settled down in Bhutan, or “mountain country” as Avina calls it. Bhutan is located high up in the Himalayas and surrounded by the countries China, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Bhutan, “land of the thunder dragon,”  opened its doors to technology and the beginnings of democracy in 2007. Bhutan shares the same culture as Tibet and practices Buddhism.

Avina had to move because his father worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and was often relocated.  Now Avina’s mother works as a jewelry designer and his father works for Microsoft. After living in Bhutan for four years, the family then moved to Laos for another four years, and finally Thailand for eight years. Rather than feeling unsettled, Avina calls his upbringing a, “wonderful experience—I’ve got a lot of perspective on life since I have lived in various countries amongst unique cultures. That’s why I’m probably taking Asian Studies right now, because I have a good understanding of other cultures because of my upbringing.”

However, even though understanding a multitude of diverse cultures, places, and people were intriguing for Avina, he did admit that moving around was difficult at times. In fact, he admitted that, “It’s hard not knowing anyone for more than five years. I’ve met a lot of people that I’ve lost contact with.” Regardless, Avina plans to do a lot more traveling, to places such as Asia, Southeast Asia, India, and France.

When asked how he felt when he first arrived back in the United States, and California for that matter, his answer was “culture shocked.” He went on to explain that he had visited it a couple times before, but he did not understand a lot of the references. Furthermore, he said that more of his emotions were based on missing home rather than concentrating on where he now saw himself. Avina said, “People overseas are much more informed and kids are more culturally aware and tolerant. Here, politics are much more internal.”

Instead of becoming familiar with Hollywood enchantment, he was familiar with a far more unique magic. Growing up in Thailand, he encountered a lot of folklore. Stories of yeti sightings and magical forest and mountain spirits surround Avina’s childhood. As in the culture, one is respectful of all that is around, plants and animals alike.

Candace Stevenson wrote to congress members to change earthquake safety policies after her father Joseph Stevenson (also shown) was fatally injured in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Photo Courtesy of Candace Stevenson

For a college experience, Avina describes San Francisco as open-minded and “fresh.” He said, “There was no where else I could really come after where I’ve been.” For all those who are considering study abroad, Avina’s message is simple, “Travel is important, especially when you are growing up. Experiencing other countries leads to a much broader perspective on the world.”

Candace Stevenson. Photo by Melissa Stihl/Foghorn

It’s been twenty years since the Loma Prieta Earthquake. The quake itself measured a 7.0 on the Richter magnitude scale. At the time, Candace Stevenson was in Italy with her mother. But her father, Joseph Stevenson, was trapped in his small apartment on Fulton Street.

“My father was a hero,” tears wash over Stevenson’s face as she says it. She recalls how her father had been injured during the earthquake and was unable to get out of his apartment. For seven days, he suffered alone without food and water.

“No one bothered to check on him,” she says. She explains how her father, the selfless hero who had given to so many, had been abandoned in his most crucial time of need. “In a natural disaster you never know how people will react.”

A friend of the family promised to check up on Joseph; she never did. A family member was nearby at the time of the earthquake; he never checked on Joseph. Even the landlord didn’t check up on him. Yet despite all of that, despite seven days without food and water, he survived.

“It was a miracle from God that my dad survived,” says Stevenson. Sadly four months afterwards, her father passed away in February, 1990. Upon her father’s death, Stevenson sought to change local, state and federal laws to insure the well-being of tenants after a natural disaster.

“This is what I want to see happen,” says Stevenson. “I want to see these five things happen.” She explains that the first thing she wants is to make it mandatory that Earthquake City Inspectors must check every apartment after a natural disaster to make sure that tenants are safe. Secondly, she would like a Disaster Register for the elderly and disabled in San Francisco, which would have all pertinent information on each individual, such as name, address and medications.

Third, she wants landlords to be responsible and held accountable for checking up on their tenants after a natural disaster. “They should be held responsible,” she stresses the point multiple times.

Fourth, she says, “Everyone needs to take responsibility in an Earthquake and not assume someone else has been checked.” Fifth, she highly recommends people go through the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) Training. Stevenson rummages through a pile of stuff and pulls out a hard hat. She puts it on and smiles broadly; on the side of the hat is a sticker that reads, “NERT.”

Before the Loma Prieta Earthquake, Stevenson lived a jovial life. She graduated from USF with a B.A. in Italian in 1974. She studied singing growing up and subsequently became a singer. She traveled from the U.S. to Italy on singing jobs and eventually got a Master’s in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL).

Once her father died, everything changed for Stevenson. Her father had been her hero and without him she was “lost.” Joseph served in the Army in the 1920s. He became a Private First Class but was injured and taken to Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco in 1926. It was then that he decided to stay in the Bay Area.

He saved pamphlets, letters and other memorabilia from his Marine days. In particular, he saved the menu to a Christmas Dinner his army company had in 1925. “All this meant so much to him that he kept it,” says Stevenson.

At the start of WWII, Joseph attempted to re-enlist. “He wanted to go fight Hitler,” says Stevenson. But he couldn’t due to his injury.

To Stevenson, her father wasn’t just a war hero; he was a hero in everyday life. She recalls that he once found a homeless man on the street suffering from alcoholism. Joseph then took the guy home and essentially “detoxed” the man.

“That’s the kind of man he was. He didn’t have to be told to do something. He just did it,” says Stevenson.

Like her father, Stevenson has also embarked on aiding people. After her father’s passing, she wrote the president, vice-president, each Congress member, Supreme Court Justices, and every state governor, urging them to take on initiatives to insure the safety of tenants during natural disasters.

On the federal level, she helped design the passing of bill H.R. 3533 – the “Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 Amendments Act,” which would “increase earthquake awareness and education, and encourage the development of multi-State groups for such purposes.”

Currently, a memorial honoring Joseph Stevenson can be seen at the Marines Memorial at 609 Sutter Street.

Bondevik began his career in politics when he was elected into Norway’s Parliament in 1973 at age 26, barely older than most USF undergraduates. He was elected prime minister in 1997 and again in 2001. Bondevik said he believes his personal values contributed to winning the elections, and said, “Voters should focus on [politicians’] values. They should know what values they’re voting for.”

The values that have guided Bondevik throughout his political career and beyond stem from his Christian faith. Bondevik, who is ordained as a Lutheran pastor, said, “We saw Jesus live in a way with special care for people who are oppressed. That is my main inspiration.” He also said that traveling the world opened his eyes to how many people are “in need of help.”

While in office, Bondevik increased social services such as healthcare and education. He saw Norway’s economy thrive and personal incomes rise. The United Nations Development Program called Norway the best country in which to live during his office. One of Bondevik’s proudest and most unique accomplishments was being able to offer parents of children under age two a salary simply for staying at home with their children.

After serving two successful terms, Bondevik decided to retire from national politics. In 2005 he decided to focus his energy on international issues of peace, founding the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights. The center is primarily concerned with creating dialogue for peace, promoting democracy, and improving human rights around the world. Based in Oslo, Norway’s capital city, Bondevik said, “We actually have an advantage because no one is threatened by Norway. We have no economic interest, no colonial past. [People] have trust in Norway.”

Bondevik has lived in Norway, one of the wealthiest and most peaceful countries in the world, his whole life. However, this never stopped him from being concerned with the welfare of other citizens of the world, who suffer from the ravages of poverty and war. “I believe in human dignity, that we are all created in God’s image,” he said. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

For USF students interested in a career in politics, Bondevik advised, “Be engaged, and study international politics so you have the necessary knowledge.” He also recommended traveling to developing countries as a way of understanding and sympathizing with the world’s complex problems.

CAB chose these acts in response to a survey process in which they elicited student feedback and preferences on genre.  Hip hop has dominated the homecoming concert for a few years, with artists like Common, Wyclef Jean and Lupe Fiasco performing.

Linda Tran, sophomore business major and CAB promotions assistant, sat outside of the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement (SLE) selling tickets on Monday.  In just an hour, she sold ten tickets.   Tran said,  “N.E.R.D has always been floating around as a choice. They are one of those groups that you just want to hear in concert.” Kim Mai, homecoming concert director, said CAB tried to book the group last year but could not afford it.  Mai said “Based on our surveys last year, 21% of the students asked for hip hop, 17% Alternative, and 16% for rock.” CAB surveyed 1,056 students.

In relation to homecoming, Tran said “Hip hop is always a popular genre.”  While the homecoming week generally takes place in February, USF decided to move it up so they could include it as part of the Fall Fest, a series of on campus events hosted by the Office of Residence Life.  The other events involved with homecoming, the dance and the pep rally, will still take place.  Although last year CAB charged an entrance fee to the dance, Tran said this year admission will be free.

Tickets will not be sold at the door. Prices are $5 for USF students/$10 the day of show.

The student loan market operates outside the conventional loan framework.  The government plays a large role in guaranteeing money to students by offering fixed, below-market-rate loans that are not dependent on the complicated structure used by private lenders.  These private lenders directly compete with the government loan program enticing students with superior customer service and competitive rates.

But due to the increased number of loan defaults in 2008 and the resulting bank failures, private lenders have been less inclined to loan funds to students, especially considering the depleted job market available to expected graduates.

As banks find it harder and harder to release credit to potential students, government loans become a larger source of student financing.  In 2008, a temporary restructuring of the student loan market occurred wherein the government started buying up student loans from private lenders. The current student loan bill intends to make the government the sole financer of student loans, totally wiping out competition from the private lenders.

USF students can expect to see a more inefficient, harder to navigate student loan system in the coming years, according to many analysts. Government programs are implicitly inefficient and the current popular bill designing a student loan system entirely run by the government would be no exception.  The disintegration of the private student loan market would wipe out all competition, allowing the government to monopolize the market for student loans.

But the government claims a simplified financial aid process will result from the student loan overhaul, which means that USF students will spend fewer hours struggling with endless FAFSA forms.  Due to the streamlining of the system, the government reports it will save $87 billion over 10 years, half of which is intended to go to the Pell Grant program for low-income students.

Jessica Zuzik, a graduate student in economics at USF, has had many problems garnering financial aid from the school, despite her excellent academic record.  “I feel that USF has forsaken financial aid because they are a private institution.  They have not made it a priority because they feel that students can afford the excessive tuitions.”  Frustrations such as these leave students relying primarily on the government for financial aid, and soon they will add student loans to this list.

Michelle Schaeffer is a graduate student in the economics department at USF.  She writes on economic issues in her blog at http://economicinquiries.blogspot.com.

A roller skater glides past City Hall at LovEvolution enjoying the electronic music. Photo by Adam Ross/Foghorn

On Saturday Oct. 3, hundreds of USF students took to the streets in route to the sixth annual San Francisco love festival, this year entitled “LoveEvolution.” The festival has developed quite the reputation during its tenure in the city, and this year didn’t disappoint. However, some aspects of the festival, specifically changes from last year, have caused controversy among the USF student body.

LovEvolution is essentially a citywide rave, featuring techno and electronica music and is, allegedly, a celebration of love, peace, and human unity. The festival begins as a parade up Market Street and ends in the Civic Center Plaza, with the party starting in front of City Hall. In the past, it was always called “San Francisco Love Fest,” and was inspired by a love festival in Berlin. This year the name was changed to LovEvolution due to conflicts with an event in Los Angeles called “The Love Festival.”

The name change didn’t hurt USF student interest; however, the change in admission cost did. Previously, the festival was always free, with a suggested donation, but its continued growth resulted in the implementation of a ten-dollar entrance fee. This fee was meant to aid in security costs, but some USF students are skeptical. Freshmen Maria Palma wasn’t happy about the fee; “I don’t think that the ten-dollar fee was worth it for LovEvolution. It felt more like the ten dollars they were asking for was just a cop out to get extra money.” Other students, like Sophomore Cayden Berkmoyer, thought the chance to dance all day and enjoy the festival’s energy was entirely worth the sacrificial ten bucks.

Berkmoyer describes LovEvolution as a, “quintessentially San Francisco event, harkening back to the days of peace, love, drugs, and rock-n-roll.” He pauses, though, to re-iterate, “I suppose the rock-n-roll is now electronica.” In walking around the festival, a few things become increasingly evident. The first is the level of intoxication of the people in the crowd. By mid-afternoon plenty of hard partiers are out cold, passed out facedown on the pavement, or in the first aid tent. Security guards circle around the various parade floats and dance floors, coming to the rescue of those who have had a little (or a lot) too much to drink. This is not to say that LovEvolution is an unsafe event, though. Alcohol policies are strictly enforced within the walls of the festival, and no one can purchase drinks without an ID verifying their legality. Bags, however, are not thoroughly searched, so some minors do manage to sneak illegal substances in. Freshman Alison Janigian is critical of the festival, claiming that it is simply an excuse for underage girls to, “dress slutty and drink their troubles away.”

Another aspect of the festival unique to LovEvolution is the level of nudity amongst the crowd. People of all ages let their inhibitions go… as well as their clothing. Freshman Ashby Conwell, found the lack of clothing liberating, “There was a lot of nudity but it didn’t feel sexual, it just felt free.” Many other USF students agreed with Conwell, agreeing that LovEvolution is more about a celebration of the human body, rather than degradation.

Every year many USF students put together extravagant costumes for the festival, and this year brought costume making to a brand new level. With the tight economy, many students didn’t have the funds to buy their outfits and stuck to good old fashion arts and crafts. Conwell and her friends wore pre-owned brightly colored clothing and completed their costumes with body paint. Berkmoyer said he wore, “A baby blue long sleeve shirt, multi-colored 80’s shorts, matching sunglasses and glitter. Lot’s of glitter.” Though he thought his outfit was outrageous, it was nothing compared to some of the others, he said.  There were people wearing thongs made of feathers, others dressed in full fairy garb, and still others in leather chaps and go-go boots. After a few hours, the dance floor consisted primarily of body paint and sweat.

Along the march from Market Street to City Hall, some revelers stopped along the way to dance, hula-hoop, and educate themselves about safe sex. Photo by Joanna Burlison/Foghorn

For some, LovEvolution was a huge success. Freshman Ryan Laursen said the event gave him “really good vibes” and he plans to attend next year. While Palma and Janigian both found the festival to be too focused on drugs, and less about love. At the end of the day, swarms of USF students fought for a space on packed muni buses or braved the wind and cold as they walked back to campus. Some attended after parties, others immediately went to bed, and almost everyone had some sort of crazy story to tell about LovEvolution 2009.

At the meeting on Sept. 22, the Senate reshaped their mission statement to reflect the values of the current group, as is customary every fall. Led by Vice President of Mission Alia Al-Sharif, the senators were asked to identify their own personal mission statements before working as a group. Vice President Al-Sharif shared her mission of “working together for world peace,” as an example. The Senators followed her example and shared statements; Patrick Sudlow, junior class representative, said his mission was to “promote positive social change.”

After brainstorming ideas, the statement was completed at their meeting on Sept. 29 to include the ideas of the newly elected senators. The new mission statement is similar to last year’s in that it highlights the Senate’s goals to be the voice of every student while working for change on the campus. In this meeting the Electoral Governing Board was present to give a report on the voter turnout results for the latest election. At 10 percent voter turnout for the entire undergraduate population, EGB reported the best fall election season in recent ASUSF history. In ASUSF elections, major positions such as the executive board, are elected in the spring, resulting in a higher voter turnout than fall. With the publicity efforts of Corinne Hernandez, Hannah DeKay, Erick Irigoyen and the general EGB membership, elections continue to improve and grow each year.

Men’s basketball coach Rex Walters was the first administrator to be on the Senate agenda for the 2009-2010 school year. He shared his efforts to make USF proud of the basketball program again, and bring back the spirit seen “back in the day.” He also stressed the importance of the true student-athlete, putting school, work and future careers before basketball, unlike other universities where athletes are pressured to put sports first. “We’re going to be the true student-athlete,” Walters said, “Guys that when they leave USF, you’re not going to forget them. You won’t want to forget them.” He asked the assistance of the senate to get more students to the games, and applauded them on their efforts to boost school spirit this year.

With the first month of school behind them, ASUSF Senate is working this month on follow through with resolutions from last year. Two major changes to campus this fall– the extended hours of the Public Safety Shuttle and new commuter student lockers– are a direct result of last year’s efforts to represent student needs on campus. To ask questions about these initiatives to the Senate, email senate@usfca.edu, or attend one of the meetings held every Tuesday evening from 6-8 p.m. in UC 222.

The dinner shed light on the U.S. government-funded School of the Americas (SOA), a military training school for Latin American soldiers, renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) after a bill was passed to close SOA in 2001. Formerly housed in Panama since its founding in 1946, the school relocated to Fort Benning, Georgia in 1984. SOA Watch members gather annually to advocate for the shutdown of the school.

The U.S. began the school after WWII to enforce democracy among developing, third world Latin American countries.

Here at USF, club members actively support the closing of the school, including club President Patrick Sudlow, who plans to attend with nine other USF students the 2009 November Vigil. The vigil is the annual demonstration that has occurred since 1990 at the gate of Fort Benning.

Sudlow enlisted 10 students in the beginning of the semester to accompany him, and even got Superfund to cover $3,000 in travel expenses, with the exception that each attendee cover $200 individually. Sudlow, who will protest at the Vigil for the fourth time, planned the dinner in part to raise donations to cover the uncompensated expenses, which has interested at least five more students to go after the Superfund request was made, Sudlow said.

Junior Tam Nguyen is among the group of ten traveling to the protest, making it her third time attending. “I’m going because I’m renewing my commitment,” she said, “I feel strongly enough that [SOA] needs to be closed.”

Dinner guests watched the documentary film, “On the Line,” to get a complete sense of why SOA has been the center of controversy for years. Sudlow decided to screen the film because he said it would do a better job of depicting the SOA Watch’s cause, than if he were to make a formal presentation on it.  “A lot of people don’t know what the School of the Americas is,” Sudlow said.

According to the film, the SOA Watch was founded after the November 1989 murder in El Salvador of six Jesuits, their housekeeper and the housekeeper’s daughter, which was allegedly committed by SOA graduates. SOA Watch founder, Fr. Roy Bourgeois, initiated the movement in 1990, not knowing what he would uncover upon investigating the SOA.

Keynote speaker and senior Ivana Rosas informed guests that since its opening in 1946, the SOA has trained over 60,000 graduates in sniper training, psychological warfare, and interrogation tactics, in which graduates have gone off to induce war and oppress their own people under their country’s military regime.

Upon learning of the SOA in courses like Liberation Theology in El Salvador and the summer service-learning program in Nicaragua, Rosas was moved to join the SOA Watch and the protest. “I need to go, I need to act. I can’t just sit,” she said.

Senior Joeline Navarro attended the dinner with some knowledge of what the SOA entailed. She said the title of the institution is misleading, because “School of the Americas sounds like a positive thing.” After reading up on the SOA Watch’s intent to close down the school, Navarro said, “I was really surprised, the issue was so new to me. Now I feel inclined to know more.”

SOA graduates have generally targeted those working for the rights of the poor, only to be tortured, raped, and killed, or simply known to “disappear.”

After attending the three-day vigil in November, Sudlow said the SOA Watch organization at USF will host a week-long event in the spring, to elaborate more on torture and to “share what we learned.”

Meanwhile, Sudlow’s dinner outcome exceeded his expectations. “I thought only 50 [people] were coming,” he said, “I had to ask for more plates!”

This year’s honorary degree recipient Kjell Bondevik sat down with the Foghorn for an interview regarding his humanitarian efforts. Photo by Laura Plantholt/Foghorn

The University of San Francisco held its annual Mass of the Holy Spirit on Wednesday, Sept. 30 in St. Ignatius Church. Residents from all over San Francisco came together on this day. But this was an especially important ceremony this year, because it honored Kjell Magne Bondevik, the former prime minister of Norway.

The Mass of the Holy Spirit is a service that brings San Francisco’s academic and non-academic community together to celebrate the spirit of humanity, or as Rev. Stephen Privett, S.J, the president of USF said, our “common humanity, which we share with all people regardless of color, income, gender, or sexual orientation.” There was a deep focus on community and duty throughout the whole proceedings.

The mass began to the sound of violin, piano and choir, filling the bright and open church and encircling its participants. Members of several USF clubs, organizations, and athletic teams attended: Not for Sale, the St. Ignatius Institute, men and women’s basketball, baseball, tennis, and soccer, to name a few. Members of these organizations were asked to place symbols of their group on the altar, giving a sense of shared interests and support to observers.

Between the inspirational songs and readings, Privett preached about the injustices of our health care and prison systems, suggesting that they “focus on punishment and revenge rather than really protecting us.” He called upon “our responsibility to open the eyes of those blinded by nationalism, racism, etc.” and to “gather as one.” Privett’s speech touched on unity, because, he said, we are all of the same brotherhood/family, we must care for our weak, our sick and dying, our poor, and victims of injustice. The Jesuit mission and values were prominently portrayed in every significance of the mass.

It is because of his embodiment of this spirit that Bondevik received an honorary Doctor of Humane letters from the university. Privett spoke of him as one “who is clearly filled with God’s spirit, he is a peacemaker and a champion of human rights.” During his term as prime minister of Norway, Bondevik increased programs for health care and education. He also created a prosperous economy while focusing on protecting the environment.

In addition, Bondevik is highly commended for his actions to reduce the stigma of mental illness. He addressed publicly his own needs to take a leave of absence for depression, and argued to British Parliament that “mental illness should not be any more mysterious than a physical illness and that it is possible to recover.” Outside of his political career, he has promoted human rights, democracy, and inter-religious and intellectual dialogue by establishing the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights. He is involved in several global campaigns against social injustices.

As president of this organization, he traveled to China recently, to urge them to end the human rights violations in Burma. Bondevik also pledges humanitarian aid to war-ravaged Iraq. Privett said because of this commitment to “pursuing a global common good and for his capacity to integrate faith and reason in a life devoted to fashioning a more humane and just world for all” that USF honored Kjell Magne Bondevik with this degree.

Jahlectrick’s lead singer, USF alum Raja Iliya, perfomed at the first Jammin’ for Jutice concert. Money was raised for the Women’s Community Clinic on Hayes Street. Photo by Miranda Spears/Foghorn

People “rocked against rape” during the first annual Jammin’ for Justice last Saturday, a concert that spreads awareness about sexual violence and raises money. The money was raised for the Women’s Community Clinic, a clinic that provides impoverished women with basic needs like food and counseling for victims of sexual violence. The co-directors of the event were USF seniors Samantha Sheppard-Gonzales and Jenny Reed.

According to Sheppard-Gonzales, the concert was inspired by the alleged rapes that occured last year and the need to spread information about consequences of sexual violence. Reed said that she and Gonzales were planning this concert all summer and decided to raise money for this particular women’s clinic on Hayes Street because they have been a wonderful resource for women. Gonzales said that there is no specific goal for the amount of money to be raised.

The musicians that played at Jammin’ for Justice were USF students and local bands from San Francisco. Among them were Ghost Town Refugees, The Moonlight Orchestra and Travis Hayes and the 3-72’s. Alongside the musicians, Ashley Guevara, a senior exercise sports and science major, performed Zumba in front of the people that came to the concert and asked them to dance along with her.

According to Gonzales, the process of choosing the bands involved sending out an email to the USF community inviting people to perform at Jammin’ for Justice. Gonzales says that she and Reed checked the musicians’ lyrics to make sure there they did not have any inappropriate – in particular misogynistic – lyrics.

Musician Dennis Walker, a junior media studies major and member of Ghost Town Refugees, said that his band participated in Jammin’ for Justice because they like to do school events and be part of the camaraderie. He said that his band’s lyrics are empowering to women because they are “essentially peaceful people and non-violent, which is what is our band rotates around.”

Jamie Trinh, a senior nursing major and author of the poem “Earthquake,” which she read at the concert, said that she got inspiration for her poem during April of last year during Sexual Assault Awareness Week. She was affected by people coming together after the rape allegations.

Alum Maro Guevara and senior Samantha Sheppard-Gonzales (one of the event’s organizers) relax and enjoy the Jammin’ for Justice concert. Photo by Miranda Spears/Foghorn

Jack O’Shaughnessy, a sophomore biology major, said during the concert that it was “amazing, but it doesn’t seem like many people are coming.” When asked why he came to the concert, Shaughnessy said “Because I love being with music and people and I obviously support the cause.”

Chris Hanson, a sophomore psychology major, said, “All the bands have a lot of energy and good performances.” When asked if he learned more about sexual violence and prevention after he came to the concert, he said, “Definitely, there was a speaker a while ago and a lot of people came out to support it. [It] tells you that many people are against sexual assault.”

Host Julie Henderson said of her experience emceeing for Jammin’ for Justice, “It is always renewing and inspiring to bring people together for a cause that aims to empower women and restore balance to what has become a very fragmented and aggressive society.” She added that, besides raising money for the women’s community clinic, the concert “sets a precedent for future signature events that will ideally incorporate a similar social justice theme. Everyone involved in this benefit created a safe space, within which an important dialogue can be nurtured and developed with the intent of creating permanent and positive social change.”

Bon Appetit has been charging students 35 cents per container to cut down on waste. These proceeds will benefit the Garden Project. Illustration by Elizabeth Brown

Having a demanding academic schedule leaves many with little time to think of how to contribute back to Mother Earth. Well, have no fear, Holly Winslow is here, saving the world with one eco-friendly container at a time. Winslow,  director of Bon Appetit at USF, has decided to make it her mission to help the campus community become more eco-friendly.

Winslow started last semester by charging a 35 cent fee for the to-go containers in the cafeteria. As of last fall, there was an excessive use of to-go containers, causing a harmful waste of the earth’s resources. To decrease this, Winslow decided to start charging for the containers the following semester. It worked. The use to-go containers decreased by 50%. The money raised from the 35 cent fees—a total of $1,000 dollars—is to be donated the Garden Project. Winslow decided to donate the money to the Garden Project because of her goal to maintain sustainable resources.

Melinda Stone, head of the Garden Project, has yet to receive the funds, but, plans on allocating the capital to a Zip Car account, so that the project group can pick up manure and other large necessities for the garden. Allocations were also made for seeds and a new drip irrigation system. The drip irrigation system will allow for a higher yield throughout the entire garden. The Garden Project has also invested money into a public relations campaign for a market stand which will open Oct. 1 outside of Kalmanovitz hall every Thursday from 10-12 p.m.

When inquiring about students’ thoughts on the new eco-friendly containers, freshman Gabi Dounder said, “I’ve noticed [the charge] and I think it’s ridiculous when tuition is already overpriced. If they want money for the Garden Project, there are other ways to get it.”  While some students share the same view as Dounder, many are unaware of the charge. Freshman Steven Yang is one of them. “I haven’t really paid attention [to the price increase], but it’s only 35 cents so I don’t really care either way,” he said.

From bitter to unaware about the situation, Winslow’s decision to make this school a more eco-friendly place will not go unnoticed. As of next month Bon Appetit will be rolling out their new eco-shells. The eco-friendly to-go containers can last up to 4,000 washes equating to around a two year life span for the average student. You can ask to get your meal to-go in one of these containers and the chefs will gladly make the accommodations. Then once you are done with the soiled container, simply return it  and in exchange you receive an eco-key. The key is presented next and the cycle thus repeats itself. The only catch is that it will cost 10 dollars, which is the same unit price Bon Appetit pays for the containers. However, the eco-friendly containers will pay for its self in about two weeks considering the 35 cent charge for a standard to-go container.