Hello and welcome to update news. Im liz olveda. And im jessica melcher. Thanks for joining us. Black History Month is over and it ended with a bit of a controversy on campus. An opinion piece in the spartan daily questioned whether the annual event is redundant. Update News ReporterVictor Guzman is live on campus with a recap of the uproar that followed. This is the article that upset many on this campus. And yesterday a large crowd gathered at the smithcarlos statues to express their feelings. Nat sound black and im proud the black thursday rally at the statues of tommy smith and john carlos had already been planned before the offending article was published some demonstrators held the article as they silently marched through the campus. And it was at the statues where they loudly voiced their objections. Emerald green, African American student leader we all know we have a library, Martin Luther king library, right . Its been here since 2003. Its 2013 now, thats a ten yearten year time gap, time gap from that right . And its black History Month. Why hasnt the university celebrated it . African american student leaders at the rally got their message across about what they want from the university. Brea watson, African American student leader as a future san jose state unviersity alumni, i encourage every person out here regardless of gender, race, class, cree, or color to never stop advocating for the rights and liberties that are bestowed upon you, because if you dont stand for something, youll fall for anything. Other speakers said they are not attacking freespeech but celebrating African American history and culture. Spartan daily writer vincent ei wrote the article black History Month is redundant. Vincent ei, journalism senior i put in the article that yknow, i dont really have a problem with black History Month, or i never did until i saw this collection of tweets. They were saying black History Month is ununjust just because they have one to themselves. Not to offend anybody, its just my thoughts thats it. Fellow spartan daily reporter, christiana cobb, wrote a rebuttal to vincents article. Christiana cobb, journalism i mean in terms of talking about black History Month i guess i could go on and on about it, because it means so much to me as an African American student and my family. It was a peaceful rally and organizers were happy with the turnout. Daniel harrislucas Public Relations junior im proud of the turnout, i worked really hard getting different organizations and different cultures to come out. If anything many on this campus are saying that what happened has begun a discussion about African American issues and freespeech. Hopefully the discussion will continue. Live on campus, Victor Guzman. Update news. New federal budget cuts worth onepointtwo trillion dollars are now in effect because politicians missed the deadline to avoid it. Update news sean wince reports on how this could affect san jose state. San Jose State UniversityOfficials SayFinancial Aid and low income students may be hit the hardest by the budget cuts. But really, our most needy students. Those who come from families who cannot afford to put a penny toward their education. The automatic budget cuts are called the federal sequester. They went into effect friday. According to the white house, california could lose eightysevenpointsix Million Dollars for education. As many as twelve hundred teachers could lose their jobs. Threehundred twenty schools could lose federal funding. And ninetysix hundred lowincome College Students could see reductions in Financial Aid. Ive never heard about this. And i didnt know that what a huge impact it has on us and on our schools. So yeah, it definitely did surprise me. I was just shocked. Congress had almost two years to create an alternative that wouldnt hurt the economy. That didnt happen, and now we have the sequester. Well who knows how its gonna hit us, but its gonna hit us, and i dont think theres pretty much a big thing we can do about it. Harris urges students to stay informed about the issues. What young people do today and think today is going to impact the next generation. So if theyre not paying attention today, what is gonna be left for their children and grandchildren . San jose state Officials Say the sequester wont result in canceled classes. On campus, sean wince for update news. San jose state has two swimming pools. The biggest of the two needs some serious renovation. Update News Reporter kate loewen tells us what has to be done. Kate most pools require swimmers to walk, not run. At the san jose state aquatic center, its watch your step. Amanda nguyen i i step on it sometimes when i get near the shallow area, you can feel the pieces coming off too. Kate a amanda is talking about the uneven pool surfaces. The aquatic center, built in 1989, is facing aging wear issues that are beyond routine and periodic maintenance fixes. Scott bokker weve got the plaster problem, where the plaster is delaminated from the concrete shell. Its creating some spots at the bottom of the pool where people could possibly cut themselves, but more than anything its unsightly. The immediate concrete decking around the pool itself is starting to crack and break where the depth markers are. Kate bok bokker says the pool has to be replastered. Sjsu Vice President bill nance told me the school will decide by summer what will be the most economical solution. Theres also a possibilty of building a brand new pool for the new recreation center. Ryan morgado i it is one of the biggest outdoor pools in all of the csu system, so thats pretty impressive in of itself. Amanda i i like to swim, so i dont want to feel particles in my feet every time i swim. Kate the cost of renovating the pool is an estimated 500,000. Reporting on campus from the aquatic center, im kate loewen for update news. Theres a new club on campus thats causing a stir. I went off campus to learn more and lets just say this club has started with a bang. The firearm social club began this year. Contrary to popular belief, this club believes it handles guns in a responsible way. Hopefully by advocating safe handling practices for firearms and proper technique, we can change some of the bad thoughts associated with guns in general. Members meet to review gun safety. Spread awareness and create interest. Ive been shooting my entire life so having the opportunity to share that with other san jose state students is beneficial to all of us. Though many are skeptical, this club focuses on the social aspect that this is a group for people to meet and participate in this sport they love. In the university, theres a lot of people who are traditionally antifirearms antigun. They think were all crazy yahoos or maybe rednecks and so with any luck we can take them out there, we can show them what it is that we do and maybe show them that its a lot of fun and that it can be done safely and responsibly. The firearm social club meets on the first thursday of every month and is open to anyone who wants to learn more or join in on this opportunity. Time is running out for one of the largest homeless encampments in san jose. I visited the encampmentheres what i found. This homeless tent city has sprung up in plain view near taylor and spring streetsunder the flight path approach to san jose airport. Usually, homeless encampments are hidden away underneath freeway overpasses or in isolated brush areas. But not this one. This problem arose when caltrans decided to clean up the homeless area by the Guadalupe Park river the homeless from that cleanup flocked to this vacant area because of the acres of open space. Due to all the caltrans cleanups, which they do on a frequent basis, it causes everyone to move around. This time its getting serious, theyve done some massive cleanups which has forced everybody to this location where everybodys. Theres plenty of room. The tent city is on city property. The city says it will force the homeless campers out of the area and remove the tents, leftover items and garbage because it poses a health risk. The total cost of the clearing and cleaning is estimated at about 40,000. 00. It was growing so quickly and we wanted to make sure we had an appropriate response to balance the needs of the community, the danger to the environment, and making sure that the people who are homeless and in that encampment get the services and the support they needed. The city of san jose is hoping that social Service Agencies can find temporary housing for these 75100 displaced homeless individuals. After the cleanup, the city will rely on its already understaffed police force to patrol the area to discourage further homeless settlement. The larger an encampment gets, the more risk thats created for everyone. The official clean up is scheduled for next friday, march 8th. Some san jose state students have launched a campaign to hopefully end bullying. Update News Reporter christian ceaser talked to some victims of bullying. It was called sit down, speak up. An Awarness Campaign about bullying by the journalism department. The event at tower hall included a showing of the critically acclaimed documentary bully. Nat after the film, there was a discussion pannel featuring people who have been bullied. Dave ruth says he dropped out of high school because of bullying. Im trying to get my ged now but, bullying is something that affects you forever keeps going and going. I have a thirteen year old and fourteen year old at home who ask me now to help them with homework and i cant. Sit down, speak ups main goal is to combat cyber bullling. A ane mayor says her daughter amanda committed suicide because of Cyber Bullying there were over 35 hundred Text Messages on her cellphone and i had no idea what they were saying. It wasnt until i saw her suicide note that it said that they called her a lesbian, a bisexual, that she was pregnant, and that she had aids and was spreading it, and for a sixteen year old, thats way to much for someone to handle. Student pr coordinator brea watt says the outreach focus was on schools to prevent such things. During our month Long Campaign we targeted middle schools because this is the age where students are developing the most awkwardness and really develop your character sit down, speak outs pledge is to wish away bulling. They will be donating these signs to dwight bental hall to bring awareness to campus. From tower hall, im christian ceaser, update news. Gun buybacks are becoming very successful. Update News Reporter saushe young attended one of these buybacks in East Palo Alto. So many people showed up for East Palo Altos gun buyback that it even caused a traffic jam with cars lined up and down university avenue, the gun buyback was nothing less than a success. More than fiftythousanddolllars were given in exchange for firearms. East palo alto and Menlo Park Police anonymously collected 355 guns. This included 111 hand guns, 227 rifles or shot guns and 11 assault weapons. Officers checked car trunks for guns and also checked serial numbers to make sure no guns were stolen. I think its a great opportunity to get more weapons off the street. I had too many weapons in my home, i have kids at home, and i wanted to get them off the street. Protect our children founders, roger lee and james cook, raised the money for the buyback. You have this feeling after you see one of those shootings, especially the one in connecticut, this kind of helplessness and your like what i can do . Protect our children showed us that anyone can do something and really be effective with it. Menlo park assemblyman Richard Gordon and san mateo congresswoman Jackie Speier participated speier, who was shot in the peoples temple tragedy thirtyfive years ago, is a strong supporter of gun control. Theres a risk associated with having guns in your home, those who want to have guns in their house have a right to but those who no not it is a one fatal death that can be prevented. The event had to end earlier than expected because the money to buy back guns ran out. P people waiting in the city hall parking lot were given vouchers for another buyback event. In East Palo Alto this is saushe young, update news. San jose state students are turning up the heat and creating works of art in this class. More when we come back. But first we asked students how the sequester affects them. The capitalist society was built on the hands of the African American man and woman. So we basically. We were. As slaves we basically boosted the American Economy race and culture is really important and coming from san jose state were a very diverse campus aand its a good time for us to get to know eachothers culture and respect eachothers cultrures plus you learn a lot of things about different people that you never really thought you would know diversity is very important for our society and our community and i think the more awareness that you can have as to what the backgrounds are of different people it will help you grow as a person and develop into a more mature working relationship i dont see any other way for us to learn about eachother and understand. And like. What Cultural Values we all have that we may share. The current controversy of gun control in america sparked a heated discussion on sjsus campus. Gun control and Race Relations were the focus of discussion this week for the associated students. Tuesday was the First Anniversary of the shooting of trayvon martin, who was killed by a Neighborhood Watch guard. Its important because you dont see anybody else getting killed but marginalized communities. Im dominicano, black and native american and i dont see white people being killed like were being killed. The panel addressed the issues of the abuse of authority and police brutality. Yates explained that more than 40 of gun sales in the United States are done without a background check. Since the beginning of the semester, students, faculty and staff have been eligible for shooteroncampus training. This is a Police Training video of what could happen if a person with a weapon comes on campus. This form of training became highly requested after the shooting in newtown, connecticut. Its called alice,for alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate. Participants learn what to do should a gunman come on campus. Nothing can guarantee your safety and certainly this program cannot guarantee it, but what it can do is increase your chances of surviving. Captain belcastro says the seminar is not intended to show how to use a weapon and there is no need to be physically fit. The next Training Exercise will be for the journalism department. That will take place in Dwight Bentel hall on march 5th. And now we go to monday reynolds for arts and entertainment. Thanks liz and jessica. Here is what is going on in arts and entertaiment. Its one of the hottest classes on campus, but most students havent even heard of it. Update News Reporter tracy hinson has an inside look. A 2,150 degree roaring furnace, a few long metal straws, and a glory oven are all common sights for san jose state glass blowing students. Glass is one of those things that is totally addicting, and once you learn how to blow glass you dont want to stop. Glass blowing is a team effort. The main artist, the gaffer, takes the bench and shaped the glass. The assistant pulls glass from the furnace and keeps it warm using the glory oven. It may look tough, but glass blowing isnt just for art students. I see anywhere from nursing majors to history majors, lot of different engineering majors and then of course we have Industrial Design and interior design. The class has been around for nearly half a century, and enrollment is open. The glass blowers are from different majors, but they all have one College Experience in common. I get burned all the time. Little burns and cuts are a signature of the trade. And its part of the deal. If youre going to go fishing youre going to get splashed. If youre playing with fire youre going to get burned. Im wearing a kevlar heat resistant jacket and eye glass protection here in the glass blowing studio at san jose state. This equipment helps keep students protected from the 1,000 degree molten glass. In the san jose glass studio. Im tracy hinson update news. San francisco celebrated the arrival of the year of the snake last weekend at the Chinese New Year parade. Local schools, businesses, and chinese cultural groups marched from Market Street to union square and back to chinatown with the sounds of firecrackers and beating drums. San francisco has hosted an annual Chinese New Year parade since the eighteen sixties. Students dressed for success for the career and internship fair to prepare themselves for what to expect after college. Sjsu held the fair in the event center on tuesday. And it featured numerous booths from different companies. All were there to educate students about the job market while preparing them for the hiring process theyll be facing in the coming years. I feel like it gets me some experience in talking to employers, how to conduct a kind of, like, facetoface interview type thing. Just getting to know other companies. And this was no small event. The expo drew in large crowds of students who formed long lines to share their resumes with corporate representatives. The wide variety of Companies Included wellknown names like target. Cisco. Hp. Walgreens. And even challenge butter. For most College Students a Job Interview is a stressful experience but it can be even more stressful for students who are members of the Lgbt Community. Sociology major Lindsey Young says she feels san jose state is a safe campus for gay students. But she has her doubts the job market will be as welcoming. Lindsey young i just interviewed for a position and i didnt want to tell them im bisexual so i said i was a straight ally which means im a supporter of lgbt people instead of actually saying im lgbt. A sjsu Job Development specialist says in 29 states it is legal to be fired because of Sexual Orientation and some students worry what will happen if they come out. Daniel newell so when students who are lgbtq go into the workforce and accept a job offer in another state specially a conservative state like texas certain parts of texas especially its going to be a shock and in some case unsafe. Newell says coming out at work has its pros and cons. He says there may be less stress because colleagues know but there can also be terminations and coworkers treating you differently. S so should Sexual Orientation be discussed in Job Interviews . Wiggsy sivertsenif i if i were applying for job their id ask them up front i noticed in your documentation in terms of Nondiscrimination Policy you dont refer to the Lgbt Community can you talk to me a little bit about why that. One student says he will always be up front in Job Interviews and say he is gay. Nicholas chu in a field where basically the idea is to help people and to tell people i came from this place i came for these struggles and ive over come them its important to say what i am and who i am i doubt i would slip it in i would make it my focal point. Everyone agreed that the main goal was finding employment at a decent wage. The lgbt students we talked to said they will definitely be exhausting all options at gay friendly employers first. A couple times a semester the doors of Spartan Complex twonineteen are open to the public for free. Spx twonineteen is the sjsu studio dance theater. The Dance Department puts on the afternoon performances to showcase and test student work. The choreography class is tasked with creating a dance and performing it for a Live Audience in only a few weeks time. We were assigned a choreo project where we had to use different shapes and different movement and find interesting and unique ways to get into these different shapes, so we started with distorted shapes and went to low level, one legged , and then symmetrical. For a list of performances check out the sjsu dance website. It was called around the world in eighty days on the sjsu campus this week. The associated students invited cutural organizations to set up booths by the smithcarlos statues. The booths were interactive so participants learned about the booths culture. When you visit at least three different booths youll learn something. Participate, theyll stamp you with a different looking passport stamp. Once you have at least three you can head over to our food table. Boulevard of languages booth translated phrases and words in a language of the students choice. About two hundred fifty people attended the day long event. Cinequest Film Festival is now underway. Its in its 23rd year of production. Opening night was tuesday at the san Jose California theatre. Event goers lined up early to see filmmakers, innovators, and actors all on the red carpet giving their interviews. I want us all to live the first film shown at the festival was ginger and rosa directed by sally potter. The festival will be showing all five hundered of its films. It runs through march 10th. For more information visit www. Cinequest. Org there is a different type of art exhibit currently underway on the second floor of the king library. Palo alto artist judy gettelsun calls her collection up so close. She says she gets her inspiration from her proximity to people. Animals. Or just about anything. The idea of being so close to something is that the intersection between two beings, myself and another human, myself and another animal or. Thats where creativity is, thats where life is. So up so close is like how close can i get to you and at what point do we spark creativity gettelsun paintings will continue to be featured in the library through march 7th. And thats all we have for arts and entertainment. Back to you jessica and liz. Thanks monday. Spartans softball is relying on their best hitter to swing their way to the top of the conference. But before that we asked san jose state students whether it was still relevant to dedicate a month to a specific culture. Its pretty ridiculous, i mean ive been going to school for six years now, and theres a lot of budget cuts already, so i cant really imagine what its about to be like in the future. Pretty much we are the next generation of politicians, policeman, firemen, teachers, and if your gonna cut that, your making a cut to america, in my opinion. It doesnt affect me too much, however if i ever wanted to come to school or for students that are still here, its definitely gonna require them to be more resourceful. I feel really iffy about the sequester, theres already enough cuts already, especially at this school, just the overall affect as students, it will probably take us longer to graduate, less resources. It just has me worried. And now we go to ryan silapan for more on sports. Ryan . Thanks ladies. Heres what we have going on this week. Spartan softball player markesha collins is putting up video game numbers this season. The senior outfielder started playing the game at the age of nine, and she has more than made up for lost time. Collins has already surpassed her season high for home runs with five in just sixteen games. She needs only four more runs batted in to surpass her careerhigh in rbis for a season. Collins has a teamhigh batting average of. 489. This stat line makes this her best start to a season in the four years she has played for sjsu. collins sot i started playing softball when i was nine. My mome played when she was younger so she wanted me and my sisters to play so one day she saw a softball sign and signed us up so ive been playing ever since. Collins was a late bloomer to the sport of softball, she didnt Start Playing competitively until her freshmen year of high school. She attended a softball camp at sjsu during her senior year of high school and she committed that same weekend to play for the spartans. collins sot it if collins can stay hot at the plate chances are good she will receive all western athletic conference honors for her first time ever. This week, we are featuring a star player on the spartan ladies softball team. Sjsu senior pitcher Amanda Pridmore was recognized this past week as the western athletic conference pitcher of the week. She posted a pointnineone earned run average with twentyfive strikeouts. Well i think, um, over the years what increases is your knowledge of the game and like your knowledge of like how to work with other teammates and i think that this year since ive had 5 years to know the game and learn the game i think that im more teamoriented than i was when i first started. So it just takes on takes on that it takes that time to get that experience. Sjsu softball is away on a long road trip but will return home on march twentysecond to take on utah state. Ten spartans from the sjsu swim and dive team have advanced to the wac conference finals. Amy kilby and Jessica Holden will represent the diving team in the finals while amy friedhoff, michelle berry, and six others will represent the swim team in the finals of their events. The wac conference championships wrap up march second with those who qualify moving on to the ncaa championships. The san jose state Womens Water Polo Team continues to rank amongst the best in america. The spartans are currently ranked tenth in the nation. The spartans split four matches this past weekend at the uc irvine invitational, netting wins against Csu Bakersfield and uc santa barbara, while falling to hawaii and loyola marymount. Both are ranked in the top 13 in the nation. Sjsu is currently tied for tenth in the nation with indiana. The spartans will start conference play march ninth on the road against secondranked stanford. Thatll do it for sports. Ladies back to you. Thatll do it for all of us at update news. Be sure to check us out on facebook by searching sjsu update news. See you next week. A deadly disease. I was one of them. After consulting with my doctor, i received effective treatment i needed. My disease was obesity please join the Obesity Action Coalition to acknowledge obesity as a disease visit obesity action dot org to sign an open letter pledging your support