rent_cast_party
the void so I saw the show, last night
and went to the Bemis for the cast party

the best compliment of my life...
standing in line for my 5th vodka-cran, right behind the guy who played "Angel"
and he turned around, grabbed my arm, and said,
"I love your hair."
000426
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somebody Blackout: No lights no action by Sue Levin Classes were canceled, computers went down, buildings
were closed and elevators across campus stopped and trapped students inside, as a major power
outage struck SF State Tuesday. The blackout -- which occurred at 12:22 p.m. -- forced hundreds
of students out of dark classrooms causing many to spill into Malcolm X Plaza. In addition, the
student center shut down causing the graduate job fair to end two hours early. And in the library,
employees searched each backpack by hand as students left. The power outage was caused by a
fuse that blew at a Pacific Gas & Electric substation, according to PG&E spokesman Francisco
Rojas. It caused a disturbance that went as far as Daly City. Power was restored at approximately
2:10 p.m. For the two hours the power was out, electrical machinery, including elevators, came to a
screeching halt. The outage caused elevators in the humanities building, Burk Hall, arts and industry
building and psychology to stop running causing many students to be trapped inside, according to
Amalia Borja, University Police Department spokeswoman. The elevators didn't malfunction, they
simply stopped due to the power outage, Borja said. The elevators on campus are not powered by
generators. There were no reports of people trapped in elevators in the residence halls or the new
administration building, Borja said. It took an elevator technician and a UPD officer 45 minutes to
free six students trapped inside an elevator in Burk Hall. The officials were working to open a latch
used in emergency situations, that can be activated to open the main doors. During the rescue, Dennis
Bertaud of HI Tech Elevators, released what is known as "the California latch." Amy Yarbrough ,
who was trapped for 20 minutes in an elevator in the humanities building, described her ordeal as
confusing and scary. "I really didn't know what had happened," she said. "It was the kind of thing you
see on TV. I just kept looking at my watch the whole time." Yarbrough, who was trapped with one
other man said she could barely hear her rescuers at the other end of the intercom, which she used to
communicate with UPD. "It was dark, with only one little light, an intercom and a phone," she said.
"We kept yelling into the intercom 'We're in here,' but we couldn't figure out if they could hear us."
During her time inside the elevator Yarbrough said she wasn't that nervous, but it was worse when
she got out because of the number of people watching. Yarbrough doesn't think she will be riding the
elevators again any time soon. She and her fellow elevator rider were finally released by a UPD
officer, who managed to pry the doors open with a crowbar. Other students who weren't trapped in
an elevator, found the outage to be an inconvenience in their daily routines. "I was almost sure it was
because of the construction," said Sam Largo, one of the hundreds of students locked out of the
student center. "I can't get food now, and I'm starving." Because the day was so hot, Robbie Cruz, a
bookstore employee, wasn't looking forward to spending time outside. "I'd rather be in there (the
bookstore), at least it's cool." Another student said his plans for reading were botched by the
blackout. "I was going to study, but now I guess I won't," said Hazen Al-Basha, a graduate student.
According to PG&E the last power outage to hit campus was Aug. 10.

*

An ounce of prevention by Katherine McClain Over the past two years, Joseph Thomas has stolen
approximately $30,000 worth of bikes from SF State campus to support his rock cocaine habit,
according to the University Police Department. Thomas was arrested six times over the past two
years by the UPD. He has a warrant out for his arrest and has been ordered to stay off campus by
the UPD. Unfortunately he still preys on students' property. "He doesn't come around as much as he
used to," said Lt. Amalia Borja spokeswoman for the UPD. "This year he was arrested three times,
so he hasn't had much success stealing bikes from SF State recently." It's people like Thomas that
make crime prevention a necessity. And it's crimes like bike theft that plague students the most at SF
State. As part of making students aware of how to protect themselves, the UPD has designated
October as Crime Prevention Month. Although reported crime on campus is down an average of 23
percent from last year, larceny theft which includes bikes, backpacks and wallets, has stayed about
the same since 1994. Larceny theft has the highest number of reports, accounting for 78 percent of
crime at SF State. With bike theft accounting for 17 percent of crime on campus for 1996, Borja
stressed the fact that students should be cautious locking their bikes up or should use the Bike Barn.
Bike thefts are down compared to recent years, according to the UPD, because of the Bike Barn
and the UPD's increase in parking officers that patrol SF State parking lots. "It started out slow, but
compared to last year the number of people using the Bike Barn has quadrupled," said Dave
Urbiztondo, Bike Barn operator. "We have about 150 bikes stored in here throughout the day." The
Bike Barn's hours are convenient for students, since it's open from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday
through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday. It is free and is located near Lot 6 under the
Gymnasium. "I've been using the Bike Barn since last semester and it's a great idea," said Susan
Gisleson, an English major. "I only wish they would set up another area like the Bike Barn because
there aren't enough bike racks on campus and students end up using handrails even though UPD
doesn't like us to." Besides using the Bike Barn, nothing beats a good lock, said Sgt. Jerry Trobaugh,
a detective with the UPD. "Try to avoid using chains or cables because they're easy to cut,"
Trobaugh said. "It's best to use a U-Lock that isn't too wide and that has a lock and key mechanism
in the middle of the bar instead of at one end. "Also make sure the lock doesn't touch the ground
because it gives a thief the opportunity to smash the lock with a hammer against the pavement,"
Trobaugh said. Besides bike theft, students, faculty and staff of SF State are the victims of reported
property crimes totaling more than $325,000 annually, according to the Department of Justice. A
program called Operation Identification could help students recover their stolen property. Operation
Identification helps police identify the owner of a stereo or bike by engraving the owner's driver's
license number on the bottom of the object. The UPD will loan the engraver out to students for a
24-hour period in exchange for the student's school identification card. "This makes it so easy to
track a person down and give them back their property," Trobaugh said. "Any police station can
look up a driver's license and call the person." Don't put your Social Security number on the items
because they can't trace items back to the owners using Social Security numbers. It's best to put a
driver's license number next to the serial number on a bike, stereo or camera, said law enforcement
officials at the UPD. Unfortunately, there's no way to engrave a driver's license number on a
backpack. Another way to save yourself some hassle is to put your name on the sides of your books.
The UPD also recommends not letting your backpack out of your sight. One student recently had
their backpack stolen after the student fell asleep in the library. "Students have had their backpacks
stolen off the backs of their chairs while they were sitting in the library or student union," Trobaugh
said. "We can't emphasis enough that people should not leave their belongings unattended for any
length of time." Parking a car is obviously one of those situations when a person leaves their property
unattended for long stretches. According to the Department of Justice, a car is five times more likely
to be stolen from an unattended lot than from the street or an attended lot. In the United States,
motor vehicles are stolen at a rate of one every minute, according to statistics compiled by the FBI.
Prime targets are late model cars or sporty high powered models. Of the automobiles stolen, 80
percent had been left unlocked and 40 percent of those had the keys left in the ignition. Campus car
thefts are on the rise, with 36 cars stolen so far this year, compared to 40 cars stolen for all of last
year. This is still not as high as 1993 when 93 cars were stolen and 1994 when 50 cars were stolen.
The attorneys general's office on crime prevention recommends turning wheels sharply toward the
curb when parking, making it extra difficult for thieves to tow your car. Also, make sure vent and side
wing windows are shut tight since car thieves have a much easier time stealing a car when these
windows are left open. In the areas surrounding campus, Junipero Serra, Lake Merced Boulevard
and 19th Avenue are hit hardest by vehicle thefts and vehicle burglaries, according to the UPD. "Try
to park in a well-lit area," Borja said. "Try to avoid Junipero Serra especially at night because of the
poor lighting." Especially worrisome to some students are the poor lighting and the dark corners of
the parking garage when they walk to their cars at night. "I think more lights need to be put in the
garage and on North State Drive," Helen Jackson said. She and a friend discussed using the escort
service to get to their car in the parking garage. The program Campus Alliance for a Risk-Free
Environment is an escort service operated by the UPD. "The only complaint we've had about the
escort service is that it can take awhile to get an escort to a student during peak hours between 9
p.m. and 10 p.m.," Borja said. The service, which operates from dark until midnight, usually gets
around 20 to 25 calls a night, Monday through Thursday. The CARE phone number is 338-7200.
The program, which has been in existence for three years, is staffed by students who pass a thorough
background check and a fingerprint screening.

*

JEPET a nightmare by Nesreen Khashan Forty percent of students who take the essay exam
required for graduation will fail, many of them during what they think will be their last semester of
college. According to Deborah Swanson, the coordinator for the Junior English Proficiency Essay
Test, approximately 40 percent of students fail the exam every year. Swanson was unable to release
specific figures to the Golden Gater due to administrative responsibilities. The JEPET is given in a
supervised classroom. Students have one hour to write an essay on an assigned topic. Those who fail
must take English 414, Elements of Writing, to meet the writing requirement needed for graduation.
The JEPET may only be taken once. In 1976 the California State University system established the
Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement throughout its 23 campuses to ensure that graduates have
basic writing skills. Individual campuses were given leeway with developing programs to satisfy the
requirement. SF State implemented the JEPET and English 414 to comply with the program. SF
State faculty who grade the JEPET look for well-organized, detailed essays. Clear sentence structure
is central to passing the test. Essays are read and scored by two different faculty members. To
prevent bias, readers are not allowed to see the score given by another reader. A split decision
requires that a third reader be brought in to evaluate the essay. If there is still disagreement over
whether or not the essay should pass, the grading process begins again with new readers. JEPET
administrators recommend that students take the test after completing second year composition and
as soon as they've completed 80 units. A common complaint made by students who wait until their
senior year to take the JEPET, then failed it, is that the requirement has delayed their graduation a
semester or more. Senior Jaime Yebra was scheduled to graduate in fall 1997 before he took the
JEPET this summer. Now he's enrolled in English 414. "It's a redundant class," Yebra said. "If
anything it's going way back to the basics. I haven't learned anything new so far." First year
composition teaches writing principals that students should know to pass the JEPET. Composition
lecturer Lorrie Digiampietro said "exactly the same criteria that is used in grading essays in first year
English composition is used in evaluating JEPET essays." Arthur Schiel, a senior majoring in
vocational education, took the JEPET on Sept. 21. He said he probably didn't pass the exam due to
the test's time limit. "The way it's handled you don't have the opportunity to rewrite and make
changes," Schiel said. "I think it should be set up to allow students to make a rough draft."
Digiampietro suggested that the high failure rate of JEPET might be attributed to English as a second
language and bilingual students who have difficulty producing a passing essay within an hour. Mark
Schleunes teaches one session of English 414 this semester. He said ESL and bilingual students are at
a disadvantage to native-English speakers when taking the JEPET because of time constraints. "I
think that the composition department should increase the time to an hour and a half and I think that
they should conduct studies on the ESL population to find out whether limiting time is discriminatory,"
Schleunes said. The composition department has experimented with two hour time intervals in the
past on students in first or second year composition courses. These studies did not distinguish
between bilingual or ESL students and native-English speakers. "They tested in my 214 class," said
composition lecturer Susan Mallet. "Those who had two hours actually did worse." Schleunes added
that many students fail the JEPET because they've taken first and second year composition courses at
junior colleges. Students who are bilingual and have taken these courses at junior colleges are
especially at a disadvantage. "Junior college English departments emphasize different styles of writing,
not necessarily expository writing or academically oriented writing, which is what the JEPET is
testing," Schleunes said. "I also don't think their requirements are as strict." The Composition
Department sends letters to students that may benefit from going on the ESL path of instruction.
Students on this path may take English 410 or 411 instead of taking the JEPET or English 414. Both
English 410 and 411 are equivalent to English 414, except that these classes emphasize the needs of
students who are learning English as a second language. Deborah vanDommelen, advisor to bilingual
students, offers suggestions for meeting the graduation requirement to bilingual students who fail the
JEPET. "The difference between ESL students and bilingual students has a lot to do with how
students identify themselves," vanDommelen said. "Many students who take the JEPET have never
taken an ESL class. It doesn't seem like a reasonable option to take the JEPET because at junior
colleges they've always been with native speakers." Since the CSU system doesn't set guidelines for
fulfilling the GWAR, all 23 campuses implement different policies, identify the requirement differently,
and have different pass and fail rates. Students at Fresno State have the option of taking the Upper
Division Writing Exam or taking an upper-division English class instead. The upper-division English
class is required only after students have failed the UDWE twice. The UDWE consists of two 45
minute written exams and one multiple choice exam. Sixty percent of students who take the UDWE
on either the first or second attempt pass according to Fresno State Test Officer William Stock.
Stock added that 15 to 25 percent of students take the UDWE twice, most of whom fail the second
time around, resulting in lowering the overall pass and fail rate. San Jose State requires that students
pass their essay exam equivalent, The Writing Skills Test, before enrolling in a required
upper-division English course tailored to a student's major. Students who fail the WST after two
attempts are required to take a remedial English course before enrolling in the required upper-division
English course. The test includes an essay exam that students have an hour to complete, coupled with
a multiple-choice exam. According to San Jose State Testing Coordinator Bruce Wilson, 75 percent
of students who take the WST pass on their first attempt. "It's difficult to give a clear-cut answer to
the differences in pass rates," Wilson said. "We don't give the same test (as SF State). Your essay
topics may be completely different than ours. It might require more analytical thinking. We could also
talk about the different populations." SF State students who fail the JEPET are entitled to advising
sessions to discuss their essays. "I failed the JEPET and went to counseling," said Scott Nadell, a
senior majoring in psychology. "I didn't get a logical reason to why I failed, it was a roundabout
reason about not expanding enough on sentence structure. My punctuation, grammar and mechanics
were OK." Nadell is taking English 414 this semester. He said another problem with the test was the
time limit. In English 414 he is given two weeks to turn in an essay assignment while during the
JEPET he was required to complete an essay in an hour. Lin Yuan, a biochemistry senior taking
English 414, is a bilingual student taking the native path of instruction. Yuan said that she knew she
was going to fail the JEPET going in and wishes that she had the option to bypass the exam by going
straight into English 414. "Maybe we should make the JEPET a volunteer program," Yuan said. "I
feel like the school just wants to make $20 from everybody. On a certain level you know yourself --
if you know that you want to take the class you should be able to take it without JEPET."

*

Heat and tempers soar on Muni by Craig Schmalz Passengers weren't the only ones feeling the heat
on Tuesday; Muni was suffering from heat exhaustion also. "The machines aren't used to the heat,"
said Roland Barrios, a Muni driver for 16 years. According to Barrios, brakes were especially a
problem. "When temperatures rise, brakes can melt down because of the friction," he said. The
problems Muni suffered because of the heat was nothing in comparison to the headaches suffered by
its passengers. "There's no air-conditioning," said Mark Pitts, a 30-year-old computer information
systems major. "It's a problem when you have to stand crunched between sweaty bodies." Another
rider was forced from the M-line train. "I was going to work and at West Portal they made
everybody get off the M and K trains," said freshman Amy Leung, 18. "They told us a bus would
come and take us. Only one bus came to take away two train-fulls of people. Fortunately I got on."
For other riders the experience can be frightening. Elizabeth Butc, who has been riding the Muni for
43 years, said she could give a "dissertation from here to eternity" on the problems she encounters
riding Muni. She was on the M-line last night when it broke down. "I get scared because it's dark
and I'm a senior," she said with tears in her eyes. "I had to call a taxi." Muni Division Manager Mick
Rakestraw said there weren't any heat related problems with Muni. "There were no problems I know
of concerning the heat," Rakestraw said. "The only problems we had were with the overhead lines."
The heat may not have directly affected Muni, but it could have indirectly. "We had an operator
assaulted and a couple of fights between passengers occur, which may have been due to the heat,"
said Anne Milner, community affairs spokesperson for Muni. The suffocating heat experienced by
many who ride the Muni light rails vehicles could become a memory. "Gradually we'll be replacing the
Boeing light rail vehicles with Breda," Milner said. "In the new vehicles it will not get hotter than 72
degrees."

*

Learning to teach on the job by Corey Grice A mandate from Gov. Pete Wilson, requiring lower
student-to-teacher ratios in the state's elementary schools, has critics concerned about the quality of
public education and SF State elementary teaching credential program coordinators scrambling to fill
classrooms. As part of the fiscal year 1996-97 budget passed by state legislators and signed by
Wilson in July, $771 million was earmarked to help districts reduce class sizes from an average near
30 students per class to no more than 20 students per class in kindergarten through the third-grade.
Another $95 million was allocated to California public schools in September when the State
Allocation Board authorized use of a portion of unspent Proposition 203 bond funds from the $3
billion March 1996 education initiative. "What we have begun with this year's class size reduction
initiative will make a lasting difference in the education of a generation in California," Wilson said last
month in a written statement. SF State's College of Education and the San Francisco Unified School
District are already seeing a difference. "We have received a lot of calls from people interested in our
credential programs," said Vera Lane, associate dean of the College of Education at SF State. Since
the mid-1980s school districts have had their own internship programs, especially for the hard-to-fill
special education, math and science disciplines. But the new law allows districts to work with
universities for a collaborative internship program. "We're working closely with SF Unified because
they need so many new teachers," Lane said. "We're working with them to develop internship
programs and offering courses at times when teachers can attend such as Saturdays and in the
evening. "We know for certain that California will need more teachers for three reasons: the class size
reductions, more children are coming in due to the increased population growth and a sizable number
of teachers have retired or are nearing retirement age," she said. The California Commission on
Teacher Credentialing estimates that class size reductions alone will require nearly 20,000 additional
teachers throughout the state, Lane said. "Because of the shortage of teachers, (the school district
has) had to hire people that do not have their teaching credentials," Lane said. Critics contend interns
with little experience are coming in ill-prepared to teach young students. "Of course it's happening,"
Lane said. "That is the intent of the programs; to provide support. A person cannot just walk into a
class and start teaching it. "We're talking about people who are going into kindergarten and
first-grade who have not had any formal coursework in teaching. The district is not hiring people
who've had no experience with children, they just don't have the experience with teaching. These
people were paraprofessional aids or worked at private schools before," she said. Gail Kaufman,
spokeswoman for the San Francisco Unified School District, said the district had already planned to
reduce class sizes in kindergarten and first-grade. But SFUSD had to hire about 200 new teachers
this year alone to comply with this year's mandated class size reductions, she said. "We are not hiring
unqualified people," Kaufman assured. "Many of them are not yet credentialed in the state of
California but that doesn't mean they are not qualified to go into the classroom." According to
Kaufman, there are as many as 34 student interns working in the district -- many of them from SF
State. "They are students in the teaching credential program at SF State who we believe have the
experience to go into the classroom," Kaufman said. "Many of them are just terrific teachers; I've
seen them in their classes." The department of elementary education at SF State also has a joint
credential program with SFUSD where student interns, who have not been enrolled in a credential
program before, work toward their credential while teaching full-time, said Carol Langbort, chair of
the elementary education department at SF State. She has some reservations about students teaching
without having completed the credential program "because teaching is much more complex than
people realize," she said. "We've designed the program so that they can get their credential while
they're teaching and receive additional support from the district," Langbort added. The multiple
subject teaching credential, a post-baccalaureate program, typically takes three semesters to
complete, according to Langbort. Most students begin student teaching under the supervision of a
"classroom master teacher" during their last semester. "Many of our students who would be student
teaching under someone else's direction have instead been offered jobs in their own classes,"
Langbort said. "That's (typically) the last thing they do and it is a very important part of the program.
As many as 17 students in the intern program, who are currently teaching in the SFUSD, will
graduate in May and another 33 will graduate next year, she said. Districts have until February to
submit class size reduction plans to the state so Langbort expects to see another hiring surge then. "In
the past three years there have been more openings for teachers," she added. "Most of our students
will have jobs when they graduate." Langbort said most educators agree that smaller class sizes are
valuable. "On the other hand they're getting people who are not credentialed," she said. "That's not to
say they couldn't become good teachers, but they need additional education." Lane favors smaller
classes but not the last-minute efforts of lawmakers. "Class size reduction has been a crying need in
California for a long time," Lane said. "But the legislators signed this in the middle of July and
expected it to be implemented in August. You just can't have that kind of turnaround and expect it to
go smoothly. That's where the problem arises. The districts just weren't prepared for this." But
Kaufman warned that the smaller student-to-teacher ratios are not the only answer to a better
education. "You have to have lower class sizes and improved instruction," Kaufman said. "Just
because there are 20 kids doesn't mean that's going to make a difference. It's not a magic bullet."
000426
what's it to you?
who go
blather
from