20 minute read
Get Your Sea Legs Back
from Winter 2022
A commuter docks their bike aboard the Cetus in San Francisco, Calif during transit to Alameda island. Commuters bring their bikes, pets, and cameras for what is arguably the most luxurious form of public transportation in the Bay. (Joshua Carter/Xpress) dip in riders. Quarantine and the pandemic only made it worse
The Richmond, Harbor Bay and South San Francisco ferry lines were entirely shut down and lines across the bay saw historically low numbers. After all, if a respiratory illness reaches pandemic levels, the last place you’d want to be is on a packed public transport with several dozen strangers. Now that we’ve started to make our way towards normalcy, transit numbers have slowly started to return to pre-pandemic numbers.
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As the ferry pulls up to the Embarcadero, water churns and bubbles as the vessel nears the dock. The muted honking of cars grows louder and the sounds of the bay are replaced by those of the city. The ship raises and lowers with tidal flow and rubs into rubber bumpers that line the port’s docks, making a loud squeak that echoes through the shallowing water resembling an eerie whale call. Deckhands rush to the ship’s starboard side to tie off the vessel and let passengers off.
“I’ve been with the ferry for about a year,” said Eric Lim, a deckhand aboard the trans-bay liner. Lim throws off the last mooring line as the ship heads back towards Alameda. Standing at the stern and staring into the wake trailing behind, the city’s skyline beaming in the morning glow, “postcard perfect right here,” said Lim.
Many during the pandemic felt a change, a moment of clarity
brought about by chaos. People reevaluated themselves, their lives and the things most important to them.
“I was riding for spare-the-air day with my family from Seaplane…I was stressed out at my sales position, in front of the computer for 8 to 10 hours,” said Lim. For Lim the suggestion to give the position of deckhand has brought him peace. “It’s laid back, beautiful, you get to meet some great people, and get your sea legs.”
It took federal aid to rescue California’s public transportation and infrastructure. Help came in the form of the American Rescue Plan Act, which provided $30.5 billion specifically for transit. The federal stimulus allowed California transit to come back from the brink and ferry lines like the Harbor Bay and South San Francisco to be reinstated..
From June 2019 to June 2020 ferry service saw a systemwide drop from 302,143 riders in 2019 to 11,969 in 2020. The WETA (Water Emergency Transportation Authority) Pandemic Recovery Plan began in July 2021, looking to not only restart suspended lines, but also enhance service by increasing midday and weekend periods to meet demand after quarantine ended. In terms of public transit passenger’s choice of transportation, the ferry doesn’t top Muni, BART or bus lines. However, since increasing its service schedule and departures, ridership has increased. More riders have returned to take the ferry — not solely during peak workweek commute hours, but also on recreational weekend trips.
Public transit has a way of bringing people from all walks of life together. We may come from different backgrounds, but all share a common need; to commute. “You meet all sorts of people on public transit, and develop a community of commuters that you can’t do behind the steering wheel of your car,” said Thomas Hall, Public Information & Marketing Manager at the WETA.
Hall, who grew up in Fairfield, remembers taking the city bus as a kid to go to middle school. He’s been at the WETA for about four years and has had an interest in public transit from an early age. “Something to do with the ability to transport people without everyone needing to get into their own cars…and creating a shared space,” said Hall.
The Sacramento State alumni was actually a journalism major and later transitioned to government communications. As a lifelong public transit user Hall agrees that there is something special about the ferry. “I’m a regular rider now and use the Vallejo line to get to work
about three times a week,” said Hall. However, during the pandemic, commuters from all around the Bay had to make changes to their daily routines.
With many working from home, the drastic change left some feeling out of sorts, but ferry riders especially. “We heard from a lot of people when the pandemic hit, they didn’t miss going into the office but they did miss their commute,” recalled Hall. There is something special that resonates with many riders of the ferry, whether it be a 20 minute ride from Jack London Square or an hour ride from Vallejo, being out on the water does something to you.
Maybe the fresh air, beautiful views and leisurely boat ride appeals to those that have been trapped inside during quarantine for the past two years. When daily commuters take a second to pull out their phones and snap a quick photo on their way to work or back home, it becomes less about the commute and more about the journey. Hall explained, “It kind of offers commuters a place to decompress and do whatever they feel like doing…it gives you an opportunity to clear your mind.”
MIDDLE LEFT: Commuters aboard the Cetus await docking in Alameda, Calif. on Nov. 14, 2022. The total trip time from San Francisco to the island on the coast of East Bay took under 30 minutes. (Joshua Carter/ Xpress) MIDDLE RIGHT: The Bay Bridge sits in the foreground as the San Francisco ferry goes underneath on Nov. 14, 2022. “The ferry is the best way to see the city,” said Steve Diling, who helps with commuter interactions on the pier. (Joshua Carter/Xpress)
WOMEN RISE UP
Protests against Iran’s Islamic Republic regime continue world-wide after the death of Mahsa Amini
By Angelina Casolla
Hundreds of protestors in support join hands at San Francisco’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Iran after the murder of Mahsa Amini on Sept. 25, 2022. The protestors walked hand-in-hand down the Golden Gate Bridge to an almost constant score of applause. (Joshua Carter/Xpress Magazine)
“Did you know that letting your hair blow in the wind is a crime in Iran?” is written on a bright orange sign held high in the air. “Stop Killing Us’’ is written in white letters atop a black mask covering one woman’s face. A variety of loud chants echo in the air across Iran: “Death to the dictator!” “Say her name!” “Women, life, freedom!” Women dance in the streets as some burn their hijabs and cut their hair. Their male counterparts protest next to them in support.
Day after day for over a month, Iran’s protestors have demanded freedom and met brutal crackdowns. A women-led revolution is underway. The trigger: the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini.
Amini died in the custody of Iran’s notorious guidance patrol, more commonly known as the morality police. The unit enforces the country’s rule on a modest Islamic dress code. Amini, who was visiting the capital of Tehran from her hometown Saqqez in the Kurdish region, was taken to the morality police headquarters for an “educational class” for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly. Within two hours, Amini was in a coma at Kasra hospital. She died three days later.
Ever since the eyes of the world turned to Iran in September, the knocking on the door at SF State’s Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies has been constant. SF State is the only CSU with a Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies. The Center, established in 2016, is the first organization of its kind, and it is dedicated to researching and teaching the historical and cultural experiences of the worldwide Iranian diaspora community.”
Several Bay Area news outlets have quoted the head of the center, Persis Karim, in their coverage of the protests, thrusting the center into public light. Karim encourages a younger generation of Iranians to speak out and share their stories.
“It’s good that people are interested,” Karim explained.
Amini’s death caused large protests both within and outside of Iran. Iran’s Islamic regime is now under global scrutiny for its treatment of women. Amini’s death acted as the catalyst that sparked a feminist revultion, and Iranian women intend to never go back to how they used to live.
Hundreds of people in the Bay Area have shown their support by joining protests, organizing teach-ins and signing petitions to bring awareness to the situation in Iran.
Ferdos Heidari is an Iranian-born SF State student working towards her Master of Fine Arts. Protesting has become part of
Dher weekend agenda. “I felt so empowered,” Heidari said.“I felt privileged that I can go out, and no one is going to shoot me in the face for saying that. I wish people in Iran had this opportunity. We are trying to inject hope for them. And it also feels empowering for us to be able to go out — and sorry for my French but — to say fuck the Iranian government.” Ava Parto, a pen name, is an Iranian-born student studying in San Francisco. She is unable to use her real name out of fear of punishment from the Iranian government upon returning home. “It was good to be able to protest without fear for your life — just chanting and being heard. And seeing Iranians from all different backgrounds and different beliefs coming together for just one cause. I think that was really beautiful, It’s indescribable,” Parto explains. “But you can’t help but think about the people who are risking their lives by doing the same thing,” For over 40 years, Iranian women have been coping with discriminatory laws and strict social rules. When the Islamic Republic of Iran was founded in 1979, Iranian women lost their right to choose how to dress. It was a freedom they had before that time — a freedom that many want back. Heidari, who left Iran when she was 12, recalls her encounter with the morality police. She was out with her cousin for a fun day of shopping. When she hopped off the bus, two women followed her. “They started to shout at me and call me a whore,” Heidari said. “Imagine you are 13 and don’t even know what that means.” Pedestrians on the crowded street turned to stare as Heidari cried and ran away. As a Christian living in Iran, these hostile interactions were not her only hardship. “We basically do not have any freedom in what we believe,” Heidari said. “On our second visit back after we moved out of Iran, the government found out about us being Christian, and now I am blacklisted. I cannot go Jiran Sayadi stands amidst a crowd of protestors on the Golden Gate Bridge on Sept. 25, 2022. “We’re here to show that back to my country. If I women all over the world stand in solidarity with our sisters in Iran,” Sayadi said. (Joshua Carter/Xpress Magazine) set foot in an Iranian airport, I will be taken to prison.” Parto explained the stress of normalized violence and feeling distrust in her own city after multiple encounters with the morality police. While she was still living in Iran, Parto was taken to the same center that Mahsa Amini was taken to. Although she was not physically beaten, she felt the verbal abuse and humiliation greatly affected her. “I’m glad the world is seeing what we have always had to endure,” Parto said. School yards in Iran have also now turned into protest sites, with teenage girls leading the movement, demanding eradication of the morality police and an end to the Islamic regime.
Most recently, plain clothes militia officers ambushed the prestigious Sharif University of Technology in Tehran on October 2, 2022. Protesting students were trapped by security forces in a parking lot and tear gassed. As students tried to escape, riot police threw rocks and shot at them with rubber bullets and paintballs. Some students barricaded themselves in their dorm rooms, taking turns keeping watch as the riots ensued.
“These young women’s mothers and grandmothers have had to deal with the erosion of their rights,” said Persis Karim, Chair of SF State’s Center of Iranian Diaspora. “There have been numerous efforts on behalf of women to change some of the discriminatory laws, to challenge the punishment of veiling practices and they haven’t succeeded. So, for these younger girls and women, seeing the humiliation of their mothers and grandmothers and feeling like the Islamic Regime is not open to change — I think it’s the right mix of frustration and humiliation and recognition.”
The Islamic regime is violently retaliating against Iranians participating in this anti-regime revolutionary movement. Yet women remain on the frontlines, despite the risk of punishment or death.
“I don’t know what non-Iranians know,” Arsham Pourfallah, assistant to the Associate Dean of Student Affairs, said. “I think they know very little. They definitely don’t know to what extent people are being brutally killed, raped and tortured. They’re only seeing a very little glimpse of it,”
Pourfallah was born in Iran and built a new life when she moved to San Francisco 12 years ago.
“It is not safe,” Pourfallah said. “The reality is that they’re going around shooting people. You can’t be just going outside. They shot a girl on the way to the dentist. They just shot her dead – everything is complete chaos.”
Pourfallah refers to Hanaheh Kia, a 23-year-old Iranian woman who, according to citizen journalism site Iranwire, was shot dead by security agents as she came home from the dentist.
Pourfallah remembers peacefully protesting during the 2009 Green Movement when he still lived in Iran.
“Everyone was just sitting down peacefully in a square, just chanting and talking,” Pourfallah explained. “The Islamic Republic police just started raiding. They started shooting at people. They started throwing tear gas, and everyone got up and started running.”
Pourfallah was paralyzed with confusion and couldn’t understand why they would do this to peaceful protestors. He left Iran shortly after.
“While we were running, I saw one of their cars run over an older man,” Pourfallah said. “The man was running away, and we were all running so we couldn’t do anything about it.”
Freedom of the press is limited in Iran, and the regime continues to block internet access. News outlets only air glimpses of the events that unfold within the country. Social media is an important tool that provides an international stage for this movement.
“The Islamic republic is shutting off the internet, because in that silence, they get to kill more people,” Parto explained. “ If the social media momentum dies, they will get what they want.”
Pourfallah feels that one of the biggest issues with social media is the reliance on it for news.
“We’re getting everything through social media, which shouldn’t be the case. ” Pourfallah said. “It’s kind of hard to verify things, because where is the solid evidence?”
In Honor of Victims of the Iran Protests 2022
Minoo Majidi Ali Mozaffari Maziar Soleimanian Mohsen Mohammadi Fereydoon Mahmoudi Reza Lotfi Farjad Darvishi Zakaria Khayal Fouad Ghadimi Danesh Rahnama Sadreddin Litani Milan Haghighi Amin M’arefat Mehdi Asgari Seyed Mehdi Mousavi Hadis Najafi Behnam Layeghpour Hossein Ali Kia Mohammad Hossein Sarvari-Rad Morteza Nowroozi Javad Heydari Pedram Azarnoush Mehrdad Behnam-Asl Amir Nowruzi Farzin Lotfi Sasan Ghorbani Yasin Jamalzadeh Mohsen Gamshadzehei Emran Hassanzehei Yaser Shahouzehei Amir Hossein Mir Kazehi Riggi Mohammad Ali Gamshad-Zehei Amir Mehdi Farrokhiour Rafe Narui Ali Agheli (Narui) Mokhtar Ahmadi Amir Hossein Basati Morteza Hassanzani Zolfaghar Jan Hassanzani Azim Mahmoudzehi Ardalan Ghasemi Mohammad ShahBakhsh Ghazaleh Chalavi Hannaneh Kia Mahsa Mogouei Parsa Rezadoust Saeed Mohammadi Amir Ali Fooladi Mehdi (Mohammad) Fallah Erfan Rezaei Mohammad Hassan Torkaman Reza Shahparnia Mohsen Gheysari Matin Abdollahpour Fardin Bakhtiari Milad Zare Mohammad Reza Eskandari Sarina Esmailzadeh Iman Mohammadi Nika Shahkarami Hamzeh Narouei Abdolrahman Baluchikhah Mohammad Amin Gamshad-Zehei Mohammad Reza Adib Tootazehi Mohammad Brahui Aminollah Ghaljaei Emran Shahbakhsh Yaser Shahbakhsh Eghbal Shahnavazi Abu Bakr Ali-Zehei Arman Hassanzani Mahmoud Hassanzani Saamer Hashemzehie Abdollah Mohammadpour Erfan Kahzaei Sadis Kashani Abdolsamad Sabeti Zadeh Mahuddin Shirouzehi Javad Pousheh Suleiman Arab Abdulghafoor Dahmarde Esmail Abil Ali Kurd Kalahouri Mobin Mirkazehi Yahya Rahimi (Sarab Shahraki) Omid Sarani Jaber Shirouzehi Azizullah Kubdani Mohammad Rakhshani Sina Naderi Armin Sayyadi Aziz Moradi Abolfazl Adinezadeh, Abdussalam Qadir Galvan Arian Moridi Asra Panahi Jangah Mustafa Barichi Abdullah Shahbakhsh Hamed Baji Zehi Siavash Mahmoudi Kamal Feghhi Erfan Nazarbeigi Nima Shafagh-Doost Emad Heydari Setareh Tajik Negin Abdolmaleki Hamid Fouladvand Mohammad Javad Zahedi Ali Bani Asadi Sina Malayeri Mehrshad Shahidi Omid Naruie Adel Kuchakzaie (Barichi) Matlab Saeed Peyro Esmail Moloudi (semko) Fereshteh Ahmadi Mohammad Lotfollahi Keyvan Darvishi, Sarina Saedi Mohammad Shariati Kuma Daroftadeh Shahu Khezri Zaniar Abubakri Kobra Sheikh Sagha Freydoon Faraji Masoud Ahmadzadeh Matin Ghanbarzehi Ali Brahui Danial Shahbakhsh Armin Sayadi Momen Zand Karimi Mehdi Hazrati Jalil Mohammad-Zehei Hamid Isa-Zehei Nematollah Kubdani Hamid Narouei Samad Shahuzehhei Mohammad Seddigh Narouei Lal Mohammad Alizehei Hamzeh Narouei Omar Shahnavazi Abdulghafoor Noor-Barahui Hamid Narouei Farzad Shahbakhsh Mohammad Ghaljei Mohammad Rigi Amir Hamzeh Shahnavazi Lal Mohammad Anshini Balal Anshini Salahuddin Gamshad-Zehei Ebrahim Gorgij Ahmad Shahbakhsh Mohammad Eghbal Naebzehei (Shahnavazi) Ahmad Sargolzaei Mohammad Farough-Rakhsh Mansour Rakhshani Abdolmalek Shahbaksh Ali Akbar Halgheh-Begoosh Younes Narouei Jalil Rakhshani Ahmad Sarani Amin Goleh Bache Khodanur Lajai Mohammad Reza Sarvari Peyman Manbari Behzad Rigi Omid Safarzehie Najmuddin Tajik Abdul Wahid Tohidnia Abdullah Narui Musa Dovira (Narui) Mohsen Mousavi Shirin Alizadeh Mona Naghib Ramin Fatehi Nasim Sedghi Mohammad Ghaemifar Yasser Bahadorzehi Nasrin Ghaderi Mohammad Hossein Salari
If you look closely at the hands of someone who spends a lot of time on their phone, you’ll notice a distinct characteristic — dented pinkies. Many people who spend hours at a time on their phones can run their fingers across the inside of their pinky and feel a slight indentation, and some can visibly notice the dent. Despite the fact that there are currently no studies conducted on the topic, it is something that smartphone users are noticing.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, doctors have said this physical alteration is not necessarily permanent nor something to worry about. But, it does raise the question of what non-physical effects being attached to a cell phone — and in turn, the internet — can have.
Jane Doe was 11 years old when she made her first social media account on Facebook, which was quickly followed by a Tumblr account when she was 12. By the time she was 16, she had amassed over 30,000 followers on Tumblr and had become — in her own words — “tied down” to the site.
This feeling of camaraderie and companionship is the internet at its absolute best—the notion that people from all backgrounds can come together and form circles of trust they might not otherwise have in their real, day-to-day lives. At its worst, the internet can be a dangerous cesspool full of harmful images and ideas, predators and deceit.
Pro-ana is an internet term that means the promotion of anorexia. This side of the internet encourages users to incorporate anorexic practices into their lives and glorifies unhealthy thinness. While Doe does not solely blame the internet and Tumblr for her struggles with mental health, she does believe that they introduced her to topics she might not have known about otherwise.
The Wall Street Journal reported that “32% of teen girls said that when they felt badly about their bodies and Instagram made them feel worse.” Though teenage girls being unhappy with their bodies is something that has plagued women for decades, it seems social media has exacerbated the issue.
SF State Alum Keani Lastra made her first Facebook profile in 2010 and her first Instagram account back in 2012, when she was a freshman in high school. At the time, Facebook was used by kids to rate the appearance of their peers in exchange for likes, as well as to post selfies multiple times a week, trying to garner as many likes on them as possible.
“I spent a very long time associating my self-worth with the amount of likes my photos would get or with my numbers of friends and followers,” said Lastra. “And the even bigger problem here is that I was never satisfied. I always felt like I needed more likes, more comments, more views, more friends…”
This need for more engagement on social media is not unheard of and can be seen from all over the internet. In a study conducted by SF State’s, it was discovered that there was a negative correlation to technology usage and self-control. This means that the higher the usage of technology, the lower levels of self-control were found in the participants.
“We found that there was a direct correlation to high usage of media and media multitasking, meaning when you have multiple devices out at the same time, and a lack of self control,” said SF State graduate student John Majoubi, who led the study.
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The study consisted of an extensive questionnaire that asked about overall self-esteem, mental health, satisfaction of life etc., of participants. The more the participant used technology and media, the more negative answers they had. The LACE Lab opened the study up to everyone, spanning across all countries, ages and genders. Researchers found the one question that was the biggest indicator of the negative correlation between media usage and self-control was, “Indicate the degree to which each statement applies to you - I feel distracted when I am waiting for responses to my social media posts.”
The need for engagement on social media posts can be detrimental to one’s focus, mental health and wellbeing. This is a notion that is seen across the globe and across all ages. The study also showed that women on average have a more negative relationship between media and self-control than men do.
One of the scarier parts of the internet comes in the form of predators. Hidden behind a computer screen, predators have access to people, sometimes children, they might not normally get in real life.
When Jada Trail, a soon-to-be first-year student at SF State, was 11 or 12 years old, she was sexually harassed on a live stream.
Sexual harassment is nothing new for young girls using the internet, especially in the 2010s with the rise in apps such as Kik Messenger and Omegle. Omegle is a free online chatting website that allows users to video chat and message random people in a one-on-one setting. What makes Thisthis website so dangerous because is that there’s no need to register and people can stay completely anonymous. There is also nowhere for a participant’s age to be verified before they’re granted access to the website. “I saw my first of many penises on Omegle when I was 12,” said Doe.
This is not an uncommon scenario for young women who grew up using Omegle. The company has dealt with a multimillion-dollar lawsuit and a UN Special Rapporteur investigation for its enabling of sexual harrassment and child pornography.
The phenomenon of growing up online is something that is still relatively new to the world, but it’s already rearing its ugly head in kids and young adults today. With new applications such as screen time and sleep timers, some progress has been made. But there is still a long way to go to create a more healthy relationship between the internet and its users.
