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WEDNESDAY | 8.23.18 | VOL. 151 NO. 2 | SINCE 1934
A&E Grande’s fourth album exudes pure pop bliss, this year’s ‘sweetest’ pop release Page 3
Opinion
Sports
New Facebook dating app could lead to romance, but also raises level of potential danger.
SJSU football tight end lands on John Mackey Award List Page 6
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KIDNAPPING FRIGHTENS COMMUNITY By Jana Kadah COPY EDITOR
As students begin their first week of the semester, worries about coursework are shifting to concerns about safety. On Wednesday at approximately 2:39 p.m. San Jose Police Department responded to a call regarding a kidnapping and an armed robbery. A male SJSU student was forced out of the 7-Eleven on Sixth and San Salvador. He was held at gunpoint and forced to withdraw money from
various ATMs. 7-Eleven employee Gurpreet Singh, who started his shift at 2 p.m., said he did not notice any suspicious activity until SJPD came at around 3:45 p.m. Students received a text and email from AlertSJSU at approximately 4 p.m. with a description of the suspect. He is described as a male in his 20s with a darker complexion and yellow hair. He was wearing a gray hoodie and black sweatpants with a white stripe, a gray JAMZ backpack and was armed with a black handgun.
I’m not originally from San Jose,so I thought because it’s a big campus that there would be security or something in every corner. Karina Ruiz Kinesiology junior
The victim was released and soon after contacted the police after the kidnapping, according to SJPD’s Press Information Officer Gina Tepoorten. The suspect has yet to be identified or apprehended.
Because the event occurred off campus, SJPD is leading the investigation. University Police (UPD) will help assist. “I’m not originally from San Jose, so I thought because it’s a
New semester, new Spartan app portal By Sarah Klieves ONLINE EDITOR
San Jose State students will be returning to a new fall semester with a few changes – including a new online portal. The university is replacing the MySJSU student portal with one. SJSU, otherwise known as the Spartan App Portal. The university announced the new site on Friday. The new portal is available to students, faculty and staff, as well as campus visitors. One of the most noticeable changes about the portal is that it is mobile-device friendly. Joel Johnson, Director of Web and Campus Applications, is in charge of the project. He said the goal is to make things easier for students to use and that “mobile friendly websites and applications [have] been a strategy for the past year or two.” SJSU Information Technology Services (ITS) sent students and staff emails alerting them about the changes. Some students were not aware of the changes and wish that the
university had consulted with students before making the big switch. “Honestly I only found out when you told me just now,” psychology senior Yasmeen Odeh said. “The MySJSU portal still works so I had no idea the other one was being integrated and used.” Since students are returning to campus and catching up on emails, it is possible not everyone has heard about the changes. “We’ve just started this communication,” Johnson said. “[Students] should see information around campus, on digital signs and through other communication channels as we work to have everyone know about the new system. If we see less migration
to one.SJSU and lower use than anticipated, we’ll look at additional communications.” Odeh checked out the new portal, which she described as “more welcoming and colorful than the old portal.” She said it “seems okay,” but just “needs some time to get used to it. I didn’t know it was more mobile friendly. That’s great. The old one was definitely not
mobile friendly.” The design seems to be the main concern for students. They are worried about having to get used to a whole new portal that looks very different from MySJSU. Animation and illustration junior Derek REPLACEMENT | Page 2
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH KLIEVES | SPARTAN DAILY
big campus that there would be security or something in every corner,” kinesiology junior Karina Ruiz. “Now I’m starting to think it’s not as safe as I thought it would be.” The UPD has not released any more information regarding the investigation besides what was included in the AlertSJSU texts and emails. The UPD offers various services for students who feel unsafe on campus, including a 24-hour safety escort service and the Safe Ride Program that drives students to locations off-
campus from 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. everyday. SJPD urges people with more information regarding this case to contact the SJPD Robbery Unit at (408) 277-4166. Anyone who wishes to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers Tip Line at (408) 947-7867. A cash reward may be provided by Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers for persons who report information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect. Follow Jana on Twitter @Jana_Kadah
Wildfires: more than a drought issue By Nick Girard MULTIMEDIA REPORTER
Fires are burning across the state. Climate change, drought and tree-killing bark beetles are contributing to the flammability of Sierra forests. Wildfire smoke is posing a health hazard to California residents. Even at the time of this publishing, the fires continue to blaze. The mountain forests in East Mendocino County began burning on July 27. The Mendocino Complex Fire, as it is known, is composed of two fires: the “Ranch Fire” and “River Fire.” Collectively, the two fires have burned more than 400,000 acres of forest. Cal Fire announced on Aug. 6 that the Mendocino Complex Fire is the largest wildfire ever documented in California’s history. The fire has burned a large portion of the Mendocino National Forest and continues to spread northward into the nature preserve. The fire continues to grow despite being at 67 percent containment, and it isn’t burning alone. Fourteen fires were burning statewide on Aug. 7. The much of haze seen in the sky over the San Francisco Bay is smoke from the fires which continue to burn. Today, a separate fire called the Carr Fire continues to burn near Redding. Apocalyptic scenes of fire near homes and families posing with the ash remains of their
It was terrible up in the mountains, smoke was being sucked in through the AC and it was everywhere. Sabrina Reese Sonora resident
homes are common on social media. Nearly 100,000 acres burned before being contained at the Southern entrances to Yosemite Valley. “It was terrible up in the mountains, smoke was being sucked in through the AC and it was everywhere,” Sonora resident Sabrina Reese said. “You could barely see the sun.” Hazardous smoke covered all of California early August. Levels of smoke hit hazardous levels for individuals working outside in a large area near Yosemite National Park, according to maps published by the Environmental Protection Agency’s AirNow service. The service shows maps of air quality, and featured air quality conditions far above moderate levels. “Over the five years of drought that California experienced from about 2012 to 2017, a total of 129 million trees have died due to drought and bark beetle infestation,” Cal Fire public information officer Heather Williams WILDFIRE | Page 2