Xpress Magazine - Spring 2015

SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY ISSUE 1, SPRING 2015

ATTACK OF THE DRONES ZERO FRIENDS

BEER BUSTERS

SKATE GUITARS

XPRESS MAGAZINE Inner Sunset Starbucks 744 Irving Street The Beanery Cafe 602 Irving Street Yancy’s Saloon 734 Irving Street

West Portal McCarthy’s Irish Bar 46 West Portal Avenue Greenhouse Cafe 329 West Portal Avenue Starbucks 100 West Portal Avenue

Park Merced SF State University 1600 Holloway Avenue Hall of Flame 73 Cambon Drive

Ambrosia Bakery 2605 Ocean Avenue Spressa Coffee Bar 51 Cambon Bar

Outer Sunset Brother’s Pizza 3627 Taraval Street The Riptide Tavern 3639 Taraval Avenue Java Beach 2650 Sloat Boulevard Tenessee Grill 1128 Taraval Street Shannon Arms Irish Pub 915 Taraval Street Aqua Surf Shop 1742 Haight Street

Richmond Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli 734 La Playa Street Nibs Bakery & Cafe 3717 Balboa Street La Promenade Cafe 3643 Balboa Street Fog Baby Cafe 3516 Balboa Street

Haight-Ashbury Cafe International 508 Haight Street D-Structure 520 Haight Street Lower Haters 597 Haight Street

Mission

Castro

Tartine Bakery 600 Guerrero Street

Five Star Truffles 425 I-A 18th Street Firewood Cafe 4248 18th Street

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21 5 6 8 10 12

We are 43

Oakland opportunity

What if monsters were real?

Print to pop-up

Richer than sugar

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26

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Faith & politics

Attack of the drones

DIY Firearms: AR-15 anatomy

How old becomes new

The sound of skating

26 29 30

Beer busters

Dining for charity

Improv bit

check out xpressMag on

xpressmagazine.org

& Check out each writer’s twitter account and each photographer’s Instagram account, located in the byline.

ON THE COVER: Two Game of Drones “Hiro” combat drones collide during a cage match at the Game of Drones meet at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park.

PHOTO BY DRAKE NEWKIRK. LEFT PAGE: PHOTO BY MARTIN BUSTAMANTE. RIGHT PAGE, CLOCKWISE. TOP, MIDDLE: PHOTO BY MARLENE SANCHEZ. TOP, RIGHT: PHOTO BY DAVID HENRY. RIGHT, BOTTOM: PHOTO BY ANGELICA WILLIAMS. BOTTOM, MIDDLE: PHOTO BY DANIEL E. PORTER. BOTTOM, LEFT: PHOTO BY EMMA CHIANG. LOGO AND PAGE NUMBER FONT: BESOM DESIGNED BY KRISJANIS MEZULIS.

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STAFF

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF TAMI BENEDICT MANAGING EDITOR OLYMPIA ZAMPATHAS ONLINE EDITOR ALEC FERNANDES ART DIRECTOR CATY MCCARTHY ASSISTANT ART HILLARY SMITH DIRECTORS DEREK MACARIO SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR CATHERINE UY ADVERTISING EDITOR LISSETTE VARGAS PHOTO EDITOR MARTIN BUSTAMANTE MULTIMEDIA EDITOR MICHAEL LERI COPY EDITOR MEIRA GEBEL STAFF WRITERS COLIN BLAKE REUBEN DEVERAS

Dear Readers,

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or my last semester at SF State, I decided to go big or go home. I took on the role of being Editor-in-Chief of this amazing magazine, as well as taking five classes, which are all upper division and a little harder than I thought they were originally going to be. But I like the extra work, and in May when I walk across that graduation stage, I will know that I really did work hard to earn my degree.

For the first spring edition of Xpress Magazine, I really wanted to showcase people who worked hard and strived for what they believe in-not taking the easy way out. My writers basically read my mind when they pitched these stories to me. Throughout this magazine you will meet amazing people who are doing wonderful things for people and the communities they live in. There are people in Oakland helping students get the educational help they need to pass their classes in school. There is also a man who believes in his religion, but constantly battles with the belief that he has. You’ll meet a guy who sees what everybody else perceives as garbage, but to him, is something that can be turned into a beautiful work of art. Then there are some guys who found something

AIRHA DOMINGUEZ JANNELLE GARCIA

they loved, and decided to turn a hobby into a job-all coming from their garage.

Always remember to strive for what you believe in and work hard to reach those goals. It may seem hard and impossible, we’ve all been there, but when you finally do reach that goal and achieve that greatness, the feeling that you get will never beat anything else. With Xpress Magazine we strive for greatness with every issue and every online story. Seeing this magazine come together with the help of my wonderful editors and writers was breathtaking. I can tell you that it was hard, there were sleepless nights, constant stressing, and a trip to Disneyland, but in the end it was all worth it.

I want to give a huge congratulations to Xpress Magazine, Dani Hutton, last semester’s EIC, Alec, Lissette, Cat, and Caty who all took home awards for best story, best layout, and best online website at the California College Media Association award banquet.

They truly showed what Xpress Magazine is all about, but also showed that hard work and determination pays off.

JAY GARCIA ALEX MONTERO FAYOLA PERRY NAOMI OUTLAW MARIA BRUUN-SCHMIDT PHOTOGRAPHERS EMMA CHIANG ANGELICA EKEKE SARA GOBETS KATIE LEWELLYN DAVID HENRY HYUNHA KIM MELISSA MINTON DRAKE NEWKIRK KATE NEVÉ DANIEL PORTER MARLENE SANCHEZ HELEN TINNA ANGELICA WILLIAMS ADVISORS VENISE WAGNER KEN KOBRE BETH RENNEISEN

@tamimarieb

ADVERTSING & EVA CHARLES PRODUCTION SADE BROWNE SHAWN PERKINS

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We are 43

The fight for justice continues

Story by Airha Dominguez @Airha9 Photo by Angelica Ekeke

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n a small gallery in Potrero Hill, Code & Canvas, more than 300 residents, artists, and activists wait to connect via Skype to Omar García. García is the colleague of 43 college students who disappeared on their way to a protest against a mayoral candidate in Guerrero, Mexico. A projector reflects Garcia’s image on a white wall. There are technical difficulties, but organizers resolve the problem and Garcia begins to speak.

“The family members and we, the students believe our peers are alive,” García said in Spanish. “We are basing this on the inconsistencies of the investigation that the PGR (Office of General Prosecutor) has shown.”

Bay Area artists, who come from different backgrounds, primarily from different countries of Latin America, are raising money to send to the families of the 43. The money will help fund an independent investigation of their disappearances, requested by the parents. Although 3,800 miles separate those activists in San Francisco and in Guerrero, they have one thing in common with the people of Mexico: they want justice against what they believe is a corrupt government involved with the drug cartels.

On Sept. 26, 2014, 43 male students from Raul Isidro Burgos Rural Teacher’s College in Ayotzinapa were kidnapped by police and turned over to Guerreros Unidos (United Warriors), a criminal organization in Iguala, Guerrero.

According to a press conference held on Jan 27, by Tomás Zerón de Lucio, head of the

criminal investigation agency and Jesús Murillo Karam, Mexico’s general attorney, the PGR has detained 99 suspects related to the case.

Murillo stated that the 43 students were killed and burned by drug traffickers from Guerreros Unidos. Student’s parents challenged the report due to lack of evidence. The evidence presented in the conference relied mainly on the drug traffickers confessions. The Mexican government has only been able to identify the body of one of the 43 missing students.

Activists in Mexico and around the world have demanded that the Mexican government provide concrete evidence of the case. They are also calling for the indictment of politicians who were allegedly involved in the disappearance.

Bay Area artists, which includes painters, musicians, and dancers, organized an event called From Ayotzinapa to San Francisco-We are 43.

Together, their artwork was inspired by each of the 43 students. The paintings in the exhibit are part of a silent auction. Attendees write down on a piece of paper next to the painting how much money they will offer for the artwork.

Chelitz López is one of the organizers of the event.

“We started this effort with the idea of bringing together the community around this cause, showing the students’ families and the Mexican people that we would not forget these disappearances or ignore the daily injustices that continue to occur, and to raise a little bit of money to support the families who have not been able to rest for more than four months now,” López

wrote in a Facebook post in the event page.

Axel Herrera, alumni of SF State’s music department, created a three part song called “Heart Beat” dedicated to one of the missing students Jorge Álvarez Nava.

“Definitely justice is a topic that it is important to all of us,” he said in Spanish. “The case of the student-teachers is a case mainly related to social justice, and is an example of criminality of a government that acts in a way that it is very arrogant and with a lot of impunity.”

Herrera said that the three sections of the song is united by the beat of his drum, which represents the beat of a heart and the hope that the students are still alive.

José Cruz, one of the artists who helped promote the event, explained that the idea of organizing the exhibit was inspired by a similar event held in Mexico City, where 43 Mexican illustrators painted the faces of the 43 using different techniques and shared their portraits on social media with the hashtag #IlustradoresConAyotzinapa (Illustrators with Ayotzinapa) as a way of remember them.

“I’m glad you [Omar García] have not been one of the students who disappeared,” commented Ramiro Garcia, an attendee, with a broken voice and tears in his eyes,.

The SF State Spanish Department will hold an event called Remembering the 43 Students in Ayotzinapa Mexico on April 18. The event plans to gather panelists that will present literary essays, poems, music and art in order to raise awareness for the ongoing issue.

LEFT PAGE: A portrait of Editor-in-Chief Tami Benedict. PHOTO BY MARTIN BUSTAMANTE. ABOVE: Violeta Luna performs a piece entitled “Piedras de luna para José Luis (Vírgenes y Diosas III) in honor of José Luis Luna Torres, one of the 43 missing students in Ayotzinapa at the “From Ayotzinapa to San Francisco-We are 43” event at Code and Canvas Gallery.

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Oakland opportunity CHAPTER 510

Story by Jannelle Garcia @garcia_jannelle Photo by Kate Nevé @kate.neve

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group of 10th grade students gather in a room at MetWest High School, located in East Oakland. “Independent work time” is in session. Students are huddled together, or off alone in the corner as they work on writing assignments that range from book reports to critical responses. However, due to Chapter 510, no student truly works alone.

In January of 2014, Chapter 510 project director and founder Janet Heller, and her team of 16 volunteers, began offering one-on-one writing tutoring to MetWest’s freshman class. Now, after a year’s worth of growing, in volunteers and resources, Chapter 510 has reached a total of 1,000 hours in volunteer work, and now tutors both MetWest’s sophomore and freshman class.

The summer prior to Chapter 510’s beginning, Heller said she sensed a vital need for a youth-oriented writing organization in Oakland. An organization that teaches youth how to empower themselves through writing, and provides resources and experienced writers to equip and build up the younger generation.

Heller followed her instincts, rallied up a staff and volunteers, and launched Chapter 510.

In addition to tutoring at MetWest, Chapter 510 offers free creative writing and poetry workshops throughout the year to students, ages five to 18.

Heller said Chapter 510 is the most ambitious project she has ever ran. “I feel a strong sense of satisfaction, people are excited about Chapter 510,” said Heller. Heller chose the name Chapter 510 because the organization is rooted in Oakland, and is considered a chapter of 826 Valencia, a non-profit organization in the Mission that offers tutoring and writing workshops to San Francisco youth. The program’s funding comes from private donors and partnerships with other foundations, such as the Oakland Public Library, and the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation.

Heller decided to partner with MetWest because she was already committed as mentor in the school’s mentoring program. When Heller questioned the school’s staff about what areas needed improvement, they said the ninth graders needed the most assistance with writing.

Volunteer Margaret Miller, a recent graduate of Mill’s College Master Fine Arts program, tutors twice a week at MetWest. Miller brainstorms with the kids, helping them discover what they want to

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“I WAS ON TOP OF THE WORLD BECAUSE I KNOW I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT, I KNOW HOW TO USE COMMAS, I KNOW ALL OF THESE THINGS AND THAT WAS ALL BECAUSE OF CHAPTER 510.”

-KAYLA KEITH

write about. She frequently scans essays for run-on sentences, removes unnecessary commas, and points out when the student’s voice changes from third person to first person.

Her advice is taken with no offense by the students, because after a year of volunteering Miller is no stranger to the class.

“Janet and Margaret are my two favorite volunteers, I like their attitudes and they’re really encouraging,” said Kayla Keith, a 15-year-old sophomore at MetWest.

Miller said tutoring at MetWest presented her with the opportunity to see the students mature as writers, and as individuals. However, gaining the students’ trust took time and consistency.

“I think those first couple of weeks are the hardest,” she said, recalling her first tutoring experience, “Because they need to know you and know that you’re actually going to continue to show up.”

Laurie Loftus, 47, began volunteering in the fall of 2014. She compared the moment of waiting for a student to choose a volunteer to a girl waiting for a boy to ask her onto the floor at a high school dance.

“You’re just waiting for someone to pick you, you have to drop your ego at the door and not take anything personally,” Loftus said.

Miller said that the combination of race differences and being a stranger also affected students’ decision to open up and trust her.

Half of MetWest students are Latino, 30 percent African American, 13 percent Asian

American, and seven percent White.

“Students are typically more scared off or skittish at first because they are like, ‘Are you just doing this because you’re white and feel bad?’ And it’s like no, I actually really like working with you and I’m doing this out of my free time but not because I feel sorry for you,” said Miller.

Keith said that at first she was hesitant to work with the volunteers. “I was like ‘Oh great, now I’m going to have other people hounding me to do my work and now I’m going to actually be productive,’” said Keith.

After deciding to open up to Heller and Miller, Keith said that her writing abilities and confidence rose. When it was time to complete the writing portion of the California High School Examination Test, Keith was prepared.

“I was like ‘Oh my god, I am so thankful I have people other than my teacher to help me get ready for this essay.’ I was on top of the world because I know I did everything right, I know how to use commas, I know all of these things, and that was all because of Chapter 510 and working with them for a year and a half,” said Keith.

According to the Chapter 510 first semester evaluation report, 80 percent of students reported feeling more confident with their writing abilities, and 92 percent reported overall improvement in their school work.

Besides advancing MetWest student’s writing, creating mentor-like relationships between the volunteers and students is another

byproduct of Chapter 510.

One of Miller’s favorite moments when volunteering was when she explained reverse racism to two male students.

“They were really frustrated how white police officers treated them and they had an adult tell them at some point that they were being racists, and I thought that was a great moment to talk to them about how there’s no such thing as reverse racism,” said Miller.

Miller admitted to the certain advantages she had as a white woman, and in response to her honesty the students opened up.

“They were just totally blown away by the fact that I was willing to have that conversation and acknowledge my own privilege in front of them, not only as a volunteer but as someone that’s white,” said Miller.

Chapter 510’s next move is to reach out and work with an Oakland middle school, but according to Heller the decision on which middle school is still in the works.

Another goal Chapter 510 has is to secure a permanent location, to offer programs like aftercare homework assistance to kids K-12.

Until then, Chapter 510 will continue to partner with Oakland schools like MetWest, and offer students academic support and mentor-like relationships.

“It really isn’t about some form of resource like a laptop or scholarship that will make the student do the work or walk through an opportunity. It’s about feeling confident, and that’s what we’re bringing to kids,” said Heller.

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LEFT PAGE: Margaret Miller has been working as a volunteer and site coordinator at Chapter 510, an Oakland literacy and writing project, for the past year. RIGHT PAGE: Kayla Keith, a 15-year-old sophomore at MetWest high school and an intern at Chapter 510, poses amongst the shelves at Pegasus & Pendragon Books, after a reading of recent works from Oakland based youth poets. The poets reading their work have all been featured in the most recent publication of Chapter 510, a book of poems from the Oakland Youth Poet Laureate Program.

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WWhat if monsters were

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or some, there is comfort in facing the horror and darkness of life. It’s better to acknowledge the fear and discomfort of situations than to pretend there’s nothing wrong.

When viewing local artist Alex Pardee’s drawings, there is a sense that something is wrong- horribly wrong. Creatures with sharp, elongated teeth and bodies create discomfort in the viewer. But often, onlookers are unable to look away. Maybe because the horrific drawings are simply creepy: skeletons with bones that melt, bodies whose mouths remain permanently twisted and cracked.

But probably a deeper reason the artist garnered so many fans is because the horror that lives inside his drawings resonates with people. Everyone has been trapped by their own bad thoughts and feelings at one point.

real?

“I THINK THE DARKNESS IS PART OF WHAT I LOVE ABOUT IT,” -CLAUDIA GRAHAM said Claudia Graham, 20, a San Francisco resident and fan of Pardee's art. “His work actually inspired me greatly in multiple ways at very difficult times in my life.”

Pardee was diagnosed with anxiety disorder and depression at the age of 14.

His short stay in a mental hospital gave him an intimate view of what it’s like to feel tortured. He began to transfer his anxiety and depression onto paper. His upsetting thoughts and feelings were transformed into sharp-toothed creatures with “bodies” that dripped off the page. He began drawing creatures with oversized jaws and twisted lips.

Beings with sagging, dripping cheeks and bulging eyes.

"I'm really compelled by the way his artwork is vibrant yet creepy and even sometimes a little vulgar," Graham said. "I love the way he brings his creatures to life and that he even wrote stories to go along with some of them."

Pardee has drawn in this genre of horror art for 24 years now. Beginning with design-

Story by Hillary Smith @hillarysmith21 Photos by Marlene Sanchez @marweeenie23

ABOVE: A Wall of Pardee’s hand-drawn art at Zero Friends art gallery at 419 Haight Street. RIGHT PAGE, TOP: Alex Pardee jokes around with fans who’ve come to see his prints. LEFT: Life-size figurine of the movie character “Chicken,” was stationed outside the screenings of “Digging up the Marrow” for fans to meet on their day off.

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ing T-shirts, the illustrator moved on to writing comics, and eventually became the art director for hardcore band The Used.

Pardee’s career took a whole new turn in the early 2000s, when he created the character “Chadam,” who starred in a self-titled 3-D, animated episodic movie for Warner Bros.

Shortly after, he created art and set work for movie Sucker Punch. His prints brought the viewer into a fantasyland of asswhooping, evil, beautiful women with large guns and swords.

Zero Friends, his store/gallery at 419 Haight Street features shirts, posters, and prints of his demented art.

Pardee collaborates with other stores in the area for fairs and special events. He is partnered with Upper Playground, a clothing store in Haight known for its clean-looking beanies, sweat-wear, and backpacks.

But the business side of things is only so interesting to the

illustrator, who has a tough time remaining stagnant for any length of time.

Recently, Pardee helped create a mockumentary- style horror film that incorporates his twisted creatures. In the film Digging up the Marrow, fans are able to see a real-life version of the creepy figures, in a plot that seeks to prove that monsters do exist.

“This might be the most surreal and cool thing that has ever happened to me,” Pardee said in a recent Instagram post about the movie. The film, starring Ray Wise, Will Barret and filmmaker Adam Green reached movie theaters Feb. 20. Pardee and filmmaker Adam Green went on a mini-tour to five cities where they showed pre-screenings.

Pardee is a true believer in the world of horror.

“I think monsters exist somewhere we can’t see,” he said in the films introduction. “When we do find monsters, I just want to be there to be like ‘I told you so.’”

Digging up the Marrow will resonate if you’re someone whose ever sought out adventure or searched for thrill.

But it is not meant to comfort you. The film will scare you with terrible demons who are entirely real, and they do not remain in the dark for very long - they will seek you.

Fans are able to see Pardee’s 2-D monsters in a weird, new way.

“I always wondered what they look like,” said Alejandro Mendoza, a fan who attended the Berkeley screening of the film in February. “It was great.

I’ve always loved dark things It was like a whole other world.” But, as always in Pardee’s work, there is beauty in this darkness. The horrific journey is mostly scary, not because of the monsters with sharp teeth and gaping holes for eyes. The film is terribly chilling because it proves what the viewer knew all along. Monsters are real, no matter what they look like. And they are waiting, hands shaking, jaws unhinged.

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Print to pop-up

“I M EXCITED TO SEE HOW THE SPACE CAN REACH BEYOND THE CLOSELY KNIT ART WORLD, AND THAT S WHAT SFAQ HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABOUT. WE ARE ABOUT INCLUSION.” -ANDREW MCCLINTOCK

Story by Derek Macario @derekmacario Photos by Hyunha Kim @khyunha

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ith a pink and green spotlight on him, wearing a black jacket, black framed glasses, and combed over hair, Brad Barton used three balls, representing artist Amy Franceschini’s purchase of three shares of stock (gold, grain, and google), as he presented her new work in The Conjurer earlier in the evening.

His routine included stacking the three cups on top of each other and placing one ball on the top, tapping the top with a wand and having the ball appear from the bottom cup. The crowd huddled close to see every move and figure out how the trick was done. For his finale, Brad made a lime appear from the bottom. Then a lemon from a cup across the table, and then a kiwi from the third cup. No one in the audience expected that. It felt like magic.

This was the ice breaker for San Francisco Art Quarterly’s [Project] Space preview party on Thursday February 12, at 449 O’Farrell Street in the Tenderloin. SFAQ’s founder, Andrew McClintock gave opening remarks of the former massage parlor build out, and thanked everyone for coming. “It was great. We were all very excited that about 75 percent of the people who came out, we had never seen before. I’m excited to see how the space can reach beyond the closely knit art world, and that’s what SFAQ has always been about. We are about inclusion,” said McClintock.

Art publications historically have been used as alternative forms of distributions, for example, as a means to find alternative spaces to disseminate art discourse outside of the institutionalized museum and gallery setting. In ways such as self produced publications, books, catalogues, posters, artists are able to have an audience and share their ideas.

“Alternative distribution is necessitated by the dematerialization of art, but it is also grounded in egalitarian and anti-elitist efforts to democratize the experience of art,” said SFSU Art History lecturer, and author of Artists’ Magazine, Gwen Allen. “It is worth noticing how in

this very digital age, people are suddenly returning to the printed object and appreciating its materiality in new ways,” said Allen. These forms of distributions were seen in the 1960s and 70s with magazines such as Aspen and Avalanche. These independent publications produced the content they felt was important to share with their communities.

That has also been part of the mission of San Francisco Art Quarterly since it produced its first issue, in addition to it being distributed at no cost in the Bay Area, in spring 2010.

“The issues were only in print and we didn’t have a website until the second or third year,” said McClintock.

McClintock began the publication originally focusing on the art scene in San Francisco. The first three issues highlighted the art activities and figures in San Francisco neighborhoods. Beginning with the Tenderloin, where SFAQ has its roots, the magazine’s cover pictured a dingy worn wall. Inside its contents, galleries and their owners, art projects, and individuals were featured.

SFAQ produced a Bay Area art event calendar, which included zine reviews. SFAQ’s first issue had art advertisement space for businesses, upcoming art lectures, art festivals, and gallery receptions beyond the Bay Area. Their content was tailored with the most exciting things happening in the local art scene. Alan Bamburger of Art Business, Justin Giarla of White Walls Gallery, and John Tripple of FecalFace.com were those who were featured as having left lasting impressions on the art community.

SFAQ announced itself as an International Art and Culture Quarterly in the eighth issue that published in spring 2012. “We stated it first on the magazine so we would have to become that,” said McClintock.

Shortly after there was a shift in design and information in the magazine. The same newsprint paper was still being used, however the front covers used more compelling and provocative images, intending to lure

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O E D T D Q N E ” K

in new readers. Past issue cover art includes work by: Barry McGee, James Turrell, Kazuo Shiraga, and Ryan McGinley. SFAQ’s current cover features a nude portrait of artist Petra Collins, on a pink backdrop photographed by Ryan McGinley from his Yearbook series.

In recent years, SFAQ has pushed for the use of additional materials in the magazine further. SFAQ [Projects] have included artist projects in the form of tear-out centerfold posters, zines, booklets, and artist pages.

“I admire Andrew’s commitment to trying to make a space to represent work and (related discourse) being made in San Francisco. I feel SFAQ is in its infancy. It will be exciting to see where it may go. It was very exciting to see all the unfamiliar faces at the SFAQ Project Space opening. For me, it was a great opportunity to meet younger artists and newcomers to this city— part of making sense of this new landscape,” said SFSU alumni, Futurefarmers Collective founder and [Project] space featured artist, Amy Franceschini, reflecting on the [Project] space preview party.

This March, SFAQ will open up the first SFAQ [Projects] pop-up space in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. With scheduled programs through June 2015, the aim is to further the dialogues started in SFAQ, and bring new dimensions to art and communication through artist, writer, and curator talks, video art screenings, as well as workshops, exhibitions, and finally, to provide a home for collaboration.

“We like to keep things strange and weird and keep people on their toes,” said McClintock.

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LEFT PAGE: SFAQ founder, Andrew McClintock, talks to guests at the SFAQ project space preview party in the Tenderloin. RIGHT PAGE, TOP: SFAQ [Project] Space artist, Amy Franceschini, explains her art at the SFAQ [Project] space preview party. BOTTOM: Stacks of SFAQ Issue 19 at the SFAQ [Project] space preview party.

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Story by Alex Montero @rontompton Infographic by Martin Bustamante @martinptrr Data from seekingarrangement.com

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ast year, Ashley, a 22-year-old recent SF State graduate, joined a burgeoning dating site after a mutual bet with a friend. Most of the men on the site were substantially older than her. These men would use cryptic pseudonyms or go by a single initial.

Some of the men had daughters who were the same age as Ashley. Some of these men were even married. On a few occasions she would receive a message solely providing an address for a hotel room, which she would promptly ignore. Her first date using the site was with a 33-year-old. He was willing to offer her $400 to $500 per meeting.

Thus is the premise of SeekingArrangement.com, an oft spoken of sugar daddy dating platform, which has seen a recent, massive upsurge in college student sign-ups in the last year, wherein the average debt of SF State graduates reached just under $18,000. For Seeking Arrangement CEO

Brandon Wade, the answer to the student debt problem is simple: get a sugar daddy.

Founded in 2006 by Wade, an MIT graduate and self-described dating expert, Seeking Arrangement offers a platform for so-called sugar babies to meet sugar daddies or sugar mommas. In an Op-Ed published

by CNN, Wade states that “love is a concept invented by poor people,” and nebulously defines his website as a platform wherein “wealthy men seek out beautiful women” for “mutually beneficial relationships.”

Via Wade’s own assertions, these relationships tend to revolve around a similar premise: monetary support is provided in return for a relationship, which, depending on the coupling may be social, sexual, a combination of both, or function as a mentorship.

Sugar daddy users vary from married, single or divorced, with a verified income next to their profile. Seeking Arrangement, in layout and efficacy, essentially functions the same

as any old dating site; but, here, the system is rigged for a niche audience. There’s no aversion to materialism; in fact, it’s the site’s mission statement.

For Ashley, however, the incentive wasn’t just money. Fascinated by the concept of sugar daddies, she wanted to find someone whom she shared mutual interests with.

From the beginning, her narrative deviates from that of the broke college student desperately seeking security.

“He was very attractive,” Ashley says of her first date. “In his profession he’s one of the top rated in the Bay Area. Everything on paper seemed really cool, but when we met I felt like I was talking the whole time. He was very passive. It wasn’t what I was looking for, but he really, really liked me. I realized I was forcing myself to spend time with him.”

Ashley doesn’t see Seeking Arrangement as a way to trade sex for money, as many critics have painted it — SFist ran a story in

*Ashley’s real name has been changed for anonyminity

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2013 with the headline, “Berkeley Students Whoring Themselves on Sugar Daddy Site to Pay Tuition”. While she admits money was a clear and obvious attractor, she was also concerned with meeting someone whom she enjoyed being around and found interesting.

Profiles for female sugar babies seeking men in the San Francisco Bay Area comprise a plethora of different interests. Some bios reflect users’ want to be pampered or simply have their expenses paid off. Numerous other profiles, however, simply ask for men willing to provide sexual dominance. The site also offers options for younger men seeking older women (i.e. “sugar mommas”) and same-sex coupling. Why, then, is so much of the discourse focused on one facet of these relationships: young college females seeking sugar daddies?

“A lot of the guys, if you read their profiles, feel better about doing this because they’re helping college students,” says Ashley. “Some of these guys aren’t just looking to fuck, they’re looking to provide mentorship or give connections. One guy offered me a creative position at his company, which I thought was way too generous. Some guys were just super down to help.”

According to Angela Bermudo, a PR manager with Seeking Arrangement, SF State had the 34th highest sign-up rate on the site in 2014, with an estimated 79 new students joining. Additionally, out of the 50 highest ranked schools, SF State boasts one of the highest growth percentages: an 82 percent increase from the previous year’s sign-ups.

There’s a weird, underlying recalcitrance in Seeking Arrangement’s advertising, which often begins by lambasting government inefficiency then subsequently promotes the site as a cure-all for economic woes. A 2013 YouTube video titled “Screwed by Obamacare? Find a Sugar Daddy” bears the description, “Worried about penalties or added costs due to the Affordable Care Act? Sugar daddy dating site, SeekingArrangement.com, has a solution to your “Obama-drama.” This directly mimes the company’s report on the fastest growing “sugar baby schools,” which throws out numbers on “unsurmountable” student debt, followed by the site’s promise for “a brighter future.” In a 2013 interview with NPR, a public relations manager for Seeking Arrangement claimed that the government shutdown may have directly led to a 50 percent increase in daily sign-ups.

While the site’s PR predominantly relies on economic inefficacy as a leading factor in

its growth, this correlation also serves as the predicate for arguments against it. If abject economic circumstances are the leading factor in the rise of sugar daddy relationships, then the reverse must also be true, which means that economic coercion could alleviate the element of choice—a need to pay for college, a need to obtain health care, or a need to simply support oneself when faced with a Congress that “continues to ignore the problem,” as the company states in a report. Does the roughly 43 percent increase in tuition costs at four-year public universities over the past 10 years have such a coercive effect?

Since its inception, Seeking Arrangement has received stigma from the media, including accusations of prostitution. Wade, however, writes that his site is not for prostitutes or escorts. He admits there is a fine line between the two but concedes, “My intentions are pure. Why must we define a lifestyle we don’t understand as unsavory?”

The sugar daddy relationship is an easy target, as it so directly deviates from accepted American customs. There’s the incestuous nomenclature and the blatant acceptance of wealth as a necessary factor in a relationship; there’s the aversion to monogamy, the trade-off of affection for money, and the potential conduit for sexism.

While these factors are pertinent, Ashley is just one example of a user who says she is averse to the pernicious effects these relationships may carry.

“I’m not an escort, that’s not what I’m doing at all,” says Ashley. “If there’s this opportunity in front of me, and I can understand someone differently than I ever have before, then why not. I’ve definitely got a bad rap from my girlfriends; they have criticized me far more than my guy friends.”

Ashley, who is still an active member on Seeking Arrangement, represents a more nuanced example of the site’s user base—a 22-year-old who isn’t afraid to admit the draw of money in the search for a sugar daddy, who, at the same time, is looking for much more. There’s no “whoring” going on here, as SFist put it, no political apathy or learned helplessness rooted in her pursuit of a heterodox relationship.

Compared to the economic language coming from Seeking Arrangement, Ashley appears to be an anomaly amongst the site’s user base; or, perhaps the site’s rising enrollment rates derive from a more diverse and complex array of attractors. “I’m a feminist and I’m using it,” says Ashley. “I’m playing the game and reaping the benefits.”

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“A LOT OF THE GUYS, IF YOU READ THEIR PROFILES, FEEL BETTER ABOUT DOING THIS BECAUSE THEY RE HELPING COLLEGE STUDENTS,” SAYS ASHLEY. “SOME OF THESE GUYS AREN T JUST LOOKING TO FUCK, THEY RE LOOKING TO PROVIDE MENTORSHIP OR GIVE CONNECTIONS.” -ASHLEY

Faith and politics Breaking the silence Story by Alec Fernandes @alecjf Photo by Martin Bustamante @martinptrr

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n a recent Tuesday afternoon in the lobby of the Fairmont Hotel, Mitch Mayne felt bold enough to talk about two topics not often discussed in polite company: faith and politics. A devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he had cause for celebration now that Mormons were back in the news. And there was perhaps no one better to comment on the announcement out of Salt Lake City than this eloquent Stanford graduate, a man devoted to bridging two communities separated by an ocean of stigmas and stereotypes.

The 44-year-old former church leader admitted his quest had been difficult at times, yet the policy change gave him new hope. He was now one step closer to helping other gay Mormons find acceptance.

In a landmark announcement last month, Mormon officials promised to uphold LGBT anti-discrimination laws, hoping their institution would receive more religious freedom in return. While critics claim the new policy is manipulative and serves only the political interests of the church, Mayne said it’s still a step in the right direction.

“Our leadership has not really addressed the LGBT issue formally in a long time,” he said. “The fact that we are doing so now – imperfectly and certainly not completely – is still a really good sign.

At least the conversations are beginning.”

Here in San Francisco, Mayne is on a mission to strengthen people’s faith without compromising their identities.

He once held a leadership position in his ward by working directly under the local bishop, and he said he has brought more than 30 people back to Mormonism in a process he calls “reactivation.”

The Mormon Church’s recent announcement could make this reactivation more appealing for the LGBT youth

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previously abandoned by their religion. Mayne believes the old exclusionary policy had the worst effect on the young generation – a group more likely to cope with rejection through high-risk behavior such as dabbling in drugs or unprotected sex.

As a young man growing up in Idaho, Mayne had his own turbulent time seeking acceptance among friends and family. The uncomfortable experience of coming out to his mother, and her painful denial of this honest moment, showed Mayne a part of his faith he didn’t care for – a hypocritical tendency to exclude people despite the Bible’s lessons of universal love.

Coming to terms with his own identity almost broke the young Mormon after he fell in love at graduate school.

The new relationship was liberating yet proved to be too heavy a burden for Mayne, who at the time still believed something was inherently wrong with him for loving another man.

Heterosexuality as the key to normalcy was all he knew.

His religion had constantly told him he was wicked, and the church’s reminder that “wickedness is never happiness” ran through his head constantly. One night, with a handful of painkillers, Mayne debated the very purpose of his existence - whether it was worth the dizzying balancing act of finding acceptance within both himself and within a higher power.

“HOW WE HANDLE LGBT PEOPLE IS REALLY A SYMPTOM OF A MUCH LARGER PROBLEM INSIDE OUR FAITH. AND THAT PROBLEM IS HOW WE AS MORMONS DEAL WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE DIFFERENT THAN US…” -MITCH MAYNE “How we handle LGBT people is really a symptom of a much larger problem inside our faith,” Mayne said. “And that problem is how we as Mormons deal with people who are different than us… and that’s displayed in how we treat them. A lot of those people leave.”

Mayne hopes the recent news out of Salt Lake City will reverse this trend by strengthening relationships within Mormon families. He works with SF State’s Family Acceptance Project, which conducts groundbreaking research on how support at home affects LGBT youth. These studies consistently show the more accepted a child feels, the less

LEFT PAGE: Morman gay-rights activist Mitch Mayne with the Book of Mormon.

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likely he or she is to consider suicide, drug use or other high-risk behavior.

It may seem like common sense, yet instances of suicide and homelessness among Salt Lake City’s Mormon youth are disproportionately high when compared to other communities. Mayne believes this problem is rooted in an unstable home environment.

It was Christmas Day when he received an urgent phone call from a young man in Rexburg, Idaho, who was desperately seeking emotional support. His parents had put him on the street after he came out to them, and on a holiday meant for reconnecting with family he was scared and alone.

“He had no car, money, shelter, transportation or food.

We were scrambling to get him resources,” Mayne said.

“This is the sort of thing that happens daily within our faith.”

Mainstream America has historically viewed both gays and Mormons as outsiders, yet the two communities don’t often acknowledge each other’s struggle for legitimacy.

With the church’s recent announcement, Mormons have started breaking through ideological barriers using a clear ultimatum: We’ll support you if you’ll support us.

Yet Salt Lake City’s new position hasn’t changed the church’s stance on same-sex marriage. The Mormon vote was highly influential in passing California’s Proposition 8 that limited marriage to one man and one woman, and many leaders are still encouraging LGBT members to marry a person of the opposite sex.

Mayne is frustrated with this practice, which is the subject of TLC’s “My Husband’s Not Gay.” Last month he sat down with The Huffington Post to voice his disapproval of the reality TV show, which documents the lives of non-heterosexual men attempting to conform to a traditional Mormon marriage. A recent study found the divorce rate among these mixed-orientation couples is twice as high.

Another source of frustration for Mayne is the alternative label that’s been placed upon the LGBT community.

In an attempt to take the “sexual” out of “homosexual,” religious officials use the term “same-sex attraction” to encourage only platonic relationships.

MormonAndGay.org – one of several specialized websites operated by the church – states, “the attraction itself is not a sin, but acting on it is.”

But now some of the highest church officials are admitting that maybe they don’t know enough about this community to support their harsh judgments. During a recent conference in Oakland that Mayne attended, Elder Dallin Oaks acknowledged that the Mormon leadership needed to connect with LGBT individuals in order to effectively implement the new policy.

Such an open dialogue could also open minds and lead to an even greater level of acceptance, which Mayne has worked so hard to achieve.

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When you play the

you win or you fly

game of drones,

Story by Reuben Deveres @roobtoob787 Photos by Drake Newkirk @drakenewk

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T

eams of builders, college graduates, and hobbyists gathered to fight each other to the death on a large field at Oakland’s Shoreline Park.

They’ve come with knowledge of robotics to commandeer aerial drones to fight, or race, one another in a battle of speed and finesse. Their weapons: flying robots, or drones, are still under review by the Federal Aviation Commission. However, that hasn’t stopped Marque Cornblatt from pitting them against one another to fight in an arena-style tournament he calls Game of Drones.

Cornblatt is an SF State alumnus and co-founder of Game of Drones, an Oakland-based company, which launched a successful Kickstarter early last year that enabled them to purchase a 3D printer to craft prototype parts for an indestructible drone body. The end-product is their Hiro airframe, an impact and fire body that weighs less than a pound.

The Kickstarter, which raised $51,143, was a tremendous success and convinced Cornblatt to launch his hardware company with Eli Delia, also a co-founder.

“I like to call myself a garage engineer,”

said Cornblatt, as he reflected on his passion for machinery.

YouTube videos posted by Cornblatt’s production company show him and his colleagues attempting to destroy their drone frame by: shooting it with shotgun shells, savagely beating it with a baseball bat, and attempting to set it on fire.

As a student, Cornblatt studied various degrees of machine art, a deviation from contemporary art forms that focused on bold colors and mechanistic forms.

What was initially a hobby, the Kickstarter convinced him that drones can be a viable business.

He and Delia are expected to launch an entire product line related to Game of Drones mid-2015. Until then, they’ve been busy contacting the Federal Aviation Administration regarding regulation as well as filing patents for their products.

Back at Shoreline Park, an audience waits for a drone race to start. Randy Parco regularly attends Game of Drones and brought his family to watch him compete in the races. According to Parco, he learned a lot about drone assembly by watching tutorials on YouTube. Similar to how car enthusiasts would modify their cars to

obtain peak performance, these YouTube engineers and hobbyists are altering their drones to obtain a competitive edge. Parco equipped his drone with a first-person camera and GPS stabilizers to assist him during the race.

“People are just geeking out on the technology,” Parco said. “You need to learn how to fly or else your drone will land on the White House Lawn.”

DJI, a Chinese-based company, introduced their Phantom drone to the U.S market, which helped paved the way for a mainstream audience to adopt drone flying as a hobby. Unfortunately, their drone was the same one that crashed on White House grounds in early 2015, where an un-named government employee crashed his Phantom drone in a drunken stupor at 3 a.m. Despite it being illegal to fly a model aircraft or drone in the nation’s capital, the pilot was not charged. DJI responded by issuing a firmware update called the “White House Patch” which limits flights above Washington D.C., according to their press release.

Parco said that the White House incident could have been avoided if the pilot treated the drone with some respect. He

LEFT PAGE, TOP: Randy Parco conducts a pre-race flight check on his racer during the Game of Drones meet at Middle Harbor Shorline Park in West Oakland. BOTTOM: E.J. Parco (left) and Aja Cruz (right) watch Randy Parco’s (center) perspective on the screen as he races his drone around. RIGHT PAGE: Frank Aalbers (right) pilots “ El Metallico” (top) in a battle against Thomas Jacobsen’s “Spike” (bottom) in a cage match at the Game of Drones meet at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park. NEXT PAGE: Game of Drones founder Marque Cornblatt shows off his “Hero” combat drone, designed to be the world’s most durable drone airframe, at the Game of Drones meet at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park.

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added that the drone pilots must be passionate about their vehicles, because passion is a key to proper flying.

Parco brought two of his drones, which he learned to create by watching various YouTube instructional videos, to Shoreline With a front row view of the action, strapped with a Fat Shark brand headset, he raced his camera-equipped drone.

“If you’re really into it, you’re going to fall off your chair,” said Parco.

Tinkering away across the field, Frank Aalbers brought both his racing and fighting drone to the event. Aalbers, who works at Pixar as a technical director, started working with drones only half a year ago, had four of his drones on display on a picnic table. His fighting drone, Metallico, or as he called it “El Metallico,” was set to fight in Game of Drones. The rules for the deathmatch are simple: Two drones enter the arena, last one flying wins, and if both drones crash, the first one back in the air is the victor.

The drone arena, also known as the battlecage, consists of a net barrier that prevents the drones from wildly spinning out after clashing into one another. Aalbers, wearing a black conference shirt tucked underneath a pair of ashen-gray pants, is seen smiling as he enters the cage. His drone is equipped with two fixed metal prongs resembling helicopter blades with

the words “protect” sharpied on each. This modification gives Metallico a unique look from the other fighters as it cuts through the air.

However, Metallico did not win its first fight, the steel blades and parts of its rotor were ripped apart by the opponent. Thomas Jacobson is fighting Aalbers with his drone named Spike, which is decorated with numerous sharp metal prongs protruding from its body.

Jacobson uses these spikes to his advantage by hovering over the enemy and quickly impaling them by slamming its body towards the ground.

Amy Chen Aalbers came to support her husband Frank.

“He’s 50 years old and he’s acting like a kid again!” screamed Chen, as Aalbers was fighting again in the battlecage, his screams of jolly laughter reverberated through the park.

“Your next pizza, maybe 15 years from now, may be delivered by these guys,” Chen laughed as she discussed the possible impact of drones in the future.

Game of Drones has been featured on numerous news outlets such as Good Morning America and Wired. Cornblatt had no clue that the popularity of Game of Drones would such a spectacle that it would turn out to be. His friend, Edie Sellers, expressed much excitement over the future potential impact of drones.

“This feels like the beginning of the internet,” said Sellers. “It’s like a lemonade stand that

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exploded! It’s been a hell of a lot of fun.”

According to Sellers, Cornblatt, Delia, and everyone working with Game of Drones, they are searching for ways to cooperate with the FAA in establishing drone safety awareness.

Sellers referred to drone regulation as uncharted territory, and factored in the potential impact Game of Drones will have in establishing safety regulations. Coincidentally, the FAA posted updated drone safety guidelines that same day, she noted.

As the sun was setting, Cornblatt and Sellers expressed excitement for next month’s Game of Drones.

“We’re only going to have more spectators every single time!” stated Sellers as she smiled and gazed at the park.

Cornblatt had recently returned from New York to videotape a segment on Good Morning America in which he flew and showcased his drones to millions of viewers across the country.

“Our next phase is getting investment capital to expand past our initial Kickstarter campaign,” said Cornblatt.

Until then, he and his company will continue facilitating Game of Drones events as well as working with other various drone organizations to build the foundation for proper drone etiquette and regulations.

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AR-15 Anatomy The right to bear arms Story by Colin Blake @BlakeExam Photos by David Henry

A

gun is fired once the trigger is pulled, causing the hammer to hit the firing pin, which strikes the primer that ignites the smokeless powder, thus twisting the bullet down the barrel’s rifled interior, and onto its intended target. But in this instance, the gun, an AR-15, could not complete that sequence, without first being completed itself.

The AR-15, with its separable upper and lower receivers, has become the most popular buildable firearm nationwide, given its price and accessories aftermarket. Only recently, the AR-series lower receivers have been available in incomplete form for the user to complete. The less-than-legal nomenclature of “80 percent” has arrived to describe them, requiring machine-work to finish the gun to 100 percent functionality.

These incomplete firearm receivers, with more than hand tools, adept machining, and adequate funds, can be turned into guns legally without ever stepping foot into a gun store. The Gun Control Act of 1968 clearly states that “an unlicensed individual may make a 'firearm,’ for his personal use, but not for sale or distribution.”

Carl, of Kerley’s Hunting and Outfitting in Cupertino, California, has been selling the registered, pre-made AR-15’s for more than a decade.

“We don’t sell '80 percents’ here, but we have been selling fewer AR’s,” Carl said. “I know that we also have been selling a lot of upper receivers...

That tells me a fair amount of people are building their own now.”

The upper receiver is combined with the lower, either pre-made at a factory or made by an individual, to make a working gun.

It is important to note that “80 percent” guns are not required to have a serial number, registration, or identifying marks unless for sale or transfer.

Sale or transfer must happen under the supervision of a federal firearms license holder: basically gun stores.

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Even though they start life as nothing more than fancy paperweights, guns that are made by private individuals must adhere to federal and state laws regarding the legal features of guns once they are operational: This is not a loophole for fully automatic guns. Moreover, if an individual is not eligible for firearm ownership to begin with, milling an incomplete receiver to complete status is still a felony, according to the Gun Control Act. Even still, final word on what is and is not a firearm comes from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. On two separate occasions, once in 2012 and again in late 2013, the ATF wrote memorandums legally qualifying features that constitute completion; all “80 percent” receivers now follow this framework in order to avoid being sold as guns.

In short, the lower receiver must not have the capability of dropping the firing pin on the primer of the bullet, thus ejecting the round. It can, however, have provisions for a grip and buttock, fully-formed magazine well and assembly lugs, and minute aspects like a bolt release lever.

When gun purchases skyrocketed under the specter of President Obama’s 2012 gun control push, which followed the Newtown Connecticut shooting, AR-15’s sold out in days, according to the Office of the Attorney General. Major retailers like Cabela’s, MidwayUSA, and Walmart, had no inventory and no estimates for replenishment.

All told, the ATF estimated that nearly 1.1 million guns were sold in the U.S. for the year 2012 -- the most ever in a single year. This statistic was the basis for the National Rifle Association calling President Obama “the best gun salesman in history.”

With demand outstripping supply, new non-gun makers sprang up to sell incomplete AR-series lower receivers to meet demand.

These sellers were able to pop up quickly because they were not selling firearms; therefore sellers did not need to apply for an expensive and onerous federal firearms license.

Ares Armor, 80 percent Arms, and the now-famous Defense Distributed, are companies that hold major market share in the buildable firearms industry. These companies, and others, have been so successful that they have moved on from offering just AR-15 components, to offering kits to build AK-47’s and model 1911 pistols: supremely popular guns.

What once fired the basic .223/5.56 caliber cartridge, the buildable AR-15’s can be tailored to the users shooting needs: A bullet as small as a .22lr, designed for plinking soda cans at the range, or something as massive as the .50 BMG, which is designed for extremely long range shooting, can be chambered.

The .50 BMG caliber is presently illegal in California after the passage of the 2004 .50 Caliber BMG Regulation Act. California is the only state to enact such restrictions, citing the bullet’s threat to the “health, safety, and security of all residents,” which is the language of the regulation act.

These various caliber options allow AR owners to quickly change their upper receiver, while keeping their original lower receiver to fire a different caliber based on what ammunition is available.

The culmination of all this is the gun owners, who seem to face stigma due to the actions of a psychotic few, want anonymity, choice, and convenience.

Greg Phaxton is a gun collector and shooting enthusiast who has recently turned an “80 percent” lower into a shooting, precise gun.

“I really think the '80 percent’ receiver has changed how we view guns and regulations forever,” said Phaxton. “I first bought one '80 percent’ receiver, did a rough job finishing it, and it shot just like my Bushmaster.”

Bushmaster, located in Windham, Maine, has been a long-time producer of the AR-15.

“Nearly every caliber I can afford to shoot, I can make an AR for now,” Phaxton said. “It still is expensive though.”

Factory-made AR-15’s can sell for as low as $799 to as high as $5,000; The average “80 percent” is $120, but depending on the quality of material, design aspects, and caliber, the price fluctuates.

Nevertheless, the tooling to complete a receiver can be hugely expensive. Factors of speed, repetition, precision, and automation, all play a role in deciding what tools to buy.

A $72 Ryobi router with $50 worth of endmills could complete the job, but ensuring tight tolerances would be hard. On the other hand, a $60,000 5-axis CNC machine could complete the job to within one thousandths of an inch by hitting the “enter” key on a keyboard.

Even still, once tooling has been acquired, further spending is still required; but the buildable firearms trend is not about cost cutting. It is done in a sort of protest, a pushback against gun-owner generalization, or simply to stay off the grid.

“I just want to be left alone,” Phaxton said.

“I’ve broken no laws.”

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LAST PAGE: Infographic by Caty McCarthy. ABOVE, RIGHT: Kevin Kasper, 24, fires a do-it-yourself version of an AR-15 rifle at the Los Altos Rod and Gun Club. BOTTOM: The trigger and hammer assembly for a AR-15.

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How old becomes new One building’s ever-changing journey over a century

Story by Olympia Zampathas @olyzam Photos by Emma Chiang @marieemchi_

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O

n the corner of San Jose and Geneva Avenues, there sits an old building. 18 window panes are boarded up with two shades of light blue painted plywood on the side facing a Muni Metro platform. It’s right on the line in between the Excelsior and Ingleside districts, and on the edge of Balboa Park BART Station, but as the M-train comes from around the corner of the building, the prospective passengers pay no mind - they just want to get on Muni and get on with their day.

But the inside, which rarely gets fresh eyes on it, shows the history of generations. Wooden wainscoting lines the walls of what used to be the Geneva Office Building; a wooden dresser occupies every room that used to, and in some cases still does, hold a desk and chair; some rooms still have old machines, which few would now recognize as computers. Little transit windows, like those you see in old black and white films with train stations, line the hallway into the western wing of the building. The smell inside the powerhouse portion of the building is a mixture of musty and fresh, as vegetation pops its way out of the concrete flooring. The natural light shoots in from the skylights above and illuminates the partial ruins of an interior. You

can only imagine the beauty the enormous room once held as it stood in its prime as an industrial masterpiece of its time.

The only thing seemingly new about this building are the three huge advertisements that have appeared on the exterior walls in the last few months. These ads, stating “envision” at the bottom with something clever and simple after them, perfectly juxtapose the old and the new brought together at the Geneva Car Barn and Powerhouse - and this is just the beginning to what the Friends of the Geneva Car Barn and Powerhouse want to do.

“Imagine a street scape with trees,” says Tim Writh, Executive Director of the Friends of the Geneva Powerhouse. “Imagine a pedestrian friendly experience around the biggest transport station outside of the downtown area.”

Wirth was brought on in October 2014 as the Executive Director of the Geneva Powerhouse initiative, which will tentatively be called the Geneva Powerhouse Center for the Arts. He became familiar with the area while helping to build the Balboa Park Skate Park on an empty corner adjacent to the Balboa Park Bart Station, just two blocks from the Powerhouse, in 2012.

“There’s an amazing vision planned,” explains Wirth. “There is strong commit-

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ment at the neighborhood level. We now have our agreement with the city nailed down which means that’s it’s not just an idea.

“It includes a 55 year ground lease,” he says.

The nonprofit is trying to make it so the 114-year-old building becomes less of a transit hub and more of a destination.

Plans for the building include a restaurant/ cafe, a student lounge, a 99-seat black-box theatre, a culinary arts studio, and a huge open hall within the current powerhouse portion of the building, which may be used for a variety of occasions/events, and will have a full kitchen attached.

“Can you imagine a wedding in here?” says Wirth, referring to the high-ceiling powerhouse. “Without all of those windows bordered up, the lighting would be incredible.”

The building has been unused for more than 25 years now as it was damaged in the Loma Prieta earthquake in October of 1989. The San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA) had plans demolish it, but Mayor Willie Brown petitioned for the building to stay put. Once ownership was moved to San Francisco Department of Recreation and Parks (SFDRP), restoring the old building became goal that has been

/

d

trying to be achieved since 2004.

“The fact that it’s sat vacant for the past 25 years, in my opinion, is a bit disgraceful,” says Wirth. “But there are a lot of reasons for that - it’s big, it’s complicated, it’s expensive but we’re going to try and change that.”

Through community programs and classes have been run outside of the powerhouse under the nonprofit’s name in years past, the most visible headway has been recently. In 2012, the building received historic building status, and last

year, was officially recognized by the city.

“This is a project that in most any other neighborhood would have been snapped up long ago and fixed and repurposed and doing what it should be doing - serving the public,” says Wirth.

“The city has studied it and called out the car barn as kind of an anchor to the renewal of this neighborhood,” he says.

The building itself has a history that is hard to contest. Designed by the Reid Brothers, the same architects who built the original Cliff House, which watches over the northern end of Ocean Beach, the Geneva Car Barn and Powerhouse definitely has architectural merit.

On top of its history, Balboa BART Station is also the busiest transport station outside of the downtown area and sees a constant flow of people, and it always has been. Being built in 1901, the station served as the first electric train station in the City. If you wanted a train ticket or pass, you could go into the office side of the building and buy your ticket at the train window. There was even a special funeral car that would go directly from the station to Colma.

“I think the project itself is beneficial for the community,” says Michael Cruz, cinema major at SF State who lives in the neighborhood. “The project itself is

fair and I can’t think of a counter argument against it. Hopefully construction does not slow down the M [train].”

The current cost of renovating the building and making it ready to open is $23.9 million.

As of now the city has approved $838,000 for design and development.

As part of that approval, the Friends of the Geneva Car Barn has agreed to raise an additional $500,000 to pay for construction documents to have the full plan so they could and can understand exactly what everything will cost. So far, $50,000 has been raised from a challenge grant .

“There’s an amazing vision planned,” says Wirth. “There is strong commitment at the neighborhood level. We now have our agreement with the city nailed down which means that’s it’s not just an idea,” he says.

This agreement also includes a 55year ground lease. According to the Lease Disposition and Development Agreement (LDDA), the $500,000 has to be raised by the end of 2017. Once the initial money has been raised, tax credits are expected to be the next form of funding for the historic building.

The blueprints created for the project were created pro-bono by Aidlin Darling Designs - a local architectural firm that has since been recognized and received the National Design Award.

The advertisements that live on the exterior walls of the house and promotional videos that populate the nonprofit’s website have also been done pro-bono in the last few months by Godfrey Q and Partners.

“It’s about the arts,” explains Wirth.

“This brings stability in a way that a lot of places won’t have. It’s about cultural diversity, talk about that and I think that’s a San Francisco value that people celebrate. If you celebrate it, invest in the areas where that exists in a real way,” he says.

With low-income housing planned to take over the current Muni parking lot right across the street, the mission of the Friends of the Geneva Car Barn stands truer than ever - ”the future of the neighborhood starts here.”

FIRST PAGE: The hallway leading to the entrance of the Powerhouse at the Geneva Car Barn. LEFT PAGE: The Powerhouse at the Geneva Car Barn will undergo construction in 2018. A $23.9 million renovation project that will transform an abandoned historic building into an arts and cultural center.

RIGHT PAGE, ABOVE: Photo courtesy of Friends of the Geneva Powerhouse. Rendering of proposed development plan, scheduled for 2018. LEFT: Tim Wirth the executive director of the Friends of the Geneva Car Barn and Powerhouse has spear headed the renovation project since October 2014.

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X

The sound of skating Story by Meira Gebel @MeiraInSF Photos by Katie Lewellyn @Klewllynphoto

Building Sustainabilty

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With a quick flick of a switch, Nick Pourfard has his work cut out for him. Literally. Pourfard is an industrial design student at SF State, woodworker, skateboarder, guitar player, and creator of the eco-friendly company Prisma Guitars.

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risma Guitars is built on the foundation of sustainability, spontaneous inspirations, and a lot of hard work. Every guitar that Pourfard creates is made out of recycled and reclaimed wood from decommissioned skateboards.

Each exquisitely handcrafted guitar is one-of-a-kind due to the various types of wood from multiple skateboards, which gives the body and neck of the guitar a unique and rare pattern every time. The sounds of these guitars share the same characteristics as their build. With their clean, sharp, and crisp tones, where you can hear every note strummed, one would think that a professional must have made them. But think again.

In 2011, Pourfard was injured while he was skating, an injury that put him on the bench for the next six months. He tore a tendon in his ankle. With one of his hobbies pushed to the sidelines, Pourfard needed a new one. He began to build.

Woodworking seemed to be the next good fit. He began watching YouTube videos on how to build small objects like dice, pens, and spoons.

“I made small things,” said Pourfard, “but making a guitar seemed so technical and extreme to make, so I said to myself that there was no reason why I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

Taking the skills he learned from creating smaller objects, Pourfard applied the same logic to building a guitar.

“I didn’t know a single thing about it, where to start, what to do, what tools I needed. I watched a million videos on YouTube about every step on how to make a guitar start to finish. I would watch it like two times and be like ‘Okay let’s do it,’” said Pourfard.

Combining his early love for music and his rather rough start to skating, Pourfard managed to create a way in which he could combine both, as he likes to call them “skate guitars.”

A 13-year-old Pourfard was dared to “bomb” a hill on skateboard, for the first time, by a friend. Being a 13 year old, there was no way he would have resisted. While skating down the hill, Pourfard fell, on his face, and shattered all of his teeth.

“My retainer shattered in my mouth, that’s how hard I fell,” said Pourfard. But for “some reason” after that moment, following the repair of his teeth, Pourfard decided to keep on skating.

Guitar playing came on much easier than skating for Pourfard. His mother signed him up for lessons when he was in seventh grade. Although he ended those lessons in the beginning of high school, Pourfard never lost the inspiration and interest to play.

Back in 2011, while on bed-rest with a torn tendon, Pourfard was able to fully recover, and completely build his first guitar out of skateboard wood. Realizing that this concept was beneficial in an eco-friendly way, he continued building guitars well after his recovery.

“It’s one thing that kept me going,” said Pourfard, referring to the socially responsible aspect of the company, “I started doing it because at first it was sentimental to me, and my second thought was that I’d throw these away anyway.”

Because used skateboards go through abundant wear and tear, they become obsolete after they are broken or worn down.

“These boards are totally broken and not useable, but I’m just finding a way to keep them going,” said Pourfard.

What continues to keep Pourfard going is the future and his accomplishments thus far, all which are powered by his inspiration. He is constantly thinking about what’s next with his work and the future of his company.

“My mind goes off track really easily and I think it’s because I’m thinking of a million things at the same time,” said Pourfard, “I get inspired by tiny things that are around me, and other things that people make.”

This inspiration has propelled Pourfard, and Prisma Guitars, to selling three of the 11 guitars he’s made, some even selling before he posted them online. One of the three he has sold was to the bassist of Iron Maiden, Steve Harris.

With the substantial acceptance of his work by musicians like Harris, as well as his 3,000 and counting followers on Instagram, Pourfard plans to fully launch Prisma Guitars in the next two months.

“I’ve been working non-stop since June,” said Pourfard, “I’m ready.”

If Pourfard can offer any advice to those struggling with ideas and projects themselves, it’s this: “In some situations the worst thing that can happen is that it doesn’t work, and who cares. You have to realize the reward in the end, and it’s worth it.”

LEFT PAGE, TOP: Stacks of donated skate boards sit inside Nick Pourfard’s garage on Wednesday afternoon. BOTTOM LEFT: Nick Pourfard tuning up his customized Prisma guitar. BOTTOM RIGHT: Nick Pourfard, owner of Prisma Guitars, examines the body of his unfinished guitar for further polishing.

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BEER BUSTERS The science of brewing

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Story by Lissette Vargas @liss_luxe Photos by Daniel E. Porter

By day, they are scientists—immersed in labs, handling cells, and manipulating sterile cultures...

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ut when the weekend rolls around, they are debugging data on the science of brewing.

Ryan Dalton and Kenton Hokanson, graduate students of the University of California San Francisco’s neuroscience program, began homebrewing together shortly after becoming roommates.

“Essentially everyone in the life sciences seems to brew their own beer. This is like the only skill you pick up as a biologist, other than doing biology,” Dalton says.

Dalton and Hokanson began attending other people’s brew sessions and picked up on the process of beer making. Soon after, they met Paul Tiplady, a software engineer, and Robert Schiemann, a software developer, through mutual friends, and bonded immediately.

The Method Brewing team was formed from pure experimentation and have been homebrewing obsessively for the past three years. Their expansive drink list includes hundreds of unorthodox flavors not typi-

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cally seen in the realm of craft brewing, including: jalapeño, coconut, mole, and yogurt.

“It used to be an afternoon social occasion,” remembers Tiplady.

They would get together, brew bubbly concoctions, and make a mess of the house.

Shortly thereafter, they began throwing around unconventional ideas for flavor combinations, eventually brewing them all.

“We brew every recipe that we can think of to see what works and we’re not really afraid of making a bad beer--just dump it if

ab fri Jal ca an lon bli H it, let of sc cu to lo wi on is ho

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we don’t like it,” shares Hokanson.

On February 11, their innovative beers made their first appearance at San Francisco’s Beer Week. Their event, BrewFlood VII, drew favorable responses from the beer community and local entrepreneurs.

Their beer recipes are created with just about anything you have ever had in your fridge. The idea of creating their signature Jalapeño Imperial India Pale Ale (JIIPA) came about simply; they all liked jalapeños and they all liked beer.

The five-hour process to create a 10-gallon batch begins with a culture of yeast bubbling in a flask on top of a hot plate.

Outdoors, in the shady backyard patio, Hokanson begins to mill the grain, crushing it, just enough to expose riveted sugar pellets. Behind him, fire raises the temperature of 15 gallons of water to 185 degrees. The scalding hot liquid is poured into the accumulation of grains, and as it settles, begins to bubble ferociously. The batch begins to look like a witch’s brew as Schiemann stirs it with a large wooden paddle.

The simple name of the JIIPA, sitting in one of the 23 kegs made for SF Beer Week, is enough to send beer expert Jared Funkhouser running for the hills.

“I’m a sucker for spice,” he exclaims as he picks up the imperial IPA loaded with fresh jalapeños and house made jalapeño tincture.

First, he takes a whiff. “The first thing I smell is the initial bite of the jalapeño,” he says, nervously.

Then, he takes a sip. “It’s amazing,” Funkhouser blurts out, along with a shocked expression. There is just enough spice, without being daunting. It’s nice and smooth with a settle floral note to balance out the flavors, he says.

Two unseeded jalapeños go into each gallon of beer; today’s batch has 20 total. Tiplady remembers when they first began using jalapeño in their beer and used his fingers, as opposed to a spoon, to un-seed.

“It was a searing pain that lasted for days on the inside of my fingernails,” he recalls.

The beer’s spice is regulated by creating a tincture made by soaking jalapeño seeds in Everclear, a grain alcohol. This method results in a concentrated neon green liquid that is Scoville tested, a systematic spice measurer.

“We don’t try to make a pepper beer that everyone likes, we try to make a pepper beer that some people won’t like but the people who like peppers will love and kill for,” tells

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Hokanson.

On a recent Monday, they sit on the roof of 326 1st St., a rundown building in between the SOMA district’s skyscrapers, and the future site of their brewery, Methodology.

The brewery, set to open after a fullblown demolition and remodel, will have a ground level bar, modeled after an industrial laboratory with their beers on tap and a rooftop beer garden that will alternatively serve as a relaxed, warm setting.

Historically, San Francisco has been underserved in terms of bars per capita compared to beer meccas like Portland, according to Tiplady. In 2014, nineteen new breweries opened up in San Francisco, and nine are currently in planning, according to San Francisco Brewers Guild. Tiplady predicts that in the next five years, local brewpubs will grow exponentially, as well as provide the freshest of beers.

“There are a lot of breweries that are doing classic styles, and a lot of people like that kind of beer. But we are trying to push out and do very experimental, very weird stuff and that’s kind of a niche but there’s no one doing that in San Francisco,” says Tiplady.

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“WE RE TRYING PUSH OUT AND DO VERY EXPERIMENTAL, VERY WEIRD STUFF AND THAT S KIND OF A NICHE BUT THERE S NO ONE DOING THAT IN SAN FRANCISCO.” - PAUL TIPLADY

FIRST PAGE, TOP: Paul Tiplady of Method Brewing wipes off the top of the plate chiller as they cool down one of the batches of beer they brewed. NEXT PAGE: Paul Tiplady of Method Brewing stirs the mash right after adding in the fresh jalapenos to their jalapeno IPA. THIS PAGE, ABOVE: Kenton Hokanson of Method Brewing puts his hand in the barley he is grinding up to start the process of brewing a few batches of beer. BOTTOM: (From left to right) Robert Schiemann and Paul Tiplady watch Kenton Hokanson, all from Method Brewing, grind up barley for the two batches of beer they are about to start brewing.

Pipe borders from Freepik by www.flaticon.com is licensed under Creative Commons by 3.0.

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Dining for charity

Story by Fayola Perry @SWEETtriniSOUL Photos by Angelica Williams @anwilliams_3

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rom the scent of pupusas cooking to perfection in the Mission, to sweet-tasting concoctions with even sweeter names in North Beach, San Francisco Restaurant Week had something for almost everyone to enjoy. Formerly known as San Francisco’s Dine About Town, San Francisco Restaurant Week took place January 21-30, with new organizers, and a brand new game plan to celebrate the city’s unique restaurants. This is the first year that the Golden Gate Restaurant Association (GGRA) has been in charge of the event. According to the GGRA website, they reimagined the program as a celebration of the “incredible variety of culinary experiences our city’s restaurants have to offer.”

Because of the abundant advertising, on buses and trains, San Francisco Restaurant Week exploded with a ton of new, young taste-testers this year.

“I’ve worked at Mosto, Tacolicious, 25 Lusk, and now Sabrosa, and I’ve never seen so many people come out, especially young people,” said Alejandro Vasquez, a popular bartender that’s had a long relationship in the SF restaurant community.

The atmosphere was full of fun, and filled with inebriated laughter, as excited patrons slid sideways onto leather sofas at 25 Lusk in SoMa. Across town, those at 1300 on Fillmore seemed excited to polish-off some sophisticated soul food.

“We tried to offer a fun menu that had meats and cheeses and flavor that would make you want to come back,” said Roberto Rosas, one of the managers at Sparrow, located in the Haight-Ashbury.

Each participating restaurant created modified menus offering a $25 two-course lunch,and a $40 four-course dinner.

This added a very college-friendly element to fine dining by drawing in new customers to pricier spots that they may not have thought to eat at beforehand. There was also a special “Discovery” menu offered for $85 at select restaurants. These

menus featured food and beverage pairings designed to spice up the restaurants’ creative juices, as well as excite potential diners. The menus also showcased some the SFRW chefs’ more daring dishes, like a toasted brie with bacon and apple jelly, and bacon along with some festive drinks with names like “Bad Bertha’s Bitching Blood Mary.”

This year’s restaurant week caught the attention of popular website Thrillist, which many refer to as a youthful guide thru the restaurants of popular cities. San Francisco Restaurant Weeks secured a highly coveted spot on their “11 SF Events You Must Hit This Winter.” The city-wide celebration also garnered support from Bizjournals.com, and other sites that highlight city life.

As if this city-wide event wasn’t exciting enough, there was a contest for those who dined at four or more participating restaurants. Participants were encouraged to share their restaurant week fun via social media by using the SFRW hashtag. For the dedicated diners that dined at over four participating restaurants and documented it per the instruction on the SFRW Facebook, they were automatically entered into the contest. The reward was substantial: 12 $100 dining certificates to ensure they continue to dine throughout the city.

The icing on the cake for this event was that SFRW teamed up with SF-Marin Food Bank. When diners reserved tables through OpenTable, SFRW donated 25 cents for every dollar spent throughout the event to go towards the food bank.

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ABOVE: Customers enjoy dinner at Ragazza in the Lower Haight in San Francisco. RIGHT: Chef prepping pizza at Ragazza, located between Page and Oak Streets in San Francisco.

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Improv bit Story by Michael Leri @orangeflavored Photo by Melissa Minton

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he lights dim as the late-comers stumble through the darkness to find a seat. Nearly a dozen men and women take to the tiny stage in a tiny theater in San Francisco. Within seconds, Cheryl comes alive; but Cheryl isn’t a real a person, or a person at all for that matter. Cheryl is an imaginary cat that instantly becomes the center of attention and the punchline for the entire night.

Given the warm reaction from this bit, it would be easy to think this was a highlyscripted subject thought up by a room full of writers. Instead of adhering to a delicately woven script, the words are thought of and said within seconds. This is, in essence, what improvisation comedy is all about.

Improvisation comedy, or simply “improv,” is the art of coming up with bits on the spot, usually in front of an audience. The blend of acting and humor adds a bit of natural edge to a profession that is typically scripted.

Professionals like Scott Aukerman, Sarah Silverman, and Will Ferrell’s natural comedic acting is generally invisible to the audience because of its near-flawless quality.

But those are the professionals. The improv theaters located around the city aren’t

made up of Will Ferrells… yet. These locations are filled with amateurs that all have different dreams and levels of experience.

One of the many theaters on 9th Street is Leela Improv Studio. Leela was founded by Jill Eickmann and her husband in 2002, and has rented its space out on different occasions throughout the week, giving people a muchneeded break from their nine-to-five schedules.

Thanks to Leela, actors are given the chance to create imaginary dating shows and other random

“THERE S.NOTHING MORE MAGICAL THAN COMING UP WITH SOMETHING ON A STAGE WITH ANOTHER PERSON AND IT WORKING.” -EMILY DREVETS

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bits in order to reap the benefits of on-stage performing time.

Michael Vargas is an actor who has been immersed in improv for nine years, teaching others the art, or as he says, “life.”

“It really is a beautiful lifestyle,” says Vargas. “To just be free and be open and to just know that at the end of the day you can trust whatever you do. That’s a beautiful benefit of improv.”

Vargas’ dating advice day job has no relation to his “fun part-time gig,” but at the same time, it does, according to him.

“People usually say they love their job and they don’t,” says Vargas, “For me, it’s about accepting reality and then once you accept it, you have something to do with it. For me, it’s a lifestyle.”

Improv is also a lifestyle for Emily Drevets, an online editor and one of the other improv artists. Draped in her flowerembellished garb and brown boots, Drevets demands attention throughout the night, gesturing wildly with an emphatic voice and biker helmet, too. No one questions the biker helmet through each bit, but its hilarious irrelevance made her stick out just as much as her charisma.

skillset, but doesn’t want to flip his hobby of improv into a career.

“A lot of people want to make it their career thing. I don’t,” says Schiff. “For me, magazine writing is where I want to go.”

Not all career paths differ from hobbies.

Drevets wants to elevate her game to the point where she can see a paycheck, but she’s also morosely-realistic on her most optimistic goal.

“If you want to make money with comedy, it’s usually not in improv,” admits Drevets, “It gives me a lot of joy to do it on a stage in front of other people, but it’ll never pay me money and I need to eat.”

Comedians, unless they are household names, are notorious for making jokes about being broke; but passion can overcome a tiny paycheck, and passion is all Drevets is currently running on.

“I made the terrible, unfortunate, maybe inevitable decision to do comedy for a career.

Now I have this conundrum of figuring out what is marketable and profitable,” says Drevets.

With all the doom, gloom, and realism surrounding improv, it can be easy to get discouraged to make comedy a full-time routine.

However, Drevets’ last words offset her previous realistic attitude.

“Improv is really wonderful. If you get in too far, you can forget how joyful it is at the beginning when you’re just starting and you’re like ‘Wow,’” says Drevets. “There’s something really amazing about letting go and forgetting control. And that’s why I want to keep it a part of what I do no matter what is paying me. Because unlike other forms of comedy, you’re not trying to get control of anything.

You’re giving up and that’s pretty cool.”

“A lot of people are afraid to make mistakes and look stupid,” says Drevets, “For some reason, I’m not.”

Stage fright is something an improv performer has to get over rather quickly, given the silliness associated with pantomiming an operation of a fake cat in front of grown adults. Improv can further intensify the widespread fear of public speaking, but this isn’t a worry for Drevets, along with the other actors. Any anxiety is offset by coming up with something funny on the spot.

“There’s nothing more magical than coming up with something on a stage with another person and it working,” says Drevets.

“There’s another place you go to where you’re not thinking any more. You’re just reacting and acting. Improv at its best is the best thing that exists.”

Other actors share Drevet’s positive sentiment. Jack Schiff, a part-time magazine writer, loves looking stupid and improving his

RIGHT PAGE: Michael Vargas performs during an improv sketch at the Lovey Dovey Improv Night, presented by Leela, at the Ninth Street Independent Film Center. LEFT PAGE: Emily Drevets (left) and Betty Winn (right) perform at the Lovey Dovey Improv Night.

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