Jury to Begin Deliberating Verdict by Raphael Stroud Regards to the Racial Aspects of the Contributing Writer Case, Homing in on the Use of Dr
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Volume 146 • Issue 9 Serving San Jose State University since 1934 Th ursday, February 18, 2016 Do you want to be the very A&E P4: Revisit Soul musicʼs importance OPINION P5: best like no one ever was? VIDEO: Spartans canʼt hold on against UCI TRIAL DAY ELEVEN Jury to begin deliberating verdict By Raphael Stroud regards to the racial aspects of the Contributing writer case, homing in on the use of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words Th e defense and prosecution in a apology letter as reason to fi nished their closing arguments believe the men involved knew for the misdemeanor hate crime what they were doing had racial trial on Wednesday in a noticeably undertones. She similarly pointed divided courtroom. to the phrasing of the letter as On the right were the Williams being insincere. family and several members of the She reminded the jury that SJSU Black Student Union. when the Confederate fl ag On the left were the families of was hung outside of the dorm Logan Beaschler, Colin Warren and window, Resident Advisors told Joseph Bomgardner, the defendants. the students to remove it due to While the court audience a complaint they received from a eventually got around to mixing black student. sides, the contrast was a stark She used this incident to re- | Quincy Bouldin Spartan Daily symbol of the implications of emphasize that the defendants Colin Warren (left), Logan Beaschler (middle) and Joseph “Bret” Bomgardner are the three the case. knew the Confederate fl ag was defendants charged with misdemeanor hate crime and battery for targeting Donald Williams Prosecutor Carolyn Malinsky off ensive to African-Americans, Jr., in a series of escalating “pranks” that included putting a bike lock around his neck. fi nished the argument she started but instead of removing the fl ag Tuesday, going through evidence completely, they simply moved its MAYOR ON CAMPUS and witness testimonies to expose location to the living room. fl aws in the defendants’ honesty Th e defense attorneys focused and character. on the individual involvement (or She scoff ed at the notion that lack thereof) of their clients while KQED forum reviews Beaschler would not believe his also fi ghting to dispel the idea that Nazi paraphernalia could be three former students were racist. off ensive to African-Americans, Warren’s lawyer Dek Ketchum San Joseʼs social issues pointing out that he professed an highlighted Colin’s fi ve week interest in World War II history. relationship with Michelle Tripp, By Ryan Vermont Jose. Multiple times over the priorities become reality. She argued that the only person a black student, but also pointed to Staff writer course of the event, Liccardo The second hour of the who said Beaschler ever listened inconsistent statements by Donald used to word “broke” when program featured a panel of to rap music (to explain his use Williams Jr. and roommate Matt Th e city of San Jose, including asked why certain things guests who engaged in an of the N-word) was Beaschler Regan, as why the evidence did the SJSU community, collabo- weren’t being accomplished. aggressive and insightful himself, only aft er a prompt from not prove “without reason of rated to discuss local and nation- At one point in the forum, discussion dealing with race his lawyer. doubt” that Warren was involved wide social issues, as well as the host Krasny cited an FBI relations and discrimination She pointed out how many ongoing status of race relations report saying that San on campus and nationwide. “coincidences” there were in TRIAL PAGE 2 on campus Wednesday. Jose had one of the worst Th e panel consisted of “Forum on the Road” was violent crime rates in the student activists Gary Daniels presented by KQED public country. Liccardo quickly and Zhane Gay, Marcos SPORTS radio and took place from dismissed that statement and Pizarro, a member of San Jose 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on campus encouraged the host to take a State’s special task force on inside the University Theatre. closer look at the numbers. Racial Discrimination, Ladoris Forum host Michael “We actually have the lowest Cordell, a chair member on San Krasny spoke with San Jose violent crime rate of any major Jose State’s special task force on Mayor Sam Liccardo for the city in the country,” Liccardo said. Racial Discrimination and Bill first hour in somewhat of a The mayor said that strategies Armaline, Director of the Human preview of the State of the such as data analytics are Rights Program and Krasny. City speech happening March being implemented to try Krasny directed different 5th at Overfelt High School. and become more efficient in questions at the individuals, Price of housing, public different facets of the city. each who had an opinion FINAL transit, homelessness, safety An example he used to explain on the state of racism and of the community and traffic was being able to eff ectively discrimination on the San Jose among others were just a few pinpoint crime hotspots based State campus and nationwide, of the numerous concerns off of statistics and then send as well in regards to the 2013 brought up. more police offi cers to those SJSU hate crime SPARTANS 55 Mayor Liccardo answered areas to counter. Cordell’s argument was that 8-18 (3-11) the questions asked of him, and Liccardo also said that the the people of San Jose need to most answers revolved around community, as a whole, has to fi ght for a post-racial America. the lack of money and resources. use the money more eff ectively. “It is leadership that sets the WOLFPACK 61 “All of the money is going to The Mayor’s priorities for standard and will determine 16-9 (8-5) more police offi cers and fi lling 2016 is to continue improving where this university goes up potholes” Liccardo said. safety for San Jose residents on the issue of race,” Cordell Rather than avoiding the and broadening opportunities said. issue, Mayor Liccardo was in the valley. Among other topics, Marcos Infographic by Kavin Mistry straightforward about the Liccardo believed taking tight money situation in San the “long view” will make his KQED PAGE 2 SEE FULL ARTICLE PAGE 6 A&E Selfi es in the eye of an artist By Tyler Kittle other parts of California. One piece that stands out is Staff writer “‘More Th an Your Selfi e’ is a small, white bust that looks an exhibit that explores self- like the back of its head was One of the simplest forms of portraiture from cave men’s mark chopped off , called Blue Eyes by art and self expression is the making to contemporary iPhone Robert Arneson. self-portrait, one with a heavy self-portraits,” said Julie Harper, A notable series of work presence today in social media NUMU exhibition designer. displayed are called the Offi cial with the art of the selfi e. Th e exhibit isn’t hard to miss Portraits by Hung Liu, who was Th e New Museum Los Gatos as you’re greeted by a tall mirror born in China and immigrated (NUMU), a small art and that not only has a description to the U.S. history museum in Los Gatos of the exhibit on it, but makes Each colorful portrait represents wants to display every aspect the visitor create their own self- various parts and changes in the of it with their exhibit, “More portrait inadvertently. artist’s life. Th an Your Selfi e.” Th ere are a few TV screens Many pieces represent more Tyler Kittle | Spartan Daily “More Th an Your Selfi e” focuses throughout the exhibit that than just the artist’s physical on the diff erent aspects of self- display the concept self-portraits appearance, but also who they are. “Blue Eyes,” a sculpture made by Robert Arneson in 1991 proves portraiture, featuring art mostly can convey, as well as a slideshow SELFIE PAGE 3 self-portraits donʼt have to be restricted to paintings and pictures. sourced from the Bay Area and of self-portraits. 22NEWS Thursday,Thursday, September January 28, 3, 2016 2015 22 NEWS Thursday,Thursday, February February 18, 18, 2016 2016 TRIAL from page 1 He brought up his mother’s friend of 30 years who had cited testimonies of Bomgardner and Regan as examples known Beaschler since he was a boy, noting that she was of roommates who did not step in because they didn’t in most of the hazing, including the second bike lock African-American and defended Beaschler against any want to cause trouble in the dorm. incident. claims of racism. He painted the bike lock as a stunt akin to a wedgie Th e attorney also highlighted decisions made by Mesirow argued that, out of context, the situation looks or wet willie, not as harassment, saying that “not every investigating offi cers during police interviews and the much worse than it actually is. But in context, every mistake is a crime.” way record keeping was handled. element of Beaschler’s involvement, especially the racial He highlighted Bomgardner’s lack of overall Ketchum said there was not enough proof to make a life- aspects, could be explained to show that race was not involvement and an alleged apology he’d given aff ecting guilty verdict, casting doubt on Williams and actually his motivation. Williams, which Williams claimed to not remember Regan’s testimonies by expanding on their diffi culty in “...before you stamp someone’s forehead with ‘R during cross-examination.