San Francisco Foghorn

              FREEDOM AND FAIRNESS
VOL. 105       ISSUE 15
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The upcoming USF career fair
looks promising for graduating
students, as many employers
are participating despite the
recession.
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Banning ROTC not the answer to Caskey rape allegation says columnist Stephanie
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The Foghorn sits down wit!
Project Runway's Jack Mack-
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philanthropy.
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Spring intramural sports got
off to a big start last week with
hundreds of students participating.
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Student band Ghost Town
Refugees make their debut at
' Bottom of the Hill. Checkout
clips and interviews from the
show.
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TheFoahornOnline.com
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
Lupe Fiasco Rocks Sold-Qut Homecoming Show
CHELSEA M. STERLING
News Editor
Apathy was at a low Friday night at
War Memorial Gym as students eagerly
anticipated the arrival of hip-hop artist
and performer Lupe Fiasco, at this year's
homecoming concert. Although Lupe Fiasco only performed for about an hour, approximately 500 students, alumni and staff
crowded the basketball court to hear him
perform. Even USF President Rev. Stephen Privett, S.J, made an appearance at
the beginning of the concert.
. President of the Campus Activities
Board Courtney Ball said that there were
2,500 tickets available and that the concert
was sold out. During the pep rally ASUSF
directed students to the ticket booth, which
may have contributed to the boost in sales.
Attendance at the concert, however, ranged
from 400-500 people. The doors opened at
7:30, but Fiasco did not come on stage until 9:15. Alex Piatt, an event staff worker,
said of the concert, "I thought it went pretty smoothly." After working with Wyclef
Jean, last year's homecoming performer, on
his music video "If I Was President," Piatt
was disappointed that Fiasco did not have
much interaction with students. While
Jean let event staff and some students listen to his sound check before the concert,
Fiasco made students leave and did not
sign autographs or meet with students before the concert. Piatt said, "He wanted to
do his own thing. He didn't really want to
interact with students." On the other hand,
Piatt said of Jean, "He was very into talking to his fans." Piatt pointed out that the
way that both artists came on to campus
was significant. Jean entered near Fromm
Hall and walked through campus, shaking
hands and greeting students as he made
his way to the gym. Fiasco entered the
gym through a side door, limiting his face
time with student fans.
Piatt was in charge of the pep rally this
Chelsea Sterling/Foghorn
Lupe Fiasco, DJ Simon Says and drummer Baby Bam performed several of Fiasco's songs and one of Kanye West's songs at the
crowded homecoming concert on Friday night. Over 2,000 students came to the sold out show in War Memorial Gym.
year. When the band canceled and mis-
communications occurred with the dance
team, student turnout suffered. Next year,
Piatt proposes to hold the pep rally before
the concert because students will already
be gathered and waiting for the performer. If the basketball team was brought on
stage before the performer, the audience's
excitement might transform into school
spirit.
The music seemed to resonate with students. Even students who don't identify as
hip-hop fans enjoyed Fiasco's performance
at the concert. Chet Bentley, a sophomore
media studies major, said the music was not
his style, but "it was energetic and appealed
to the masses." Bentley liked the concert
because Fiasco was cool and young. Fiasco played many of his popular songs like
"Superstar,""Daydreamin,""Go Go Gadget Flow" and one of Kanye West's songs,
"Touch the Sky." Fiasco's backup performers included DJ Simon Says and drummer
Baby Bam. 2007 alumnus Ilya Fishman
said, "I was really excited to see him. He
is a real rap artist with great music. I was
already a huge fan so seeing him live was
awesome."
Ball said that some students were disappointed Fiasco didn't perform longer, but
Piatt said that the concert time was previously established for one hour. Sophomore
Katrina Valdez said that although the concert was shorter than Wyclef Jean's, it was
better. She said, "He [Fiasco] brought a
good atmosphere."
Courtesy of Professor Lillian Dube
A volunteer distributes vitamins and AIDS medicine at a health clinic in Zimbabwe.
Vitamin Drive to Save Lives
USF students lend a hand to AIDS victims a world away
HUNTER PATTERSON
StaffWriter
In many parts of Africa, the AIDS epidemic is raging; exasperated by malnutrition, prolonged violence and failed governments, as is the case in Zimbabwe, a country
of 13 million people, over 1.6 million of
whom are living with HIV/AIDS. Zimbabwe, which has seen its economy collapse
and healthcare system crumble under the
reign of President Robert Mugabe, has
forged the most unlikely of bonds with the
San Francisco Bay Area, USF and the man
that connected the two worlds together,
Dr. Robert Scott.
Scott, who has been going to Zimbabwe
with a team of volunteers for 10 years to see
AIDS victims and offer them life-prolonging antiretroviral medication and treatment
they could not get anywhere else, came to
USF last semester to explain the situation
on the ground there with students. Following the presentation, students approached
Scott, eager to find ways that they could
help. Scott said he was impressed by their
willingness to lend a hand and suggested
they assist him in collecting donations of
multivitamins which get distributed to the
AIDS victims, affording them a nutritional supplement to their one meal a day,
consisting of little more than starchy roots,
which most poor Zimbabweans eat.
Students, including many from the
African studies minor program and Ub-
mthombo Club as well as faculty and staff
from Health Promotion Services and University Ministry, coordinated the vitamin
drive, collecting bottles of pills and sending them to Hayward, where volunteers
repackaged them into bags of 30 to be
given to patients in Africa, where they are
instructed to take one pill every other day
along with their regiment of AIDS medication.
USF Professor Lillian Dube, a native of
Zimbabwe, who is helping to promote the
vitamin drive, has also traveled to Africa
with Scott to assist him with patients and
AIDS: Continued on Page 2
Students Voice Concern:
Acquaintance rape underreported on campus
LAURA PLANTHOLT
StaffWriter
University of San Francisco students
have made their outcry about the recent
allegations of rape and assault on campus
heard. A group of student activists have
organized and released a clear message:
rape is not an isolated incident. In other
words, this most recent and highly publicized case of a USF senior Ryan- Caskey
being charged with four counts of rape and
aggravated assault is not the first incident
of this nature that has occurred at USF.
These concerned students organized a
public forum for the community to discuss their concerns about sexual assault
on campus. Though this most recent case
sparked the discussion, students wanted to
emphasize that rape and sexual assault are
ongoing problems.
Barbara Thomas, Ph.D. and director of
USF Counseling and Psychological Services, confirmed that rape and sexual assault are more common than most people
hear about at USF. In her 20 years of experience at the university, she has talked confidentially with many students who have
experienced various forms of sexual assault. Acquaintance rapes, rapes committed by "friends" rather than strangers, are
not unusual at USF, but they most often
go unreported. They almost always involve
drugs or alcohol, and many of these students do not realize they have been raped
until Thomas tells them.
Students came to the forum to discuss
the general lack of awareness and discussion
about sexual assault taking place right here
on campus. Many had other grievances as
well, such as feeling starved for more information than was provided in USFConnect
bulletins. Others complained about the
wider-scale problem of a lack of education
and programs about sexual violence. Others digressed into a discussion of whether
Caskey's affiliation with ROTC had led
to his violence toward women. Emotions
were raw on this Thursday, exactly a week
after the news had broken of Caskey's ar
rest. Some of the individuals at the forum
were survivors of sexual assault. Thomas
explained that a public incident such as
this can reopen those wounds, especially if
the individual never fully dealt with those
issues after they happened.
Many, such as senior Jennifer Herrera,
were concerned that there needs to be more
education about sexual assault on campus.
As a resident advisor in a freshman residence hall, Herrera said she feels well educated about these issues, but she said, "As
a freshman, I wouldn't have known exactly
what qualifies as rape. I know our students
aren't very educated on this subject."
Thomas said that in her experience at
USF, she has not found any means of educational training about sexual violence to
be particularly effective, though there have
been attempts ranging from education
during freshman orientation, informational programs within residence halls and
peer counseling for men. But the reality is
that these methods of education have been
ineffective.
"I don't want to be defeated by that, but
I think the reality is that people just think,
'That's not about me; that's about someone
else.' There's this inflated sense of safety
that's just not there," she said.
Thomas's best idea for creating more
awareness about sexual violence is to continue public discussions and open conversations. "Let's talk about sex," she said.
Junior Andrew Biederman said similarly at the forum, "We need more discussion between the sexes. It's important for
everyone to come out and say exactly how
they feel affected by this to understand
each other more and prevent something
like this from happening ever again."
Dan Lawson, director of public safety at
USF, encouraged more discussions like the
one at the forum.
"I think this is a wonderful thing that's
happening here in regards to this forum,"
he said. He only hoped that the conversation would not end as soon as people forgot about this particular incident. He said,
"People generally don't get upset and excited until something terrible happens."
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