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By Don Le

The Bay Area housing market continues to be increasingly unaffordable in 2022 yet engineering graduates at San Jose State University say they have a positive outlook when it comes to staying local post-graduation.

As of April 2022, the median home price in San Jose is $1.5 million and is becoming increasingly unaffordable for low-middle income earners that are looking to reside in Silicon Valley.

Even with the COVID-19 pandemic, rising inflation, and high housing prices, Matt Tenczar, a real estate agent at Compass that sells property around Santa Clara County, confirms the housing market [in San Jose] is still strong. 

“We’re in what I would define as a transition moment where we have buyers worried about interest rates, and we have sellers thinking that it’s still a very hot market. We still see sellers getting multiple offers, although they aren’t getting as many multiple offers as we had just literally a month ago. And buyers are thinking that they can negotiate better, but still facing multiple offers. And so that makes it a little more difficult.”

Tenczar says the biggest issue between California’s real estate market versus another state is the attitudes of sellers.

“If you’re making 70 or $80,000 a year, coming out of San Jose State or any college, that’s a good amount of money, and you could easily afford rent at that point. But if you’re looking to buy a house, you need at a minimum of about 5% of whatever property you’re purchasing.”

“If that’s a condo like I have a condo for sale in San Jose right now it’s $550,000. You know, you take 5% of that and that’s what your minimum down payment would be. But to try and negotiate that with a seller is difficult when you have other people putting down 20, 30, 40, 50% down, that makes it difficult for a college student to purchase a property like that. Granted, houses are in the millions but there are condos that are not in the millions. So that would be a good starting point.”

Carrie McKnight, an engineering graduate career counselor at San Jose State University, says most engineering students at SJSU, especially international students, are looking for paid internships to be able to afford living in the most expensive city in the country.  

“Finding a paid summer internship is a big goal of many of the engineering students… they want to be able to stay here during the summer rather than going back to their home country,” said McKnight. “Their first choice is to stay here, do a paid internship to help financially and then also to help them with their goal of getting full time opportunities so that they can stay here in the U.S.”

Most college graduates must leave the area, but SJSU engineering graduates have an advantage of being able to find high paying jobs in the Bay Area quickly with its abundance of high-paying jobs in the software and hardware engineering fields.

Samuel Fernandez, fourth-year bioengineering student at San Jose State University says the Bay Area’s high cost of living, especially high home prices, will affect his job search after he graduates. 

“I already work at Intuitive, a medical device company [in Sunnyvale]. Eventually I know, after years of working, I’ll be able to afford a house over there. So, it’s not too big of a deal. But I understand that for other majors and other people, it is a bigger deal. It is a problem. I mean, I’m an engineer so it’s not as bad. You can’t say the same for all the other majors.”

He says he wants to stay in the Bay Area because the engineering field is so big and there are a lot of biomedical device companies in the Silicon Valley.

“I’ve heard of companies paying for you to move. So like if your commute is more than a certain percentage, then they’ll pay for you to relocate. But it’s not a lot,” said Fernandez. “I’ve seen up to five grand over the span of a couple months. At the end of the day. It’s not going to be enough to pay rent. I’ve heard that from a couple bioscience companies that I’ve applied to in San Francisco. And so that’s where I’ve heard of the relocation costs.”

According to American employment website Indeed, the average base salary for engineers in the San Francisco Bay Area is $98,009.

Chi Nguyen, a hardware engineer at Texas Instruments in Santa Clara says “a lot of people in engineering do have it a little easier” [in regards to living in the Bay Area] with more upfront benefits, salary bonuses, relocation bonuses, and high salary. Yet he still chooses to live with his parents in the Santa Teresa area of South San Jose because of the high cost of living.

“I think I can [move out of my parents’ house]. It’s definitely doable, but I don’t think I would have a lot of leftover money and I would have a lot of leftover expenses. And you know, for savings as well. I just know that if I lived in Santa Clara, like that’s like one and a half paychecks maybe.”

According to the California affordable housing non-profit organization California Housing Partnership, renters in Santa Clara County need to earn $54.77 an hour to afford the average monthly asking rent of $2,848.

“With the housing crisis and how high your rent is, as well as taxes and everything in California and now, even high gas prices, a lot of those expenses just go away. I think it’s really hard for people in our generation to save up money now, because a lot of [our income] is used on expenses now,” said Nguyen. “People who are renting now they don’t have any savings for the future”

According to the Out of Reach 2021 housing report released by nonprofit organization National Low Income Housing Coalition, California has the highest average housing wage in the country at $39.03. In comparison, the 2021 National Housing Wage is $24.90 per hour for a two bedroom rental home and $20.40 per hour for a one-bedroom rental home. 

In contrast to software or hardware engineering graduates, Chris Lim, an engineering technology major with a concentration in manufacturing systems at SJSU, says he does not plan to stay in San Jose post-graduation. 

“I plan on moving to Arizona to pursue a job opportunity. The job market is in demand for tech at the moment, a great time for new college grads to develop the foundation of their career. My major allows me to pursue careers in tech, however starting rates at $60,000- $80,000 is still not enough to cover living expenses from food, gas, insurance, car payments, housing, and other costs.” ”

“The cost of living in San Jose has gone up so much where I can not comfortably live here and create a savings.”

by Don Le

Walking down to the local San Jose Edenvale Library on Monterey Road in sweltering ninety-degree heat with no shade for two miles, Scott Suksawati gulps some water and prepares himself for the sweaty, exhausting walk he has to endure in San Jose’s District 7. 

“There’s just less trees, more [asphalt], more cement, more… turf. There’s less grass. You can’t compare it to South Side San Jose. It’s not as green.” 

Suksawati lives in the area of San Ramon Way and Costa Mesa Drive located in San Jose’s District 7, one of San Jose’s worst districts in regards to urban canopy cover.

Urban canopy cover is defined as the area of land covered by trees, leaves and branches when viewed from above in an urban environment.

San Jose’s urban canopy cover has fallen from 15% in 2012 to 13% in 2018, far below the 20% canopy cover the Department of Transportation considers a realistic baseline for San Jose (Leahy 2017).  

Districts 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 rank the lowest in the city’s 10 districts with canopy cover percentages ranging between 10-12%, according to the city of San Jose and U.S. Forest Service. 

Districts 1, 6, 9, 10 rank the highest with canopy cover percentages ranging from 14-19%.

Rhonda Berry, CEO of Our City Forest, Silicon Valley’s leading urban forestry non-profit, cites urban development with high rates of asphalt and cement, poor tree maintenance by property owners, and underinvestment in the city’s arboriculture as the main contributing factors to the city’s loss of canopy cover.

“In San Jose, you do not have as many what we call “ready-to-plant” spaces. We have to create new spaces and we create those by breaking up cement or asphalt, doing soil remediation and creating new sites,” said Berry,

Berry says it’s two or three times more expensive to remove the cement than it is to install a tree. 

“It’s a financial barrier… We get grants to pay for the trees and what have you but we can’t pay for all that cement cutting. And for some sites, it could be asphalt that needs to be broken up.”

The city of San Jose has an estimated total street tree population of 270,000 as of 2018-2019, according to the latest data provided by San Jose’s Department of Transportation. 

Single family and multifamily residential lots in San Jose account for approximately 233,000 trees, or 86% of the street tree population, according to the city’s Department of Transportation. 

The responsibility of private property owners to maintain the street trees adjacent to their property has been in the San Jose municipal code since 1951. 

Yet, according to city documents, there is confusion on who exactly is responsible for street tree maintenance amongst new San Jose homeowners and renters. 

“We definitely see that as one of the gaps within our program is just the fact that there is a large rental community in San Jose and responsibility is not clear in that case,” said Russell Hansen, San Jose’s city arborist. “Is it on the homeowner? Is it on the renter or otherwise? I think those are some of the challenges we have to work through as we move forward with our strategic plan and all the other work we’re doing related to this management plan.”

This poses a problem with tree health and accountability responsibility because of the city’s high population of renters, says Rhonda Berry.

“If a renter wants a tree, we can’t just give them a tree or plant the tree for them. We have to get the property owner’s permission and the property owner has to sign off on the tree application… But for a lot of people, this is a barrier,” said Berry. “It’s like it’s not my property, why should I bother?  And then sometimes you can’t get a hold of the property owners. So that’s another barrier.”

City officials hope to address the declining urban canopy cover with the San Jose Community Forest Management Plan,a detailed 20-year plan that aims to build and sustain the city’s declining urban canopy cover.

On Feb. 8, the city’s Department of Transportation director John Ristow, Deputy Director Rick Scott, and city arborist Russell Hansen presented the 232-page document they compiled for over two years. 

The key findings they found were that economically disadvantaged communities have fewer trees than higher income communities, additional funding and human resources are required to manage the community forest, immediate action must be taken to reverse the trend of declining canopy cover, current urban development practices limit the space for trees and the city’s arborists are spread thin as is.

The plan also highlighted the benefits of having trees in the city such as the reduction of the urban heat island effect, cleaner air, less CO2 emissions from vehicles, and improved mental health. 

Residents in East San Jose believe there is more talking being done than actual actions.

Shannon Miles, a resident on Bambi Lane in San Jose’s District 5 neighborhood, says he and other neighbors send emails and attend Zoom meetings, yet see no change in tree canopy cover in their neighborhood.

“If you go to other neighborhoods like Los Gatos or Sunnyvale they have very great, mature trees along their neighborhoods but as you push eastward they become more and more scarce,” said Miles.

“We go back and forth with it as far as, you know, Zoom meetings and stuff like that. But it’s like how many Zoom meetings can one have? We talk about these issues round and round in circles including urban development.” Why is it that this part of San Jose, or to say District 5, has a lack of trees, resources and the money to do the things that other districts or even other cities have? Is it because the income level out here is low, or the property taxes are not sufficient?”

“A lot of the older people see the issues but they’re too scared to come out here to voice their opinions. You know. What is one to do? What do we do? What more can we do? We do write letters. We do show up at their meetings at City Hall. And you know, you’re given two minutes to talk.”

“What is it that we, as taxpayers, residents of District 5. What more can we do? Who else do we talk to if the powers that be are not listening?”

By Don Le

Driving down a California highway late at night with nothing but cars and street lights passing by, you turn the volume dial and the voice of a radio station DJ breaks the silence.

“You are now listening to 103.5 Dawn FM,” the DJ says as an hour of commercial-free, funky synth-wave begins to play.

“Dawn FM” is the name of Canadian singer-songwriter The Weeknd’s newest album released on Jan. 7. 

The Weeknd is known for his clean vocals, dark lyrics about failed relationships, drugs and alcohol and a consistent ear for great production that sets a mood and accentuates his voice. 

“Dawn FM” is an evolution of the artist’s transition to electropop from his 2020 album “After Hours.”

With Canadian-American actor Jim Carrey playing a fictional DJ for the radio station Dawn FM, the album is more than just a collection of songs, it’s a 16-track immersive audio experience that evokes funky ‘70s disco vibes. 

The synth-heavy electronic production combined with The Weeknd’s vocals create replayable, upbeat songs that tonally connect the entire album.

The album is best experienced by listening to it in its entirety with Carrey’s ominous DJ narration perfectly opening, ending and transitioning the songs.

Singles such as “Take My Breath” and “Sacrifice” are reminiscent of the ‘80s pop sound often used by Michael Jackson and are accompanied by radio-friendly sonical introductions similar to Jackson’s 1982 hit “Thriller.”  

The Weeknd lets the beat ride during songs so listeners can fully appreciate a song’s synth-heavy beats, catchy choruses and echoey use of his voice during the bridges.  

 The five track sequence which includes  “Out of Time,” “Here We Go… Again,” “Best Friends,” “Is There Someone Else” and “Starry Eyes” are the perfect mix of retro and experimental pop. 

The tracks are multifunctional songs that can be listened to at a lit concert or even during a long drive with your parents. 

“Out of Time” has a low-fidelity vibe similar to The Weeknd’s 2016 song “I Feel It Coming” from his album Starboy.

Sampling Japanese pop singer Tomoko Aran’s 1983 “Midnight Pretenders”, The Weeknd sings “Say I’m there for you but I’m out of time” during the chorus, allowing listeners to imagine it playing with their significant other on a dance floor under a disco ball. 

“Here We Go Again” features The Weeknd and L.A. based rapper Tyler the Creator reflecting  on the anxiety surrounding new romantic relationships in a hip-hop/pop-esque ballad that sounds like a twisted Alice in Wonderland adventure. The obscure song serves as a great standout track.

In the track “Best Friends,” The Weeknd sings to a friend who he is having a sexual relationship with, to not fall in love with him because he is scared of a new relationship. The song features a trap-esque beat with an insanely catchy chorus that will be stuck in your head for weeks.

“Is There Someone Else” and “Starry Eyes” put The Weeknd’s vocals front and center as he argues with a lover and eventually forgives her with vocalization that truly showcases the multifaceted elements of the album.  

“Dawn FM” radio station commercials are ingeniously put at the end of select songs to smoothly transition listeners to different tracks and create a full experience. 

The finale of the album doesn’t stick the landing because the five songs that compose the album’s ending are mostly forgettable. 

“Every Angel is Terrifying” and “Phantom Regret by Jim” include infomercials for “Dawn FM” and “Afterlife”, a fictional over-the-counter drug that’s serves as an analogy to seeing the “light before death” making the album cohesive, but the tracks are not replayable for future listens.

Slow songs such as “Don’t Break My Heart” and “I Heard You’re Married” are the worst songs on the album, with the latter song including one of the worst verses ever written by hip-hop legend Lil Wayne.

“If I ain’t your husband, I can’t be your hybrid. I heard you’re married. I bet he treats you like Virgin Mary. You like it dirty and I’m Dirty Harry. I thought we were some love birds, canaries, word to Larry,” Lil Wayne raps. 

Save yourself the pain of listening to that verse and just skip the song.

Despite a few unsatisfactory tracks, the album is a must-listen that has the potential to take  over radio and social media this year.

Even though the album is not The Weeknd’s typical sound, his newest release is definitely worth a listen. “Dawn FM” is the perfect soundtrack for a late-night drive, a chill evening with friends or even studying in a library.

by Don Le

San Jose State community members expressed approval towards President Joe Biden’s Nov. 15 signing of a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill into law. 

“The infrastructure bill has been a long time coming. Infrastructure is such a vital need for our country, but it’s always been put on the back burner. I’m really happy to see that there was money allocated towards wildfire protection, because that hits close to home here in California,” said political science senior Katy Jensen in a Nov. 16 Instagram message.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, includes funding for improved access to broadband internet, more electric vehicle chargers across the country, repairs and improvements to America’s roads, bridges, rails, according to a White House fact sheet on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal.     

“As President [Barack] Obama said, you know, really the internet should be part of the utility package, right? Everybody should have access [to the internet] … you can hardly do anything now in society without the Internet. So, this is fantastic. It really is like having electricity in one’s home. This is going to really mean a lot for people that don’t have access to it,”,” said Dr. Anthony Chow, Director for San Jose State’s School of Information.

Mr. Obama said that the internet should be a utility in Nov. 2014, according to the White House archives. A utility is a service (such as a supply of electricity or water) that is provided to the public, according to Merriam-Webster.

Jensen concurred saying the increase in broadband coverage will facilitate better online learning for SJSU students’ access to tools such as Duo and Canvas.

“The increase in broadband coverage can really help out students who don’t have access to the internet and are disconnected from the online campus community. We rely heavily on services like Canvas or Duo for our schoolwork, and this increase in coverage is a significant change that will improve the lives of college students everywhere,” said Jensen.

The infrastructure bill will directly fund improvements to San Jose’s aging electrical grid, electric vehicle infrastructure, and “will enable the region to move forward with a $7 billion extension of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to Downtown San Jose and Silicon Valley, the $2 billion electrification of Caltrain, and a $468 million extension of light rail”, according to a Nov. 15 press release by San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo. 

Dr. Chow approved of the increase in electric vehicle chargers.

“My wife and I both, you know, are pretty high in our careers but just the affordability of vehicles now, it’s still out of reach… so this kind of funding should make it more normalized so that the average American can afford an electric vehicle.  Just that alone is going to mean more accessibility to those types of vehicles which is going to, of course, [mean] there are going to be less gas-driven cars.

San Jose State psychology junior Cathy Tran said she is more enticed to buy an electric vehicle now after seeing the increased federal funding for them.

“I love hearing about the funding for electric vehicle chargers. It definitely gives me more of an incentive to buy one now. I know a ton of friends that own Teslas and they love them,” said Tran. 

As a state, California will receive $25.3 billion from the infrastructure bill over five years for repairing roads, $4.2 billion over five years for repairing bridges, $3.5 billion for water infrastructure and eliminating lead pipes in the state, $1.5 billion for airport infrastructure, $384 million over five years to build a network of chargers for electric vehicles, at least $100 million to install more broadband coverage, $84 million over five years for wildfire protection, $40 million over five years for cyber-attack protection and an unnamed sum from a $3.5 billion federal fund for “weatherization which will reduce energy costs for families” according to an Aug. 4 White House fact sheet for the infrastructure bill.

The bill adds $550 billion in newly authorized federal spending over 10 years since some of the expenditures in the package were already planned, according to a Nov. 15 Mercury News article.

President Biden’s original plan to Build Back Better was to make community college free. When its budget was reduced from $3.5 trillion to about $1.75 trillion, many programs were eliminated, including the actual plan to make community college free.

Jensen expressed disappointment that some aspects of Mr. Biden’s original proposal in March 2021 were cut as the bill made its way through the legislative process in Congress.

“I am sad to see that free community college was struck from the bill that passed. This was a major way to help students save for transferring to a four year [college], because only a handful of community college students do so. I’d like to see the House introduce a bill to address that soon.”

The U.S. House of Representatives expects to have enough votes to pass Mr. Biden’s second proposed bill, the Build Back Better Act by the end of the week, according to a Nov. 17 Reuters article.

The $1.75 Trillion proposal will increase the social safety net for Americans by increasing the maximum Pell Grant by $550 reducing prescription drug costs, expanding Medicare to cover hearing benefits, and giving parents more tax cuts per child. 

by Don Le

Canadian rapper Drake’s much anticipated sixth album “Certified Lover Boy” (CLB) is lazy and incoherent in its overall theme. Not to mention boringly long and definitely not one of his best albums.

For a man that made genuine and unforgettable albums like his 2011 “Take Care,” 2013 “Nothing Was the Same” and 2015 “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late,” Drake’s new project feels tired and aimless.

CLB feels more like a collection of decent single-worthy songs and not the mind-blowing, game-changing album that it was hyped up to be.

Much like most of Drake’s albums throughout the past five years, this album is overloaded. 

It has 21 songs on the tracklist and the album is an hour-and-a-half bore of Drake’s crooning about ex lovers, flexing his wealth and having “fake friends” in the music industry.

While CLB is a bottom-tier entry on Drake’s vast 12-year catalogue, there’s still some noteworthy highlights. 

Songs like “Love All,” “Fair Trade,” “Way 2 Sexy” and “TSU” have great replayability, memability and hold the potential to be amazing in concert. 

Fair Trade will make partying anyone’s top priority while listening to its moshpit-worthy beat sampling of the September 2019 song “Mountains” by Canadian R&B singer-songwriter Charlotte Day Wilson. 

Not to be outshone, rapper Travis Scott has a memorable autotune-filled solo in Fair Trade that sounds amazing with headphones blasting the music in your ears. His part will definitely blow out speakers with the hard bassline and aggressively quick raps that Scott’s famous for.

They end the song with the beat riding off in a church sermon-esque effect, making Fair Trade the best song on the album by far. 

Way 2 Sexy features rappers Future and Young Thug on a beat sampling of the classic dance-pop song “I’m Too Sexy” by British band Right Said Fred. 

It’s a weird song, but has a great electronic keyboard beat by record producers TM88 and TooDope that makes it stand out as a unique, innovative conversation piece.

The way Future pays homage to the original’s chorus of “I’m too sexy for my shirt. So sexy it hurts” is honestly just hilarious.

He raps lyrics stating he’s too sexy for “this syrup, your girl, this world, this ice, that jack, this chain, your gang, this fame, the trap and that cap.”

Future and Drake have the club vibe down pat and this song is another great addition to their list of popular collaborative songs such as “Jump Man,” “Love Me” and “Life is Good.”  

“Get Along Better” with singer-songwriter and producer Ty Dolla Sign sounds great but when you look at the lyrical content, it just falls flat. 

The song goes back to a stereotypical Drake song about liking a past lover’s friend better than her and it isn’t about revenge. 

Like really Drake? Do I really want to listen to a 34-year-old man singing about this with another grown man? This song sounds more like a public argument with an ex than a song I want to replay. 

Let’s also talk about Drake’s lazy album art. Nine pregnant women emojis on a white background is questionable to say the least and leaves the audience wondering what Drake is alluding to. 

With pregnant women on the cover, this album would assumedly be about the growth Drake has gone through as a musician since the release of his last album “Scorpion” in 2018. 

He’s become a father and has lived through a global pandemic. 

In his introductory song “Champagne Poetry,” Drake says “Career is going great, but now the rest of me is fading slowly.” 

Drake is definitely fading slowly, but so is his career.

By Don Le

April 20, 2020

With the coronavirus pandemic causing not just massive health and economic problems around the world, it’s also prevented us from one of our most important yet unspoken needs: human interaction. To fill the need for companionship during the worst disease outbreak of modern times, college students at San Jose State University and around the world have the option to use online dating apps to find someone to talk to and possibly connect with after the lifting of the government-mandated lockdown.

Tran Ha, pharmaceutical junior at University of the Pacific, believes there is a big difference between online dating prior to the quarantine compared to right now is timing and mentality.

“I think because everyone is stuck inside, dating apps become a way to fill that void, to pass the time. Also, because people can’t physically be close to each other or see their friends, meeting people through online dating during this time seems appealing,” said Ha.

She admits that she has been using the dating apps on her phone more often since the quarantine was put in place on March 19.

“I think mostly because it seemed interesting and I was bored and my friend suggested I try to start at least talking to guys again in a “dating” sense,” said Ha.  

Ha believes it is possible to find a lover during this era of social distancing.

 “This whole-time quarantining on your own can increase your relationship with yourself and maybe put some effort into conversation with the other party. Because you can’t physically be close to one another, you have to rely on conversation and that in turn can help emotionally connect to one another – forming a deeper bond that can result in love.”

Kaitlynn Truong, marketing senior at SJSU, also believes it is possible to find love during these trying times “because during crazy times people will always find a way to fall in love. Feelings will always find a way to overcome hard times.”

            While some, like Vivian Dang, sociology junior at SJSU, might be skeptical that you cannot find a significant other without an in-person meeting.

“It’s less likely because it’s not like anyone can really meet up in person,” said Dang over Facebook Messenger. “Everyone’s just talking about how bored they are so no one’s that interesting at the moment.”  

Dang said she too has been using Tinder since quarantine started “but it’s more just talking than dates because quarantine.”

But she said she would be willing to do a date over webcam if a potential suiter requested her to do so.

“I would say yes because it’s better than going out during quarantine plus it’s a cute idea,” Dang said

Truong concurs and would happily meet up with her dates through video calling.

 “Yes, I think it is cute and a fun way to pass by time. In a way, it says a lot about a person if they are willing to host a webcam date to get to know me,” said Truong. “It is much more meaningful to me if they rather hear my voice than read my text.” 

Webcams would be needed in a long-distance relationship and with dating apps giving out free access to match with users from other countries, it will be made even more popular.

Tinder, arguably the biggest online dating app on the App Store, has incentivized users to open the app during the quarantine period with Tinder Passport, a feature that allows people to match not just with people in their area, but around the world through April 30^th, according to their website.

Ha says she’s already matched with people from other states.

“With Tinder Passport being free for the time being, I have used it to try to match with people in Boston, MA just for fun,” said Ha.

She admits it the experience “hasn’t been much different from if I’m trying to match with people in the Bay Area.”

For others that are still looking for companionship in the local San Jose area, video calls can still be used in creative ways to go on “dates” with her matches:

 By “door dashing each other food and eating it with each other over facetime, playing games, bonding over facetime while talking to each other for hours”, Truong is not letting the pandemic stop her from socializing with others.

“It is fun to talk to people for fun and getting to know people,” said Truong.

Ha continues to use dating apps, such as Tinder, because she “prefers emotional connections over physical attraction (even though both are important in finding relationships).”

“I myself am pretty independent and do not need to see my significant other on a daily basis, so that is what makes it possible for me to go periods of time without seeing the other person,” said Ha. 

Dang herself is ambivalent to finding connections or relationships of any kind; she is blunt about her reasoning for being on the app.

“I’m really bored,” said Dang.

By Don Le

February 29, 2020

(San Jose, CA) – Walking, one of the most basic forms of exercise, is actually one of the best ways to destress from the woes of studying and homework.

“Running or walking is good for your health because it promotes your cardiovascular health,” said Donald Tat, kinesiology major. “You don’t necessarily have to run; walking would do you well just as must as running.”

Taven Wiltmore, biology major, takes a daily 30-minute walk to SJSU campus from San Jose’s Japantown. He believes his walk to class is a time he can focus less on the stresses of life and it has benefitted him mentally and physically.

“I feel like it helps me clear my mind, be myself, and rethink about things,” said Wiltmore. It’s a time where you can really think about your spiritual and mental wellbeing.”

He says he likes walking outside because he likes to look at the scenery and enjoy the view of his local community.

“I definitely trade some things in when I have to get my steps in on a treadmill because of the weather or when I don’t have the time,” said Wiltmore. “The scenery and fresh air when I walk outside just makes me feel good.”

As far as physical benefits, Wiltmore believes walking has plenty of them.

“In the long run, walking will help me have more mobility when I’m older and I feel like it helps my respiratory system stay healthy,” said Wiltmore.

Daniel Rojas, a local jogger who runs six miles at least three to four times a week, similarly believes in the benefits of aerobic exercise.

“Any kind of exercise improves your anxiety, it helps you feel f*cking good. You feel like you’re on crack,” said Rojas as he was running along 4^th street. “Running, jogging, whatever. It helps you feel like you’re living in the moment”

Rojas says he uses running as a natural way to start the day.

“You know people need coffee or some kind of caffeine to wake up? I do this instead; it wakes my body up.”

Rojas believes running outside is vastly superior to running on a treadmill.

“Running in a gym, you got air conditioning and you’re inside,” said Rojas. “Go outside and enjoy the nice weather. You don’t need a treadmill.”

Christian May is a part time instructor at De Anza College and San Jose State University that teaches a variety of classes, including swimming, yoga, and indoor cycling.

“I’m starting my 23rd year at De Anza; June 1996 is when I first started working here,” said May.

When he entered college, he said he did not initially plan on being involved with physical education.

“I was actually a business major and then, about sophomore year, I switched over to physical education,” said May. “It was something I liked to do and I was interested in learning about it.”

May is a former student at De Anza, the University of Utah, and San Jose State.

“I got my bachelor of science degree from the University of Utah and then I got my Master’s in Physical Education from San Jose State University,” said May.

He said he is a former javelin player for De Anza, which led to him becoming a teacher.

“I threw the javelin for De Anza. I got to know my coaches then became an assistant coach while working on my master’s degree,” said May.

“I got my master’s degree then came back and I substitute taught for some of my head coaches. That eventually turned into one or two classes a quarter then it built its way up from there.”

He says his favorite thing about De Anza is student diversity.

“You get all different kinds of races, ethnicities, ages,” said May. “Sometimes in my Saturday swim class, I’ll have people that are older than myself.”

I just tell them “they’re training for the senior Olympics now,” May joked.

He said teaching the beginner’s swim classes for the summer session at De Anza are always memorable.

“The student development and student achievement in those classes makes it all kind of worthwhile. Some of them are not really swimmers at all but then in a couple of weeks, they’re swimming across the pool.”

Outside of the classroom, May said he is an avid mountain biker and hiker.

“In the summer, I go four or five times a week at Fremont Older Preserve up in the Saratoga foothills.”

Noor Ainee, 23, business major plans on transferring to San Jose State University because she said she wants to pursue a career in information technology (IT). She plans on commuting to school and will be transferring in Spring 2020.

Johan Gutierrez, 20, filmmaking major plans on transferring to University of California, Los Angeles because of its location. The city of Los Angeles and its surrounding area is where the film production industry is located. He said he believes it is easier to make contacts there. He’s still deciding whether he wants to transfer to UCLA or UC Berkeley. He said he is leaning towards UCLA because it’s cheaper and easier to get into compared to UC Berkeley. This is his first quarter at De Anza and he plans on transferring in Fall 2020.

Daniel Chen, 21, business major plans on transferring to University of California, Davis  because he heard they have good business courses for his major. His second reason for choosing UC Davis is because their GPA requirements are not as high compared to other colleges. This is his second year at De Anza and he plans on living on campus at a four-year university.