Hi everyone, I hope you all are having a nice break. We hope you all are having a nice time seeing your family and friends during this break. Paster Jonathan from Gracepoint Davis has written a blog entry on his blog. Check it out here! It’s really easy to let your winter break slip by, and Pastor Jonathan gives us some good advice on how to make the most of our winter break.

We have done a lot during this semester, so we put together a video slideshow to recap all that we have done. Enjoy!

Most people don’t openly say this, but it’s generally assumed that an activist should only organize their own racial community and not any others. It is commonly accepted that whites should not organize communities of color due to them reproducing white supremacy. These

The photo shows representatives of the Asian, Black, and Chicano/Mexicano student organizations at Berkeley (that is Richard Aoki on the left, whose life is documented in the recently released film “Aoki”)

are questions and concerns we should take seriously but with the conscious goal of working through the racial contradictions rather than accepting them as they are. The process of building unity amongst the working class will find its most difficult hurdles in confronting race and racism.

The picture to the right is of three different militants, from three different racial groups, coming together in struggle.  Many have pointed out that the budget cut movement is largely White activists, but the reality is that the budget cuts impact communities of color far more. Therefore it’s important for communities of color to continue entering this struggle, and in large part this means bringing in issues that pertain specifically to one’s racial community. For example, many Black activists against the budget cuts bring up the racist murder of Oscar Grant. In their political mind these issues are not different but stem from the same system.

Let’s return to the positive aspects of the 1960s, and the quest for racial unity in order for the struggle to deepen by simultaneously challenging the particular issues in each racial community with the major issues that we are all subjected to through the budget cuts and the general breakdown of capitalism.

Take a break from holiday baking, shopping, wrapping and traveling to unwind with the fall/winter issue of SF State Magazine, now online. You’ll get a close-up view of San Francisco public artworks created by SF State alumni, faculty and students as well as a map to more magnificent creations located inside and outside of public buildings, and one in the sky above one street corner in North Beach.

The magazine includes plenty more examples of creativity soaring to new heights. Alumnus Jonas Rivera, the producer of “Up,” takes readers behind the scenes of this year’s animated hit. Readers can also sit in on a music class led by SF State’s world-renowned quartet-in-residence, the Alexander String Quartet, and find out what leading Bay Area Director will be breathing new life into “Romeo and Juliet” on campus next semester.

Other SF State innovators covered in this issue include Professor Frank Bayliss, who will soon travel to the White House to pick up one of just 22 awards for mentoring from President Barack Obama, and Vance Vredenburg, who is battling a deadly disease that has been pushing dozens of amphibian species to extinction. More faculty research is highlighted in the magazine’s Campus Beat department, along with a look at a state-of-the-art greenhouse, a bicycle path and other recent additions to the campus.

Have news worth noting in a future issue? Send an e-mail to sfsumag@sfsu.edu

Winter Break is finally here!!  And boy, it’s a looooong break =P  If you’re staying close by, or if you’re not too far away, you will NOT want to MISS OUT on this exciting Winter event!  We’re going up to Sierra Lodge once again for to join our bros and sisters at Berkeley Koinonia for the ULTIMATE SNOW TRIP!.  Check out the details below, and you’ll want to check out the video as well.  Last year’s Snow Trip included in EPIC snow battle, but let the pictures tell the story =)

What: Snow Trip at Sierra Lodge
Who: Berkeley Koinoina & SFSU Koinonia combined
When: January 16th, 2010 (Saturday) – all day!

Hey everyone! We have our annual college winter retreat where we will be joining the Berkeley Koinonia groups for some extended time going through the bible and preparing our mind and our heart for the upcoming year. This is the weekend right before school starts, so please plan to come early, so you can join us at the retreat. Don’t forget to sign up. Click on the banner to sign up! See you there!

Hi everyone, hope you are surviving all of the studying you are doing (or not doing =P).  Good luck on your finals and check below for more information on what we have planned! See you soon!

Friday:
What | Bible Study!
When | Friday – 6:30pm (starting w/ dinner!)
Where | 524 Arballo Dr
Post-Bible Study | something fun =)

Sunday:
What | Sunday Worship Service
Where | 524 Arballo Dr @ 12:30pm
How to get there? | Walk groups will be available at 12 pm at the dorm stop; or simply show up at 524 Arballo Drive (see MAP)
Post Sunday Service | Join us as we bring a Christmas Sunday Service to the grandmas and grandpas during our Convalescent Home Visit!

For my profile subject, I was lucky. I have an instant in because his daughter Hilary is one of my best friends. So when I initially called Mr. Pollack, he suggested that I accompany Hilary to their house in Palo Alto (where she hangs out most Sunday nights even though she lives right here in the city), spend the night and then do all my reporting the next day, Monday.

So on Monday morning, I began the reporting process at around noon. I began by interviewing Mr. Pollack for the text story, and the main challenges there were all the phone calls he was getting, from friends or from his restaurant Nick’s Lighthouse in the city, that interrupted the flow of the interview. In the end that turned out to be OK because I got some priceless soundbites out of some of his phone calls that I ended up playing with during the making of my slide show.

I realized a mistake I made when I was putting together my slide show. When I asked Mr. Pollack to explain the vast number of photos of famous musicians and people he’s worked with over the years that line the walls of his office, I should have known how fast he would go. He explained everything so quickly and with such vigor that I got swept up in his descriptions and stories that I forgot about taking all the photos and closeups I should have. As a result, my slide show is a little lacking in detailed photographs of the things he’s explaining (although the soundbites are AWESOME). I should have thought of that before hand. I think the main reason why that happened was because I use my digital camera to record audio, so I can’t take photos simultaneously.

My advice to a future Digital News Gathering student is an obvious one: think about EVERYTHING before hand, and how you’re going to capture all the sound, information and visuals. Make a list if you need to detailing the process and steps. The worst thing in the world is feeling like you’ve missed something after the interview, when there’s no way to go back and make up for it (I just don’t have time to go down to Palo Alto again to make up the missed photos). No one likes to feel helpless.

Hey SFSU Koinonia!  Got plans for the winter break?  No?  Then make the most of your winter break with us by learning some useful skills and having loads of fun hanging out with other students this winter break.  Don’t miss out on this chance to learn things like photoshop, video editing, and so much more!  So plan on coming back a bit earlier from winter break.  Click on the picture to sign up!

When | 1/11 – 1/15,  9am-4pm
Where | Northloop Building in Alameda (For rides please contact Will)
Cost |  $30 (includes breakfast and lunch everyday. it’s a deal!)
Sign-up now (Deadline: 12/31)

Hi everybody, we hope all of you are enjoying your gifts from the gift exchange.  What an incredibly fun night where we got to see people competing for coveted gifts like the nerf gun and the rice cooker.  The best part was seeing who would end up with the Santa costume and the three colored kimonos.  Finals are around the corner so study hard so that you can make it out to bible study this Friday.  After bible study we’ll be going ice skating in downtown, so bring something to keep you warm!

If you enjoyed this video, check out the new page dedicated to the SFSU Koinonia Dog. This dog needs a name, so please comment to give this dog a name.
SFSU Koinonia Dog

Friday: We are back to our normal schedule.
When | Friday – 6:30pm
Where | Cesar Chavez Rosa Parks A-C starting with dinner
Afterwards | We are going ice skating.  If you are interested in going ice skating, please contact Edwin.

Sunday: Home worship at Arballo
What | Sunday Worship Service
Where | Arballo House
When | 12:30pm

My sincere congratulations goes out to the Gators Rugby Football Club (GRFC), who are now (for the first time) undefeated in Division II after their match yesterday against USF.

I have followed the GRFC since I moved in with the president of the club almost two years ago. I have been to most games (including tournaments in Chico and Santa Cruz), a few practices, and hosted many of them at my house for parties. I am proud to be called their number one fan.

The bunch of misfits that used to be the GRFC have evolved so much over the past couple semesters. I used to view them as the little rascals of the rugby world (they have yet to use an official coach), but they are now proving themselves a force to be reckoned with.

The club is built upon the idea that everyone can play rugby, as long as they love it. The spirit and love that these boys play with is honestly the most inspiring part about them. I’ve watched the boys get shut out at games we drove over two hours to get to, but at the end of the day when the beer starts flowing all the boys can talk about is how great that one pass was, or how great it felt to tackle that one guy.

The practices I’ve been to in the past were a bit unorganized. It reminded me of all the childhood sports movies, like the Sandlot or the Big Green, where a group of boys toss the ball around because they love to.

Like most of the boys who join the club I started out knowing absolutely nothing about rugby. Why do they lift boys up by their underpants? Where are the pads to protect them? Why are they passing the ball backward?

Luckily the captains on the team steered me, and the new boys, in the right direction. It’s a complicated and rigorous sport where a lot of boys that start the semester don’t finish. I’ve seen broken noses, concussions, and bruises the size of sasquatchs cleat, but at the end of the game the boys are always beaming with pride.

After a few complications in the past four years, the GRFC is now officially affiliated with SF State. Winning yesterday’s  match against USF makes them 7-0 against division II teams, pretty impressive for the little misfits I once knew.

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Hi everyone, I hope you all had a good thanksgiving vacation. How does it feel to come back from a long vacation?

This Friday, we are going to have our annual gift exchange! It is going to be exciting and fun! It’s something you will not want to miss. Check below for more information about this and all of the other things we have planned for the week.

Friday: We are back to our normal schedule.
When | Friday – 6:30pm
Where | Cesar Chavez Rosa Parks A-C starting with dinner
What | What are we doing afterwards? We are going to have our annual gift exchange! Please bring a gift of $5-$10 and be prepared to compete for gifts that you want. =)

Sunday: We will be having service in Berkeley with Gracepoint Berkeley for a baptism service. We will be celebrating Chloe from USF’s baptism.
What | Sunday Worship Service
Where | Willard Middle School @ Berkeley
When | 1-2pm
Rides | Check again for more information

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a lot of fun this weekend! For me, it was all a blur. I don’t really remember what happened during Gracepoint Berkeley’s Thanksgiving Celebration. What was your favorite moment? Please comment to help us remember what happened throughout the night. Many people said their favorite part was the ribbon dance or Element.

Well, we do know what was our most memorable moment. It was our performance!

If you’re going to be around for this week, check again soon for our announcements for this week! For those of you who will not be around, I hope you all have a good break, and I’ll see you when you get back! Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday: Since we will be smaller, we will have Bible Study this Tuesday with our Berkeley groups in Berkeley. Please contact Will.
When | Tuesday – 6:30-8pm – Prayer Meeting
8-9pm – Bible Study
Where | First Presbyterian Church, Berkeley

Wednesday: We will be having a crab fest! We will have a crab fest dinner at Matthew and Helen’s (from USF Koinonia) house! Please let a staff know if you are interested.

Thursday: If you do not have any Thanksgiving plans, Daemin and Ahmi are opening up their house for a thanksgiving dinner at their place! It will be a Thanksgiving potluck! Please let a staff know if you would like to come. However, if you have family plans, you should eat with your family. =)

Sunday: We will be having service in Berkeley with Gracepoint Berkeley
What | Sunday Worship Service
Where | Willard High School @ Berkeley
When | 1-2pm
Rides | Check again for more information

Hey everyone! You all worked hard learning the dance! Thanksgiving Celebration is now less than a week away, so it’s time for us to keep on practicing! Here is a video that was shown at the thanksgiving retreat remembering and being thankful for what happened this past year (for more videos go here) followed by some announcements. Please make sure you read through the announcements because our bible study time and location is changed for this week.

Thursday: Why are we having it on Thursday? Because we’ll be practicing on Friday for TC!
What | Bible Study and Thanksgiving Celebration practice!
When | Thursday – 6:30pm
Where | Humanities 217

Friday & Saturday: Thanksgiving Celebration practice! Stay tuned for more information about time and location!

Sunday: The moment you all have been waiting and practicing for! Thanksgiving Celebration!

What | Sunday Worship Service & Thanksgiving Celebration!
Where | Kofman Auditorium @ Alameda High School
When | Sunday – Service @ 1pm
Celebration @ 3pm
Rides | Check again for more rides information

Hey Koinonia!  SFSU is going to join in on the Thanksgiving dare from last Sunday’s message from Pastor Ed at Gracepoint.  This is a challenge to spend 21 days thinking about what you are grateful for and you can even post them up so that others can see.  There’s no better time for us to set aside our busy schedules and learn to be grateful for all that we have.  So head on over to Thanksgiving Dare and get started.

Hey SFSU Koinonia!  Wow, what a packed weekend with the Thanksgiving Retreat and then Sunday Service in Berkeley!  We got to hear so many amazing stories of what God is doing with all the different Koinonia groups!  From Berkeley, to Davis, to Hsingchu Taiwan, to Austin, Texas, God is sure active!

If you’d like to check out those year-end videos we saw on Saturday again, or, if you couldn’t make it this weekend, be sure to go to Gracepoint Video to watch some of those videos!

Check out this week’s announcements as we are BACK on SF State campus for bible study.  Come join us, even if your week looked anything like the week our blog star went through =P  Make sure to come hungry too, b/c you know we always start with dinner =)

Friday:

What | Bible Study!
When | Friday – 6:30pm
Where | Rosa Parks A-C

Sunday: We’re back at Fromm Hall at USF
What | Sunday Worship Service!
Where | USF – Fromm Hall
When | Sunday – 12:30pm
Rides | Pickups @ dorm shuttle stop @ 11:45AM!

Hey SFSU Koinonia!  Just a quick plug for the Thanksgiving retreat that is happening this Saturday.  It’s going to be a great time of sharing about how God has been faithful in other groups!  We’ll get to hear from brothers and sisters from Gracepoint Austin, Gracepoint Davis, and Gracepoint Hsinchu, Taiwan!

So if you haven’t signed up yet, head on over to the Thanksgiving Retreat Sign-ups now and put your name down.  Rides will be provided.

Hi everyone, I hope y’all are doing well!  Wow, another busy weekend huh!?  Koinonia Live was an amazing time as we enjoyed a bountiful and scrumptious potluck with dishes such as eggrolls, fire beef, pork shoulder, thai curry, and much more!  We also had amazing desserts like coconut and almond jello with mango pudding, blueberry pie, mochi cake, and pumpkin pie made from the pumpkins carved on Friday night!!

Also, please be sure to check out our Sierra Lodge Page for more videos and pictures. We will have skits from Koinonia Live up soon, so please check again later.

Friday:
When | Friday – 6:30pm
Where | Burk Hall room 28

Sunday: We will be joining our other sister Koinonia groups in Berkeley for service.
Where | Willard Middle School in Berkeley
When | Sunday – 1:00pm
Rides | Pickups @ dorm shuttle stop @ 12PM!

As many of you saw during our Sierra Lodge trip, Gracepoint puts on a huge performance called G-Live!  We got a chance to see various skits from the past two GLive performances.  We actually got a sneak preview prior to the official GLive release.  But that was only two clips out of the entire performance.  So many of us were left thinking, “man, that was awesome!  I want more Glive!”  Well you couldn’t!  At least until now! The official GLive DVDs have been announced! To pre-order your DVDs, click here!

To get you guys pumped up about it, here the intro video:

While I try to keep my blog devoted to the amber waves of hair, I wanted to reflect on one of the other major aspects of my life — journalism.

*Full disclaimer: What you are about to read has very little, if nothing, to do stunning scarlet successes.*

Several weeks ago I was informed that 60-75 high school students would invade one of my journalism classes in order to learn more about the rocky craft of newsmaking. At first I was surprised that people even younger than I would head down the teetering world of journalism, but later I found the field-trip ironic since SF State will soon be closing its doors to any freshman due to budget cuts.

After laughing off the initial irony of inspiring high schoolers to pursue journalism at a school that wouldn’t even accept them, no matter how talented, I would actually have to do something. As Editor-in-Chief of the SF State school paper there was that additional pressure of passing on infectious motivation and inspirational tidbits of wisdom.

Early Tuesday morning I had the pleasure to meet about 10 of the writer/editor/photographers of the Green & Gold paper and was pleasantly impressed with the questions that they had for me. Many of the reporters were asking how to deal with page constraints, story selection and production cycles. In most situations I would be the authority on little more than, well, my redhead expertise (you knew I had to plug it in somewhere, didn’t you?) but here I was able to spout off whatever golden nuggets of brilliance I could muster together to, at least, appear to know what the hell was going on. But frankly all I could think was, “We are in the newsroom and if the [X]press writers and editors could please refrain from cursing too loud or making sexual jokes in front of these teens and their chaperons.”

Thankfully the visitors didn’t hear anything too offensive, that I noticed.

After recuperating from all the ego boosting I got from being so self-important that I would guide nubile minds, I was met with six times as many teens in my opinion writing class.

Our task of the day was to do a “Man on the Street” type of exercise where one class member would bring 1-4 high schoolers out to the campus grounds to get quotes, photos, and/or sound slides about what is on the mind of SF State students.

In all of the elitism and glory of hierarchy (oh, and because there weren’t enough students) I was sadly left without a chosen group to lead bravely into the windy campus grounds. So what’s the next best choice — be an editorial runner between groups. Giving time updates, taking pictures, lending out my camera and generally making sure people knew what the task was. It was surprisingly similar to being EIC.

Some groups seemed to take the reigns more than others and came up with inspired lines of questioning like the differences in San Francisco districts and monetary impacts to college students in an economic crisis. It reminded me of the interviewing basics of allowing the people to guide you to the story rather than the other way around.

Some of these kids showed some serious promise and I hope that some of them will bring that experience into a college publication and hopefully, eventually into the mainstream media.

This day of divination from the newsy norm was a welcome change that made me stop to think about people outside of our campus consume media.

Yesterday at around 8:30 in the morning I went to San Francisco State University to attended the opening session of Uniting Pilipino Students for Success (which is hosted by the Filipino student org PACE) and as I was walking by the Old Humanities (HSS) building I could hear in the distance some students chanting, “In memory of sixty-eight!  Occupy SF State!” (the 1968 reference is a tip of the hat toward the student and teacher strikes at SF State back in 1968 and 1969 which helped set up the College of Ethnic Studies)

As I got closer I could see that the Business Building (the smallest building at SF State which makes it easier to plan an occupation) was being barricaded by students protesting the huge increase in tuition fees that have effected the entire California State University system.  Not only were students blocking all entrances but all the entrances (from the inside) had stacks and stacks of chairs, desks, and tables buttressed right up against them.  They were piled so high you couldn’t even get a view inside the building at all.

According to this San Francisco Chronicle article:

Faced with state budget cuts of more than half a billion dollars, CSU trustees approved a 20 percent fee hike in July, bringing annual tuition to $4,827. At a time when applications to CSU are climbing, the university is limiting enrollment, cutting employee pay through furloughs and offering fewer courses.

When I first started out as a Freshman at SF State in Fall of 2003 it cost only around $1,900 a year (slightly over $900 a semester) to go to SF State.

From reading the newspaper articles and talking to friends the occupation has grown over the entire day with many students supporting it and many others venting their frustration at the occupiers for disrupting classes.  At one point the supporters of the occupation (and just general curious onlookers) were in the hundreds (I suggest following this link to see a multimedia presentation by the campus newspaper, which I used to photograph for, the Golden Gate [X]Press.  You can also see video of the occupation at this link here).

According to the occupiers website they are demanding quite a bit from the administration and the CSU Board of Trustees.  Some of them are obvious “throw-aways” such as:

• That the imperialist wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Gaza are ended, and that money is used to feed and clothe the poor.
• That the bailout money, all 5 trillion of it, be returned to the people who lost their homes.
• That prisons are closed and defunded.
• That the CSU board of Trustees be dissolved.

But other demands seem to be more reasonable even if they seem slightly unattainable (which doesn’t mean they can’t attain them but just that, as of now, it would take a lot of pressure and grass-roots organizing to attain them):

• That no disciplinary action be taken against us for our action.
• That the union painters on campus, who were all fired and replaced with independent contractors, be rehired.
• That all laid-off lecturers be rehired.
• That a student owned and run food cooperative be established on campus.
• And more

Now, the big question is what is going to happen over the next coming days and how are these demands going to be meet and what type of plans the occupiers have beyond simply occupying the Business Building.

I, for one, am extremely sympathetic toward this action and support my fellow students whole heartedly who are on the inside and those organizing on the outside.  However, I am wondering how effective this occupation will be.  I’m not saying I won’t do work to support it, I will, I’m just looking at the future.

There really needs to be a strong grass-roots based network of students in key CSU campuses to pull off something successful.  Not only that, but there needs to be strong involvement of student orgs and key grass-roots organizers from the outside of the campus community.  Plus, one of the reason why the 1968-69 strike was successful is because the Black Student Union had the support of the Black Panther Party and had spent the previous three years planning for student action toward building up a strike (three freakin’ years!).  Not only that but there was a centralized committee of student groups that planned almost every aspect of the student strike and actions, so all the student groups were on the same page and knew each others plans (it was called the Third World Liberation Front).  Also, the teachers union got involved which caused more pressure to be put upon the (then) San Francisco State College administrators.

While this occupation (I’m predicting) won’t be successful in the short-term it could (and this is completely up in the air) be successful in the long-term.  We could look at this occupation as either the opening salvo in a long fight or a high-stakes one-shot gamble to get our demands heard.

There needs to be some very frank and sharp discussions between the key student organizations on campus and their needs to be coordinated planning for future actions by the student orgs and the students themselves.  Not only that but there needs to be outreach to the community outside SF State and the other key CSU campuses.

To do this would be extremely hard.  It would mean many boring meetings and stamp-licking and flier-printing, etc.  Not very glorifying stuff, but hey, that’s what being a true organizer means.  Doing the boring stupid grunt work in order to plan future successful actions.

Hopefully something becomes of this occupation and that the students involved in it don’t become discouraged when it is finally broken but are instead galvanized to do more work and grass-roots organizing (ya know, the boring stuff) in order to create more successful and sustain actions.

Please take a moment to peruse the new issue of the university magazine. Feedback is welcome at sfsumag@sfsu.edu.

It’s that time of year again!  Thanksgiving Celebration!  If some of you are thinking that this is some quaint little dinner around a turkey then think again.  It’s one of the most hilarious times as we get together with our Berkeley counterparts and witness or even participate in some of the sickest dancing and acting this side of the bay.  So check out the trailer below or better yet join us for this “You don’t wanna miss out” kind of nights!

Sign up here

Where | Alameda – Koffman Auditorium (Rides will be provided)
When | Sunday, Nov 22 – 1pm