Gia Pham

My family and I lived in one of the biggest houses in the nicest neighborhood in Tracy, Calif. in 2010. Our all white, 2-story house was symmetrical from the outside and had two large coat closets behind the rusty, chocolate wooden front door. My 9-year-old self managed to convince my parents to take advantage of this opportunity and make our first floor our very own haunted house for Halloween. We filled up a mechanical, zombie-hand bowl with only the best candy and placed it in the hallway about 5 feet from the front door. Then, we made a trail of more candy leading to the living room where our electronic piano played creepy accordion music. After we turned off all the lights, except for the welcoming orange-lit pumpkins in the front of our house, we got into out positions. I was a zombie bride with fake blood on my face, thick black eyeliner, and a long white dress. I stood quietly in the coat closet near the door, waiting for my first unsuspecting victim. A group of kids we...

Free barbecue for life is being offered to anyone who can serve -up hot information on a restaurant robbery in Hendricks County.  Rusted Silo Southern BBQ & Brew House was robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash Tuesday night when someone, or a group of people, used a crowbar to force open the front door and unscrew lights in the dining room.  The burglars also broke the cash register machine when stealing the money.   The incident was reported on Wednesday morning after a driver for the BBQ & Brew House arrived to work and noticed both the front and side doors of the restaurant had been pried open.  Rob Ecker, the owner of Rusted Silo Southern BBQ & Brew House, and the Hendricks County Sheriff's Office are seeking more information on the incident and are open for contact.

Bright afternoon light shatters across navy blue tiles of two larger-than-life African American statues like scales on a fish under shallow water. The men in stone stand across Clark Hall at SJSU as former SJSU student- athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos who protested during “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 1968 Olympic Games. Their towering figures that distort, and then redistribute light symbolize the resurrection of justice, dignity, equality, and peace within the community. The athletes stand barefoot in black crew socks on rusty grey, off- white cement blocks labeled No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 that resemble an Olympic platform. Smith, who stands on the No. 1 block, is closing his eyes as he holds a firm fist in the air, popping his veins as his left hand holds a wooden frame with a painted green leaf. The No. 307 is tiled onto the back of his jersey as a large bronze medal with green straps sits across his neck. Carlos stands in a similar form, except his left fist is high...

With glaciers melting, sea level rising, heat waves intensifying, and the future of our earth’s overall health in question, many individuals, especially the youth, have turned to protest for action against climate change.  Different types of news media had their own ways of covering the Global Climate Strike that happened from Sept. 20 to Sept. 27 of 2019.  An online article from The New York Times had a story of about two thousand words and was adorned with many vibrant and evoking pictures of the event. The article resembled that of print newspaper, but incited more emotion in the readers as the pictures were in color. The story included about 10 quotes from sociologists, activists, and even children as young as 12 years old. Though The New York Times is generally more democratic, the article did not depreciate the Republican Party, but rather told facts about the event. Channel 4 News had an eleven-minute video on YouTube that covered the Global Climat...

Rewrite each of the following sentences using the correct AP style and correct punctuation. 1. “It's not OK to wear T-shirts at practice,” coach Carter said. 2. General Myers met 10 times with former Vice President Gore. 3. He drove east from Seattle, Washington to Boise, Idaho. 4. The FBI office has moved to 1250 Third Ave. 5. In the 90s she received mostly A's in school despite being a rock ‘n’ roll groupie. 6. Aaron C. Reskew Jr. is the candidate that will be elected mayor. 7. Seventeen clerks worked from 7-10 a.m. and were paid just $5 per hour. 8. Over 16,000 attended Game 1 of the World Series to see the Tiger's 5-2 victory. 9. Nearly 50 percent of adults say they're concerned about developing Alzheimer’s Disease. 10. The 19-year-old girl was born on Sept. 20.

Gia Pham, an English and media teacher at Bellarmine High School, died on Dec. 20 at 68 from poor health in her townhouse in San Diego. Pham has a history of extreme iron deficiency and last night, she did not wake up for morning pancakes. Bellarmine High took a moment of silence this week for the unique teacher who has taught for 12 years. During the summer months, Pham was known for taking a group of outstanding and hardworking students to a foreign country to document its culture and lifestyle. Last year, they went to Malaysia and created a multimedia project storytelling the hardscrabble existence of a local family restaurant and the cultural meaning behind their dishes. The video won a Pulitzer Prize and was recognized by the Prime Minister of Malaysia for its compassion and heartfelt beauty. The restaurant now has a never-ending line. Tyler Rose, Pham’s husband, is filled with sorrow, but remains hopeful for the future. “Gia was a person with a bright laugh and a...

From serial killers to alien movies, horror films have evolved over time. What might have been scary 20 years ago, isn’t scary today. Or sometimes, what wasn’t scary in the past can make you run faster upstairs after turning the lights off in the kitchen. Horror film enthusiast Cody Nichols explained the evolution of horror as a reflection of what society is scared of at the time last Thursday at 3 p.m. at SJSU.  In the 80s, people were terrified of aids, so many movies had monsters that resided in the bloodstream.  “Night of the Living Dead” was a commentary on racism and political parties.  Zombies represented conservatives because they were ancient, and vampires represented liberals because they were draining society of its old values.  The invention of birth control lead to films like “Rosemary’s Baby” because people became skeptical about the pill and terrified of birth defects and miscarriages.  After 9/11,“You don’t want anything scary.” ...

Though many believe feminism is unnecessary and that men and women are now equal, the underlying aggression and everyday cynical mannerisms within our society blatantly prove otherwise. The feminist narrative will be under-construction until our basic humanity, safety, and rights are recognized and become an active part in constructing our own society. I can not begin to explain the amount of inhumane sexism so deep rooted in our society, perpetuated by legislature and pop culture. “Pro-Life” advocates occupying seats in Congress-who for the majority of the part are white males- intend to strip away women’s privacy and right to their own body. New Jersey and Rhode Island do not consider incest a criminal offense, but will suppress and dissemble resources for abortion, even in the case of rape and incest. Double standards poison the female identity. Birth control pills for men are barely advertised and even unavailable in parts of the states because they induce headaches, breakouts, and...

In rusty bronze, a long, rectangular sculpture with small, etched vinaigrettes of Japanese internment camps catches a glimpse of autumn’s afternoon light in Downtown San Jose. The sculpture was designed by Ruth Asawa, a female artist who witnessed the fall of Japanese families and lifestyles in the face of rising racism and sociopolitical unrest during World War II. Like a scroll, the sculptures’ carvings are laid out in chronological order from left to right in the front and back, forcing the viewer to follow along with the stories of the victims. The once traditional Japanese dining commons that provided a sense of community and care transformed into an overcrowded soup kitchen where sullen faces and empty stomachs fought over scarce food. The barbed wire, which used to keep animals out of the farm, has now thickened into jail wires that laced the internment camps, echoing dehumanization and false criminality. The fishing embargo ship was instead a train on the other side, ...

The oldest bear at the Midland Zoo passes away after 16 years, adding to a trend of recent animal deaths within the facility. Zookeeper Sara N. Getty found the bear floating in the pool of the polar bear exhibit after his feeding. Last week, a 10-year-old female bobcat died of renal failure. Additionally, two weeks ago a 6-year-old giraffe died when her horns got caught in her stall, causing her neck to break.  The cause of death for the bear is unknown, but necropsy results will be available in several weeks. The zoo director Chris P. Bacon said, "We will do everything in our power to determine how this bear died. Animal welfare and preservation of species are our primary goals here at the zoo." Getty added, "Homer was a very curios and playful polar bear and we will miss him terribly." 

For Immediate Release Gia Pham Public Information Specialist gia.pham@sjsu.edu ZOO TAKES ACTION AFTER DEATH OF ELDER BEAR San Jose, Calif. (Oct. 1, 2019) - Though a thick cloud of sorrow and heartache hovered over Midland Zoo after the death of the oldest polar bear Homer, zookeepers and other staff members were quick to prevent future occurrences. Zookeeper Sara N. Getty, who was the closest to the bear, explained that Homer was 16-years-old and was found dead in the pool of the exhibit at 7 a.m., an hour after his feeding. The director of the zoo, Chris P. Bacon, announced that the investigation is underway and results of a necropsy test will be available in a few weeks.  “We will do everything in our power to determine how this bear died. Animal welfare and the preservation of species are our primary goals here at the zoo,” Bacon assured.  To help the investigation, the two other polar bears, a 9-year-old male...