VOL 120, ISSUE 16 - March 9th, 2023

04
THURSDAY
MAR 9,
2023
USF MENA COMMUNITY RESPONDS TO
TURKEY-SYRIA EARTHQUAKES
GIRL GAINS EMPOWERS
WOMEN IN FITNESS
05
NEWS
AMINA ANSHASI
Staff Writer
After a series of devastating earthquakes shook Turkey and Syria
last month, the USF community has been mobilizing relief efforts and
extending support to the affected communities.
A week after the initial earthquake, the University Ministry held
a vigil in Privett Plaza. Reverend Dr. Ronné Wingate Sims helped organize
the vigil which saw about 25 people in attendance. Sims recalled
the events of the vigil in an interview, describing the mood to be “somber
but hopeful,” explaining that “disasters like this are a time for us
to rise to the highest level of humanity possible to serve one another.”
After opening in prayer, the Ministry extended their condolences
to the lives lost in the earthquakes, and expressed their solemn hope
that more people would be found alive.
Over 50,000 people across Turkey and Syria died after the earthquakes
struck the region. As bodies are still being identified and pulled
from the rubble, the number of deaths continues to increase. The original
quake struck in the early morning hours of February 6, and clocked
in at 7.8 on the Richter scale, a quantitative measure of an earthquake’s
size. In the following hours and days, hundreds of aftershocks were
recorded, some with magnitudes as large as 6.7.
Rescue teams from across the globe flew in to save people from the
rubble and international relief efforts began collecting funds, clothing,
food, and other supplies to support the displaced and affected.
Bati Ozcan, associate director of USF Athletics and a Turkish native,
spoke at the vigil. Ozcan survived the 7.4 earthquake that struck
Turkey in 1999, making this disaster especially near to him. Ozcan’s
family in Turkey was safe after the recent earthquake.
The University Ministry distributed slips of dissolvable paper to
Ari Acheckzai and Tiffany Boudagin table with MENA to raise funds and awareness for those affected by the earthquakes. PHOTO
COURTESY OF THE USF MENA CLUB
the vigil attendees to write prayers. The prayers were collected, dissolved
in water, and poured into a plant. Reverend Sims explained how
this served to illustrate that as the water nourished life here, in San
Francisco, the prayers would hopefully nourish life in the affected areas
of Turkey and Syria.
That following Sunday, Feb. 19, USF’s liturgy team organized
prayers for a student-led mass and accepted donations for the affected
regions. However, many USF community members sought out more
ways to support the relief efforts.
USF’s Middle East/North African Club (MENA) hosted a student-led
table outside of Lo Schiavo. Both MENA’s leadership and
members of the club tabled from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every school day between
Feb. 15 and 24 to help students learn more about the catastrophe
and donate directly to relief funds.
“It was without hesitation that we knew we wanted and needed
to organize informational tables that helped to gain donations and
spread awareness about the earthquakes,” said MENA president Jared
Bisbikis, a fourth-year international studies major. Bisbikis described
wanting to reflect the fact that “USF has a diverse community which
includes Turkish and Syrian students whose families and friends and
community have been affected by this catastrophe.”
One such student is Defne Sagdic, a fourth-year psychology major.
Sagdic, a Turkish student, described feeling emotional after hearing
news of the earthquakes, but immediately wanted to jump into action
and get involved with relief efforts. Sagdic began working with various
organizations on and off campus, including MENA, UC Berkeley's
Turkish Student Association and UC Berkeley, and various Turkish
communities around the Bay Area to coordinate donation sites.
Moving forward, Sagdic encourages students to educate themselves
on the situation and consider donating or getting involved in
organizations, both on and off campus
that are aiding the affected communities.
Sarah Tinawi, a third-year
psychology major, who has relatives
and friends affected by the earthquakes
also advises USF community
members to participate in upcoming
campus events to support relief efforts
and raise awareness, including
a collaborative educational campaign
being worked on by students, faculty,
and school organizations.
This campaign is being kicked
off with a vigil that will be held today,
March 9, from 12 to 1 p.m., in Privett
Plaza to honor the lives lost. Another
event students can check out is the
baklava sale on March 27 from 10:00
a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the University
Center undercaf, a joint fundraiser between
MENA, Arab Student Union,
Muslim Student Association, and the
Iranian Student Union. All the funds
will go directly to Turkish and Syrian
relief.
On behalf of MENA, Bisbikis
reminded the USF community that,
“The death toll continues to grow daily
and resources, particularly funds,
are continuing to be needed. If you
are able, we encourage even the smallest
donation. Additionally encouraging
organizations on and off-campus
as well as our institution to raise
awareness and make donations to the
affected communities.”
Girl Gains USFCA celebrates the second anniversary of the club with fellow chapters. PHOTO COURTESY OF GIRLGAINSUSFCA ON INSTAGRAM
SAMANTHA MARQUEZ
Staff Writer
Noticing that you are the only woman in the weight room at a gym
can be intimidating. According to Women’s Health Magazine, one in three
women feel out of place in a gym setting. Enter Girl Gains, a student organization
that promotes female weightlifting and empowerment in fitness.
Girls Gains was originally created at San Diego State University by
then-undergraduate Elizabeth Bradley in 2020 for women with a passion for
fitness. Since then, the club gained over 10,000 followers on social media and
has opened up 83 chapters across the country, including one on the Hilltop.
USF’s chapter was founded in August 2022 by Mia Dawes, who graduated
with a marketing degree last semester, and is open to women with a drive for
fitness looking for a judgment-free space.
Girl Gains USF has planned multiple events such as boxing class events,
lifting buddy group socials, meetings with professional nutritionists, and
group sessions with a personal trainer at Koret Health Center.
Lifting buddy group socials are used for new and recurring members of
Girl Gains to find a gym partner to motivate each other and lift each other
up through those tough workouts. Recently, Girl Gains USF partnered with
Rumble Boxing Group Fitness to do a social event at the studio location in
Cow Hollow.
Zuri Vera Nunez, a fourth-year psychology major and co-marketing director
of Girl Gains, said she grew up as a competitive dancer and faced
scrutiny over her body type. “The industry promotes unhealthy body size expectations
and is predominantly white. As someone who identifies as Latina
and has a curvy body type, I was never able to deeply appreciate my body,”
she said.
Her journey with weightlifting started in 2021, when she was unable
to participate in dance during the pandemic, but she still felt insecure about
herself at the gym. “I was afraid of asking anyone how to use a machine…
I was afraid of how people would perceive me,” she said. Nunez joined Girl
Gains in 2022 and immediately found her place. “I felt both empowered in
myself and hopeful about building a community of women to process the
barriers that we face collectively,” she said. “Everytime I hit a new personal
record, I felt empowered, uplifted, limitless.”
Amrit Kaur, a senior marketing major and member of Girl Gains, goes
to Crunch Daly City, where she self-taught her workout routine, slowly easing
into the routine until she was most comfortable. “It was definitely gym
growing pains. There were days that I didn’t even want to be in the weight
room, because I was the only girl, and I felt as if I didn’t belong, when really,
there shouldn’t be a reason to feel like that,” she said.
She said Girl Gains events, like a group weightlifting workout that focused
on proper and safe form, inspired her to join the group. “It was an
empowering experience and I liked working out with all the girls. They spoke
about their experience in the gym, and it was just nice to hear that I wasn’t
the only one feeling alone.”
The weightroom could seem very daunting if you are going about it
alone, so the members of Girl Gains are there to help and support you every
step of the way. As Nunez said, “[Girl Gains] gets it - they understand the
feelings and thoughts of being in the weight room, but I think because of
that, we don’t judge anyone, we welcome everyone to our indoor and outdoor
events, and make sure to support all your goals.”
To join or support Girl Gains and their events, follow their Instagram account
@girlgainsusfca.
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