Associated Students at UCSD call for university to divest from Israel

Good Morning, I’m Debbie Cruz….it’s Friday, March 8th.

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Students at UC-SD are calling on the university to divest from companies that do business with Israel. More on that next. But first... let’s do the headlines….

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A report published yesterday (Thursday) found that since the U-S-Mexican border wall height was raised from 17 feet to 30 feet four years ago, migrant drowning deaths increased by more than 3-thousand-percent.

The drownings are happening in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.

The report was written by a UC-SD medical student and professor in residence and was published in the journal JAMA.

Their hypothesis was that the change in wall height could have resulted in an increase in marine and maritime migration attempts, which resulted in more frequent drownings.

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Snapdragon Stadium has only been in use for a year and half, but it has already become a popular venue for women’s sports.

The Concacaf Women’s gold cup finals between the U-S women’s national soccer team and Brazil takes place there on Sunday.

It’s also the home of the San Diego Wave F-C who play in the National Women’s Soccer League.

They’ve broken every major single-game attendance record in the league’s history.

Snapdragon Stadium general manager Adam Millar says promoting gender equality is a top priority.

“We wanna inspire future generations of San Diegans. We wanna increase, you know, the visibility of the stadium and our profile. Obviously, we want to support female athletes and it's great business.”

Millar says women’s sports in San Diego is successful because there’s a market and huge fan base supporting them.

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We’re springing forward this weekend with Daylight Saving time.

That means we’ll have to set our clocks forward by an hour Saturday night.

So this weekend we will technically be losing an hour of sleep… so brace for your body clock to adjust to the change.

But, it also means it’ll get darker later in the evenings, so the days will feel longer.

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From KPBS, you’re listening to San Diego News Now. Stay with me for more of the local news you need.

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UC-SD’s student government group has passed a resolution calling on the university to divest from Israel.

Reporter John Carroll says it follows a large campus protest this week.

26 out of 37 senators in the Associated Students of San Diego voted for the resolution which calls on not only UC San Diego, but the entire UC system to divest from Israel.  President George Chi loi Lo says the resolution aligns with the demands of the BDS movement… BDS stands for boycott, divest and sanction.  President of the Jewish Federation of San Diego Heidi Gantwerk says the resolution is misguided. “It really is calling for not just changes to this policy or that policy but really just fundamental changes to the existence of the state of Israel.” A statement from the University said it does not agree with the resolution and neither it nor any school in the UC system will divest from Israel.  JC, KPBS News.

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Community advocates rallied yesterday (Thursday) in front of the Vista Detention Facility to protest the latest in-custody death that happened last weekend.

North County reporter Alexander Nguyen says they want more oversight on arrest procedures.

“We are here to save lives in custody.” Yusef Miller from the North County Equity and Justice Coalition … along with other community members … are demanding answers after a man died while in custody. It happened last Sunday. A man died after struggling with sheriff’s deputies following his arrest in Cardiff. Miller says getting arrested should not be a death sentence. Yusef Miller North County Equity and Justice Coalition “We want to see what the process was. Where did it break down? And we know that our county has a broken bridge between law enforcement and mental health. There's a broken bridge, and we want to mend that bridge so people don't lose their lives.” San Diego Police Department is investigating the case as per protocol when there’s a death involving the Sheriff’s Department. AN/KPBS.

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San Diego Restaurant Week is in full swing, with more than a hundred restaurants participating.

So if you want to get out and enjoy the deals, we have you covered with all you need to know about the event.

Joining me to talk about it, is San Diego Restaurant Week spokesperson, Haleigh Stewart.

Haleigh, welcome to the San Diego News Now podcast.

So what does San Diego Restaurant Week entail?

Just to get an idea, what’s the range in pricing for some of the restaurant week options? 

What is the reason for hosting an event like this?

What are some of the restaurants participating. Are there any first -timers? 

Are there any family-friendly options to take the kiddos for a fun day out?

What about some date night ideas or nightlife-type of restaurants?

San Diego Restaurant Week is a bi-annual event. When is the next one happening this year, and how will it be different from this week’s event?

Where can listeners check out participating restaurants and menus, and make reservations?

Before we end this conversation… I’m curious, Haleigh , do you have a favorite restaurant that you plan to visit this week?

TAG: I’ve been speaking with San Diego Restaurant Week spokesperson, Haleigh Stewart. Restaurant Week is happening through Sunday. Haleigh, thank you for all the information, and for joining the San Diego News Now podcast.

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Dune Part Two opened last weekend, and Film critic Beth Accomando says, no matter what you think of the film, there’s no denying it looks spectacular.

She spoke with cinematographer Greig [Greg] Fraser, to shed some light on what goes into shooting a film like Dune.

Cinematographer Greig Fraser doesn’t see Dune Part Two as a visual effects movie. GREIG FRASER I guess there's some sandworms in this film. But I'm concentrating on the minutiae of the human experience with these actors, with these characters. And what happens from a visual effects standpoint happens beyond those experiences. In the past, his job was done when the shooting wrapped. But today, visual effects can extend his work into post-production. GREIG FRASER But I think that the mistake that a lot of films make is that they don't necessarily include the cinematographer or the production designer once wrap finishes. Your vision is still being affected by a team of VFX artists. So the more that we can be involved, the better off the end product is. It’s a collaborative process that begins on the set. Take the planet of Giedi Prime. Fraser was asked to make it look black and white but he added a twist GREIG FRASER Because effectively, what we did is we shot in infrared. And it just has such a weird look to it that's unusual, that it doesn't look like true black and white. It looks like an anti sun. So, yeah, it was fun. It was a cool process to do that. When you watch Dune Part Two, appreciate the work of Greig Fraser and how he brings different worlds to life. Beth Accomando, KPBS News.

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That’s it for the podcast today. This podcast is produced by Emilyn Mohebbi and edited by Brooke Ruth. As always you can find more San Diego news online at KPBS dot org. Join us again on Monday to start the week together with the day’s top stories. I’m Debbie Cruz. Thanks for listening, have a great weekend, and don’t forget to set your clocks forward one hour, Sunday morning.