To the Editors,
I started reading the Pioneer on a semi-regular basis in the Summer of 2011. What initially captured me was the unique and developing stories of our community in terms of local sports, politics, the arts, and East Bay culture. As the front page seemed to grab me more and more each week, the Pioneer, along with the East Bay Express and Metro Weekly, came to be my preferred sources of alternative news in the East and South Bays.

Furthermore, the creation of the Spanish section was incredible! As a former International Business major currently expanding upon my Spanish language education that I received from both CSU East Bay and San Jose State, I was thrilled and extremely impressed.

I am writing to tell you that I have noticed a sharp decline in the quality and appeal of the Pioneer. I am deeply disturbed and troubled by this highly noticeable change as the content has become uninspired, lack luster and rampant with grammatical errors and editorial oversights. The story about the student who “thrifts” by Alexandria Leavenworth seemed to mirror, and not well, the dozens of stories previously published in the Pioneer about thrift shops, but failing to provide any data or analytical information on why this particular article is important for readers today.

Similar to the soccer story by Marina Swanson, what is the relevance and importance of this students? The authors do not give me a reason to care. In addition, the politics coverage is odd and sparse.

The story “Oakland Residents Meet to Find Debt Solutions” has been covered earlier, and the story by Maria Ruiz “A Life of Prostitution In Oakland” had a clear bias against sex workers. The dreadful lack of objectivity and sensitivity from that story made me cringe and doubt the ability of the editors at The Pioneer, something I don’t remember feeling before.

And furthermore, the editorial “It’s CSU East Bay: Get Over It” by Chase Thomas, who I see is one of the new Editors in Chief, was unbelievable immature and obnoxious. I suggest that if you try to speak for the student body as you claim to do, that you think of all the options. CSU East Bay is not just a commuter school for the East Bay, but for students from the Peninsula, North Bay, and like myself from the South Bay. Does the title “CSU East Bay” represent them accurately?

Furthermore, it is upsetting to see that you don’t acknowledge the pride the council members must have in their city, especially as we see that they are in a major campaign to promote business to and in Hayward. Also, keep in mind that signs on highways and streets leading to UC Berkeley, San Jose State, San Francisco State and Fresno State, to mention a few, say either “University of California” or “California State University.” This is definitely an interesting issue for Hayward and Cal State, but the way you went about presenting it expresses to me that you’re closed off to understanding others. I recall a previous editorial from October 2012 “Hayward Residents Must Unite under CSUEB Title” that was empathetic and used that empathy to incite unity.

It is drastic changes like this that has saddened me to the progression of the Pioneer. I hope to see the Pioneer pick itself up soon. As someone who has admired the little newspaper that could, I now find myself disinterested and upset. Maybe we will come to see each other sometime soon, or when the Spanish edition seems to come back.

Regretfully,

Edgar Hovis Eiraeta

Hayward Resident, CSU East Bay & San Jose State Alumnus, San Jose native