Op-Ed
THE DAVIS ENTERPRISE
SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2020 B3
Ditch office culture for healthier future BY DEAN FLOREZ Special to CalMatters
T
he COVID-19 shelter-in-place orders have demonstrated that many of us can work successfully from home and adopt healthier lifestyles. In the past three months, we have reduced traffic on our streets and highways, and more people are teleworking. For decades, there has been a push to get cars off the road by encouraging more carpooling, bike riding and the use of public transportation. But those efforts didn’t produce the seismic shift in thinking about how we work until COVID-19 forced many of us to work from home, nor did they produce the stunning impact on our air quality. We can leave office culture behind and embrace a healthier future of work. At the peak of the COVID-19 induced shutdowns in April, the daily carbon dioxideemissions dropped by 17% globally, according to a study recently published in the journal Nature Climate Change. In our state since the start of the pandemic, California Air Resources Board estimates that the vehicle miles traveled for light- or medium-duty vehicles was reduced by as
COMMENTARY much as 70% to 80%, but vehicle miles traveled is already beginning to climb as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. For the Southern California region, an employee drives an average of 21.3 miles on a weekday. If an employee in Southern California were able to work from home three days per week, that worker would travel 63.9 fewer vehicle miles per week. This means that workers buy less gas, save time from grinding commutes and help reduce air pollution. Time saved means that employees can get more rest and exercise. They can also keep an eye on what’s going on in their neighborhoods, creating safer streets for their families and friends. The time it takes to get to work plus the associated travel costs have been increasing in recent years, even as transportation agencies have promoted public transportation and ridesharing. At the same time, there have been advances in technology that make teleworking easier. Office space in our state is costly. In Los Angeles, the average yearly cost to rent office space per employee was more than
CALMATTERS/ISTOCK PHOTO
The California Air Resources Board estimates that the vehicle miles traveled for light- and medium-duty vehicles was reduced by as much as 80% in the early days of the coronavirus crisis. $6,000, and in San Francisco, it was more than $14,000. Companies can save money by not renting as much office space and instead invest in their businesses and workers. Not going to the office all the time also means that businesses can save on heating, cooling and other energy costs, and employees can save money on their wardrobe and drycleaning. Teleworking has environmental impacts beyond the reduced emissions with vehicular travel. Leaders in California
and beyond are already thinking of ways to encourage telecommuting to continue. At the state level, the Air Resources Board upon which I sit, can flex its enormous power on air pollution to change the work week. Businesses should be incentivized to continue encouraging teleworking for their employees even as restrictions on shelter in place ease. The Air Resources Board can help make this shift in work culture happen with the money that industries pay
Ethnic studies needed more than ever COMMENTARY
BY THERESA MONTAÑO Special to CalMatters
E
ven as the Assembly and Senate voted overwhelmingly with bipartisan support to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement at the California State University, CSU management and leadership is doing everything it can to blunt progress on inclusive learning. In a recent commentary, CSU Chancellor Timothy White decried systemic barriers to change while ironically promoting CSU’s status quo resolution on ethnic studies. White offered the resolution only after Assembly Bill 1460, proposed by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, gained traction. The CSU complains of the “cost” of strengthening ethnic studies course offerings, but ignores — as many senators recently pointed out — the true cost of doing nothing: the continuation of centuries of racism against people of color, including the killing of black people, oftentimes at the hands of police. While I appreciate the CSU’s support of Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5 to bring back equity in college admissions and hiring, AB 1460 is just as meaningful to ending systemic racism. Now, Gov. Gavin Newsom has the chance to take the torch and ensure every student graduating from CSU’s 23 campuses learns of the contributions of racialized ethnic people and their experiences in this society. For more than 50 years, communities of color, students and faculty have advocated for ethnic studies, holding hunger strikes, rallies and sit-ins. In 1970, I was one of those students. As a young Chicana
student activist, I, along with two other young women, convinced hundreds of students to walk out of our high school to protest an educational system that lied about our history, dishonored and disrespected our language, and endeavored to confine our population to the lower end of the economic scale. At that time, Chicanas/os were about 20% of the population of Los Angeles, about half of my school was composed of students of color, and the number of Chicanas/os in colleges and universities was minuscule. Today, students of color represent the majority of students in our K-12 schools, community colleges and California State Universities. It is time to recognize the voices of those previously neglected. Nineteen of the 23 CSU’s are Hispanic Serving Institutions, 62% of the bachelor degrees granted to Latinx students are from the CSU, and the CSU brags that it is one of the most “ethnically and racially diverse university systems in the U.S.” The fact that we find ourselves embroiled in a battle for three units of ethnic studies as a graduation requirement is disheartening, to say the least. As ethnic studies faculty, we seek greater empathy with our stories of persecution and repression, therefore we consistently reference other forms
of oppression in our classrooms. Ethnic studies is an inclusive discipline; it is relevant, responsive and encourages students of all races to make meaningful connections to the curriculum.
I
want my students to connect their lived realities and histories to the historical and contemporary struggles of my people. This is how we learn to intersect our stories, empathize with other people’s oppression and most importantly, learn the importance of unity and solidarity. Likewise, Christine Sleeter argues that ethnic studies allows white students to learn about cultures, histories and experiences other than their own and this impacts the ways in which they live in our society. This leads to reduced white supremacy, racism and hate that is rooted in ignorance and stereotypes. It is time to respect the histories, cultures and stories of students of color in California and the academic tradition of 50 years of ethnic studies. It is time for students across California to take an authentic ethnic studies course, and benefit from the tremendous academic and social value it has been demonstrated to provide for students of all races/ethnicities. It is time to recognize that ethnic studies is not just my history, it is California’s history. Newsom can do just that by signing AB 1460 when it lands on his desk. — Theresa Montaño is professor of Chicana/o Studies at CSU Northridge and chair of the California Faculty Association’s Teacher Education Caucus theresa. montano@csun.edu. She wrote this for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s Capitol works and why it matters.
to pollute by buying allowances in a carbon-trading market. Policymakers can also consider carrots and sticks to promote teleworking. Some options include telecommuting tax credits for employers and employees, penalties for businesses that don’t offer teleworking options for its employees such as parking lot taxes, and incentives to improve local broadband networks in our rural communities. We don’t have to return to the car-centric, office
culture. The future of work can be healthier for everyone if leaders promote teleworking as effective and environmentally sound. — Dean Florez served in the Assembly and state Senate from 1998-2010 and is a member of the California Air Resources Board, senatordean florez@yahoo.com. He wrote this for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s Capitol works and why it matters.
Poem of the month Sprout It could be Valley Oak or Snap-bean, Elderberry, or Cattail rising out of the creek; All began the same, a spark of life inside, The need to be coaxing their will into action. Seed and pod, nut and bulb, cajoled awake, called By the warmth of the sun, moisture in the soil, Swelling them, filling their hearts, beginning The slow push against the dormancy of the husk. The earth itself helps, offering its richness To eat, till one by one each plant claims a soul, And bursts free into the air, breathing, giving breath, Living in the sweet light of the distant sun. — James Lee Jobe ———— This is an old poem of mine, 25 or so years old, and has been published a few times. I am sharing it here for a reason. On the surface, the poem is about plant growth, which is simple enough, but on another level this poem is about hope and life, and the blessing that life is. We live in a troubled time. A deadly virus ravages humanity, and it does so in an era when people all over the world are calling out for real social change, calling out racism for the evil that it is. And those voices have hope and majesty, those voices have courage. May each of us claim a soul and burst free into the air, into the sweet life of the distant sun. — James Lee Jobe Poet Laureate, city of Davis
ICYMI: OUR TOP 5 STORIES OF THE WEEK News ■ City terminates assistant fire chief: http://wp.me/p3aczg-3PSw ■ County to focus on enforcement as COVID cases rise: http://wp.me/p3aczg-3PO9 ■ County reports 17 more COVID cases; 85 in the last week: http://wp.me/p3aczg-3PME
Editors’ choice for web comment of the week
Sports
Feature
“It doesn’t make sense to have social services provided through a police department. A police department keeps the public peace. ”
■ New UC Davis athletic center has virtual groundbreaking: http://wp.me/p3aczg-3PQA
■ UC Davis professor Orly Clergé on racism in academia: http://wp.me/p3aczg-3PJE
From Elizabeth Saft
THESE WERE THE MOST CLICKED-ON NEWS, SPORTS AND FEATURE POSTS AT WWW.DAVISENTERPRISE.COM BETWEEN SATURDAY, JUNE 20, AND FRIDAY, JUNE 26
In response to “Commentary: Police reform in Davis”
