The Guardsman, Vol. 159, Issue 7. City College of San Francisco by The Guardsman

Student aims to inspire others

The Environmental Horticulture and Floristry Department uses low volume drip systems in order to conserve water. (Photo by Natasha Dangond)

Drought prompts horticulture dept. to cut down on water usage By Steven Ho STAFF WRITER

Syed Hassan (Photo by Khaled Sayed)

Networking and well-established connections are key for aspiring City College entrepreneur and business student By Alex Lamp EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Syed Hassan, a determined City College honor student, is studying business and entrepreneurship with a specific goal in mind. “I want to open my door to success so I can help guide others to do the same,” he said. Hassan, 21, was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh and moved with his family to the U.S. at the age of three. After graduating from George Washington High School in San Francisco, Hassan pursued a professional soccer career overseas. He briefly played for a soccer club in northern Italy, but felt that he belonged in the Bay Area. Hassan made the decision to return to San Francisco to start something new. After returning from Italy in 2011, he planned a return trip to his hometown, Dhaka. While on vacation, Hassan experienced poverty in Dhaka that was caused by cheap labor in the textile industry. Hassan could not overlook this problem and went out to find a solution. He became acquainted with many levels of the industry, from workers to business owners. The Bay Area tech boom beckoned to his growing interest in technology and startup businesses. Hassan returned to San Francisco

with a business plan and enrolled at was impressed with because it was a City College in fall 2012. socially conscious idea,” McKeever Since his arrival, Hassan has said. “He is very concerned with the simultaneously dedicated time to very poor wages and conditions of multiple startups, honors classes, the people in Bangladesh.” and has started his own club at Hassan and City College stuCity College while maintaining the dent Sasha Tetra co-founded CCSF position of Global Ambassador at Entrepreneurial Group to bring Startup Socials. aspiring entrepreneurs together. The “Just because you are in junior club’s membership has increased college doesn’t mean you can’t be exponentially since its inception last doing things that students are doing semester. when they’re graduating,” Hassan “When I started this club, we said. first got around Hassan thirty people, remains deter- “Just because you then we built mined to establish up to around a fair trade busi- are in junior college 300 students,” ness in Dhaka. Hassan said. doesn’t mean you “I’m going to “It’s a pretty good have handmade can’t be doing things increase for just a garments from that students are few months.” Bangladesh sold Hassan to people in the doing when they’re claims the club U.S.,” Hassan graduating.” could not have said. “The people been made poswho personally -Syed Hassan sible without make these garthe support and ments will get guidance of a big chunk of the profits that are McKeever. McKeever said the club’s made.” purpose is to cultivate student’s Hassan presented his plan to startup ideas providing them with a City College economics instructor, pathway to success. Michael McKeever who has been “I was hoping that we would teaching economics at City College find a number of students with spefor twelve years. cific ideas that they want to form “His idea was something that I into a company; we haven’t yet,”

McKeever said. “The idea was to get a structure so when they have that idea, they can take the next steps, and get funding to form a business.” While running his club, Hassan was networking with hundreds of startup CEOs and entrepreneurs through LinkedIn. Brian Hoskins, CEO of Ario Living, a Seattle, Washington based startup featuring Ario, the “World’s First Healthy Lamp,” took a particular interest in Hassan. Hassan is thrilled to work with a startup company that positively influences students health and wellness. “I thought about how it would affect students, and later on I found out that it not only had the benefits of balancing your circadian rhythm but it would also help students with memory,” Hassan said. Hoskins hired Hassan in February. Hassan is now managing public relations and marketing development at Ario Living. “It’s great that Syed took the initiative to reach out, and I think it is important for students as they’re networking and building careers to take that leap of faith,” Hoskins said. “Syed did that and it worked out.” @guardsmanlamp alamp@theguardsman.com

Horticulturalists at City College are using hardier plants and new irrigation methods to keep the campus grounds green during the current drought. The buildings and grounds department decreased its water usage last year after receiving a letter from the public utilities commission. “We have decreased our water usage in the landscape by 35 to 40 percent,” Landscape Supervisor Stephen Peterson said. Peterson said vegetation that was watered once a week is now watered every other week for 10 minutes. The college is working to upgrade its irrigation system from a high volume overhead water spray to a more efficient low volume drip system. Peterson said City College’s sustainability plan calls for the removal of lawns that are not used by students, because it requires a great amount of water to maintain. Students in the horticulture department have planted California natives in areas that were once covered in grass around Cloud Circle. Peterson said the use of droughttolerant plants along with the low volume drip system resulted in a 90 percent reduction in water usage. He also said the overall goal is to change the landscape, so it won’t need as much water in the future. Greenhouses in the horticulture department help create a humid environment, which decreases the frequency of watering. Water vapors trapped in the greenhouses can be absorbed through the leaves of the plants. Nursery Specialist Erick Bautista said that “water loss is very minimal” for the plants in the greenhouses. Outdoor plants live in an uncontrolled environment that includes a great loss of moisture on very sunny and windy days, Bautista said.

Drought continued on page 3