The Guardsman, Vol. 166, Issue 4. City College of San Francisco

Page 1

Vol. 166, Issue 4 | Oct. 10 – Oct. 24, 2018 | City College of San Francisco | Since 1935 | FREE

Students echo nationwide sentiments against Kavanaugh

College expects new website by May 2019 By Sarah Berjan

have quality assurance and beta group testing before its official sberjan@mail.ccsf.edu launch, Grewal added. After letting its website lag Its development will be behind for a decade due to a lack based on employee, student and of resources, City College over­ prospective student surveys, as hauled its home page on Sept. 11 well as focus groups that will in a first step toward delivering inform the final design. a brand new website next year. “We are very excited and look The website’s redesign, forward to launching a brand expected to debut in May 2019, new website from the ground up, will improve the website’s hosting which will focus on our student solution, content management experience so that our student platform, user journey navigation, community will have all the interior designs and wireframes, essential information about City as well as new City College brand College, and easy enrollment graphics content development, access right at their fingertips,” Information Technology Vice Grewal said. Chancellor Daman Grewal said. The update last month In addition to being streamlined the home page, mobile-friendly and meeting giving it a simpler layout. It also the standards of the American offers a live chat function that Disability Act, the website will connects website users to the Website continued on page 3 Mica Jarmel, center, and Maya Desai, right, speak out against the then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Oct. 4, 2018. “It’s really traumatic to see people in power deny experiences that so many people have had,” Jarmel said before going in front of the speak-out’s supporters. Photo by Cliff Fernandes/ The Guardsman

By Cliff Fernandes cferna44@mail.ccsf.edu

By the time Brett Kavanaugh became a U.S. Supreme Court Justice on Oct. 6, protesters nationwide had already fought an impassioned campaign against his nomination. In front of the Senate buildings on Capitol Hill, police arrested more than 300 demonstrators just two days prior. On the same day, their emotions were echoed by students

at City College. Carrying post­ ers that displayed the faces of Drs. Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford, around a dozen City College students rallied outside the Rosenberg Library with a bullhorn. They chanted, “We believe Anita Hill! We believe Blasey Ford!” Hosted by the Northern Cali­ fornia chapter of the International Socialist Organization, the walk­ out gathered students from various Ocean Campus resource centers to speak out. “We shouldn’t have someone

who is in the highest court be inter­ preting the laws when he is being accused,” City College student Adriana Castillo said. “That clearly shows, whether he is innocent or not, bad character.” On Sept. 27, Ford delivered a four-hour testimony to the Senate alleging that Kavanaugh, in his drunkenness at a high school gath­ ering, had pinned her to a bed, tried to strip her of her clothes and used his hand to suppress her screams. Kavanaugh, in his own heated testimony, denied her allegations. Kavanaugh continued on page 3

The homepage update to CCSF's website displayed on mobile platforms, captured on Oct. 7, 2018. Photo by Cliff Fernandes/ The Guardsman

CCSF college police department battle challenges of being understaffed By Cliff Fernandes

employees, is currently look­ the more we’re asking them to ing to hire six field officers and come here to support our mission,” two sergeants. The lieutenant Chief of Police Jason Wendt said. Hoping to interact with the currently fills the acting chief of “Nobody wants a stressed out officer Ocean Campus community for police position. when they’re already in distress, so National Coffee With a Cop The campus police staff only we try to find that balance.” Day, City College police on Oct. has 75 percent of the field officers it Although the department is 3 greeted the droves of students needs, so they have their schedules currently short 25 percent of its filing through Ram Plaza. constantly rotated and often work field officers, it sometimes takes The top question, acting Chief overtime. The department receives, qualified applicants a year to of Police Jason Wendt discovered, on average, 350 telephone calls per become active after passing their was “We have a police department?” operational day, which generally examinations. After at least two City College’s public safety take 15 seconds to a minute per call. rounds of examinations, field department, comprised of 36 “The lower the staffing goes, officer applicants require six cferna44@mail.ccsf.edu

A City College police vehicle occupies the parking lot in front of Rosenberg Library in October. Photo by Antoinette Barton/ The Guardsman

Campus police continued on page 3

RAMS RALLY TO VICTORY SPORTS - PAGE 8 MEDIA VS TRUMP CULTURE - PAGE 5


2 | NEWS

Vol. 166, Issue 4 | Oct 10 –  Oct. 24, 2018

Martha Lucey, City College’s Department chairs talk future education great publicist, passes at 76 BRIEFS By Patrick Cochran

OBITUARY

pcochran@theguardsman.com

Concerned for the future of their school, City College department chairs gathered in the Multi-Use Building on Oct. 2 to discuss the pending Education Master Plan (EMP), which will blueprint the college’s educational provisions from 2020 to 2025. The meeting was one of a dozen held for various constituent groups on Oct. 1 and 2. At the department chair session, attendees feared the EMP would fail to address important topics, including classes being cut, facilities not being maintained and inadequate levels of staffing. “Everybody in our department is part-time,” said Judy Hubbell, Martha Lucey Olchowy, right, stands beside her husband of over 40 years, George Olchowy. Photo courtesy of their daughter, Alexandra.

By David Mamaril Horowitz dhorowitz@theguardsman.com

Martha Lucey Olchowy, whose marketing grew City College enrollment to its highest ever, passed away on Aug. 24, 2018. She was 76. While serving as the college’s director of marketing and public information, Mrs. Lucey oversaw enrollment, which surpassed 100,000 students in 2007. “She instilled a pride in working at City College,” former Communications Committee Chair Francine Podenski said. “One group of students named the college ‘our Harvard on the hill.’” Born in Ukraine, Mrs. Lucey moved to Germany before immigrating to New York City, where she met her future husband George Olchowy. They were married for more than 40 years. Her shining moment, friends said, was when she adopted a 12-year-old girl, Alexandra, from Ukraine. “She gave me everything,” Alexandra said. “She gave me family. She always made me feel like I had a friend. I had a mother.” If there was one value her mother passed on to her, Alexandra said, it was to be independent. Although she studied and danced ballet, Mrs. Lucey earned a Library Science degree to provide for herself. She was also a member of the Dance Library of Israel. Her friend there, Renee Renouf Hall, said in a tribute that Mrs. Lucey had a smile which was always ready and a laugh that was full. Others described her personality as strong-willed and vivacious. She started at City College in 1995 and earned a reputation for being straightforward and standing by her beliefs, even when it meant challenging the chancellors. “She wasn’t a yes-person at all,” former Chancellor Philip Day

said. “She would always push you a little bit to justify or provide the rationale.” One controversial decision she made occurred when the college needed an editor to publish City Currents, the defunct faculty newsletter. She hired Patricia Arack, an ESL teacher with a background in journalism. “It was outside the norms of Human Resources, God forbid, but she was the type of person who intuited that I could do it and went for it,” Arack said. “‘To hell with procedure or process because I need somebody yesterday.’” Mrs. Lucey communicated with the press, directed the publication of press releases, communicated with the chancellor and worked with local marketing resources to sell the college. Due to insufficient funding, Mrs. Lucey would work seven days a week to do the job of several people, Podenski said. Since Chronicle advertising was unaffordable, Mrs. Lucey would find under-enrolled courses and advertise them in the neighborhood newspapers two weeks before classes began. She marketed on local television and utilized the Broadcast Media Electronic Arts department. Podenski said Mrs. Lucey was at every San Francisco parade, and that she focused on marketing the faculty and students even more than she did the administration. When Mrs. Lucey retired in 2010, Alexandra said that she took her stories with her. “We went together to City College a lot of times because she was always trying to keep up with her friends, sometimes students,” said Alexandra, who went there herself for two years at her mother’s suggestion. “Her life was in City College.” Mrs. Lucey leaves behind her husband George, her daughter Alexandra, her son-in-law Edward, her granddaughter Milana and family in Philadelphia.

Staff Editor-in-Chief Peter J. Suter News Editor David Mamaril Horowitz

Culture Editor Lisa Martin

innovation. A release for its public review is expected in either late November or early December. “The [EMP] will provide us with a forum to explore what is possible, to refine our processes, to set reasonable, achievable goals and to regularly access what decisions are goods ones and should be built upon,” college Media Relations Director Connie Chan said. More community meetings will be held in November. Constituents are encouraged to voice their concerns about the EMP by Oct. 15 at <https:// tinyurl.com/ccsfempsurvey>. The Guardsman will follow up on the EMP in a future issue.

CCSF hosts 32nd annual college fair

By Peter J. Suter suterjpeter@gmail.com

Fifty California universities attended City College’s 32nd annual college fair on Oct. 3, which was held to help continuing students transfer to other institutions to achieve higher learning. “The College Fair gives students the opportunity to go up to the tables and ask about majors, financial aid and the registration process,” Transfer Center Director Grace Hom said. She added that students could pick up brochures and business cards, as well as speak directly to university repre­sentatives. Representatives were allocated at tables spread out across the Cafeteria, where universities displayed their school banners and handed out materials to students. “I’ve enjoyed being able to take my time here at City College to decide where I want to go next,”

Opinion Editor Matthew Cardoza

Sports Editor Corey Holt

the third older adults department chair in the last year. “I work an 80-hour week and was paid for six,” she said. “No secretary, no help, no administrative aid, no nothing. I have 35 faculty, 75 classes to administer, with 27 sites at five campuses, and there is no way I can do that without help.” The chairs also took issue with the state of college facilities. “There have been proposals to upgrade our facilities, and every time they were supposed to do something it got waylaid, snafued or postponed for one reason or another,” floristry department chair Steven Brown said. The EMP is a part of Vision 90, a college vision to advance student achievement, improve infrastructure and provide more

health science major Lillian Rodriguez said. San Francisco State University (SFSU) was most popular. Former City College Alumnus Florentino “Tino” Ubungen, now an SFSU Outreach Specialist, helped guide students. “Initially I had no idea of

where or what I was going to do after my time at City College,” Ubungen said. “Luckily, I had great counselors to help me create a vision for myself. Now I’m in a unique position to help students who were in a similar situation just like me.”

San Francisco State Univeristy Outreach Specialist Tabitha Hurdle, left, provides school information for City College student Stellamaris Nwihim, right. Photo by Peter J. Suter/ The Guardsman

COMMUNITY CALENDAR Monday, Oct. 15 CCSF Cinema presents “Love, Theft and Other Entanglements,” directed by Muayad Alayan, former City College cinema student. 3:30–6 p.m., Rosenberg Library, Room 304. This event is part of the department’s Alumni Showcase Series. Thursday, Oct. 18 Talk on the history of American presidential power and how it has changed today with NBC News Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss, the author of Presidents of War. 12–1 p.m., The Commonwealth Club, 110 Embarcadero. Thursday, Oct. 18 Film Showing of “All The President’s Men” that focuses on Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's success in uncovering the details of the Watergate scandal that led to president Richard Nixon's resignation. Rosenberg Library, Room 305, 12–2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23 Film showing of “The Post,” the true story of Washington Post journalists' attempts to publish the Pentagon Papers, classified documents regarding the

Photo Editor Sarah Berjan

Copy Editors Antoinette Barton Deidre Foley

Ad. Manager Ivan Torres

Designers Chiara Di Martino Hope Miranda Mar Lar Thin

involvement of the U. S. government in the Vietnam War. 2–4 p.m., Rosenberg Library, Room 305. Tuesday Oct 25 Film Showing of “To Kill The Messenger,” the true story of San Jose Mercury News journalist Gary Webb and his mid-1990s investigative reporting that uncovered CIA’s role in importing cocaine into the U.S. to support the Nicaraguan Contra rebel army. 2–4 p.m. Rosenberg Library, Room 304. Tuesday, Oct. 27 CCSF Men's basketball team would like to invite you to a fun afternoon/evening at the Philosophers’ Club to benefit their team. 3–7 p.m., 824 Ulloa St. Price of admission is $50 and covers two drinks and light hors d'oeuvres generously provided by Original Joe's and Roxies. Raffle and Silent Auction items will include sports memorabilia and assorted sports related prizes. Thru October Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship worth up to $40,000 per year renewable is open to all City College students. For all the details, application procedures, and fall deadline go to www.jkcf.org and apply now.

Online Editor Fran Smith

Staff Writers Kenneth Akehurst Cliff Fernandes Lisa Martin

Michael J. Montalvo Peter J. Suter Casey Ticsay Julian Rodriguez


NEWS | 3

Vol. 166, Issue 4 | Oct. 10 – Oct. 10, 2018

Kavanaugh continued from page 1

Website continued from page 1

“Christine Ford was the more credible witness. Kavanagh was petulant and inconsistent and angry and Christine Ford seemed more reliable and dignified,” said David Moulton, a member of the International Socialist Organisation. But her testimony has faced mockery across the nation, send­ ing a loud and clear message that victims of sexual assault are still not being taken seriously. “It is very disturbing for survi­ vors of sexual assault to feel like their stories and their experiences don’t matter,” former City College trauma prevention and recovery class instructor Janey Skinner said. President Donald Trump mimicked Ford at an Oct. 3 Mississippi rally to cheers from his supporters. “How did you get home? I don't remember,” Trump said. “How did you get there? I don’t remem­ ber. Where is the place? I don’t remember. How many years ago was it? I don’t know.”

college’s General Student Services Support Team on Ocean Campus. However, the upgraded facade belies a website with many outdated web pages. On the Ocean Campus Associated Students webpage, more than half of the senator positions — which were filled weeks ago — are currently listed as vacant. And although the college’s Diversity Committee met eight times last year according to the college’s participatory governance calendar, no minutes have been posted, and only two meetings have posted agendas. Academic computing employee John Kennedy said no one could be blamed for the web page neglect. “It is [that way] because it is so hard to keep up with that stuff. It was one guy’s full-time job, but he couldn’t even do it,” Kennedy said. “As long as it relies on people and they’re not professional web people, it will always be that way.” Since 2008, budget cuts have prevented the college from hiring content managers for the website, former broadcasting department chair Francine Podenski said. She also chaired City College’s former

“We believe Anita Hill! We believe Blasey Ford!” — chant by CCSF students After Kavanaugh was confirmed as a Supreme Court justice, Ford’s lawyers told CNN she had no further plans to pursue her allegations against Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh's character was questioned again by Democratic senators who showed concern about his drinking habits, referred to in the memoir “Wasted: Tales of a GenX drunk.” Its conservative

Isabella Hord, left, reads out her statements against Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh during the 30 minute speakout that cut through the 12:30 p.m. class break on Wednesday, Oct. 4. Photo by Cliff Fernandes/ The Guardsman

author Mark Judge narrated a Republican senators defended conversation that refers to a person Kavanaugh, stating that the called Bart O'Kavanaugh, said to apparent drinking behaviour had have puked in someone's car after happened decades ago and insist­ a party. ing that he was as prestigious a “When someone is drinking judge as they come. and there were negative conse­ As part of his nomination, quences, and they continue to Kavanaugh underwent his sixth drink regardless of the negative full-field FBI background investi­ consequences. From my expertise, gation dating back 25 years. these problems don’t go away. It The FBI, which had one week continues on in your life,” said Eric to conduct their most recent Lewis, a licensed substance abuse investigation, did not reveal any counselor in City College’s drug accounts of sexual misconduct in and alcohol studies program. their report.

Communications Committee, which had pushed for the installa­ tion of a new web system. From 2007 to 2009, Visual Media Design instructor Beth Cataldo worked on redesigning the website by becoming its proj­ ect manager and content strategist. Aaron Holmberg, now a City College risk manager, would later help fix up the website as well. “A lot of people complain about the website, but nobody seems to promote the idea of hiring a staff of five or six content managers for keeping track of that many pages,” Podenski said. “San Francisco State University has a team of what I believe to be six or seven content managers.” Each academic department manages their own web page by writing and submitting new information about itself through their web page’s content management program. “Behind the home page lies several thousand pages,” Podenski said. “Each area has a go-to person. Without a [dedicated content management] staff, this frustra­ tion will continue,” Podenski said.

New features of the City College of San Francisco home webpage includes a student support chat where trained individuals responds to other's inquires. Photo by Sarah Berjan/ The Guardsman.

Campus police continued from page 1 months of police academy training, and six to eight weeks of Field Training Operations that are specific to City College.

twos when police call in a problem. “We lack the proper equipment, so there are some instances where we may require just one officer to respond. [Even so,] we A Day in the Force have to send two, or maybe three due to On any given day at Ocean Campus, the circumstances of the event,” Sergeant three or four officers work the morning shift, Carlos Gaytan said. and fewer work the later shift as student Reinforcements may be called for crowd numbers dwindle. The former are stationed control, or if a situation escalates. at from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the latter from Most incidents, however, involve petty 2 p.m. to midnight. theft and traffic violations, which are For each shift outside Ocean Campus, recorded in the SFPD database. If campus one officer is stationed at a designated satel­ police were equipped with tools such as lite center. If the department does not have firearms or tasers, however, Gaytan said they enough field officers to station at the satellite could only have to send one officer when centers for a second shift, Ocean Campus dealing with minor disputes. must dispatch its own stationed officers to Dealing With Guns compensate, Officer Danny Lim said. As a result, officers who were assigned Because they do not have guns, campus to cover one campus for a year often police are not meant to confront an active divide their shifts between two centers. For shooter. Instead, they gather information, situations that are urgent or distant from prepare building floor plans and relay it Ocean Campus, they may also call the San all to SFPD. Francisco Police Department for backup. “We have calls where there is a simple Understaffing becomes a much greater dispute, and all of a sudden, an arrest issue, however, when problems arise. [reveals] they had weapons — knives, brass Following procedure, the Ocean Campus knuckles, guns,” Sergeant Gaytan said. dispatch always sends out field officers in “We’ve been taking guns from people.”

Illustrator Chiara Di Martino Photographers Corey Holt Cliff Fernandes Peter J. Suter

Faculty Adviser Juan Gonzales

Follow us theguardsman.com ccsfjournalism.com

Twitter and Instagram @theguardsman

City College police undergo firearms training as part of their police academy training, but they are not equipped with guns or tasers. While they are armed with pepper spray, batons and handcuffs, campus police have found that employing de-escalation techniques through speech has been largely successful in preventing crime. Every situation is completely different, Wendt said. “How responsive is that person talking to an officer? We’ve taken on people with guns and knives before, and just talking to them has de-escalated [the situation],” Wendt added. A 2011–2012 Department of Justice study found that 94 percent of 173 public colleges with 15,000 or more students had armed their police officers with guns. Proponents of arming campus officers state that it would help prevent tragedies like the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. At the same time, police brutality has been gone viral across the internet in recent years, creating a national social climate wary of arming police. In an October 2014 Guardsman op-ed, Elissa Parrino and Charles Innis referenced the killing of

#CCSFjournalism

Contact Us

Facebook @theguardsman

advertise theguardsman.com

YouTube theguardsmanonline

(415) 239-3446

info@theguardsman.com

City College student Alex Nieto, who SFPD shot at 59 times. “We are basing our decision on arming campus police off of tragedy,” they stated. “What crimes and violations usually occur at City College? Phone theft, illegal parking and smoking in undesignated areas. Do any of these need lethal enforcement?” Chief of Police One advocate for arming campus police was Andre Barnes, who retired as the chief of police in July 2017. In January 2018, Wendt, who was a lieutenant and the highest ranking officer in the department, was assigned to fill in Barnes’s job. In turn, he performs both jobs’ full descriptions during regular working hours. “It's a lot more work. I’m still responsible for all the administrative issues that happen around here… addressing the things that come from top-down,” Wendt said. “They come through, and then I have disseminate them out, as well as the things that come from bottom up.” The college is developing a comprehensive job description for the police chief position, Media Relations Director Connie Chan said.

Mailing Address 50 Frida Kahlo Way, Box V-67 San Francisco, CA 94112 Bungalow 615


4 | CULTURE

Vol. 166, Issue 4 | Oct 10 –  Oct. 24, 2018

Gallery Obscura showcases ‘Here,for now’ PHOTO EXHIBIT By Corey Holt cholt3@mail.ccsf.edu

City College photography student Erhan Erdem explores the concept of belonging through his photo exhibit “Here, For Now” at Gallery Obscura, a part of CCSF’s photo department. Erdem’s photographs focus on objects found on the sidewalks of San Francisco. They depict discarded furniture and the many RVs parked around the city representing the cycle of

Student photographer Erhan Erdem displays work from his photo exhibit “Here, for now” open through Oct. 29, 2018. Photo by Peter J. Suter/ The Guardsman

displacement. The concept of the photo exhibit manifested through Erdem’s initial observation of American traditional life after migrating from Turkey. “When I first moved here from Turkey, I would see these items on the sidewalk and I thought, ‘Wow! Why are people just setting things on the side of the street like this?’ It is not something you see in Turkey. When people don’t want things anymore, they just throw them away,” Erdem said. Erdem started to take interest in photographing these items when he began questioning his role in American society. As natives, we do not need to adjust to our societal roles the same way as immigrants. It is oftentimes a new experience that leads them to the journey of learning about another culture and discovering their role in it. As Erdem commuted through the city fascinated by the items he would see on the streets, he began to ponder their existential purpose much like we may examine our own. “Why are they here? Where will they go? It’s fascinating and exciting to see what people are willing to give away, and some of the things are really nice,” he said. “Sometimes I take the things

Images from photography student Erhan Erdem’s photo exhibit “Here, for now” showcase abandoned furniture and RV’s temporarily parked on the sidewalks of San Francisco. The photo exhibit “Here, for now” will be open to the public through Oct. 29 at the photography department. Photo by Peter J. Suter/ The Guardsman

for myself if they are nice enough.” The RVs remind Erdem the feeling of being out of place. “I see them everyday. Sometimes in one spot, and the next day in a different spot,” he said. Erdem sees the RV as American hallmark representing the freedom to roam. RVs are i n constant movement around

the city, typifying Erdem’s theme “Here. for now.” “We all want to feel like we belong somewhere, but sometimes we find ourselves in temporary situations in life, the same way as the items that are temporarily placed on sidewalks. It’s very intriguing to me,” Erdem said.

This exhibit opens a window to the possibilities that may come from uncertain life experiences. “It’s important that we keep growing and never stop exploring life,” Erdem said. The exhibit will be available for students until Oct. 29 in the photography department.


CULTURE | 5

Vol. 166, Issue 4 | Oct. 10 –  Oct. 24, 2018

Trump vs Media poll

Illustration by Chiara Di Martino

Do you agree with President Trump’s opinions about the nation’s media?

By Andy Damián Correa acorrea@theguradsman.com

The Guardsman, with the help of students in the News Writing & Reporting class, conducted a poll of 100 City College students during the week of Sept. 24 to gauge their reaction to President Donald Trump’s ongoing attacks on the nation’s media. Here are the results: Do you believe President Trump may try to limit the media in any way?

Yes = 13%

Yes = 36%

No = 74%

No = 34%

No Opinion = 13%

No Opinion = 30%

Is a free and independent media a key element in a democratic society?

Trump’s attacks on Media set dangerous precedent

Do you believe that President Trump’s viewpoints about the media poses a threat to the First Amendment?

Yes = 82%

Yes = 69%

No = 3%

No = 13%

No Opinion = 15%

No Opinion = 18%

President Donald Trump has repeatedly called the press “enemies of the people.” This lie sets a dangerous precedent for a free and open society. Trump refuses to acknowledge a journalists’ responsibility to question him, to hold him accountable, and to seek the truths behind his statements. Rather than being the enemies of the people, reporters serve the public by asking questions in the interest of the people. The free press is known as the fourth estate — an industry protected in the Constitution. We, as American journalists in the 21st century, should not have to fear being censored as can be the reality in other countries. Trump is not the only state leader to discredit news reports he disapproves of. Other authoritarian leaders, who have gone against the press, such as Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban and Nicolas Maduro. Politicians must be required to answer the peoples’ questions. They work for the people therefore they are held accountable. Journalist must ask the tough questions on both sides. The journalistic standard is to inform the public about issues on the local, national and international stage. The president has a great effect on the relationship between the media and the current government. Therefore, it’s imperative to have civil encounters between government offi cials and the media. The media at large has a great responsibility to inform the public with facts and evidence. Publishers and the media have a duty to report what is true, and media companies must bare in mind the obligation to report ethically. The American public cannot allow the bullying, silencing or even threatening journalists to continue. Trump’s attacks on media can’t be taken lightly, and fellow journalist must stand up for one another if their voices are being silenced. We need to unite, here and now.


6 | OPINION

HAVE YOUR SAY BY MATTHEW CARDOZA

WHO DO YOU BELIEVE, KAVANAUGH OR FORD?

Ph

ot os

by

M

att

h ew Ca rdoza

“Kavanaugh. Because the allegations come from his high school days and if it was a serious case it should’ve been brought up then. Kavanaugh is hated because he’s supported by Donald Trump. Also, some members apart of the judicial branch said that he's making a valuable case that he has been wrongly accused.” — Marcello Riley, Communications

“Neither. There’s not enough concrete evidence or witnesses to support either cases, because the incident was so long ago.” — Valeria Gutierrez, Business

“I’ve believed Kavanaugh so far, because he provided a legal basis that we shouldn’t just assume he’s guilty just because a few women have accused him of sexual misconduct. That being said, I want to see the FBI report to see the full truth. We have to have a fair legal system that’s objective.” — Robert Lang, Computer science “Ford. Because I believe survivors in general. The likelihood of survivors lying about their abuse is incredibly low. Plus, the polygraph test Ford did showed that she wasn’t lying about her allegations on her abuse.” — Isabella Hord, Sociology

“Neither. I don’t fully believe in the full process of the hearings. It’s not a fair trial, it’s who you believe, and the senators interviewing him already have a decision in mind.” — David Carvalho, Engineering

Vol. 166, Issue 4 | Oct 10 –  Oct. 24, 2018

Pope Francis should not resign for the injustices of the catholic priest sex scandal By Matthew Cardoza

he continued. “The extent and the gravity of all that has happened requires coming to grips with kmcardoza13@gmail.com this reality in a comprehensive and communal The international spotlight has been cast on the way. While it is important and necessary on every Catholic Church due to revelations from a report journey of conversation to acknowledge the truth by the Pennsylvania Grand Jury that accused 300 of what has happened, in itself this is not enough.” priests of molesting more than 1,000 children in In my eyes, it’s better to admit faults and begin six archdioceses since the 1950s. This news shocked working toward a solution, which the Pope has done the world as many questioned how this many in recent months, when he defrocked Fernando children could be subjected to such abuse for a long Karadima, a Chilean priest. Karadima came under period of time. fire for sexually assaulting and abusing teenage boys. In response to this explosive report, some have In 2011, Karadima was called out on allegations of called on Pope Francis to resign from the papacy —  abuse, but he was not defrocked at the time. a position he’s held since March 2013. They claim The Pope, in this matter, has taken steps to he has not done enough to mend the issue. address the sexual abuse scandal. Should he have These incidents have existed in different countries taken steps before? If he knew about the abuses as well. A similar situation emerged in Ireland. Since taking place from the start of his papal term, then the 1980s, there have been allegations against Irish yes, he should have. Catholic priests for sexually assaulting children and However, the Pope and the Vatican can’t be the then covering up their acts. only ones taking steps to make sure incidents like Reports on the matter started to come to light these don’t happen again. Similar to there being around 2005. This explains why some people in so many police officers and stations in a single Ireland chose to protest the Pope’s recent arrival country, the Pope’s job isn’t to micromanage every to the country. single archdiocese or every single priest the Some, like child abuse survivor Margaret world. It should be the job of the respective McGuckin, wanted the Pope and the Catholic religious organization, which in the report by the Church not to forget what the survivors went through, Pennsylvania Grand Jury was not the case. “The Pope now needs to stand up to the plate and As a Roman Catholic myself, I have loved the do something for the survivors. We need redress, job Pope Francis has done in discussing issues such we need the church held to account,” she said. as the environment and income inequality. I hope That’s not to say the Pope hasn’t done anything that this horrific incident revolving young children to address the situation. He has come out in can show Pope Francis to be a Pope that can truly support of the victims affected by the senseless do right by the people, especially those who had to actions of particular priests. deal with the abuse from priests, and hopefully he In an open letter, he stated: “We showed can put a stop to this horrible string of abuse. no care for the little ones; we abandoned them,”

Free Speech and Alex Jones By Michael J. Montalvo michaeljmontalvo@yahoo.com

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media platforms have banned accounts belonging to Alex Jones for violating their terms and conditions, which includes what they have deemed to be hate speech. If you are unfamiliar with Jones, I’ll give you some context. He is a far-right radio show host and a conspiracy theorist who runs Infowars, a website devoted to his views. He rants and raves on his radio show about pro-gun rights, the correlation between vaccines and autism, topics that vilify the LGBTQ community and other tirades. As you can see, his topics can be highly sensitive and his opinions highly offensive. It only makes sense he would cause controversy and outrage. That being said, I can understand why people might be angry about his platforms getting taken down. If it were my views and ideas being blocked by a big tech company, I would be mad as well. Companies such as YouTube are known for taking channels down for small violations of their terms and conditions, justifying Jones’ ban.

The American Civil Liberties YouTube also released a Union defines censorship as “the statement about Jones in the wake suppression of words, images, or of his removal from their platform, ideas that are ‘offensive,’ happens “All users agree to comply with our whenever some people succeed in Terms of Service and Community imposing their personal political Guidelines when they sign up to or moral values on others.” We use YouTube. When users violate as a society simply cannot censor these policies repeatedly, like someone just because their our policies against hate speech message is wrong or it may offend and harassment, or our terms people. However, their definition prohibiting circumvention of continues “expression may be our enforcement measures, we restricted only if it will clearly terminate their accounts.” cause direct and imminent harm Additionally, the ban came to an important societal interest.” as a result of Jones trying to YouTube and other companies circumvent YouTube’s ban on expressed that Alex Jones’ content live-streaming from his account by violated that respective rule. doing so through other channels. One notable example is Therefore, hate speech was not Jones’ verbal attack toward the only reason Jones got blocked the Sandy Hook parents and from his platform. Stoneman Douglas survivors for Overall, freedom of speech conspiring as false flag actors. does not include hate speech. Two Sandy Hook families sued Jones deserved to be blocked Jones because they were harassed because of the amount of hate he to the point that they had to and his contributors have spread move residences. This action, in against minorities and victims of my view, is enough to ban him school shootings. However, this from any platform on the internet. incident shouldn’t mean we have It’s not a matter of the to ban everything that offends us First Amendment when certain or makes us uncomfortable. We words have repercussions for the should explore subjects and say the people who abuse the guidelines. things that have to be said, even if YouTube has a specific policy it may be disagreeable. on cyberbullying, which Jones broke countless times with his offensive rants. Illustra

tion by Chiara Di Ma

rtino


OPINION | 7

Vol. 166, Issue 4 | Oct. 10 –  Oct. 24, 2018

Love and Loss — Nona Caspers reads from her latest novel

Author, Nona Caspers reads the first chapter, “Michelle, about her relationship with a former girlfriend, of her novel, “The Fifth Woman,” on Oct. 4. Photo by Sarah Berjan/ The Guardsman.

By Lisa Martin lmartin@theguardsman.com

Nona Caspers, author of Heavier than Air and the Fifth Woman and winner of the Mary McCarthy prize, held a reading for City College’s visiting writers series on Thursday, Oct. 4. Caspers began by asking the audience, “so do you want to start with something that has nothing to do with your educational goals?” She shared a song with the audience, one that she used to sing frequently with her brother and has been singing to herself lately: “Love is something if you give it away, give it away…” The audience slowly picked up the refrain as she sang. Caspers’ latest book, the Fifth Woman, is a story about love and loss. The unnamed narrator faces loss and displacement when her girlfriend dies. The novel is told in vignettes of the grieving process and weaves in elements of magical realism.

“I was inhabiting and finding language for a period of time I call my deep Persephone period” — Nona Casppers, Author

Caspers read from the first chapter of the Fifth Woman. In it, the narrator recalls the day her girlfriend died and details the apartment they shared. The writing style is lyrical and the story moves through different elements— ants, the girlfriend, the apartment, water, the neighbors—to create a circular, dreamlike remembrance of that day. After the reading, Caspers began a Q&A session. When asked about how she got her inspiration, Caspers said, “I don’t wait for inspiration.” Instead of waiting for the it to strike, she keeps up a practice of writing in notebooks and paying attention to the world. She added that reading often sparks her desire to write. Another audience member asked if the Fifth Woman was based on Caspers’ lived experiences. “It’s in there, but it’s not my lived life,” she said. “I was inhabiting and finding language for a period of time I call my deep Persephone period,” which she clarified as a period of mourning. One student said even as a lesbian, she struggled to write about relationships between two women as opposed to heterosexual couples. She asked Caspers if she had also struggled with that, and what drove her to write her characters as lesbians. Caspers said that it hadn’t even occurred to her to write about a man and a woman, but that one of the reasons it was easier for her not to worry about that kind of thing was because “I’m old and

you are young.” Caspers said that it was much harder for her 25 years ago as she “got very stuck on the responsibility.” She felt that there was more at stake when writing stories about people who face extra pressure from society. She didn’t want her stories to cause harm to people, and she didn’t want her own community to be put off by her work.

“People die, we die[...] And we mourn, and we lose” — Nona Caspers, Author

Back then, Caspers was personally unable to write stories about LGBTQ characters dying, because at the time it seemed like the only stories being published were ones where they died. Now there are more stories being told with LGBTQ perspectives. “People die, we die,” Caspers said. “And we mourn, and we lose.”

Volunteer assistant to the Nona Casper book reading, Jackie Davis Martin arranges copies of the novel being read on Oct. 4. Photo by Sarah Berjan/ The Guardsman.


SPORTS | 8

Vol. 166, Issue 4 | Oct. 10 –  Oct. 24, 2018

Rams defensive hold strong winning 1-0 SOCCER

By Peter J. Suter suterjpeter@gmail.com

City College Rams men’s soccer team defends against Foothill College’s offensive attack, holding them scoreless making the Rams undefeated 3-0 on Oct. 2, 2018. Photo by Peter J. Suter/ The Guardsman

The Rams pull off their third straight conference victory at home against Foothills College on Tuesday Oct. 2. In the first half the teams look to be evenly matched, holding each other scoreless throughout. “I think we made it harder on ourselves. We had some good looks on offense during the first half, but we need to be more precise around the goal,” head coach Adam Lucarelli. It was during the second half that the Rams defense held strong and their offense seemed to intensify by getting more attempts on the goal and pressuring Foothills defense. Forward Alejandro Perez came in off the bench to score the only goal of the game midway through the second half, but it was the Rams defense that was key to their victory. The play of the game came when the Rams were called for an controversial penalty kick (PK) in front of their goal and goalie Javier Hernandez made a well timed save to prevent Foothill from tying the match. “I knew it wasn’t a PK, and the ball doesn’t lie,” Hernandez said. It’s through solid defense that the Rams have been able to go on a three game win streak, all by consecutive shutouts. “Our defense performed really well, it’s a team effort and I’m proud of our guys,” Hernandez added. The Rams are now 3-0 in conference play and will be heading on the road to face conference rivals Chabot and Cabrillo Colleges in the coming days.

Women’s soccer extend win streak By Julian Rodriguez

The Rams women’s Soccer team extended the win streak to seven after defeating conference rival Skyline college with a well earned 1-0 win on Oct.5. City’s offense was unable to get one behind the net in the first high despite dominating possession and having multiple chances at goal. The Rams continued to attack Skyline’s defense, and finally broke through with a goal in the 63rd minute of the game. The Rams drew a foul a couple yards outside of the penalty area which led to a free kick to be given to them. The Rams scored a goal off the free kick, which was taken by Talia Lowerre who sent a beautiful ball into the box, finished off by Shaylah Youngsdale. After scoring the goal the Rams defense looked to step up and hold the lead, and stop every opportunity that Skyline tried to create.

SPORTS CALENDAR

Football Oct. 13, 1 PM vs Laney Oct. 19, 7 PM @Diablo Valley

Women’s Soccer Oct. 12, 4 PM vs Cabrillo Oct. 16, 1.30 PM vs. West Valley Oct. 23, 1.30 PM @Shabot

Men’s Soccer Oct. 12, 1.30 PM vs. Evergreen Valley Oct. 16, 4 PM vs. American River Oct. 19, 2 PM @ Skyline Oct. 23, 4 PM vs De Anza

Women’s Volleyball Oct. 17, 6:30 PM @Skyline Oct. 24, 6:30 PM @Cabrillo

Women’ s Water Polo Oct. 19, 3 PM vs. West Valley Oct. 24, 3 PM @Foothill

For live game updates find

CCSF Athletics on Facebook and

@CCSFathletic on Twitter

The ladies celebrating after number 2, Shaylah Youngsdale making the second and winning goal on Oct. 5. Photo by Micheal Montalvo/ The Guardsman.

“I am impressed with the fight in this team, The Rams look to extend their win streak to and their never back down to anything attitude.” 8 games on the road against Las Positas College Coach Jeff Wilson said. on Tuesday Oct.9.

Rams overwhelm De Anza College 13-8

WATER POLO

By Peter J. Suter suterjpeter@gmail.com

Teammates Bryanne Saugez (#10), foreground, and Goalie Ella Maisano (#1) defend against shot Oct. 5, 2018. Photo by Peter J. Suter/ The Guardsman

Lan Pham (#16) advances the Rams offense against De Anza College on Oct. 5, 2018. Photo by Peter J. Suter/  The Guardsman

City College polo team’s offense overpowered De Anza College on Friday Oct. 5 in a decisive 13-8 victory. After allowing De Anza to score only two goals, the Rams guarded a 8-2 lead at halftime. “The goalie needs to be more than just the last line of defense. I have to be vocal, putting our players in the optimal position to make a block,” Goalie Ella Maisano. Maisano tallied 17 blocked goal attempts against De Anza. De Anza came back during the second half to lessen the lead, but the Rams offense proved to be too much. “I feels good to get the win in the end, we shared the ball and we played as a team,” Julia Lane, who lead all scorers with six goals, said.

City College Rams Coach Pham and Assistant Coach Natalie Taylor talk with team after time out against De Anza College on Oct. 5, 2018. Photo by Peter J. Suter/ The Guardsman


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.