Vol. 165, Issue 5 | Mar. 21– Apr. 10, 2018 | City College of San Francisco | Since 1935 | FREE
TEARS AND SILENCE
City College pays homage to Parkland shooting victims
RAMS WIN STATE TITLE!
By Cassie Ordonio and Mike Menaster
Special to The Guardsman
City College stood in solidarity for the National Walkout Day on March 14 to honor the 17 lives lost at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida. On a national level, thousands of students gathered for the first time in protest against gun violence at 10 a.m. in every time zone. Three City College campuses— Civic Center, Chinatown and Ocean—participated in a moment of silence for 17 minutes. One minute represented each life lost. Approximately 250 people at Ocean Campus huddled around Ram Plaza as tears rained down the faces of some students and faculty. “Gun control is one of the key issues that everyone keeps bringing up,” said Tameem Tutakhil, president of the Associated Student Council at Ocean Campus. "It’s time to put aside all of our differences and think about people who died in that situation are human beings. They’re only teenagers. They didn’t get to live their life. I would like to go to school with the feeling of being safe on campus.” Students and faculty spoke out on the controversial issues of gun violence and the fear of safety on campus. Lily Ann Villaraza, chair of City College’s Philippine Studies department, also acknowledged the 10 years and one month anniversary of the mass shooting at Northern Illinois University. “It still impacts me,” Villaraza said. “I know there are students out there who experience this every single day. So, this is not just about
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Airport Campus must find new home By Abraham Davis Students marching down Mission Street on National Walkout day, March 14, 2018, two blocks north of Mission Campus. Photo by Michael Menaster/Special to the Guardsman
school, this is not about being on this campus and being safe. It’s about taking it off the streets so that all of our communities, wherever they are, can feel safe.” The Parkland shooting sparked students and youth across the country to pressure politicians to renew the debate over gun control. Florida legislators defied the National Rifle Association by passing a $400 million gun control and school safety bill on March 7 that will raise the age required to purchase a gun from 18 to 21. At City College, Chancellor Mark Rocha is taking extra steps to assure campus safety. In a public statement on March 7 to the campus community he called for active threat preparedness. “We have formed the College Health and Safety Committee to review and make recommendations on updating our Emergency Preparedness Plan in all areas,” Rocha said in the statement. “In addition, the Board of Trustees
has approved a new position, Emergency Preparedness Director, whose primary responsibility will be the implementation of safety and security measures. Some measures under current consideration include warning alarms, enhanced text alert systems, video cameras and expanded security at major entrance points to our campuses and centers. We are also in the process of hiring six additional police officers.” In the Mission District, some 100 students from Buena Vista Horace Mann Community School marched down Valencia Street and past City College’s Mission Campus. The protest was peaceful, as drivers passing by honked and waved at the students. Assistant Principal Claudia del Rios guided the students who carried picket signs and chanted: “We want justice. We want peace.”
abrahamdfrankfurter@gmail.com
City College’s lease for its Airport Campus—located on the grounds of San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and home of the college’s Aircraft Maintenance Technology and Fire Academy programs—will be expiring next year, forcing these programs to find a new home.
The Airport Campus has been at its current location for more than 40 years. “They are evicting, and asking tenants to leave because they are expanding,” said City College spokesperson Jeff Hamilton. He said one option being explored was moving to a space hosted by United Airlines, who is SFO’s largest tenant. Airport continued on page 2
A decommissioned jet fighter branded with the City College logo sits at the entrance to the Airport Campus March 16, 2018. Photo by Cameron Ehring/The Guardsman.
FACILITIES
Rosenberg elevator still out of service after 4 months By Michael Toren michael.toren@gmail.com
The irony is so self-evident and tragic it writes itself. To reach the Disabled Students Programs and Services office on the third floor of Rosenberg Library, students who are not able to use the stairs must take an elevator. But the student elevator has been broken for so long many people don’t remember the last time it was regularly in service. The Facilities Department was not able to provide The Guardsman the date when the outage started, but most people remember it breaking permanently
City College student Natsui Sarah Gosney (right) waits for a staff member with a key to escort her on the staff elevator of Rosenberg Library on March 1, 2018. Photo by Janeth R. Sanchez/The Guardsman
around Thanksgiving. “It’s a bad situation,” said Donna Reed, dean of library and learning resources. There are two elevators, located side-by-side, at Rosenberg
Library—one for students and one for staff. Because the staff elevator also opens to restricted parts of the building it requires a key to use. For more than four months, students who cannot use the stairs
have been forced to find a staff member with a key to escort them on the staff elevator. Signs have been posted next to the elevator letting students know where on each floor a staff member with a
key can be found. Worse, the staff elevator periodically breaks, too, leaving people who cannot use the stairs without any means of travelling between Elevator continued on page 3