The Guardsman Vol 149, Issue 1. City College of San Francisco

CULTURE & TRENDS: NightLife at the Academy Page 16

Volume 149, Issue 1

NEWS: Witness to Haiti quake speaks in Berkeley Page 5

What’s inside: NEWS: Foster transitional housing needs funds...

NEWS: Underwear bomber’s effect on SFO...............

OP&EDS: Health care bill imperils abortion rights SPORTS: Rams basketball wins four straight......

C&T: Suite 415 — Hotels are not just for sleeping

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January 27, 2010

Local 2 demands benefits

By Liska Koenig THE GUARDSMAN

Unite Here Local 2, the union which represents hotel and restaurant workers in San Francisco and San Mateo counties, has been picketing city hotels to achieve the signing of a new labor contract acceptable to both hotel management and employees.

So far, seven hotels have been affected by Local 2’s action: Hilton San Francisco Union Square, W Hotel, Grand Hyatt, Palace Hotel, Le Meridien, Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf and Westin St. Francis.

The most recent protest took place at the Hilton San Francisco LOCAL 2: Page 8

RAMSEY EL-QARE / THE GUARDSMAN

Protesters critical of a memo authored by San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera hold signs reading “Herrera’s advice sends kids to ICE” at his inauguration speech Jan. 7 in City Hall’s North Light Courtroom.

City attorney draws protesters Anger seethes as sanctuary policy deadline nears

By Alex Emslie THE GUARDSMAN

The deadline for implementing San Francisco's amended sanctuary city policy is rapidly approaching, and immigrant rights groups, the city attorney’s office and U.S. attorney Joseph Russoniello are embroiled in a legal back and forth over the issue.

Despite the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ Nov. 10 vote to override the mayoral veto of a revision to the city’s sanctuary policy, the Juvenile Probation Department continues to report suspected

undocumented minors accused of a felony to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when they are booked.

The legislation has a deadline for implementation of Feb. 9.

“We are still conferring with the San Francisco city attorney’s office,” City Attorney said William Siffer- Dennis Herrera mann, chief parole officer for the JPD. “Our intentions are to follow state and federal law and the ordinance to the extent permitted by state and federal law – which are the last words of the ordinance.”

The board policy would require JPD officers to not report suspected undocumented youth to ICE until after a “felony petition has been sustained,” legal language meaning conviction for a juvenile. Accused

minors would have access to attorneys before being reported, and if charges were dropped or reduced to misdemeanors, they would not have to fear deportation.

“We have a sanctuary policy that is consistent with state and federal law,” San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said outside the Jan. 7 inauguration of City Attorney Dennis Herrera, which was also attended by protesters calling for the implementation of the board policy. “The Board of Supervisors passed legislation that requires itself to be consistent with federal law. That means that their legislation has been, by definition, enacted because it contradicts itself. You can’t pass something that's inconsistent with federal law.”

Matt Dorsey, spokesperson for the city attorney’s office, said federal code 8 U.S.C. 1373 is “the big one” concerning implementation of the amended sanctuary city ordinance. Interpretation of that federal SANCTUARY: Page 4

Bumping stresses resources

By Don Clyde THE GUARDSMAN

Many City College departments already strained by class cuts and increased enrollment are also being affected by a wave of losses and shifts of skilled clerical staff that began last November due to a process known as bumping.

City College, as well as San Francisco Unified School District, work under the merit system of the San Francisco Civil Service. When civil service employees are laid off in a particular job class, those employees displace, or “bump,” employees with less seniority into lower BUMPING: Page 3

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News

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Obituaries Frances Connick Frances Connick, former chair of the chemistry department, died on Dec. 29. At her request, no funeral services were held.

Connick taught at City College for 25 years – from 1968 until her retirement in 1992.

The current chair of the chemestry department, Ray Fong, Ph.D., was quoted in an e-mail distributed by Chancellor Dr. Don Q. Griffin as saying, “I worked with Frances in my early years before her retirement. She was a wonderful colleague, highly involved in academic affairs, and well respected by all.”

Reginald Alexander Reginald Alexander, City College employee from 1970 to 1998, died Jan. 16. He served City College in a number of roles, according to an e-mail distributed by Chancellor Dr. Don Q. Griffin, including dean and vice chancellor.

A memorial service was held Jan. 22 at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Sonoma.

Danaz Salak City College student Danaz Salak, 18, was killed in a head-on collision on westbound Interstate Highway 580 on Dec. 28 of last year. Salak was driving east on westbound I-580 when her vehicle crashed into a big-rig, California Hiway Patrol Officer Ralph Caggiano CBS channel 5 news.

She was pronounced dead at the scene. According to an obituary, which appeared in the Marin Independent Journal, Salak was a graduate of San Marin High School and was studying art and criminal justice at City College.

JANUARY 27, 2010

Foster youth housing needs federal bailout

By Angela Penny THE GUARDSMAN

Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed 2010-2011 budget includes a list of services that will be eliminated unless the state receives a $6.9 billion bailout from the federal government. According to the governor’s Web site, this includes $36 million for funding the Transitional Housing Placement Plus Program, a state program for emancipated foster youth that provides them with transitional housing after they turn 18.

Loss of this funding would have a direct negative impact on the lives of City College’s 150 to 175 Guardian Scholar students.

The City College Guardian Scholars program is a student retention service launched in January 2008. The program was developed in response to the Chaffee Educational Training Voucher initiative, a national program that provides grants to college students who have former foster youth status. A need was recognized for a program that coordinated all of the different services available to these students so that they can focus on their education.

“The Guardian Scholars program coordinates a specific set of survival services so that the students can focus on school,” said Michael McPartlin, special services manager at City College. These services include housing, scholarships, food, transportation, jobs, books, advocacy, counseling and mentoring.

FOSTER: Page 8

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANTHONY LINSEY

Former City College Guardian Scholar Tyrone Botelho, who is now a junior at U.C. Berkeley, speaks at a Guardian Scholar event.

Ocean campus plagued by wave of thefts

By Liska Koenig THE GUARDSMAN

With more than 66 incidents of theft, the Community Health and Wellness Center and the Rosenberg Library on Ocean campus have been hit hard by the most recent crime wave at City College during the fall 2009 semester.

While the crime logs of the San Francisco Community College District Police Department also report various incidences of vandalism, driving without a license and others, the majority of these crimes have been property crimes, said Rachele Hakes, public information officer with the SFCCDPD. Property crimes are defined as offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft and arson, according to Hakes. The majority of cases on City College campuses are larceny-theft cases, or the unlawful taking of property with the intent to keep it.

“In the library, people see the opportunity to take somebody else’s belongings because students don’t pay attention,” Hakes said.

Big warning signs have been placed prominently all over the library to remind students to be aware of their surroundings and not leave their personal belongings unattended.

By initiative of the library department and the police, fliers were also distributed throughout campus to alert students and faculty about the situation.

“The amount of thievery in the library is incredible,” said Charles Fracchia, department chair of the City College Library and Learning Resource Center. Despite more frequent police patrols throughout the library and warnings over the public announcement

system, laptops, backpacks, cellular phones and even purses hanging over the back of chairs have been stolen.

“We have identified a group of three people. One of them will distract the victim by asking a question while another one will steal from that person,” Fracchia said. This group of potential suspects has been recorded on videotape, but, so far, the library department has not been able to catch them or anybody else in the act.

Thefts in the wellness center occurred in the second floor men’s locker room and the ground floor women’s locker room during class time or late training sessions. To prevent further incidents, but still give students an area to change for their classes, the men’s locker room will be locked 15 minutes after each hour and re-opened 15 minutes before the hour.

As the result of an undercover operation by the college police department, one person was questioned regarding the thefts in the men’s locker room.

“This individual had been acting suspiciously and hanging around the area. Since we didn’t have any evidence and this person wasn’t currently taking classes, all we could really do was to tell him to not come back to campus,” Officer Connie Hector said.

Since the individual was asked to leave, however, the number of thefts in the wellness center has decreased significantly, according to Peg Grady, women’s athletic director for the physical education department.

“Campus police even brought in San Francisco police to evaluate the security situation in the locker rooms,” she said.

Unlike the student lockers on the second floor, the women’s lockers on the ground floor are used by City College athletes and assigned over a whole season. Part of the problem is that these lockers have mesh in their doors so that equipment can aerate, Grady said. This makes it possible to see into the lockers and spot possessions like iPhones, watches and other items of value. Some female athletes have covered these meshes with construction paper to prevent anybody from being able to see the contents.

“The police recommended to install closed circuit cameras, but for now that’s not an option. It’s a question of money,” Grady said. San Francisco police department security experts recommended a certain kind of lock to secure personal belongings in the wellness center locker rooms. Some students and athletes also use a number combination lock in addition to their regular lock.

“I am very pleased that campus police have been so proactive about this and hope that all these measures help to prevent further thefts in the wellness center,” she said.

“The best situation is to educate people and reduce the risk,” Hakes said.

Besides the flyers passed out on City College campuses, a crime alert note on the City College police Web site alerts students that dozens of these thefts take place every semester. It emphasizes the importance of removing anything of potential value from cars parked in the reservoir parking lot or other places close to campus.

E-mail: lkoenig@theguardsman.com

News

JANUARY 27, 2010

THE GUARDSMAN

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Security upgrades yet to reach SFO

By Claudio Ribeiro THE GUARDSMAN

On Christmas day 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-yearold Nigerian man claiming ties to al-Qaida, attempted to set off an incendiary device he smuggled aboard a Detroit-bound flight from Amsterdam.

Since the failed attack, some travelers at San Francisco International Airport have expressed a loss of confidence in the Transportation Security Administration’s security policies.

“It doesn’t seem like they checked everybody’s bags,” said Ron Maniuf, a recent passenger.

“The searches weren’t handled with extreme professionalism.”

According to Linda Rhoades, a customer service worker for SFO, there is a reason why travelers have not seen much change in security procedure since Abdulmutallab’s attempted act of terror.

“Most new measures are behind the scenes and do not directly affect the traveling public,” Rhoades said.

One visible change made to security were signs posted at

CHLOE ASHCRAFT / THE GUARDSMAN

Passengers wait in line for their identification to be checked before proceeding to the final security checkpoint at the International Terminal at the San Francisco International Airport on Jan. 21.

security checkpoints warning travelers of the risk of terrorism and instructing them to report suspicious activity to TSA officers.

“These signs aren’t necessary,”

traveler Dave Marshall said. “It’s only going to help expand the terrorism paranoia.”

When asked about new security measures at SFO since the failed bombing plot, Edgar, a TSA

security supervisor who declined to provide his last name, would only say that he had not seen any.

“I’m not allowed to disclose such information,” Edgar said.

“No new procedures have been

seen at SFO, but I was assured there have been improvements made.”

In response to public concerns over security, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom met with SFO Director John Martin for a Jan. 6 briefing, which resulted in several new security initiatives.

SFO is using a $5 million federal grant to replace more than a thousand security cameras with high-definition models equipped with facial recognition technology and spending $3 million to make new security badges with computer chips to prevent unauthorized entry to secure areas.

Newsom is also seeking federal grant money for 150 controversial whole-body scanners, which some civil rights activists consider equally invasive as a strip search. The mayor hopes to incorporate at least one machine at every seven security checkpoints. SFO already has one at its international terminal.

E-mail: cribeiro@theguardsman.com

Some faculty fear possible future bumps $522 million deficit could mean future city layoffs, bumps BUMPING: From the front page

positions under the purview of civil service.

Layoffs of over 470 civil service personnel at the San Francisco Department of Public Health resulted in a chain of City College clerical workers being bumped into lower positions or put out of work completely, while being displaced by higher-seniority employees.

Clara Starr, City College dean of human resources, said 32 DPH employees were bumped in to City College clerical positions, many with no experience working in education.

A senior clerk typist of two years in the labor and community studies department was bumped to a south of Market health clinic in San Francisco. Bill Shields, chair of the department, said the loss of the seasoned typist was a great blow.

“She did payroll, paperwork, communications, online work, scheduling, hiring

and special projects,” Shields said. He said she was a competent office manager who had made close personal bonds with the rest of the staff. He added it takes years to bring new clerical staff up to speed with the systems in a particular department.

Shields also blamed the bumps on the state’s inability to raise money for public education. He said the Republican minority in the California legislature keeps the state from raising new taxes for education because of the state’s requirement for two-thirds majority vote. “The two-thirds system has to go,” he said.

“I support bumping by seniority, but I opposed the layoffs at DPH in the first place,” Shields said. Shields worked with unions to fight the layoffs at DPH, but said the unions felt betrayed by Mayor Newsom because layoffs went through even as the unions were negotiating wage reductions to stop the cuts.

Many other City College departments have felt the effects of bumping.

“This requires lots of new training because of the unique computer systems at the College,” said Madeline Mueller, chair of the City College music department.

She added the bumps were especially

problematic due to the resulting need to train new staff at the beginning of a new semester, which is one of the most strenuous times for clerical staff.

“People who have more seniority have more cost,” Mueller said, referring to the acquisition of higher-paid city workers.

“It’s very hard for the college to handle.”

The music department’s secretary for the last three years, Patricia Kimball, was moved to a position in the City College child development department during the bumps. Originally a full-time employee, Kimball was bumped to school-term-only status, resulting in a 17 percent pay cut.

Kimball is being trained for the duties required at her new position. She said the transition is difficult.

“Everyone is suffering horribly,” Kimball said. “There’s lots of inefficiency and lots of stress.”

She said the learning curve to train new secretarial staff is steep and results in time taken away from the actual work of running City College.

“It’s pretty hard when you lose experienced staff,” Hal Huntsman, president of the Academic Senate said after losing an assistant. “From a faculty perspective there’s not a lot of benefit to bumping.”

Huntsman said training time is taxing the resources of already stressed employees. Shields, Huntsman and Mueller are all concerned that future bumping might be on the way. Huntsman added future bumping might affect a broad range of City College job types.

San Francisco is facing a $522 million budget deficit for 2010-2011, and Newsom has requested city department heads to cut up to 30 percent of their operating budgets to close the gap.

“We don’t know about future cuts, but I imagine there will be some impact on personnel,” said Anita Sanchez, executive officer with the San Francisco Civil Services Commission. “There is a strong possibility of bumping in the future.”

No one can confirm, however, whether any possible future bumping in San Francisco will have any impact on City College.

A final city budget recommendation for 2010-2011 will be submitted between June and July.

E-mail: dclyde@theguardsman.com

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News

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JANUARY 27, 2010

Federal lawsuit may decide fate of city’s sanctuary ordinance SANCTUARY: From the front page

law, and the separation between state and federal powers under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, form the crux of the legal debate over the ordinance.

The federal code only requires state and local governments to cooperate with specific requests from federal officers regarding citizenship, according to Dean of U.C. Davis School of Law Kevin Johnson.

“Generally speaking, there is no duty to disclose immigration status of persons arrested on state and local governments,” Johnson wrote in an e-mail to The Guardsman. “Other cities, like New York and LA, have similar – indeed more expansive – policies and have neither been sued or alleged to have violated federal law.”

Immigrant Advocacy Groups Criticize City Attorney Herrera’s inauguration drew a group of six protesters because of a memo he authored in response to a request from Supervisor David Campos. The memo was released Dec. 16 as a response to Campos’ written inquiry as to, “whether Mayor Newsom has the authority to unilaterally refuse to implement the duly-enacted civil rights legislation.”

Herrera’s 10-page response said the decision to implement the policy lies with the JPD and their assessment of state and federal law. The memo also outlined the role of the city attorney’s office.

“I would hope that the city attorney would take a strong position in defense of the sanctuary ordinance,” said Hillary Ronen, one of the protesters. “I’m

extremely disappointed by the memo that he released. It’s Herrera’s job to stand up for city laws that protect immigrant youth in San Francisco.”

Immigration advocacy groups have voiced a disagreement with both the mayor and city attorney’s handling of the ordinance.

“Unfortunately, Herrera has yet to stand up for the democratic process. Rather, it appears he is asking juvenile probation to determine on their own what is valid under federal and state law, even though they do not have the legal expertise to do so,” Angela Chan, staff attorney for the Asian Law Caucus, wrote to The Guardsman.

“Any assertion that city officials cannot be prohibited from reporting youth to ICE is not addressing the central concern in this debate, which is that probation officers should not be required to report youth to ICE at the booking stage.”

Cinthya Muñoz-Ramos from the St. Peter’s Housing Committee said the ordinance doesn’t mean undocumented youth won’t be prosecuted. “It just means they would have an opportunity to be heard before they are reported to ICE,” she said.

“It’s just basic due process. I don’t see how basic due process puts anybody’s life in danger.”

In response to charges from immigrant rights activists, Herrera’s office has been attempting to explain the role of the city attorney – that of legal council without the ability to implement any policy. The city attorney’s Web site notes that Herrera “does not, in fact, deport anyone” in response to a flyer demanding that he “Stop deporting

RAMSEY EL-QARE / THE GUARDSMAN

A group of six protesters accuse San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera of causing the deportation of immigrant youth at his inauguration on Jan. 7.

immigrant youth.”

“We have to play a deferential role as the lawyer for the city,” Dorsey said. “Policy decisions have to be made by the policy makers. The city attorney doesn’t greenlight or red-light decisions. If juvenile probation decides that they want to alter their policies and practices, we’ll defend them. If they decide not to, we would defend that.”

Future Litigation “There is a legal theory that the U.S. attorney has put forward recently that says to not report is to harbor,” Dorsey said. “In other words, he’s taking a very broad view of the statute that would seemingly create an affirmative duty, and that’s something that we disagree with.”

U.S. attorney Joseph Russoniello’s opposition to the amended sanctuary ordinance has influenced Herrera’s advice to the JPD. Russoniello’s novel interpretation of “harboring” undocumented immigrants has laid the foundation for a possible lawsuit against the federal government

Nov. 10, 2009 Board overrides Newsom's veto.

Aug. 18, 2009 Herrera issues confidential memo to the mayor outlining possible legal challenges to the ordinance. The memo was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle. Newsom later waved his attorney-client privilege connected to this memo.

Oct. 24, 1989 San Francisco passes the City and County of Refuge "sanctuary" ordinance.

Oct. 27, 2009 Board passes amendment to the sanctuary ordinance requiring the JPD to not report minor charged with felonies to ICE until they are convicted.

Herrera sends letter to U.S. Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello asking for his assurance that San Francisco employees will not be prosecuted for violating federal criminal laws if the ordinance is implemented.

Oct. 28, 2009 Newsom vetoes the amendment.

San Francisco's sanctuary ordinance at-a-glance A view of the progression the sanctuary ordinance and City Attorney Dennis Herrera's legal opinion.

Nov. 24, 2009 Herrera sends letter to the Asian Law Caucus assuring his office's intention "to pursue an aggressive, vigorous defense to enable the law's fullest possible force and effect."

Dec. 3, 2009 Russoniello responds to Herrera's letter stating he cannot give any such assurance.

on a 10th Amendment claim, according to Dorsey.

He said the 10th Amendment doesn’t grant the federal government the constitutional authority to force San Francisco or any local police force to act as immigration enforcement.

Herrera has been having discussions with legal advocates about the possibility of challenging Russoniello’s interpretation. While some are hesitant to sue the federal government, “a lot of lawyers think that we’re probably better off being on the affirmative side than waiting to get sued,” Dorsey said.

Angela Chan underscored the human cost of delaying implementation of the amended ordinance with litigation.

“The faster we can resolve this, the better it will be for the youth who are being unnecessarily torn from their families,” she said.

E-mail: aemslie@theguardsman.com

Dec. 16, 2009 Herrera responds to Campos outlining executive powers under city charter, the role of his office, and the his final opinion that the decision to implement the ordinance lies with the JPD.

Dec. 10, 2009 Campos sends letter to Herrera asking him to write an opinion addressing whether the mayor can "unilaterally refuse to implement the duly-enacted civil rights legislation."

Feb. 9, 2010 Deadline for implementation of the ordinance.

SOURCE: SAN FRANCISCO CITY ATTORNEY WEB SITE GRAPHIC BY JESSICA LUTHI / THE GUARDSMAN

News

JANUARY 27, 2010

THE GUARDSMAN

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Eyewitness recounts Haiti disaster

By Greg Zeman and Chloe Ashcraft THE GUARDSMAN

Civil rights attorney and Haitian democracy activist Walter Riley spoke at Revolution Books in Berkeley Jan. 22 about his experience in Haiti during and after the earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince.

Riley was visiting family in Haiti when the earthquake occurred. “I was inside the house of a friend and at dinnertime the house started to shake. Being from California, I understood that this was probably an earthquake,” Riley said.

Within minutes there were hundreds of thousands of people in the street. “We saw people in the street with blood on them and there were blood and bones, crushed heads and terrible scars and deep wounds,” Riley said.

“What I saw in the streets was just a horror I do not want to witness again, and television cameras cannot do it justice. To be up close and see someone in the flesh — as close as we are here — and to see terrible kinds of wounds are things you don’t forget and are hard to live with when you are part of humanity and have love for humanity.”

He was also in Haiti as the chair of the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, an organization that supports people who are building schools and community clinics. It was formed after a 1991 military coup which removed Haiti’s first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Hospitals and emergency relief programs started under Aristide were dismantled by reactionary forces after the coup. Riley views much of the suffering being experienced by the Haitian people as a

direct result of Aristide’s removal from office.

“When this earthquake occurred, the government was not prepared to respond and the government did not respond,” Riley said, adding that he hoped some oversight could be created to make sure aid actually reaches organizations and people on the ground.

“They claimed that he was corrupt, but all Aristide ever asked for was dignified poverty,” he said. “A lot of money has gone to Haiti since the coup.”

Most of that money was misappropriated by a corrupt, reactionary government, according to Riley. He noted several large and well-kept police stations rising above a destitute nation.

Rumors of chaos in Haiti were exaggerated, according to Riley.

He witnessed no crime following the disaster.

“I did look at some of the places that had ‘pharmacy’ written on them and tried to see if I could get inside,” he said. “Had there been some way to get those bandages and whatever else those pharmacists had, we had a right to them.” This remark elicited applause from the audience, leading Riley to add, “And that wouldn’t be looting.”

He recalled one young woman he saw pulled from a collapsed school building. “She had a school uniform on and she had just been pulled out of the rubble ... She was in pain and shock and screaming,” Riley said.

He also recounted acts of mass cooperation in Haiti. “On the day of the earthquake, I saw people trying to help each other, and they developed some attempts at first aid and then brought people in and did what they could with alcohol and peroxide,” he said.

The response of the United

CHLOE ASHCRAFT / THE GUARDSMAN

Civil rights attorney Walter Riley spoke at Berkeley’s Revolution Books on Jan. 22, describing Haiti’s tumultuous history and the horrors he witnessed during the 7.0 earthquake on Jan. 12.

States to Haiti’s crisis has been slow and inadequate, according to Riley.

“Haiti is an hour and a half by commercial flight from Miami to Port-au-Prince,” the activist said.

“We have the ability to move almost instantly carry out military actions in any part of the world, but there was no mobilization in Haiti following the disaster.”

Riley said that the U.S. is not alone in its apathetic response — the United Nations have troops in Haiti. But, according to Riley, they aren’t doing much to help.

“We heard screams when the aftershock came and I saw places tumbling down and thousands of people screaming for help, who were already trapped and suddenly being covered with debris,” he said. “I asked a young man, ‘Have you seen any U.N. forces?’

He said ‘No.’” Riley saw a U.N. truck with an armed escort, but wasn’t sure what it was carrying. “What we do know is that it didn’t stop to pick up the dead or to carry the wounded to the hospital or to hand out anything,” he said. “Nor did it make any announcement about where to go for help.”

Riley believes that, despite the tragedy, the aftermath of the disaster presents an opportunity for Haiti to rebuild and purge itself of political corruption.

“What this disaster has done is allowed us to tell the story of Haiti and the fight that the people in Haiti have right now for democracy. Every Haitian I have ever met knows the history of their fight for democracy as the first and only successful slave revolution,” he said. “We

Campus groups launch Haiti relief effort

By Don Clyde THE GUARDSMAN

Both the City College Associated Student Council and the City College French Club are launching fundraising and awareness campaigns to raise money for disaster relief in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

The magnitude 7.0 quake on Jan. 12 centered near Haiti’s capital, Port-auPrince, flattened huge swathes of the city, killing up to 200,000 people and leaving

up to 1.5 million homeless. According to Dominican Today, 110,000 confirmed dead were counted as of Jan. 23.

The French Club has set up a table to accept donations at the Ocean campus cafeteria up to Jan. 29 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The money raised will go to either a yet-to-be determined Haitian orphanage or Lutheran World Relief. Thomas Blair, department chair of the foreign languages department, said Lutheran World Relief was very efficient at delivering monies to where it is most needed. After Jan. 29, the French Club will accept donations in

the Creative Arts Building, room 202.

The Associated Student Council is holding a meeting today, Jan. 27, at 2:00 p.m. to determine the best path forward for Haiti fundraising. Zen Trenholm, vice president of finance for AS, said the group would try to coordinate with various clubs on campus and hold a benefit event in February.

The council will donate raised funds to the Red Cross.

E-mail: dclyde@theguardsman.com

have tried to expose some of that corruption and what’s good now is we have a chance to talk to folks and a chance to have more people listen to us when we talk.”

Riley said the fight in Haiti is a practical one. “It’s just a fight for democracy. It’s not a fight for some fantastical, egalitarian government or society,” he said.

“We have no claims for Utopia, just a desire for the masses of people to participate in their government and be free and able to build. To be able to say they are entitled to some dignity, even if they are poor and black.”

Riley ended by saying, “Haiti must be rebuilt by Haitian hands.”

E-mail: gzeman@theguardsman.com cashcraft@theguardsman.com

Haiti relief effort sites:

Doctors Without Borders: www.doctorswithoutborders.org 212-763-5779 or 212-679-7016 Red Cross: http://redcross.org 1-800-HELP-NOW Salvation Army: http://sawso.org 1-800-SAL-ARMY UNICEF: http://www.unicefusa.org 1-800-4UNICEF United Way: http://www.unitedway.org/haiti 1-866-404-5826

Complete Haiti relief list at: www. interaction.org/crisis-list/earthquakehaiti

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Opinions&Editorials

THE GUARDSMAN

THE GUARDSMAN City College of San Francisco’s Student Newspaper

Editor in Chief Alex Emslie

News Editor Don Clyde Greg Zeman

Opinions & Editorials Editor Matt Gomez

Cultures & Trends Editor Jen Houghton

Sports Editor Aaron Turner

Sports Consultant Bontã Hill

Features Editor Fleur Bailey

Calendar Editor Hannah Weiner

Online Editor Jessica Luthi

Photo Editor

Ramsey El-Qare

Chief Copy Editor Angela Penny

Copy Editors

Don Clyde Alex Emslie Jen Houghton Liska Koenig Atticus Morris

Production Editor Jessica Luthi

Online Staff Alex Luthi Lisa Wong

Staff Writers

Chloe Ashcraft Tania Cervantes William Chamberlin Emily Daly Dominick Delgadillo Estela Fuentes Bontã Hill Liska Koenig Atticus Morris Claudio Ribeiro Carlos Silva Hannah Weiner

Photographers Chloe Ashcraft Joseph Phillips Robert Romano

Illustrators

Greg Zeman Production Staff Hannah Weiner

Graphic Designer Jessica Luthi

Advertising Manager Jessica Luthi

Faculty Adviser Juan Gonzales

California Newspaper Publisher’s Association Journalism Association of Community Colleges To advertise in our newspaper please contact our Advertising Manager Jessica Luthi at advertising@theguardsman.com

How to contact us: Mail: 50 Phelan Ave Box V-67 San Francisco, CA 94112 Phone: (415) 239-3446 Fax: (415) 239-3884 E-mail: email@theguardsman.com Online: www.theguardsman.com

JANUARY 27, 2010

Aid to Haiti revives unity in Americans

By William Chamberlin THE GUARDSMAN

The U.S. is wrapping its arms around the island of Haiti, which was devastated Jan. 12 by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake, offering the survivors the humanity that defines this country.

The U.S. has responded compassionately to the victims of the earthquake, which the Haitian government said could kill upward of 200,000 civilians.

The Bush Sr. and Clinton administrations tried to reduce the number of Haitians allowed into the U.S. because of the refugees’ poor education. In contrast, President Obama gives them food and shelter.

There was bad blood regarding George W. Bush’s response time to Hurricane Katrina, but Obama began providing aid to Haiti during the very first days after the earthquake. He announced on Jan. 14 that $100 million would be sent to the troubled country, and on Jan. 16 and 17, 10,000 troops were deployed to ravished Haiti to provide physical assistance.

This is in addition to civilian volunteers.

These bold steps have been met with conflicting opinions from opposing political parties. Regardless of what people are disputing, it is evident that the overall message from the U.S. to Haiti is “we are here to help.”

With any type of horrific tragedy there are those who seem to use the incident to express their views of the government and the faults of the opposing political party. Rush Limbaugh, the right-wing radio personality, violated his

listeners and the country by telling the rich to keep their money and that the left is stupid for giving aid to Haiti.

“We’ve already donated to Haiti.

It’s called the U.S. income tax,” spewed Limbaugh to a caller to his show on Jan. 13.

Obama has even met with former Presidents Bush and Clinton to set them up as coordinators of the relief efforts for Haiti, the Washington Post reported. During a time when the U.S. economy is at a low, budget cuts are plenty and jobs are scarce, this country is stepping up to help a truly desolate, decimated nation.

All political agendas aside, there is nowhere in San Francisco lacking discussion of the Haitian matter. San Francisco is also prone to earthquakes, so even stronger sympathy emanates from residents’ voices.

Almost unanimously, support and aid is coming from all corners of the country and the spirit of help and generosity is strong.

The unity of the nation was in question because of the economy and ever fluctuating presidential approval, but lending physical aid and supplies to Haiti has revived that unity.

There will be various stages of rebuilding in Haiti, and a U.S. presence with physical and financial support offers that country much-needed assistance. The people of this country have stretched their arms once more, giving hope to the hopeless.

E-mail: wchamberlin@theguardsman.com

MCT CAMPUS GRAHPIC

Stupak Amendment goes too far

By Tania Cervantes THE GUARDSMAN

While changes in the current health care system are imperative, the proposed health care reform should not limit women’s access to abortion coverage.

In 1973, Roe vs. Wade opened the gate to legalized abortions and created safe conditions for women who otherwise sought dangerous back alley procedures. Today the Stupak Amendment in the House health care legislation may negatively affect women by restricting abortion coverage.

Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan and Republican Rep. Joseph R. Pitts of Pennsylvania, who back the amendment, derive their stands from the Hyde Amendment that passed in 1973, which stipulates that no federal funds may be used to pay for abortions.

Stupak’s Amendment is a stricter version of the Hyde Amendment because it bans federal funding for abortion.

Low-income women under the public-option would not receive this coverage.

It also restricts any insurance company acting on behalf of the Health Insurance Exchange from providing abortion coverage if it serves subsidized clients. The exchange states that anybody who doesn’t like their insurance can revert to their former insurance company.

In such cases, women would either have to purchase and pay a monthly premium for a supplemental abortion coverage or pay in full for the procedure.

Nationwide health centers may charge $350 to $900 for an abortion in the first trimester, according to Planned Parenthood.

If a woman pays a monthly premium for insurance, there is no reason she should have to pay extra for abortion coverage.

It is also unrealistic to think a monthly procedure would be necessary.

Under the current health care system federal subsidies cannot

pay for an abortion. Health insurance companies, however, may offer such coverage without requiring their clients to make an extra payment. Even those covered by Medicaid can receive an abortion with the use of donations or other private funds.

Supporters of the Stupak Amendment claim their primary interest is to ensure federal funding is not used to pay for abortions, even though the Hyde Amendment already prevents this from happening.

The Stupak amendment goes too far by denying insurance companies in the Health Insurance Exchange from offering abortion coverage.

Stupak supporters have extended Hyde’s reach. In doing so, they severely jeopardize a woman’s access to a service she may need by taking away the care she already receives.

Democratic Rep. Lois Capps of California proposed that the new Health Insurance Exchange keep federal funds

strictly separate from privately generated funds that might be used to pay for abortion services. Her proposal complies with the Hyde Amendment while not restricting a woman’s access to abortion care.

Capps wrote an editorial outlining her proposal in the Dec. 7, 2009 issue of BusinessWeek, stating that many Catholic hospitals are currently the recipients of federal funds and receive taxpayer dollars to help care for the sick. These hospitals are obligated to divide these government funds which are designated solely to provide health care from their private funds which are to be used only for religious activities. There is no reason why insurance companies differentiate funds in the same way.

Health care reform should not serve as a battleground for the control of women’s reproductive lives.

E-mail: tcervantes@theguardsman.com

Opinions&Editorials

JANUARY 27, 2010

THE GUARDSMAN

What was the defining moment of the past decade?

Julie Pfahl Fashion Major “Lady Gaga’s fabulous style and innovation. Great thing is she’s actually talented, too.”

Frank Gati Broadcasting Major “Obama’s election. Well, it’s huge. Other than the obvious, a major shift in this country is becoming a multicultural country.

It just becomes evident. It’s always been moving in that direction.”

MCT CAMPUS GRAPHIC

Cyclists are legally protected But recent case highlights biker vulnerability

By Matt Gomez THE GUARDSMAN

Christopher Thompson, a former emergency room physician, was sentenced to five years in prison on Jan. 8 after assaulting two cyclists on Mandeville Canyon Road in Los Angeles.

The verdict, while necessary, is only a small step forward in the protection of bicyclists and does nothing to keep them safe from hostile motorists.

“Every person riding a bicycle upon a highway has all the rights and is subject to all the provisions applicable to the driver of a vehicle,” according to California Vehicle Code 21200.

This means, that while riding on any roadway a cyclist is considered to be equal to anybody operating a car. Cyclists have as much a right to be on the road as motorists, and their safety should be a concern to everyone.

Some motorists see cyclists as an obstruction. While a cyclist may just be commuting to work or riding around with friends, their very presence irritates some drivers who feel they don’t belong on the road.

Thompson came across a group of cyclists on his way to work. He claimed, when he asked them to ride in single file so he could pass, they retaliated by flipping him off and swearing. He then narrowly pulled around the

group and slammed on his brakes, which caused one of the cyclists to fly through the rear window of Thompson’s car, breaking his nose and front teeth.

A police officer testified Thompson told him he was trying to teach them a lesson.

In a previous confrontation, Thompson had braked hard in front of another group of cyclists, running them off the road.

“More often cyclists are endangered by drivers who are simply too distracted .”

— Bob Mionske Former U.S. Olympic cyclist

Thompson’s actions, while extreme, cannot be ignored. He attempted manslaughter and has committed multiple assaults with a deadly weapon — his car.

Many motorists dislike cyclists because they appear to break the laws that motorists must obey. However, cyclists are subject to the same laws as motorists, and a cyclist who is caught running a red light will be ticketed just like a driver.

A cyclist may run a stop sign, while a motorist does a “California stop,” rolling through the stop sign and only braking if they see

a cop or an oncoming car.

“More often cyclists are endangered by drivers who are simply too distracted, or otherwise too careless, to even notice the cyclist whose life they have just endangered,” Bob Mionske, attorney and former U.S. Olympic cyclist, wrote in the Los Angeles Times on Jan. 11, 2010.

Cyclists have to be more alert than drivers because a bicycle doesn’t offer the same protection as a car. They don’t have time to be distracted when they are on the road.

A driver who forgets to check their blind spot before turning could easily kill a cyclist. A cyclist who does the same might put a dent in someone’s car but would do more harm to themselves.

In fact, motorists should thank cyclists: If there were less cyclists it would mean more cars on the road. With more cars on the road, there would be more traffic jams and streets would require much more maintenance due to increased use.

Like most people who drive from point “A” to point “B”, cyclists are just trying to get where they have to go, whether that be work or the grocery store.

They don’t want to have to worry about being run off the road.

E-mail: mgomez@theguardsman.com

Emily Waenik

Undeclared Major “The Sept. 11 attacks will always stand out in my memory. It was a major tragedy that forced our country together.”

Zimu Wang Business Major “I got into a university in Japan, and I studied translation between Chinese and Japanese. It helped my communication skills, and gave me the opportunity to come to the U.S. to study more skills related to communication.”

Carla Cuevas Health Interpreter Program Major “I think that having a black president in America gave a different perspective of the U.S. to the citizens themselves. It also gave another perspective to the whole world ... hope.”

Jacob Park Philosophy Major “Barack Obama is our president!”

Sarah Goldstein Psychology Major “Winning M.V.P. in basketball as a freshman.”

By Matt Gomez Photos By Robert Romano

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News

THE GUARDSMAN

JANUARY 27, 2010

Protesters arrested for public disobedience LOCAL 2: From the front page

on Jan 5. Attended by about 800 union members and approximately 400 supporters, it resulted in 140 arrests for public disobedience.

The conflict between major hotel companies and about 9,000 union members is centered around health care issues and retirement benefits.

For more than 50 years, health care for employees, their partners and families has been part of hotel workers’ compensation.

Under the old contract — which expired in August 2009 — worker’s health care was fully covered by employers’ contributions. This coverage was extended to family members and domestic partners with a co-pay of $10 per month.

Hotel workers and Local 2 are now proposing a modest increase to sustain health care and retirement benefits over a one-year period. Even though it would require only a 1.5 percent increase in labor cost, none of the corporations that manage San Francisco hotels have expressed interest in settling such a contract, according to a Local 2 press release dated Jan. 5, 2009.

“The key issue is not that these corporations can’t afford to pay the increase. They are saying they don’t feel like paying it and have publicly called this system of paying for workers’ health care antiquated and outdated,” said Ian Lewis, research analyst for Local 2.

Bellpersons, roomcleaners, dishwashers, cooks and other hotel union personnel typically make about $30,000 or less per

year, according to Lewis, and depend on the provision of health and retirements benefits by their employers for their survival.

“Hotels are very good at reducing costs. What’s different about this industry, compared to other industries, is that when business goes down, workers don’t work,” Lewis said.

Local 2’s press release stated that even in these tough economic times hotels continue to be immensely profitable. While the Blackstone Group, which owns Hilton Hotels, paid its CEO Stephen Schwarzman $1.39 billion in 2008, it is now trying to take away benefits from those workers needed most to keep hotel operations running smoothly.

“Health care is a human right,” said Rev. Israel Alvaran, community outreach organizer for Local 2. “With the current suggestions made by hotel management, the cost to the workers will increase up to $200 per month within the next three years. That’s unacceptable.”

Union strikes typically go over three days and are intentionally held during busy times for the hotels to attract public attention and create disruption.

“The strikes are intended to highlight the ongoing negotiations, but also meant to launch hotel consumer boycotts,” Alvaran said. Many guests are uncomfortable when they have to cross picket lines, and they are disturbed by the constant noise of protesters. Guests often change hotels as a result.

The union’s Web site, www.

unitehere2.org, urges San Francisco visitors to change a reservation at any of the affected hotels and arrange for accommodation at a hotel not involved in the labor dispute.

“This is a highly mobilized group of workers who want to send a strong message to the public and the corporations that run the hotels,” said City College instructor Bill Shields. Shields, a former staff person for Local 2 and active union supporter, was among the 140 people arrested for civil disobedience at the Hilton protest.

Strikes may continue throughout the year if a settlement is not achieved soon, according to Local 2’s Web site.

“We are caught in limbo because we don’t have a contract.

As far as I know there is no set schedule for the next negotiations,” said Luis Soto, food server at the Urban Tavern, the restaurant on the ground floor of the Hilton San Francisco.

Lewis does not anticipate a quick settlement of the conflict.

“Negotiations won't move quickly until companies start to feel the pressure from the community and the economy,” he said.

Hotel workers in Chicago and Los Angeles are also currently working without contracts, and contracts for workers in Minneapolis, Monterey, Honolulu and Washington D.C. will expire in the coming months. In a comparable situation during the negotiations for the 2004 – 2006 hotel worker’s contract, unions waited to line up all expired contracts so they could eventually achieve

PHOTO COURTESY OF BILL HACKWELL

A protester is arrested for public disobedience after blocking the main entrance to the Hilton San Francisco Union Square hotel on Jan. 5. A total of 140 protesters were arrested.

a national master contract. This could happen again in 2010 and result in a series of short strikes and picket lines nationwide.

Despite numerous contact attempts, nobody at the Hilton San Francisco human resources department was available to present management’s perspective on

the negotiations.

“The good news is that we are working. We are as busy as always. Now we just have to wait and see what happens next,” said Kenny Foch, bellperson at the Hilton San Francisco.

E-mail: lkoenig@theguardsman.com

Program benefits foster youth advancement FOSTER: From page 2

In its first semester the program had 22 participants, and now it has 150 to 175 students each semester.

Tyrone Botelho was one of the first Guardian Scholars at City College and one of four who are now enrolled at UC Berkeley.

“I didn’t even think of applying to Cal. I never thought they would want me.

But with the support of Michael McPartlin and the Guardian Scholars Program, here I am, at my dream school. I never could have done it alone,” Botelho said.

The Guardian Scholars program is able to provide students with shortterm emergency housing at reputable residence hotels, but it relies on outside partners to fulfill their ongoing need for

long-term post-foster care housing. The THP-Plus program, funded by the California Department of Social Services, is one of two major providers of housing for these students.

Since City College has no on-campus residences, unlike four-year colleges, and because San Francisco is so expensive, the potential loss of this money will hit students on this campus especially hard.

According to the Guardian Scholars Program Report 2008 – 2009, City College has more Chaffee recipients than any other school in the state. Like the school itself, the Guardian Scholar program at City College has an opendoor policy, meaning that anyone who meets the basic requirements can take any course they like. Four-year institutions

usually have more stringent academic requirements and less flexibility in course selection.

“The relatively small amount of money that THP-Plus requires makes all the difference in these student’s lives.

The program already experienced budget cuts in December and we’re busy learning how to adjust to those. More cuts will be seriously debilitating,” McPartlin said.

According to Jenny Vinopal, assistant director of the foster youth program at California State University, it costs $15,000 and $16,000 to support an emancipated foster youth going to community college, but $50,000 to support an inmate in a California state prison.

In a presentation given by her department, they revealed that while 70 percent

of foster care youth express a desire to go to school, only about 20 percent actually attend.

Researchers conducted interviews with students in the program to assess the Guardian Scholars program’s impact on their lives. Some said, “it has helped me to focus on my school and housing and it has gotten me off the streets and to get a better life,” and “they have played a vital role in my educational goals and personal growth; without the student services at CCSF I wouldn’t have known my potential.”

E-mail: apenny@theguardsman.com

Sports

JANUARY 27, 2010

Sports Briefs Softball season to be cancelled The Rams softball team will be forced to forgo its 2010 season due to the team’s failure to meet roster requirements.

A combination of injuries and academically ineligible players has left first year head coach Jack McGuire’s team below the minimum of nine eligible players on roster. All indications point to the Rams being able to field a team for spring 2011.

Tennis nearing season opener City College women’s tennis team will open its season on the road against Diablo Valley College on Jan. 29 in Pleasant Hill at 2 p.m. The Rams will then host the Fog City Invitational, which will be held on Feb. 5 at City College.

Modesto Junior College and Santa Rosa Junior College will attend the three team meet.

Inaugural swim season set to begin

THE GUARDSMAN

Men end slump with rout of Cañada

By Bontã Hill THE GUARDSMAN

The men’s basketball team showed no ill effects from their overtime loss to rival Ohlone College and snapped their twogame losing streak on Jan. 22 against Cañada College.

City shook off their minifunk and dusted the Colts 82-52, jumping out to an early lead and cruising to their 18th victory this season. The number three-ranked team in the state improved its record to 3-2 in Coast Conference play and 18-3 overall.

Sophomore Calvin Douglas, who has been solid offensively since his return from injury, led the Rams with 15 points, including three from three-point line.

After the game, he said that his team wasn’t down after their tough loss Jan. 20 against Ohlone.

“I’ve been getting shots in after practice and that’s been translating over to the game,” Douglas said. “We’ve just been motivating each other to get back on track.”

“Calvin has been dialed in lately,” head coach Justin Labagh said. “He’s been chomping at the bit since he recovered from his

blood clot. Now he’s back on the court and taking advantage of this opportunity.”

A 14-0 run midway through the first half put the Rams up 36-18 and the Colts never recovered. Sophomore guard Jarred Pengal’s three-pointer right before the first half buzzer put the Rams up 43-23 at halftime.

The Rams were never threatened the rest of the way, and Labagh had a chance to get everybody on his bench some playing time. Pengal led all bench players with nine points.

However, Labagh knows his team can get better in all phases of the game. He intends to emphasize ball handling and defensive communication in the upcoming practices.

“We’ve got to get back to taking care of the basketball and not throwing the home run pass,” Labagh said. “Defensively, we have to talk a little more, and we’re really working on that in practice.”

Still, the reigning Coast Conference champions remain motivated and know that its defense and ball handling will carry them back to the playoffs.

“We have a deep squad and

RAMSEY EL-QARE / THE GUARDSMAN

Sophomore guard Bennie Rhodes goes hard to the basket against a Cañada defender during the Rams’ victory on Jan. 22 at the Wellness Center.

can match up with any team topto-bottom,” Pengal said. “Defense is really vital for our team. It’s our blood flow. We know our defense is what wins us games.”

City College won’t take its home court again until Feb. 3, when they travel to Livermore to take on the Los Positas Hawks.

That game will tip off at 5:30 p.m.

In the meantime, the Rams will have plenty of time to work their kinks out and get ready for what is shaping up to be an exciting and grueling second half of league play.

E-mail: bhill@theguardsman.com

Rams run away with fourth straight victory

The Rams women’s swim team will have the first meet of its inaugural season at the West Valley Relay Invitational on Feb. 6. The meet begins at 10 a.m. in Saratoga at the West Valley College campus.

Your 24/7 news fix.

AARON TURNER / THE GUARDSMAN

www.theguardsman.com

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Sophomore guard Marlee Rice comes up with a steal and breaks away from Trojan defenders at Skyline College on Jan. 22. The Rams women’s basketball team picked up its fourth consecutive victory in easy fashion, defeating Skyline 80-62 and improving its season record to 19-3. The win keeps City College both undefeated in conference play and first in the NorCal rankings. Rice led all scorers with 19 points, 15 of those coming from beyond the arc. Fellow sophomore guard Brittney Allen added 17, while freshman forward Shawnte Taylor chipped in with 13 points of her own. City College will next travel to take on the Ohlone College Renegades on Jan. 27 in Fremont at 7:30 p.m.

10 |

Sports

THE GUARDSMAN

JANUARY 27, 2010

City College baseball sets sights on conference contention Head coach John Vanoncini expresses confidence in his sophomores, new talent

“I really don’t think about numbers. I just try to do my part and help the team win,” Fonseca said.

Freitas expressed confidence in the added experience and depth of his team’s offense.

“I just expect the whole team to actually work together and produce runs as a team,” Freitas said.

By Estela Fuentes THE GUARDSMAN Vanoncini and his players will be keeping an eye on this seasons’ newcomers, who are expectAfter finishing last season with a record of 15- ed to bring great athleticism to the team. Infielder 24, the City College Rams baseball team is look- John Abreu, a transfer student from Eastern Arizona ing forward to showing the Golden Gate Confer- Junior College, will be donning the Rams’ uniform ence why it deserve to be part of the conversation for the first time, as will Ryan Demello from Hawaii. in Northern California’s second-ranked conference. Vanoncini sees Demello possibly being the team’s “Four of the teams in our conference are ranked pitcher to start off the season. Freshman catcher Mark Johnson is considin the top 20, so it’s going ered one of the biggest to be an uphill battle,” John offensive additions to this Vanoncini said, as he begins “I just try to do my part and year’s squad. his tenth season as Rams Despite the rough head coach. “However, I help the team win.” weather conditions in think we’re up for the challenge.”

— Roger Fonseca January, which forced Rams baseball outfielder Vanoncini to move pracHaving lost All-Confertice indoors, his players’ ence player Barney Evans momentum has not been from last season, the team slowed as they approach will boast a sophomoreheavy 2010 line-up. These players will bring to the opening day. This season will be challenging, but team both experience and talent as they head toward the team feels ready to compete for a conference crown. the season opener.

The Rams will open their 2010 season Feb. 4 on One of the returning players expected to contribute heavily this season is pitcher Eric Lara, who has the road against Laney College. With a revamped already signed a contract with George Washington lineup and leadership from his sophomores, VanonUniversity, a Division 1 school. The Rams also have cini is confident that his team can come out on top of All-Conference pitcher Jared Freitas and outfielder the Golden Gate Conference.

Roger Fonseca, who boasted the second highest E-mail: batting average on the team last season. efuentes@theguardsman.com

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Discover a new path to a career in nursing at Mills College. You can complete your pre-nursing requirements on our beautiful 135-acre campus dedicated to women and earn guaranteed admission to Samuel Merritt University.* You'll receive a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences and leadership development training that will prepare you for a successful nursing career.

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Oakland • admission@mills.edu • www.mills.edu *upon successful completion of all program requirements

City College — The Guardsman Size: 6" x 6" Insertion date: January 27, 2010 Ad #N1010

City College Baseball Schedule* February 12

Hancock College

2:00 p.m.

February 13

Oxnard College

11:00 a.m.

February 13

Cuesta College

2:00 p.m.

February 18

Napa Valley College

2:00 p.m.

February 20

Napa Valley College +

11:00 a.m.

February 27

Gavilan College +

11:00 a.m.

March 2

Cabrillo College

2:00 p.m.

March 4

Misson College

2:00 p.m.

March 6

San Jose City College

12:00 p.m.

March 9

Gavilan College

2:00 p.m.

March 11

De Anza College

2:00 p.m.

March 13

San Mateo College

12:00 p.m.

March 16

Chabot College

2:00 p.m.

March 18

Hartnell College

2:00 p.m.

March 20

West Valley College

12:00 p.m.

March 23

Chabot College

2:00 p.m.

March 25

De Anza College

2:00 p.m.

March 27

Ohlone College

12:00 p.m.

March 29

Canada College

2:00 p.m.

April 6

Mission College

2:00 p.m.

April 8

San Mateo College

2:00 p.m.

April 10

Skyline College

12:00 p.m.

April 13

Chabot College

2:00 p.m.

April 15

West Valley College

2:00 p.m.

April 17

San Jose City College

12:00 p.m.

San Jose City College

2:00 p.m.

April 20

* Bold denotes home game + Plus denotes double header

Sports

JANUARY 27, 2010

The Water Cooler

By Bontã Hill

Ladies and gentleman, I’ve got three words for you — Happy New Year. I hope everybody out there who actually wastes a moment of their life reading this had a great one.

Mine was okay, but the rumors circulating around the Ocean campus about whether the Cooler was coming back caused me to develop a case of insomnia.

With a full load of classes, being sleep deprived is not one of my goals.

After having many heated discussions on whether the Water Cooler should return to The Guardsman, I finally bribed newly appointed editor-in-chief Alex Emslie into giving me five more months of fame.

Although I didn’t put this on my list of New Year resolutions, the Cooler has been filled with the coldest water yet to be served. I’ll be here with you all for the next five months, going through the stress of exams as well as watching the beautiful flowers blossom this spring.

Oh yeah, and I’ll continue to talk about that thing we call sports. I’ll try my best to quench your thirst this semester.

Idiot of the Week It’s been about a month since we last spoke, and an awful lot has happened. Tiger Woods has supposedly been admitted to a sex addiction rehab clinic somewhere in Mississippi. There was the crumbling of the proposed mega fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao and Mark McGwire’s pitiful admission to using steroids during his 70 home run season in 1998.

Those three stories are all fascinating, but you only get the ink when you really do something absurd.

Did you happen to hear the

news about Washington Wizards point guard Gilbert Arenas? If you haven’t you will now.

Arenas, the team’s franchise player who, just before the 20082009 season, signed a six-year deal worth $111 million, brought in four unloaded guns into his team’s locker room and has been suspended from NBA action indefinitely without pay.

Arenas and teammate Javaris Crittenton had unloaded guns in the Wizards’ locker room during a Christmas Eve argument regarding gambling debts. Supposedly Crittenton had a gun in the locker room that WAS loaded.

What makes the erroneous act by Arenas mind boggling is the fact that, during the pregame warm-ups to a game against the Philadelphia 76ers, he pretended to shoot his teammates with guns.

That’s smart, especially with the U.S. attorney’s office and D.C. metropolitan police investigating.

Not only is it against NBA rules to bring firearms inside an arena, but it violates D.C. ordinances as well. It also doesn’t help when you don’t have a gun license, which just happens to be another violation.

Now, if their was money owed to somebody, is it really that tough to scrap together some change and pay? I mean, Arenas has a $100 million contract. Is it really worth being stripped of playing the game you love and losing endorsement deals?

Apparently for Arenas it was, and his idiotic actions made him a unanimous choice to become a member in the Idiot Hall of Fame.

Misc...

Watching another football season come to a closure hurts as much as my roommate continuing to believe that JaMarcus Russell will be a star quarterback for the Oakland Raiders.

In saying that, Super Bowl XLIV is here, and it will pit the Indianapolis Colts against the New Orleans Saints. Nope, that’s not a typo, the Saints are going to the big show for the first time in franchise history.

These aren’t your granddaddy’s Saints. They throw out an offense that can score on any given play. I’m still putting my money on Peyton Manning.

He’ll have two weeks to break down a mediocre Saints defense and thus will hoist his second Lombardi Trophy. Colts 34-20 to win their franchise’s third Super Bowl.

E-mail: bhill@theguardsman.com

THE GUARDSMAN

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City College - The Guardsman Size: 6 x 12 Insertion date: January 27, 2010 Ad #10SCH01

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Culture&Trends

THE GUARDSMAN

JANUARY 27, 2010

Tonga room serves up tropical hangovers Rum Is Magic In the brazenly tacky magic trick of mixology and interior design that is the American tiki lounge, the rum and fruit juice serve as the rabbit in the hat.

There’s nothing magical about a rabbit on its own, but when you make one appear in a two-gallon fishbowl with four crazy-straws and a week’s serving of fruit, it creates the illusion of someplace magical.

You forget you’re sitting on a wooden bench, drinking booze in an over-priced hole-in-the-wall where it looks like Adventureland went AWOL from Disneyland and spewed bamboo kitsch and plastic flowers everywhere.

A Lagoon Is Born Long before it became a crumbling relic of a bygone era, the Fairmont Hotel built a 75-foot indoor pool and christened it “The Fairmont Terrace Plunge,” presumably because it had a diving board.

In 1945 — the year WWII ended — a set designer from MGM Studios had the diving board removed and buried the pristine simplicity of “The Plunge” under mountains of palm frond macrame and westernized “tiki-masks.”

The pool was re-christened as

a “lagoon” and the Tonga Room was born.

Like any tiki lounge worth its salt, the Tonga Room looks like it was decorated by a drunk Navy sailor trying to recreate a south Pacific island he saw for only five minutes from the side of a boat. In fact, that’s almost exactly how the post WWII phenomenon of the tiki lounge began. Oddly enough, the concept was wildly popular with returning GIs. Personally, I can think of at least a dozen better ways to celebrate surviving a tour of the Pacific theatre than giving yourself the worst hangover of your life in a place modeled after the hellish jungle nightmare you barely escaped. Perhaps some things only the “greatest generation” will understand.

Come For The Rum, Stay For The ... Um ...

The sign for the Tonga Room is half a block past the entrance, so most people walk too far and end up looking at the blank wall under the sign. I guess most people don’t believe the scraggly foul-smelling man who tells them it’s like the door for Hogwarts and all they have to do is hold their breath and believe in order to run through it. But screw you guys: He seemed cool and he looked like Hagrid.

The misplaced sign sets the tone for the disorienting fun house maze within. Some misdirection even seemed deliberate. Upon entering through the door, the sign I saw was not for

the Tonga Room but for a gym, which made me question whether I was even in the right place.

I regained confidence when I saw a tiki statue at the end of the hallway and started walking towards it.

A tip: walk away from that statue if you want to go to the Tonga Room.

If you do find your way to the entrance, someone will ask you if you want to eat or drink. If you must do either of these things at the Tonga Room, I strongly recommend the latter and advise against the former.

Because I went on tourist ripoff night, I was informed there would be a $5 cover charge and all drinks would cost at least $10.

I would have left right then, but I was exhausted from the ordeal of getting there and wasn’t even sure I’d be able to find my way out again.

Reluctantly, I paid the $5 and hoped for the best. I must have done it wrong.

From the moment the band floated out to the center of the lagoon on the awesome boat stage — the best part of their act — and started into their first number, a soulfully tone-deaf rendering of “Moondance,” I knew I was in for a real musical treat.

Make It Rain!

If you play someone a recording of thunder and rain it has no noticeable effect. Likewise, if you spray a small amount of water into a larger body of water, again, there is no real effect.

RAMSEY EL-QARE / THE GUARDSMAN

Greg Zeman at the news desk after his misadventures in the Fairmont Hotel's Tonga Room.

But combine the two and, as one charmingly intoxicated woman dancing precariously close to the lagoon’s inadequate safety railing put it, “Woo hoo!”

Oh, and you know that funky you-forgot-to-clean-the-fish-tank smell? The Tonga Room’s got that too. It’s the water, I hope.

Verdict

Although I mostly keep going back to punish myself, I think it’s fair to say the tacky charm of the place is pretty hypnotizing.

If you like borderline-racist,

“It’s a small world”-style parodies of other cultures combined with expensive, high-sugar alcoholic beverages scientifically guaranteed to give you agonizing, memory-searing hangovers that make you want to die, you will love the Tonga Room with a capital “L.” Any garden-variety drunk can tell you there are better places to get better drinks than the overpriced astringent swill at the Tonga Room. But those places don’t have a lagoon, now do they?

E-mail: gzeman@theguardsman.com

Bay Area Web show coaches bar pranksters

By Jessica Luthi THE GUARDSMAN

You can never go wrong with a free drink. A free drink is even sweeter when you pull it off with a touch of charisma, a dash of comedy and a little magic.

Brian Brushwood, the host of Scam School, believes you’ll never pay for another drink again as long as you have a few of his tricks up your sleeves.

“Scam School” is an Internet television show that airs Thursdays on Revision3. com, a San Francisco-based Internet television company started by Kevin Rose, Jay Adelson and David Prager. Rose and Adelson are also the founders of the popular bookmarking social networking site, Digg.

Revision3 also hosts shows like “Diggna-

tion,” “AnimeTV” and “Tekzilla.”

“Scam School” consists of weekly 10 to 15 minute long segments featuring Brushwood performing tricks on people in bars or on the street. His gags and cons can be used for getting free drinks or cash from friends and other bar-goers, picking up the ladies or getting rid of someone who’s had too much to drink.

Many of his tricks play off the psychology of the mind and the way humans think.

It may not seem like such a sly move to perform tricks on people who have had a few too many drinks, but the gags can produce the same result when performed on completely sober people.

“Scam School” is mildly entertaining. The idea of the show is interesting and Brushwood has a likability about him.

Some of his tricks are clever while others seem cheesy. Although I didn’t like all of his tricks, I do have a few favorites that made me laugh which I want to run out and try.

Some of my favorite episodes include “How to Stick Your Friends to the Bar,” “Blow Hard” and “Circumference vs.

Height.” Thumb cuffs from “How to Stick Your Friends to the Bar” was the most entertaining trick to watch.

Thumb cuffs is just as its name implies — being cuffed to something by your thumbs. The simplicity of the trick makes it that much better.

This trick should only be used to get rid of an annoying bar-goer, and while swindlers may be down the cost of a drink, they will at least be able to enjoy the rest of their

evening. First, the mark is asked what they like to drink and the trickster buys it. Then the drink is set aside and the unwitting drunk is asked to put their thumbs against the edge of a pool table or the bar. The drink is then gently placed on their thumbs.

While it’s probably not a polite thing to do to someone, it was funny to watch Brushwood do it.

Thumb cuffs may be my favorite, but “Scam School” offers such a variety of tricks that everyone will find something they like.

Check out those “Scam School” videos and more at www.youtube.com/revision3 or at www.revision3.com/scamschool.

E-mail: jluthi@theguardsman.com

Culture&Trends

JANUARY 27, 2010

THE GUARDSMAN

| 13

Yelp thrives despite rumors of extortion

By Angela Penny THE GUARDSMAN

Almost a year ago, the East Bay Express reported that Yelp was extorting local businesses. After dozens of interviews over several months, six people told The Express that Yelp ad sales representatives promised to remove negative reviews if their business agreed to advertise. In another six instances positive reviews disappeared or negative ones appeared after business owners refused to advertise.

“I still get about one complaint a day about this issue,” Kathleen Wentz, the story’s writer and managing editor of the paper said. “There have been some very specific cases that were related directly to sales calls before and after changes in review listings.”

There is currently an advertisement on Craigslist recruiting new Yelp sales people. They are expected to make at least 80 cold calls a day and many earn upwards of $80,000 per year.

Yelp claims many business

complaints about disappearing reviews are caused by a misunderstanding of their review filter which is powered by a proprietary algorithm. Since their launch in 2004, they have used this automated service to “protect consumers and business owners from fake, shill or malicious reviews,” CEO Jeremy Stoppleman wrote in his blog on the official Yelp company Web log on Oct. 5, 2009.

The filter combs the site and deletes reviews that look like they were written by the business owners themselves or like others were paid to write them. It also looks for negative reviews posted on competitors’ pages. The algorithm also determines the order of the reviews, although they can also be sorted by date.

Crepes on Cole, located at the corner of Carl and Cole in San Francisco, has only three and a half stars from almost 300 reviews submitted since October 2004. Out of the 10 restaurants in the immediate vicinity, it has the lowest number of stars.

The owner, Sam — who chose not to share his last name — has advertised with Yelp but said no one ever claimed they could adjust reviews for him.

“It’s from the people,” he said. “Like me and you, they can write whatever they want. I don’t think anyone is allowed to change them.”

Yelp does offer paying advertisers the opportunity to select one review to display at the top of their list. Also, when users search for a business the results include a message suggesting a paying advertiser as an alternative.

Stoppleman’s blog entry shows a screenshot of a help wanted ad that appeared in the freelance jobs section on the Web site www.geekinterview. com. It was posted by a company looking to hire people to write fake Yelp reviews. Stoppleman wrote that these ads are fairly common.

Elite Yelp reviewer Dani Delce said that she has heard about the accusations of Yelp moving reviews around for

advertisers but that it had never happened with any of her postings.

“But I’ve seen similar types of shadiness,” Delce said. “Like ‘I’ll pay you to mention my business on your blog or become a fan on Facebook,’ on Cragislist and a few freelancer sites.”

“For the most part, if I write a negative review, and it’s constructive, the business owner sends me a message and tells me they’re addressing the problem and they hope I’ll give them another shot. For the most part I’ve encountered great owners and managers who really use Yelp as a way to improve as opposed to a nuisance that they need to outsmart,” she said.

Stoppelman admits that legitimate review content sometimes gets lost as a result of the filter and wrote, “Our filter takes a conservative approach and errs on the side of protecting the consumer, when necessary.”

The allegations have not affected Yelp’s traffic or its reputation. According to Web measurement service Compete,

the site started the year with 20 million and ended with 27 million monthly visitors.

In December 2009, Google offered to buy the company for half a billion dollars, but Yelp pulled out of the deal. There are rumors that Yelp is either holding out for more money, or they didn’t trust Google to effectively manage the community aspect of the site. Yahoo has also hinted that it is interested in buying the business.

Not only is the Web site an accessible venue for the huge yet fragmented local advertising market, it offers user generated content focused on providing human feedback.

Yelp is a virtual treasure trove of consumer behavior trends, and management stresses the strong impact that consumer confidence plays in its popularity and progress. If readers can’t trust that the reviews are accurate then they will stop using the service.

E-mail: apenny@theguardsman.com

Book Review

The ugly truth about eating animals

By Hannah Weiner THE GUARDSMAN

“Eating Animals” is Jonathan Safran Foer’s exploration of what people are eating in regards to meat. Soon to be a new father, the author’s curiosity about omnivore versus vegetarian lifestyles became an urgent need for understanding. So Foer sets off to answer his own questions, which consequently leads him to late night visits to factory farms, questions about fundamental arguments regarding the morality of eating animals, and discoveries of the true meanings of misleading terms used in the meat industry like “free-range” and “all-natural.”

Foer states at the beginning of the book that he is not making an argument for vegetarianism. As comforting as that sounds there seems to be constant pressure throughout the book to change one’s eating habits. Foer doesn’t come right out and say, “don’t eat meat,” but he conveys a subtler message: It’s okay if you do it, but I could never bring myself

to do it. I don’t really understand how you do it, but don’t worry, I’m not judging you.

The gruesome facts do speak for themselves. The truth about how animals are treated while alive as well as how they are killed is horrifying. Foer goes into great detail about the living conditions of chickens, turkeys, cows and pigs kept on factory farms.

After making several unanswered requests to visit different factory farms, Foer sneaks onto one farm in the middle of the night and finds that some of “the ends of the beaks of the chicks are blackened,” some chicks are “blood matted,” and some are “covered in sores.”

At some farms dead animals are held in the same confinement areas as the live ones, easily spreading bacteria, and animals are tortured. There is a long list of inhumane acts being committed at these farms. “Eating Animals” definitely provides information that everyone needs to know.

One problem with “Eating Animals” is the redundancy of the

content. Foer uses many pages to essentially rephrase the same point, which only results in the feeling that he is beating his point to death. His arguments would be stronger if they did not seem so overbearing.

One has to give Foer credit, though, he did his research. The arguments he makes are difficult, if not seemingly impossible, to counter. The vast majority of the content reads like investigative reporting and he backs up his positions with valid information.

The details about factory farming listed in the novel were confirmed by numerous sources. The notes in the book take up 61 pages.

While thorough, “Eating Animals” is not all facts and statistics. Foer talks about the culture and relationships that are a part of eating and shares his own personal stories with the reader, some of which are funny, some of which are sad. If he is anything, Jonathan Safran Foer is a good storyteller.

E-mail: hweiner@theguardsman.com

14 |

Culture&Trends

THE GUARDSMAN

JANUARY 27, 2010

From paper glasses to home entertainment, 3-D evolves

By Alex Emslie THE GUARDSMAN

ALEX EMSLIE / THE GUARDSMAN

Pupusas revuelta with rice and beans from El Zocalo.

El Zocalo dishes up late night treat

By Nick Palm

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

In the heart of the lively Bernal Heights corridor of Mission Street lies an easyto-miss gastronomic treasure.

El Zocalo, located at 3230 Mission Street between 29th and Valencia streets, serves traditional Mexican and Salvadorian food and is known for their pupusas — corn flatbread filled with customizable combinations of meats, beans and cheese.

With an abundance of watering holes in the area and a closing time of 4 a.m., El Zocalo has become a late night hot spot for hipsters and hungry drunks alike.

The restaurant was nearly deserted when I walked in on a Wednesday afternoon. The other customers all kept to themselves, seeming hypnotized by both the music in their headphones and plates like chile relleno, tamales and fried yucca.

If you come looking for great service or decor, don’t bother. Their food speaks for itself.

I started off with a glass of horchata, a traditional Latin American drink made with rice, almonds and cinnamon. It’s hard to go wrong with horchata, and they do it well at El Zocalo.

After polishing off a

basket of fresh house-made tortilla chips, I dove into plates of pupusas revuelta and yuca frita con chicharron.

The pupusas, filled with pork and cheese, were delicious. The corn dough was soft and fluffy, and browned on the griddle.

The yuca frita con chicharron - fried yucca and fried pork - was still good, but held no ground to the pupusas.

The yucca was great when dipped in salsa, but the fried pork seemed overcooked and hard to chew.

My whole bill was about $15. As pupusas are only $1.90 each, I could easily make another trip here for under $10.

El Zocalo is a great place to grab a quick, inexpensive bite or subdue a case of late-night munchies. Their most expensive menu items are around $8, so a starving student on almost any budget could fill up here and still have enough for a BART ride home.

Take it from me: Go for the pupusas, stay for the pupusas, and leave only when you can’t fit any more pupusas into your mouth.

E-mail: npalm@theguardsman.com

Left starry-eyed by the success of James Cameron’s “Avatar,” a nearly $300 million foray into the third dimension, television manufacturers and techies alike have one concept on their mind for 2010: 3-D TV. The Consumer Electronics Show, held in Las Vegas in early January, provided a platform for the industry’s heavy-hitters to preview their upcoming 3-D products. Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, Toshiba and LG showcased merchandise expected to hit stores by the end of this year. Mitsubishi already offers 3-D capable televisions that start at about $2,000.

A 3-D-capable TV can display regular 2-D programs or convert them into three dimensions.

This is done by displacing and alternating the 2-D image to create a third dimension, though the result is not as breathtaking as actual 3-D programming.

To understand how a two-dimensional, flat screen can create the illusion of three dimensions, it’s important to understand how vision and depth perception work.

PHOTOS BY JOSEPH PHILLIPS / THE GUARDSMAN

New 3-D polarized glasses fool the brain by blocking out vertical or horizontal light.

Human eyes receive two slightly varying images which are then combined in the brain, similar to the “camera one, camera two” bit in the movie “Wayne’s World.” The difference between the two images allows the brain to calculate depth and distance.

For the illusion of depth to work, the images must be perceived as different by each eye and each eye must be blind to what the other is seeing.

The original solution to this problem was the advent of those red and green-tinted, paper glasses, which represented the first attempt at 3-D technology. The red and green filtration dulls vibrant color, though, and the calibration between the two images was usually off, which caused some viewers to experience vertigo.

The 3-D glasses given to viewers of “Avatar” make nausea and most eye strain, concerns of the past. The left and right lenses of these glasses are polarized perpendicularly to each other, meaning the left lens only accepts vertical rays of light and the right lens horizontal, or vice versa. The live action shots in “Avatar” were filmed with two cameras,

In the past, the brain was tricked into seeing two separate images through red and green color filters. This tech was known to cause vertigo.

perfectly synced, so that they correspond to the eye meant to view each image. Computer-generated scenes were created in a similar fashion, using separate images for each eye.

The next generation of 3-D TVs relies on the same idea, but uses shutter glasses. The effect is achieved with a transmitter that sends information to the glasses causing a shutter to blind the eye corresponding to the image being shown. Because the image on the TV changes 120 times per second, this method does sacrifice perceived brightness. Sony, Samsung and Mitsubishi are all using shutter-glasses technology in their 3-D product lines.

Is it possible to achieve 3-D imaging without the feeling of watching TV while wearing sunglasses?

According to Wired.com, there are two ways to create a 3-D illusion without the glasses: lenticular lenses or a parallax barrier. Both technologies involve moving the filter from the viewer’s head to the television. Both require the viewer to sit in a “sweet spot” in order to work. Viewed from anywhere else, the image would appear blurry and content not meant for 3-D wouldn’t work with the filter.

ESPN has announced a 3-D channel that will become available this year and has slated the 2010 FIFA World Cup for its inaugural broadcast.

DirecTV and Discovery Communications have also released plans for 3-D networks for late this year or early 2011. Comcast spokesman Andrew Johnson said he couldn’t speculate on whether the cable company will carry 3-D channels.

“We are aware that a number of networks are thinking of offering 3-D content,” he said. “We will continue to work with those networks to provide services that work for our customers.”

While it remains to be seen whether 3-D television is just a passing fad, the presenters at the 2010 CES certainly believe we are on the precipice of a revolution in home entertainment.The 3-D capable television sets will cost $200 to $500 more than HDTVs that are currently available. The prospect of awe-inspiring visuals has engineers and accountants banking that TVs more than $1,000 are worth it to consumers.

E-mail: aemslie@theguardsman.com

Calendar

JANUARY 27, 2010

Calendar for Jan. 27 - Feb. 9

WED

27

Men’s basketball against Skyline at Skyline 5:00 p.m.

Women’s basketball against Ohlone at Ohlone 7:30 p.m.

WED

3

Men’s basketball against Chabot at City College 7:00 p.m.

Women’s basketball against Las Positas at Las Positas 7:30 p.m.

Campus Events

THUR

FRI

28

29

Women’s tennis The SF Underagainst Diablo ground Farmers Valley at Diablo Market Valley College 199 Capp St. 2:00 p.m.

San Francisco, CA Free 5:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

Live surf-punk with The Mermen at Amoeba 1855 Haight St. San Francisco Free 6:00 p.m.

THUR

30

Punch Contest at Omnivore Books on Food 3885 Cesar Chavez St. San Francisco, CA $5 4:00 p.m.

FRI

4

Men’s baseball against Laney College at Alameda 2:00 p.m.

SAT

5

SAT

6

Last day to add credit Fort Point classes or to change Candlelight Tour sections.

Marine Drive and Battery East Rd. Women’s basSan Francisco, CA ketball against Free Chabot at City Col- 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. lege 5:30 p.m.

Women’s tennis against Fog City at City College all day Men’s baseball against Laney College at Alameda 11:00 a.m.

TRANSFER NOW FOR SPRING 2010!

Learn from industry professionals!

• Experience small classes • State-of-the-art facilities • Build your portfolio

TAKE CLASSES ONLINE OR IN SAN FRANCISCO EARN yOuR AA, BA, BFA, MA, MFA, OR M-ARCh ACCREdITEd dEGREE IN Advertising • Animation & Visual Effects Architecture* • Fashion • Fine Art • Game Design* Graphic Design • Illustration • Industrial Design Interior Architecture & Design • Motion Pictures & Television Multimedia Communications • Music for Visual Media* Photography • Web Design & New Media

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Accredited member WASC, NASAD, Council for Interior Design Accreditation (BFA-IAD), NAAB (M-ARCH) *Degree program not yet available online.

SUN

31

Comedy Stew: 3-Three Standup Comics Take the Stage at Berkeley Central Library 2090 Kittredge at Shattuck Berkeley, CA Free 2:00 p.m.

SUN

7

Ann Randolph: Loveland at The Marsh 1062 Valencia St. San Francisco, CA $15-$35 7:00 p.m.

THE GUARDSMAN

Community Events

MON

1

Free Salsa Dancing on Mondays at the Rockit Room 406 Clement St. San Francisco, CA Free 9:30 p.m.

MON

8

Acoustic Monday and Industrial Night at Rockit Room 406 Clement St. San Francisco, CA 94118 21+ Free 9:00 p.m.

TUES

| 15

Classifieds

2

Last day to drop credit classes for full refund of enrollment fees.

Women’s tennis against Santa Rosa Junior College at SRJC 2:00 p.m.

TUES

9

‘80s Music at The Cafe 2369 Market St. San Francisco, CA 94114 21+ Free 9:00 p.m.

Got a classified ad? You could see that ad here. Contact our Advertising Manger for more information about rates and publication deadlines at (415) 239-3446.

Classified Ads 50 cents per word. $5 minimum for commercial advertisers. City College students, staff and faculty qualify for one free classified per semester. Multiple ads not accepted. Must show current student ID. Commercial ads not accepted from students. Acceptance of ads at the discretion of The Guardsman.

Article Submissions To submit tips on stories contact: Editor in Chief (415) 239-3446 Fax: (415) 239-3884 editor@theguardsman.com

All your news online 24/7. www.theguardsman.com

16 |

THE GUARDSMAN

Culture&Trends

JANUARY 27, 2010

NightLife returns to the Academy of Sciences

By Jen Houghton THE GUARDSMAN

NightLife is to museums what Virgin America is to airlines: A little more lax, a lot more fun, and when you leave you can’t wait to experience it again. Much like the young, hip airline that made flying seductive again, this weekly event at the California Academy of Sciences convinces guests that learning about our planet is sexy.

The lights are dim, the music is pulsing and drinks are flowing from numerous satellite bars throughout the building. The crowd varies widely in age and everyone in attendance is excited and obviously looking for a museum visit outside of the ordinary.

NightLife kicked off another year of music, entertainment and science Jan. 14.

The event, held every Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m. for guests 21 and older, has so much to see and experience that a repeat visit is almost guaranteed.

The museum holds the world’s largest all-digital planetarium with shows every hour from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. This is not your grade school planetarium.

The show, “Journey to the Stars,” is 30 minutes of breath-taking IMAX-style imagery and surround sound illustrating the birth and death of a star, focusing on our own sun. Produced by the American Museum of Natural History and narrated

JOSEPH PHILLIPS / THE GUARDSMAN

A couple observes the fish in a replica of the Philippine Coral Reef at the California Academy of Science on Jan. 14.

by Whoopi Goldberg, the show contains many real life images so awe-inspiring that they’re often indistinguishable from the digital simulations.

The show ends in a more typical planetarium fashion, with a display of the current San Francisco night sky which visitors can later view through telescopes from the rooftop of the museum.

On the main level, the four-story tropical rainforest is almost as stunning from

the outside as it is from inside the glass walls.

There are 1,600 live animals inside, many of which are roaming free. While climbing the spiral walkway through a living reproduction of the humid rainforests of Madagascar and Costa Rica, curious guests can find miniature frogs on leaves and watch baby birds at feeding time with their mother, close enough to touch — if that were allowed.

Guests get a whole new perspective of the dome as they ride the glass elevator down to the flooded Amazon forest.

There, visitors can see living replicas of swamps and California’s underwater coast.

Also in the aquarium, with brightly colored coral and fish and glowing blue water, is the stunning Philippine Coral Reef, which often serves as an impromptu dance floor on weeks that the aquarium hosts a DJ. At the Islands of Evolution exhibit, producer and DJ Michael Anthony, accompanied by a saxophone player and bongo drums, catered to an energetic crowd of dancers and spectators.

The event first strikes you as a great first date spot or a place to begin an evening with friends, but it buzzes from beginning to end, making it tough to leave for your second destination. Almost every exhibit at NightLife is do-not-miss, and many will surely draw guests back. It’s official: science is sexy.

NightLife is a weekly event on Thursdays from 6 to 10 p.m. Entry is $12 for general admission and $10 for members.

Passes for planetarium shows are given out on a first come, first serve basis. Final entry to the rainforest is at 7:30 p.m. This is a 21 and older event.

E-mail: jhoughton@theguardsman.com