The Guardsman, Vol. 157, Issue 6. City College of San Francisco

VOL. 157, ISSUE 6, APRIL 9 - APRIL 22, 2014

CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO | SINCE 1935 | THEGUARDSMAN.COM | @SFBREAKINGNEWS | FREE

Bernal Heights Shooting

Community seeks justice for Alejandro Nieto

More than 200 protesters march down Folsom Street demanding justice over the killing of City College student Alejandro Nieto, Saturday, March 29, 2014.

Photo by Khaled Sayed/The Guardsman

By Bridgid Skiba

@sfbreakingnews bskiba@theguardsman.com

The Guardsman

A recent series of questionable police shootings in the Bay Area has struck close to home with the March 21 shooting in Bernal Heights Park of City College student Alejandro Nieto.

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San Francisco police gunned down the 28-year-old criminal justice student following a 7 p.m. telephone call from a neighbor reporting a man engaging in bizarre activity in the park.

Nieto, who was born and raised in Bernal Heights, was reportedly on his way to work as a part-time nightclub security guard when four officers

News: Students hold vigil against police

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confronted him, SFPD Chief Greg Suhr said.

Suhr said that when the officers approached Nieto at 7:10 p.m., he started waving a Taser pistol and then pointed it at the officers. At least two officers responded with a volley of shots that instantly killed Nieto.

City College instructor and family friend Benjamin Bac Sier-

Guardsman: Staff wins awards at journalism conference

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ra said Nieto was a practicing Buddhist.

Although it has been alleged that 14 bullets pierced Nieto’s body, Suhr would not confirm that statement. He said once an autopsy is completed he would release the results.

Three days after the shooting, a vigil for Nieto took place in Bernal Heights Park that attracted

Opinion: Yee just a wolf in sheep’s clothing

some 150 family members and friends. The March 24 gathering was a somber yet angry reaction to the shooting that included lit candles, singing, burning incense and Buddhist chants.

“He was never arrested in his life,” Sierra told the San Francisco Bay Guardian. “He wanted to be a good person, and he was.”

Nieto was a few units away

10

Shooting: page 3

Sports column: The future of baseball in America

2 | THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | APRIL 9 - APRIL 22, 2014

news

Mexico Heroin surges north Editor-in-Chief Madeline Collins Managing Editor Patrick Tamayo Advertising Manager Calindra Revier Photo Editor Santiago Mejia News Editor Alex Lamp News Assistant Samantha Dennis Sports Editor Ivan Huang

The rise in cheap heroin making its way into rural areas around the United States is being blamed on Mexican farmers.

With the wholesale price of marijuana steadily decreasing, pot farmers have started to plant opium poppy instead. The price of a kilogram of marijuana has gone down approximately 75 percent, causing farmers to switch strategies to maintain revenue.

U.S. authorities along the Mexico border confiscated 2,162 kilos in 2013, a huge amount considering that in 2007, only 367 kilos were found at the border.

Design and Layout Ana Carolina Quintela Marcelo Potosi

Contributing Illustrator Anthony Mata Staff Writers Gina Scialabba Dan Harrington Tim Maguire Patrick Cochran Daniel Galloway Samantha Dennis Calindra Revier Charles Innis Jonathan Adler Elisabetta Silvestro Staff Photographers Ekevara Kitpowsong Elisa Parrino Khaled Sayed Bridgid Skiba Nathaniel Y. Downes Faculty Advisor Juan Gonzales Mail: 50 Phelan Ave Box V-67 San Francisco, CA 94112 Phone: (415) 239-3446 Advertising: advertising@theguardsman.com Online: www.theguardsman.com Twitter: @sfbreakingnews Facebook: facebook.com/theguardsman Youtube: youtube.com/theguardsmanonline

General contact: news@theguardsman.com

California Newspaper Publisher’s Association Journalism Association of Community Colleges

DEA and law enforcement officials blame the epidemic spreading into rural areas on “a shrewd marketing strategy developed by Mexican traffickers.” (Washington Post)

Ukraine Tension continues

Two new republics have emerged in eastern Ukraine after pro-Russian militants took over buildings and declared themselves “the new authorities.”

Officials in the Ukraine blame the current violent protests and militant takeover on Russia, and blame them for bankrolling the most recent unrests. Fears continue to rise as many feel that Russia will attempt to take-

over other parts of Ukraine after successfully annexing Crimea.

The United States and its Western allies have been adamant that “they will not stand by in that event.”

A White House spokesman said that it would be a “very serious escalation” if Russia attempted to move further into Ukraine and “promised” there would be further sanctions against Russia if that happened. (Washington Post)

United States Free 2-year college tuition

As the legislative session in Tennessee nears its end, a proposal by Gov. Bill Haslam looks as though it is going to pass.

The program—”Tennessee Promise”—will pay for two years of community college for any high school graduate. The governor’s plan would allow students who desire to attend a four-year college to enter as juniors.

The plan would be paid for by using “excessive lottery reserve funds and … an endowment.” Lawmakers are currently concerned about additional funding that may be needed and where that money would come from.

The Tennessee Board of Regents also raised monetary concerns due to the large amount of students who would enter four-year schools at the junior level. (Daily News Journal)

College Briefs

Copy Chief Alex Reyes Copy Editors Tim Maguire

World Briefs

Trial date set

City College’s future may be known at a trial that begins on Oct. 27. A judge said the trial could last up to five days and will not require a jury.

The trial will determine whether the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges properly conducted the 2012 evaluation that led to its decision to revoke the school’s accreditation on July 31.

The accrediting commission is appealing the ruling that stemmed from San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera suing the commission.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and California Community College Chancellor Brice Harris both told the Chronicle “that City College needs more time to comply with the extensive financial and management problems that have brought it to the brink of closure.”

(Patrick Tamayo)

Charges against student protesters dropped Two City College students who were arrested by San Francisco Police at the peacefulturned-violent protest outside Conlan Hall on March 13 had their charges abruptly dropped at a hearing on March 19.

Otto Pippenger and Dimitrios Philliou first learned the news through their lawyers while waiting on the courthouse steps.

San Francisco police arrested Pippenger, 20, in the midst of a turbulent shoving match between

students and police officers at the entrance to Conlan Hall.

His charges were “resisting arrest” and “battery on an emergency officer.”

Pippenger refrained from making any comment to The Guardsman on the advice of his lawyer regarding the details of his protest experience.

Pippenger did tell The Guardsman, however, that he believes the witness-shot footage of the confrontation, which is available on YouTube, illustrates the events clearly.

“The video is pretty much the beginning and end of the whole thing,” Pippenger said. “There’s not that much more to know.”

Philliou said campus police detained him after he had been “slammed to the ground” and handcuffed.

An officer pepper-sprayed Philliou after telling him that he was resisting arrest. Philliou claims that he was not.

Philliou received minor injuries during the protest, while Pippenger sustained a fractured wrist and post-concussive syndrome.

Both students told The Guardsman they are thinking about taking possible legal action, but no clear decisions have been made by either of them.

(Charles Innis)

New law proposed to curb sexual assaults On March 27, California State Sen. Kevin de León amended proposed Senate Bill 967 that aims at preventing campus sexual assaults by redefining consensu-

al sex amongst students, faculty and staff.

According to newly added Section 67386 of the Education Code, California colleges will be provided with state funding to adopt new sexual assault policies on campus and will be required to “implement comprehensive prevention programs addressing sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.”

Funding for sexual assault victim services such as “women’s empowerment programming, awareness raising campaigns, primary prevention, bystander intervention, and risk reduction,” is also proposed in the newly added section.

If the bill is passed, it will also require all California college governing boards to provide guidelines for their students informing them on what consensual sex is, and how to prevent and avoid non-consensual sex.

A major guideline of the amendment states that it is the responsibility of the person that wants to engage in a sexual act to insure that “consent must be present throughout sexual activity,” and that “(l)ack of protest or resistance does not mean consent, nor does silence mean consent.”

If the initiator of the sexual act fails to obtain verbal consent from their partner, they can be charged with sexual assault. They can be liable for imprisonment in a state penitentiary for three, six or eight years according to California state laws.

(Alex Lamp)

Senator controversy

According to an FBI affidavit, California State Sen. Leland Yee, 65, was accepting campaign contributions from undercover agents posing as representatives from both a software company and a pioneering Arizona medical marijuana industry, both of with were fictional businesses.

Yee has also accepted campaign contributions from the Ghee Kung Tong Supreme Lodge of Chinese Freemasons of the World, ran by alleged crime boss Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow. The lodge is located in San Francisco’s Chinatown neighborhood.

According to the affidavit, an agent posing as a New Jersey mobster recorded Yee unveiling a business opportunity where he was planning to smuggle $2.5 million worth of illegal weaponry into the United States. It was to be imported through the Port of Newark, New Jersey from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Muslim extremist group located in the southern Philippines.

A total of 26 men and women were named in the indictment including Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow, 54, and Keith Jackson, 49, former president of the San Francisco Board of Education who was Yee’s business consultant with the Ghee Kung Tong. Jackson is facing murder for hire charges for plotting to kill an individual for $25,000.

(Alex Lamp)

THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | APRIL 9 - APRIL 22, 2014| 3

news

Vigil

Students hold peaceful vigil after violent protest

By Elisabetta Silvestro

@sfbreakingnews esilvestro@theguardsman.com

The Guardsman

A peaceful vigil against police violence was organized by the Save CCSF Coalition on March 20 in front of Conlan Hall.

The purpose was to express solidarity with the students who got hurt at the March 13 protest and to ask Chancellor Arthur Tyler to retract his statement that accused students of “violent outbursts.”

After the March 13 protest turned violent, Tyler released a statement saying he was “saddened to see students engaging in violent outbursts,” that was posted on the City College website.

“We, the students are here to assert that all acts of violence on that day were committed by police against protesters, against peaceful student demonstrators,” Save CCSF student organizer Mícheál Madden said.

He said what happened last week was the administration’s fault because students have always been allowed to protest inside Conlan Hall without consequences.

“Last Thursday, our students were beaten and brutalized by campus police and the SFPD,” Madden said.

Tyler decided to close Conlan Hall again for the March 20

demonstration “to ensure the safety of all staff and students,” he wrote in an email that was sent to everyone at City College that morning.

“The decision by administration to close this building and to call in … SFPD was the reason

Approximately 40 people were present at the vigil, including Otto Pippenger, one of the two students who had been arrested during the March 13 protest.

Pippenger displayed a black eye and “possibly two fractured wrists,” he said, but refused to

“Sure, (if) I find, through the review, that my statements were inaccurate, I will retract them.”

-City College Chancellor Arthur Tyler

side of the room, two on the other and one outside.

Madden accused Tyler of giving false statements and not being neutral.

“Our students are demanding you immediately retract your statement concerning so-called student violence that day,” Madden said.

Tyler said he is going to hire an outside consultant with a legal background to do a review and listen to both sides to find out what the facts are.

He said the statement he made was based on a report he had from

the police chief that said six officers were hurt.

“Sure, (if) I find, through the review, that my statements were inaccurate, I will retract them,” Tyler said.

The students were disappointed by Tyler’s response.

After Bouchra Simmons, student member of the Participatory Governance Council, accused them of creating chaos and bad press for the college, about 15 of them left the room shouting “you don’t represent us.”

that things got out of hand, is the reason that things escalated,” Madden said.

Campus police recall the protests differently.

“We were just told to secure the building, lock the doors and not to allow any protester inside,” Campus Police Officer Erica McGlaston said. “Students forced their way in against our orders.”

McGlaston said several students used violence before the police did.

“They pushed. One of the students hit an officer. They used their body to physically run over the police officers,” she said. “We had to protect ourselves, as well as protect the students who were in the building who were not involved.”

comment on the alleged aggression.

No charges were ultimately filed against Pippenger and Dimitrios Philliou at their arraignment on March 19.

“I’ve been here 17 years and it is by far the worst thing that I remember happening,” AFT 2121 representative Tim Killikelly said.

“We are here today to make sure that this never happens again on this campus.”

After the 45-minute-long vigil, many of the demonstrators went to a Participatory Governance Council meeting at the Multi-Use Building room 140 to ask Tyler directly to retract his statement.

The atmosphere was tense with two police officers on one

The Save CCSF Coalition held a vigil on Thursday, March 20, 2014 in reaction to alleged police brutality at a City College protest. Photo by Bridgid Skiba/The Guardsman

spirit … who took criticism well.”

An elderly man who has been working in the Mission District since 1971 said, “Alejandro Nieto was a loving kid. He took criticism on the chin and he took it as advice and constructive. He was always yearning for knowledge.

He would listen to his elders, take their advice and go in that direction. So, it sounds out of character for him to be pointing a taser at someone.”

At the meeting, Executive Director Joyce M. Hicks of San Francisco government’s Office of Citizen Complaints said her office “has already received a number of complaints about the shooting and her office continues to receive them.”

From the crowd someone shouted out, “I can’t imagine what 14 hot bullets feel like entering your body.”

Others in the audience answered by saying, “Overkill.”

“They fired in defense of their own lives,” Suhr responded.

The audience reacted with thunderous shouts directed at the chief.

While some people were in tears, others appeared frustrated and angry. Many in attendance were bewildered about the killing and still wanted answers.

Although Suhr was unable to answer a number of questions raised at the town hall meeting, he assured everyone that “when I get

more information, I will give it to all of you.”

A Nieto family representative spoke on their behalf.

On March 29, some 250 people rallied in a peaceful protest against the Nieto shooting.

Protesters gathered in front of the Mission Cultural Center and spilled out onto Mission Street for the 2 p.m. rally.

When the march began, the crowd, led by Nieto’s father and organizers, headed east down 24th Street to Folsom Street with a banner that read “Safety for Who? Rest in Peace Alex Nieto. Never Forgive, Never Forget.”

At that point, the procession that was sprinkled with signs condemning the police made its way up over Bernal Hill into

Shooting: from page 1 from getting his associate arts degree. He was hoping to become a counselor working with troubled youth, friends said.

Excelsior District Supervisor

At press time, the San Francisco Police Commission had ordered multiple investigations into the Nieto shooting to see if officers used “appropriate force.”

John Avalos told the San Francisco Bay Guardian that he once worked with Nieto.

“I was making sure that his life was going in a positive direction, and what we saw in Alejandro was that he had a really big heart,” Avalos said. “He gave it to a lot of people, and often probably didn’t give it enough to himself.

A town hall meeting held March 25 at Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School turned out a standing room-only crowd of 300 people that included Nieto’s family and friends.

At the three-hour-long meeting, Nieto was described as “a good young man … with a loving

Protesters rally outside the Mission Cultural Center on Saturday, March 29, 2014. Photo by Khaled Sayed/The Guardsman

Police had already cordoned off the street between 24th and 25th street and approximately 30 officers monitored the situation.

The 45-minute rally included chants and signs reading “Justice for Alex Nieto,” “Encarcelar a Policias Asesinos,” and “Jail Killer Cops.”

Bernal Heights and to Bernal Heights Park.

The marchers then gathered under cloudy and drizzly conditions at the makeshift Neito memorial created in the northern corner of the park.

With somber faces and a few people crying, people gathered

around the memorial site that ended with a few words about Nieto and a ceremonial indigenous blessing.

As everyone departed the 30-minute ceremony, they shook Nieto’s father’s hand as a sign of comfort.

The National Lawyers Guild was present, along with a number of grassroots organizers who said they were preparing for other actions sometime soon.

Adante Porter from the Oakland law office of attorney John Burris is reportedly representing the Nieto family. The legal firm handled the high-profile Oscar Grant case in Oakland.

Grant was shot at point-blank range by a BART police officer in the early hours of New Year’s Day in 2009.

At press time, the San Francisco Police Commission had ordered multiple investigations into the Nieto shooting to see if officers used “appropriate force.”

The involved officers are on paid administrative leave.

As expected, more than 100 turned out for Nieto’s wake on March 31 at Driscoll’s Valencia St. Serra Mortuary. Likewise, a standing-room only crowd was visible for the mass at St. Kevin’s Catholic Church on April 1 and at least 100 mourners were at the Holy Cross Cemetery gravesite following the mass.

4 | THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | APRIL 9 - APRIL 22, 2014

news

Financial aid fraud hits close to home

By Samantha Dennis @samanthadennis sdennis@theguardsman.com

The Guardsman

Federal student financial aid has given many students the opportunity to obtain a desired education, but with every nice gesture, there are always people who take advantage of a helpful hand and the federal government is cracking down.

Cases of federal financial aid fraud occur all over the United States, but recently there has been a case involving City College and two other Bay Area schools.

Three people pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the federal government out of more than $1 million.

The other Bay Area colleges targeted were Ohlone College and Chabot College.

According to a press release from the United States Attorneys Office, Northern California District, Kyle Edward Moore, Cortio Detrice Wade and Marcel Devon Bridges pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit financial aid fraud and wire fraud before the federal court in Oakland on Feb. 14, 2014.

Moore, Wade and Bridges admitted to reaching out to people and assisting these “straw students” with the completion of the Free Applications for Federal Student Aid. The three did so even though they knew that some of the applicants were ineligible to receive funds due to the lack of a high school diploma or “a recognized equivalent” and the lack of intention to attend college classes.

Moore, Wade and Bridges were indicted by a federal grand

jury on Aug. 15, 2013, and admitted to defrauding the Department of Education of over $1 million.

Sentencing hearings will be held in the fall before United States District Court Judge Jon S. Tigar in Oakland.

The maximum penalty for each count of conspiracy to commit financial aid fraud is five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater, and restitution.

The maximum for each count of wire fraud is 20 years in prison and the same monetary penalty and restitution as the conspiracy charge, according to the press release.

Some City College students have heard of such fraud cases happening and have noticed that some students receive the financial aid checks and then stop attending classes.

City College graphic design student Doug Orzynski, 19, said

Financial aid office receptionist Monica Collins assists students on Tuesday, April 8, 2014 at Ocean Campus. Photo by Elisa Parrino/The Guardsman

that he knows a few people who have done this.

“I’ve heard some people signed up and bounced out as soon as they get their financial aid checks,” Orzynski said.

Orzynski said that he doesn’t think there are a large amount of

people who are doing it at City College. He also said that if such financial aid cheating becomes a plague, it may start to affect financial aid funds for students who genuinely need it.

THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | APRIL 9 - APRIL 22, 2014| 5

news

Journalism department

City College students triumph at state competition

The Guardsman’s Editor-in-Chief Madeline Collins holds the prestigious Pacesetter award at the journalism state convention in Burbank, Calif., Saturday, April 5, 2014. Photo by Ekevara Kitpowsong/The Guardsman

The Guardsman’s illustrator Anthony Mata holds three of his awards won at the journalism state convention in Burbank, Calif., Saturday, April 5, 2014. Photo by Ekevara Kitpowsong/The Guardsman

Students grab newspapers and magazines from other community colleges at the journalism state convention in Burbank, Calif., Saturday, April 5, 2014. Photo by Ekevara Kitpowsong/The Guardsman

California community colleges gather for an awards banquet at the journalism state convention in Burbank, Calif., Saturday, April 5, 2014. Photo by Ekevara Kitpowsong/The Guardsman

City College’s journalism students captured some 30 awards, including General Excellence for The Guardsman, Guardsman Online and Etc. Magazine, as well as the coveted Pacesetter award that signifies the “Best of the Best” at the 59th Annual Journalism Association of Community Colleges convention held April 3-5 in Burbank, California.

A delegation of 15 students and faculty advisor Juan Gonzales attended this year’s convention that included contests in Mail-In entries, On-The-Spot and Bring-In contests, as well as numerous skill development workshops.

Check guardsman.com and the upcoming issue for details.

Save City College!

Make your protest heard — through the proper use of American English.

Grammar Guru: Power Your Message

www.MyGrammarGuru.com

Find it on:

6 | THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | APRIL 9 - APRIL 22, 2014

culture

Have Your Say: What is your opinion on the enrollment process at City College?

Movie Review: “Bad Words”

Jason Bateman’s directorial debut “Bad Words,” short on laughs, long on vulgarity

Vicky Guan, 25 Sociology “I always have my friend next to me when I select the class. I don’t think it’s necessary to sign [financial aid verification form] before we enroll in class. I think the process is easy.”

Daesean Carr, 27 Journalism

Jason Bateman (center) stars as Guy Trilby in the comedy “Bad Words,” a Focus Features release.

Photo courtesy of Focus Features.

“I don’t have a problem with enrollment this semester.

Even though [others] are from a different country or different state doesn’t mean we aren’t all students.”

By Gina Scialabba

@sfbreakingnews gscialabba@theguardsman.com

The Guardsman

Natalie Moore, 21 Physical Therapy “I think it’s good, but I think they should give students time to pay because financial aid doesn’t come in right away.”

Alf Muller, 40 Computer Science/ Mathamatics “I think it works. For me, the enrollment process was pretty easy. I did it all online. The enrollment process is pretty pain free.”

Munir Jamal, 22 Pharmaceutical “I’m from Egypt. It wasn’t easy for me at first, my transcript was in Arabic. So, I had to wait two years to get my California ID.”

Jason Bateman is a total jerk to kids. That’s essentially the premise of the new dark comedy “Bad Words,” about a 40-year-old man looking to exact revenge on the world, or someone, by infiltrating a child’s spelling bee contest. Way to stick it to the man, Jason.

After watching Bateman star in and direct this film in his most racist, homophobic, arrogant and sexist role to date, I had to question how he was able to get away with it. Can you really just say anything you want on screen simply because it’s lowbrow humor?

Case in point, referring to his young Indian co-star, Chaitanya (Rohan Chand) as “Chai Latte” or “Slum Dog Millionaire” and telling him to “shut his curry hole.”

Or making off-hand, choice lesbian jokes at Allison Janney because she plays an authoritative, female figure.

You’ve probably heard the term “black” or “dark” comedy, but what does that really mean?

Basically, it’s a genre that takes a heavy topic such as alcoholism, depression, family dysfunction or murder and satirizes it some way that usually shocks the audience by its audacity.

When it’s done right, a black comedy accomplishes the task of blending the dark and twisted with the hilarious. If you walk out of a dark comedy feeling a little guilty about laughing, the director has done his or her job.

When a dark comedy is just crude with a completely unlikable

protagonist on a seemingly pointless journey, that’s where movies like this can fail. And, indeed, “Bad Words” fails.

Bateman’s biggest challenge is getting us to care about woe-isme, Guy Trilby.

Guy finds a loophole in the rules of a National Spelling Bee competition and causes an immense amount of trouble for outraged parents, precocious children and contest officials (Allison Janney and Philip Baker Hall) by hijacking the stage and insisting he be allowed to compete. But, why?

Reporter Jenny Widgeon (Kathryn Hahn) is trying to figure that out. She follows him around hoping to “get the scoop” behind his bizarre motivation. Of course, they have awkward sex scenes, and even more awkward conversations, usually ending with Guy just insulting Jenny.

There’s really no stopping Guy or his incredibly foul mouth. It’s not the profanity that’s the issue here. It’s his misanthropic angry demeanor with children as the bull’s eye.

Guy is on a mission; an angry mission, and he won’t stop until he knocks every kid out of the competition, and uses all possible tactics.

During one round of the spelling bee, Guy takes a pair of women’s underwear and gives it to a child on stage, claiming he slept with his mother. All to knock the child out of competition. Why is that funny?

During another round, Guy shames a prepubescent young girl by smearing ketchup on her seat and informing her she just “became a woman.” She runs off

the stage in tears. Why is that funny?

Why doesn’t this work?

For one, we have no emotional connection to his character. For most of the film he’s just a middleage weirdo who might be a pedophile or maybe just a jackass who forgot to take his medication.

Either way, no one cares because we only get a one-dimensional glimpse at Guy. Then, there’s Bateman’s failed attempt at a buddy-duo pairing between himself and one of the contestants, 10-year-old Chaitanya.

Guy manages to systematically corrupt this child—sneaking him into a bar, giving him shots of hard liquor, buying him a visit with a prostitute, going on a shoplifting spree and furnishing him with porn magazines.

Is this really the way older men bond with young boys? By committing several serious felonies, engaging in vulgar, inappropriate sex talk that breaks down numerous boundaries, all the while dehumanizing the child because of his race and labeling it comedy. Sounds disturbingly like a sex predator. Why is that funny?

Oh yeah. This is “dark comedy,” so go on, Guy. Be a childhating, possibly sexually divergent jackass. We will all laugh and applaud. Maybe this would all be a bit more palatable if the child was at least a teenager, but even then, racism and homophobia are tired comedic devices.

Should you go see this film?

A big no unless you want to waste the exorbitant movie ticket price asking yourself, “Why is this funny?”

If you go...

Photos by Bridgit Skiba. Reporting by Jonathan Adler.

Running Time: 89 Minutes

MPAA Rating: R

Genre: Comedy

Directed by: Jason Bateman

Release Date: March 28, 2014

Written by: Andrew Dodge

Stars: Jason Bateman Kathryn Hahn Allison Janney Rohan Chand

THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | APRIL 9 - APRIL 22, 2014 | 7

culture

Guests look at the photographs displayed on the wall during the “Room 704” show on Thursday, March 27, 2014. Photo by Ekevara Kitpowsong/The Guardsman

Photography group 81 Bees stars in “Room 704” exhibit

By Ekevara Kitpowsong

@sfbreakingnews ekitpowsong@theguardsman.com

The Guardsman

About 250 guests attend “Room 704” opening reception night in the Hotel Rex lobby on Thursday, March 27, 2014. Photo by Ekevara Kitpowsong/The Guardsman

Events: April. 9 -April. 24 Wed/9

Free Admission Northern California’s largest zoological park and conservation center, periodically offers free admission for San Francisco residents. Experience SF Zoo free day on Wednesday 9th from 10-5 p.m. Admission before 4 p.m. and free only for SF residents with valid ID.

Fri/11

Want your next event in the calendar? Email the name, date, time, location and description of your event to calendar@theguardsman.com

happening in the museums public spaces. New theme every week. Fridays 5-8 p.m. Golden Gate Park. Free.

Wed/16 Workshop SFWAR Bystandard Intervention Interactic Workshop.

Rosenberg Library, room 305.

From 12:10-1pm and 1:10-2pm

Fri/19

Museum

Workshop

“Friday nights at the De Young” Free weekly after hours art

‘Frisco Day’ is a City wide event where seniors in high school can

visit and experience the different colleges trhoughout the city. Join us at CCSF from 8-3 p.m. in the Multi-Use Building at 50 Phelan Ave. San Fracnsico, CA 94110

Thurs/24 Latte Art Compitition Chasing Lions hosts the 1st Annual Latte Art Compitition.

Open to current CCSF students.

6pm to 8pm Ocean campus. At Chasing Lions Cafe, MUB. $5.

What would you do if you have only two hours to spend in a hotel room? For 13 photography members of 81 Bees Collective, sleeping was not an option.

Each photographer was given two hours within one day to be in room 704 at Hotel Rex, to create photographs and then exhibit selected images in “Room 704” show. About 250 people attended the show’s opening reception on March 27.

The exhibition displays 23 selected images featuring both color and black and white photographs, using different mediums including film, pinhole and digital cameras.

The first collaboration between Hotel Rex and the group began when Marsha Guggenheim, 81 Bees members proposed this concept

to Ina Dang, general manager of Hotel Rex. “This is the first time to do a group and to actually take our own paintings off the wall and put on there,” Dang said “We featured other people’s arts but never as completed show like this.”

81 Bees is a photography group, made up of students from City College’s Advanced Black and White Darkroom Techniques class and more than 60 people including former and current city college students. Currently, the collective has 28 photography members who are actively involved in the group.

“Our vision is to support unknown artists, that’s why it’s perfect with 81 Bees,” Dang added.

The photographs are on display until April 30 at Hotel Rex in room 704 located at 562 Sutter St. 81 Bees photographs can be seen at www.81bees.

8 | THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | APRIL 9 - APRIL 22, 2014

opinion

Playing gangster a ridiculous choice for politicians

By Patrick Tamayo

@patricktamayo3 ptamayo@theguardsman.com

The Guardsman

Rights and freedoms of Americans continue to be taken away and changed in the name of safety or whatever other façade the government decides to spin with their public relations.

Luckily for us, terror suspects and random other groups aside, we are still innocent until proven guilty. Well, in most cases anyway.

With the population continuously increasing, and with the abundance of problems mounting not only locally but worldwide, one of the last things people should have to be worried about are wolves in sheep’s clothing.

A federal investigation may have exposed such a wolf, after state Sen. Leland Yee was arrested on March 26 on weapons trafficking and corruption charges.

According to an affidavit filed

by San Francisco’s U.S. District Court, the former City College student and his co-defendants “were involved in a conspiracy to traffic firearms.” Yee was also charged with six counts of scheming to defraud citizens of honest services.

Yee is out on bail and technically innocent until proven guilty.

Details of the investigation have continued to emerge and allegations of Yee’s role continue to all

but end his political career.

As more information comes to light, it appears that evidence against Yee goes back years and involves taped conversations with people who ended up being undercover federal agents.

With all of the political smoke and mirrors in play the wolf will likely have to sleep in the bed he’s made all by himself, as political allies wasted no time in distancing themselves.

“The allegations against Senator Yee are shocking. It has become clear he has lost the confidence of his colleagues and for the good of his constituents should step down,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein said in a released statement.

You see, after Feinstein, Yee has probably been the biggest backer in the state of additional gun control legislation, going so far as to co-writing a bill that would require new semiautomatic handguns to be equipped with micro-stamping, a ballistic identification technology that would identify the gun from which a bullet was fired.

If the federal government’s allegations turn out to be true, Yee, while championing for stronger gun control laws and putting on the guise of working for the people of San Mateo County and parts of San Francisco, was also putting countless lives of people everywhere at risk with his involvement in shady gun deals.

Yee was arrested along with 25 others, including several with ties to criminal organizations.

It comes as no shock when gang members commit crimes.

After all, you can’t blame a snake for biting you because, well, that’s what snakes do.

However, the shock, shame and disappointment that is felt

It becomes harder and harder to show support for candidates or elected officials when they feel as though they should be held to different standards. when the first Chinese American elected to the California State Senate ultimately turns his back on the people who trusted him to make a difference makes the sheep’s clothing difficult to conceal the wolf.

Yee has already made the decision, or has been pressured or forced, to withdraw from the secretary of state race.

On March 28, Lee was suspended, along with two other members who are now having to deal with their own bribery and corruption and perjury and voter fraud charges by the state Senate.

It was the first time that a vote to suspend Senate members has occurred.

With Yee being termed out at the end of the year anyway, and his secretary of state ambitions being driven off course, he will likely have to wear the clothing of goat, as he becomes the poster boy for everything that is bad with politicians.

If an elected official as wellknown as Yee was playing gangster in sketchy meetings at coffee shops with undercover agents, as recounted in the federal indictment, there are conjectural reasons to believe how far corruption may run.

How many other wolves are running around fooling the flock while fattening themselves up on the very constituents who were taken in by the mockery of government?

According to an October 2013 press release, Yee said, “California’s Assault Weapons Ban has protected the public for decades. … We must work to make sure that it is capable of dealing with new threats that face California.”

Yee apparently did not consider himself a threat, as he allegedly told an undercover agent how much money they could make while inquiring about the agent’s desire for automatic weapons.

It’s difficult to fathom how far allegations like this might run, but it should come as no surprise as our very own government recent-

ly participated in their very own questionable gun investigation that likely didn’t end up exactly as it had been drawn up.

Operation Fast and Furious, which was run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed for thousands of weapons to make their way into Mexico in an attempt to follow them all the way into the hands of high-level cartel members.

Great plan. However, along the way, they managed to lose hundreds of the weapons, which ultimately ended up in the hands of criminals who used the hardware to commit murders throughout Mexico, including the slaying of a border patrol agent.

It’s not far-fetched to see that—just like the government attempting to take away freedoms in the name of safety, while playing fast and loose with thousands of guns they eventually lost the majority of—Yee’s dog-and-pony gun control show was likely just a cover for his alleged gun-brokering shenanigans.

It becomes harder and harder to show support for candidates or elected officials when they feel as though they should be held to different standards.

With this kind of delusion from our elected officials, it’s no wonder the wolves of our world feel it is okay to abuse the power granted to them by the people who voted them into office. Allegedly.

Corrections: Find a mistake? Let us know!

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In Vol. 157 Issue 5, an error in production took out several paragraphs in part one of Dan Harrington’s sports column about the decline of diamond sports in San Francisco.

Additionally, a reference to San Francisco baseball and softball was inaccurately switched to read “City College’s,” which made for a change of meaning.

The Guardsman has corrected the errors and made the complete column available online at www.theguardsman.com

THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | APRIL 9 - APRIL 22, 2014 | 9

opinion

Where fast-tracking career goals meets

By Alex Reyes

@sfbreakingnews areyes@theguardsman.com

The Guardsman

What should be of more concern for City College students, Russia’s annexation of Crimea or the American war lobby’s demands for military action against Russia and every other country the warmongers fix in their crosshairs?

Until recently, Crimea had been an autonomous republic within Ukraine since 1954.

But Crimea has also been a key part of Russia since 1783.

Both the Soviet Union and Russia continued to maintain their Black Sea warships in Crimean ports from 1954 to the present day.

The Russian takeover of Crimea began on Feb. 27.

On March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted Crimea back into the fold of Mother Russia after Crimeans voted to secede from Ukraine two days earlier.

The American dogs of war have been barking throughout.

On March 1, United States Sen. Lindsey Graham declared on CNN’s “State of the Union” television program that United States President Barack Obama is “a weak and indecisive president” who “invites aggression.”

On March 3, U.S. Sen. John McCain was calling for the United States to revive its missile defense systems in the Czech Republic and Poland and possibly even engage in military exercises in Northern Europe’s Baltic states.

McCain told Al-Jazeera America that United States President Barack Obama “played right into Putin’s hands” and that the president “clearly has no idea of the kind of person Putin is and what his intentions are.”

In a March 14 essay published in The New York Times, McCain wrote one sentence condemning Putin for Russia’s Crimea invasion and the better part of the next 16 paragraphs condemning a “disturbing lack of realism that has characterized our foreign policy under President Obama.”

The president’s “disturbing lack of realism,” of course, has to do with Obama’s unwillingness to order America’s strained military into whatever part of the world McCain, Graham and the rest of our country’s perpetual warriors desire to direct us.

Despite having fought in two soul-sapping wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that lasted and have lasted for over 10 years, McCain, Graham and a

legion of like-minded Americans have called for U.S. military belligerence in one country after another during the Obama presidency.

In the last three years alone, our nation’s muscle-bound addicts have demanded military action against Libya, Syria and now Russia.

Instead, in Libya, Obama “led from behind” in the midst of an international show of force against Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

Gadhafi was removed from power and executed by rebels.

In Syria, Obama pivoted from imminent unilateral military action to a diplomatic resolution of the matter of Syria’s possession and use of chemical weapons.

Rolling Stone magazine reported in its April 10 issue that the Syrians have turned over 500 metric tons of deadly chemicals, or nearly 46 percent of its supply, to international watchdogs, with its remaining stockpile to be destroyed by the end of April.

Now, Russia.

In addition to their takeover of Crimea, Russia may have as many as 88,000 troops amassed along and near their border with eastern Ukraine.

After leveling two rounds of sanctions upon the Russian elite and agreeing with the rest of the now G-7 group of economic allies to drop Russia from its membership, Obama urged his Russian counterpart to withdraw those forces.

What will happen if Russia does indeed attempt to take over the rest of Ukraine?

The Russian takeover of the bordering regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008 could be a good guide. After a fiveday war with Georgia, Russia assumed control of the both areas.

President George W. Bush’s response?

Obama’s immediate predecessor condemned the Russian provocation and returned a Georgian military brigade from fighting in Iraq as a member of Bush’s “Coalition of the Willing.”

That was about it.

The world survived. We survived.

The American war machine’s bloodlust, however, is insatiable.

City College students, and indeed the American people, should know that the greatest threat to our well being is homegrown.

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10 | THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | APRIL 9 - APRIL 22, 2014

sports

Baseball Column

Baseball and softball players, not wanted, not raised

By Dan Harrington

@sfbreakingnews dharrington@theguardsman.com

The Guardsman

If you’ve been looking for a sign of change for the downward fortunes of San Francisco diamond sports, San Francisco State is not the place to look.

While the Gators have chomped on little success in baseball and softball through the years, they have had fewer and fewer local players. The Division II recruiting has been looking to improve by gathering players from places other than San Francisco.

There are no San Franciscans on this season’s SF State rosters.

Benicia, a former state capital, claims four baseball Gators this season, while one is from Alameda. The closest the softball roster comes to a hometown gal is South San Francisco. As has been the case for several decades, the majority of Gator ballplayers are from the Central Valley and Southern California, with several from the South Bay. As has been the case for a long time, there is very little outreach if any to the immediate community.

Look anywhere in town and you will find extremely little evidence that there are sports of any kind involving SF State. Not a schedule or poster along Ocean Avenue or anywhere else in The City, nor an ad in a neighborhood paper.

That matches the effort placed on fielding any truly homegrown bat-ball-and-glove based athletes.

The SF State motto, Experientia Docet means “Experience Teaches,” but that doesn’t mean they know how to teach spelling.

What might be surprising is the misspelled name of perhaps the best-known Gator ballplayer of all, a Bay Area native from the Niles District of Fremont, Bud Harrelson. He went on to be one of the best major league shortstops of his time, a manager and broadcaster after his playing days for the New York Mets.

Unfortunately, despite having only four all-time players receive the honor of their names posted on the batting cages above right field at SF State’s Maloney Field, his circle of notoriety misspells his name “Harrleson.” Bad enough to err on a lineup card, but egregious on a Wall of Fame that has been up for several seasons.

In baseball, experience teaches that doing the little things right is the key to winning. In life, disrespecting people who came before

OASF.ORG

San Francisco State University’s mascot, the gator. Photo couresty of Dan Harrington.

you and forgetting your neighbors is a good way to be unsuccessful.

These lessons might be what SF State is learning now.

Maybe some development support for the city’s youth baseball and softball, recruiting from City College and SF public high schools as well as the closer Bay Area, and reconnecting with nearby fans of baseball and softball will be the new plan for SF State from here on. It might give deeper meaning for the search for a new SF State mascot to replace the Gator, which is on the personal agenda of Dr. Leslie Wong, university president.

An interesting note for City College rooters might be that the SF State softball coach with the best winning percentage is the coach who started the program and coached for two seasons in 1978 and 1979: Conni Staff, a longtime instructor and recent co-coach of the only City College women’s state championship team (in badminton, with former City College baseball head coach Fred Glosser).

Additionally for prep sport watchers, Carrie Wert, a force in coaching at San Francisco’s Washington High, won conference first-team awards as a Gator softballer in 1983.

Several local broadcasting greats came from calling games at SF State, including the Oakland

A’s television commentator Glen Kuiper and KTVU-TV’s sports anchor and reporter Fred Inglis.

Interim SF State athletic director Bill Nepfel comes from the winning and locally-connected USF brand.

Nepfel is the kind of leader who could make the connection with business and community leaders to get fans back and develop a stream of student-athletes who want to stay near home to play and learn and spell. It is very likely a new circle is being painted for Harrelson now that he is aware of the problem—and perhaps a “Bud Harrelson Day” is being formulated, as well.

Wong and Nepfel must be aware that the chemistry has been lacking: no local connection and little winning, especially on the diamonds for SF State.

For them, as well as current Gator head coaches Cristina Byrne and Mike Cummins, it’s time to think locally and act locally.

But at least SF State owns fences to remember its alumni. City College finally moved from its chain-linked views of the diamonds at Balboa Park to borrow time at Fairmount Field in Pacifica four seasons ago, in a move that actually saved some funds and improved upon field conditions and control.

But it also made it virtually impossible for the city residents,

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IS FOOD A PROBLEM FOR YOU

San Francisco Intergroup

high school students or fans to see the Rams play.

The progression from observer to player for the city youth that happened naturally is now abstract. The teams play out of the loop.

The movement from public school teams to City College has been wounded by City College not playing home games in the city limits.

As importantly, a summer league for a majority of teenagers that followed summer college courses folded in 2010, when City College disappeared from Balboa Park.

The lack of the developmental courses and leagues that followed on summer days at Balboa Park and Crocker-Amazon has not only hurt the Academic Athletic Association, San Francisco’s public school league, but has caromed back to hobble City College’s baseball and softball programs.

Four years after the move out of town, the flow of homegrown players is ebbing at a time the Rams could use more refined talent. Baseball has had the workmanlike effort for almost two decades from head coach John Vanoncini.

He and like-minded assistants put a lot of extra time into added instruction and advice for the younger levels. But since the move from San Francisco to Pacifica for

baseball, City College’s makeup has dramatically changed, with just six of 35 players currently from San Francisco (one traditional public school player from Lincoln High, one from independent Waldorf, one from public charter Gateway and three from parochial Riordan).

Despite a vivid turnaround for Ram softball under Jack McGuire’s staff in 2013, it’s a simple numbers game for any momentum to be maintained for in the Coast Conference.

The team is making an effort to welcome local players. It has seven San Franciscans, but only 12 players total—bare bones.

Baseball fans, softball fans and kids just learning the games would come to Balboa Park to see the Rams an era ago.

It’s time to rebuild the connections for City College, too, for the two-way benefit of city youth and Ram programs in the very near future.

The legendary glory days will not return, but a real system to get our youth the practice, innings and community support to go as far as their skill and determination can take them must be our commitment to them and the fabric of society.

Experience teaches. Let’s make baseball and softball a great, local experience again.

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THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | APRIL 9 - APRIL 22, 2014 | 11

sports

Football Column

Pro Bowler cut from Philadelphia team for alleged ties with gangs

By Patrick Cochran

@sfbreakingnews PCochran@theguardsman.com

The Guardsman

It’s been a tough few weeks for a sports fan from Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Eagles cut star wide receiver Desean Jackson shortly after a story surfaced on NJ.com alleging Jackson had connections to the Los Angeles based Crips street gang.

The article, entitled “Desean Jackson’s gang connections troubling to Eagles” makes for a great read. The writers meticulously contacted sources in the Los Angeles Police Department to get background information for the story.

There are many troubling pieces of information, including that Jackson was questioned in connection with the gang connected December 2010 murder of 14-year-old Taburi Watson.

Police were quick to indicate that Jackson was in no way

involved in the actual shooting of Watson, but that instead “acting on unspecified information Jackson might have knowledge of Shakir’s activities on the night of Watson’s murder,” LAPD detective Eric Crossen told NJ.com.

After reading the article it is hard to definitely conclude what exactly Jackson was up to.

It mentions that he started a rap label, Jaccpot Records, and that many gang affiliated people hang around the studio.

The article also alleges that Jackson specifically spelled Jackpot with the double C instead of the CK because CK is gang lingo that stands for “Crip Killer”, a slogan used by the Crip’s arch rival, the Bloods gang.

To make matters worse for Jackson, there is video evidence of him throwing what looks like gang signs in a game versus the Washington Redskins last year, who oddly enough signed Jackson to a three year $24 million ($16 million guaranteed) contract April 2 after Jackson was cut from

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group/MCT)

the Eagles.

The Eagles argument was that they would rather get rid of Jackson and his massive $48 million contract, before something bad happened to him off the field, despite Jackson having one of his best seasons ever with 1332 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

NFL teams have been very careful to monitor the activities of their players ever since the Aaron Hernandez (New England Patriots tight end) murder last offseason.

At the end of the day players are an investment. When you are allocating millions of dollars toward a single player’s contract you want to make sure he isn’t

involved with any unsavory characters off the field.

But on the flip side, these are the people Jackson grew up with.

Growing up in inner-city Long Beach, Jackson was bound to know some people who would grow up to be in trouble. This is not uncommon. I am sure a large percentage of professional athletes grew up with friends or family that have had legal troubles.

Most athletes don’t completely cut ties with the people they grow up with. They instead grow wise and old enough to keep the troublesome ones at a safe distance.

This is what Desean should of done.

On April 4, ESPN had an interview segment where Stephen

A. Smith asked Desean Jackson about his association with gangs.

Jackson was candid in his response to Smith. Jackson said gangs were a product of the inner city Long Beach environment.

Showing smart media savviness when asked by Smith if he still associated with gang members, Jackson responded “Not if they’re doing negative things.”

Many athletes have had the “bad boy” persona and have been able to survive.

My favorite childhood athlete, Allen Iverson, was constantly called a “thug” by the media and many people thought he would end his career behind bars.

People were scared of the little shooting guard with corn rows, thinking he was a menace to society. Iverson certainly wasn’t perfect, running into minor legal and financial problems during and after his career. At the same time Iverson didn’t end up in an incarcerated state like many people thought he would.

The sports watching public has grown a lot since the initial hysteria over Iverson in the 1990s, but the Desean Jackson incident shows that many people still panic whenever they hear our athletes are alleged to be “thugs”.

Simply put, many in America are afraid of scary black men, even if they are a Pro Bowl wide receiver who runs anti-bullying outreach efforts and went to college at UC Berkeley.

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12 | THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | APRIL 9 - APRIL 22, 2014

sports