Ballot Beat: Board Candidates Alan Wong and Heather McCarty and Their Plans to Avert a Fiscal Freeze
By John Schneider jschne20@mail.ccsf.edu
On Nov. 5 San Francisco voters will choose from eight candidates who have qualified to run for four seats on the Community College Board.
Once seated, they will join Trustees Vick Van Chung, Anita Martinez, and Susan Solomon in guiding the college through several key transitions and decisions. These include reconciling the college’s budget and enrollment with the end of the “hold harmless” provision of the state Student Centered Funding Formula (SCFF), addressing three action items necessary for the maintenance of its accreditation, considering the future of the Free City program in light of proposed reductions from the city, and hiring a permanent chancellor.
Leading up to the election The Guardsman will be interviewing candidates, providing context for current issues facing the college and proposals to address them in an ongoing segment.
The Guardsman interviewed Board President Alan Wong, who spoke to the progress that’s been made with budget and enrollment, the importance of the Free City program, and the work that remains to avoid a funding freeze. Dr. Heather McCarty, also interviewed, offered novel solutions and described the difficult dynamic between board, administration, accreditation commission, city and state government, and student body and how this necessitates better training and collaboration.
President Alan Wong
President Alan Wong is one of two incumbents seeking another term, the other is Trustee Aliya Chisti.
Speaking to the personal connection he has with City College, President Wong said it “shaped my entire family's life, and it's given us so much opportunity.” When his father was laid off from a factory job, he turned to City College for ESL courses in the hopes of improving his prospects. Through the culinary program he trained to become a hotel cook which enabled him to support his immediate and extended family in the Sunset.
Through City College classes he took on a low-income waiver, President Wong was able to add extra units and graduate
By John R. Adkins jradproduction@gmail.com
Student Enrollment for City College of San Francisco is on the rise for the first time in years.
The college’s financial stability and enrollment numbers have been on uneven ground throughout the past decade and is still recovering from the loss of attendance during the pandemic.
While the college board goes into elections and regains footing with a newly appointed Interim Chancellor, things appear to have finally stabilized for the school. Enrollment for Fall 2023 was up by 8% from the previous year.
“Assuming no more enrollment growth, City College might not be eligible to receive increased funding until the 2031-32 fiscal year. However, if City College grows 8% in annual enrollment in the coming years, it could be eligible for increased funding as soon as the 2028-29 fiscal year,” Board President Alan Wong said.
In the Fall of 2024, City College saw an increase of 1,066 in new students enrolling in for-credit classes. Numbers that represent a 30% increase compared to Fall 2023 as stated by the college’s office of research and planning.
In August of 2023, Mayor London Breed announced that the city would allocate over $2 million to forgive outstanding fees for thousands of City College students.
from UC San Diego with a Bachelor’s Degree at age 19.
This, he said, is “why we need to defend Free City College, because that represents everything that City College is about, promoting access and opportunity for all people.”
Free City, a program launched in 2017, is a collaboration between the college and the City and County of San Francisco that offers free tuition to all city residents. At that time it was the first of its kind in the United States.
In light of the novel nature of the program and the potential it represents for upward mobility in California, a state that consistently ranks high in income inequality, President Wong said that ending Free City would “set a negative example for the entire country.”
The program is paid for with funds generated by Proposition W, a measure approved by voters in 2016 which raises the transfer tax by a quarter of a percent on properties over $5 million.
President Wong said the transfer tax added up to “$38 million a year to the city's budget with the intent of funding Free City College.” Despite this, he said “During the first two years, they only gave $5.3 million.”
The current agreement over Free City between the college and the city, signed in 2019, provides $15 million per year for the program for a period of 10 years. Free City credit enrollment is down from 24,000 in 2017 to 17,000 last year, despite an uptick in overall enrollment in the last year. As a result, the city is attempting to renegotiate its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the college to restrict access to Free City to students pursuing an associate’s degree or a career program certificate.
President Wong said, “That will hurt our enrollment … during a year when our budget will become flat unless we significantly increase enrollment.”
City College has struggled in recent years to maintain adequate levels of reserve funds, putting the institution in a more precarious position as it transitions to the state’s Student Centered Funding Formula (SCFF). The funding formula was enacted in 2017, but implementation has been delayed several times for districts like City College through a “hold harmless” provision as it attempts to make structural changes to comply
Investigation Into Body Found on Ocean Campus Continues
By Danny Meeks meeks5@mail.ccsf.edu
The identity of a man found dead on City College’s Ocean Campus on Wednesday morning, July 31, remains a mystery.
Campus police allegedly discovered the body in a cluster of bushes and trees at the intersection of Cloud Circle and Marston Ave between the Visual Arts Building and Batmale Hall. Ingleside Station SFPD arrived at approximately 10:16 am. Paramedics declared the man deceased, and the Office of Chief Medical Examiner opened an investigation.
The grim discovery occurred on an otherwise empty campus during summer break. Nearly two weeks after the body was located, the SFPD investigation has
revealed no evidence of foul play. Questions regarding their identity, including whether or not the deceased was a student, remain unanswered. “There is no imminent threat of harm to any member of our campus community resulting from this unfortunate incident,” Interim Chancellor Mitchell Bailey said. At this time, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has provided no further information on the identity of the body or the cause of death, and the investigation continues.
SFPD encourages anyone with information to call 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411.
Board candidates continued on page 2
Enrollment continued on page 2
Police mark off bushes between Batmale Hall and Visual Arts building where body was found. August 6, 2024 by John Adkins/ The Guardsman.
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- with the state’s priorities and regain enrollment lost in part as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
President Wong said efforts by past administrations and board members to recover from this “very crippling situation”
for History and the Public Good.
In 2012 a friend in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office urged McCarty to run for a seat on the Community College Board after City College received a “show cause” order from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) requiring the institution to demonstrate why it should not have its accreditation revoked.
have included “financial gimmicks” like rent paid in advance on Mission Campus, which “was used to balance the budget …but that’s not really cash on had to be used for reserves.”
During his term, President Wong said many of these issues have been resolved or improved. “Now we have a balanced budget,” he said, “with five percent reserves for the last several fiscal years.”
Enrollment has increased. According to the most recent Term Headcount fact sheet, the rate was about 7% from Spring 2023 to Spring 2024. President Wong cited 12% for that period. Either way, this is an improvement from the 27% decline from Spring 2018 to Spring 2019, the next most recent year for which there is complete headcount data (according to the Office of Research and Planning, data for 2020-22 does not include noncredit and overall headcounts “due to the changes and challenges in data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic”).
As a result of changes on the state level, “hold harmless” no longer expires resulting in a fiscal cliff, but constitutes a funding minimum prompting a funding freeze. Consequently, should the college fail to make improvements to qualifying enrollment by FY 2025-26 it will not receive any cost of living adjustments (CoLA) from the state of California.
To avoid this outcome President Wong said the college will need to be “reprioritizing classes that bring in the most demand so that we can grow our enrollment despite a flat budget for potentially several fiscal years.”
Speaking to his record, President Wong said he is proud of his role as a “principal staffer that worked on drafting and advancing the Free City College legislation in 2019.” He also points to the college’s Green New Deal aimed at “eliminating all of our greenhouse gas emissions and electrifying our buildings and our vehicle fleet,” as well as the college’s balanced budget and enrollment gains.
Dr. Heather McCarty
“The board should know they are the fiduciary responsibility of the institution,” said Dr. Heather McCarty, “the buck stops with them.”
McCarty has taught at Ohlone College for over 18 years in their History Department and Gender and Women’s Studies Department and is Chair and Co-Director of the Lytton Center
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“Financial barriers - no matter how minute - could prevent someone from applying or finishing college,” Breed said.
This move by the city opened access to the thousands of students who otherwise would not have been able to enroll or continue their education last fall.
“To further grow enrollment, City College has increased its marketing efforts using new digital platforms and traditional methods to communicate its affordability and array of courses for potential transfer students, mid-career professionals and lifelong learners,” Alan Wong said.
“The increase in 1,000 full-time students this academic year is an optimistic sign that our current efforts to grow enrollment are making an impact. We expect enrollment to continue climbing gradually,” Alan Wong said.
The order marked the start of a several years effort by the college to keep its accreditation, including a lawsuit filed by then City Attorney Dennis Herrera and a decision issued by California Superior Court Judge Curtis Karnow critical of the ACCJC’s handling of the accreditation review. McCarty had just welcomed a newborn into her family and before long would take her first City College courses, Early Childhood Education’s parent observation classes. At that time McCarty said she would run at some point after she retires.
This remained her plan, even after training with Emerge California, an organization that trains Democratic women to run for office. “Then,” McCarty said, “[City College] got put on warning again, and this time the accreditation warning is exclusively because of the actions of the Board.” Drawing on eighteen years in the community college system as well as her experience working on accreditation at UC Berkeley, McCarty was mobilized by the abnormality of such a warning. “That’s it,” she said, “I’m running. This is crazy. Totally mad.”
The warning, issued in January 2024, calls on the college to provide a Follow-Up Report by March 1, 2025 demonstrating compliance with three requirements: that the Board “consider the College’s long-range fiscal implications when making financial decisions,” that it “act in a manner consistent with its policies and bylaws,” and that the Chancellor be allowed to “implement and administer Board policies without Board interference.”
McCarty said, “there needs to be college-wide conversations with all of the stakeholders, including students, discussing what City College should look like in ten years and five years, and backwards planning from there.” This approach may be helpful in guiding financial decisions and anticipating their long-range financial ramifications, but it may also shed light on the gap that exists between City College and the vision for it implied by the state’s Student Centered Funding Formula (SCFF).
“The State Chancellor’s Office,” McCarty said, “is really pushing towards having community colleges be junior colleges.” This is reflected in the increased focus by the SCFF on degree completion, certificates, and increasing transfers. She said, “That’s not what the city of San Francisco needs.”
McCarty suggests rolling over funds from courses that exceed their cost neutral enrollment (the number needed to offset the cost of faculty and facilities) to cover noncredit courses which are given lower apportionment under the SCFF. By using an “efficient enrollment management system,” she believes the college can better meet its obligations to both the state and its local community.
Beyond retaining a robust course catalog through increased efficiency, McCarty also proposes returning to a strategy used in the past to offer courses “where students were,” by partnering with the community. By removing access barriers and transferring facilities costs to community partners, she said, noncredit courses could operate at a lower cost. A similar approach could be applied to dual and concurrent enrollment by hosting City College instructors on SFUSD campuses, potentially increasing enrollment and minimizing the cost of facilities.
McCarty describes as a “misstep.”
While acknowledging an overall trend of administrative churn in higher education, McCarty said current City College trustees have erred in ways that may alienate potential administrators in the future. Part of the ACCJC warning, McCarty said, could not have been included without a trustee sharing information with the site visit team about their “evaluative process with the chancellor,” which in her experience is typically handled in private between fellow board members. She said prospective administrators will note, as she has, how this was handled and that they won’t “want to come to an institution that has a board that is so incompetent that they risk their college’s accreditation over petty infighting.”
Along with improving the board's functionality, McCarty believes members ought to be receiving training, especially “budget training.” For example, she said, “They were late to start to deal with their OPEB, their Other Post Employment Benefits.”OPEB are life and health insurance benefits provided to retirees. After settling on a percent to fund these benefits at “the board voted to lower the amount,” McCarty said, adding, “A board should not do that in the middle of an accreditation process.”
McCarty is involved in budgeting at Ohlone College and describes herself as a “budget nerd.” While their power is limited, she said the board can change the budget timeline so that “they have enough time to actually give feedback, and that they get multiple versions.”Next year marks the 90th anniversary of City College’s 1935 charter. To flourish by the time it reaches a century, McCarty said City College is “going to be an institution that’s a community college, first and foremost, it’s going to be an institution that’s fiscally solvent, and it’s going to be an institution that’s enrolling a lot more students than we currently have.”
What is lacking, McCarty said, is “a real culture of collaboration,” both with the community and internally among City College stakeholders. This is an obstacle to implementing novel solutions and “shaping a vision.” She cites “massive administrative turnover,” including in the chancellorship, as a reciprocal cause of these shortcomings. The current board appointed Mitchell Bailey interim chancellor on May 31 of this year, but does not appear to have begun searching for a permanent chancellor despite having been given notice of Chancellor Martin’s planned departure in September 2023, a decision that
Four Seats, Eight Candidates
Between now and Nov. 5, voters will have time to get to know each of the candidates running for Community College Board which, along with one student trustee, constitutes the City College Board of Trustees.The candidates are as follows: Aliya Chisti, Ruth Ferguson, Ben Kaplan, Leanna Louie, Heather McCarty, Julio Ramos, Alan Wong, and Luis Zamora. In the coming weeks, The Guardsman will be interviewing each candidate who responds to a request for comment as well as providing data and context for the myriad complex issues facing City College.
Enrollment
"Candidate McCarty" Illustration by John Schneider/The Guardsman.
"Candidate Wong" Illustration by John Schneider/ The Guardsman
Enrollment continued from page 2
City College’s Grounded Aeronautics Program May Find Runway Yet
By John R. Adkins jradproduction@gmail.com
Former City College Chancellor Mark Rocha paces in front of a classroom of students, all eager to graduate and enter San Francisco's workforce. Their hands itching to one day be turning over the turbines of the 737 jet engines that ship in the city’s tourists, taxpayers, and corporate executives.“You are special people, so you need to honor the commitment that you’ve made… and finish,” he told City College’s aircraft mechanic students. “This program is permanent; it’s here to stay…”
He made that promise in May 2019.
“2019 was really the last gasping breath of that program,” said former aircraft mechanic student Justin Lee. “All the mechanics talked about it; it was kind of an open secret that we were living on borrowed time and that really brought down morale.” Shielded only by his prescription sunglasses, Lee sits beside the tarmac of San Carlos airport, speaking over the blare of twin engine turboprops taxiing towards the runway and reminiscing over the fallout of the program. Lee has had a lifelong passion for aviation, having been enrolled in City College’s Aircraft Maintenance Technology (AMT) program part-time from the fall of 2016-19. He had planned on returning to the program to finish his final few courses after taking a gap year, but by March 2020, the program had been shut down.
“Heartbreaking to see a cornerstone trade program get so poorly mismanaged,” he added.Lee is one of many students
who were left stranded with unfinished degrees.“The need for mechanics has exploded and United was gobbling up every single mechanic that walked out of that program with an A&P license,” Lee said. In 2019 there was about a 20-30-person waitlist per class.”Enormously popular, City College's AMT program had a diverse student body. From retired military to single mothers looking for a career change, individuals who took classes full-time could, in two years, be guaranteed employment earning close to six figures in a booming industry – all without needing an expensive degree.
Now, four years since the program initially stalled out, the loss of the program has created a vacuum of San Francisco-based aircraft mechanics in the industry.“When it came to the leasing negotiations, CCSF should have realized that this is a very valuable program, not just for the airport, but for the community,” Lee said.The airport itself generates thousands of jobs annually and is growing every year, especially in the form of mechanics. As a result, the money that the mechanics earn from the airlines should go back into the community. However, now that the program is no longer there, major airlines like United are forced to hire mechanics from outside and bring them to San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
Back in February 2023, United Airlines posted a job listing seeking Aircraft Maintenance technicians in San Francisco that included a $25,000 relocation bonus and a whopping $50,000–$75,000 sign-on bonus. “Truth be told, a lot of the mechanics who come from out of state never rent an apartment or buy a house because they think it’s too expensive,” Lee said. “What they tend to do is buy an RV, park it in employee parking, and then, once it's time for a vacation, they go back home with all their San Francisco salary money and live like kings.”
It was only a couple of months after the 2023 job posting was listed that United Airlines decided to reopen communication with City College, having since realized their tap of work-hungry, locally sourced mechanics had run dry. The
major airline's newfound demand has been the only viable chance for the AMT program’s revival at City College. In the four years since the program initially shut down, little to no solutions have been provided by the college's administration.
In February 2021, a public forum was held to “Save the CCSF Airport Campus.” The SF Board of Supervisors, SF Labor Council, and CCSF Associated Students all gathered to discuss the future of the program.
However, despite receiving a direct call out, as well as questions prepared in advance, City College administration’s only presence at the meeting was the brief statement read aloud by representative Rosie Zepeda, who made herself “unavailable” for questions.
“The reality is that if the AMT program was still housed at SFO, we would not find ourselves in this position, or engage in conversations of its future,” Zepeda said.
On July 19, 1977, SFO agreed to take on the humble City College program for a 40-year lease agreement that allowed the school to lease “Plot 20” for just $1 a year due to the aeronautical nature of the education and the ability to create a workforce training program for future SFO employees.The expiration date of the lease was June 30, 2017. On June 29, 2016, SFO notified City College that it would not be renewing the lease due to the airport's “need to recapture the space for its capital program.” The airport then allowed City College to remain on a month-to-month basis beyond the initial date of termination.
While it remained apparent that the program was undervalued by SFO, the airport was acting in accordance with official FAA recommendations.According to the FAA recommendation, “Since SFO is only receiving $1 per year for the City College's use of the property, providing the space to a FMV [Fair Market Value] rent tenant or developing the property for a capital program provides the best optimal advantage for the airport.” The statement goes on to cite the airport’s requirement to “maintain a fee and rental structure for the facilities and services at the airport which will make the airport as selfsustaining as possible” under Grant Assurance 24.
Despite the airport's pressure to offload City College, it is no secret that the AMT program’s demise could have been prolonged if not prevented altogether.As far as SFO was concerned, potential sublease agreements with a third-party like United was City College’s only opportunity to stay. United Airlines initially offered a three-year lease in 2020, to which the college replied with a request for a 50- to 99-year lease. This counter-offer apparently came at the expense of their last viable solution and negotiations came to a close.The idea of juggling the program into the already busy Evans Center campus was entertained long enough to conduct a scientific report of the Aeronautics program continued on page 4
RV's and car campers populate the Employee parking lot off North Access road. San Francisco, CA. Nov. 30, 2024 by John Adkins/ The Guardsman
Sample job opportunity in Aeronautics, February of 2023.
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environmental impact the AMT program would have on the Bayview community.
Back in August 2021, City College released a public ‘Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Updated CCSF Evans Center Renovation and AMT Program Relocation.’ A mitigated negative declaration (MND) can only be prepared when there is found to be no significant adverse impact on the environment in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act.However, the Bayview community expressed concerns about the potential noise pollution of airplane engines. Finally, on June 13, 2024, at the Board Facilities Master Planning and Oversight Committee Meeting, it was stated that the architectural plans for the Evans Center renovations were modified to meet “AMT Acoustical Requirements.”
The modified contract with Gelfand Partners Architects extends the expiration date of June 2024 by three years to May 2027. It was stated that the “project schedule extension was caused by the prolonged decision-making process to integrate the Aircraft Maintenance Technology (AMT) program into Evans Center.”Although it has not yet been determined if the AMT program will be housed at Evans in the future, at least the door remains open to the possibility.“Everyone was immediately skeptical of the Evans Center solution,” Justin Lee said. “We were all thinking great, now we have to try to share a space designed for auto mechanics. Airplanes can take up as much space as 10 cars.” Lee said.
When the program initially shut down, all of the college’s cumbersome aircraft maintenance equipment was hauled away from the airport in 21 trailers, costing City College $150,000 in transport and storage. The trailers sat stained with graffiti on Ocean campus for a couple of years
before the school finally decided to offload the majority of what had been rescued, and relocated what remained of the “larger, harder to obtain pieces of equipment” to Evans Center, as confirmed by Dean David Yee.“Bit of a joke that they were still paying money to keep the equipment stored because a lot of it was honestly more worth their weight in scrap than actually being able to run.” Lee explained.“City College seems to be almost anti-vocation, and tends to focus more on the Silicon Valley tech industry since that’s where the money is around here,” Lee added.
As time went on, the idea of the City College AMT program ever returning was slipping away into the past. That is until United Airlines decided to reopen communication with City College.“They're currently analyzing their existing space and taking into account the needs of the program. Can they find the space for us? Or do they need to build a whole new facility? Right now, they're just exploring their options,” said Dean David Yee of his communications with United Airlines.
Yee met with the United SFO team in June 2023 and is now waiting for United to agree to a concept. The chancellor’s report from February 22, 2024 confirmed the “ongoing discussions” between Yee, United Airlines, and the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development.“When we met in June of last year, things really seemed to be progressing, but it slowed down towards the end of the year. I think it was around October or November time that I was supposed to meet with United again, but they had to cancel,” explained Yee.
“Instead of this just being a conversation with United’s local chapter at SFO, now it's a conversation with United at the corporate level,” Yee
said, adding “They have to assess post-pandemic travel demands, and future demands for aircraft mechanics.” Yee said he may try to check in with the airline at some point in the coming weeks.
The most recent report from consulting firm Oliver Wyman shows the aviation industry was expected to see a shortage of 12,000–18,000 aircraft mechanics in 2023.
“It doesn't surprise me that United is trying to open up communications again," Justin Lee said. “The rumor was at the time, United was trying to help the College stem the bleeding. It felt like they wanted this program a lot more than City College did. If they were desperate to keep the program alive, they would have acquiesced with United’s terms the first time around.”
Students like Lee point to the failures of the administration's mismanagement of a program that provided real economic value to San Francisco, while the administration can complain that SFO’s refusal to renew the lease. SFO and its public information officer can point to pressure from the FAA recommendations to rent the building at “fair market value,” but wherever the buck is passed, the fact remains that 75 students that were already enrolled in the program were asked to vacate Plot 20 so that the site could be utilized for other SFO developments.
Perhaps the most striking revelation is that Plot 20, some four years later, has remained virtually untouched. Wall graphics and aviation art still cover the classroom walls, papers are strewn across the floor and some of the lights in the building have been left on. It’s eerie, as though the airport locked the doors on City College’s way out and abandoned the building to sit empty and useless.
[Photo of abandoned CCSF aeronautics building at SFO. Photo taken December 10, 2023]
While City College’s Aeronautics headquarters sits untouched on SFO grounds, United Airlines offers $25,000 relocation bonuses for mechanics to come from out of state and sleep in the employee parking lot.
“That does bring me hope that the maintenance program is coming back, but my concern is how are they going to handle the students who were just left stranded," Justin Lee said. "A lot of other student mechanics went straight to either Alameda or other programs where they had to start from scratch, but there could also be stragglers like me who still have the transcript on record.”
When asked if he would finish his degree should the program return Lee replied, “If they brought back the program funded by United, and United had at least a say in how the money was being spent and how the training would work, I would probably give it a shot…I trust United more than City College when it comes to decisions regarding a vocational program.”
Former student Justin Lee had much to say about the program’s shortcomings. It seems that even with long waitlists, the program remained understaffed and generally disorganized.
He added: “...However, all that in mind, the program really did offer the chance at a better career path without the need of a college degree. It was there, it existed as real opportunities for people in the community, we did have the equipment, and we did have the staff. It’s just a shame… The only people that really seemed to care were the ones who could really stand to benefit from the program like United.”
Power Outages Raise Infrastructure Concerns Ahead of Fall Semester
By John R. Adkins jradproduction@gmail.com
Aseries of power outages occurred back in late July and early August, which resulted in the shutdown of all City College centers, just two weeks before classes were set to begin.The outage initially occurred on Ocean Campus on July 29, and despite the “unknown reasons” behind the power outages at the time, the police department requested that “ALL” buildings be evacuated and to “STAY AWAY” from Ocean Campus until power has been restored.
Another alert was sent out shortly thereafter which stated that, due to “additional issues” caused by the power outages, all centers would be closed. Although power eventually restored later that evening, the same sequence of events occurred again on Aug. 6. A police officer stated on Aug. 6 that a
new transformer had been installed about a month prior and that the wet ground underneath was causing the transformer to short out.
A statement was later released on Aug. 8 that Buildings and Grounds had identified issues in the Creative Arts Extension building as the root of the power issue. According to the statement, “Power to the Creative Arts Extension has been isolated and we are working with contractors to test the high voltage system, transformer, and electrical system within the building and make necessary repairs and upgrades to bring the building’s electrical system back on-line and to mitigate the risks of future campus outages due to this issue.”
A power shutdown was scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 11, to conduct further testing. It has not yet been confirmed by the facilities director or the police department if this issue has been fully resolved.
Illustration by Isis Cordova/The Guardsman
Student-Faculty Led Initiative is Determined to Bring the SF Scale Model to the Student Union Building
By Julia Chong jchong@theguardsman.com
Another New Deal project could make its way to City College permanently- the thousand square foot scale model of San Francisco designed by the college’s original architect, Timothy Pflueger.
City College’s SF Scale Model Initiative Team has been advocating for its claim since it was publicly displayed for the first time in 40 years at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) in 2019. The faculty-student organization worked with Bik Van Der Pol, an artist collective who led the SFMOMA project, to organize a temporary exhibition in the Smith Hall Cafeteria during the Summer of 2020.
But when the Covid-19 pandemic stopped those plans, the model ended up back in the storage units of UC Berkeley as it had been since the late 40’s. Now, the SF Scale Model Initiative Team is determined to continue raising campus support, which led to the Board of Trustees unanimously agreeing for further exploration late last December.
The proposed location for the model’s installation is the upper level of the Student Union building as the Family Resource Center, Homeless At-Risk Transitional Students, Guardian Scholars, and the student lounge moving to the Student Success Center would leave vacancies.
However, on Aug. 14, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Lisa Cooper Wilkins presented a proposal on the best practices for using the Student Union building, and the scale model wasn’t included. The retrieval of the historic artifact still needs official consent from City College, UC Berkeley, and donors.
“We’re hopeful and not giving up just yet,” Leslie Simon, City College’s Women’s and Gender Studies Department instructor and lead for the SF Scale Model Team, said. “The team is committed to raising the necessary funds, so that the college wouldn’t have to pay anything out of their pocket.”
The 41-by-37 feet wooden model, of over 6,000 removable city blocks at a scale of 1 inch to 100 feet, was originally designed to be an educational resource, city planning tool, and tourist attraction. It took more than 300 craftspeople and was sponsored by the San Francisco City Planning Commission and the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to provide jobs and boost the economy during the Great Depression.
many cultural districts.
The installation of the model is also intended to inspire public reflection from the New Deal’s strategy for economic restoration and era of labor movements to re-imagine the city’s future. It could even solidify City College’s role in San Francisco’s pandemic recovery, the SF Scale Model Initiative Team noted.
“Because of the SF Scale student work group, we found out that there was a leak in the Martin Luther King building and now, it’s being looked at and renewed,” said Simon. “So, whether the SF Scale Model ever comes to City College, something good has come from it.”
Facilities Justice Campaign was initiated by students to address conditions of campus buildings after the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in the Student Union flooded in 2022.
Further developments regarding the permanent installation of the model will be discussed at an upcoming panel discussion, “How can the Scale Model work as an educational tool inspiring city and neighborhood re-envisioning?” on Tuesday, Sep. 24 from 11:10 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. at MUB140.
Students of the SF Scale Model Initiative Team will present a workshop, “SF Scale Model: A Look into Social and Environmental Movements in San Francisco,” at the student led “Equity Matters: Bridging Communities and Navigating Advocacy through Social Justice” conference on Thursday, Sep. 26 and Friday, Sep. 27. City College is already a New Deal site, and the model would
At City College, it would be used as a hands-on educational tool for not only various courses such as architecture, geography, museum studies, and history, but also for the 72 San Francisco Unified School District Elementary schools, fostering a space for community engagement and collaboration across San Francisco’s
By Rae Daniels-Henderson rdanie16@mail.ccsf.edu
The Office of (On-Campus) Student Employment (OSE) is one of the many resources helping City College students to succeed. From eligibility requirements to completing hiring paperwork, OSE provides full assistance to aspiring on-campus student employers.
Having placed over 400 students in various fields such as tutoring, computer data entry, office assistant, and even recycling just last year, the OSE is fulfilling their mission to “implement on-campus student employment as an educational experience, which will contribute to our student’s professional and personal maturity.”
Since its opening, the office has seen an increase in enrollment every year, which has garnered the employment of a student in the office to help process applications, increased in-person and virtual hours this semester, and utilized Dynamic Forms to help accelerate the paperwork process.
Even though on-campus student employment has grown, Guardsman reporters found that many students are still unaware of this resource that is readily available for them.
“I didn’t know the opportunity was there, but I would be interested in participating after hearing the pay start is $18.67,” Alex Liao, first time City College student, said.
There are more open jobs than there are students applying, according to Janel Hadden, Research Assistant of the Cooperative Work Experience.
Three types of on campus student employment are offered at City College: Grants/Labs Aides, CalWORKS, and Federal Work Study, each with different eligibility requirements.
Grants/Lab Aides is open to all students who meet the
add to its significant Great Depression Era collection, including Diego Rivera’s “Pan American Unity” mural, which will be located in the Performance Arts Building upon its completion, as well as Frederick E. Olmsted’s “Fresco” mural and Herman Volz’s mosaics in the Science Hall. The college’s original gymnasiums and the Science Hall of Ocean Campus were additionally sponsored by the Works Progress Administration.
minimum unit enrollment of six units and passing 2.0 GPA requirement. Even student workers who are not eligible for CalWORKS or Federal Work Study may qualify for this program. CalWORKs is different as it is a state-funded program designed to assist parenting students in earning cash while learning important job skills through on-campus opportunities. Participants of this particular program also do not need financial aid eligibility to participate. Federal Work Study, on the other hand, is a federal program that requires financial need, helping students with the cost of their education through part-time work. Although there is a different criteria for each program, all three require a Tuberculosis (TB) clearance.
To get more in-depth information about City College’s student employment opportunities, the handbook can be found at ccsf.edu under “Paying for College.” After students determine which program best suits their needs, the next steps would be to go to myRAM via Web4 and complete the Student Hiring Eligibility Process (SHEP). On-campus job listings can also be found through ramid.ccsf.edu via “Student Jobs” on the Office of Student Employment web page.
Students can also go in person to speak to the Student Employment Office located on the Ocean Campus’ Multi-Use Building (MUB)’s Room 260, to the right of the Financial Aid Office. In-Person (Walk-In) hours are on Tuesdays at the MUB 260 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Fall 2024 virtual counter hours are Monday-Thursday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Fridays 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., while out for lunch everyday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. To schedule an appointment at the Virtual Counter, find the link and schedule times on the Office of (On-Campus) Student Employment page of the ccsf.edu website.
“I’m interested in seeking employment through OSE because I’m looking for office jobs and flexible hours because of my classes,” Brandon Humphrey, City College student, said.
Community Events Calendar
By Julia Chong jchong@theguardsman.com
SEPtEMBER 1 & 2
American Dreams- A New Musical (Was Democracy Just a Dream?)
By the San Francisco Mime Troupe, American Dream is a new show questioning what the American Dream means now. “For some it is unity, for others it is dissolution. A handshake or a gun. One citizen’s dream has become another’s nightmare, and those who fan the flames of the differences will gladly profit while democracy burns.”
1:30 p.m. | 19th & Dolores Sts.
SEPtEMBER 4
BruXeria Art Reception
Attend the reception for artist Alexander Hernandez’s exhibition, featuring his stitching artwork exploring his intersectional identities of the immigrant experience, queer sensibilities, gender expectations, and HIV+ survival. The show will go on until Sep. 26. 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. | Ocean Campus, Visual Art Building V119
SEPtEMBER 7
2024 Bay Area Maya Festival
Celebrate and honor indigenous Mayan culture with music, dance, poetry, art, discussions, and food! Open to the public!
9 a.m. – 2 p.m. | Mission Campus
SEPtEMBER 11
Resume & Cover Letter Workshop
Learn best practices for creating resumes and cover letters. The workshop will go over formatting, guiding questions, and any questions students may have. 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Ocean Campus, S-127
Employer Spotlight: Featuring Employers form the Education, Public, & Social Services Industries Hosted by Career Services, students will have the chance to connect with employers from social service industries, including education, mental health, and community-based organizations.
3 p.m. – 4 p.m. | Virtual | RSVP at CCSF.edu/events
SEPtEMBER 12
CCSF Information Session
Learn more about available academic opportunities at CCSF. Presentations will cover degrees and certificates, student programs and resources, free city and affordability, events, and more. Refreshments, swag, and raffle drawings are available for in-person attendees! 1-on-1 technical support is provided for both in-person and virtual attendees.
4 p.m. – 5 p.m. | Ocean Campus, Location TBD after RSVPing at CCSF.edu/events
SEPtEMBER 17
Fall Open House at CCSF Mission Center
Welcome the new Interim Chancellor while learning more about student support programs and services available to students! Information regarding immigration, legal services, and more will be provided to attendees.
9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. | CCSF Mission Campus, Room 109 (Auditorium)
SEPtEMBER 18
UCSF Transfer Preparation Program
Join an information session regarding UCSF’s Transfer Preparation Program (TPP). The evening will feature a student panel and light refreshments. 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. | Ocean Campus, MUB140 | RSVP at CCSF.edu/events
SEPtEMBER 25
Interviewing Strategies Workshop
Need to prepare for your next interview? Join the next Interviewing Strategies Workshop to learn essential tips, answer common questions, and hone your skills to set yourself up for success. Come ready to practice in a mock interview.
11 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Ocean Campus, S-127 or Virtual|RSVP at CCSF.edu/events
The wooden scale model of the City of San Francisco. Photo curtesy of The SF Scale Model Project.
Three or More Is Not a Crowd: Beyond a Two Party System in the U.S.
By Max Leonard mapleleonard3@gmail.com
Agrowing sense of political unease in the U.S. is no secret these days. Whether it is watching people mince words around the Thanksgiving table to not set off relatives, or meeting someone new and having to ask about their political affiliation. In life and in nature, things are rarely binary, and maybe it's time that the U.S. political parties catch up.
While it might seem odd to imagine the U.S. without the two distinct political parties, originally things were much different with founding fathers, such as Alexander Hamilton as well as George Washington, despising the idea of the U.S. having any political parties at all. Washington specifically warned in his farewell address in 1796 that political factions, as they were called then, would lead to a “frightful despotism.” Despite those warnings, political parties in U.S. formed. The early Federalist Party, which would eventually become the modern-day Republican Party, and the Democratic-Republican Party, which became the modern-day Democratic Party.
With growing political unrest and general dissatisfaction towards public officials, most people might feel trapped into voting for a candidate they do not fully agree with, just to pick who they feel would be the “lesser of two evils.”
Furthermore, constant trade-offs with the house and senate majorities in favor of either party have led to gridlock. As both sides struggle to accomplish their goals, the idea of a third party might seem more appealing. Another current thorn in the side of the two-party system is the growing presence and public awareness of gerrymandering, essentially allowing for parties to ensure their win while outlining districts where they are most likely to win.
The idea of more parties in U.S. democracy is nothing new, with the most recent large-scale attempt of forming a new party being from democratic mayoral candidate of New York, Andrew Yang. In 2021, Yang founded a new party, The Forward Party, to be a centrist third option to those isolated by both far right and far left ideologies, and while this party has struggled to find footing in major elections, the idea of a more prominent or more available party besides republican or democrat was appealing to voters.
While looking at elections both big and small, it's easy to wonder what things would look like in a country where there was an easier way for smaller parties to find a substantial foothold in the U.S. political landscape. By offering more choices and lending more weight and attention to their beliefs and causes, it might help ease the rising tensions between the two major current parties, who both account for a large spectrum of beliefs. While not every Democrat is a leftist, not every Republican is a conservative. Politics is a spectrum and a two-party system struggles to allow ways for new ideas to break into the voting market come election season.
While many might be apprehensive about doing away with the two-party system that has long stood over U.S. elections, it’s important to note that not all countries have this struggle. One
country to look at in this case would be Germany where, according to The Federal Returning Officer, in 2017 Germany’s election claimed electoral victory with 5.9 million votes out of 61.5 million voters, approximately 10% of the registered voters were able to determine the election, compared to the U.S. where Trump became the republican nominee from 14 million votes, which is approximately only 6% of the eligible U.S. voter population. In an article for Vox, author of the book “Breaking the Two Party Doom Loop,” Lee Drutman writes, “In short, when voters in both countries were given the full range of options, Donald Trump was less popular in the United States than the AfD was in Germany.”
In life and in nature, things are rarely binary, and maybe it's time that the U.S. political parties catch up.
The U.S. is not without its own third parties, the most well known being the Green Party, Libertarians, as well as the Reform Party. Before Biden dropped out of the race, The Pew Research Center reported that 68% of voters felt unsatisfied with current presidential candidates Trump and Biden, whereas 2024 Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver won the primary by 60.6%. Oliver is running on an anti-war platform, a stark difference from Biden’s unwavering support for Israel, which has turned away a lot of younger voters for whom the war in Palestine is a key issue.
The U.S. is in a difficult place politically and many people, myself included, express frustration at going to the polls every year to check a box, knowing that most of our concerns will go unanswered and promises unfulfilled, while voting for the lesser of two evils to keep our basic human rights intact. Voting should not come down to a game of which candidate is likely to do the least evil, rather there should be ample room for the frustrations of the American people to be heard and have a candidate who listens, or one who is willing to do more rather than going to the polls to kick a political can down the road.
Illustration by David Thomas/The Guardsman
What is the Biggest Concern You Have Today About the U.S.?
By Franchon Smith franchonphotography@gmail.com
“The harmful and hateful—the rhetoric that’s going around causing divisiveness within our country, really hindering progress and, you know, things from moving forward.”
—Hing Potter Assistant Director of Student Services
for the Student Life and Leadership
Department
“My biggest concern for the US is the worsening of material conditions for the working class.”
—Joseph Molecular Biology
“There’s nothing I’m concerned about the United States because I’m just a foreigner, I have no green card or citizenship, I just study for one or two years and I’ll move back to my country.”
—Jing Jing Xu
“My concern for the United States is that we start to come together as a people and just remember that Americans are a very diverse group of people and that, although we might have differences, we have more similarities than differences.”
—Jacob C. Morris Employee with Recycle Department
“My number one concern with the U.S. right now is their lack of concern for Palestine and how there’s basically a genocide happening but it seems like we’re more concerned with the presidential election and Trump rather than Palestine.”
—Vivian Peng Nursing
High Health Insurance Costs Plagues the Middle Class
By Isaac Ortiz isaacortiz117@gmail.com
As I entered the Mission-Bay Kaiser optometry department, the receptionist called me over.
“Did you know you had a copay of 181 dollars?” he asked me when I gave him my name. I didn't even have the chance to hand him my kaiser card. Apparently, my bronze tier Kaiser health care premium did not cover vision. At this point, I was hoping I was blind so the visit wouldn't have been a waste of money.
I used my credit card, gritting my teeth knowing that I’d probably need to pay again if I needed glasses. And unfortunately, I did, but at least I got 20% off the prescribed glasses I picked. My total bill wound up being $388.20. Fortunately , SF City Options does reimburse vision. My premium is $259.63 per month – that’s $3,115.56 a year.
For many middle-class Americans, healthcare coverage is a downward spiral into debt. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), about 14 million Americans have more than $1,000 in medical debt. Though debt isn't necessarily reflected in all of its iterations, it could be money borrowed or simply put on a credit card.
As I left the hospital, I thought it would be easier to work three days a week and make less money to qualify for financial assistance for Covered California. I just barely make enough money to be overlooked for financial assistance.
The middle-class is sandwiched on a brutal threshold: not making the cut for financial aid or not affording quality health insurance. Many middle-class Americans would rather go
uninsured than go into debt. The spending for national defense alone is $715 billion so far in 2024. There needs to be a shift in the conversation on how the current federal budget is spent each year. Currently it has Americans scratching their heads.
Many other departments in the budget are also overlooked. Transportation, education, and community development only made up 7% of the federal budget in 2024, according to fiscal data. While Medicare received $6 billion more than national defense, it is still troubling to see it nearly on par. Pharmaceutical manufacturers and providers have a significant seat at the table in policy decisions. When it comes to manufacturers, the process of negotiating prescription prices can be very withdrawn.
The Biden administration has done a good job with this by enacting the The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. According to a summary from Senate Democrats, “The bill will also finally allow Medicare to negotiate for prescription drug prices and extend the expanded Affordable Care Act program for three years, through 2025.”
Whoever wins the Presidential Election could heavily dictate whether or not more money is invested in keeping these programs around. If President Trump were to get elected another term, it could be the end of the Inflation Reduction Act. While this is not an endorsement of Vice President Harris, the consequences still lie heavy on my shoulders as a voter. Currently, I am registered as a Green-Party voter, but my presidential candidate, Dr. Jill Stein, has slim chances of winning – essentially the same odds of winning the California Lottery.
The future of these programs lies with the next president’ success in the presidential election. I’ll wait with my fingers crossed in early November.
Photography
Women’s Soccer Head Coach Jeff Wilson Speaks to Talent Depth of Roster Heading Into 2024 Season
By Kyra Young kyrajyoung@gmail.com
Clad in glossy black training jerseys with a bold red “City” sprawled across the front, the women’s soccer team hit the campus turf for a light training session a day before their scrimmage versus Southern Minnesota State University.
In his eighth season leading the team, Head Coach Jeff Wilson would argue this year’s squad is coming into the season strong.
“Every player has a part in our team success – it’s the team philosophy we’ve embraced since I’ve become the coach, and this is by far the deepest roster we’ve ever had in regards to talent,” Wilson said. More than half the roster is composed of returning players from an impressive 2023 season, providing a solid foundation for the incoming first-years.
The Rams closed last fall with an overall record of 15-6-2 and walked away with an impressive heft of honors by the Coast Conference North Division and Northern California Regional. Among those players of recognition is sophomore Arpan Bahia, a central defender, honored as the Defensive Player of the Year and selected to both the All-State and Cal North All-Region team.
Sophomore Amaya Jarzombek, a midfielder and forward, returns after earning the Coast Conference North Division Offensive Player of the Year and selection for the Cal North All-Region team. Alongside her returns sophomore Paige Pineda Aliamus, a forward, who earned the recognition of Freshman Player of the Year last fall.
Wilson gave special mention to last fall’s goalkeeper Paolina Molina, who tore her ACL over the summer and therefore will not participate this season. However, top recruit Bailey Perales, an incoming freshman from Washington High School in Fremont, California, will provide hands in the net this season, as well as Vira Motuapuaka from El Camino High School in South San Francisco.
Four captains will lead the squad through their journey, including Bahia, Pineda Aliamus, returning sophomore midfielder Naré Avetian and Nadia Barron Santiago, a sophomore transfer from Las Positas College in Livermore, California.
As for the new players, Wilson highlighted a few top-notch additions like freshman Rhiana Gardon, a midfielder and defender from Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, Calif., freshman Kendall Carr, an outside back from Clovis High School in Clovis, Calif. and freshman Sydney Grundland Lanuza, a central midfielder from Washington High School in San Francisco.
Heading into the season, Wilson ramped up the non-league schedule in preparation for the challenges that lie ahead.
“My philosophy is to get them battle tested early. You might get some results you don’t necessarily want but you know your team’s getting better – and that’s the same approach for this year. We have an even tougher schedule than we did last year,” Wilson said, giving mention to the talent of Las Positas College and Hartnell College in Salinas, California..
“We’re looking to dominate in our league. Our preseason schedule and our non-league schedule are the most difficult they’veever been,” Wilson said. “We’ll start off the season with two scrimmages against four-year, division two schools, and then head down to Los Angeles and open up with two of southern California’s favorites.”
Said scrimmages will consist of Thursday’s match versus visiting Southern Minnesota State in Salinas, Calif., followed by a local scrimmage on Monday versus San Francisco State University. Wilson hopes the scrimmages will serve not only as tests for the team’s ability to adapt to the competition, but also as an example of the team’s potential.
“We’re all working toward a common goal, and that’s going to be the philosophy for us as well this season. This is probably the best team chemistry I’ve seen, the camaraderie
Excitement in Upcoming Football Season for the Rams
By Cooper McDonald cjknowledge301@gmail.com
The City College of San Francisco’s Football Team had an exciting last season with having an overall 9-2 record with a nine game winning streak, what is there to look forward to for this upcoming season?
With winning all of their home games and only losing two away games in the conference, the Rams have shown they are a force to be reckoned with. They had an average of 34 points ahead of their opponents throughout the season.
Returning Defensive Line Coach, Socrates Vegara Jr. said “I’m excited.”
Last year’s head football coach Jimmy Collins has left and CCSF has brought in an Interim head coach, Eduardo Yagües Nuño.
So, what can the Rams’ rivals expect from a dominating team with a new head coach?
Go RAMS!
is really, really good,” Wilson said. “And by depth in the roster, we’re talking depth of talent, depth of position to where we can make changes and work together to find a good mix and keep people healthy.”
For team captains Bahia and Avetian, one of the biggest focuses for the early season has been building team connection and a sense of confidence with each other.
“We have a good amount of skill level, now it’s just a matter of chemistry,” Avetian said. “The scrimmages help us come together and see how we function together to move into the future.”
Bahia agreed. “I think we have the skill, we have the IQ – we have everything we need. It’s more about putting it all together and making it work on the field – building that connection with each other and holding it under pressure.”
For Avetian, coming back to play after ACL surgery and a long year of rehab, a strong cohesive mindset is everything for team success.
“I think it’s easy for new players to hold back and not be completely themselves. In order for us to be a whole team, everyone needs to be
themselves and play with confidence, I think that’s really important,” Avetian said. “If you’re holding back, you’re holding the whole team back… I want everyone to feel open and be themselves. I feel like being on the same page makes a huge difference on and off the field.”
Women's soccer coach, Jeff Wilson, talks to team at practice on the CCSF soccer field on Aug. 21, 2024. Bob Kinoshita/The Guardsman.
Women's soccer team practice at the City College field on Aug. 21, 2024. Bob Kinoshita/ The Guardsman.
Women's soccer team practice at the City College field on, Aug. 21, 2024. Bob Kinoshita/The Guardsman.