The Guardsman, Vol. 173, Issue 8, City College of San Francisco

The Guardsman Vol. 173, Issue 8 | May 16 – May 25 2022 | City College of San Francisco | Since 1935 | FREE | www.theguardsman.com

NEWS BRIEF

Murrell Green Gets Nod as CCSF Trustee

After 118 Public Comments, Budget Cuts Spark Protest at City College

By JohnTaylor Wildfeuer jt.wildfeuer@gmail.com

By Andrew Segala andrewa.segala@hotmail.com

Trustee Murrell Green was appointed May 20 by Mayor London Breed to a Board of Trustees caught between a faculty crisis and a financial one.

His predecessor Tom Temprano has taken a role on the leadership team of Equity California, a large statewide civil advocacy group for LGBTQ+ rights and protections.

Currently, Green serves as Dean of Student Services for state governing body California Community Colleges and has previous experience as an educator and counselor.

As his predecessor is departing well before his term is set to end in 2024, Green will have an opportunity to prove himself to be more than a mayoral appointee before the electorate gives their referendum.

While his seat is secure, three others, those of President Davila and Trustees Rizzo and Selby, are on the ballot this fall.

Trustee Green’s appointment comes two weeks too late to cast a vote in the board’s resolution in favor of eliminating 38 fulltime, and up to 150 part-time, staff positions, but he will nonetheless be faced with pressure to help mitigate the fallout.

Despite strong protests by faculty and students the Chancellor and Board of Trustees reaffirmed their committment to faculty layoffs.

On May 6 City College of San Francisco’s Board of Trustees held a public meeting to vote on proposed budget cuts aimed at reducing $1 million of the college's current deficit a $1 million deficit.

A group of City College faculty, students, and supporters get together in front of Conlan Hall at Ocean Campus to send a message to the board of trustees after their vote to approve layoffs and budget cuts.

May 6. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman.

Cuts continues on page 3

The End of AMT? - Part II

City College Struggles to Keep Aircraft Maintenance Technology Aloft

By Emily Margaretten margarettene@gmail.com When the college lost its 40-year-lease at SFO, it did not have a backup plan in place. So, it settled on a facility it already owned, Evans Center. The pushback was immediate.

Faculty and students raised concerns about sharing cramped quarters for programs that needed more space, not less.

They also questioned the environmental impact of having

classes next to loud aircraft engines that used lead-added fuel.

"The best of the bad options is Evans."

Bayview-Hunters Point community members opposed the relocation as well, citing a

long history of environmental racism directed against a lowincome community of color.

Residents have suffered from high rates of cancer, asthma and other respiratory illnesses because of polluting industries.

Still, City College administrators continued to promote Evans Center as the best option for the program. “Unfortunately, we do not have a lot of good options,” said Vice Chancellor John al-Amin. “And one of the best of the bad options is Evans.”

Dumping Yard The college investigated alternative locations for the AMT program only after it was evicted from SFO. Mark Swerling, a consultant for the college, examined 20 sites between December 2020 and February 2021.

His report stated that a 20,000 square foot facility would cost approximately $500,000 in annual rent while Aloft continues on page 2

Lowriders Cruise SF Mission Street to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

By Karem Rodriguez karem.rodriguez@gmail.com On the afternoon of Saturday, May 7, the San Francisco Lowrider Council hosted their annual car show to raise funds for John O’Connell High School, and to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the Mission District.

Lowriders crowded onto Mission Street, with a car display along the sides of the street while colorful rides rolled Festival continues on page 6

A red lowrider with Mexican flags on the front of the car, strolls down Mission street during the event organized by the San Francisco Lowrider Council to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the Mission District. San Francisco, May 7. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman

NEWS | 2

Vol. 173, Issue 8 | May 16 – May 25

Teaching Spaces at Evans Center. Students like Arun Basnet are commuting to other campuses to finish their AMT education. May 16. Emily Margaretten/The Guardsman Aloft continued from page 1 purchasing one would cost between $5.8 million and $9 million. Ultimately, the college decided that leasing or purchasing a new facility was not feasible.

Chalam Tubati, a resident of Bayview-Hunters Point, had a different take on Swerling’s list.

He checked all the addresses and discovered that 17 out of the 20 proposed sites were located in Bayview-Hunters Point. The remaining three were nearby but technically not within the boundaries.

“Whenever there is an environmental burden, it always appears in Bayview,” Tubati said.

Zoning laws dictate where certain industrial activities can occur in San Francisco.

Bayview-Hunters Point is one of these areas.

The Controversy of CEQA To assess the environmental impact of bringing the AMT program to Evans Center, the college conducted a preliminary analysis, known as an Initial Study that followed the regulatory guidelines of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Findings from the study said there was no significant environmental impact that could not be mitigated.

The two issues that needed to be addressed related to the disturbance of nesting birds

and to an increase in ambient noise from the running of engine equipment. Both could be mitigated through the implementation of protective measures, according to the report.

But as former biology instructor Jean Barish explained, the Mitigated Negative Declaration was not a comprehensive Environmental Impact Report, which is costly, time consuming and labor intensive.

"Whenever there is an environmental burden, it always appears in Bayview."

“The Mitigated Negative Declaration is basically a selfserving document,” Barish said.

“The developer says these are the reasons why there's no environmental impact, and therefore we think we're entitled to a Mitigated Negative Declaration.

“It doesn't involve nearly as much public input as a fullblown Environmental Impact Report,” Barish continued. “So, it falls short of what I think should have been done.”

Bradley Angel, the executive director of Greenaction, a health and environmental nonprofit organization, also was critical of

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what he saw as a flawed CEQA study and the college’s attempt to circumvent a proper environmental review.

“The Initial Study document stated that the project is not located in a sensitive environment, has no cumulative impact, and will not have a significant effect on the environment. And it's just mind boggling,” Angel said.

“Bayview-Hunters Point, according to the state of California, is one of the most at-risk communities in the entire state,” he continued. “It has pretty much all the polluting industries and toxic sites in San Francisco.”

This list includes a Superfund site and sewage treatment plant as well as diesel pollution from freight transport and freeways.

“So, for City College to claim that it's not a sensitive environment just makes a mockery of reality,” Angel added.

The college meanwhile maintained that it met all the necessary CEQA requirements and its analysis was scientifically sound. It framed the criticisms of the public as social, economic, and political considerations beyond the scope of its environmental study.

Tip Of the Iceberg The board of trustees approved and adopted the CEQA report in December 2021.

Nearly a year after its

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discontinuation at SFO, the college tasked a committee to evaluate the AMT program’s educational merits.

The committee’s report found that the program had a positive impact on students’ aspirations.

It led to gainful employment in the aviation industry and fulfilled labor market needs. It also had the necessary staffing and financial resources to run. It just lacked a physical location.

"How is it possible that students are giving up

The President of the Academic Senate, Simon Hanson, presented the committee’s findings to the board of trustees in December 2021 with the recommendation that the college revitalize the program.

The committee also asked the college to look for alternative locations if Evans Center did not work out.

The board seemed poised to reinstate the AMT program. But then at their most recent meeting, they approved a plan to layoff 38 full-time faculty members and not replace 12 retirees. The AMT program lost its two full-time faculty members, effectively dissolving the entire department.

The college’s tactic of

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cutting faculty without looking down the pipeline was a concern of Hanson’s. “Instead of saying, what do we need to support the program, we’re saying who can I lay off? And then we’re going to come back and say, well how am I going to run a program now that I’ve taken away the resources?

“And I think that model is one we’re having more of. The AMT program is the tip of the iceberg,” Hanson said.

Hope Is Not A Plan While 21 trailers with aircraft equipment collect dust and graffiti at City College, students have given up hope that the AMT program will reopen.

Arun Basnet was in his second semester of coursework when the program shut down.

“I’ve been waiting two years seeing what their plan was and how they were going to move forward,” Basnet said.

Basnet now drives two hours roundtrip to Gavilan College, from SFO where he works as a flight dispatcher, to take the classes he needs for his airframe and powerplant certification. He still does not understand why the college never found a new facility for the AMT program.

“I'm an immigrant – and we have dreams of coming here and studying,” Basnet said. “This is a first world country. How is it possible that students are giving up on their dreams?”

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NEWS | 3

Vol. 173, Issue 8 | May 16 – May 25

The Siege Continues

Death By A Thousand Cuts

By Julie Zigoris jzigoris@mail.ccsf.edu Patricia Miller, Theater Arts department chair, pointed to the irony that faculty were willing to take pay cuts to save classes — and now those very faculty are facing unemployment. “This is just criminal. It's medieval. It's a siege,” Miller said.

The cuts are impacting some of the most popular departments at the school, like music and environmental horticulture and floristry. “We just kept going down and down and down, and I just shriek and howl and stop and yell about get the damned data, right,” said Madeline

calculation.

“We’re getting shut down,” said Miller at the April 13 rally.

"Get the damned data."

Indeed, no program at the school appears immune from the cuts, no matter the size, popularity, or subject matter. Some programs, like Older Adults and non-credit Business courses, have been cut entirely. Others, like Architecture, lost ten positions through cuts.

Other departments sustain-

administration is holding up their end of the bargain. “For 40 years they agreed to have this program and all of a sudden you’re not going to support it?”

The cuts prompted a March 23 resolution by the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) to oppose the downsizing. “The College is now rapidly losing its ability to provide necessary classes and job training to support the City’s economic recovery,” said the resolution, sponsored by Peter Gallotta, John Avalos, Anabel Ibanez, Li Lovett, and Carolina Morales.

With these massive cuts come major losses. Businesses not opened, citizenship not gained, languages not learned, dreams not met. The cuts disproportionately impact women and students of color, the very students that City College is charged to serve. The cuts are happening to some of the most popular departments with the most sought after classes, despite the school’s projected budget surplus.

City College of San Francisco staff and union members set camp outside of Conlan Hall to protest staff cuts. May 3. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman

AFT2121 Vice President Mary Bravewoman, in a red jacket, reacts after hearing the decision of the board of trustees at San Francisco's City College to approve the layoffs and budget cuts. May 6. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman

"Who is served?"

Protest continued from page 1

Music Department Chair Madeleine Mueller in front of her home.

Julie Zigoris/The Guardsman Mueller, chair of the music department, whose program has been cut nearly 75% by her estimate, despite student demand.

“Now if there's a problem with these cuts will come in and talk to us individually. Oh, give me a break. You don't do that after the fact. It's just it's just pretend. And so I will. And I'll say probably what I'm saying to you, how dare you?” Mueller said.

The frustration on the part of many department chairs is that lower enrollment is being used as a rationale by the administration for course cuts, even as the very courses they’re cutting is what is making it difficult for students to complete their programs. “It’s the wrong end of the telescope,” Mueller said.

Mueller asserts it’s a schoolwide issue, pointing to the Theatre Arts department that has been reduced 52% in the last three years, according to her

Staff Staff Writer Beth Lederer

ing significant cuts include: Automotive, ESL, Architecture, English, the sciences, and even business programs have all withstood cuts.

Brown, who has had his operational budget cut by more than 75%, does not think the

The cuts are necessary according to the Board of Trustees in order to close the $65 million deficit in City College’s budget. Yet the Board has not responded to AFT 2121’s alternative budget that prevents any faculty eliminations.

“It all raises the question what will City College look like in the next five to 10 years? Will its role and its mission change as a result? And who will be served?” Gonzales said.

A protester at the March 15 rally to "Stop the Cuts." Julie Zigoris/ The Guardsman

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Prior to the meeting, many students and faculty took to social media to voice their impassioned opposition to the proposed cuts, so much so that it sparked a campout on the City College campus as an act of civil disobedience.

When the public webinar began it did so with public comments from 118 individuals, including students and faculty, While the time allotment for comment was extended for another hour by Student Trustee Malinalli Villalobos, the effect was the same with the majority opposing the budget cuts.

After public comments and

debate between board members concluded the final vote came down 5-1 in favor of faculty layoffs, with Trustee member Alan Wongthe lone opposition.

The proposed cuts by the Board of Trustees, if enacted as approved, would lay off full time and part time faculty which would necessarily limit the type of classes students can take as courses require teachers to have specific qualifications to teach them. Most of the departments on high on the list of the proposed cuts range from theater, business, science and technical training, with aeronautics being the most hard hit losing all of its faculty members.

An AFT2121 member shows their proposed alternative budget to avoid faculty layoffs during the gathering to watch the online meeting of the Board of Trustees to vote over layoffs and budget cuts.

May 6. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman

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NEWS | 4

Vol. 173, Issue 8 | May 16 – May 25

City College's Controversial Retiree Healthcare Fund

By Ellen Yoshitsugu ellenyoshi@gmail.com In the summer of 2020, City College of San Francisco, like many other institutions, anticipated a serious revenue shortfall caused by the COVID19 pandemic’s global economic fallout. To bridge the gap, faculty union American Federation of Teachers Local 2121 negotiated a pay cut and college administrators withdrew $21 million from a fund set aside to pay for the health care of future retirees.

Nearly two years later, the college’s oversight agencies claim that this withdrawal was a loan in need of repayment, the fund was depleted and the college’s fiscal management is in question.

The fund is known by the acronym “OPEB,” which stands for Other Post Employment Benefits. It’s an important accounting term for healthcare promised to employees in retirement. It continues to be a point of contention in the ongoing budget debates around the college’s financial future. Over the course of the past three months, this reporter has dug deep into its history, the numbers and interviewed experts to understand what’s going on.

Origin In 2005, headlines warned that these retiree benefits loomed like a tidal wave of debt over public sector employers like cities and school districts after the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued a ruling known as Statement 45 that requires government employers to note accumulating future debts as liabilities on each year’s current books.

This seemingly small change in accounting practices has had big fiscal consequences for government employers, including City College. With one ruling, many balance sheets across the country went from black to appearing to be in the red.

GASB 45 has pressured employers to pay for retiree healthcare twice each year. Once for former employees who are currently in retirement, and a second time to, step by step, pre-fund healthcare for all future retirees by setting up OPEB trust

funds.

“In case something horrible happened to City College, a bomb dropped on it or something, then the [health care] funds would come out of it,” Susana Atwood, CPA, retired UC auditor and City College accounting instructor, said.

Confusing! Imagine two hoses running, one for this years’ bills and the other slowly filling a large bathtub against future disaster.

City College and OPEB City College’s first attempt at setting up an OPEB trust fund ended when multiple conflicts of interest were discovered between members of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) and the fund trustees, according to 2013 court documents.

The money was refunded to the college in 2011.

In 2013, the college joined the San Francisco Retiree Health Care Trust Fund (SFRHCTF), as a sub-trust alongside city employees such as police and Muni drivers, agreeing that no funds would be withdrawn until 2020, SFRHCTF documents show. Since then, the college has been making its regular contributions, and as the public has learned now, putting in some extra money as well, towards filling the OPEB “bathtub.”

OPEB Withdrawal In September 2020, the City College Board of Trustees (BOT) put forward two resolutions, one setting restrictions on disbursements from its SFRHCTF sub-trust and one declaring an extraordinary financial circumstance and requesting $21 million to pay for retiree healthcare for FY19/20 and FY20/21.

They pledged no further disbursements until the subtrust is fully funded. There is no mention of a loan or repayment.

In preparation, the college’s actuary determined that the move was fiscally prudent and the college was meeting its obligations to its future retirees. In his response, the actuary noted that since 2016 City College had contributed $16.9 million more into its OPEB trust than required and this had brought in

The college’s OPEB sub-trust balances at the end of each quarter for the last three years, based on the RHCTF’s investment reports.

Ellen Yoshigutsu/The Guardsman.

additional investment income of $5.3 million, which together added up to more than the $21 million requested. The RHCTF, on its end, confirmed these extra payments and also approved the withdrawal. Rather than a loan, it was a refund of excess contributions.

City College demonstrated fiscal prudence in two ways.

First by setting aside the extra OPEB funds, and second by carefully making sure that withdrawing funds would not harm its ability to meet its obligations to future retirees.

City College demonstrated fiscal prudence in two ways.

In an April 2021 letter, the Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT) called out City College to the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, alleging that the college has borrowed from its OPEB trust to balance its prior year books and has no plans to repay those funds. She also claims that in doing so the college is “fully depleting its OPEB fund.”

The FCMAT claim is false. The graph below shows the college’s OPEB sub-trust balances at the end of each quarter for the last three years, based on the RHCTF’s investment reports, clearly shows that at no time was the fund anywhere near “fully depleted."

At a recent Budget Forum Martin said the college made “a commitment to repay those funds at an accelerated rate if possible.” A recent budget plan shows the college is planning to make extra OPEB contributions in the next two years.

At no time was the fund anywhere near "fully depleted."

“No unnecessary transfers at the expense of educational opportunity” counters the AFT 2121 in its Alternative Budget, arguing against making nonrequired OPEB payments at this time.

Atwood says that both Martin and Dr. John al-Amin, vice chancellor of finance and Administration, have admitted during multiple budget conversations that the funds do not need to be repaid.

In October 2021, the ACCJC threatened the college with “future adverse action” in part

The “percent funded” number is superimposed over a timeline of OPEB related events at the college. Ellen Yoshigutsu/The Guardsman. because its “other post-employment benefits trust is only 18.3% funded.” The “percent funded” is a ratio of the market value of the assets in an institution’s OPEB trust to its “unfunded OPEB Liability” (the bathtub), a measure of how well it is progressing towards its full funding goal. The college only needs to show that it is on track.

The college’s actuary is the one who really knows, and his calculations found that CCSF’s OPEB fund would be fully funded by 2046, 22 years from now, which is in line with other OPEB funds in the city.

"They fought hard for [benefits], negotiated diligently."

In the timeline above, the “percent funded” number, from the ACCJC’s own fiscal reports on City College, is superimposed over a timeline of OPEB related events at the college. Seeing the ACCJC’s values for this measure in the context of the college’s OPEB history reveals a number of serious discrepancies, and calls the validity of the ACCJC’s criticism on that point into question.

Medicare only covers basic

medical expenses for elders and the disabled requiring extra coverage.

Following the civil rights and women’s movements in the 1960’s and 70’s, and a wave of public sector strikes, City College employees won collective bargaining rights in 1975.

Regarding healthcare benefits, retired CCSF Labor Studies professor Bill Shields states, “they fought hard for them, negotiated diligently, and once obtained, have fought to keep them.”

Weaponizing Health OPEB contributions are deducted from employee paychecks and in 2013 both the college’s SEIU and AFT locals forfeited their own prescription drug plans to contribute to the OPEB fund.

GASB 45 and related statements have “weaponized retiree health,” according to Shields, similar to how the US Postal Service has been required to prefund retiree benefits 75 years in advance, a requirement recently overturned by the US Congress.

Labor Campaign for Single Payer’s Cindy Young said, “Under a single payer system, health care for all seniors would be included in providing care to everyone, so it would no longer be on the college’s books.”

NEWS | 5

Vol. 173, Issue 8 | May 16 – May 25

Pandemic Changes Students' Work Preferences

By Xian Ke @xianke; xke2@mail.ccsf.edu City College opened in 1935 during the longest and most severe economic downturn in modern history. In more recent times, the school and its students have adapted to an uncertain health pandemic by moving classes and services online. Even as economic conditions continue to change, students have developed some lifestyle habits during the last two years that may last well into the future.

As San Francisco’s only

Ocean Campus highlighted how things have been changing.

Before the pandemic, a visit to the Rosenberg Library would’ve seen at least a dozen students while classes were in session.

Instead, the library had just recently reopened its in-person Collaboratory space. On a Monday afternoon, even as a sign broadcasted that library services were available, there weren’t any studious students to be seen amidst a sea of computer-equipped workspaces.

The Career Development Center on the first floor of the

Kelly Ye prepares a solution for a chemistry lab class at City College’s Ocean Campus. May 9. Xian Ke/The Guardsman public community college, the school offers courses in more than 100 occupational disciplines. Among the school’s services are Career Counseling and Career Services. The former consists of career counselors who help many students at the start of their college journeys.

"It's not going to be business as usual."

The latter is a team of Employment and Training Specialists who help students bridge the gap between their program of study and their next step in work and career.

A recent visit to the school’s

Multi-Use Building had more buzz than the library. Two students were preparing to register for classes, and two staff members were available.

Guillermo Sosa has been working as a strength & conditioning coach and physical therapist at Fitness SF in Soma.

He’s looking to enroll in classes in Fall 2022, and expressed preference for in-person classes.

While it’s possible to learn remotely, Sosa believes that it’s more effective for him to do so in person. “It’s easier to ask questions, and also to communicate with fellow students,” Sosa said.

Amy Coffey, Assistant Director of Student Activities, was working from her on-campus office in the Student Union. She reflected on how successfully students have

Rosenberg Library’s Collaboratory space has reopened. Xian Ke/The Guardsman

Based on survey data from The San Francisco Standard Voter Poll of 1,000 employed respondents.

Xian Ke/The Guardsman adapted to the pandemic, and also on the school’s plans moving forward to provide more in-person classes. “We’ve heard clearly that some students feel very strongly about being back on campus, and some students feel very strongly about not commuting and being remote,” said Coffey. “It’s not going to be business as usual.” Indeed, Coffey is excited about the potential for hybrid experiences to successfully meet student needs.

A short survey of 20 students (10 on campus and 10 online) confirmed Coffey’s observation about the diversity of student preferences. Perhaps as to be expected, those who were surveyed on campus tended to prefer being in person, and those who were surveyed through an

of Art). Meanwhile, Chemistry students in the Science Hall were completing their Lab exercises.

While the football players are used to being in-person, the Chemistry students have lectures online – and also had online labs earlier during the pandemic.

"We've heard clearly that some students feel very strongly."

Though Kelly Ye sometimes prefers remote work, she believes that in-person labs are more educational than virtual labs. “You learn a lot solely from

while working in-person was the norm for most employees in 2019, these days most employees prefer a remote component to their work.

Zach Lam is the Assistant Director of City College’s Strong Workforce Program, and also works with his Career Services team of six. His team assists students in discovering job roles that fit their interests and personality traits, and can be reached at careerservices@ccsf.edu.

Recently, Nhi Tran of the Healthcare Sector organized a well-attended virtual career fair with employer presentations, and Margaret Potts of the Business, Management & Entrepreneurship sector helped organize an online Startup Pitch Competition.

“With remote work, people can balance their lives a little

10 on-campus responses include high school students visiting campus for athletics. 10 online responses were from students of Alex Mullaney’s Data and Multimedia Journalism class. Survey by Xian Ke/ The Guardsman online class tended to prefer meeting online. Altogether, the preferences were almost exactly evenly split between in-person and remote options!

Thanh Hoang, a Clerk at the Administrative Services Department, also took time for an impromptu in-person conversation before things wrapped up for the day. Hoang has been working on campus 2 days a week as of 2022, and also serves students on Zoom during those days. Hoang is anticipating more in-person work. “I will go in 5 days a week if required,” Hoang said.

On this same afternoon, the biggest groups of students on campus were on the Athletic Field, and in the Science Hall.

CCSF’s championship football team held practice, along with a rotating cast of Track & Field athletes (including from nearby high schools and the Academy

labs,” Ye said. “I thought the online lab experience for most of Covid was awful.” Chemistry Lab Manager Doug Love offered some further insight.

“Colleges can’t be accredited and have labs online,” Love said.

“Jobs in natural sciences basically require being in person.”

"I don't think we're going back to 2019."

As the pandemic has illustrated, many job roles can be productive while working remotely.

The SF Standard commissioned a 1000-person survey of registered voters with demographics representative of the SF population.

This survey showed that

more easily, but they also miss out on connection with their colleagues,” observed Lam on a Zoom call. “Not everybody has the same comfort level with remote or in-person work.” For Lam, this question is just one of many job factors that students will have to consider and ask about during the interview process – and preferences might change over time as people’s lives evolve. As a colorful anecdote, Lam shared an example of a healthcare student who discovers that they faint at the sight of blood. The Career Services team might then guide the student toward radiology, a healthcare role that doesn’t require interacting with blood.

What will the future of work entail for City College students?

“I don’t think we’re going back to 2019,” Lam predicted. “I think we’ll end up with a variety.”

6 | CULTURE

Vol. 173, Issue 8 | May 16 – May 25

A lowrider bounces and cruises down Mission street while onlookers watch the colorful cars during an event organized by the San Francisco Lowrider Council to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the Mission District. May 7. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman

Festival continued from page 1 down in a slow-motion cruise on the middle of the street between Cesar Chavez and 24th Streets.

Fans of the lowrider culture and onlookers gathered to see the bouncing cars and to dance to the rhythm of Latin music coming from the cars' speakers and DJs on the sidewalks.

The eye-catching cars have become a symbol of the Latino community and have been cruising down San Francisco streets for decades.

Last Saturday they got together once again to give back to the community and celebrate their roots.

A lowrider driver holds a sign reading “Nokturnal Stockton” while cruising down Mission street during the annual car show organized by the San Francisco Lowrider Council to raise funds for John O’Connell High School, and to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the Mission District.

San Francisco, May 7. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman

City College’s Film Festival “City Shorts” Takes Over Roxie Theater

By Emma Pratt

espratt8@mail.ccsf.edu

A lowrider passenger smiles while cruising down Mission street. May 7. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman

Antonio El Yepez, stands on Mission street next to his customized bike. May 7. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman

The historic Roxie Theater hosted “City Shorts,” City College’s 21st Annual Student Film Festival on May 7.

Presented by the City College of San Francisco's cinema department, the festival sold over 100 tickets in what was nearly a full house. The event was momentous as audiences returned to sit next to one another and enjoy the big screen, an exciting difference from last year’s festival that was hosted virtually due to pandemic restrictions.

City Shorts lives up to its name with student films ranging in time from two and up to nine minutes in length. Audience members were enthusiastic to watch 17 student films with a brief intermission.

"Really excited to see everyone again."

A red lowrider with Mexican flags on the front of the car, strolls down Mission street. May 7. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman

A “Frisco’s Finest” sign stands out on the back of an orange lowrider parked on Mission street during the event organized by the San Francisco Lowrider Council to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the Mission District in San Francisco. May 7. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman

Varying topics included narrative style films like “You’re the One,” “Dreamlike Fish” and “Moon Man,” among others.

Also included were documentary style films.audiences received two versions of the documentary Greenway Freeway by David Waldorf, Maura Cotter and Deb Garfinkle.

Speaking at the event was CCSF professor, filmmaker, writer and curator Denah Johnston, who said that both versions of the documentary were showcased because the Roxie Theater hosts “something different from ordinary cinema,” which rings true for the Roxie Theater’s mission of being a non-profit, community arthouse cinema.”Johnston said both versions of Greenway Freeway “give insight into a group project manifesting in different ways.”

The festival awarded student filmmakers with four “best of” awards, two of them being the

opening screening“Vault” by Nicholas Reed, winning ‘Best Narrative’ and “Angry Alice” by Maura Cotter and Erik Grow, winning ‘Best of Fest.’

City Shorts also awarded three students scholarships. The John Carlson experimental filmmaking scholarship was granted to Hannah Burhorn for the film “Swimming In It.” “I’m really honored to have been selected and am super thankful to the CCSF cinema department,” Burhorn said. Burhorn also gave special thanks to the instructors who taught experimental filmmaking during the Fall 2021 semester, when “Swimming In It” was produced.

This year's “City Shorts” festival is dedicated to the memory of John Carlson, a member of the City College cinema department for many years. The Carlson scholarship keeps John’s work alive by assisting current City College film students.

Amongst audience members was John Carlson’s daughter who was “really excited to see everyone again, to see experimental film honored and to see the tradition continue.”

Honorable mentions were given to Kristian Hernandez for “Planned Obsolescence,” an experimental film that examines how we as humans affect the world around us, and to Summer Choi for another experimental film, “Dreamlike Fish,” which confronts the conflict between dreams and philosophies. “It was a really good experience to see other students work,” Choi said.

Choi is especially happy that City College gives students the opportunity to view each other's work and to have their own work showcased.

All student films shown at “City Shorts” this year received roaring applause from the audience. City College of San Francisco is thankful to the Roxie Theater for hosting the event each year and to Lex Sloan, cinema department alumni and executive director of the theater.

Journalism Department ccsf.edu/journal

ccsfjournalism.com

2022-2023

frontpagegallery.com

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City College’s award-winning students

photo by Natasha Dangond

Journalism students capture 22 awards, plus the coveted Pacesetter Award, at Journalism Association of Community Colleges state convention.

Professionals share experience with eager journalism majors

Attention!

T

he journalism department at City College dates back to 1935.

For more than 80 years, hundreds of our students have pursued successful careers in the news media. Many of them got their start on our award-winning campus publications.

Our students consistently do well in statewide journalism competitions, which speaks to the quality of the education that they receive here. The campus newspaper and magazine have won numerous awards for writing, editing, photography and publication design. They have been recognized by the Journalism Association of Community Colleges’ as among the top student publications in the state.

News Writing and Reporting, Feature Writing, Photojournalism, and Contemporary News Media are among some of the courses offered in our program that will earn you a degree or certificate in journalism. There are also courses like Newspaper Laboratory (Jour 24), Editorial Management (Jour 25) and Magazine Editing and Production that lead to work on the campus newspaper The Guardsmanand Etc. Magazine.

Additionally, introductory courses in Copy Editing (Jour 23), Fundamentals of Public Relations (Jour 26), Data and MultimediaJournalism (Jour 35), Investigative Reporting (Jour. 36), and Internship Experience (J31) bolster specialized journalistic training.

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3 Frequent questions 3 Department awards

• Writers • Photographers • Cartoonists • Layout designers • Advertisement sales reps

Questions?

Contact Juan Gonzales 415-517-4426

Join City College’s Etc. Magazine and The Guardsman Newspaper to boost your portfolio!

Enroll in: Jour 24 and /or Jour 29A

415-239-3446

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3 About the faculty 3 Mentoring program

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3 Fall courses 3 Notable graduates

Journalism Department

Students receive state’s top recognition for journalism

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City College’s student publications The Guardsman and Etc. Magazine each won General Excellence awards, and together won 15 more at the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) Spring National College Media Convention.

The convention was co-hosted with the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) and California College Media Association (CCMA) and took place in Long Beach from March 3 – 5.

Last year City College’s journalism department pulled in over 80 awards between the Spring and Fall semesters. Given the track record, therefore, these 17 decorations are likely only the first of many to be awarded to City College journalists in 2022.

Find the story online at:

http://theguardsman.com/4_news_jaccawards_wildfeuer/

To join The Guardsman, email Juan Gonzales at: accionjg@aol.com To join Etc. Magazine, email Jessica Lifland at: jess@jessicalifland.com

Journalism Association of Community Colleges awards 1997 1996

THE GUARDSMAN

JACC Pacesetter Award

2017 2015

2014 2009

JACC General Excellence

2021 2020 2019 2018 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

2009 2008 2006 2005 2003 2001 2000 1999 1998

THE GUARDSMAN ONLINE

NorCal General Excellence

2021 2020 2015 2014 2013 2012 2010

2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2000 1998

ETC. MAGAZINE

JACC General Excellence

www.TheGuardsman.com JACC Online General Excellence

2021 2020 2018 2017 2015

2014 2011 2005 2003 1999

NorCal Online General Excellence

2021 2020 2018 2015 2014

2012 2010 2008 2004 1998

2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2015 2014

2013 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006

Frequently asked questions about the journalism program What is so special about City College’s journalism program?

Our program offers a state-of-the-art computer lab, two award-winning publications, instructors who are working journalists, a coaching program for students, internship opportunities and a curriculm that keeps pace with the changing needs of today’s newsroom.

Does the journalism program offer transferable courses?

Yes. Four courses in our program are transferable to four-year institutions. The three courses are Journalism 19 (Contemporary News Media), Journalism 21 (News Writing and Reporting), Journalism 35 (Data Journalism) and Journalism 37 (Introduction to Photojournalism).

Do any of the courses in the department fulfill general education requirements?

Yes. Journalism 19 (Contemporary News Media) meets the GE requirement in humanities.

Can I get a degree or certificate in your program?

Yes. The department offers an AA degree in journalism that takes about two years to complete and leads to transferring to a four-year college. A Certificate of Award in Journalism is also available for those students wishing to gain journalistic skills for possible employment within an 18-month period.

If I complete two years of study in your program and want to transfer to a fouryear college, is that possible?

Yes. It is possible to transfer to a four-year institution. We offer an Associate in Arts for Transfer (AA-T) degree. Students in our program have enrolled at San Francisco State University, UC Berkeley, San Jose State University, Humboldt State University, and UC Santa Cruz, to name a few.

Will I encounter any problems enrolling in one of your courses?

No. Enrollment in our deparment is easy.

Class size averages about 20 students per class, which allows for plenty of opportunities to interact with teachers, advisers and fellow students.

What kinds of jobs can I qualify for once I complete your program?

The program prepares students for entrylevel positions in news writing, copy editing, photography, and newspaper design and pagination.

Does the department offer any scholarships?

Yes. The department has a $100 scholarship for continuing students. The application deadline is April 1. The department also makes avaialble information on journalism scholarships offered by local and statewide organizations.

Are internships available to students in the program?

Yes. The department has working relations with numerous neighborhood newspapers and some alternative publications in the

area. Instructors in our department also have connections with the two dailies: the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner.

Are there any other resources offered through the department?

Yes. The department sponsors a mentoring program, a student press club, a media career fair, and a “Brown Bag” lecture series. It also has an extensive library of mediarelated books and videos.

If I need to talk to a journalism adviser is there someone I should see?

Yes. You can contact Department Chair Juan Gonzales, who has been with the program since 1985. Call (415) 517-4426 or (415) 239-3446.

The Guardsman campus newspaper is available online at: www.theguardsman.com Etc. campus magazine is available online at: www.etc-magazine.com

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Journalism Department

Journalists share skills, experience with students Juan Gonzales W ith a career in journalism dating back to 1970 as a reporter and publisher, City College journalism department Chair Juan Gonzales draws upon his varied professional experiences to instruct his students.

As the founder and editor of El Tecolote, a biweekly, bilingual newspaper published since 1970 in San Francisco’s Mission District, he continues to cover the issues that affect the neighborhood.

Gonzales was honored in April 2011 with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism Education by the California Journalism Education Coalition.

Currently, Gonzales is project director of Voices for Justice: The

Juan Gonzales, instructor, department chair

Enduring Legacy of the Latino Press in the United States. The project documents 200 years of Latino journalism through film, a

companion book and an interactive Web site.

In 2020, El Tecolote turned 50 and became one of the longest living bilingual newspapers in the nation.

The four color, 12-page newspaper is also online and posts podcasts about local newspapers.

For those years of service, Gonzales was honored by the Society of Professional Journalists with its “Distinguished Service Award.” Similarly, he received a “Heroes of Excellence” award from KGOTV. Gonzales is a member of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges, the San Francisco Newspaper Association, the Society of Professional

Journalists, the California News Publishers Association, the Associated Collegiate Press, and the California College Media Association.

Gonzales is also a board of director for the San Francisco Press Club In 2009, Gonzales was inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Hall of Fame. He was also honored by KQED-TV as an “Unsung Hero” in the Latino community. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom also recognized Gonzales as a Latino media leader during Hispanic Heritage Month in September.

Gonzales serves as adviser to the campus newspaper, The Guardsman.

Alexander Mullaney Need to get in touch with us? Call us at: Ocean campus 415-239-3446 Mission campus 415-920-6156 Juan Gonzales 415-517-4426 Alexander Mullaney, Instructor

A

lexander Mullaney is a San Francisco-based reporter, community news publisher and journalism instructor.

He holds an associate degree in journalism from City College of San Francisco where he was the editor in chief of studentrun newspaper The Guardsman, a bachelors degree in creative writing from San Francisco State University and a Master’s of Journalism from UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism where his studies focused on investigative reporting.

Alex founded The Ingleside Light in 2008 and has been pioneering a new business model for purely digital San Francisco community news since 2020.

As an instructor in the CCSF journalism department, Alex has taught Feature Writing, Data & Multimedia Journalism, and Investigative Reporting.

Alex oversees the department’s fellowships that is a collaboration with CalHumanities. He also works with the department chair in upgrading and developing new certificates and new courses, like an online course in mass communications.

The Guardsman is honored with a Pacesetter award that recognizes the newspaper as one one of the best in the state awarded by the Journalism

What's New? Certificate of Achievement in Journalism Entrepenuership Certificate of Achievement in Photojournalism Course in Writing for Spanish Bilingual Media

City College of San Francisco students design 16 newspapers and one magazine every year. Students report on college issues and are encouraged to report on events in their local San Francisco and Bay Area communities.

Mentoring program links students with professional journalists

T

he journalism department’s mentoring program has helped many students network with professional journalists and photographers.

“You look at these mentors and they are top-flight. They’re names in the business,” said journalism instructor and writer Jon Rochmis.

Department Chair Juan Gonzales attributes the success of the program to the support it receives from the Bay Area’s media.

The mentor program encourages students to take advantage of the

Bay Area’s large population of professional journalists. Students learn how to pitch story ideas like a pro and have an opportunity to talk one-on-one with writers, editors, photographers and designers.

Gonzales believes being mentored can improve a student’s ability to get a job.

KGO TV news anchor Cheryl Jennings knows just how hard it is to break into journalism. She was rejected by 19 of the 20 television stations she originally applied to.

“I think the program is an

Jessica Lifland

Jessica Lifland, instructor

J

essica Lifland is a San Francisco-based photographer with more than 20 years of experience as a photojournalist working all over the United States and internationally in places such as Kosovo, Burma, Italy, Haiti, Jordan and Palestine.

She was a staff photographer for the Contra Costa Newspaper Group and the Evansville Indiana Courier and Press.

Since returning to the Bay Area in 2002, she has been involved in a variety of projects as both an editor and photographer.

At City College Lifland teaches introductory and intermediate photojournalism courses. This Fall she will also be the adviser of Etc. Magazine.

As a photojournalist, she has photographed a variety of assignments for magazines like Newsweek, Fortune, Forbes, Stern and Le Monde.

She works on-assignment for newspapers such as The New York Times, USA Today and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Lifland is represented by the Polaris Images Agency.

Over the last six years Lifland has worked on a personal project documenting the lives of Cowboy Poets of the American West.

At City College Lifland teaches introductory and intermediate photojournalism courses. She also serves as the adviser of Etc. Magazine.

In recent years, Lifland has worked on a personal project documenting the lives of Cowboy Poets of the American West.

She has a Master’s Degree from Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication.

See examples of her work at: JessicaLifland.com

2022 - 2023 Advising Hours Meet with Juan Gonzales, journalism department chair, to discuss opportunities in the field of journalism.

Ocean Campus 50 Phelan Ave. Bungalow 615

“It’s an outstanding way to learn the business from the inside.”

Monday and Wednesday 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.

Tuesday 1 – 3 p.m.

Former journalism instructor Tom Graham mentors students.

outstanding way to learn about the business from the inside,” Jennings said. “I would highly recommend it. I wish it had been

in place when I attended City College. It makes me re-evaluate what I do every time I explain the business to a student.”

Friday 12 – 2 p.m.

For an appointment, call (415) 517-4426 (415) 239-3446

Journalism Department

Fall 2022 Journalism Classes

D

Follow us on Facebook

• EtcMag • TheGuardsman

The courses below currently appear in the online schedule.

@TheGuardsman

To register for courses go to ccsfjournalism.com Classes start August 17, 2022

TheGuardsman.com Etc-Magazine.com

Jour 21: News Writing and Reporting - 3.0 units

70903 001 Lec. TuTh 9:40 - 10:55 a.m.

Remote Gonzales Techniques of newspaper reporting, developing and writing and a news story, training in information gathering and interviewing sources. CSU

Jour 22: Feature Writing - 3.0 units

70904 551 Lec. TuTh 11:10 - 12:25 p.m.

Remote Gonzales Fundamentals in feature writing for magazines and newspapers with special emphasis on profile and interpretive news features. Practical experience in interview and in-depth research techniques. Training in how to write a freelance story for publication. CSU

Jour 24: News Production I - 3.0 units

70905 001 L/L MW 12:10 - 01:25 p.m.

Remove Gonzales Beginning newspaper laboratory course focused on the publication of the college newspaper The Guardsman.

Provides a practical understanding of the various elements involved in producing a newspaper.

CSU

Jour 26: Fundamentals of Public Relations - 3.0 units

70906 551 Lec. W 09:10 - 12:00 p.m.

Remote Gonzales Prepares students to create an effective public relations campaign which includes writing media releases, “pitch” letters, public service announcements, managing media outlets, coordinating mailings and designing leaflets and posters, as well as setting up news conferences. Special attention given to in-house public relations duties for corporate and non-profit entities.

Jour 31: Internship Experience - 2.0 units

72331 001 Exp. TBA Hours Arranged Remote Gonzales Supervised on-campus or off-campus employment in a branch of journalism or a closely allied field to which the student shows him/her self to be best adapted. CSU

Jour 38: Intermediate Photojournalism - 3.0 units

72332 001 Lec. W 6:10 - 9:00 p.m.

Remote Lifland Emphasizes concepts of photojournalism at an intermediate level. Assignments will involve photographing people and visual story-telling at a professional entry-level appropriate for use in publications such as newspapers and magazines. Emphasizes integration of traditional photojournalism with new media technology reflecting current professional trends in photojournalism. Digital SLR or mirrorless camera required.

Our journalism students produce one issue of Etc. Magazine and eight issues of The Guardsman newspaper each semester.

Where have all our graduates gone?

Jennifer Balderama Copy Editor Washington Post

Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez News Reporter KQED Radio

Tim Brown

Reporter New York Times

Alex Emslie Reporter KQED Radio

Alex K. Fong

Deputy Creative Director for Design San Francisco Chronicle

Sarah Lapidus

Reporter Arizona Republic

Glenn Gullmes

Publisher West Portal Monthly

Department Professional Connections PUBLICATIONS San Francisco Neighborhood Newspaper Association San Francisco Press Club Calfiornia News Publsihers Association Society of Professional Journalists/NorCal Pacific Media Workers Guild Bay News Rising San Francisco Public Press Journalism Association of Community Colleges San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Examiner KQED Radio KALW Radio KPOO Radio KPIX-TV ABC-TV

Former Publiser San Francisco Bay Guardian

John Diaz

Tim Redmond

Joe Eskanazi

Publisher 48Hills

Managing Editor Mission Local

A.C. Thompson

Laura Waxmann

Former Editorial Editor San Francisco Chronicle

Investigative Reporter Politico

Ida Mojadad

Maria Mejia

Staff Photographer San Francisco Chronicle

Cassandra Ordonio

LOCAL JOURNALISTS Bruce Brugmann

Santiago Mejia

Reporter SF Business Times

Kevin Fagan

Publisher Honolulu Advertiser

Brian Dinsmore

News Assignment Manager KPIX-TV

Bonta Hill

Sports Talk Show Host NBC-TV

Reporter San Francisco Examiner

News Reporter Univision-TV

Reporter San Francisco Chronicle

Joaquin Alvarado

Former CEO Center for Investigative Reporting

Ryan Singel

News Reporter WIRED News

Alexis Terrazas Managing Editor El Tecoote

Creative Director Politico

Caroline Grannan

Bill Snyder

Lila LaHood

Lubna Takruri

Copy Editor San Francisco Chronicle

Editor Bay News Rising

Publisher San Francisco Public Press

Questions? Call Juan Gonzales at 415-239-3446 / 415-517-4426

Tim Ball

Senior Content Strategist Onfido

CULTURE | 11

Vol. 173, Issue 8 | May 16 – May 25

FashionSphere 2022: R esurgence

Annual City College Fashion Show Presented Live on Twitch

By Beth Lederer bethlyn2020@gmail.com City College’s fashion department collaborated with Broadcast Electronic Media Arts (BEMA) to present “FashionSphere 2022 Resurgence” premiering on Twitch.tv on May 22.

In March 2020 all in person classes shut down at City College due to COVID-19. At that time the fashion department had to pivot away from the annual live fashion show to producing a TV production of the event. For the last three years the BEMA team has been instrumental in helping put this production on.

Natalie Smith is fashion department chair and instructor for the fashion show production class. Smith’s class produces the annual fashion show. Smith chose to use FashionSphere as the new name for the annual event and her students chose Resurgence to use as the theme for this year's 2022 event.

FashionSphere was used as the theme for 2020’s Annual fashion show.” It defines our own fashion world and what is happening in our own fashion sphere. Resurgence speaks about emerging from the pandemic, going back into the world and things opening up. In regards to fashion, people who are fashion-minded and love fashion can re-emerge and be seen again,”Smith said.

The annual fashion show has seen its fair share of challenges this year, especially with getting enough students to participate in both the design side and production side for the scholarship.

Fashion design students compete each year designing a collection that correlates to the year’s theme for the Annual Fashion Show.

Academy of Art University awards scholarships to fashion design students who win the competition and to one merchandising student annually. Smith spoke about the challenges the fashion design department had with getting enough students to participate in both the design side and the production side of the scholarship.

“The students are still dealing with life's situations and challenges of the pandemic,'' Smith said. Initially there were five to six students vying for the coveted prize though the number dwindled to two contestants, a third contestant had to drop out just a few weeks ago because of a family situation.

“I am heartbroken and disappointed that our participation numbers are so low but it is indicative of the fact that people are struggling even with the great opportunity such as this two-year scholarship that's all paid for,” Smith said.

Even though there are only two contestants left, Smith is

still optimistic about the event on Twitch.tv. “A very exciting show is planned and I hope everyone will tune in to see who wins the scholarship,”Smith commented.

The two remaining fashion design students left are Kendra Rae, whose collection is called “Regeneration” and Kamran Williams, whose collection is entitled “Noir Eleganza”.

Rae’s collection “Regeneration” focuses on sustainability and what’s good for our planet. Rae defines

Regeneration as bringing into renewed existence by taking second hand fabrics and clothing and making them into new clothing.

According to Rae, any piece of clothing is salvageable and she got her fabrics for her collection from Scraps or second hand stores.”The garments that I am choosing to repurpose are items that would be slotted for the landfill,” Rae said.

Rae would even like to see her designs used to change peoples views the way they

Kamran Williams' collection, Noir Eleganza. Models are Mataya Zamoro, Tamika Cox, Alexis Johnson, Brittany Nicole and Alameina White. Courtesy of the Fashion Design Department.

Fashion Design student Kameran Williams. Courtesy of the Fashion Design Department.

Kendra Rae's collection, Regeneration, for City Colleges fashion show, 5 looks and 12 pieces of renewable fabrics. Models from left to right are Miguel Hundelt, Gwen Lei, Sarah Brooks, Sixto Valadez, and Maggie White. Courtesy of the Fashion Design Department.

Illustration by Sarah Clayson/The Guardsman think of upcycled clothing and she envisions her second hand clothing having a place in high fashion.

Rae is very excited about the chance to compete for the scholarship, this was a motivating factor why she chose to be in the competition. Rae also enjoyed working in collaboration with BEMA and the student producer, Dan Horndasch. Rae was pleased with the photo shoot location that Horndasch selected.

Fashion design student Kamran Williams is also competing for the scholarship.

The name of her collection is “Noir Eleganza” According to Kamran the inspiration behind her collection is “essentially a dedication to the black designers that paved the way for black designers today.” Kamran learned so much from these designers that she was inspired to dedicate her collection to their passion and the work they did.

Kamran also shared her pleasure with working with BEMA. “It was absolutely a dream,” she said. “They also pretty much helped bring my vision to life, and it was perfect.”.

Smith speaks highly about the collaboration with the Broadcast Electronic Media Arts (BEMA) team. Smith would like to recognize Dana Jae Labrecque (Dept. Chair), Misha Antonich (CCSF faculty and one of the executive producers), Andrea Medina (faculty).They provided expert instruction, teaching and mentoring.

“The three years of collaboration with the fashion department have been incredibly collegial and productive while also presenting a consistent challenge to put this together with students during a regular semester,” Antonich stated.

Antonich recognizes the commitment that is needed by his students to make this production work. “It’s an incredible amount of work but an equivalent amount of reward. BEMA students are creating all video assets you see in the show, either via video production, via editing or motion graphics methods, their work and skill application to FashionSphere 2022 is fundamental,” Antonich added.

“It is the BEMA students who are videotaping, helping

put the piece to music, they hire the voice over person who does the announcements, writing the scripts. Anything you think of on a television production the BEMA team is bringing to the table,”Antonich stated.

As in the theme Resurgence the BEMA team and the Fashion Designers were able to get outside (emerge back into the world) and photograph at two different locations that supported their collections.

“It will support resurgence beautifully, in person location shooting. They got out and they shot it, they were able to meet in person. That's wonderful and the audience will see that resurgence, everything has been elevated to that level for the designer packages,” Smith stated.

"It defines our own fashion world and what is happening in our own fashion sphere."

Smith showed enthusiasm for the co- hosts for the event.

Mary Nite is one of the co-hosts with broadcasting roots on TV. The other co-host is Durand Guion who has his roots at City College. Guion is a former City College graduate, went onto SF State, and was a part time instructor in the Fashion Department at City College for 20 years. He also just retired from Macy’s after 32 years as the Men's Fashion Director in the Fashion Office.

Smith is proud of Guion’s accomplishment at Macy’s where he conceptualized the Icons of Style collection by black designers. They just launched their 2nd collection and City College will be featuring some of Icons of Styles designs in “FashionSphere 2022 Resurgence.”

Macy’s is a huge sponsor for the fashion show. “ We want to highlight the wonderful things that Macy is doing in the community, especially in the case of supporting these wonderful Black designers,”Smith stated.

12 | CULTURE

Vol. 173, Issue 8 | May 16 – May 25

City College Honors AAPI History Month with “Chinatown Rising” Panel

By Julie Zigoris

jzigoris@mail.ccsf.edu May marks Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage month, and many consider its celebration more important than ever. “Given the kinds of anti-Asian hatred that we've seen, not only in San Francisco but nationwide, it's critical we have an acknowledgement of Asian Americans and everything that we've been through,” said Angelina Fa, chair of the Asian American Studies Department at City College.

"It's critical we have an acknowledgement

Harry Chuck, who studied filmmaking at San Francisco State University and later went on to become the Executive Director of the non-profit Cameron House in Chinatown, had reels of footage he shot as a student in the 1960s stashed away in his garage.

He called his son Josh Chuck over to help him clean it all out.

“Don’t throw them away!” his son exclaimed out of concern for the many metal canisters of film. His son ended up quitting his full-time job in order to make his father’s footage into a documentary film, which also incorporates modern-day interviews into the narrative. Around 20 people attended the May 11 panel on the film that included

Creating the film was a wonderful collaboration, according to Josh Chuck, who had the opportunity to work with his college and even elementary school classmates on the documentary.

The origins of Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month go back to 1978, when House of Representatives Joint Resolution 1007 named the first 10 days of May as Pacific/ Asian American Heritage Week, which was signed into law by Jimmy Carter and first celebrated in 1979. In 1990, the observance was expanded to a month and in 1992 was codified into law as an annual event.

The month of May was selected because the first

Mural outside of the Chinese Historical Society of America. May 23.

Julie Zigoris/The Guardsman Chinese, was completed on May 10, 1869.

While some are hopeful education can be a cure for hatred, such as Fa, others are concerned anti-Asian hate and violence will persist.

“I don’t think it’ll help,” said

of Asian Americans and everything we've been through."

“A lot of it has to do with visibility,” said Professor Lily Ann B. Villaraza, chair of the Philippine studies department on campus. Villaraza noted that the department was one of the first ethnic studies departments at City College and remains the only department in the nation, which is a great source of pride.

For Arthur Nishimura, chair of the Asian studies department at City College, the month is about “expanding the idea of what America is and Americans are.” City College celebrated the month with a panel discussion of the documentary film “Chinatown Rising” by Harry and Josh Chuck. The film charts various challenges in Chinatown, from violence to housing to identity, and includes rare archival photographs and historic footage.

one year there was a martial arts exhibit. The month’s celebration is more difficult now because everyone is so dispersed, according to Fa. “Once we get back onto campus and have a semblance of a normal schedule, we can start going back to having actually organized events on campus and having a campus community,” Nishimura said.

"Stories are embedded in the language."

Chinese Historical Society of America. May 23. Julie Zigoris/The Guardsman a lively father-son conversation and was moderated by Katie Quan, an instructor at both City College and San Francisco State University.

Japanese immigrants to the United States arrived on May 7, 1843 and because the Transcontinental Railroad, the majority of whose workers were

Asian studies chair Nishimura, who is also an instructor in behavioral health. “Haters are going to hate. It’s more of an emotional issue than anything.

When you get to the point of emotion, logic isn’t going to make any difference.”

"When you get to the point of emotion, logic isn't going to make any difference."

Bruce Lee mural at the Chinese Historical Society of America. May 23. Julie Zigoris/The Guardsman

The celebration of AAPI month has not been the same on campus since the pandemic and again looked very different this year, with only one virtual event.

City College used to celebrate AAPI heritage in April so as to avoid conflicting with finals, and the month featured engaging in-person events organized by counselors.

Student groups would give presentations and share food, and

“COVID really kind of limited communication about a lot of different things and having events,” Villaraza said.

Harry Chuck pointed to the importance of studying Cantonese as another way to keep heritage alive. “Our stories are embedded in the language,” he said.

Those interested are not limited only to events at City College, since there are many happenings throughout the City in honor of AAPI Heritage Month, including a broad array organized by the San Francisco Public Library.

One excellent opportunity is the recently opened Bruce Lee exhibit at the Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA). “This is nothing siloing the Chinese away from the community, but rather showing that through people like Bruce Lee, the Chinese were always involved in fighting for equity and justice,” said CHSA executive director Justin Hoover.

“He was the first one to teach non-Chinese people Kung Fu and to help to bring a new vision for what the Asian man could be and, by extension, what people of color could be,” Hoover continued.

Another option for celebrating the month could simply be spending some time in Chinatown. “Everyone should spend an hour in Portsmouth Square, just observing,” said Harry Chuck.

CULTURE | 13

Vol. 173, Issue 8 | May 16 – May 25

Mystical Time Bird

Animal Farm

By JohnTaylor Wildfeuer jt.wildfeuer@gmail.com

By Janna Velasquez jvelas42@mail.ccsf.edu

Rhys Darby's Mystical Time Bird is a delightful morsel of kiwi ingenuity in the form of a stand up special, and for me, the best part of it was a mistake, a barely perceptible derailment.

Like all great comedy, the piece is a window into his dialogue with himself. Mystical Time Bird is about his break from stand up following the loss of his mother, and about his decision to return, embodied in the performance itself. He does not open or close with his mom's death, but it is central to the work. He describes her, his love her, and his grief throughout, while being marvelously funny and sweet and weird.

Here's the best part for me, though. In the middle of a bit about an evil P.E. teacher, Darby references his mom, and it looks unplanned. His face falls momentarily. He pushes through, pushes words out of his mouth, finds his pacing again in his story. He does not lose the audience. They are so enthralled with his bizarre storytelling. They are howling with laughter and hungry for more from him. And he delivers.

This is so familiar to me as a person who is living a life of grief for my own mother. More poignant than any joke about grief was getting to see someone else fall through the floor like that and recover.

I'm really excited at the prospect of the return of live stand up. The field has never seemed so lush, despite the often macabre subject matter.

The sunset was crisp and breezy as people began to fill into the beautiful War Memorial Opera House in the Civic Center on Saturday, April 23 for the first performance of Animal Farm Feeding Frenzy. There were multiple events happening, so it was a bit confusing which event was going on where.

Eventually I was able to find the Taube Atrium Theater on the top floor. It was worth the hunt.

The Atrium Theater was intimate and sleek, with gray walls and white trim, reminiscent of a museum Imax theater or planetarium. The room filled quickly with masked spectators.

Participants of the Bay to Breakers race run in Golden Gate Park in the last portion of the race and in keeping with one of it's traditions: exciting attire. May 15. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman

Bay to Breakers participants in Golden Gate Park. May 15. Bob Kinoshita/The Guardsman

Bay To Breakers Meanders Back to SF in Force

This very well may be the last production for the theater department.

Bay to Breakers participants run and walk the Golden Gate Park towards the finish line of the 12-kilometer race. May 15.

Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman

By Bob Kinoshita rkino@hotmail.com

Bay to Breakers participants go up Hayes Street hill along Alamo Square. May 15. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman

The Bay to Breakers on May 15, 2022, returns for the first time since 2019.

Approximately 50,000 runners signed up for the 7.5 mile run from the Embarcadero to the beach.

This year, the fastest runner completed the course in 36 minutes and 10 seconds. After facing criticism, organizers reversed earlier plans and are also honoring the race’s top nonbinary finisher this year in addition to the top male and female runners.

The audience did not have the luxury of social distancing, because it was a packed house.

The stage set was simple, yet elegant, with detailed plasterwork on the ceiling. The notably diverse cast of animals were all in worker jumpsuits and beanies with animal ears sewn on. I found it quite clever that the cast was wearing garments commonly associated with laborers in the working class.

There was a brief explanation of the piece by Patricia Miller, instructor and director of the Theater Department, who discussed the satirical inclusion of mega-corporations and contemporary media.

Miller also made a plea to save City College, explaining that if we fail to act, this very well may be the last production for the theater department. The play was thoughtfully adapted and well performed with good pacing and creative expression.

The sound, lights, and timing were impressively spot on. The production flowed smoothly around the intermission.

From where I sat, I was able to hear the actors clearly. The story of Animal Farm, by George Orwell, is familiar to many, as it was often taught to students in schools around the country. This updated story is timed perfectly with our current state of affairs.

One can only hope the warnings are heeded.

14 | OPINION Queer Liberation Is Not Rainbow Capitalism

Illustration by Skylar Wildfeuer/ The Guardsman

By Skylar Wildfeuer skylar.wildfeuer@gmail.com Here comes pride month.

Here comes some great collective discourse in and about LGBTQIA2S+ communities and my goodness am I excited for brilliant live entertainment.

Here also comes, as Maury and Jules Peiperl wrote for Newsweek, "The disparity between the use of the rainbow and many businesses' lack of substantive action toward LGBTQ+ justice in the tumult of recent years."

Our city has already had a conversation about how Pride feels about having cops marching in uniform and how SFPD feels about being restricted to marching in civilian attire. San Francisco Police Officers Pride Alliance has announced that, "The board of SF Pride offered only one option: that LGBTQ+ peace officers hang up their uniforms, put them back in the closet, and march in civilian attire." They go on to describe the decision as a form of descrimination: unsurprising but telling.

Naturally London Breed will be sitting this one out in solidarity with the police.

New York City's Pride parades have split in two this year: the new one is called the Queer Liberation March and their slogan is "No corps, no cops, no BS!" In an interview with Mark Van Streefkerk for Mashable, cofounder of Queer Liberation March Jay W. Walker explained, “You can’t just isolate yourself and advocate for queer rights without advocating for trans rights, without advocating for Black Lives Matter, and brown lives matter, and disability justice, and the environment — we are all one movement again.”

In San Francisco, we'll have one parade (and a myriad of events: see you at OASIS), no cops marching in uniform, but plenty of corps.

Obviously, corporations do not have an interest in your liberation. Philosopher Joel Marks wrote, "I am no longer giving premises in moral arguments; rather, I am offering considerations to help us figure out what to do." I think now is a time to do the same.

I offer some options for your consideration as you celebrate Pride: exit the world of commerce. Do a home art or craft to decorate yourself for this spectacular occasion. Love. Learn.

Commune. Rest. You are human and of inherent worth. I love you San Francisco, you’ll always be my pride or die.

Illustration by Max Hollinger/ The Guardsman

Vol. 173, Issue 8 | May 16 – May 25

Statement Regarding Board of Trustees' Decision to Cut Faculty

Maintaining Our Faculties

We at The Guardsman are heartbroken to watch as so many of our faculty community are excised from our college’s emaciated body. To the 163 faculty members who risk losing what they’ve built for us in their disciplines, we are at a loss for words that express the disappointment that we feel. Are there truly no other avenues besides gutting our course offerings or asking our faculty to voluntarily rob themselves? For their vocal dedication to an inclusive process where the community is clearly concerned, we would like to thank the 118 public commenters, Trustee Alan Wong, and Student Trustee Malinalli Villalobos.

- The Guardsman Staff

"You Don't Need to Fire 50 Teachers"

By Anita Martinez This open letter was originally published in 48 Hills on May 5.

There are other options that could help save the school. City College opened in 1935 duPlease do not layoff 50 full-time CCSF tenured and tenure track faculty.

Instead, direct the current chancellor to build a less hasty, more carefully conceived plan to deal with the College’s budget. Insufficient planning preceded the decisions to consider the layoffs.

The decisions were precipitous without considered thought about the impact on student learning and student outcomes.

The Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges is adamant about the relationship between financial planning and other institutional planning: “The institution’s mission and goals are the foundation for financial planning, and financial planning is integrated with and supports all institutional planning.” (ACCJC Accreditation Standards Introduction) As someone who has participated as CIO (chief instructional officer) and CSSO (chief student services officer) in a turn-around of two community colleges to satisfy accreditation requirements, I offer these comments: First: Though the college has been on enhanced monitoring for two years and “institutions on enhanced monitoring for three consecutive years that fail to address their fiscal issues may receive an adverse action by the Commission” (ACCJC letter;

emphasis mine), there should still be time enough for a well thought out planned process to see if layoffs and class cuts are needed. This process must start now.

Second: CCSF must address all the ongoing risk factors identified by the ACCJC, especially and specifically the decline in enrollment. There is an inevitable interwoven relationship between layoffs and class cuts.

At some point—and based on new data and information—the two must be disentangled for additional review to allow for an improved relationship between the two. The goal must be to avoid a downward enrollment spiral, since enrollment remains the college’s main source of income.

Third: CCSF must communicate its clear intentions to address fiscal and other planning issues. Tell the ACCJC that CCSF is in the process of addressing all the risk factors, including enrollment decline, giving specific examples of the planning process underway to meet budget limitations. Per the ACCJC, planning would include “all constituencies having appropriate opportunities to participate in the development of institutional plans and budgets.”

CCSF anticipates being on better financial footing to improve its standing using improved planning and budget processes. CCSF chooses to do careful planning because it has better outcomes; gives enough time for a new chancellor and his new administrative team to lead

the effort; provides more substantial information to the Board and community.

CCSF can defer the decision about faculty layoffs to March 2023. That way, better planning linked to budget could be demonstrated in the interim, and CCSF would have a more predictable base from which to work—starting now—for the coming academic year. CCSF may discover the layoffs are not needed.

Creative collective problem solving will replace the perception that a hasty, unilateral decision was made. Additionally, a positive campus climate will replace its current demoralized state.

The current ACCJC has positioned itself as more forgiving, perhaps in response to a past lawsuit. Even in the worst case scenario, the only potential loss I see is perhaps a “watch” or “probation” accreditation status after the 2023 accreditation visit.

A campus organization could be built by then to efficiently address and correct that status in a year or so. CCSF has time. And, in my experience, an improved campus climate leads to better outcomes. Isn’t it worth the risk of potential “watch” or “probation” status to have time to create a campus climate where folks work together to address an outside challenge? And isn’t it better for CCSF to present a unified campus presence to the visiting ACCJC team in 2023, rather than one demoralized by ongoing layoffs?

By Skylar Wildfeuer skylar.wildfeuer@gmail.com I listened to what the public commenters said to the Board of Trustees before the board poceeded to eliminate instructors livelihoods and students' access to their wealth of knowledge.

Patricia Miller described herself as full time tenured theater faculty, single mom and angry taxpayer. "The theater department performance program will cease to exist if the trustees refuse to take the time to engage with the alternative budget and the academic senate." The only other full-time faculty member in her department went next and explained that he is not qualified to teach her classes, and that if she is cut, students will have to go to a different institution to receive the education she provides.

Susana Atwood identified herself as retired accounting faculty. "I do not believe there are financial reasons for these layoffs and I oppose these layoffs."

This was frequently repeated.

Ryan Smith, independent economics researcher, explained, "The only things these cuts will grow are poverty and inequality as opportunity shrinks in a time where people are looking to places like San Francisco as... a safe haven more than ever."

The Board of Trustees also heard from several students speaking about the life changing impact of their education.

It's greivous. The faculty of city college are decimated.

Please attend the meetings on June 9, June 23, and August 11.

Adjunct Faculty Are Owed A National Debt

By JohnTaylor Wildfeuer jt.wildfeuer@gmail.com Institutions of higher education are receiving an influx of investment from the Governor’s Office, and with conditions for teachers nationally at a dizzying low, far more of it ought to be used to improve the lot of adjunct faculty.

It ought to be used to improve the lot of adjunct faculty.

Cartoon by Sarah Clayson/The Guardsman

Once a minority group of less than one-third of teachers, adjunct, or non-tenured, faculty now represent three quarters of the workforce nationally who are not eligible for tenure.

The Army of Temps Quality of Life Report, circulated by the American Federation of Teachers, is grim. Of the 1,883 respondents only 20% said they could comfortably cover their basic costs, a quarter of whom are making less than $25,000 per

year.

Nearly half reported having put off medical services and more than half said they’d foregone dental care.

How can any overworked and under-cared for adult be expected to consistently provide high quality education? And with three quarters at risk of dismissal every term, how could they not be looking for other options, other careers perhaps?

Somehow, despite these horrifying conditions, they do.

Instructors persist, rebelliously, to educate well and to prove their irreplaceable value.

Community colleges block grants are to be increased by $750 million “to address issues related to the pandemic and to reduce long-term obligations.”

This in addition to a $250 million increase to the base rate of the new funding formula.

No doubt there are weighty strings attached to how this money can be used, but if these increases cannot help to make California a beacon to the nation for placing a high value on educators, it is time for a new line item.

If educators cannot afford to teach, eventually they will not.

There will be no one to guide us through that last, hardest lesson.

Vol. 173, Issue 8 | May 16 – May 25

COMMUNITY | 15

Photo by Bob Kinoshita. Advertisement by Skylar Wildfeuer/The Guardsman

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Photo by Bob Kinoshita. Advertisement by Skylar Wildfeuer/The Guardsman

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16 | SPORTS

Vol. 173, Issue 8 | May 16 – May 25

City College of San Francisco Engineering Club President Abigail Falk cruises through an event at the 9th Annual SMUD California Solar Regatta held at the Rancho Seco Recreational Area. Rancho Seco, California. May 14. Janna Velasquez/The Guardsman

CCSF’s Engineering Club Keeps Busy Participating in Various Community Events

By Janna Velasquez

jvelas42@mail.ccsf.edu

City College of San Francisco Engineering Club holds up their finger symbolizing their place at the 9th Annual California Solar Regatta, winning a total of five trophies and a giant $2,000 check. Rancho Seco, California. May 14. Janna Velasquez/The Guardsman

City College of San Francisco's award-winning Engineering Club has returned with a bang, participating in various events around the Bay Area.

Their most recent event was the 9th Annual Solar Regatta where the Engineering Club came away with four additional trophies, including the grand prize giant check!

Soapbox Derby On April 10, the club participated in San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s (SFMoMA) Soapbox Derby, held for the first time in over forty years.

Beginning in February, the Engineering Club created the Morkmobile, an egg-shaped allusion to the show “Mork and Mindy” starring Robin Williams that premiered the same year as the last derby was held. Nick Aaron, the driver of the soapbox car, said the ride was smooth adding, “Though a tire was damaged around the second curb, it held out until the finish.”

Bay Area Science Fest

City College of San Francisco Engineering Club holds up their finger symbolizing their place at the 9th Annual California Solar Regatta, winning a total of five trophies and a giant $2,000 check.

Rancho Seco, California. May 14. Janna Velasquez/The Guardsman

On April 24, the club participated in the Bay Area Science Festival’s Discovery Day at the ballpark, the first since the pandemic. The Engineering Club has participated in the event since 2010. City College, originally a sponsor of the event, is now involved solely through its engineering club.

The club spent the day making and launching paper airplanes with their two club-made airplane launchers. On the day of the event, The Guardsman spoke

with several club members, including Michael C. Oamil, Jr., a native of San Francisco, who was “originally going to study medicine until [he] learned about the engineering program at City College.” Oamil decided to study at City College for its engineering program in particular.

"The Engineering Club is always looking for something to build."

Another club member, Jena Mayer, “specifically enrolled in an engineering class at City College in order to join the club,” unaware that it was not a requirement until she heard the reporter ask the instructor, Keith Mueller.

Although a lot of the members are students in the college’s engineering program, to be a part of the Engineering Club, one does not need to be a student of Engineering, and in fact several of the club members are biotech students.

The Engineering Club meets in the Science Building at the Ocean campus on Thursday evenings. Upon visiting the reporter found there was coffee and cookies for the engineers in the department’s electronics room. Those in the class and the club, like Mayer, are tasked with building a robot that can relocate ping pong balls for their classwork.

California Solar Regatta Others who are in the club

but not in the class like Engineering Club president Falk, who has already taken the class, has been dedicating her focus to sanding down the catamaran outside the machine room. In another room, Steven Zhou, also a San Francisco native, showed off how students are 3D printing components of their engine for the vessel, as well as 3D renderings of the final design.

At the California Solar Regatta, held at the Rancho Seco Recreational Area, CCSF’s Engineering Club competed against other California colleges and four-year universities such as Cal Poly and Chico State. The team’s theme was SMUD Trek, an allusion to Star Trek. Their SMUD Trek video won the team their first trophy of the day.

Numerous teams had various issues throughout the competition that they worked through.

CCSF was no different, though they proved resourceful and creative in their solutions and were able to persevere.

City College of San Francisco’s Engineering Club has seventeen trophies in their department’s display case, not including the five they just won at the Regatta. Before the pandemic they used to compete in the RoboGames, creating robots that physically compete in Sumo wrestling against other robots.

Mueller, faculty advisor for the Engineering Club, says that former students and club members have gone on to work at Tesla, and other big-name, highpaying tech companies. Whether it be paper plane launchers, seaworthy vessels, or a ballretrieving bot, Muelle says that “the Engineering Club is always looking for something to build.”

17 trophies displayed in the City College of San Francisco Engineering Department, not including the five won at the Solar Regatta. April 24. Janna Velasquez/The Guardsman