GOLDEN GATE XPRESS //
STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER PROUDLY SERVING THE SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1927.
// 02.06.12
VOLUME LXXXXIV ISSUE 2
DRINK UP, IT’S SF BEER WEEK LOOKING BACK : University President Leslie E. Wong, former president of Northern Michigan University, shares experiences upon finishing his first semester as SF State president. Photo by Erica Marquez
Checking in with President Wong At the outset of his second semester, President Leslie E. Wong sat down with Xpress editor-in-chief
BY KALE WILLIAMS | kale@mail.sfsu.edu
GOLDEN GATE XPRESS: Now that you’ve had a little bit of time to adjust to living in San Francisco, as opposed to Michigan, what is your take on the city and how do you feel about your decision to move here?
places and the question, in my next six months, is will I learn enough to take advantage of the low-hanging fruit and really create an environment where there is even more opportunity for students to bloom.
LESLIE E. WONG: I have to tell you, my wife and I had a long conversation about that and we’re even more ecstatic now because we’re learning much more about the town and the kids on campus. There were a variety of things that were complete surprises to me that have been really quite spectacular. I’m also really learning and meeting the political environment that is San Francisco, Sacramento and learning a lot about our place within those spheres of influence. I can happily report that people have great respect for what we do.
GGX: Is there anything that you wish you’d done differently in the first semester that you were here, or maybe something you wish you that you’d known then that you know now? LEW: That’s a great question and, not really, and that’s what I have to say to you. That’s a great question because I was hoping to spend a lot more time building my cabinet, in terms of our relationships, and knowing what they do and what they are responsible for, but the rhythm in which the cabinet has come together has been phenomenal. I
I’m running in to alums in all the right
SEE PERSPECTIVES ON PAGE 2
Thousands at risk of losing community college community colleges in California, told CCSF that it did not meet the requirements to keep its degree accreditation. It has until March 14 to meet certain financial and academic standards to stay accredited. A college without accreditation can’t grant degrees worth anything more than paper — forcing CCSF to either close, or be taken over by another college district. “If you’re a senior in one of San Francisco’s (19) high schools, odds are, you’re going to City College or SF State,” Maureen Carew, director of the Bridge to Success program, said. Bridge to Success works to smooth the transition from high school to college for graduating San Francisco Unified School District seniors. Carew considers herself a self proclaimed “champion of City College.” Approximately one-in-four of San Francisco Unified’s 4,000 graduating seniors sign up for City College every year, Carew said. Conversely, SEE SAN FRANCISCO ON PAGE 11
W
ITH MORE THAN 80 styles of beer available, the craft beer market is stronger than ever and slowly stealing wine’s spotlight in the food-pairing world. “Beer has just as much to offer to consumers in terms of experience and taste,” Brian Stechschulte, executive producer of the San Francisco Brewers Guild, said. “There are more styles to choose from and it pairs better with a wider range of food. There are lots of reasons beer is on par with wine. I’m glad it’s finally getting the attention it deserves.” The San Francisco Brewers Guild started SF Beer Week in 2009, which showcases such notable beers and it has now grown to become one of the most world-renowed beer festivals. “SF Beer Week is, for lack of a better word, awesome. It offers so much more than any other beer festival I have ever been to,” Ryan Hilton, SF State broadcast and electronic arts major, said. “It opens up a variety of things to do involving beer and food. In one day you can travel SEE HOP ON PAGE 6
When Compton College lost its accreditation in 2005, it also lost half of its students
BY JOE FITZGERALD | jfitzger@mail.sfsu.edu
City College of San Francisco student Mireya Leon graduated from high school only a few months ago, but she already has a dream: transferring to SF State to study music therapy. “I want to heal people with my music,” Leon said. “Music has the power to make people feel better.” But Leon’s ability to transfer to the four-year college in the city of her birth may be in jeopardy. CCSF is on the brink of closure. If it shuts down, a vital bridge between San Francisco high schools and SF State could go with it. Nearly a thousand students from City College who transfer to San Francisco State each year will be displaced, and school officials have no hard data on where else they could go. CCSF is home to 85,000 students and provides more transfer students to SF State than any other community college in California, 800 per year, according to SF State internal data. Last July, the Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges, a body that gives accreditation to
BY KRISTEN MARTZ | kmartz@mail.sfsu.edu
Compton College is the only real-world example of a California community college closing. Currently there is no data on what would happen to the students at City College of San Francisco if it loses accreditation after March. Many SF graduating seniors rely on City College to get to SF State.
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
3000
6000
9000
12000
Data via the California Community College Chancellor’s office Data-Mart Infographic by Joe Fitzgerald
15000
2 CAMPUS SF STATE SPEAKS OUT WHAT’S YOUR OPINION OF ONLINE EDUCATION?
02.06.13 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG
New semester brings fresh perspective President Wong discusses his new social media presence, inventing new words and the possible closure of City College of San Francisco CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
LEW: 17.4 GGX: $17.4 million in additional funds for San Francisco State. What exactly will that money be going toward and how is it decided where that money is allocated on campus?
KYLE HILL, 25
EDUCATION MAJOR
I feel that it could be good for some students, but I also know that it can be a challenge for other students like myself.
SHANHTELLE SORIANO, 22 KINESIOLOGY MAJOR
I’m taking one right now and the professor is just awesome.
ROBERT TOM, 21 BIOLOGY MAJOR
I feel like sometines having a classroom with a professor, or some T.A. is more beneficial.
LEW: We can get you the exact locations for it, but roughly speakA NEW DIRECTION: President Wong discusses Prop. 30, ing, just about half of that was the student encounters and the new CSU Chancellor. Photo by refund that Prop. 30 required us to Erica Marquez do. So if you remember, part of the Prop. 30 condition was that tuition levels would revert back to one year mean they are a good working professional ago. We had to rebate students. The effort team. We like each other. We tackle tough issues and that was a worry that got taken off to do that, a compliment should go to the business people, the registrar, a whole lot the menu pretty quickly. That enabled me to do a lot more traveling than I probably would of offices who really had to devise a system by which, if a student wanted a credit, have if it would have been a more normal we could credit it. If they want the cash, adjustment to a new job. we can do that. So we had to return, in the GGX: You told me last time that we talked refund, a lot of that money. that you were hoping to have a more Our commitment was to refund money to visible presence on campus. How have you been received by students? Have there students, get rid of some of these blockage areas, and then really sort of get the curbeen any drawbacks to your increased riculum back on its feet to where students visibility? could get at some courses and not get hung up by not being able to get at courses in LEW: The only drawback is that I haven’t their major. been here to do it enough. I had a great chocolate night with some students, sitting GGX: Going off the idea of accesibilty to room only. The cookies and chocolate disappeared in a very short amount of time. certain populations, there has been a lot in the news recently about the trouble City Great conversation. We had to cancel too College of San Francisco has been having. because of some other campus issues, but They’re up for review in March I believe, I hope to get back into that routine this spring. That’s been pretty good. I surprised and if they are forced to close down, which is a possibility, do you have any plans to a number of students. When you’re going reach out to potential transfer students who into Seven Hills, it’s on the left, there is an want to come to SF State? eatery there for students and I went down there one morning, just to kind of interLEW: If they’ve earned credit and they view students when they were coming in meet our transfer requirements that are set for breakfast. They thought, “Oh my god, forth, we call them 1440 requirements, am I in trouble? The president is hanging they get in. The issue will be the large out.” I’ve been doing more stuff like that, number of, for example, first-year students just dropping in when students are eating who haven’t met those 1440 requirements. and just asking how things are going and What happens to them? That’s a big issue. that’s been absolutely fun. We have really We’re trying to work with City College talented students on campus. to find out how big that number is, what implications that might hold and we’re GGX: On a little more of a serious note, trying to do it in a way where we don’t get when Prop. 30 passed last semester, it allocated roughly $17 million in additional in their way. funds. GGX: I hate to ask for a prediction of the fu-
ONLINE IVE EXCLUS
ture, but I’m wondering if you have a rough timeline for when any online-only courses will be taking place during normal semesters. LEW: I’ll have to defer to the provost for that. There are a lot of discussions going on among the deans and department heads and we want to be able to use our limited dollars, smartly, if I can invent a word, let’s say wisely. We want to do it at the right place and the right time, so that discussion is ongoing in the colleges right now. GGX: There has been a change at the top of the CSU with Timothy White coming in to replace Chancellor Charles Reed. What do you hope to see out of the new leadership at the CSU? LEW: I think Dr. Reed did a terrific job getting the boat through the storm. Chancellor White has been setting a terrific stage to really get our step back into the successes as a system that we should be very proud of. It’s been just wonderful working with him. GGX: What are some concrete goals that you have for this semester? What are some things that don’t exist now, that you want to see exist? Some programs that you want to see either bolstered or eliminated? What do you want to see happen by the end of the semester? LEW: If I was to be my own self critic, I don’t think I put myself in front of students enough to listen to them. I felt good about the events with Adenike [Hamilton, ASI President] and the leadership group. Running in to students impromptu was pretty good. Interacting with all of you at the newspaper was terrific, but there was a part of me that if I was to give myself only an average grade, I would’ve liked to have been around students a lot more than I was. Fine, people saw me at sporting events and a variety of different things, but I think I could have been better about that. This semester I hope to have a lot more of those listening sessions with students. We’re woking on a schedule for that. I’ve told the staff that I’m not going to travel nearly as much as I did this past semester. I think that the karma of being the new guy, we’ve handled that and now I think I need to talk to the constitiuency and be on-campus.
Check out the full interview with President Leslie E. Wong at goldengatexpress.org
What you missed in the Swamp last week MICHAEL SANCHEZ, 23
Crime Blotter: Choke your chicken somewhere else:
I think it’s a good idea. It’s pretty helpful, if you need additional help you can go online and get it all there.
The infamous crime blotter has found a new home in the murky waters of The Swamp. The first blotter takes on a public masturbator.
CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT MAJOR
Photos by: Jessica Worthington Reporting by: Wyatt McCall
theswampsf.org
Getting lost with White Arrows at The Depot: Miss the show at The Depot last week? Never fear, The Swamp is here with a full recap of the events.
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG
BY LINDSAY ODA | loda@mail.sfsu.edu
I
CAMPUS 3
| 02.06.13
Online courses a plausible CSU option
N FALL 2011 SF STATE’S CINEMA department faced a grave problem: bottlenecking. About 100 “super seniors” and 175 juniors were enrolled in sophomore level classes, and the department was serving 200 more students than their normal enrollment. That year the department hired Daniel Bernardi, an online program developer for film and media at UCLA and Arizona State University, as the department chair. He hired an online course technician and offered support for faculty whom wanted to translate their syllabuses online. Using flash-built websites, the cinema department now serves about 500 students online. By also offering their online courses at the College of Extended Learning, the department has paid off the salary of their online course technician and even expects extra revenue in the future for department technology. SF State’s cinema department is the poster child for how online education can solve the biggest problems (accessibility, lack of funding, prolonged graduation) of higher education. In January, CSU officials announced the growth of their online education initiatives with the inception of two programs: Cal State Online and San Jose State University’s Udacity courses. SF State offers 61 online courses this spring and has plans to increase that number in the future with “full confidence” according to SF State administration. “The CSU administration would like the campuses to serve more students, more effectively with constrained resources, and the SFSU administration supports that initiative,” Brian Beatty, SF State associate vice president for academic affairs operations, said. Cal State Online offers online courses from Dominguez Hills, Monterey and Fullerton. San Jose State offers $150 courses through massive online open classroom [MOOC] host Udacity. CSU spokesperson Mike Uhlen-
kamp expressed interest in expanding both programs to other campuses after studying the effectiveness and troubleshooting. “There’s obviously a value to be in a classroom with a professor. We’re investigating other ways to provide access, and ways to use technology to provide access to courses,” Uhlenkamp said. Gov. Jerry Brown allocated 13 percent of the projected CSU budget for San Jose State Udacity courses. In a statement to CBS Los Angeles, Gov. Brown said online was the solution to lowering student loans by giving access to “bottleneck” courses such as algebra and remedial math, and eliminating prolonged graduations. SF State offers courses through MOOC provider Coursera, “hyflex” or hybrid flexible courses with options of attending class in person or online, flash built courses with streamlined audio and video, short video lectures that can be viewed on the iPhone and courses supported by iLearn. “The numbers, at least the preliminary numbers (of enrollment in online courses) I saw, were really encouraging for us. We’ll continue to look at online work during the summer, as compliments to (the online courses offered during) the fall and spring semesters,” President Leslie E. Wong said. SF State marketing professor, Bruce Robertson, acknowledges online is “not the right way to teach any kind of class,” but says certain theory-based core courses can utilize online through a method called unbundling. “The way that we justify principles of marketing is to give students the language and terms of marketing, then offer smaller sections (of upper division courses) where (they) can apply the principles,” Robertson said. Robertson believes that students who may not pass a class because of struggling with multiple choice testing are “screwed and at a disadvantage.” Robertson admits multiple choice is the biggest criticism in his class evaluations.
Basic concerns about online are the lack of faceto-face contact, hindering community, group work and networking; ample multiple choice testing; and technical issues. “It’s easy to forget about the class altogether. You don’t have a professor or classmates reminding you to check online or do the homework,” hospitality management student Aralyn Austin said. Faculty members who have taught online courses say there are certain students who do better in online courses such as non-native English speakers and students who are organized and committed. Professors Robertson and Bernardi both have orientations to warn students about what Robertson calls “over optimism” of those who enroll in online courses, thinking online courses are easier than those taught in classrooms. “I hold town hall meetings for the cinema department every semester as chair. I tell them, ‘don’t be fooled by online,’” Bernardi said. There are some benefits to online courses. Economically, online courses like Robertson’s principles of marketing has 25 sections freeing up classroom space, saving commuting dollars and in theory, tuition by abbreviating graduation times. “There’s a perception at the administrative and university level that online classes are a way to save money. They’re economical. Online allows you to be creative and unique in ways that you can’t teach in traditional (formats). There has been less willingness to support experimentation,” Robertson said. According to Beatty, as the number of online courses at SF State increase, the University will provide ongoing training and support for faculty who want to adapt their teaching methods. SF State’s support is for “effective” online education because of it’s efficiency and flexibility, but according to Robertson it’s best qualities have yet to be discovered.
4 CITY
02.06.13 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG
STAGE SET FOR IMMIGRATION REFORM
Political party lines cross in an effort to reach a bipartisan agreement that would create a new pathway to citizenship
I
MMIGRANT RIGHTS ACTIVIST Perla Flores crossed the border unchecked with her parents when she was eight years old and lived undocumented for years. In 2010, she got her green card, 15 years after first applying for it. She said the immigration process was emotionally difficult and would never want to go through it again. “It’s difficult for people to immigrate; they don’t do it by choice,” the SF State alumna said. “They do it for economic survival.” Flores said that undocumented people living in the U.S. need a clear-cut path to citizenship but adds that “any new immigration reform is very likely to still leave people in the cracks.” Historically, immigration reform has been an emotional, politically charged topic with no clear consensus across party lines. When a bipartisan group of senators announced framework for overhauling the current immigration system, a plan that got the president’s endorsement, some immigrant rights activists saw it more as a political victory than a realistic pathway for citizenship. The plan aims to address the estimated 11.5 million undocumented people living in the United States, by opening a pathway to citizenship that would include paying a fine and back taxes, learning English and getting in line behind those who’ve already petitioned for citizenship legally. Anoop Prasad, immigration rights attorney for the Asian Law Caucus, called it disingenuous. He added that the pathway to citizenship for countries sending high volumes of immigrants — Philippines, Mexico and China — could have wait times of 30 years. Prasad said he’s seen petitions for citizenship originate in 1989 and not get a green card until now. At that point, it takes another five years before citizenship. For an undocumented immigrant, they would have to wait a minimum of 29 years. In what appears to be a bipartisan compromise, the pathway to citizenship would be contingent on se-
BY BRIAN RINKER | brinker@mail.sfsu.edu
curing the southern border and developing a tracking system to know if immigrants have left when their visas expire. In the political sphere, a bipartisan agreement for comprehensive immigration reform is a success in itself. Republicans who have supported strict laws and tough enforcement on undocumented immigrants squashed a similar proposal in 2006 and 2010. That proposal would have given amnesty to those who crossed the borders illegally. Republicans changed their tune after Obama was re-elected with 71 percent of the Hispanic vote. Political science major Alan Diaz-Ramirez, 21, wasn’t one of the Latinos who voted for Obama. He voted for the Green Party because of the 1.3 million deportations that occurred since 2009 under the Obama Administration. “Obama promised us Latinos that in his first year he would pass comprehensive immigration reform but failed to do so, he failed in four years,” Diaz-Ramirez said. “He devastated the Latino community.” Jan. 28, eight senators — four Republicans and four Democrats — held a national press conference where they outlined the legislative principles for comprehensive immigration reform. A day later, the president endorsed the reform, but threatened to introduce his immigration policy if the senators didn’t rush the bill through Congress by summer. Under the new proposal, undocumented people who are eligible for the DREAM Act will be fast tracked through the citizenship process. The DREAM Act allows conditional residency for undocumented minors who meet special educational and residential requirements. Prasad estimates there are 1.7 million DREAMers, and one-to-two million agriculture workers who are eligible for fast track out of more than 11 million undocumented immigrants. “The vast majority of undocumented people
would have to wait in limbo for the better part of three decades,” Prasad said. “Antoinette” is a 23-year-old undocumented SF State student. She is the chapter leader of Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education on campus. Although she is open about her immigration status with family and friends, she asked to be identified by a pseudonym because she feared negative judgment from her peers. The new reform would speed up her citizenship process because she is a DREAMer, but she doesn’t support it. For “Antoinette,” the increased militarization of the border is a deal breaker. “Continued militarization of the border will hurt more people and my ethics don’t align with that,” she said, adding that reform should include a clear cut pathway with more available visas, fewer barriers and access to legal resources. Diaz-Ramirez, whose parents both lived undocumented for two decades before getting their green cards, said he supports immigration reform and that this reform is a step in the right direction, but falls short. “Undocumented people have suffered long enough, living in fear, to make them pay fines and back taxes, to me, is not right,” he said. The undocumented Latino community is desperate for relief and he fears the government is playing on those fears. “I don’t understand what the U.S. is trying to achieve,” Diaz-Ramirez said, referring to increased border security. “Why keep people out? They are innocent people who come here to provide for their families.” Flores thinks that the U.S. should look at its foreign relations policy because increased enforcement on the borders will not stop people from migrating if those countries have no jobs. People come here for the jobs, she added. Flores works at the Women’s Center on campus and has a master’s in public health. “I thought of myself as an invisible person for a long time,” Flores said. “It was very emotionally difficult. I don’t think the fear will ever entirely go away.”
Four Basic Legislative Pillars What the new immigration reform aims to do • Create a tough, but fair path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants currently living in the United States that is contingent upon securing our borders and tracking whether legal immigrants have left the country when required. • Reform our legal immigration system to better recognize the importance of characteristics that will help build the American economy and strengthen American families. • Create an effective employment verification system that will prevent identity theft and end the hiring of future unauthorized workers. • Establish an improved process for admitting future workers to serve our nation’s workforce needs, while simultaneously protecting all workers. Source: CNN Washington Bureau
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG
CITY 5
| 02.06.13
Milk’s influence could take flight at SFO BY ERIN DAGE | erindage@mail.sfsu.edu
A
FTER HIS ASSASSINATION 35 years ago, Harvey Milk, former San Francisco Supervisor and the nation’s first openly gay elected official, may get the chance to have his name on the ballot one more time. There have been recent efforts in the form of a ballot initiative proposed by Board of Supervisors member David Campos, to rename the San Francisco International Airport the Harvey Milk San Francisco International Airport. If the initiative lands on the ballot and goes through, SFO will be faced with the task of changing the names on highway and airport signs - leaving the airport with a bill of more than $4 million, according to an SFGate report. “This is something we’ve been thinking about for quite some time,” Campos said. “80 airports in the country are named after a person – and not one of them is named after a member of the LGBTQ community.” Besides being known as one of the first openly gay elected politicians, Milk also sponsored a bill that outlawed discrimination based on sexual orientation. Dan Rafter, online campaigns manager at the Human Rights Coalition, sees naming SFO after Harvey Milk as a chance to make travelers aware of Milk’s legacy. “Honoring his legacy by placing his name on San Francisco’s airport is an inspired way to bring awareness about his work to the more than 40 million travelers who pass through SFO annually,” Rafter said. But the road to this ballot initiative being actualized has been a bumpy one. Five members from the Board of Supervisors have signed off on the initiative – but six signatures are required for the measure to go on the ballot in November. Stuart Milk, Harvey Milk’s nephew and founder of the Milk Foundation, which serves as an outreach to LGBTQ organizations, created a petition asking members of the
Board of Supervisors who haven’t signed off on the ballot initiative yet to do so. The petition has garnered over 16,000 signatures out of the 25,000 that are needed. According to Campos, this isn’t the only opposition the proposed ballot initiative has had. “The concerns we’ve had with people who don’t want to see the name added were with people that felt that the airport name was fine as it was,” Campos said. “Some of the opposition came from people that felt that the airport should be named after someone else.” In fact, there have been previous efforts to name SFO after a public figure. In 1997 there FLY AWAY : Mitch Armstrong waits for the rest of his crew at the SFO international terminal Feb. 3. SFO was a push to name the airport may soon change its name to the Harvey Milk San Francisco International Airport. Photo by Samantha after former San Francisco mayor, Joe Alioto, who served Benedict two terms from 1968-1976. Suchi Vora, a freshman comCampos credits Harvey Milk as an inspirational figure puter science major, doesn’t think that adding Harvey Milk’s in his and other people’s lives. name to SFO is a good move. “As an openly gay man I have been inspired by Harvey “It’s better that it keeps the same name to tell people that Milk and see him as a source of inspiration – he blazed the this airport belongs to the city, not a person,” Vora said. “I trail for people like me to be in office,” Campos said. have nothing against the LGBTQ community, but it’s better Whether or not SFO will be renamed Harvey Milk if the name is generalized.” SFO, does not change the fact that Milk’s work has made Stuart Milk finds the opposition for the initiative rean impact on the world. flects the resistance that his uncle met when campaigning “Harvey Milk made it his life’s work to ensure that to be a member on the Board of Supervisors in 1973. all people marginalized by society were recognized and “Some of that dialogue is reminiscent of the argutreated with dignity and respect,” Rafter said. “His life ments that people made about why he shouldn’t have run and his work raised the profile of LGBT people in a for office 35 years ago,” Milk said. profound way.”
PRESS YOURSELF Call the advertising office
415.338.3133 echarles@sfsu.edu
FEB.14 FROM 6PM - 8:30PM
101 NORTH’S 1ST ANNUAL GOLF EXTRAVAGANZA
CHOCOLATE, BEER AND CUPID Enjoy complimentary beer and make your own chocolates with your sweetheart in this event led by Newtree Café and Chocolate Shop and ThirstyBear Brewing Co. Chose from a variety of prime ingredients or bring your own.
CELLAR TO REMEMBER If you can’t get enough of the SF Giants, this event commemorates the 2010 and 2012 World Series Champions with rare cellared beers from the two years. The first 60 guests to purchase a beer will also receive a free tour of AT&T ballpark beers!
661 HOWARD ST. THIRSTYBEAR BREWING COMPANY
24 WILLIE MAYS PLAZA PUBLIC HOUSE
FAT TUESDAY PARTY If you can’t go to Mardi Gras, come party New Orleans-style with a menu and music inspired by the famous Louisiana festival, complete with some of your favorite craft beers.
1326 9TH AVE. SOCIAL KITCHEN AND BREWERY
FEB. 12 FROM 4PM - 12AM
898 JOHN F KENNEDY DR. MARX MEADOW IN GOLDEN GATE PARK
FEB. 12 FROM 4PM - 12AM
Meet some of your favorite brewers while showing off your skills in a disc golf competition (either individually or as a team). Winners obtain bragging rights and prizes and the group may trek over to Chomp N’ Swig.
02.06.13 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG
For more SF Beer Week events go to goldengatexpress.org
FEB. 11 FROM 8PM - 12AM
FEB.9 FROM 1PM - 4PM
6 ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
PING PONG WITH SPEAKEASY The brewers of Speakeasy want to meet you and challenge you to a friendly game of ping pong. If you beat them, you win a cold refreshing Big Daddy IPA! If you lose, or just want to watch, beers will be available for purchase.
80 29TH ST. ROCK BAR
GRAPHIC BY ELISSA TORRES
HOP ON THE BANDWAGON CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
With over 80 breweries holding events at an estimated 130 venues across the Bay Area, SF Beer Week is not to be missed
from bar-to-bar and restaurant-to-restaurant offering one remarkable deal after another. It also allows anyone to be able to taste a wide array of beer and see how, as well as where, the beer is made. To top it off, it’s a week-long ordeal of fun and excitement.” The extended festival began with 50 to 70 events, but has now evolved to roughly 400. The success of the festival dovetails with the rising popularity of craft beer around the world. According to the Brewers Association, craft brewers sold more than one million more barrels of craft beer in 2011 than the previous year. The Brewers Association also states that there are 2,075 United States craft breweries operating as of last June, an all-time high since 1887. “There’s so many participating breweries, I love it, and I love that there’s something for everyone,” hospitality major Devan Lane, said. “There’s everything from brunches to cheese pairings to cupcakes and then just straight beer. One of my favorites, Knee Deep Brewing, will even be there... on top of so many others.” Of these thousands of United States craft brewers, 15 belong to the San Francisco Brewer’s Guild. Among many others, guild members and local favorites, 21st Amendment, Anchor Brewing and Speakeasy, will be hosting multiple events and serving special beers throughout the week. “The beer world is dramatically improving, people are improving possibilities of beer, especially served with food. It’s important because beer is so food friendly, and such a good culinary experience,” Jesse Friedman,
co-founder of Almanac Beer Company in San Francisco, and a member of the San Francisco Brewer’s Guild, said. The festival is set to encompass the endless possibilities of craft beer, featuring about 80 breweries holding events at an estimated 130 venues across the Bay Area, starting with the Opening Celebration Feb. 8. Opening Celebration is one of the main fundraisers for SF Beer Week and the San Francisco Brewer’s Guild. This event will feature over 65 northern California beers that span from Eureka, Santa Cruz and all the way east to the California/Nevada border. Opening Celebration will also include beer-infused goods, dinners and an opportunity to meet the brewers. “Guests can try beer from all over the state and don’t have to travel; they can taste in Lassen, then walk 100 yards and be in (the) South Bay,” Stechschulte said. Participating breweries, including big names like Lagunitas and Sierra Nevada, are expected to bring their regular popular beers and some rare beers. Food vendors and trucks, though purchased at an additional cost, will be abundant as well as parlor games and live music from El Radio Fantastique, Travis Hayes and the Whiskerman. Adding to the uniqueness, the San Francisco Brewer’s Guild brews a collaborative beer to release at Opening Celebration. This year’s collaboration beer is Green Death. Made with 30 percent corn (used to produce creaminess and increase alcohol content), the brew clocks in at a 7.75 percent alcohol by volume. “It’s a modern interpretation of a historic West Coast ale, once produced in San Francisco, that beer fans have enjoyed in green bottles and cans since Prohibition end-
ed,” Stechschulte said. Almanac Beer Company will host Butchers and Beers, which has grown from 65 attendees last year to 200 this year. The event is a fundraiser for The Food Pantry in San Francisco and features a live butchery demo of an entire pig. Half of the cuts are used in beer-paired pork dishes, and the other half are sold in a silent auction to benefit the charity. “We really try to make sure that they are quality events. Quantity isn’t important, we want venues to produce interesting and fun events. They need to take it a step further, something they don’t do throughout the year normally,” Stechschulte said. “We’re more about appreciation and learning than consumption.” For those wary of entering the craft beer world, SF Beer Week is a great place to start, simply for the extensive variety. “I always tell people that think they don’t like beer: it’s not that they don’t like beer, they just haven’t had any beers they like. There are low alcohol to high alcohol beers, sours to stouts, so many flavor combinations, they just haven’t had the right thing yet,” Friedman said. Stechschulte shares this excitement, urging people to refrain from knocking a beer before trying it. “Beer is very much an individual pursuit and appreciation. I would say the most important thing is just to keep an open mind, if you don’t like one that doesn’t mean there isn’t one out there you’ll like.” SF Beer Week takes takes place Feb 8-17. A full schedule of events can be found on the festival’s website and the iPhone and Android apps.
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG
| 02.06.13
BY JONATHAN RAMOS | jonaramo@mail.sfsu.edu
S
PENCER MCCALL EMBARKED on a peculiar scavenger hunt through San Francisco four years ago. His experience set the foundation for “The Institute,” his first feature length film, that last month screened to great acclaim at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. “The Institute” is a mind-bending documentary about an alternate reality game, known as the Games of Nonchalance, that unfolded throughout San Francisco between 2008 and 2011. Approximately 10 thousand people participated by following cleverly hidden messages in posters, stickers and various other forms of street art. McCall, 26, who teaches graphic arts part-time at SF State, was a recent SF State graduate in cinema production when he too followed the signs and discovered a world that blurred the lines between real and fake. His film explores the game’s enigmatic world as seen through the eyes of its participants and creators. The film introduces audiences to the Jejune Institute the game’s headquarters that was quietly nestled on the sixteenth floor of 580 California St. in the Financial District. While at Jejune, players first went through an induction process where they were given instructions for a series of missions in San Francisco. Those missions ranged from answering mysterious phone calls in specific locations to searching for clues in maps and props hidden at local businesses. What ensued was a series of challenges where players found themselves as part of an elaborate narrative. “To be honest, it really creeped me out,” McCall said of his initial encounter with the institute. He only made it through the induction phase but the experience left a strong impression. “It stuck around in my head,” he said. Having recently been laid off from his video production job at BioArts International, a firm that specialized in bio- engineering and dog cloning, McCall decided to volunteer his services to the institute. He made promotional videos for them and as a result had access to hundreds of hours of archival footage. “By the end of it I had so much footage that I didn’t know what to do with it other than to make a documentary,” McCall said. What McCall discovered was an endearing look at a quasi self-help organization that wanted nothing more than to unite the city under a bold and unconventional game where its participants were challenged to view the world around them through a different lens.
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT 7
SCAVENGER HUNT DOCUMENTARY FINDS PRAISE Despite its somewhat complicated premise, McCall said that his film is meant to encourage its audience into an exploration of the unknown. “It’s really easy to go from Point A to Point B and to just live in your own little bubble,” McCall said. “But when you’re willing to break out and look past the cave you live in, I think you get so much out of life and you realize that there are these hidden underground worlds that exist within the fabric of our everyday society.” Since its sold out screenings at Slamdance, “The Institute” has been riding a wave of positive word of mouth. LA Weekly named it the best of the fest saying that “McCall recalls this all in a playfully subversive VISION: Spencer McCall, SF State alumn and part-time instructor directed “The Institution,” a criticallyfashion, attempting to repliacclaimed documentary about the Games of Nonchalance. Photo by Andy Sweet cate in cinematic terms the experience of participating in masterminds behind the Games of Nonchalance, said he the game itself.” was moved by what McCall was able to convey in the Joe Bendel from Libertas Film Magazine said, film. “McCall taps into our deep, abiding interest in secret “The motive was to change the way people lead their histories, conspiracy theories, and urban legends, as well lives through play, creativity and unexpected activities as our fear of cults.” in an urban space,” Findley said. “It was gratifying to For McCall, the attention has afforded him several distribution deal offers and a possible theatrical run later see what we’d done through a different lens.” The Jejune Institute closed in 2011 thus putting an this year. end to the Games of Nonchalance. However, Findley “I am so honored and appreciative,” McCall said. said that there are definite plans to start up anew this “We were definitely on people’s radar at the festival, summer but would not reveal more than that. which is really cool.” The new game will follow in the same vein of what Last Fall was McCall’s first semester teaching at SF they did with the Jejune Institute and it will “blow the State and his film’s recent success at Slamdance has not lid off everything we’ve done in the past,” Findley said. gone unnoticed by his students. As for McCall, he will resume teaching at SF State “It makes me really honored and enlightened to know next fall and is currently working on a handful of projthat one of my own professors is having success outside ects including a found-footage horror film that he was of the classroom,” Anthony Buada, 26, and visual communications major, said. “After finishing ‘The Institute,’ it hired to direct after his successful showing at Slamdance. He is expected to announce distribution plans for made me look at the world from a different angle.” “The Institute” in the coming weeks. Uriah Findley, the film’s co-producer and one of the
8 OPINION
02.06.13 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG
STAFF EDITORIAL
KALE WILLIAMS
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF kale@mail.sfsu.edu
THE SIX-PLUS YEAR GRADUATION PLAN
BRAD WILSON
PRINT MANAGING EDITOR bradw949@mail.sfsu.edu
R
ADRIAN RODRIGUEZ
ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR arrodrig@mail.sfsu.edu
EMEMBER THAT dude you sat next to in your freshman communication class who gave a five-minute speech on how to cut a pineapple? Chances are, he hasn’t graduated. It turns out, you have a better chance of calling a coin flip correctly than you do of graduating from SF State within six years. The SF State Attrition Study of 2012, shows it’s not just you, but actually more than half of full-time freshmen enrolled in 2005 did not graduate within six years. Of those, 86 percent were enrolled continuously from semester to semester. These statistics released in October 2012 are alarming and should signal to the University drastic measures need to be implemented to address this problem. And when we say drastic measures, we don’t mean charging students a substantial amount of money for not graduating on time. Although administration is using a portion of the money received from Prop. 30 to add lost sections to impacted majors, all majors are struggling to provide the right classes for students and more sections are necessary across the board. But adding more sections does not do enough to solve our dismal graduation rate. SF State should look to new and innovative ways to augment their ability to serve students. Partnerships with local community colleges could secure students options for outside enrollment. Soliciting money from donors and alumni could be a small, but nevertheless, valuable source of revenue for more classes. If SF State doesn’t have the budget for alleviating “bottlenecking,” they should offer options such as directing students to colleges with transferrable units and more seats, and online courses available from other CSUs. Many students are well aware of their grim futures, fighting for permit numbers and enrolling in summer school–but what they haven’t been told is why they should keep hope. Students deserve to know the ways administration is making the walk in purple and gold a near reality.
ELISSA TORRES
ART DIRECTOR elissat@mail.sfsu.edu
WYATT McCALL
MULTIMEDIA EDITOR wmccall@mail.sfsu.edu
NENA FARRELL
PRINT COPY CHIEF haydee@mail.sfsu.edu
SAM MOLMUD
ONLINE COPY CHIEF smolmud@mail.sfsu.edu
VIRGINIA TIEMAN
PRINT PHOTO EDITOR tieman@mail.sfsu.edu
JESSICA WORTHINGTON
ONLINE PHOTO EDITOR jlwphoto@mail.sfsu.edu
ELLIE LOARCA
CAMPUS EDITOR emloarca@mail.sfsu.edu
ERIN DAGE
CITY EDITOR erindage@mail.sfsu.edu
MATT SAINCOME
A&E EDITOR saincome@mail.sfsu.edu
LINDSAY ODA
OPINION EDITOR loda@mail.sfsu.edu
DAN NELSON
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR danelson@mail.sfsu.edu
JONATHAN RAMOS
ASSISTANT A&E EDITOR jonaramo@mail.sfsu.edu
HOLLY NALL
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR hnall@mail.sfsu.edu
RACHELE KANIGEL
FACULTY ADVISER kanigel@mail.sfsu.edu
KEN KOBRE
PHOTO ADVISER ken@kobre.com
JESSE GARNIER
ART BY KIRSTIE HARUTA kharuta@mail.sfsu.edu
ONLINE ADVISER jgarnier@sfsu.edu
JUSTIN OROZCO
CIRCULATION jaorozo@mail.sfsu.edu
ARUN UNNIKRASHNAN I.T. CONSULTANT arun@mail.sfsu.edu
This syllabus sounds familiar
EVA CHARLES
ADVERTISING & BUSINESS echarles@mail.sfsu.edu
SADIE CROFTS
STUDENT GRAPHIC DESIGNER sgcrofts@mail.sfsu.edu
WRITE US A LETTER The Golden Gate Xpress accepts letters no longer than 200 words. Letters are subject to editing. Send letters to Lindsay Oda at: loda@mail.sfsu.edu
ABOUT XPRESS The Golden Gate Xpress is a student-produced publication of the journalism department at San Francisco State University. For more information or comments, please contact Kale Williams at: kale@mail.sfsu.edu
BY MATT SAINCOME | saincome@mail.sfsu.edu
W
HY DO WE EVEN COME TO the first day of classes (other than the fear of being dropped) if we are just going to listen to a professor read from a syllabus for what feels like an eternity before getting let out early? If that’s how it’s going to be, let’s just start classes the second day. I’m beginning to believe our professors are actually just ill-prepared for the first class session and didn’t bother to make a lesson plan. I don’t know if you noticed or not, but Xpress had a whole paper ready for the first week of school, not last year’s graduation issue. I mean, what is there to learn on the first day, other than a classmate’s name via an awkward name game? There is nothing new in these guidelines that you have not heard in your college career. I think I was reading the exact same syllabus on my first
day of college as I was last week. Oh really, 90 percent and up is an A? Wait, I shouldn’t show up late? Can I cheat in this class? No?! But the one rule they seem to drive home the hardest is to never-ever-ever-ever plagiarize. Don’t you dare plagiarize – it’s an automatic F! One professor even made sure to tell us that if we wrote something for a different class and tried to “double dip” by turning it in for their class, we would be plagiarizing. Automatic F! That’s when it hit me: Do professors double dip their syllabuses from class to class? I don’t think they would bother writing two separate pieces for the same assignment, that would be silly. Wait just a minute. Now that I think about it, I think our professors might be sharing their syllabuses answers with each other before class, because they all sound pretty similar to me – especially the “do not plagiarize” speeches. Automatic F!
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG
OPINION 9
| 02.06.13
METHANE: IT’S WHAT’S FOR DINNER
F
OUND ON A CORNUcopia of menus, present at barbeques and at our favorite restaurants, burgers, chili, kabobs and meatloaf are just some of the hardy beef entrees that are staples of the American diet. Some care about their caloric intake associated with eating these beef products — but what is not on the nutrition label are the environmental impacts these recipes call for. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, beef accounts for only 28 percent of meat consumption, but is responsible for 78 percent of methane emissions, which contribute to the greenhouse effect. On average, more than 20 percent of meat’s greenhouse gas contribution comes from uneaten meat. Cattle are also inefficient converters of plants into protein; this means their environmental footprint is bigger than other meats like fish and poultry. According to the Environmental Working Group, beef has twice the greenhouse gas emissions compared to pork, four times more than chicken and 13 times as much as vegetable
What it takes to make a quarter pound hamburger
proteins. The greenhouse gases have a huge impact on the environment. Some effects of global warming include rising sea level, extreme weather events, melting polar ice caps, habitat loss, animal extinction — and the list goes on and on. The process begins with our own planet’s atmosphere: a blanket of gases that shields us from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. The atmosphere allows light from the sun to pass through and reach the surface of earth to warm our planet, which is essential to life. Due to the excessive presence of water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, ozone and methane gasses in the atmosphere, not all the heat from Earth’s surface can escape resulting in temperature rise, commonly called global warming. A bigger issue that we can actually control is the accumulation of these gasses in our atmosphere, specifically by changing our eating habits. Starting with beef. People should monitor their beef intake and eat less. Choose pasture-raised cattle, which have fewer antibiotics, hormones and are treated more humanely. Avoid processed beef products as much as possible. Buy the right size portion for your
6.7
52.8
pounds of grain is used
gallons of water used for crops
A WEEKLY ENVIRONMENTAL COLUMN BY ELISSA TORRES When Elissa Torres isn’t rescuing wounded marine mammals or hugging trees, the environmental studies minor spends her time writing this column. It’s based on equal parts opinion, statistics and life experiences. If you don’t like it, read and recycle.
meal. “People that want to cut down on meat should take it step-by-step. Do not try to do it cold turkey. It is a gradual process that the body and mostly the mind needs to adjust to,” vegetarian and psychology major Morgan Briana Shingle said. By all means, eat that Double-Double with extra spread on top, but just keep in mind how much of an impact those two patties make on our environment.
74.5
square feet for grazing and growing crops
1,036 btus fossil fuel energy being used Source: Earth Policy Institute Credit: Angela Wong / NPR
10 S P O R T S
02.06.13 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG
PLAYER
MARISA IBARRA
WEEK
SOFTBALL
of the
Senior Marisa Ibarra has been chosen as the Xpress Player of the Week. Ibarra went 3-0 pitching in the Best of the West tournament. She posted a 1.99 ERA, struck out 14 batters and pitched a shutout against Chico State.
PHOTO BY TYLER DENISTON/SF STATE SPORTS
SP OR T S SCHEDUL E WEDNESDAY (2.06) WRESTLING SF STATE VS. MENLO COLLEGE 7 P.M. (SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.)
FRIDAY (2.08) BASEBALL SF STATE VS. HOLY NAMES UNIVERSITY 2 P.M. (SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.)
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SF STATE VS. CHICO STATE 5:30 P.M. (SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.)
MEN’S BASKETBALL SF STATE VS. CHICO STATE 7:30 P.M. (SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.)
SUNDAY (2.09) WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SF STATE VS. CAL STATE STANISLAUS 5:30 P.M. (SAN FRNACISCO, CALIF.)
MEN’S BASKETBALL SF STATE VS. CAL STATE STANISLAUS 7:30 P.M. (SAN FRNACISCO, CALIF.)
For same-day coverage, go to
GOLDEN GATEXPRESS .ORG
Prerequisite hinders students Lack of adequate space is making full-time enrollment difficult for some kinesiology students BY LISA CARMACK | lcarmack@mail.sfsu.edu
The shock of being told you don’t have the prerequisites for a crucial class is a feeling many students are familiar with. For Dylan Phillipy, a kinesiology senior, missing prerequisites meant losing his financial aid. In consequence, Phillipy may not be able to attend SF State at all this semester. “If I fall below 12 units I won’t be able to wrestle, my financial aid won’t come through and I’m at a loss about what to do,” he said. Phillipy is missing his required Graduation Assessment Writing Requirement, or GWAR class, and is unable to take some of his required upper division kinesiology classes until he completes the prerequisite. TAPPED OUT: Dylan Phillipy, a kinesiology senior and SF State wrestler, is one of the many students unable to reg“Now I’m between a rock and a hard ister for a required upper division kinesiology class due to missing prerequisites. Recent enforcement of prerequisites, place,” Phillipy said. such as GWAR classes, could cost Phillipy his financial aid and delay his graduation this spring. Photo by Phillipy is one of many students Gabriella Gamboa affected by the recent enforcement of the GWAR prerequisite. met with a counselor specific to her focus some of the financial strain on departments “GWAR has been required since Fall within the major to ensure that she had all like kinesiology by using some of the monof 2011, the University dumped that requireof her prerequisites before choosing classes. ey allocated to the University by Prop. 30. ment on us,” kinesiology department chair “We’ve always been told that (GWAR) “We had loaned ourselves some money to Dr. Mi-Sook Kim said. “And in Spring 2011 is mandatory for all the (upper division) plug some holes, in terms of the curriculum, we started enforcing it.” classes. It is a prerequisite but this semester so some money went to paying those off. A misprint in the last SF State bulletin omitted the necessity of a GWAR class in the they’ve definitely locked down on it,” Friscia The rest of it was a commitment to relieve said. “If you’re missing requirements for a some pressure points in the curriculum,” course descriptions. Wong said. “We didn’t have enough money “I did the entire program and submitted it class, even if you’re already enrolled, they’ll to offer enough sections to allow kinesioloand they changed it,” Kim said. “Last semes- drop you.” According to kinesiology counselor Dr. gy majors to move through. Unfortunately ter we had to let some students in but now Allen Abraham, the problem is deeper than we couldn’t do it ex-post-facto for students they’re officially enforcing it because it’s all a bulletin misprint or prerequisite misunderwho got caught up in that. That meant hiring in the book.” standings. more faculty and offering some more course Kim has fielded hundreds of daily emails The issue is a deficit of department sections.” from students pleading to keep their classes. resources against the tide of an increasing Kinesiology department resources can According to Kim, there were many factors number of kinesiology students. currently accommodate only 600 students. other than the bulletin misprint that impact “We have 11 full-time faculty members The University administration is working the limited availability of kinesiology spefor 1,300 declared kinesiology students,” with several department heads of many major cific GWAR classes, but it all boiled down Abraham said. “The major is not officially programs to ensure the availability of univerto limited classroom space. As a result, the sity resources like classrooms, money to hire department did not initially bar students from impacted, but it soon will be.” Classroom space is another issue affectfaculty members, access to online prerequisite requisite upper division classes. ing the availability of classes. Approximately classes and even offering Saturday classes. “Yes, we’ve been lax. In the past, if 30,000 students occupy the campus each Kim says that despite all the trouble students came to us and challenged us, as kinesiology students have gone through, that long as they have adequate prerequisite we day and the availability of spaces is limited simply because there are fire codes and maxi- the department has their best interests at heart let them take the class,” Kim said. “Now and are doing all that they can to improve the we can’t do that because we have too many mum occupancy laws. “We need bigger classes but there are situation. students taking classes and they never regulations we have to follow,” Kim said. “The students are like our children and I graduate because they’re missing their SF State President Leslie E. Wong said love our children,” Kim said. “We just have GWAR.” that the University is trying to alleviate too many and our house is too small.” Michelle Friscia, a kinesiology senior,
S C O R E
SCORES FROM THE LAST WEEK OF GATOR SPORTS
B O A R D
SOFTBALL
W
SF STATE VS. CAL STATE DOMINGUEZ HILLS 6-4
L
SF STATE VS. DOMINICAN 0-3
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
L
L
SF STATE VS. CAL STATE EAST BAY 44-59
SF STATE VS. CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY 58-63
MEN’S BASKETBALL
W
SF STATE VS. CAL STATE EAST BAY 89-66
W
SF STATE VS. CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY 76-52
GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG
| 02.06.13
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San Francisco residents stay local CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
one-in-ten go to SF State. When City College closes, how those numbers will change, is up in the air. “If (SF State) would let them in, they would go there,” Carew said. “But (SF State) is impacted. There are definitely students who would choose to go (to SF State). We don’t have data on that.” No one from the SFUSD, City College or SF State, have data tracking how students move between the three institutions altogether, or where they would go as an alternative at any step in that sequence. SF State’s Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management, Jo Volkert, hesitated to speculate on the impact CCSF’s closing would have on a student’s ability to transfer. “It is important to remember that not all 85,000 CCSF students or even all 45,000 in credit bearing classes are planning to transfer to SF State or another four-year institution,” Volkert said. “I’m sure at least some of the students will be able to complete their lower division courses at other community colleges in the region, just as many students already take courses at multiple colleges now.” Volkert said that even if SF State got fewer transfer students, their state funding would still be protected. “If the number of local admits goes down because of a decline from CCSF, we would then be able to admit more out-of-area students to still reach the target,” Volkert said. “It is a balancing process between the two populations.” Lindy McKnight, dean of counseling and student services at CCSF, said she expects if the school closes, CCSF students would likely attend surrounding colleges in Berkeley and San Mateo, and still transfer to a four-year school. There is one real world example of a community college closing, though: Compton College in Southern California. Contrary to the idea that students would simply attend surrounding colleges when their college closes, the closure of Compton College shows a much darker view of what could happen to CCSF students. Compton College is one of the only community colleges to lose its accreditation in recent history, and became a part of nearby the El Camino Community College District in 2006. El Camino took over administrative operations for all classes at Compton. After Compton lost its accreditation nearly half of their students left the college, according to enrollment data from the state community college chancellor’s office. One school official said that they didn’t come back. “We looked at two or three colleges around Compton, and none of us had a significant increase in students from the Compton district coming here,” Ann Garten, Media Relations Director for El Camino College, said in an interview with CCSF’s “The Guardsman” newspaper editor Sara Bloomberg. “So our president’s concern was, ‘wow, we now have individuals that aren’t going anywhere. We can’t let this happen, we have to step in.’” Once El Camino took over, Compton enroll-
ment was back up, but only after three years. Enrollment at Compton college went from a low of 6,000 students in 2006, all the way back up to just over 12,000 students in 2009, closer to their enrollment numbers before they lost accreditation. With 45,000 students enrolled in credit classes, CCSF has a lot more students to lose. If those students don’t go to a surrounding community college, as happened with Compton, a vital conduit to SF State would be lost. Students from CCSF have another unique barrier to attending other colleges: transportation. Leon said that if she wasn’t able to go to City College for her transfer credits, she would have trouble attending San Mateo’s community college or nearby Skyline because of the long public transit commutes. She’s not alone. SFUSD graduate and second semester CCSF student Kimberly Rodriguez, 18, felt the same way. “I live on 16th and Mission. I’m around a lot of gang violence,” Rodriguez said. “When things go on, I’m not allowed to go out.” An extended commute would be more than just a hassle for Rodriguez. Getting home late at night via long BART and Muni rides could actually put her in real danger. Carew said that even if students did adapt by going to other colleges, students may still suffer. Data from tracking the college careers of SFUSD’s graduating seniors, she said, suggests they have a better chance of performing well in college if they go somewhere local. “There’s a lot of theories around that,” she said. “They’re in their own city, they’re not going through culture shock, they have support from their family.” In order to better track the progression of SFUSD students on their journey from graduation, to City College enrollment, to transferring to SF State, all of those schools have started contributing to an unprecedented data project. Carew and her counterparts at all of those schools are handing their enrollment data over to the John W. Gardner Center of Stanford University, which will track students success and failure as they move between multiple schools. “Just last month, San Francisco State signed an agreement with the John Gardner center,” Carew said. “We’re going to be able to tell all sorts of things, like how many (SFUSD) students go to City College and transfer to San Francisco State.” That data, however, won’t begin to come together until after the 2013-14 school year. When asked if there was sufficient data as of now to assess if the 800 annual CCSF transfers to SF State would still find a way to transfer if CCSF closed, Volkert had only this to say: “There is no data because this circumstance has never happened before in San Francisco.” For now, students and administrators from San Francisco all have one thing in common -- when it comes to what happens next for CCSF and its students, they’re flying in the dark.
San Francisco’s high school graduates are twice as likely to go to CCSF than SF State
How do San Francisco high school grads get to
SF State? (all numbers are per year)
out of
4,000
SF Unified School District graduates
1,000
500
students enroll at City College (CCSF)
students enroll at SF State (SFSU)
800 CCSF
students then transfer to
SFSU
These students are most often from SFUSD, said Maureen Carew, of Bridge to Success.
1,800
displaced San Francisco Unified School District graduates Other nearby commnity colleges: Berkeley City College - Laney College (Oakland) - Skyline College (Daly City) Ohlone College - College of Marin - Canada College (Redwood City) Chabot College (Hayward) - Contra Costa College (Martinez) *data sources: SFUSD grad rates from Bridge to Success program via SFUSD,tracked through the John W. Gardner center of Stanford University. CCSF transfer rate via SFSU enrollment office Infographic by Joe Fitzgerald
RALLY: CCSF supporters protest the consolidation of the diversity department Nov. 15, 2012 at Ram Plaza. Photo by Ellie Loarca
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02.06.13 | GOLDENGATEXPRESS.ORG