The Guardsman, Vol. 169, Issue 8 - City College of San Francisco

TENDERLOIN RESIDENTS UNABLE TO SOCIAL- DISTANCE

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ACTIVISTS HOLD SOCIALLYDISTANCED PROTEST

CCSF RAMS DRAFTED

BY NFL

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Vol. 169, Issue 8 | April 22 – May 5, 2020 | City College of San Francisco | Since 1935 | FREE | www.theguardsman.com

Bay Area Students Debate Quality of Online Learning

By Natalia Bogdanov NataliaBogdanov@icloud.com

The transition of Bay Area college students to online course management systems like Canvas, Ilearn, and Zoom has resulted in students feeling as though they are receiving a sub-par quality of education.

City College Trustee John Rizzo said in an email on April 24 “the Chancellor tells me that in the past 3 weeks, 2900 students have asked for the COVID19 refund that the state is offering.”

He said that it was unclear as to why so many students asked to drop their classes, though about 200 classes were unable to transfer to the online management system which did contribute to the overall number of students dropping.

Rochelle Schott, a City College Business and Marketing student, said that she wants to drop one of her classes because “it is just too much to handle.” Kiarra Dolan, a college of San Mateo Biology Pre-nursing student said, “I haven’t dropped any classes but I have thought about it. I am supposed to transfer in the fall so dropping

Political science student and The Guardsman Editor-in-Chief Claudia Drdul works on an anthropology project through Canvas on May 14, 2020. Photo by Jacob Edelman/Contributor

any courses isn’t really an option at this point.”

Emily Lowery, a sophomore at University of San Francisco (USF), said, “I am enrolled in 4 classes this semester. It's definitely harder to manage classes online due to the amount of work given. I feel that with lecture videos and alternate assignments, I have a lot more to do. There is more work in terms of learning the material. I feel that every week I am loaded up with

hours of lecture videos to watch, on top of multiple other assignments. I definitely spend a lot more time working on my classes now that they are online.”

A junior at San Jose State and a Child Development major, Carlos Lopez, said that he also spends more time due to the new format. However, he feels that it is to ensure students are keeping up with their previously assigned work. He spends “more time on

classes now because teachers are giving more assignments out. For example, one of my teachers is giving us a daily quiz on a book we’re reading to make sure we’re actually reading the book, which he was not doing before school went fully online. Also some other teachers are giving more work to keep us on track,” Lopez said.

Leilani Harvey, a student from Cañada College, a community college in Redwood City, also attested to the larger workload that has been given out since the transition. “Although there is most definitely more work given out after transferring classes online, I actually spend less time working on my classes because not having to physically be present and have a person reminding me of the due dates makes me less motivated to study and succeed,” Harvey said.

However a Political Science major at USF, Anisa Alazaraie, said, “I am enrolled in 5 classes. I don’t find it very hard to manage them, time-wise, as they are being conducted at the same times online as they were in person.” Although Alazaraie is also experiencing the same kind of lack in personal

motivation that has proceeded since the online format took place.

Jack Gilmore, a sophomore at American River College, is having a similar experience. The online format “makes it less interesting to keep up with classes that don’t hold a zoom meeting. It seems that classes that were using largely online components for work before and that now use Zoom are easy to manage whereas Econ and Geology have become more difficult as they are designed to be taught in person,” Gilmore said.

City College student Shevaghna Milton said, “switching to online courses was really difficult for me! Before the school closed, I relied on the CCSF library for access to a computer. Accessing Canvas, Zoom, and completing assignments through a smartphone is less than ideal.”

Another area of concern for most Bay Area college students is the possibility that the online system will result in a lesser quality education then what they were promised and are paying full price for.

cont. on page 5

Students and Faculty Protest Potential Loss of Fort Mason Campus Photo story by Jennifer Yin jyin

Ed Niteo, attends the Higher Education Action Team (HEAT) caravan protest in hopes to stop additional cuts made towards senior programs, hundreds of City College classes, and to persevere the Fort Mason Center from being removed entirely. May 15, 2020.

Photo by Jennifer Yin/The Guardsman.

Steve Zeltzer, a prominent High Education Action Team (HEAT) member wears a protective mask during their caravan protest which starting at City College's Mission Center. His mask poses as a symbolism of the constant battle in saving classes from being eliminated by the college's administration. May 15, 2020.

Photo by Jennifer Yin/The Guardsman.

Fernando Zermano, a City College English Second Language (ESL) student accompanies the Higher Education Action Team (HEAT) during their caravan protest at the Mission Center in San Francisco. HEAT and Zermano, demands for the halt of campus closures and more cuts made towards the ESL department.

May 25, 2020. Photo by Jennifer Yin/The Guardsman.

cont. on page 7

2 | NEWS

Vol. 169, Issue 8 | April 22 - May 5, 2020

Changes to San Francisco Government Transparency Rules Raise Eyebrows

By Tyler Breisacher tbreisac@mail.ccsf.edu

Changes to government transparency rules, brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, have raised concerns from advocates and journalists in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance, passed in 1999 by the Board of Supervisors, and later strengthened by the voters, gives San Franciscans transparency into the inner workings of City agencies. But some crucial sections have been suspended by Mayor London Breed in the last several weeks, in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

The first came on March 13, with the suspension of the “Immediate Disclosure Request” rule, requiring public agencies to produce relevant records within less than two business days, if requests are “simple, routine or otherwise readily answerable.”

With that rule being suspended, another section of the Sunshine Ordinance would apply, requiring the agency to produce the records “as soon as possible and within ten days following receipt of a request.”

However, that section was also suspended, in a supplement order issued March 23, leaving only the requirements from California’s Public Records Act, which gives agencies much longer to respond.

Some City agencies have been slower to respond: the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing cited Breed’s proclamation in its response to a records request from the San Francisco Public Press.

However, even when there are no delays, the suspensions may alter the way reporters seek out information. Mission Local Managing

Editor Joe Eskenazi said he had not had any public records requests delayed or denied, but that he is “less likely to pursue stories that lean upon timely record requests now. I have filed some, but, for me, the suspensions are less about a tangible denial and more about a diversion from even pursuing some stories I'd otherwise take up.”

He added, “Of course, due to the pandemic, I'm less likely to pursue garden-variety corruption and politics and San Francisco business-as-usual stories anyway.”

A letter from several advocacy groups, including the First Amendment Coalition and the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, denounced the suspensions. “Initiatives like the Sunshine Ordinance are not a right the government has granted to the people, but a power that the people have reserved for themselves,” the letter said.

It also highlighted two other suspensions in the March 23 supplement. One of these suspensions allows agencies to withhold documents exchanged during contract negotiations, and the other allows them to deny public records requests using a “catch-all” exemption from state law which would normally be forbidden by the Sunshine Ordinance.

Christine Peek, co-chair of the Freedom of Information Committee of SPJ NorCal, said the mayor is allowed to issue orders in emergency situations when necessary to preserve life or property.

However, she said, “Not only is it unnecessary to suspend citizens’ rights to open government in order to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, there are strong policy reasons not to do so, including the

critical role these open government rights play in preserving our democracy, and the need to preserve trust in local government during this difficult time.”

Another aspect of government transparency is public access to meetings. A series of executive orders from Governor Gavin Newsom updated California’s rules for public meetings of legislative bodies, known as the Brown Act. To adapt to the statewide shelterin-place order, legislative bodies may now hold meetings using video-conferencing software such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams, rather than in a public place within the body’s area of jurisdiction.

Many Bay Area legislative bodies have adapted well.

In a webinar presented by the First Amendment Coalition and Society of Professional Journalists, Berkeleyside reporter Emilie Raguso described Berkeley’s City Council meetings over the first several weeks of the shelterin-place order. After a few initial technical difficulties, their meetings are now running smoothly on Zoom, with multiple ways for the public to observe and participate.

However, several council members were participating with audio only, until Raguso raised the issue during a public comment portion of a meeting. She argued that if an official has access to a camera, they should generally have it turned on during an online meeting.

The City College Board of Trustees has held several meetings on Zoom, simultaneously streamed on YouTube for people who can’t or don’t want to use Zoom. Unlike the Berkeley meetings or the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, members of the public cannot call

Illustration by Nazli Kandur/ The Guardsman

in to address the board.

Instead, they are asked to email their comments to publiccomment@ccsf.edu, often with a deadline of half an hour before the start of the meeting. Those emailed comments are then read by a college official, rather than people getting to address the board directly. Furthermore, those comments have been difficult to hear, at several meetings, making the experience quite different from that of an in-person meeting.

For the Town Hall at 6 p.m. on April 7, for instance, only comments submitted before 5:30 p.m. were accepted. Documents obtained by The Guardsman show that a handful of comments were submitted too late and were not read during the meeting. One comment, accusing the Board of acting “without transparency,” was submitted at 5:31 p.m., just one minute too late.

SF Weekly estimates that one in eight San Franciscans does not

have internet access. One such resident is Peter Warfield, from Equity for Older Students. While he is able to listen in to meetings over the phone, the lack of internet access at home, and inability to get into public libraries which are closed during the shelter-in-place, makes it difficult for him to engage with online meetings as much as he did for meetings held in person.

Online meetings can lead to other challenges as well. In an example of what has become known as “Zoombombing,” a meeting of the Participatory Governance Council’s Facilities Committee on May 4 was disrupted. One attendee described the Zoombombers writing on the screen using Zoom’s “annotate” feature, and playing loud electronic music, forcing the committee to end the meeting and reschedule it for the next day.

SF State Works on Proposal to Lease Portion of City College’s Downtown Campus ByNatalia Bogdanov NataliaBogdanov@icloud.com

San Francisco State University (SFSU) is proposing to relocate its current Downtown Campus in the Westfield Center on Market Street to City College’s Downtown Campus at Fourth and Mission Street which SFSU officials say will assist in City College students’ educational advancement.

The initial proposal by SFSU was sent on December 10 via email from SFSU’s Vice President of University Enterprises, Jason Porth.

The discussion of this item was brought up again at a special City College Board of Trustees meeting on May 5. However, this issue was discussed in the closed session of the meeting. A City College spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether the plan would be delayed due to

the COVID-19 Crisis.

Executive Director of Real Estate Development at SFSU, Hamid Ghaemmaghami said, “I believe it will benefit CCSF to have a solid academic partner as a tenant, as SF State and CCSF can work together to create a seamless and positive partnership to enhance the education of students.

The partnership will result in the development of a direct path toward a four-year degree for transfer students.”

The rent commencement date from the initial proposal is July 1, 2021, however, this date may have changed from the proposal after the Board of Trustees meeting, but that information is not yet known.

Although Ghaemmaghami said a week before the meeting that “SF State is evaluating its programmatic needs and its anticipated

Staff Editor-in-Chief Claudia Drdul

News Editor Tyler Breisacher

Culture Editor Jennifer Yin

Opinion Editor Caoilinn Goss Photo Editor Amal Ben Ghanem

enrollment in light of the current public health crisis to assess what the partnership could look like.”

For SFSU, no major changes in the quality of their education will be occurring. Although this coordination would give SFSU a chance to build its partnership with CCSF. “The CCSF downtown campus offers an excellent location and flexibility to continue our programs. We believe that being in the same location as CCSF will lead to many positive educational outcomes for students,” said Ghaemmaghami.

The initial proposal was sent to City College’s Sr. Vice Chancellor James Sohn and Chief of Staff Leslie Milloy. The email proposed terms including premises, timelines, tenant improvements, signage, additional costs, custodial and public safety support, Asst. Photo Editor Fran Smith Sport Editor Meyer Gorelick Copy Editors Antoinette Barton

City College Downtown Campus at the intersection of 4th Street and Mission Street still closed as of May 14, 2020 due to statewide shelter-in-place orders. Photo by Claudia Drdul/ The Guardsman

right of first refusal, and approvals. However, the amount of rent that SFSU would pay was not yet specified.

SFSU is seeking to lease four to four and a half floors of City College’s Downtown Campus.

Each floor consists of about 8,000 gross square feet. Therefore the total leasehold would be about

Osvaldo Salazár Design Director Nazli Ece Kandur Ad Manager Diana Guzman

Staff Writers Aminah Jalal Rachel Berning Alexa Bautista Jay Sea

32,000 to 36,000 gross square feet. However, in the email Porth assured that “these initial terms are intended to foster a collaborative planning process aimed at fulfilling the shared interests of two public agencies.”

Photographers Matheus Maynard Amal Ben Ghanem Fran Smith Joel Wagner

NEWS | 3

Vol. 169, Issue 8 | April 22 - May 5, 2020

Students Saddened Over Reduction of ASL Classes

Residents of Tenderloin Experience Growing COVID-19 Crisis

Crowds gather in the Conlan Hall lobby to protest recent class cuts and listen as AFT 2121 President Jenny Worley gives a speech on Nov. 26, 2019. Archived photo by Lisa Martin / The Guardsman

By Alexa Bautista abauti34@mail.ccsf.edu

ASL Reduction American Sign Language is one of the nine language programs offered by City College, and will soon face a reduction in classes.

In the 2019-2020 school year, City College has only been able to offer two levels of ASL, AMSL 1A and AMSL 1B, taught by two instructors. Both the fall and spring semester had four sections of AMSL 1A and one section of AMSL 1B offered at Abraham Lincoln High School.

Recently, there has been an ongoing rumor of the ASL program being eliminated in the upcoming Fall 2020 semester. This has caused immense concern amongst the community because ASL classes are always in high demand, and many jobs are offered once graduated from the program. This demand is also due to the concurrent program with Abraham Lincoln High School for the AMSL 1B class because one semester of ASL can fulfill two semesters of high school language courses. Moreover, these classes fulfill the language requirement for the CSU and UC systems.

Many students and others in the Deaf community were immediately shocked and displeased with the news from an email by the ASL professors about the current situation. By eliminating the ASL program, this would deprive all students the opportunity to learn a language that is communicated visually rather than aurally.

Students such as Vlad Moro urged the college to continue ASL education at City College for the social enrichment and benefit for all students.

“Cutting ASL harms the Deaf community and harms the national language as for the blind people they know Braille. Who are we to take their language away,” Moro said. “Anyone who can hear who wants to learn another language Faculty Advisor Juan Gonzales

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and or wants to become an interpreter should be able to access ASL opportunities which would help the Deaf community immensely.”

From the multitude of emotions from the news, World Cultures and Language Department Chair Diana Garcia-Denson stated that this rumor is false information.

“The college has sent out wrong information about the ASL program being eliminated in a letter. I have informed professors to email their own letters back stating that this information is incorrect. There will be a reduction in classes for the fall semester,” Garcia-Denson stated. “There will only be two afternoon classes, one evening class, and one program at Abraham Lincoln High School”.

In this letter, the administration gave the World Culture and Language Department a reduced budget for the upcoming Fall 2020 semester. Unfortunately, ASL and other language programs such as Russian and German have also had their classes cut. The email that professors sent out to the community about the reduction of classes was then interpreted as the ASL program being eliminated, which resulted in students sending out letters to the Board of Trustees.

Professor of ASL Joel Gelburd explained his disappointment and frustration from ASL classes being reduced by half.

“Our education similarly to other institutions should be well funded. City College has been having this trend for the past for years in this budgetary crisis which resulted in cutting in many really wonderful programs,” Gelburd added. “Now language programs are being affected by this problem, and it’s not because of the amount of students, but because of money issues which is a pity.”

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On April 29, 2020 San Franciscans line the sidewalks with tents and other belongings in the Tenderloin, where physical distancing is a challenge. Photo by Andy Damián-Correa/The Guardsman

By Osvaldo Salazár Osalaza4@mail.ccsf.edu

Upon walking through San Francisco’s Tenderloin at any given time, any shelter in place guideline or social distancing protocol is almost impossible to follow for people in this neighborhood.

While residents of San Francisco brace themselves for an extension of the city’s shelter in place order, those who live in the Tenderloin brace themselves for at least another four weeks of these orders being essentially ignored.

Those in the neighborhood who are lucky to have housing are following the sheltering guidelines, but those who do not have access to safe housing have continued to pack and congest neighborhood streets and sidewalks which has virtually eliminated any chance of social distancing.

While protections and guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local health officials are followed without much difficulty in wealthier neighborhoods in the city, the risks just continue to grow for the over 20,000 residents of the Tenderloin district who are unable to leave their small urban dwellings. Simply leaving their homes to buy groceries, get exercise or even get fresh air puts their lives in direct danger.

“I really don’t like having to be

out here right now, it's not safe at all, but I ran out of groceries so I just came to get what I needed and am going right back to my apartment. I hope I don’t run into too many people on the street on my way back,” said Tenderloin resident Lydia Bernal, 28. “There are just so many people outside all the time, the number of tents and homeless people I’ve seen lately in the neighborhood has also risen a lot, it’s worrying.”

According to the CDC’s guidance for COVID-19, city officials should “encourage people staying in encampments to set up their tents/sleeping quarters with at least 12 feet x 12 feet of space per individual.” As of May 1, 391 tents lined the streets of one of the city’s densest neighborhoods which has increased exponentially from 149 in early March.

CDC guidelines also require that cities provide sufficient handwashing stations and portable toilets for encampments of 10 people or more. Currently, five such stations exist in the neighborhood, not nearly a sufficient amount for the almost 300% spike in encampments currently saturating the Tenderloin.

Aware of the violation of national and local social distancing guidelines, city supervisors pushed through emergency legislation on April 14 that would require over

8,000 empty hotel rooms be used to house the city’s homeless residents.

By the last week of April, only 2,500 rooms had been secured, and just over 1,000 people had been moved into them. Mayor London Breed has stated she can’t comply with the ordinance fully at this time because it isn’t “paired with reality.”

Amid a Lawsuit recently filed by the UC Hastings School of Law which is located in the Tenderloin, along with merchants and residents of the neighborhood, Breed’s office has released their “Tenderloin Neighborhood Plan for Covid19”. This 32 page plan offers safer sleeping conditions to those in encampments, expands hygiene stations for unhoused residents, and ensures housed residents have safe passage and access to their homes to safely practice socially distancing.

In an article by the San Francisco Chronicle, UC Hastings’ Chancellor and Dean David Faigman called the plan “entirely inadequate”, further stating it would only encourage more camping in the neighborhood. “The plan is just more talk. We need action, not talk. We need the tents and the drug dealers removed and the unhoused moved to safe and temporary housing, such as large tents or other shelter, until a permanent solution is accomplished.”

A homeless man who wishes to remain anonymous dons a mask as he prepares his belongings outside of San Francisco's City Hall on April 29, 2020. Photo by Andy Damián-Correa/The Guardsman Facebook @theguardsman

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4 | CULTURE

Vol. 169, Issue 8 | April 22 - May 5, 2020

Student Electees Bring About an Array of Personalities

By An Pham Apham34@mail.ccsf.edu

The Associated Student Council at City College of San Francisco held their annual student elections for Fall’s 2020 semester.

Student representatives held an online election for the first time on April 28, because of the Covid-19 shelter in place.

However, the college’s spring semester came with multiple surprises such as class cuts and unclear spending. Students protested left and right in efforts to save classes and to top that, former Chancellor Mark Rocha resigned after being paid for sick leave.

Students have a right to vote but more importantly their voices need to be heard, which is why the student elections need to be held in making sure that they can also be part of the college’s system.

City College has been closed since the shelter-in-place order had taken place in March. The college’s closure has brought out many difficulties for students, staff, and faculty. One of the most unprecedented difficulties is the annual ASC election for the 2020 fall semester.

The election was usually held at Ocean Campus, but since the shelter in place order students could vote in person, so the election “went” to the student.

ASC had sent out links for the election through students emails on April 28, hoping that it could capture enough attention from the students.

Unexpectedly, ASC has challenges further into their election. According to their Instagram post, they stated how some emails were blank due to technical issues.

However, the online election went through and turned out to be a success. The ASC had found positions for student trustee, student vice chancellor, and student government representatives.

The elected student trustee outed seven applicants with Vick Van Chung being the victor. They won 109 votes and made a fair distance from the runner up with 75 votes going to Angelica Campos.

Chung has worked as a community organizer for City College and they are an advocate for college funding. They are experienced in community work and co-hosted rallies that supported the Emergency Bridge funding with their co-founded group, CCSF Collective. As student trustee, Chung promised to expand student representations while staying grounded to their community organizing values, and to do everything they can

Illustration by Nazli Kandur/ The Guardsman

to, “truly ensure students are not spoken for, but rather speaking to.”

Chung said, regarding their grateful win, “I felt a great deal of gratitude and excitement. I was incredibly grateful for all the community organizers that vocally supported me and advocate on my behalf.”

Big difference from a student trustee, student vice chancellor has only one applicant. Tarquin Gaines was the only applicant and had won 245 votes. Gaines, a native San Franciscan, is currently a student and a senator for City College’s 2019 to 2020 academic year. With the outstanding personal and academic growth at City College, he felt compelled to run for vice chancellor.

Gaines has developed his years at City College experiencing educational resources that made him have a sense of belongings.

He also values the importance of students’ representation, and hoping that he could establish what he said “An affinity between low-income students and students of color to

the school community and work closely with our administrators to extend the support provided to students.”

Gaines experienced working for schools’ communities and had work in the Executive Council at Ocean campus himself. He said his goal for the next semester as vice chancellor would be “Enhancing the student life at CCSF whether that’s introducing students to clubs and resources to foster the sense of belonging or engagement that promotes students’ voices where everyone is valued, everyone is heard.”

The most applied position is the Ocean campus’ student senator, with nine applicants from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, and who all won. It is no surprise that students need more student representatives, and these students with different motivations chose to be that voice for the students at City College.

Congratulations to Francia Jimenez winning 141 votes, Luxi Li winning at 123

votes, Juan Pablo Wilson with 106 votes, Cristian Ruiz with 100 votes, Jonathan Nguyen with 80 votes, Brenton Lai with 66 votes, Jesse Solorzano and Maral Zagarzusem both with 63 votes each, and Maral Zagarzusem with 59 votes.

This group of senators have a variety of backgrounds from Luxi Li, who was born in China and came to the U.S at the age of four, to Maral Zagarzusem, who is from Mongolia and is studying in the first year at City College. They all share one common goal, and that is to speak their voice and the voice of the students..

These student senators are willing to bring in all their skills and hard work, some with their excitement to learn new responsibilities and others with their prior experience in City College Executive Council. They promised to not just give back to the communities at the college, but also to improve the life of many students on campus.

SEIU local workers have claimed they haven’t received enough protection equipment to be serving as essential workers. Illustration by Nazli Kandur/ The Guardsman

CULTURE | 5

Vol. 169, Issue 8 | April 22 - May 5, 2020

DIY For Dummies

By Claudia Drdul claudiadrdul@gmail.com

For some of us, art is a way of life. For others of us, we truly believe we don’t have an eye for design.

Growing up with a mom as a talented portrait artist, I always felt I couldn’t compete with her work, and therefore I shouldn’t bother.

I had a difficult time with all of my general courses throughout highschool due to boredom and disinterest. I saw this same desire for a more-hands on education when I went on to teach Math and English at several elementary schools.

For a lot of us, experiential learning is the only way to truly understand the world around us.

My students continuously asked me to break up our solely verbal or visual lessons with a game or a

project, and that’s when I started incorporating crafts into my lessons.

Pinterest was my heavensend for a few years, and I learned to actually enjoy math when it was laced into origami or science experiments.

When I was hired as a middle school art teacher my passion for crafting finally emerged. Crafts allowed me to quickly build relationships with my students in a way STEM education never could. It gave some time to reflect on our own interests, appreciate the work of others and explore our inner desire to create.

I don’t always make time to create. In fact, I wish I would take more time to explore this different side of myself. However, upon hearing about the stay-at-home order and being in the process of moving, I instantly went into DIY mode.

Upon packing, I realized I have an endless barrage of wine glasses

and glass vases, all clear, and relatively boring in character. I figured a bit of alcohol ink would do the trick!

These inks are ridiculously expensive for how small they are, however, a single bottle has lasted me more than three years and tens of projects.

For this project I used the only three colors I had, green, red and silver… but I suggest only buying red, blue and yellow so that you can pretty much mix any color under the sun.

One of my favorite projects to work on and wear are earrings. If I see a pair of earrings with literally any eclectic design, from troll dolls to snakes, I’m going to buy them. But earrings are expensive, especially when they’re so easy to make out of any household item.

I’ve made earrings out of other pieces of jewelry, buttons, clay, and

resin, but beaded earrings have to be the easiest.

To begin, all you need is some tiny beads, some thread and a needle. Youtube is a great resource for tutorials, I typically watch videos from BijuTeo’s channel, but again there are endless possibilities for any style. Before I started making earrings regularly, I would reuse earring hooks and use tweezers instead of jewelry tools, so these can be made with little to no cost!

For this project, I scavenged through a box of goodies from my childhood and found two knitting hooks so I decided to knit something. It seems that macrame wall tapestries have really taken off, but the task of creating such a large, intricate project was just too daunting for my first time knitting.

So, I chose instead to create some coasters. I found a pattern

off of Pinterest and gathered my supplies- knitting hooks and yarn, I Youtubed a few beginner tutorials and I was off! The total project, all three coasters, only took me about an hour, and that was because my yarn kept slipping off my hook. For this one, I suggest correlating your yarn size to the size of your hook, as thinner yarn with a short hook should be reserved for those who know what they’re doing.

All in all, these projects were simple, stress relieving and gave me some new decor for a fraction of the price. While quarantine has been long and stressful, simple projects like these can rejuvenate you and allow you to enjoy spending time with yourself again.

Minature beads, wire jewelry wrap, earrng hooks, beading needles and jewelry pliers prior to use on April 1, 2020.

Photo by Claudia Drdul/ The Guardsman

Before: Wine glasses, isopropal alcohol, alcohol inks and various tools prior to use on April 5, 2020. Photo by Claudia Drdul/ The Guardsman

Below Left earring post beading and knotting on April 1, 2020.

Photo by Claudia Drdul/ The Guardsman

After: Wine glasses post alcohol-inking on April 5, 2020. Photo by Claudia Drdul/ The Guardsman

Online Learning cont. from page 1 This is true for Lowery. “I definitely feel a lack of necessities in my courses. I am learning an entire semester of a language through a workbook and the assigned videos,” she said. “As I know times are tough for everyone, I would like more contact with all of my professors. Not one of my professors hold mandatory zoom sessions, we learn strictly from videos which can be difficult at times.”

Harvey is “definitely disappointed and dissatisfied, as a science major, I’m taking mostly hands-on classes. For instance my Physiology class, which is a Lab, has moved a lab to the online format. This is frustrating because it is the best way to learn the material, and the most exciting.

Lab was the part of this class that I had the highest hopes for and it was cancelled along with any other face-to-face mandatory meetings. I do feel this will affect how much I take from this class at the end of the semester.”

Alazarai said that she has found “that for classes that are reading-based, I am receiving just what I need to get my worth out of my education. However, for classes that

involve community interaction and a lot of class projects, I am not learning what was promised. For example, I am in a service learning class that studies conduct resolution.

We traveled to Northern Ireland in early January to study conflict resolution and we were meant to bring what we learned back to the Bay Area so we could apply those lessons to conflicts within our own community. Now, we will not be attending any of our planned community service hours or events.”

San Francisco State University student Roque Coral, said that his educational quality has “absolutely lessened.

Almost all of my classes engaged in constant group work and active learning prior to the online format. Discussing the material with classmates isn’t easy now that classes are online.”

Some students suggested another downfall of these online management systems is that professors are not putting in as much effort for their students as they had before. For example, Lowery said her “professors are being lenient due to these difficult times. As I know some other

students have it harder, I still feel like they can do more. I honestly feel that this online system is more about grades than actually learning. Exams are open notes, multiple essays were dropped, and other weekly assignments have been taken away. I feel like the learning aspect has been taken away.”

Lowery further explained that she finds it difficult to learn American Sign Language online with no one-onone contact. “I am basically teaching myself to learn a language. I feel that a major drawback is just the lack of communication and outlets for guidance. I feel that I am strictly teaching myself material and could receive this type of education somewhere other than a private institution like USF,” she said.

Lopez feels that his professors are putting in effort, however, professors can sometimes take an hour to reply and do not have a scheduled time to meet with students who have questions. Dolan also reported to have the same experience where teachers will not respond to her questions before it is time to turn in her assignments.

6 | OPINION

Community Colleges Will Be Essential to California’s Recovery

HAVE YOUR SAY

Vol. 169, Issue 8 | April 22 - May 5, 2020

“WHAT COVID-19 RELATED CAMPUS RESOURCES ARE YOU AWARE OF? HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THEM?”

BY JOEL WAGNER jcw0341@gmail.com

First published in the San Francisco Examiner

“I have not seen or heard of any school resources till Mr. Wagner had provided me with the information that I needed to pass down to the people that are uninformed. However, that I am directly connected to the Department of public health I tend to get resources and information from them.”

— Neetan Narayan, Computer Science

“I'm aware that resources such as laptop rentals and student help centers have been created to assist students through COVID-19. As a veteran I use the veteran counselors and help center frequently. The Veteran counselors have been excellent through these troubling times.”

— Ben Fanjoy, Journalism

“I heard of a few things that CCSF is offering, but I haven’t had the chance to actually use any of them. For example, I heard a lot about the Chromebook loan program, online tutoring, and counseling. I do hope that people are using this extra help in this moment of difficulties for all of us.”

— Mattheus Maynard, Journalism and Geography

A protester holds a sign in front of City College's Conlan Hall, on Sep. 25, 2019, to support solidarity within the community, in light of the recent class cuts and suggested administrative salary increase. Archived photo by Jennifer Yin / The Guardsman

By Jennifer Worley and Shanell Williams cgoss2@mail.ccsf.edu

When the shelter-in-place order is finally lifted, millions of Californians will be seeking employment in a drastically different economy.

Some workplaces will not survive; others will be profoundly changed or take years to recover.

In any scenario, California’s 114 Community Colleges will be crucial to our state’s recovery.

You can already see evidence of this at City College of San Francisco where fashion and design students have volunteered to help make desperately needed face masks for health care professionals, and our advanced nursing students have petitioned the governor to temporarily relax certification requirements so they can assist on the front lines against COVID-19.

“As a pharmacy technician at Kaiser South San Francisco I’m seeking to advance my education and move ahead in my health care career,” said Maricela Gonzalez. “The City College Health Education Associates Degree I am working towards now will help me provide the best patient care and meet the educational requirements that we expect from our health care professionals today.”

Maricela is absolutely right. Gov. Gavin Newsom pointed out recently that community colleges “are keeping all of us safe, because they are the backbone of our training in the State of California. By some estimates, 70% of our first responders … are trained through that community college system, and they’re doing heroic work in this state.”

In addition to training our first responders, community colleges provide a wealth of job training and higher education opportunities for working-class students, opportunities that are both affordable and accessible. On our campuses, health care and paramedic students are trained in real-world settings, laid-off workers are retrained in new fields, and workers learn skills required for new green jobs. Career and technical education helps Californians enter a wide variety of careers in public service, health care, hospitality, the building trades, and more.

Programs such as welding provide high-paying jobs to students within a relatively short time frame.

Currently, there are over 2.1 million students enrolled in the community college system. We know from experience that during a recession, California workers enroll in community colleges in droves. We must ensure that our community college system is up to the task of ensuring a

robust economic recovery. Our programs must be funded and given the resources that they need to provide a high quality education.

State funding for public education has not met the demand for many decades, particularly in high-cost areas like San Francisco. The state funding formula for our colleges disadvantages many vital programs, including programs that close equity gaps such as African American Studies, Latin America and Latino/a Studies, and LGBT Studies. We must ensure that all programs are funded and given the resources that they need to provide a high quality education for all.

Community colleges must be put front and center in any recovery plans. And just as San Francisco and California did in our response to the COVID-19 crisis, States and municipalities must not wait for the federal government to act; we must work quickly to fund our community colleges to help California recover from this crisis.

We believe that California has what it takes to recover from this recession in a way that builds equity, addresses long standing poverty, and helps ordinary people find their footing again. Community colleges do this during boom times and bust. We are ready to be part of a New Deal for California.

“No, I have not been able to utilize any COVID related resources because I’m not aware any resources are being provided.

The link that the school has provided for resources are not resources whatsoever related to the COVID event. These resources have been the same & have not changed since the beginning of the semester. For continuing students, we receive multiple emails claiming updates from different places such as CityNotes & Student Affairs. The question is why multiple emails from different offices are sending out updates rather than just having one office or administrator take the lead in sending out updates.”

— Eddie Deloza, LGBT Studies

L ette R to the EditoR Dear Editor Dear Editor, The Board of Trustees and the Public must have full financial disclosure of the Salaries and Benefits of all named and hired Chancellors and all named and hired Administrators. The disclosures must be provided by the end of the fiscal year.

Ann Clark

HOW TO PREVENT CONTRACTING COVID-19

1 2 3 4 5

6

Wash hands frequently Maintain social distancing Avoid touching eyes,nose and mouth Practice respiratory hygiene If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early Stay informed and follow advice given by your provider

Infographic by Nazli Ece Kandur/ The Guardsman. Information retrived from World Health Organization

COMMUNITY | 7

Vol. 169, Issue 8 | April 22 - May 5, 2020

Student Elections and Board of Trustees Campaign Updates

By Aminah Jalal nima96290@gmail.com

City College’s 2020 Associated Students Election results were posted on the college’s website in early May. Candidate Vicki Van Chung won the seat for Student Trustee with 109 votes. As a San Francisco resident and City College community organizer, Chung has advocated, mobilized, and lobbied for increased funding for City College as well as colleges across California.

They co-founded CCSF Collective at a time when City College’s arts, ethnic studies, and social justice classes were faced with funding cuts. They also created the program City Scholars, where peers served as student advocates in partnership with student retention centers and resource centers, to help students through enrollment, registration, and continuing studies.

“As Student Trustee, I promise to expand student representation across the governing institute through a community-developed, pre-piloted civic engagement mentorship program,” Chung said. “I promise to remain grounded to my community organizing values, to practicing consistent outreach and democratic engagement. And I promise I will do everything I can to truly ensure students are not spoken for, but rather speaking to.”

Candidate Tarquin Gaines won the race for Student Vice Chancellor by 245 votes. Gaines has previously served as an Associated Students Senator at Ocean Campus.

“My goal through this position would be to establish an affinity between low-income students and students of color to the school community and work closely with our administrators to extend the support provided to students,” Gaines said. “Connecting all students to campus resources and courses that bear a sense of belonging would

enhance the CCSF experience.”

Student Government Elected Representatives include Angelica Nevarez in the seat for Vice President at John Adams Campus with 5 votes. Ocean Campus Senator-Elects are Francia Jimenez, Luxi Li, Juan Pablo Wilson, Cristian Ruiz, Jonathan Ng, Brenton Lai, Jesse Solorzano, Maral Zagarzusem, and Ashley Rosas Rosales, each with an average of 89 votes.

The election for non-student positions on the Board of Trustees (BOT) will take place in November. BOT candidate Alan Wong announced on April 26 the early endorsements of faculty union AFT 2121 and the faculty union of San Francisco State University California Faculty Association.

The early endorsement of AFT 2121 can be credited to Wong’s tremendous advocacy for City College and help in working to secure FreeCity, extending City College into the Sunset District, and fighting to fund public higher education.

“As Trustee, I know Alan would ensure that City College is a core part of the City’s workforce development and economic recovery in light of COVID-19,” Jennifer Worley, President of AFT 2121 said.

“I worked on the FreeCity MOU and the Sunset ESL classes with Alan,” City College Trustee Brigitte Davila said. “He knows educational policy backwards and forwards. He is a real problem solver and we’re going to be facing a lot of problems because of the pandemic.”

“I’m very proud to receive these early endorsements and to have secured another decade of FreeCity, and CHEF. I also worked with CFA and will continue even though coronavirus slowed down some of that work,” Wong said. “These endorsements represent the work and relationships I’ve built over time and will help build momentum as I work towards getting more endorsements.”

BOT candidate Anita Martinez looks

Members of AFT 2121 and city college students support Oakland Unified teachers during their 2019 strike in front of Oakland's City Hall. Photo by

forward to talking with and listening further to the needs and ideas of teachers, faculty, and students in light of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as planning to campaign virtually for the November election.

“I can see this all being a huge learning experience for City College whether it be students, faculty, or the Board of Trustees,” Martinez said. “Similar to how health practitioners are learning from their shortcomings in preparedness in the news. If we take a page out of their book and see this as something of a learning experience. That we can learn how to make improvements so they can function better, especially as the college has expressed an ambition to go to more distant, online education.”

“For example, akin to mapping the campus and guiding students to where their class is,” Martinez said. “Something similar to a dean of virtual transactions or relations when it comes to guidelines and a script to go by when emailing students or services for virtually helping students as well as teachers around websites and emails.”

California State Senate Candidate Jackie Fielder also has been endorsed by City College’s faculty union AFT 2121 recently due to her show of interest and concern in fighting for the housing crisis as well as her investment in saving the planet in its current climate crisis.

“We’re never uniform. Members are very diverse politically, all around the map,” AFT 2121 Political Director James Tracy said. “But, drawing from the comments that people said from the very first online meeting due to the COVID19 crisis, she showed that she really took classroom issues seriously and for teachers and students and showed the willingness for the fight around housing.

Members were also very moved by Jackie’s investment to save the planet."

“Jackie pulled through,” Tracy said.

“When Jackie first contacted the union, I advised her to study around City College issues and go talk to the faculty members and students to find out what folks are going through and she did it, her own work, that’s basically it.”

Fort Mason cont. from page 1

Lorry Luikart, a City College student who focuses on sculpture wears a protective mask saying, "ART," during a Higher Education Action Team (HEAT) caravan protest. Luikart said how the classes at Fort Mason Center are important for older adult learners because they rely on their classes for socialization and expressing themselves through the arts. May 15, 2020. Photo by Jennifer Yin/The Guardsman.

A sign stating, "Save Ft. Mason Art Campus," rests against a metal barrier while protestors gather at the Fort Mason Center during a High Education Action Team (HEAT) caravan protest. May 15, 2020.

Photo by Jennifer Yin/The Guardsman.

City College faculty and students gather in front of San Francisco's Fort Mason Center for a Higher Education Action Team (HEAT) caravan protest to express their outrage regarding the administrative aim to forgo their Fort Mason Center and older adult learning courses. May 15, 2020. Photo by Jennifer Yin/The Guardsman.

8 | SPORTS

Vol. 169, Issue 8 | April 22 - May 5, 2020

Three Rams Go Pro

By Meyer Gorelick msggorelick@gmail.com

Three former Rams have signed professional contracts and will battle for spots on NFL rosters this coming season.

Pacifica native, quarterback Anthony Gordon led the Rams to their most recent national championship in 2015 before transferring to Washington State University (WSU).

In his lone season starting for the WSU Cougars in 2019, Gordon threw for 48 touchdowns, second only to Heisman Trophy winner and top overall NFL draft pick Joe Burrow.

He signed with the Seattle Seahawks on April 25, where he will be backing up star quarterback Russel Wilson.

Gordon’s former teammate Easop Winston Jr., who grew up in San Francisco, will be taking his talents to the Los Angeles Rams on April 25.

Winston Jr. joined Gordon at WSU after winning a national championship with him at City College. The two connected for 23 touchdowns in their two seasons playing together at City College and WSU, and Winston Jr. added additional 20 scores over the rest of his college career.

The Arizona Cardinals swooped in to sign Bejour Wilson, who in two seasons as a City College Ram cornerback broke up 20 passes, made 56 tackles and snagged five interceptions.

The San Lorenzo native transferred to Liberty University in Virginia where in two seasons he recorded 76 tackles and six interceptions.

Quarterback Anthony Gordon celebrates winning the state and national championship with Head Coach Jimmy Collins (right) and Athletic Director Dan Hayes (left) on Dec. 12, 2015. Courtesy of Eric Sun

Easop Winston Jr. makes a fingertip touchdown grab against Chabot College on Sep. 24, 2016. Courtesy of Eric Sun.

Wide Receiver Easop Winston Jr. (11) attempts to make a catch with a defender draped all over him against College of San Mateo on Oct. 29, 2016. Courtesy of Eric Sun.

Cornerback Bejour Wilson breaks up a pass versus Contra Costa College on Nov. 12, 2016. Courtesy of Eric Sun.