The Guardsman, Vol. 172, Issue 3, City College of San Francisco by The Guardsman

Autumn Moon Festival Entices Crowds Back to Chinatown By Emily Margaretten margarettene@gmail.com After a year’s hiatus, the Autumn Moon Festival in Chinatown brought out crowds of people to Grant Avenue during the weekend of Sept. 11-12, offering hope to local businesses and performers who have struggled to rebound from the economic losses of the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival, which is sponsored by the San Francisco Chinatown Merchant Association, took on particular significance this year as dignitaries like Mayor

London Breed, Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Ahsha Safai, and Assembly member David Chiu used the occasion to highlight the festival’s cultural traditions while underscoring the realities of the pandemic, which has made the past 16 months especially difficult for Chinatown’s community. Breed addressed these struggles in her opening remarks at the festival, noting that “Chinatown bore the brunt of the challenges of the pandemic,” referring not only to economic hardships but also to the heightened xenophobia

and violence that people of Asian closely shared living quarters, and Pacific Islander descent have “Chinatown,” Peskin proudly experienced during the pandemic. announced, “had the lowest transmission rate in the county and city. It’s the cleanest, safest, and health“Chinatown bore the iest place,” he continued, “that’s the bounty.” brunt of the challenges While dignitaries described Chinatown as the heart of San of the pandemic.” Francisco’s economic recovery, local business owners offered a more cautious outlook. When Peskin meanwhile drew atten- asked if he was the owner of the tion to the resiliency of Chinatown legendary Eastern Bakery, which and its successes mitigating was the first bakery to open in the COVID-19 crisis. Despite Chinatown in 1924, Orlando Kuhn

wryly replied, “Unfortunately, yes, although maybe not for long.” The pandemic, he explained, scared people away, and his business had not fully recovered. Similarly, Kevin Chan, 52, owner of the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, noted that sales were low because international visitors had not returned with the easing of pandemic restrictions. He pointed to the store’s entryway where footprints were impressed in the concrete from 59 years of constant use. He wondered when Autumn Moon continues on pg 6

Autumn Moon continues on page 4

Youth Performers at the Autumn Moon Festival in San Francisco's Chinatown on Sept. 11. Photograph by Onyx Hunter/The Guardsman.

Surge of Fake Applications Creates Headache for Community Colleges By Julie Zigoris jzigoris@mail.ccsf.edu A surge of suspicious applications has flooded the California Community College system, with up to 65,000 fraudulent applications statewide from 77 countries, according to a Board of Trustees presentation at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton.

The extent of the fraud suggests that City College may be vulnerable, though administrators did not respond to numerous requests about the problem. The issue has overwhelmed instructors and administrators and, in some cases, kept real-life students from being able to enroll in courses. For Tara Cuslidge-

Staiano, a journalism professor at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, the situation was overwhelming. Her “Writing for Digital Media” course inflated to 85 students — then went down to just 14 after rooting out the bots. Cuslidge-Staiano first became suspicious when she noticed a surge in registration all

at once. “Typically enrollment is a random pattern,” she noted, but this summer she had a wave of students register at once, with the highest number on August 11. “We constantly monitor our rosters,” she said. Other suspicious activity included students with all-capitalized names,no course history, and

Lowriders Celebrate Forty Years

Rams Dominate 45-0

Culture - pg 5

Sports - pg 8

who enrolled in classes that didn’t align with a guided pathway. Unlike at other campuses, the “ghost students” in Cuslidge-Staiano’s courses participated in course discussions, albeit with bizarre statements like “I’m doing this for my distant near future self.” Her colleague Adriana Brogger noticed Surge of Fake continues on pg 3

2 | NEWS

Vol. 172, Issue 3 | Sept. 13 – Sep. 22 2021

Civil Grand Jury Review

City College Seeks Workforce Development Partnership with City of San Francisco By Angela Greco a_greco511@yahoo.com Although the Civil Grand Jury identified several barriers in making City College an effective partner in San Francisco’s workforce development efforts, administration is still hoping this is their year of breakthrough. The rise of unemployment and faculty cuts, combined with low enrollment, have led the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury to conduct a workforce development review of City College. Once their report was conducted, The Board of Trustees was given 60 days to submit a response either accepting the findings of the investigation or, alternatively, contesting the report. The eight findings and recommendations of the report were then discussed at a board meeting on August 26th. The Civil Grand Jury is comprised of 19 representing members of the City and County of San Francisco. They function to investigate the operations of various officers, departments and agencies of San Francisco. Director of Media, Government Relations and Marketing, Rosie Zepeda said in an email response that the trustees and administrations response to the report were “one and the same.” Board of Trustees member, Thea Selby reiterated that she found the report “incredibly illuminating,” as she averred to not understanding why the importance of City College had not been more represented. Selby said, “I have been confused and wondering why it seems like we don’t have very much of a connection with OEWD, why our programs don’t flourish, why there aren’t more jobs for our students...I think there's so much opportunity here for us to do a better job on our side and a better job on their side.” The report found that City College was unfortunately underutilized by the workforce establishment, further exacerbating its declining enrollment. Therefore the report identified four areas of improvement for City College were stated as: 1) organization and collaboration 2) access to programs 3) supportive services 4) outreach and marketing. Zepeda stated in an email response that, “Most of the changes

will take time to come to fruition, but the College has established a working team that is meeting regularly to ensure that we address all findings/recommendations in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development where applicable.” During the August 26 Board of Trustees Meeting, Trustee Thomas Temprano said, “I think it would be a benefit to the city to help adequately resource us [City College], to get the word out about these amazing workforce programs whether it's through OEWD partners or other marketing mechanisms.” Being that the OEWD is an organization which aims to provide San Francisco residents with the resources to land entry-level jobs, City College would greatly benefit from the relationship. As recognized in the report, helping students find entry-level work is a worthy goal. The Civil Grand Jury’s report includes a case study demonstrating how established programs lead to successful student outcomes. The Construction Administration and Professional Services Academy (CAPSA), sponsored by OEWD, has graduated over 300 students since its inception in 2009. This program achieved a 69% jobplacement rate for its graduating students, according to the report. As stated, many students who complete the program continue with the Construction Management certificate program at City College. This partnership would be imperative to students’ success, as achieving meaningful and well-paying work is essential to offsetting the high cost of living in The Bay Area. Continuing to offer free tuition along with certificate and degree programs will only continue to help elevate students into today’s competitive workforce. During the board meeting, Temprano went on to say, “We're going to need support, like that's part of what the partnership needs to be. If we are going to be the premier workforce training engine

Staff

for the city and particularly in construction, and automotive - all of these important jobs that just require us to do things that fiscally are really a challenge for us - we need the city's partnership, especially given our budget situation to be able to even increase the work we're doing.” This includes representation on policy committees and task forces, flexibility in scheduling, alignment of financial incentives, increased supportive services, and additional outreach and marketing. Faculty and staff echoed the hope that this is an opportunity for more future funding, as Zepeda reiterated that “stable funding is critically needed.”

"Home." Illustration by Skylar Wildfeuer and John Wildfeuer/ The Guardsman.

NEWS BRIEF

Imminent Return to Campus Message Misconstrued By Annette Mullaney

annette.mullaney@gmail.com A message from Interim Chancellor Dianna Gonzales about returning to campus left many faculty confused and with the impression that the administration would resume in-person classes in the near future. The message dated Sept. 8 said, “The College will begin a phased in [sic] return to full in-person operations beginning October 1, 2021.” It further stated that online classes will remain online for the rest of the semester. Currently, about

three-quarters of City College classes are remote. Faculty union AFT 2121 sought clarity from the administration after receiving “a flood of questions, worry, and outright panic about return-to-campus plans.” In a Sept. 9 email to its members, the union explained that the administration’s message did not change current policy. Interim Dean Erin Denny provided further details about returning to campus from the Sept. 16 Participatory Governance Meeting (PGC), including that

the vaccine mandate, adopted by the Board of Trustees last month, will be enforced beginning Nov. 8. Students, however, will not be dropped based on vaccination status. There are also plans to offer testing once a week, which people may opt for in lieu of a vaccine at the Ocean campus with the possibility of further expansion. Further updates are expected to be posted to City College’s COVID-19 page.

News Editor Annette Mullaney

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Photographers Onyx Hunter

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Opinion Editor Ava Cohen

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NEWS | 3

Vol. 172, Issue 3 | Sept. 13 – Sep. 22 2021

Surge of Fake continued from pg 1

similar red flags when she began correcting her discussion posts, seeing comments like “I’m from Stockton, CA, America.” According to Mark Johnson, the executive director of the department of marketing, communications, and public relations at Peralta College, the “ghost student” phenomenon represents two types of fraud. “Fraud at the enrollment and application stage is to get money,” he said, whereas “fraud at CCCApply is used to obtain a ‘dot edu’ email address, which has value as that credential can be used to obtain free or greatly discounted products and services.” Given that all 116 of the California Community Colleges use the CCCApply system, City College is also vulnerable to such attacks. Director of External Affairs at CCSF Jeff Hamilton declined to comment on if and how much CCSF was impacted by the scam. Associate Vice Chancellor of Los Rios Community College Gabe Ross noted that “fraudulent applications have been a problem for some time in California Community colleges,” with the goal often being to get a ‘dot edu’ email address and the benefits that incurs. Community colleges are particularly vulnerable, Ross acknowledged, because unlike four-year schools they grant stu-

NEWS BRIEF

Three School Board Members' Future Dictated by Recall Results By Tim Hill

uilleanner@gmail.com The school board recall effort reached a fever pitch Sept. 7 when member Alison Collins suspended her multi-million dollar lawsuit against the effort being mounted by London Breed. Three members in particular - Gabriela Lopez, Faauuga Molifa, and Collins herself - have raised the ire of the mayor due to their contrasting philosophies on the school board budget and how that can best serve the community at large. Opponents of Breed will be fighting a tough fight. Supporters submitted 81,200 signatures, which carries considerable weight in a small city like San Francisco. If she succeeds, the consequences could be drastic, namely because of the ongoing power struggle between both the Board of Supervisors and the school board. Both have a mostly progressive roster of elected officials, some of whom could be ousted for officials that share Breed’s more moderate views.

dent email addresses at the time of application and not at the time of payment and registration. “Given it's free to apply, this has long been a problem,” Ross said. With the rise of online classes and the “significant amount of new financial aid resources available,” scammers have more recently tried to gain access to federal or state financial aid funds, according to Ross. On YouTube a creator named “Targetter” reviews the perks of a ‘dot edu’ email address (free soft-

The institution was able to reverse $4,800 in

that ended up being “ghosts.” “As an educator, it stings,” CuslidgeStaiano said, adding, “ghosts can’t show up on campus.” It’s also an immense amount of work. Cuslidge-Staiano, who is also curricular chair for her department, spent hours examining suspicious activity, reading through comments, and adjusting course sections. “It paralyzed me last week,” Staiano said. The impact has been widespread, with 105 out of the 116 campuses in the California Community Colleges affected, according to the Los Angeles Times. The wide scope of the fraud scheme implies that City College has likely been impacted, but In-

fraudulent disbursments. ware, Spotify benefits, Macbook discounts, deals on Amazon) before he demonstrates how to set up a fraudulent community college account. “It’s all automated,” he said on the video as fake demographic information autofilled the application, “and all I have to do is just sit back and relax.” The YouTuber enrolled on screen at Contra Costa College as “Ivan N. Atkinson” — with City College another one of the schools he could have selected. For community colleges already struggling with enrollment in light of the pandemic, it’s emotionally taxing to see full rosters

"Fraudulent." Illustration by Skylar Wildfeuer and Max Hollinger/ The Guardsman.

By Johanna Ochoa jochoa32@gmail.com More than 150 years after the ancestral homeland of the Ohlone indigenous was brutally taken, the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone is working on the rematriation of their homeland to give back what was seized from the community. “Rematriation is important especially for our efforts to reanimate our culture and spiritual practices and for our desire to reestablish our tribal community. In a sense, living in our ancestral homeland and in direct contact with the land of our ancestors will make us more whole as Native people,” said Jonathan Cordero, Founder and Chair of the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone (ARO) . “Rematriation”, as opposed to “repatriation,” is used by some Indigenous groups to refer to reclaiming ancestral remains, spirituality, culture, knowledge, and resources. The Ramaytush are the San Francisco Peninsula's original inhabitants. The Ohlone Community numbered around 1500 people before the arrival of the Spanish, but by the conclusion of the Mission Period, just a few families remained. Only one lineage has been identified as

“Stewardship of our lands, while one of our primary responsibilities, does not necessitate the rematriation of land but does make it more feasible. The ideal of rematriation, the call to ‘rematriate the land’, can become a burden for native peoples if the act of rematriation is not accompanied by the capacity necessary to steward the land.”

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study groups. Colleges remain in “close communication” with another, Breitler noted, about strategies for avoiding such kinds of scams in the future. San Joaquin Delta College has set up a new cybersecurity reporting form for faculty members to report anything suspicious, according to Alex Breitler, director of marketing, communications, and outreach at the school. Vice Chancellor Ross said at Los Rios there is “a robust daily process in place that identifies enrollments that may be fraudulent and, after a verification process, we quickly disenroll them and shut down access to all district and college services.” Peralta’s IT Department has put filters in place to stop the fraud, according to Johnson. The school believes those filters are catching all fraudulent applications, but they continue to monitor the situation closely. The school was able to reverse $4,800 in fraudulent disbursements for the summer semester, according to a June 22 Chancellor’s memo to the Board of Trustees. “The false applicants are done in large batches and can bypass the CCCApply system and are thus sent to the districts as complete,” the memo noted. “It's taking a lot of time away from other priorities like serving real students so it's an unfortunate situation,” Johnson said.

Ohlone Pursue Rematriation

Staff

Staff Writers David Chin

terim Chancellor Dianna Gonzales and Director of Media Relations Rosie Zepeda did not return requests for comments. They also declined to discuss whether City College is taking steps to prevent such fraud. While Breitler couldn’t comment in-depth in terms of financial aid impact due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, he did note that communication had been sent to students not to share personal information with others, even in a study group setting. The memo to students also recommended not to click on “spam emails or untrusted websites” and to use only student email and Microsoft Teams for

Johanna Ochoa Julie Zigoris T: @jzigoris I: @jusudra

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surviving descendants, with some of them making up the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone. The main purposes and responsibilities of the ARO are the rematriation of land, cultural revitalization, research, education, and consultation; and caring for the earth and for the people who reside in their ancestral homeland. “Stewardship of our lands, while one of our primary responsibilities, does not necessitate the rematriation of land but does make it more feasible. The ideal of rematriation, the call to ‘rematriate the land’, can become a burden for native peoples if the act of rematriation is not accompanied by the capacity (i.e., the financial, economic, and human resource) necessary to steward the land,” Cordero assured. The majority of its projects involve restoration. One example is Rising Acres, a 38-acre farm along the lower end of San Gregorio Creek, where the association restored the natural and native ecology using ecologically sound farming methods that maintain soil and water health in a manner consistent with native values and practices. Since its foundation in 2009, they have been trying to be active

in the community with participation in different organizations. “We were honored to co-author the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Proclamation and to participate in the formation of the American Indian Cultural District. We are working with some incredible individuals, organizations, and agencies along the San Francisco Peninsula and beyond, such as the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Exploratorium, and the San Mateo County Resource Conservation District,” Cordero said. The Association has the desire to work with Sogorea Te' Land Trust, an indigenous women-led land trust that recently bought its first house, with the objective of creating housing for urban Indigenous people. “Sogorea Te’ is a model for our organization. Corrina Gould and others have been doing this kind of work for a while now, and we are learning from them. Since our non-profit is new, we have not yet had the opportunity to work with Sogorea Te’ on a project, but we fully support their work and look forward to working with them in the near future,” Cordero said.

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4 | CULTURE

Vol. 172, Issue 3 | Sept. 13 – Sep. 22, 2021

Storefront of Eastern Bakery and Grant Ave during the Autumn Moon Festival on Sept. 11. Photo by Onyx Hunter/The Guardsman.

Autumn Moon continued from pg 1 the throngs of tourists would be back. Chelsea Hung, 30, owner of Washington Bakery and Restaurant fully reopened her establishment but, like Kuhn and Chan, operates with a much smaller workforce. Hung took over the 25-year-old business from her mother, determined to keep it going. She wanted to support her mother’s legacy and be part of the community—an unusual choice, she explained, as many young people in Chinatown have chosen to leave instead of staying to run their parents’ businesses. Eva Lee, the Director of the Autumn Moon Festival, mentioned the importance of youth for the revitalization of Chinatown. To attract younger crowds, this year’s celebrations included a large number of young performers who showcased their talents in parades, dances, and musical and martial arts ensembles. The festival also debuted local hip-hop artists and rappers, like Son of

Son of Paper, Kyle Shin rapping on stage to

Paper and Dragon of the West, who Serena and Winnie, two an audience at the Chinatown Autumn Moon connected with audiences through high school volunteers from the Festival on Sept. 11. Photo by Onyx Hunter/The Guardsman. performances that drew on their Community Youth Center in experiences as Asian Americans. Chinatown, remarked on the large Kyle Shin, who identifies turnout of people at the festival, as Chinese-Korean American, as they managed the traffic so explained the origin of his name, pedestrians could walk safely. Son of Paper, as a tribute to his Lee corroborated their observamaternal great-grandmother who tions, noting that while the crowd came to the U.S. as a “paper daugh- at the festival was smaller than ter.” The Chinese Exclusion Act previous years, it still exceeded (1882-1965) prohibited Chinese her expectations. She noted that laborers from immigrating to the festival organizers limited the number of street vendors and socially distanced their stalls to She wanted to support comply with pandemic regulations. The long line of masked her mother’s legacy and customers, more than 30 at a time, waiting outside the Golden Gate be part of the community. Eastern Bakery vividly captured the festival’s atmosphere of celebration and caution. From the U.S. or becoming naturalized citi- opening of a partially cracked zens so thousands of immigrants, door in between two boardedlike Shin’s great-grandmother, up windows, an elderly woman purchased American birth certif- handed out packages of moonicates—a creative strategy of cakes, delighting customers who belonging that, as Shin noted, finally could taste the harvest “helps expand the narrative of and bounty of the Autumn Moon Asian American experiences in Festival. Eastern Bakery, one of the oldest hallmarks of Chinatown, on Sept. 11 during the U.S.” the Autumn Moon Festival. Photo by Onyx Hunter/The Guardsman.

Miss Asian Global Pageant titleholders promote the new Marvel film, Shang-Chi with a banner to provide photo-ops for visitors to the festival. Photo by Onyx Hunter/The Guardsman. Photo by Onyx Hunter/The Guardsman.

Mayor London Breed participating in the ceremony of cutting the ribbon to begin festivities on Sept. 11 at the Autumn Moon Festival. Photo by Onyx Hunter/The Guardsman.

CULTURE | 5

Vol. 172, Issue 3 | Sept. 13 - Sept. 22, 2021

The Mission Cultural Center Celebrates San Francisco Lowrider Council's 40th Anniversary

Mission Street Lowrider Event. Photo by Onyx Hunter/The Guardsman

Mission District Cultural Center display of Photos and Lowrider memorabilia. Photo by Onyx Hunter/The Guardsman

By Colton Webster cwebster1963@gmai.com Lowriders took over Mission Street from 24th to 26th Street this past Sunday for the 40th anniversary of the San Francisco Lowrider Council. The event revolved around a historical exhibit that was held inside the Mission Cultural Center. Featured in the exhibit was photography of classic lowriders from local car clubs and a photo wall that documented SFPD racism against young latinos in the Mission. Lowrider Council founder Roberto Hernandez was among those profiled and has been arrested for lowriding having been arrested 113 times. “We started lowriding back in the ‘70s, eventually the police started cracking down on us” said Hernandez who had founded the organization in 1981. Hernandez recalled the efforts

of the SFPD to stop lowriding on Mission Street by bringing out officers donning riot gear, “they created martial law, you could not drive or walk down Mission Street on Friday or Saturday night … you go having a good time, yet the police are harassing everybody and arresting people '' Hernandez said.

"Eventually the police started cracking down on us." In retaliation for the actions of the SFPD at the time Hernandez bought a vacant lot where he could organize car meetups legally, which after a victory in court became La Raza park, known today as Potrero Del Sol. Lowriders from out of town came to Mission Street just for

the occasion, some even as far as Los Angeles Hernandez said. San Leandro resident Jeremiah Filson crossed over the bridge to show off his Green 1952 Chevy Fleetline. Filson said that the event, while still bolstering a good turnout, was not as hectic as the year prior, “it was so packed with people you couldn’t even walk down the street,'' he said. Hernandez had the keys to the Mission Cultural Center during the SFPD’s installation of martial law in the Mission and would let people without cars into the center to avoid arrest and beatings from officers. Regarding the Cultural Center, Hernandez said, “This is home for us from day one, so I felt it was appropriate to do the 40th anniversary exhibit here.” San Francisco Lowrider Council’s next event is Cold Frisco Nights next month on Mission Street.

Mission District Cultural Center display of Photos and Lowrider memorabilia. Photo by Onyx Hunter/The Guardsman

Tricked out bike on display at Mission District Cultural Center. Photo by Onyx Hunter/The Guardsman

Fauci Documentary Remembers AIDS By Erin Blackwell

aesthetricks@outlook.com Dr. Anthony Fauci became a media darling when he rolled his eyes and face-palmed behind President Trump’s back during press conferences about the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020. People who hated Trump clasped Fauci to their bosom. That bilateral schism along political lines made Science hot. He was named Sexiest Man of the Year by People magazine. He and his wife were dubbed Science’s power couple. He was profiled celebrity-style by Vogue, CNN, CNBC, NPR, C-Span, The Guardian, InStyle, impersonated by Brad Pitt on SNL, and iconized on votive candles. Now comes National Geographic's feature-length documentary Fauci, which opened at the intimate Vogue moviehouse on Sacramento Street, September 10.

Fauci’s siege mentality, his family, a brief biographical sketch, and selected highpoints in an ambitious workaholic’s career. Pride of place is given to memories and archival footage of the AIDS epidemic that catapulted young Tony Fauci in 1984 into the driv-

same elevator, walking down the same hall, and entering the same office to type on different computer keyboards. Fauci had become media-worthy for his involvement with AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). Reading the first reports of PCP

crisis days David Barr, Michael Manganiello, Robert Pacheco, Peter Staley, and Wakefield are crisply filmed bearing witness to Fauci’s beneficence to a devastated community ostracized by homophobes. Staley, the activist who gets

"I'm the bad guy to an entire subset of people." John Hoffman, who co-directed the film, is a veteran documentarian six of whose health-related films have been produced by the National Institute of Health (NIH). Co-director Janet Tobias’ 2017 film on the Zika, Ebola, and influenza viruses, “Unseen Enemy” was presented on CNN by Johnson & Johnson. They’ve shot and compiled a strangely muted film from Fauci’s p.o.v., with no hard questions, no scientific debate. You won’t catch new insights into the virus SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2), the disease it causes, or the injections that were supposed to stop it. The 144-minute runtime is devoted to

Illustration by Yuchen Xiao/The Guardsman.

er’s seat at the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), where he yet reigns. Early in the film a split screen shows the 80-year-old doctor and his 45-year-old self treading the same pathway to work, opening the same door, waiting in the

and Kaposi’s Sarcoma in young gay men, Fauci sensed it was a new disease. “I got goosebumps.” Unabashedly careerist, he says, “I’d been trained as an infectious disease doctor and immunologist. I was made for this disease!” Gay male activists from the HIV virus

the most screen time, fondly characterizes the NIAID chief as “the short man in a white coat.” Recalling Fauci’s willingness to sit in on a roomful of ACT-UP activists hurling criticism and complaint, Staley says, “This was Brooklyn.” He means that

Fauci’s home-borough trained its young in street fights. It’s a key insight into the Rona Tsar’s tough guy intransigence when cornered and his aura of infallibility, even when changing his story. For the camera, he again re-explains why he lied about the efficacy of masks in stopping SARS-2 transmission, and it makes even less sense this time around. “I’m the bad guy to an entire subset of people,” Fauci says with wistful defiance. “Because I represent something that is uncomfortable for them. It’s called the Truth.” I hope for his sake he doesn’t actually believe this dogmatic self-description, but I’m curious who’s in his subset. The doctors saving people’s lives with Ivermectin, Quercetin, vitamin C and D, zinc? Vaccinologist Dr. Robert Malone, who warns excessive vaccination dilutes vaccine efficacy and could disable human immune response? Sharon Lerner and Mara Hvistendahl, reporters analyzing 900 pages of NIH documents The Intercept obtained through the Freedom of Information Act? Senator Paul Rand, who grilled him in Congress over NIH funding of the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s gain-of-function research into bat coronaviruses? Nikki Minaj, who took a stand for an individual’s right to refuse a vaccine? Never mind them. At film’s end, over a driving trumpet solo in descending scales, Fauci muses in his signature gravelly whisper: “I hope that if historians look back — if they would ever want to look back — at what I’ve done in my life, maybe somebody says, ‘Hey, that guy was pretty good.’”

6 | OPINION

Vol. 173, Issue 3 | Sept. 13 - Sept. 22, 2021

The Selfishness of Some Spells Death for the Rest of Us By Gene Thompson COVID19 did not kill my brother. Selfishness, lies and ignorance killed him. When he was prematurely removed from his ICU bed in a hospital just outside Baton Rouge, a week after his devastating stroke, barely conscious, in pain, unable to breathe adequately, and sent home to his wife, Lori, who had not yet been trained to care for him, he was sentenced to death. His bed was needed by one of the COVID patients flooding hospitals throughout Louisiana, a state with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the US. Similar tragedies are occurring in under-vaccinated communities in many regions of the US, though the south is particularly vulnerable. Doctor Jeanne Marrazzo,

infectious disease specialist at the University of Alabama, described the situation in her state, where the vaccination rate is even lower than in Louisiana, as “potentially apocalyptic” (Index-Journal, August 19, 2021).

He was sentenced to death. In February of 2020, thenPresident Trump revealed beyond any reasonable doubt in his taped interview with Robert Woodward that he knew the virus was far more dangerous than was revealed to the public. Again and again, he lied about the threat at a time when it might still have been possible, with honest acknowledgement of

the danger, to motivate the public to take effective action. But he took a more selfish course. Because it was clear that his re-election would be threatened by an economic slow down, he and the politicians who supported him demanded that shuttered businesses be reopened, flaunting medical evidence that doing so would encourage the virus to proliferate. Declaring the pandemic a myth, he refused to accept expert advice that, until a vaccine was available, masks were the best way of saving lives. With Trump’s encouragement, “No masks!” became a rallying cry throughout the Republican party. Cooperation was equated to socialism, and socialism to an attack on Rugged American Individualism. By the time vaccines arrived, the table was set for Trump supporters

and the entire Republican party to brand unselfish cooperation as treason. So here we are with a population whose selfishness has been stoked to the point of no return -- a population that, although a minority, is sufficient in number according to epidemiologists to

Their disregard for others' welfare is not political righteousness. deny us herd immunity. This guarantees years of hospitals so crowded with unvaccinated COVID patients that services must be denied to those suffering from other ailments. These vaccine

decliners have been manipulated politically by the lies of selfish politicians, but that does not relieve them of their individual responsibility. It's time to play hardball. In Mobile, Alabama, Jason Valentine, a physician at Diagnostic and Medical Clinic Infirmary Health posted a sign on his door: “Dr. Valentine will no longer see patients that are not vaccinated against covid-19” (Washington Post, August 18, 2021). It is time to make vaccine resisters understand that their disregard for others’ welfare is not political righteousness, but human selfishness. Their selfishness causes suffering to other people and their families. If Dr. Valentine’s policies were mandated, my brother, Dana, might still be alive.

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Regardless of the outcome of California’s current gubernatorial recall election, the state of California’s recall provision needs to be reformed immediately after Election Day, September 14th. And here’s why: Any completely unqualified attention seeker with $4,000 for the candidate‘s filing fee can be the largest state in the Union’s next governor, so long as they survive the Battle Royale runoff where dozens of depressingly dimwitted dolts compete to be California’s last political comic standing. No need for a democratic majority of the vote, if you’re one of this year’s 46 ridiculous replacement candidates. After all, Hollywood action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger only received 48.6% of the vote when he replaced Governor Gray Davis after the successful recall vote in 2003. Now in 2021, if California’s current Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is recalled his Republican replacement will take over with at best half of Schwarzenegger’s percentage of the vote. Gov. Larry Elder? Yeah, I don’t think so. The only thing hosting a right-wing radio show qualifies loser Larry for is admittance to a local insane asylum in L.A. when Newsom survives the recall. For California’s sake, we must change the recall law to ensure that this is the final curtain call for the crazy clown car of recall candidates circus that has made a silly situation stupid! (And we Californians are paying $276,000,000 for this malarkey?!) In addition to eliminating the clown car of recall candidates, the recall provision should be reformed so that if a future governor is recalled by the voters, the sitting lieutenant governor becomes the state’s next governor. Sincerely, Jake Pickering Arcata, CA USA

I don't really mind that Representative Ocasio Cortez wore a slogan on a dress to a cultural event because I think that statesmanship is inherently performative and that some work gets done that way. I think Quannah Chasinghorse's attendance and attire, for example, were powerful. I think Aurora James' dress's call to "Tax the Rich" was tepid and wish Ocasio Cortez had chosen to join the protestors outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art instead. Her celebrity might have protected Black Lives Matter protestors from being brutalized by the police that day. I have opinions about what other people should have done, but I'm not sure what I myself should be doing. I am angered to see Haitians seeking asylum chased by American employees on horseback bearing whips and also that President Biden is looking for contractors to convert Guantanamo Bay into a facility for said refugees. What do I do about that? Skylar Wildfeuer San Francisco, CA USA

Appreciative Reader I write to express my appreciation for the Guardsman article about the selection of the new chancellor (Sept 8) and for so many other articles that have provided clarity about the CCSF situation. The Sept 8 article was well written and provided the information that any reader familiar with the subject could appreciate. The story enables the reader to understand the situation, the choices that the trustees are obliged making and the position of the educators union. I make it a point to read the (diminishing number of) local papers, online and in print, monthly, weekly and daily, and wish to state that the Guardsman is right in there with the best of them. Please keep providing the information the community needs. David Hooper

Vol. 172, Issue 3 | Sept. 13 – Sept. 22 2021

COMMUNITY | 7

WATER POLO UPDATE

THE WATER POLO TEAM IS NOW COMPETING!

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8 | SPORTS

Vol. 172, Issue 3 | Sept. 13 – Sep. 22 2021

The Rams Football team rush onto the field to play visiting team Sacramento City College Panthers on Sept. 11. Photograph by Bob Kinoshita/The Guardsman.

Rams 45 - Panthers 0

Rams Dominate Sacramento Panthers with Commanding Defensive Performance By Seamus Geoghegan geogheganspg@gmail.com t: @seamoose415 Rams football has had a strong start to their season with two decisive wins over Sierra College and Sacramento City, leaving hope for a squad who has gone since 2015 without silverware. The team is looking to change that this season with new additions such as defensive back coach Brandon Younger who has impressed fans so far this season after great defensive showings on the field.

“Our biggest focus going into the Sacramento game was to not overlook them,” Younger said. “Our schematic approach changes because different teams do different things, but overall we have a practice formula that Coach Collins creates and we stick to it.” Scoring versus Sacramento started early for the Rams with a field goal by kicker Nick Hill three minutes into the game. The drive started after a 41-yard pass by quarterback Jack Newman found wide receiver Ezra Grace 10 yards from the goal line.

Running back Devan Walker was the first to be found in the endzone, followed by wide receiver Jefferey Weimer putting the Rams up 17-0 early in the second quarter. Sacramento never felt like much of a threat to this strong City defense, who pushed the Pumas back to just 55 rushing yards throughout the game. Captain and linebacker Sincere Jackson credited the team’s defensive success to the rigorous practice and effort the team has put in since day one of the season. “We took Monday and Friday

just as seriously as Saturday. Not a single day off, not a single day with lost focus,” Jackson said. “We can’t win the game on Monday through Friday but we can definitely lose the game on Monday through Friday if we’re not executing what we need to execute.” The team has also had additional time during the elongated off season due to the pandemic to bond and prepare for the season, which Jackson referred to as “a blessing in disguise.” “We were able to connect and we have great chemistry now,”

Jackson said. “When things go wrong, we don’t point fingers at each other, we take it as a team.” “I believe we have everything we need to accomplish great things,” Younger said. “Whether we get it done or not, we’ll have to wait and see.” The final score between the San Francisco Rams and the Sacramento Panthers was 45-0. The Rams’ next game will be against the American River Beavers at home Saturday Sept. 25 at 1 p.m.

Wide Receiver Jefferey Weimer catches a six yard pass from Quarterback Jack Newman for a touchdown to make the score 17-0 after the extra point kick on Sept. 11. Photograph by Bob Kinoshita/The Guardsman.

Running back Shawn Allen scores the final touchdown of the day on a thirty nine yard pass from quarterback Matt Jenner to make the final score 45-0 after the extra point kick on Sept. 11. Photograph by Bob Kinoshita/The Guardsman.

Wide Receiver Devin Walker scores his second touchdown of the day on a three yard run making the score 31-0 after the extra point kick on Sept. 11. Photograph by Bob Kinoshita/The Guardsman.

SPORTS | 9

Vol. 172, Issue 3 | Sept. 13 - Sept. 22, 2021

Playoff Bound

The Giants May Exceed Their Success of the Early 2010s When Season Ends By David Chin dchin20@mail.ccsf.edu Baseball may be the most unpredictable sport in the world and the 2021 San Francisco Giants are the best example of this. From the resurgence of all of their veteran players to the emergence of newer faces, the Giants this season are living proof that o one should take analytics at face value. On March 30, 2021, ESPN published an article titled, “2021 MLB season preview: Power rankings, best (and worst) case and most exciting player for all 30 teams,” in which they forecasted a Giants team to finish 23rd out of 30 and explained why Buster Posey is their most exciting player. MLB themselves shared a similar sentiment, ranking the Giants 22nd. Perhaps the only thing that came to fruition about this article is the fact that Buster Posey has been very exciting to watch this year. Yet, neither I nor the expert analysts at ESPN could have predicted the sheer dominance displayed this season by our proud, first-place Giants team this season.

The San Diego Padres came into the 2021 season with the hopes of dethroning the reigning Dodgers with big-time young talent in Fernando Tatis Jr. and solid veteran depth in Blake Snell and Yu Darvish. A Cast of Misfits So what did the Giants have going for them going into 2021? The short answer: Mike Yastrzemski and Donovan Solano. Yastrzemski

you’re talking about. The success story starts with the name known across the Bay Area as the former MVP, Rookie of the Year, and three-time world champion Buster Posey. In 2019, Posey’s stats were dwindling, and it was obvious that something wasn’t there compared to his former self. After taking the 2020 season off in order to be a parent, Posey came back into the 2021 season as if he were still in his prime, gaining a slot on the starting

deadline, I was beginning to get worried, as Farhan Zaidi, the Giants’ president of baseball operations, waited until the last minute before the deadline to make a move, but he delivered in spades. Traded from the Chicago Cubs over to the Giants was former Rookie of the Year, four-time All-Star, and 2016 MVP Kris Bryant, who would provide the utility depth and batting push that the Giants desperately wanted. Bryant has become the offensive

recognized as one of the most dominant in the league. The assembly of diverse pitchers within the Giants’ bullpen is remarkable with shutdown guys like Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee leading the way in the late innings of a game. The Giants' bullpen leads the league in earned run average, saves, earned runs, walks/hits per innings pitched, and fewest walks allowed. The Giants’ starting pitching staff has also held their line as much as anyone else has, and

A Stacked NL West Before beginning to understand where the recent success for the Giants stems from, one must first acknowledge that the division competitors to the Giants: the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, were coming off of massive success in the pandemicshortened 2020 season. For the Dodgers, who had won the World Series in 2020, clear skies and rainbows stood tall over Los Angeles as they were coming into the 2021 season as confident and optimistic as ever. A star-laden rotation of well-known pitchers was ready to give the entire league a run for their money with names like Clayton Kershaw, who is bound for the Hall of Fame, and the award-winning Trevor Bauer.

"The Most Unpredictable Sport in the World" illustration by Kelly Viss. kellyviss.com

was brought up around the league in MVP conversations by the end of the 2020 season, and Solano won a Silver Slugger award. These two were the hope being held onto by desperate Giants fans going into the 2021 season. If one were to tell a Giants fan before the start of the 2021 season that their team by mid-September would carry the best record in MLB for most of the season; with a top-tier bullpen and the secondmost home runs in the league, they would think you have no idea what

lineup for MLB’s All-Star game. Strengthening the argument for the Giants being the best team in baseball is their All-Star veteran shortstop Brandon Crawford and is held up with some of the best infielders the league has to offer. He seems to be performing better than his prime, being ranked 17th in the league for batting average, 23rd for on-base percentage and 21st for slugging percentage, all while maintaining his Golden Glove performance of 2016. At the time of 2021’s trade

San Francisco Giants jersey worn and signed by Willie Mays from the Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

nudge the Giants needed in order to reliably out-score tougher defensive opponents like the Dodgers or Milwaukee Brewers. Also traded from the Los Angeles Angels to the Giants was relief pitcher Tony Watson who has offered an extra level of depth to the Giants’ already astonishing bullpen. Strength in Numbers Of course, baseball isn’t about just a few stars, it’s about a team, and how can any team perform well if every one of its members is going out there and giving their best efforts to the game. A mixture of veterans like Brandon Belt, and Evan Longoria, along with breakout players like Darin Ruf, LaMonte Wade Jr., and Wilmer Flores have all done their part and more in contributing to the Giants’ success. The Giants currently have the second-best record for most league home runs at 212, second to the Toronto Blue Jays, and it isn’t because of a new Barry Bonds. The Giants are leading the league with a staggering 10 players with 10 or more home runs, showing how essential runs scored via a home run is to this Giants team. After observing the accomplishments of the Giants offense one may think that it is their biggest strength, but this couldn’t be further from the truth when San Francisco’s pitching staff is

when compared to the 104 million dollar payroll of the Dodger pitching staff, things really start to look impressive. Ace and veteran Kevin Gausman has led the way with his breakout year, shutting down opponents with his career-best earned run average and one walk/hit per innings pitched. Another notable breakout performance can be seen in Anthony DeSclafani’s robust earned run average and walks/hits per innings pitched. Logan Webb is a name that nobody outside of San Francisco had ever heard of until this year, where he has absolutely dominated potent offenses with an unexpected 2.64 earned run average and 1.098 walks/hits per innings pitched, providing an extra push the Giants’ had been looking for and needed. Altogether, the Giants have refound the success of their early 2010’s runs which nobody could have predicted. The way things were looking during the preseason, many predicted the Giants to be in third place for most of the season, and instead, have led the entire MLB as the team to beat for the vast majority of the season. It remains to be seen what the Giants have in store for fans during the postseason. However, the only thing predictable about it is the fact that the Giants will not go down without a fight.