Vol. 173, Issue 5 | March 28 – April 5 2022 | City College of San Francisco | Since 1935 | FREE | www.theguardsman.com
Diego Rivera's Masterpiece To Return to City College In 2024 By Beth Lederer bethlyn2020@gmail.com The spectacular Diego Rivera Pan American Unity Mural is presently on loan at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). The mural is a masterpiece and was Rivera’s last mural painted in the United States. This ten panel fresco is his largest contiguous piece. This great masterpiece is the pride of City College. It was unknown by many in San Francisco that this gem, Pan American Unity Mural, was actually displayed at City College. The mural was displayed in the lobby at The Diego Rivera Theater from 1961 until 2021. Will Maynez, retired lab manager in the Physics department at City College, is considered the historian and guardian of the mural. Maynez worked diligently for 25 years looking after the mural. Maynez facilitated an offer to the college from SFMOMA in 2017. It has also been his dream to see the Pan American Unity Mural receive the recognition it so rightfully deserves by having an international audience view it at SFMOMA. Maynez has received national exposure. The ten panel masterpiece (22’ X 74’) fresco has been well received at the SFMOMA. “A great deal of work over the course of several years went into the conservation, move and presentation of the mural. The mural has been extremely well received by our local, national and international visitors alike. There have been approximately 1550 visitors per day to the Museum” according to a SFMOMA spokesperson. The Pan American Unity Mural is located in a huge
free space in the Roberts Family Gallery with large clear glass windows reflecting natural light into the museum. Lisa L. who viewed the mural at both sites preferred viewing it at the SFMOMA, “I loved seeing it here because the light is better, it’s less cramped and it’s much easier to appreciate,” she said. Another aspect she really liked is the beautiful pamphlet which according to Maynez is a City College creation that was reprinted by SFMOMA. The pamphlet is available upon entering. The Diego Rivera Pan American Unity Mural pamphlet explains the symbolism on each panel. Lisa enjoyed following the key and coming up with her own symbolism for each panel.
Faculty, Staff and Students Protest Layoffs With Day of Action Rally By Emily Margaretten margarettene@gmail.com With a crowd of more than 100 congregated in front of Conlan Hall, City College faculty, staff, students and labor allies came out in a show of solidarity for the AFT 2121 Day of Action rally to protest layoff notices issued to 58 full-time faculty on March 15. The in-person rally, followed by a virtual pressconference attended by more than 400 people, featured lively call-and-response chants and testimonials from faculty, staff and students who addressed the importance of retaining class offerings for the most underserved students in the Bay Area.
“Finally we are on track." The Board of Trustees unanimously approved and recommended that the architectural firm, TEF Design, receive the Mural continues on page 2
Finding A Voice Débora Radaic, an English as a Second Language (ESL) student, described her experiences at
City College. “I still remember my first day,” she said. “My husband went with me because at that time I didn’t even know how to say hi in English. “Many of us ESL students, we still get nervous with our English,” she said. “Sometimes we don't know how to say things we want to say. City College gave my voice back.” Union leaders rejected the administration’s economic rationale for downsizing the college and said there was a state, city, and college budget surplus this year. They described the cuts as a downward spiral that would lead only to more cuts and the further disenfranchisement of Rally continues on page 2
NEWS BRIEF
US Navy Makes Liberty Port in San Francisco
By Andrew Segala andrewa.segala@gmail.com The USS Makin Island (LHD 8) made a port visit in San Francisco that made many residents on their afternoon walk on the Embarcadero do a double take. The ship has sailed up from its homeport of San Diego and while in transit has conducted shipboard training, along with integrated amphibious operation training with the United States Marine Corps. The main reason the ship is in San Francisco is to give the sailors and marines on board much needed rest and relaxation. When asked other reasons why the ship made a visit, the ship’s Commanding Officer Captain Tony Chavez said, “Increased community relations in that all Americans can connect with their Navy.” The ship is an amphibious assault ship that can support landing Marines on the beach but if needed, can transport humanitarian aid when called upon. This is the ship’s first port visit since the start of the pandemic.
Culinary Clash Front Page Illustration of Historic Women by Sarah Clayson/The Guardsman
Culture - pg 4
2 | NEWS Mural continued from page 1 contract to design the performing arts theater, at the Facilities Master Planning and Oversight Committee on Feb. 10 and at the Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 24. The eight panel nominating committee narrowed it down to three firms and Chancellor Martin made the final decision. President of the Board of Trustees Brigitte Davila was enthusiastic and said, “Can’t wait until we can dig up the ground and start on this thing. It’s been a long time coming. Really enjoyed going through the proposal and finally we are on track.”
“In a few months they will need to identify a builder." Associate Vice Chancellor Alberto Vasquez said, “In a few months they will need to identify a builder.” When asked for public comment, Chair of the Music Department Madeline Mueller said, ”Let’s just get this going. It was really important to get the mural back in the public eye and back to campus as soon as possible.” Another public comment came from Harry Bernstein who looked at the financial aspect of the cost of storage. He commented, “One of the problems has been the long delay
Vol. 173, Issue 5 | March 28 – April 5 2022
which has caused the rise of cost.” He wanted to find out “if there has been a more reliable estimate of the cost for storing the mural. He heard variable prices ranging from $30,000$50,000 per month.” Additionally Bernstein heard that Dr. Martin was going to speak to SFMOMA to see if City College can receive an extension on the return date of the mural. Bernstein further added that “construction wouldn’t begin until 2025.” There was also discussion about the name of the theater. Diego Rivera Theater could be changed to make it more descriptive. People then would know it is a performance and educational center, though some Trustees stated Diego Rivera should stay in the name of the theater in some part. The return date of the Pan American Unity Mural is currently being discussed and finalized. “There is no confirmed date at the moment, ” according to a SFMOMA spokesperson. The SFMOMA is also getting ready for its new exhibit featuring Diego Rivera called Diego Rivera’s America (July 16, 2022January 2, 2023). The SFMOMA spokesperson said, “They will encourage visitors to view Pan American Unity after they viewed the exhibition for a final look at the spectacular creativity and powerful storytelling ability that is Rivera.” For Maynez the biggest issue is “the fact the mural has to go into storage for years after international exposure.” A protestor speaking at the rally at Conlan Hall on March 15. Janna Velasquez/The Guardsman
Two protestors at Conlan Hall on March 15. Janna Velasquez/The Guardsman
students.
on April 13 from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. AFT 2121 invited City College administrators, but it was unclear if they would attend the forum.
Rally continued from page 1 English instructor Xochiquetzal Candelaria emphasized this point when she described the effects of the layoffs at the college. “Education is what we do,” she said. “Education is the baby. All of the attendant administrative work is the bath water. We’re being told that in order to get off of the ACCJC (accrediting agency) watch list, we must throw out the baby to save the bath water. “It makes no sense,” Candelaria added. Speaking Up Attendees contemplating Unity by Diego Rivera. The mural currently resides in the Roberts Family Gallery on Floor 1 of the SFMoMA and is available to view without purchase of a ticket to the museum.March 31. Skylar Wildfeuer/The Guardsman
Staff Editor-in-Chief Casey Michie T: @jtwildfeuer
Editor-in-Chief JohnTaylor Wildfeuer T: @casey_michie
News Editor Emily Margaretten T: @e_margaretten
Culture Editor Julie Zigoris T: @jzigoris IG: @jusudra
Labor organizers from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021,
California Federation of Teachers, and United Educators of San Francisco (UESF) also attended the rally and provided updates about the respective labor struggles of faculty and staff. UESF President Cassondra Curiel, who spent the previous night at a sit-in to protest the non-payment of San Francisco Unified School District teachers, addressed these shared concerns and the collective fight to prioritize student needs and oppose budget cuts. “I'm here to support you guys,” she said to applause. “I want to make sure you know that our students are your students. And your students were once our students.” AFT 2121 President Malaika Finkelstein said the union plans to hold a public budget forum
Skylar Wildfeuer/The Guardsman
Opinion Editor Skylar Wildfeuer
Layout Editors Skylar Wildfeuer
Photography Editors Bob Kinoshita
Illustrators Sarah Clayson
Sports Editor Seamus Geoghegan
Lauren Murphy
Janna Velasquez
Yuchen Xiao
Social Media Editor Derek Chartrand Wallace
Onyx Hunter
T: @seamoose415
Illustration Editor Max Hollinger
Chief Copy Editor Colton Webster
Vol. 173, Issue 5 | March 28 – April 5 2022
CULTURE | 3
Artists Gather at Golden Gate Park Concert for Ukraine By Karem Rodriguez A benefit concert called “Slava Ukraini!” (Glory to Ukraine!) was held at Golden Gate Bandshell on the Music Concourse on Saturday, March 12, 2022. The event was organized by a coalition of groups including Sunset Piano, the public art group Illuminate, the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, and the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council. A gathering of musicians, poets, and dancers used the power of community and culture for raising money to support the Ukrainian relief effort. Attendees coming from places like Oakland, San Jose, or Sacramento, attended the show supporting Ukraine. People showed their solidarity with the Ukrainian community by holding flags or signs and by wearing blue and yellow. Sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine, were handed out to the crowd at the beginning of the event. Each flower had a QR code attached that directed people to the SF4Ukraine.org website where they could donate to relief efforts. The concert was free to attend and sought to raise donations for World Central Kitchen which has been supplying meals on the ground to refugees and first responders in Ukraine and surrounding countries. Organizers hoped to raise $20,000 but by the end of the event, they announced they had already surpassed their goal and collected more than $35,000.
Olena Avtukh, a Ukrainian citizen, holds up the signs she made to show her support during the benefit concert at Golden Gate Park. Avtukh came from Sacramento with her daughter where they have lived since four years ago. San Francisco, March 12, 2022 (Karem Rodriguez /
People from the Ukraine community in San Francisco and supporters gather in the Music Concourse at Golden Gate Park during the benefit concert to raise funds for World Central Kitchen, a non-profit that supplies meals for Ukrainian refugees. March 12 Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman
Anastasiya Rutus, left, and her mom, Tatiana Sergiyenko, right, cheer for the Ukrainian dancers after their performance during the benefit concert. Rutus is a Ukrainian living in San Francisco since 2014, her mom came to visit her last December and couldn’t come back to her home because of the invasion of Ukraine. March 12. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman
Supporters of Ukraine wear painted flags on their faces and signs on their clothes during the benefit concert at Golden Gate Park. March 12. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman
The band Kings and the Tropical Jam play music during the fundraising concert for Ukraine at Golden Gate Park. March 12. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman
Zoloti Maky, Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, performs a traditional dance during the fundraising concert for Ukraine at Golden Gate Park. San Francisco, March 12. Karem Rodriguez/The Guardsman
4 | CULTURE
Vol. 173, Issue 5 | March 28 – April 5 2022
City College Students Compete In High Stakes Cook Off By Onyx Hunter
@gmail.com City College Culinary Arts students have been offered the chance to win a scholarship and cash through the Intercontinental's Luce Kitchen’s Culinary Clash competition. The competition consists of three teams of two students each competing to make the greatest three-course meal.
“We tried to combine
side of crispy kokuho rose rice, and some Bok Choy. A different wine was paired with this meal, a Hoopes Vineyard Chardonnay. The Tamari Pearls were especially pretty, Tran had pointed out “We wanted to recreate the look of Caviar and pay homage to Steamed Fish which is dredged in soy sauce but plate it in a unique way.” For their final course the team made Coconut Lime Sorbet with a Roasted Almond Crumble to boot, and Pandan Sauce custard.
plenty of ingredients
Cassandra Tran and Kannanuth Lert-ariyaphokhin, both from the Culinary Arts and Hotel Managemen program at CCSF cooks for the Culinary Clash Course on a Monday night at LUCE restaurant. San Francisco, Calif. March 21, 2022. (Katherine Castillo/The Guardsman)
“It's been hard to
within those cultures:
"We wanted to recre-
teach in this disci-
cilantro, fish sauce, a
ate the look of Caviar
pline, hospitality, and
lot of chilis and some
and pay homage to
culinary, a lot of it is
very bold flavors to
Steamed Fish which is
supposed to be face
make a menu that
dredged in soy sauce
to face. Some classes
isn’t often seen in fine-
but plate it in a unique
work like Accounting,
dining. We wanted to
way.”
but we lost the ability
bring comfort and soul to fine-dining, but stick to our roots” Tran said.
Former students Cassandra Tran preparing an Alaskan Halibut plate made of tamari pearls, crispy kokuho rose rise and bok choy for the competition and scholarship program for the 2022 Culinary Clash Course. March 21. Katherine Castillo/The Guardsman.
Photo by Katherine Castillo/The Guardsman.
this discipline, hospitality, and culinary, a lot of it is supposed to be face to face. Some classes work like Accounting, but we lost the ability to taste and smell the foods.” For a good many Professors in the Culinary Arts Program this is going to be their first in person exposure to these students and their dishes. The impact of quarantine on how the Culinary Arts program has conducted itself has been far less than merciful.
Culinary Clash is a fundraiser event that's been running for 11 years, the program has raised $150,000 across the United States and Mexico. Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic Culinary Clash was put on hiatus, however with two years gone by and regulations being lifted, a new wave of competitors have jumped out of the frying pan and into the fray. Team two members Cassandra Tran and Kannanuth Lert-ariyaphokhin debuted on the 21st. Tran and Lert-ariyaphokhin had an interesting menu to showcase, choosing a SouthEastern Asian styled menu “We tried to combine plenty of ingredients within those cultures: cilantro, fish sauce, a lot of chilis and some very bold flavors to make a menu that isn’t often seen in fine-dining. We wanted to bring comfort and soul to fine-dining, but stick to our roots” Tran said. For their appetizer they cooked golden sauteed shrimp, covered in a Thai chili fish sauce, with a side of cucumber tomato salad and paired with Hoopes Vineyard rose wine from Napa Valley. Their second course was a pan-seared halibut topped with deep black Tamari pearls, creamy green doshi sauce, a
to taste and smell the Tran seemed especially eager about their final course’s pandan sauce which was boiled pandan leaves, the essences of the leaves put into a custard with their sorbet. Cassandra also seemed excited to show us her partner’s work in braiding the extra Pandan Leaves on a display outside of Luce. When asked about the cash prizes or diploma, Tran showed a great measure of sportsmanship and enthusiasm: “Even if I don’t win, I love being in this environment and cooking food for others, I love eating food, I just love food.” The judges present, some of which were Professors and even taught the students working behind the kitchen counter, Chef Tim Shaw from the Culinary Arts department expressed excitement at the fact that he could finally enjoy his students dishes “It's been hard to teach in
Courtesy of the SFMoMA
foods.” Even now the impact can still be felt, many of the Culinary Arts’ students have never been in person, and in-person classes aren’t five days a week yet. Keith Hammerich the department expressed concern over the program’s health and hope for improvement “We have been especially hit hard by quarantine, we have fewer registrations than before… Hopefully we can get back to five days a week by Fall 2022.” With the conclusion of the competition to be on or after the 28th participants and judges eagerly await the results. The meals will ultimately be graded by judges on their creativity, taste, presentation, reflection of the locale ‘Luce’, and their wine pairings.
CULTURE | 5
Vol. 173, Issue 5 | March 28 – April 5 2022
St. Patrick's Day Parade Returns to San Francisco!
The San Francisco Police Department march in formation in front of San Francisco City Hall during the Saint Patrick's Day Parade. The Saint Patrick's Day Parade returns after 2 years due to the global Pandemic. Photo by Andrew Segala/The Guardsman Members of the Irish Pipers Band of San Francisco play the bagpipes as they march past San Francisco City Hall during the Saint Patrick's Day Parade on March 12, 2022. The Saint Patrick's Day Parade returns after 2 years due to the global Pandemic. Photo by Andrew Segala/The Guardsman
Supporters of Ukraine participate in the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in San Francisco to spread awareness of the conflict in the country on March 12. 2022. On Febrary 24, 2022 the Russian Federation invaded Ukraine and has caused protests all over the world. The Saint Patrick's Day Parade returns after 2 years due to the global Pandemic. Photo by Andrew Segala/The Guardsman By Andrew Segala andrew.segala@hotmail.com For the first time in two years since the global pandemic began, the streets of San Francisco are flooded with a sea of green, corned beef and cabbage, and pints of Guinness. All of it is to celebrate the return of the 171st St. Patrick's Day Parade. The parade, with its lavishly decorated floats, highlighted Irish culture ranging from bagpipes, Irish line dancing, to the heritage that is connected with the police, firefighters, and San Francisco itself. Numerous local Irish community groups, workers unions, and first responders paraded up Market Street to the front of City Hall where they would be judged by the Parade Grand Marshall for performance
or float design. Key figures from local or state government positions, such as San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto, San Francisco Mayor London Breed, California State Senator Scott Weiner, and the Consul General of Ireland Robert O’Driscoll, attended the parade dressed in green or colors of the Ireland national flag, green white and orange waving to crowds of people. Many of those attending celebrated the fact that the parade was even happening,considering it was put on hold due to the global pandemic for the last two years. Irish descent or not, many in attendance were in pure bliss to experience an Irish parade, not the mention to see the magnificent performances showcasing Irish culture.
A women takes a selfie with a friend on a San Francisco Fire engine during the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in San Francisco March 12, 2022. The Saint Patrick's Day Parade returns after 2 years due to the global Pandemic. Andrew Segala/The Guardsman
A man dressed in green with with dog poses for photos during the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in San Francisco, on March 12, 2020. Photo by Andrew Segala/The Guardsman
A Members from the Irish Center 2025 Project, dresses as a clover during the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in San Francisco on March 12, 2022. Photo by Andrew Segala/The Guardsman
San Francisco Mayor Landon Breed dressed in the colors of the Irish flag, waves to crowd of people during the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in San Francisco on March 12, 2022. The Saint Patrick's Day Parade returns after 2 years due to the global Pandemic. Andrew Segala/The Guardsman
6 | CULTURE
Vol. 173, Issue 5 | March 28 – April 5 2022
Listening To Women
By Skylar Wildfeuer
skylar.wildfeuer@gmail.com The following is a list of favorite songs by women musicians. Some of them are important moments in the history of music. Some of them I just love. Erykah Badu "Enby Femme Trees" is a Women's History Month illustration. Max Hollinger/The Guardsman
Bag Lady
First Aid Kit
Wolf
Ah Mer Ah Su
Nature x Humanity Beckons Viewers To A Weird, Bright Future By Skylar Wildfeuer
skylar.wildfeuer@gmail.com Neri Oxman and her eponymous architecture firm present a series of lusciously organic works at the intersection of art and architecture. Through them are presented not just questions about the way we think about construction and place, but passionate proposals for how we ought to think about them. “OXMAN’s radical perspective lies in its ability to envision an alternative architectural legacy upending a humancentered built environment to reprioritize nature,” said Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher, the SFMOMA’s curator of art and architecture. The utterly beautiful Aguahoja and Man-Nahata try to envision city planning as a method of mutually productive exchange between nature and humanity. They present ideas of cities much closer to living than inanimate, working with the natural lifespan of construction materials, with a long view of decomposition as fuel, the radical opposite of both planned obsolescence and permanence in hard cold concrete. Oxman herself has written that “learning from nature… will yield efficiency and sustainability as by-products. It is not a matter of surrendering truth to beauty in design: more often than not we will find that they are inextricably linked.” This exhibit is a curious delight for the senses. The artworks beckon the viewer to want it to be more than that. I admit: I hope it is a thrilling glimpse into the near future of life in the biosphere. The show runs through 5/15/22.
Sylvia Robinson
Perfect
Lay It On Me Bebe Barron Battle With The Invisible Monster Blondie Heart Of Glass Radmilla Cody Beautiful Dawn Wendy Carlos Switched On Bach Janelle Monae Tightrope Yeah Yeah Yeahs Zero Shonen Knife Jump Into The New World MIA Paper Planes Alexia Roditis/Destroy Boys Muzzle The Singing Nun Dominique Alice Glass Mine Billie Holiday Solitude Metric Lizzo
Gold Guns Girls
Amy Winehouse Azalea Banks No Doubt
Juice Back to Black Anna Wintour
Just A Girl Sharon Burch Grandmother's Ways Lady Gaga The Edge of Glory Nora Aunor Patti Smith
Tiny Bubbles
Land Courtney Barnett City Looks Pretty Nitanis "Kit" Largo A Winter Dream Tracy Chapman Fast Car Joni Mitchell Big Yellow Taxi Joan Baez In The Quiet Morning The Kills Tape Song The Marvelettes Mr. Postman Photo by Skylar Wildfeuer/The Guardsman
OPINION | 7
Vol. 173, Issue 5 | March 28 – April 5 2022
GLOSSARY
Terms the Author Had to Research Before Beginning to Understand the Problem By JohnTaylor Wildfeuer
jt.wildfeuer@gmail.com MYBP: Multi-Year Budget Plan Compiled under former Interim Chancellor Vurdien in November 2020, with major contributions from Vice Chancellor al-Amin and his office of Finance and Administration, the MYBP “projects revenues and expenditures for fiscal years 2021-22 through 2024-25. The “Plan” as it is sometimes referred to, was necessitated by the placement of City College on Enhanced Monitoring by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). SCFF: Student-Centered Funding Formula This new formula for determining base allocations of State funds was passed into law June 2018 under former Governor Jerry Brown. It establishes three enrollment categories by which funding will be calculated: CDCP, resident enrollment in credit courses, and overall enrollment in noncredit. The formula, coupled with City College’s unique financial and demographic considerations, has created anxiety for City College instructors, who stand to lose more positions if administrators determine further layoffs to be the best insurance against a painful transition once “Hold Harmless” has ended. “Hold Harmless” Status A temporary, however several years extended, state delineation that allows institutions to request allocations based on inflated enrollment estimates until such time when the institution can function under the new system. While many colleges have been granted this status as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, City College’s was a continuation, and it is assumed
Maintaining Our Faculties
to continue to be in effect until Academic Year (AY) 2023-24. CDCP: Career Development and College Preparation One of three allocation calculations for the SCFF accounts for enrollment in noncredit CDCP courses which includes “most ESL,” according to the MYBP. The other two are enrollment by resident students in credit classes, and enrollment by all students in other noncredit classes. The latter includes ESL Citizenship, Older Adults, and Health Education. WSCH: Weekly Student Contact Hours Used as a metric for estimating a course’s value to students by determining its total classroom time over the course of a term. To reach the WSCH, the state multiplies a course’s attendance by its weekly hours and then by the term length (in weeks). 15 students x 3h/w x 17.5w (per term) = 787.5 WSCH FTES: Full-Time Equivalent Student A metric used by the state to assign a dollar amount to a specific type of student, and is applied differently to credit and non-credit programs. To determine a program’s FTES the state divides the program’s WSCH by that of the average full-time student (525 WSCH) to reach a number by which the state can multiply it’s $4,040 per credit FTES. Applied to the example course in the previous section, the course has 1.5 FTES (787.5/525). This course would therefore receive $6,060 in state funding.
ESL Cuts Signal a Language Barrier Between Administrators and Community By JohnTaylor Wildfeuer
jt.wildfeuer@gmail.com An explanation of acronyms and jargon referenced below can be found in the accompanying glossary. English as a Second Language (ESL) programs at City College suffered the largest number of layoffs among the approximately 50 faculty members dismissed in March. Understanding the justifications given for this decision requires an exhaustive knowledge of obscure acronyms, intergovernmental agencies and their jurisdictions, and funding formulas past and present. Attempting to comprehend the City College budget is not unlike being immersed in a foreign country, and finding that some tourists were given cash, and others citations. Without their language it cannot be made clear whether these acts are cruel, or fair, or simply arbitrary. As in our brief exploration of the Diego Rivera Theater last issue, it is again unclear which motivation the administration’s ultimate determination (that ESL students are less unprofitable, that reducing their resources will buoy the budget) stems from. An apparent defense and explanation, codified in the now infamous 2020 Multi-Year Budget Plan (MYBP), was provided by the administration at that time, under the chancellorship of Dr. Vurdien and with guidance and input from the office of Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration John al-Amin. It is virtually incomprehensible without either prior understanding, or a glossary like the one provided. The glossary
While the per-FTES rates for noncredit CDCP classes are the highest among the three types of enrollment, this is offset by the SCFF’s supplemental and student success allocations, which are based solely on credit students. In addition, the actual hours of attendance calculation in noncredit classes leads towards lower FTES, compared with census-based attendance, as any student absence during the semester lowers the hours of attendance that can be counted. As a result, both credit and noncredit classes must be reviewed in the context of expenses and revenue.
itself required a glossary, as is evident from the inclusion of terms not directly stated below. Even with a glossary, it is a challenge to comprehend:
The SCFF legislation made changes to the perFTES funding rates for credit classes, reducing them by 30%, shifting that funding to set up the supplemental and student success allocations. The per-FTES funding levels under SCFF are currently set as to these values: • Credit: $4,040 • Noncredit CDCP: $5,622 • Noncredit non-CDCP: $3,381 While the per-FTES rates for noncredit CDCP classes are the highest among the three types of enrollment, this is offset by the SCFF’s supplemental and student success allocations, which are based solely on credit students. In addition, the actual hours of attendance calculation in noncredit classes leads towards lower FTES, compared with census-based attendance, as any student absence during the semester lowers the hours of attendance that can be counted. As a result, both credit and noncredit classes must be reviewed in the context of expenses and revenue. Excerpt from the 2020 Multi-Year Budget Plan, pg 20. This disheartening conclusion, that these programs must be reduced, seems like it must have stemmed from one of three motivations: 1) after careful consideration of all relevant factors and propositions, cuts were the only way; 2) the problem is so vast and complex that we trimmed what we could with respect to expediency, rather than foresight; or 3) the short term benefits matter more than the long-term because individual careers move faster than behemoth institutions like City College, and when the time comes for reflection the architects of the cuts will have long-since absconded to higher
seats of power. The agitation the community is feeling, that their voices aren’t heard, that their proposed solutions and palpable sorrows seem always to fall on deaf ears, finds an ironic proving ground in the recent ESL cuts. It isn’t that they, the administrators and Board members, do not hear, but that they do not speak the language. They speak in the State’s dry, pragmatic locution, like Catholic priests giving the liturgy in Latin, and have forgotten their role as intercessor, culling what remains of their ancestral tongue.
8 | OPINION
Vol. 173, Issue 5 | March 28 – April 5 2022
Mutually Productive Exchange
Three Ecologists On the Ethics of Life On Earth
Neri Oxman
By Skylar Wildfeuer
skylar.wildfeuer@gmail.com This week, climate scientist Peter Kalmus and some other scientists were handcuffed by LAPD riot police for, as he put it in the Guardian, "Pleading for a livable earth." The realtionship between human life and the life and the planet is becoming harder to ignore, but the topic is not new, either. Here are three ecologies presented in the past hundred years.
1. Growth over assembly 2. Integration over Segregation 3. Heterogeneity over Homogeneity 4. Difference over Repetition 5. Material is the New Software CNN.com December 2012 Aldo Leopold If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? Round River, Oxford Press, 1953
Material Ecology Neri Oxman has questions about the way we think about construction and the relationship between human space and the rest of the planet. She works at the intersection of art and architecture and is a pioneer of material ecology, which studies the relationship between a structure and its environment. Her architecture firm currently has a show entitled Nature x Humanity at the SFMoMA. “While human material wealth stakes claim to land and resources, environmental health restores and advances natural balance to mutually benefit all. OXMAN’s radical perspective lies in its ability to envision an alternative architectural legacy upending a human-centered built environment to reprioritize nature,” said Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher, SFMOMA’s Helen Hilton Raiser Curator of Architecture and Design. She believes that “learning from nature … will yield efficiency and sustainability as by-products. It is not a matter of surrendering truth to beauty in design: more often than not we will find that they are inextricably linked.” In the plaque for the Aguahoja floating city art piece, Oxman asks, “What if humans nurtured resources while using them?” It is paired with another, Man-Nahata, which “envisions an urban plan that supports a mutually productive exchange between nature and humanity.” Land Ethic These are not new ideas, of course. Neri Oxman’s work calls to mind the radical thinking of Aldo Leopold. He declared in his journal that “the last word in ignorance” is to ask “What good is it?” about plants and animals. The wisdom he offers as alternative to that ignorance is that the land is good, what we understand of it is good, and we must accept the ecosystem (he calls it the land and the land mechanism) as a whole, and believe that all its individual components are necessary. That is a wrenching belief to hold during one of the greatest
Theorists, Expanded
George Sessions & Arne Naess
"Human Destruction." The 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire season in California history. It was also the largest on record at the time, now second to the 2020 California wildfire season. December 2018 illustration by Max Hollinger/The Guardsman mass extinction events in history. Leopold himself lived 1887-1948, so, just before the anthropocene, but during a massive reduction in the percentage of the land in the United States that could be considered wild. He believed that wildness was necessary, which is both intuitive and alien now. Aldo Leopold was a contemporary of the American conservationists President Theodore Roosevelt and George Bird Grinnell and preservationist John Muir. John Muir believed that conservationism was not sufficiently aggressive. Aldo Leopold proposed in Sand County Almanac that conservationism was an effort toward the wrong ends. Leopold calls for a different ethical framework for thinking about the land. He said that conservation was getting
nowhere because it is incompatible with the way we think about land. In Sand County Almanac he wrote, “We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” He called it a land ethic. Deep Ecology Thinking along similar lines half a century later, Arne Naess and George Sessions proposed a deep ecology in 1984 to argue that conservation was too human-centric and subjugationist an ideology. The self must be understood as deeply connected with and a part of nature, not separated from it, to be able to think about how to protect it. In their work, Ness and Sessions extend the
consequentialist/transcendental idealist concept of Ends to all life, not just the projects of a prince or even just all humans. Critique of Deep Ecology Slavoj Zizek criticizes the deep ecologist's presumption to speak for human life as hypocritical and reminds that the ecosystem is "indifferent" to human self induced plights. Policies need to be changed to save human lives, not the life of the planet. Of course, the environment will respond to whatever doomsday humanity brings about for itself the same way it responded to the proposed Chicxulub crater meteoric event. I think this is a valuable observation but both insufficient for and not intended to be a rejection wholesale of the ethic. Obviously animals benefit
1. The well-being and flourishing of human and nonhuman Life on Earth have value in themselveS. These values are independent of the usefulness of the nonhuman world for human purposes. 2. Richness and diversity of life forms contribute to the realization of these values and are also values in themselves. 3. Humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs. 4. The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population. The flourishing of nonhuman life requires such a decrease. 5. The present human interference with the nonhuman world is excessive, and the situation is rapidly worsening. 6. Policies must therefore be changed. These policies affect basic economic, technological, and ideological structures. The resulting state of affairs will be deeply different from the present. 7. The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of the difference between big and great. 8. Those who subscribe to the foregoing points have an obligation directly or indirectly to try to implement the necessary changes. Deep Ecology for the TwentyFirst Century, Shambhala, 1995 Slavoj Zizek The falsity of humanitarianism is the same falsity found in the rejection of anthropocentrism advocated by deep ecology there is a deep hypocrisy in it. All the talk about how we, humanity, pose a threat to all life on earth really just amounts to a concern about our own fate. Earth itself is indifferent... The proponents of deep ecology who posit themselves as the representatives of all living beings occupy a position of falsity similar to that of the white antieurocentric liberals who, while ruthlessly rejecting their own identity and soliciting “others” to assert their identities, reserve for themselves the position of universality. Heaven In Disorder, OR Books, 2021.
Vol. 173, Issue 5 | March 28 – April 5 2022
2022 Poster Design by Angela Alberto, Emerge Studio, CCSF Visual Media Design
Courtesy of the Potrero View
COMMUNITY | 9
SPORTS | 10
Vol. 172, Issue 3 | Sept. 13 - Sept. 22, 2021
JohnTaylor Wildfeuer/The Guardsman.
Rams Charge Into State Playoffs After Winning By JohnTaylor Wildfeuer
jt.wildfeuer@gmail.com After a standout season with just one loss the Rams Men’s Basketball team scored a championship victory over West Valley, adding a state title to 12 postseason awards and ending on a 28 game win-streak.
The final game was highly climactic.
The Rams completed their near-perfect season with a decisive 25-point lead, defeating West Valley, the only team to beat them this season, with a final score of 91-66. While the West Valley Vikings were able to secure an early lead with Rams unable to score for the first three minutes of the game, they swiftly lost their advantage and were unable to regain it despite two Rams starters benched for committing fouls. Overall, the final game was highly climactic, with five technical fouls and flagrant fouls, a commanding performance by players off the bench, and a near comeback for the Vikings in the final minutes. The Rams decisive performance closed with 47 percent (16 of 34) shot accuracy from the floor, 46 percent (6 or 13) from the
three-point line, and 100 percent (10-10) success with free-throws. This is Coach Justin Labagh’s fourth state title in eighteen years with City College, a record he shares with Hall-of-Fame coach Jerry Tarkanian of Riverside and Pasadena City Colleges. "It is nice to be in the same sentence with his name," he said in an interview with BAOSN.tv. Contrasting the season with that of before the advent of COVID-19, Labagh said, "Two years ago, we had our best team we ever had at City,” adding, “we were 30-0 and beating everybody by 40 points.”
"To come back from here and win it is unbelievable." When it came time to compete in the championship that year, however, the team found themselves waiting in their vans, having been told that the tournament had been canceled due to health and safety concerns. Labagh said, “To come back here and win it is unbelievable." Forward Seyi Reiley, started the championship game and took home the award for Defensive Player of the Year. “I was so juiced after that game against
West Valley,” Reiley said, adding, “They were the only team to beat us this year and they celebrated hard on our home court so we had to beat the breaks off of them in the championship game.” The turnabout was meaningful to the team, and Reiley said, “The fact that they had disrespected us like that made the state championship win so much sweeter.” The team, which Reilley said started their workouts one year ago in March 2021, closed out their near-perfect season with a dramatic rivalry win fit for a feature film. Their postseason awards, which include Coach of the Year for Labagh, Co-Players of the Year for Naseem Gaskin and Seyi Reiley, and All-Freshmen Team for Emmett Neal and Jamir Thomas, add titles to trophies as the conquering team looks to future victories.
"We had to beat the breaks off of them in the championship game." “There is no feeling better,” Reiley concluded, “than having all of the work that you put in result in a huge win like this one.”
Jamill Thomas shoots over Cabrillo defender at the Wellness Center Gym on . March 5. Jamill scored a game high 23 points and had 2 rebounds in Round 2 of the Regional Finals. Bob Kinoshita/The Guardsman.