THE SKYLINE VIEW The Voice of Skyline College, San Bruno, Calif.
November 10, 2021
theskylineview.com
Issue 3
Skyline aims towards creating a smoke-free campus SFCHC works with Skyline College to create the OnlyFog project By Izzy Herrera Staff Writer
The San Francisco Community Health Center (SFCHC) and Skyline College’s Health and Wellness Department are heading towards making Skyline a smokefree campus. SFCHC received a California Tobacco Control Program grant in 2019 and they decided to partner with the San Mateo Community College District to create the OnlyFog Project. SFCHC collaborated with Skyline’s Sociology and Social Justice studies Professor Rika Yonemura-Fabian Ph.D. to help create a smoke-free campus at Skyline College. The OnlyFog project’s main purpose is to adopt a policy to remove all nine smoking zones currently on campus and make it 100% smokefree by March 2022. The root of this project is to combat the social justice issue at hand, tobacco use among young adults within the community. According to the California Tobacco Control Program, groups such as minorities, people with mental health problems, and the LGBTQ+ community are more likely to be influenced by tobacco use. 81% of Skyline’s population are people of color, which are the most vulnerable to being affected by tobacco use not only within the community but in their homes. “Lots of people consider tobacco in a very narrow way, that it’s a personal choice,” said Professor Rika Yonemura-Fabian Ph.D. “What people may not be familiar with is that more tobacco shops are found in lower-income areas. In higher income, more white areas very few tobacco shops are found while areas such as predominantly Black, Latino, and Asian neighborhoods you can find one on every block.”
Andrea Sto. Domingo/The Skyline View
Skyline College is currently working towards building a smoke-free campus.
The project’s first steps were to take a poll of Skyline students and see how they felt about the use of tobacco on campus through secondhand smoke. Mark Heringer, a former Skyline student who now works at SFCHC, remembers his time on campus and how frequently his classmates would use the smoking zones, especially times under stress. “When I was a student I remember hearing a lot of complaints that there was a lot of smoking during finals near the library,” said Heringer. If the policy were to pass, some students would defy the rule. Yonemura-Fabian and Heringer are choosing an educational approach rather than a punishment method. “There are smokers on campus and they are addicted and addiction is not a crime,” said Yonemura-Fabian. “I really think the main solution would be a lot of resources and sources of education for students which will be provided on campus. I always talked about the nicotine patch and put them in dispensary machines as a remedy so you can
fight the urge to pick up the cigarette. Also, things such as counseling and info sessions would be what we would provide.” “One of the things we want to ensure is that we get our message across that the big tobacco industries are targeting people of color, low-income individuals, and also the LGBTQ+ community,” said Heringer. “If you are caught smoking on campus by the police you know well enough that they fall under the targeted community. What we want to do is prevent that type of discrimination, that’s why we do not want to go with the punishment approach. We do not want to cause another unnecessary interaction. One thing we want to do is focus on education enforcement.” Anthony Herrera, a kinesiology student at Skyline, who is a smoker stands on the neutral side of the project. “I am neutral because I know it is a place for people to smoke and relax,” said Herrera.“I myself do not use the smoking zones so if they get rid of them it will not affect me at all.” However, Anastasiya Garanchuk, a nursing major at Skyline
who is not a smoker agrees with the OnlyFog project idea. “I agree to remove all nine smoking zones on campus because the fewer chances people have to smoke, the less they will actually smoke,” said Garanchuk. I do understand the principle of freedom, every person has the right to choose to smoke, but a school campus should teach right and healthy values.” The main takeaway that Professor Yonemura-Fabian and Heringer want Skyline students to take from OnlyFog is that Big Tobacco industries do target the minority communities and that it is a social justice issue. “We want everyone to remember to protect themselves, something we talk about is harm reduction,’’ said Heringer. “Harm reduction does not mean you quit cold turkey, it means that you take it day by day and set small goals that will get you eventually to your big goal.” The outcome of the OnlyFog project has not been determined but has been set to vote on the outcome in November.
The District moves forward with vision for student housing
SMCCCD works towards a future plan to provide student housing for the three community colleges By Derian Lopez Staff Writer
The San Mateo County Community College District is in the process of moving forward with a student housing plan that will take place within the next couple of years. One of the challenges for adding student housing is the cost of constructing and purchasing facilities. District officials have discussed how several different options have been explored to help fund student housing, but applying for the State budget is what they’re going with. “With funding included in the State budget for the construction of student housing projects, SMCCCD will apply for a grant from the State which if received, would provide a significant portion of the funding needed to construct student housing facilities,” said Dr. Richard Storti, executive vice chancellor of Administrative Services. The California Department of Finance released guidance for how districts with “shovel-ready” projects can access the initial round of
funding amounting to $500 million. SMCCCD is fastidiously working towards having their final application sent in by the October 31 deadline. District officials are working on a plan to include housing at all three of the community colleges. “The first project is anticipated to be located at College of San Mateo because of its central location within the district,” said Storti. “Students attending any of our three colleges will be eligible to stay at student housing located at CSM.” SMCCCD has its staff ready to help students obtain resources for student housing so that they can keep moving forward with their education. “Student housing is known to enrich campus life and provide many students with the opportunity to complete their educational goals,” said Storti. “It would also provide many students with an opportunity to complete their educational goals in a shorter period of time.” Housing at the three community colleges can impact things such as
commute time, cost of living and home location for students. “It would take away that extra commute that can sometimes hinder getting to class on time or at all,” said Jovelyn Marinas, a communication student at Skyline College. “When people don’t have to stress about where they have to move or if they can pay their expensive rent or be in a dangerous situation, they can focus more on their academics instead of those stressors.” “It’s already well known that housing in the Bay Area is extremely expensive,” Marinas said. “It brings up the conversation of how affordable ‘below-market-rate housing is. Just because it’s ‘below-market-rate doesn’t mean that it’s affordable for college students.” It’s still unclear if they’re going to use ‘below-market-rate units. If they were to use the units, 2,000 of them would go to the College of San Mateo. The units could be up to 2,551 if the housing would be available at below-market-rate, according to a 2020 survey study by The Scion Group.
Students have expressed their concern as to whether or not it is challenging to obtain a spot for housing. “What are the criteria?,” said Marinas. “How much of it is (actually) need-based?” Students’ eligibility for applying to SMCCCD housing is not yet available. State funding is providing housing for full-time students (12 units or more) and ones that are in need financially. Students such as Marinas believe that part-time students should also be eligible for student housing on the campuses. “I think they’re really leaving the students out who aren’t able to commit to being a full-time student because of factors like work or having to take care of family members, children,” Marinas said. “ I think there are also cases where those who study part-time while working full-time, are those with housing insecurity.” “District officials are currently exploring options for part-time students,” said Storti.
There are currently discussions being held as to whether international students should also be eligible for the SMCCCD student housing plan. “International students are still students of Skyline College,” said Marinas. “They can suffer from housing insecurity as well, and I think it can be especially hard for someone to find housing when they’re not familiar with the area. I think this also sends a very negative message that international students are only seen as “temporary”, and therefore, shouldn’t have a chance to claim a spot in housing.” The deadline for this state application is Oct. 31. Vice-Chancellor Mitch Bailey shared that they may have a proposal by the next meeting on Oct. 27. The final decision on the application will be made between May and July of next year. “If we are successful in receiving State funding, construction would begin as early as 2023 with occupancy available as early as 2025-2026,” said Storti. If approved, future SMCCCD students can look forward to eligibility and application resources.