The Voice of Skyline College, San Bruno, Calif.
The SKYLINE View September 29, 2022
theskylineview.com
Issue 1
Grocery workers struggle to afford food amidst inflated prices
By Anoush Torounian
Former Focal Point Editor
How can I choose between food and toilet paper? Single mom Marcela Rodriguez has been faced with that ongoing question. “Because I’m a part-time student, I’m working only 20 hours … I’m sacrificing getting a full time job or getting paid higher for my education,” Rodriguez said. “[To pay for food], we have to cut off a bunch of things like going out, activities, or basic things such as detergent, or even toilet paper.” Rodriguez is just one of many people who are surrounded by groceries at work, and yet struggling to keep up with the rising cost of food. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is a labor union representing 1.3 million workers. In January 2022, they conducted a study revealing that over 75% of workers at Kroger, the largest full service grocery chain in the country, are food insecure. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) defines insecurity as a lack of consistent
gone up so much.” The USDA released findings that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of economy-wide inflation, increased 9.4 percent between April 2021 and April 2022 for food prices. As a result, people like Matzke and Rodriguez are dramatically shifting their spending habits. “My grocery bill has almost doubled since the pandemic,” Matzke said. “I used to have steak or hamburger like three times a week, and now I might have once every other week because prices have increased since the pandemic.” Like Matzke, Rodriguez has sacrificed her sense of normalcy for the sake of saving money. Rodriguez used to supplement food Steven Rissotto/Skyline View she received from the pantry with food she bought at the store. access to enough food for an “Right now, because the gas prices are pretty expensive, we are just SparkPoint, food insecurity eating what we received from the would further victimize food pantry, which is chicken,” Rodiguez, her son and other Rodriguez said. “What we receive participants. “[SparkPoint has] is unpredictable. My weekly meal been helping me big time depends on what I received. I mean, because I save money every week it’s not bad. You just need to adjust as a participant,” Rodriguez said. and adapt to what is served.” “So every week, we receive like Her family does not eat out much, three or four bags of full groceries but when they do, they adhere to a such as dry food or produce, fruit strict budget. and vegetables. They carry items “The last time we went out was like milk, cheese, chicken, and fish. for my mother’s birthday,” said It’s a big variety. So on average, I Rodriguez. “We went to a buffet in personally save an average of $90 South San Francisco; you pay like per week.” $12, and it’s all you can eat. We Jason Matzke is a produce clerk don’t eat out very often because I’m that has been working at Safeway trying to save money with my son. for 22 years and has 9 years left to Every penny that I receive is just retire. Inflated prices have just to save up, either to pay significantly decreased his steady rent or just to pay bills and to access to nutritious food. Before the move forward.” pandemic, he would reach for a For Rodriguez, a lack of access to steak and veggie meal for dinner. maintaining good health. Just last week, Matzke had to skip “Sometimes when we haven’t two meals due to the cost of food. eaten for a long period of time, like “I ended up getting pasta because more than six or seven hours, I feel the carbohydrates will last a couple super dizzy,” Rodriguez said. I feel of days as energy,” said Matzke. weak the entire day: headache, a lack “The grocery prices are so high, of concentration, and I cannot especially the cost of protein has
like organic foods and better quality
when you go to bed without a happy belly. I’ve been struggling with that. But thank God we have these services at Skyline College.” Service is paramount to Matzke’s roommate, Tygarjas Twyrls Bigstyck, a Pacifica City Council person and Mayor Pro Tempore. Bigstyck stepped out of his management position at Safeway when he accepted a role on the council, and he is now a checker. He observes a culture of neglecting nutrition to due cost among his grocery store coworkers. “I’ve certainly seen a lot of my co-workers for the sake of convenience to go to a McDonald’s or a Subway to just quickly get something low cost to eat even though it’s not very nutritious, and then get back to work,” said Bigstyck. A solution to food insecurity that arises time and time again is for companies to offer a living wage, the minimum income necessary to meet basic needs, to all workers. However, some companies have resisted cutting into their profit margins for the sake of their employees. “[For] most of my coworkers, fighting for a living wage seems to be a recurring theme,” Bigstyck said. “To my company’s credit, we were recently given a pay bump through contract negotiations. They weren’t the easiest contract negotiations to get.” Inadequate funds often pigeonholes individuals into selecting cheap and unhealthy options, or worse still, skipping meals. With more funds, opportunities arise to select food that fuels the body and supports nutrition. “In general, if we’re paid more, we are able to make better choices in today’s world in which people are becoming more aware of things
After 2 years, where is Skyline now? The Online vs. In-Person College Experience Opinions vary on which format works best based on student needs By Kathia Noriega and Sean Siapno Sports Editor and Features Editor
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected schools all over the world. For the last two years, schools have adjusted to an online alternative for their classes. Skyline College experienced this switch but has now transitioned back to offering in-person courses. Online classes are still made available. However, students must now choose whether to go back on campus, stay virtual, or experience the best of both worlds. With the last two semesters being a mix of both inperson and online, what were Skyline students’ experiences with their courses? Ali Nazari is a sophomore who took a break from college back in 2020 because he preferred in-person classes rather than virtual learning. He explains that online courses had a lot of issues such as audio, Zoom trolls, and Wi-Fi connection. “I learned better with inperson classes, everything is more clear, and I can pay
A student uses a computer on campus.
Graham Breitbarth/Skyline View
attention better.” He knows that he works and learns better in a classroom environment, so he decided to take some time off school until in-person classes were available again. Nonetheless, virtual learning has been recognized as convenient and more accessible for students to stay at home and go at their own pace. Moreover, it allows students to do their schoolwork
whenever and wherever they want. Llana Marquez, a third-year allied health student, has experience in both the online and on-campus settings. Through these courses, she’s established that she prefers online over in-person as it’s easier and suits her learning style the best. “It was easy, I’m kind of introverted, I preferred online beneficial.” While she favors online classes, she’s also enrolled in some inperson ones.
However, these are core courses and were only available in
take the virtual route for these classes. Students notice the difference between online courses compared to in person classes. While both have their advantages, the biggest difference would probably be the community aspect of the school. Most students find it easier to create a bond with their classmates when they are face-toface. While Tyler Kuwada is a freshman at Skyline, he has had the chance to compare the differences between online and in-person classes. “I am able to see people face-toface; you don’t interact with people online.” He values the in-person setting a lot more because it makes connecting and becoming friends with classmates easier than being isolated at home. The switch to online school has definitely impacted students; however, Skyline College staff also faced the challenge of adjusting to the virtual environment. Skyline’s College staff also faced the challenge of adjusting to the virtual environment. Skyline’s very own Gavin Townsley and
foods,” Bigstyck said. Another avenue that grocery retailers could implement to protect workers from food insecurity is company discounts on their products. Matzke described Safeway’s employee benefits: 5% off national brand products and 10% off company products. However, in light of inflated prices, he suggests increasing the discount to 15%. Matzke and Bigstyck’s roommate once worked at Safeway but has since switched jobs due to personal discrepancies with the company. “At Taco Bell, he’s really struggling,” Matzke said. “Taco Bell pays $15 an hour, and that’s it. He’s working 30 hours a week, and he’s in a position that he can’t really pick up another job. So, he is trying to get food stamps now.” Ultimately, for many parts of the Bay Area, food insecurity unfortunately comes with the territory of the astronomical costs of living. “Ours is a community in which simultaneously has a great deal of money in certain ways and a great deal of poverty and others, given that we’re a community that largely falls below the median income level for half our population,” Bigstyck said. “That’s just the potential for people to be insecure with food.” Despite challenges in the present, Rodriguez is optimistic that her pursuit of an education at the expense of a more robust paycheck will reap great benefits in the future. Similar to many families, her attitude is one of hope and perseverance. “I know right now we are struggling financially. But again, this is just temporary. I know I’m gonna get in a better position in the future. I have faith.” This story is part of a 4-part story in partnership with the California Humanities fellowship, that can be found in full on Theskylineview.com.
Raymond Gutierrez share a few observations regarding their experiences in their line of work being online vs. in-person. Both Townsley and Gutierrez have work related to student resources around Skyline. Townsley, who runs the Supplemental Instructor program, finds online school interesting. The SI program embeds an SI leader in certain courses to give students an extra support system in that class. Whether it be a general guide to the course or an additional learning/tutoring resource, this is what SI leaders provide. Gutierrez is the counterpart to Townsley, running the Peer Mentoring program. They help students navigate their college experience by offering a wide variety of resources: time management, e-mail etiquette, and assisting students in finding the skills they need to succeed in college. With both programs being linked as resources for students, they both find that community building is more successful in an in-person setting. While both staff members like the flexibility of the virtual world, it’s easier for students to be acquainted and get comfortable with Skyline’s resources by seeing a friendly face on campus. So after two years, where are Skyline students now? It seems that the college experience is different for everyone. Some people naturally gravitate toward the natural in-person setting, while others like working alone in their own space. Luckily, Skyline provides the opportunity to experience both online and off-line courses. It’s up to students to see what works best for them, but even so, many resources are available to help them succeed in their chosen path.
2 The Staff
Editor-In-Chief Joshua Picazo
Editorial
Opinions
Ron DeSantis Sets a Dangerous Precedent
News Editor Julian Reyes Opinions Editors Nishad Karulkar Gabriel Mendez Sports Editor Kathia Noriega Copy Editor Joshua Picazo Social Media Editor Danille Cosino Focal Point Editor Sean Siapno Multimedia Editor Graham Bretibarth Staff Reporter Juan Gomez Faculty Adviser Nancy Kaplan-Biegel
September 29, 2022
Cottages, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, USA
Gov. Ron DeSantis’s flying of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard is a grave danger to immigrant communities. For those who are not in the know here is what happened. News agency NPR reports that on Wednesday Sept. 14, a total of 50 immigrants arrived at Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.. They arrived on a total of two planes that originated in San Antonio, Texas.
Despite originating from Texas, the flights were paid for by the state of Florida. Both Gov. Greg Abbott, of Texas, and Gov. Ron DeSantis, of Florida, appear to approve of this action. Martha’s Vineyard was not informed about this and as such was left desperately trying to scrape together resources to provide for the migrants. It is also worth noting that the immigrants claim they were mis-
other side of the country, why should we care about some other states immigration policies? One thing to think about is that we can be next. This stunt coincides with Texas’s plan to send immigrants to other states. The Florida program responsible for this target’s states like California as spots for migrant relocation. The justification being that they’re “…incentiving illegal immigration” NPR reports, according to a statement, by a spokesperson for Gov. DeSantis. Do you want to get caught up in the next potentially life-threatening political stunt? People also need to consider that California is an immigrant state. A report from the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan research organization, shows it boasts Michele Schaffer/Creative Commons about 11 million residents who are foreign born. That is about a quarter of the nation’s immigrant population. led, being told that they were being 27 percent of the state’s population taken to Boston, where they could was not born here, meaning that receive work. future immigration policies can have This is a complete outrage. This a massive effect on the people of political stunt funded presumably California. by Florida taxpayer money, was Policies like these are spreading. extremely dangerous. In addition to We need to fight back now before being extremely duplicitous due to they start hurting our community straight up lying to the migrants. directly. Some may be thinking, how does this affect us? Florida, Texas and Massachusetts are basically on the
Blood and Backpacks By Graham Breitbarth
Digital Editor
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The Skyline View is a First Amendment Publication. The Skyline View is published during the spring and fall semesters by the journalism students at Skyline College. The Skyline View is a member of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges. Opinions expressed in the paper are those of the writers and should not be interpreted as the views of Skyline College, SMCCCD, the faculty, administrators or the newspaper adviser. Additionally, the paper does not endorse any of the products or services advertised. The Skyline View welcomes Letters to the Editors; letters must include full name, address, and phone number for verification. The Skyline View reserves the right to edit letters for length, libel, clarity, and taste.
Complemantery Masks
Empty Classroom
School shootings have become an epidemic in America and are endangering the lives of students around the country. In May of 2022, the Uvalde shootings reignited the debate on gun violence. A total of 21 lives were lost within Robb Elementary and have become the new faces of the movement for change. At the beginning of September, Uvalde suffered yet another shooting in Memorial Park. While there were no deaths reported from the shooting, it did mean that one of the survivors of Robb Elementary had to experience yet another life and death scenario. CNN reported the story of third grader Aubriella Ibarra who was at school the day that 19 of her classmates lost their lives. She was also at Memorial Park on September 8th with her mother. The two of them luckily were unharmed. The fact that a child had to experience two shootings in a span of four months is nothing short of insanity. Students this young shouldn’t be growing up with PTSD because we, as adults, fail to protect them. America has proven that it doesn’t care about the safety of its citizens. As shown by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott who stated that “It could’ve been worse..” according to Business Insider.
Gabriel Mendez/The Skyline View
21 people died, 19 of them were children who had only lived a single decade. People may be thinking, how does this affect me? Schools across America have been in danger of shooting threats, including our own Skyline College back in 2009. As adults we may be outside the affected age range, but it’s our loved ones who will continue to suffer. The situation doesn’t have to be hopeless, we have made steps in the right direction. The steps just haven’t been enough to stop it. Metal detectors and security guards won’t be the solution. We need to stop it at the source, not as kids cower in fear. However we don’t have all the answers. We can only do what we believe works and keep moving forward. Whether that be better regulation of firearms or refusal to sell to those with mental health issues There is a solution. Twenty three years of school shootings in the United States and not much has changed. Columbine all the way to Uvalde with bodies in the wake of bullets. We must keep fighting for the victims, because if we can incite change, maybe they didn’t die for nothing.
Gabriel Mendez/The Skyline View
Skyline Students and Staff Should Continue to Mask Continued masking should be a priority for students and staff at Skyline College, despite the fact that masks are currently optional due to San Mateo County having a “low” level of infection. For the most part, we’ve all been wearing masks for about two years at this point, and to be truthful, it has been very annoying. The desire to take them off is understandable, but looking at things from a broad perspective, it may be best to keep them on. Looking at the New York Times’s Covid-19 infection rates since 2020 in San Mateo County and San Francisco County, you can see that there are constant spikes over time, and we appear to just now be getting off one, do we really want to risk retriggering it? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified several locations that can be high risk. For example, a closed space, especially those with little to no ventilation, being around people for a long duration of time, or any activities that require being in close proximity or making physical contact with others can put you at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19. Having to miss several classes can be highly inconve-
nient for a student. In addition, the adverse health effects of COVID-19 can be severe. Plus, since weekly COVID-19 tests will no longer be required for unvaccinated students, by California, we might risk having an outbreak spread before we know that one is happening. Also, we are settling into fall, with the cold and flu season just around the corner, so germs will be going around. Masks excluded, public and personal hygiene are staples of healthy living. As common courtesy, washing your hands and bathing regularly are considered normal at times like these. Applying these concepts to masking as well makes sense. Today wearing your mask helps keep yourself and others germ-free. Masks are a proven method of preventing the spread of COVID-19, as shown by the CDC. That is why students and staff should still wear a mask when they are in a place where they are exposed to large groups of people. Examples of these include any time you’re in class or waiting in line for the cafeteria. These factors show that in order to better protect our community we should continue to wear masks.
3
Focal Point
September 29, 2022
Brown’s in town! Features
By Sean Siapno
Focal Point Editor
Brown is on the rise to being the most dominant color in fashion right now. I bet you can spot at least six people in a room wearing some shade of brown. However, the color is so bland at first glance. Never in a million years would I have expected this color to be so successful the way it is now. So what caused the color brown to be so popular nowadays? While brown is a basic color, it falls under the same category as white and black: neutral colors. Kiana Cabie, a second-year sociology student, says,
“There’s so many shades of brown; it goes with everything, and it’s just cute.” Brown is a color that’s really easy to style around. For example, just by pairing a brown hoodie or jacket with lightwashed jeans, you’re already on your way to turning heads. I think the simplicity of an outfit like this really sells its clean and stylish look. Brown tones don’t just end with tops, but can be seen in pants as well. From brown corduroys to khaki colored cargo pants, these are just some of the latest clothing you will see people wearing.
While brown is not my favorite color, it is a go-to whenever I want to dress nicely without trying. In general, I believe comfy everyday looks are trending right now, and this shade is in the centerfold of it. I can see brown being a trend that lasts very long, as you can’t go wrong with it. It’s versatile, fresh, and clean, every aspect of what makes trends in fashion last for a very long time. So, get yourself some nice brown clothing to style simple but trendy outfits.
Sean Siapno/The Skyline View
Kenneth Roque/@woahken on instagram
Roblox: How the popular online children’s game earned a new demographic By Danielle Cosino
social Media Editor
You may have heard a bunch of young kids today talk about this game called Roblox. Many people mistake Roblox for being a stand-alone video game like Fortnite, but it is actually a free online gaming platform where people can play a variety of games created by various developers. These games are referred to as “experiences.” Over the years, the popular gaming platform has accumulated an age demographic of 13-year-olds and younger; however, in the past 2 to 3 years, Roblox has grown to reach an audience of 13-year-olds and older. The platform is known to have and still has a majority of family-friendly games; however, there are new experiences being made that cater to the older demographic, especially the rise in popularity of Roblox horror games. Additionally, events like the recent pandemic allowed people of all age groups to check out the platform during quarantine. There is always something for everyone to play on Roblox, as many new and fresh games are being created and released by various developers. If you cannot find a particular game you want to play, you can even create your own! Anyone can make a Roblox game using Roblox’s building tool: Roblox Studio. While Roblox offers singleplayer games, many of these games are multiplayer and even encourage players to play in groups. Roblox is cross-platform and compatible with Xbox One,
PC, iOS, Android Services, and FireOS. This allows people to simultaneously play with each other, regardless of what type of device they are playing on. It is a great way to play with friends, and it helps build a great sense of community. Even though the graphics of these Roblox games are known for their not-so-high quality, the platform’s easy and wide accessibility, plus its variety of games, offer a quality gaming experience for all, regardless of their age.
Roblox can be played on many platforms including PCs (shown), Android and iPones.
4
Sports
sports Feature
September 29, 2022
Skyline Places Fourth Overall at Sacramento Tournament By: Kathia Noriega and Nishad Karulkar
Sports editor & Opinions editor
Skyline College men’s wrestling team has returned to the gym this Fall. This Saturday, the team will be at the City Dual wrestling conference match in Fresno on October 1st. Coach James Haddon, head coach of the men’s wrestling team, is entering his twenty-first season at Skyline. In addition to his job as instructor and head wrestling coach, he is also a physical education teacher for the San Francisco Unified School district. Since the season started back in June, Haddon has been happy with the outcome of the new group of mostly freshmen. The dedicated group has been working hard, placing first and third on average individually and fourth overall among 14 schools at their recent tournament on Saturday, September 17th at Sacramento City College. “The level of fitness required, level of grit, mental toughness is just unbelievable,” Haddon said. “Just to see how young folks grow towards not only being able to handle life’s challenges better, but also continue towards their educational goals and have those athletic goals too, for me, is really rewarding.” The biggest challenge they faced so far this season was a rolling blackout that lasted almost six hours at Sacramento City College. The tournament began at nine in the morning, and around noon the power completely went out until six in the evening. The power outage made it difficult to run the table clocks, scoreboards, and AC. Fortunately, they were able to hold their
Skyline wrestler takes down opponent at California Community College in Sacramento.
tournament in a gym with many windows, so lighting wasn’t an issue. However, the heat was a bigger issue than expected due to a lack of ventilation. “It was very, very hot,” Haddon said. “I estimated it was over ninety-five degrees in that gym… it was unbearable.” “When the power went out, there was like a three hour wait. Everyone just got cold again. They were just laying around and when everything restarted, no one had
time to warm up. And there were a lot of injuries, ” said Nathan Vasquez. Bilal Alkachak is a sophomore who has been wrestling for two and a half years. His experience on the team has been great and loves working hard to help his team win competitions. He enjoys the environment and how well they uplift and motivate each other to get better. “Tournaments and competing is the easy part,” Alkachak said.
“Coming here everyday, we do Monday to Friday from four to six [p.m.] in the wrestling room, that’s the hard part I’d say. Competing is just, you go out there and it’s a couple of minutes. But coming here on time, having time management is so important when it comes to a college wrestler because you have wrestling, college, and you have work probably so it’s really really important to know when to organize and time manage.” He enjoys the different energy
Courtesy of John Sachs
that college brings and seeing everyone do their own thing and succeed. Watching his videos back, spotting what he did wrong and knowing what he needs to improve on is what keeps him motivated. Student athletes like Bilal and Nathan work diligently to balance their time, bodies, and schoolwork in a way that gives them the most personal fulfillment as young adults in the San Bruno Area.