VOL. 159, ISSUE 2, FEB. 4 - FEB. 17, 2015 | CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO | SINCE 1935 | WWW.THEGUARDSMAN.COM | @THEGUARDSMAN | #THEGUARDSMAN | FREE

THE GUARDSMANBoard of Governors ends aCCJC MonopolyAccreditation

Illustration by Serina Mercado

By Otto Pippenger@theguardsman

opippenger@theguardsman.com

the guardsman

The California Community Colleges Board of Governors has effectively revoked the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges’ monopoly over community college accreditation within California as soon as the cur-rent accreditation cycle ends. As of Jan. 20, changed language in the Title 5 Regulations has opened the door for new accrediting organiza-tions to be formed and assume the duties that until now have been the sole province of the ACCJC.

This decision does not neces-sarily mean that the ACCJC will

be removed, only that there will be a period of competition to select a new agency. If a credible alterna-tive does not emerge, it is possible that the ACCJC will resume the position, though the changes set a precedent that could be repeated in the event of future complaints.

As former City College Teach-er’s Union AFT 2121 President Alyssa Messer said, “In many ways this is the best thing that could have happened.”

Coming only days after Judge Karnow’s tentative ruling that the ACCJC has in fact broken four laws in it’s dealings with CCSF, this decision represents a huge victory for City College and other schools around the state. The changes were made based on recommendations to the Board of Governors made by the

Bureau of State Audits in April, and recommended by Chancellor Brice Harris.

Most attribute these changes to widespread public and official indignation with the conduct of the ACCJC in dealing with City Col-lege in particular. The scope of this decision cannot be understated.

The ACCJC has been essen-tially dissolved in an unprecedented change to state law. “If you look at the original regulations and see that their (the ACCJC’s) name is writ-ten into state law – that they had to change state law because of their behavior is huge. There’s a reason their name had to be there and deciding that they had to remove that sends a very strong signal,” Messer said.

The California State Auditor’s

recommendations were partially prompted by and included a detailed examination of the ACCJC’s treat-ment of City College.

California Community Colleges Vice Chancellor for Com-munications Paul Feist has been quoted as saying that new accredit-ing bodies will most likely emerge as expansions of existing bodies in other states, or which are currently overseeing four-year colleges.

“This is a huge opportunity for us to make sure that the ACCJC is not our only accreditor,” Messer said.

As accreditation is based on a seven-year cycle however, this does not free the school from the ACCJC’s oversight. CCSF will

Kicker:New plan to shit cla bla

Agrella retires

Special Trustee Robert Agrella will retire this month, California Community Colleges Chancellor Brice Harris announced Jan. 30 on Twitter.

“Heartfelt thanks to Dr. Robert Agrella for all he has done to sup-port #CCSF in its recovery and best wishes for a well deserved retire-ment,” Harris wrote.

Agrella will continue serving as special trustee until a replacement will be found this month, the San Francisco Examiner reported.

continued on page 4

Insi

de

ESL departmentPlan marginalizes minorities

Lou Seal’s scooter Giants make pit stop at City College

Women’s tennisRams ahead and off to a good start

Page 3 Page 6 Page 11

news 2 | THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | FEB. 4 - FEB. 17, 2015

Editor-in-ChiefAlex Lamp

Culture EditorPatrick Cochran

Sports EditorShaleisa Daniel

Opinion EditorMatthew Patton

Photo EditorEkevara Kitpowsong

Multimedia EditorNathaniel Y. Downes

Production ManagerElisabetta Silvestro

Online Content ManagerKhaled Sayed

Advertising ManagerCalindra Revier

Staff WritersDina Boyer

Michael BurkettMarco Siler-Gonzales

Steven HoOtto Pippenger

Yesica Prado

Staff PhotographersDina Boyer

Jonathan Brooner-ContrerasNatasha Dangond

Otto PippengerYesica Prado Khaled Sayed

Franchon Smith

IllustratorsPaul Jones

Serina MercadoOlivia Wise

ContributorsDan HarringtonMorgan Henry

Eder MeloBridgid SkibaCara Stucker

Faculty AdvisorJuan Gonzales

Mail:50 Phelan Ave Box V-67San Francisco, CA 94112

Phone:(415) 239-3446

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Ocean Campus.

Seismic safety concerns also force Gough Street

campus closure

City College students from the Civic Center campus still face an uncertain future when it comes to instruction in Spring 2015 follow-ing the sudden closure of the Gough Street Center over seismic safety concerns.

Gough Street campus was to serve as an alternative site when the Civic Center campus was closed days before the start of instruc-tion because it too was seismically unsafe, the San Francisco Examiner reported.

“You can imagine people were upset, angry and frustrated about what was going on,” said Tim Kil-likelly, president of the faculty union. “You really feel like enough is enough.”

“It’s not ideal; it’s highly disruptive to our students and fac-ulty. We’re sorry about that,” school spokesperson Jeff Hamilton told the Examiner. “The chancellor has apologized for that.”

Meanwhile, the college has a plan, the Examiner reported. Col-lege officials said students would be allowed to take classes at numerous campuses and even possibly offer taxi vouchers and buses to transport people where they need to go.

City College cancels 105 courses in Spring 2015

As low enrollment continues to plague City College, academic departments are finding it more dif-

ficult to offer the number of courses they once did.

At press time, 105 credit sec-tions were cancelled affecting 522 students, according to recent data released by college officials.

The downward enrollment spiral surfaced after the Accredita-tion Commission for Junior and Community Colleges threaten to de-accredit City College in 2012.

In the meantime, counsel-ors, faculty, student ambassadors, department chairs, and school deans are being asked to guide into open course sections those students whose classes were cancelled, college officials said.

Also, the college was calling, emailing and mailing information to all affected students to help place them in 486 alternative sections with 4,705 open slots, the Examiner reported.

City College sees lowest enrollment drop since

2012Although City College still

struggles with low enrollment, the size of the drop is not as great as it once was, according to campus offi-cials.

This semester the enrollment drop is 5.6 percent lower than it was in Spring 2014, the San Francisco Examiner reported. Overall, the col-lege’s enrollment is down 27 percent after it was place on show-cause by its accreditor in Spring 2012.

College officials, according to the Examiner, credit the turn around to an aggressive $500,000

marketing campaign that utilized television, radio, social media, bill-boards and transit shelters.

“We really did a major push in terms of making direct personal contact, [especially with] students who had been at City College and dropped out,” City College spokes-person Jeff Hamilton told the Examiner. “I think it made a real difference.”

Current study to guide future of Balboa Reservoir

A renewed study of the west-ern portion of the Balboa Reservoir is underway that could thwart the college’s future college development plans.

The Mayor’s Office of Econom-ic and Workforce Development, the Planning Department and the San Francisco Public Utilities Com-mission have initiated the study to address the city’s need for affordable housing, transportation access, and neighborhood sustainability and resiliency, according to the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development website.

But City College faculty and students are concerned that any new development plan could spell the ultimate doom for a Performing Arts Center, as well as needed park-ing space for students.

Under San Francisco’s Public Land for Housing Program, agen-cies that own public land must fulfill their missions to the citizens of San Francisco. In the case of 17-acre Balboa Reservoir, the owner is the San Francisco Public Utilities Com-

mission.The study also includes planned

meetings for community input. The first took place Jan. 21 at Lick-Wilmerding High School. A second meeting is planned sometime during the spring semester.

Community college bachelor’s degree pro-grams get initial approval

In a landmark move for public higher education, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors gave initial approval on Jan. 20 to 15 colleges to develop bachelor’s degree programs.

The pilot program targets 13 fields of study. “These colleges are embarking on a new mission for the California Community Col-leges that will expand opportunities in public higher education,” said California Community Colleges Chancellor Brice W. Harris in news release. “Students will have a range of programs from which to choose to earn high quality, affordable and in-demand degrees. California employers win too, as they will have improved access to highly qualified candidates in these fields.”

The degrees, according to the news release, are in fields of study not currently offered by the Califor-nia State University or University of California and they must be opera-tional by the 2017-18 academic year.

Pending positive reviews of the pilot program, the state legisla-ture can renew it after the 2022-23 school year.

Campus Briefs

Board of Trustees

Grant funds BOT training program

Reinstating City College’s dem-ocratically elected Board of Trustees moved one-step closer to reality with the attainment of a $200,000 grant to fund board training.

Chancellor Arthur Tyler made the announcement at the Jan. 22 meeting of the board headed by Special Trustee Robert Agrella. The grant from the Haas Jr. Foundation supports a six-phase training pro-gram aimed at seating the board no later than July 1, 2016.

Students demonstrated outside calling for the end of Special Trust-ee Robert Agrella and Chancellor Arthur Tyler’s takeover of the elected board of trustees.

In October 2013 the Califor-nia Community Colleges Board of Governors suspended the board fol-lowing a threat by the Accrediting Commission for Junior and Com-munity Colleges to de-accredit City College. It then appointed Agrella as Special Trustee with Extraordinary Powers to run the college.

At the meeting, board member Rafael Mandelman raised concerns

about the vague and open-ended time frame for this reinstatement plan.

“I think it is important that we devise milestones and come up with something a little more definite for us and others,” Mandelman said. “We’re clearly in phase one, and I think it would comfort people

to know how were going to move through the next phases.”

Student Trustee Shanell Williams called for student involve-ment during this process. “I think it’s really critical for the design and agenda of this training to include student listening sessions focused on their expectations are for the board

because there’s 75,000 students here that really need their voices heard.”

“I know there are speakers here that want to discuss bringing the board back,” Agrella said. “I can assure you that no one wants to bring the board back more than me.”

By Marco Siler-Gonzales@theguardsman

mgonzales@theguardsman.com

the guardsman

Student Organizer Lalo Gonzales from MeChXA De CCSF calls for the end of Special Trustee Robert Agrella and the restoration of the elected Board of Trustees on Thursday, Jan. 22 at Multi-Use Building on Ocean Campus. (Photo by Bridgid Skiba)

news THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | FEB. 4 - FEB. 17, 2015 | 3

Faculty oppose the restructuring of departments

Reorganization endangers non-credit ESL

Department reorganization

Steven Ho@theguardsman

Sho@theguardsman.com

the guardsman

Faculty members are oppos-ing a new plan by the City College administration to reorganize depart-ments in fall 2015.

The reorganization plan was announced in 2013 by the City College administration to make departments more manageable, according to Alan D’Souza, Vice President of American Federation of Teachers Local 2121.

The plan involves merg-ing smaller departments together and splitting larger departments throughout the college.

City College currently has 60 departments. The number of depart-ments will decrease, according to a document by the Department Chairperson Council (DCC).

The administration has said that they are making data-driven decision for changes and improve-ments at City College, according to D’Souza. He believes that the need for a department reorganization is not backed by any data.

Department chairs are upset with the administration over the reorganization, because the proposal was developed without any discus-sion with the faculty.

Several department chairs believe that the reorganization will have negative impacts on students and faculty members.

The English as a Second Lan-guage (ESL) department will be

split into two separate departments, non-credit and credit, according to the reorganization plan.

“They want all the departments to be the same size. How is that an educational decision,” said Greg Keech, ESL Department Chair.

The ESL department has set up pathways between non-credit and credit. Currently, students can start in non-credit and transition to the credit program within the same

department, said Keech. The administration wants to

merge smaller departments, includ-ing the Photography Department and the Visual Media Design Department.

“The Visual Media Design Department and the Photography Department work well collabora-tively; however, we do not feel that we are a good fit to be a combined department,” said Erika Gentry,

Photography Department Chair.“I can’t find anywhere at a com-

munity college where a photography department has been merged with a graphics department and how that is managed,” said Gentry.

“It makes no sense to me and the Visual Media Design Department why the two departments would be combined. We have nothing in common,” said Gentry. She added that we only share lab facilities in

order to save the college money.“We recognize the district’s right

to reorganize the departments; how-ever, we feel that this was not done thoughtfully and it certainly was not done collegially and openly,” said D’Souza.

The DCC is currently handling negotiations between the City Col-lege administration and department chairs.

A controversial move by City College administrators to re-orga-nize the ESL department faces continued skepticism from faculty and students who say the move will undermine educational goals for thousands of students.

At the special trustee board meeting on Jan. 22, Chancellor Arthur Tyler rationalized the need to reduce the number of ESL depart-ment chairs from 61 to 53 and to split credit and non-credit into separate departments. Chancellor Tyler said the move would not only induce a more manageable supervi-sion, but it would lend more voice for unique student learning require-ments.

“We’re concerned about the student’s goals. About 60 percent of our credit students have non-credit backgrounds.,” ESL Department Chair Greg Keech said. “We haven’t heard any real reason for the split -- what we’ve heard is a management reason. That’s not student centered.”

Department cutbacks, accord-ing to Keech, contradicts the student population between credit and non-credit. “Last year we served

20,000 non-credit students and 2,600 credit. So if this goes through there’s still going to be 20,000 stu-dents in one department. What does that accomplish?”

Keech said the success of non-credit students, specifically Latinos and Pacific Islanders, has not been measured. “In non-credit, students progress at their own rate. What they’re trying to do is acquire the language, in order for them to do whatever they want. They can decide what their goals are, we don’t need to decide that for them.”

The intangible success of non-credit ESL students, according to some faculty, provides serious doubt that their interests will be adhered to in the restructuring.

Dr. Steven Mayers of the litera-ture department said the success of non-credit ESL students is harder to track, making it less feasible for the state to fund. “There’s not really anyone tracking what were the goals of non-credit students, and how they fulfilled them or not. Student success comes in many forms, like language and job skills, not just degrees.”

The apparent disregard for non-credit student success also concerns Professor David Palaita, a spokesperson for the Pacific Island-er community at City College. “We’re not paying attention to the

working-class students. When you re-organize, were restricting access for these students. What does that say to students when they see their department’s put into a box?”

The administration’s elusive rea-soning for ESL reorganization has led faculty and students fearful for the future of their disciplines.

“Anytime you restructure, someone’s about to lose out, but

what’s not clear is who,” Palaita said. “The less information people know, the less upheaval people will create. I think that’s the approach here.”

This top down decision to split the credit and non-credit ESL departments have led faculty to con-sider a harsher reality.

“People don’t support non-credit because they don’t understand the funding formula,” Keech said.

“Another thing people don’t under-stand is that it’s open entry open exit. People see non-credit as non-academic.”

Due to the unrecognized success of non-credit ESL students, faculty fear student’s ambitions (other than a degree) will ultimately become marginalized within the restructur-ing, and even become obsolete.

Illustration by Paul Jones

ESL Professor Susan Lopez teaches basic conversation to her 28 ESL students on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at the Mission Center. (Photo by Yesica Prado)

By Marco Siler-Gonzales@theguardsman

mgonzales@theguardsman.com

the guardsman

4 | THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | FEB. 4 - FEB. 17, 2015

news

remain in it’s precarious position with the ACCJC at least until the end of Restoration Status in Octo-ber 2017, barring further actions by the court or state.

It is in fact most likely that City College will be forced to remain with the ACCJC for the better part of a decade, according to Feist, due to the nature of laws regarding the changing of school accreditors. Messer said “at the moment this doesn’t change anything for CCSF.”

The Board’s analysis of the changes specifies that the Board of Governors, at the recommendation of the chancellor will eventually specify a different accrediting agency to oversee California’s community colleges. Assuming the ACCJC is not specified, there will most likely be a “migration period” in which more than one agency would be responsible for the state community colleges. After this period of possible competition, only a single agency would be responsible.

California Federation of Teach-ers Communications Director Fred Glass lauded the decision, but stressed that it does little to change

the current accreditation situation, saying “the CFT’s next move is to use the Title 5 Changes as an open-ing to ask the state legislature or Department of Education to take a role in selecting the new accrediting agency. “

Messer described the search for a new accreditor as a vital part of securing the future of City College. As Messer said, “The most impor-tant thing now is to see who will accredit fairly.”

While not immediately impact-ing the day to day affairs of CCSF this ruling represents the latest in a series of censures to the ACCJC by state politicians, San Francis-co courts, and now the Board of Governors. As CCSF moves into the Restoration Status process, the ACCJC’s decision will be watched by organizations throughout the state. After City College’s cycle with the agency ends, their continued existence will rest in the hands of the Board of Governors.

Messer offered a description she had heard others use, saying, “I’ve heard this described by others as “The Nuclear Option.” Harris would not have done this if he saw any other option.”

continued from page 1

Accreditation

Community members gathered to discuss the future development of the Balboa Reservoir Wednesday Jan. 21.

Representatives from San Francisco Planning, the SF Public Utilities Commission, and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development invited public input regarding the local implementa-tion of Mayor Lee's Public Land for Housing program in the Balboa

Reservoir which is one of five pilot locations.

The meeting's purpose was to “understand community priori-ties” on the seventeen acre lower lot of the Balboa Reservoir, owned by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission but currently used for parking at City College’s Ocean Campus. As part of the continuing 2009 Balboa Park Area Plan, the res-ervoir is under strong consideration to be sold by the SF Public Utilities Commission to create housing by a Private Developer yet to be deter-mined.

As the doors opened at Lick Wilmerding High School that eve-

ning, more than 120 citizens filled the school's spacious cafeteria. Mem-bers from the pro developments SF Bay Area Renter's Federation, angry City College teachers, and various environmental groups all arrived inforce to make certain that their positions were taken into consider-ation.

After the crowd circulated around prospective maps of possi-ble areas for change, the lights were dimmed and a fifteen minute pre-sentation by SF Planning members began.

Planning/Process official Jeremy Shaw explained that the current goal for the area was to develop

mid -income housing in the next few years, saying “middle income (housing) is what is in our sights. A developer will be chosen based par-tially on input from the meeting, with a design slated for 2016- 2017 and construction beginning there-after.”

The meeting turned contentious before the presentation had even finished. As Shaw said “everything you write down tonight will be compiled to become the basis of our plans” City College Biology Profes-sor Simon Hansen interrupted from within the crowd, saying “what if our input is that we don't want it developed?”

Crowd members were repeat-edly told “there is no design or proposal on the table tonight.”

Nevertheless, presenters con-tinued to outline a timetable of prospective development at the end of the ten month public input phase.

As one attendee said “it seems like a done deal and that angers me.”

After the presentation, the city representatives each took a table full of attendees and asked them to rate their priorities according to a check-list provided, which included “open spaces” “affordable housing for all income levels” “housing for local workforce” “parking” and “public art.” Throughout the room ques-tions were asked about the definition of “affordable housing,” transit and sewage considerations, the future of City College's parking, the Perform-ing Art's Center, and many other elements.

The prospective price of the housing was a frequent question

that went largely unanswered. Though one official offered “less than 30% of your income annually” as a definition, there was no clear answer to “what affordable hous-ing for all income levels” literally meant, whether the constructions would offer mixed unit types or not, or how many occupants any construction would be intended to accommodate.

One of the most consistent ques-tion of the dissenters was what would become of City College's space and parking though only the western 17 acres owned by the SFPUC were up for sale, City College owns the east-ern ten, and uses all 27 for parking, while the Performing Art's Center is already slated to be built on City College’s land. “Where do you plan on putting all of CCSF's cars?” one woman asked.

A number of priorities emerged as presenters summarized their group's desires. Concerns about the influx of new people on transit and utilities systems, a desire for open spaces, and for affordable hous-ing were all heard. One summary was interrupted by local Gabriel Medina, who cut off the speaker to say “our group is not proposing development. Our group wanted something that worked with City College and its commuters.”

After a strong mandate against development, it remains to be seen whether or not plans will be changed. As community member Adrienne Go said, “A private devel-oper means more than open space.”

Balboa Reservoir residents rebel against developmentBy Otto Pippenger

@theguardsmanopippenger@theguardsman.com

the guardsman

Local woman writes her suggestion for the development of the Balboa Reservoir at Lick Wilmerding High School on Wednesday, Jan. 21 2015. (Photo by Otto Pippenger)

news THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | FEB. 4 - FEB. 17, 2014 | 5

Downtown Center

Illustration by Olivia Wise

Dina Boyer@theguardsman

dboyer@theguardsman.com

the guardsman

Former Bean Scene Operators and Owner’s Amy Nget, Vannary Seng and Ho Seng, are scheduled to appear in court April 6, 2015 for failure to pay rent on space they leased at the City College Down-town Center.

But Deputy General Counsel Leilani Battiste submitted docu-ments on Dec. 16, 2104 seeking a “summary judgement” in favor of City College.

Defendants Hoa and Vannary Seng owe the college for 25 months of back rent, but Battiste said, “it’s a debt and not a legal matter,” so

the college filed a motion to dismiss the hearing because it’s not a triable issue. Superior Court of California documents show the defendants have not provided a defense to the complaint.

Nget was granted the lease in 2005 to run the Organic Coffee Company at the Downtown Center. Superior court documents also indi-cate Nget transferred ownership of the Organic Coffee Company to Hoa and Vannary Seng in 2007. After the Seng’s took over, they stopped making rent payments that ranged from $4,050 to $4,500 per month.

Nget has an address listed on the court documents in both Hayward and Sunnyvale, and the Seng’s also have addresses in Sunnyvale, but they could not be reached for

comment.An online business search iden-

tifies a company called The Bean Scene Cafe that was dissolved in 2004, but a company with the same name shows it as an active busi-

ness in Sunnyvale, California. The owner’s names on the business in Sunnyvale do not match the names of the individuals involved in the lawsuit.

Bean Scene was also part of an

investigation led by San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris involving former Chancellor Philip Day for illegally directing funds to a college-sponsored bond measure campaign. Local news reports trig-gered the investigation.

Records show that Bean Scene operator Nget issued a check for $20,000 to the political action committee, which was returned to her following the investigation. The whole ordeal was resolved after Day pleaded guilty.

Geisce Ly, Downtown Center dean, said the space is now being used by the college’s culinary depart-ment.

Court date set for campus coffee shop scandal

Mission campus offers shelter to fire victims

A four-alarm fire broke out in the building on the corner of Mission and 22nd streets on Jan. 28.

Twelve people escaped, 6 were injured and 1 was pro-nounced dead at the scene.

Fifty-four people were dis-placed from the 18 residential units on the top floor, as well as many local business and commercial storefronts from the bottom two floors. The Red Cross assisted displaced people from the fire that eve-ning at City College’s Mission Center.

Alberto Campos at Cafe de la Mission provided refreshments and pastries to the displaced families. The Red Cross worked out of the Mission Center until the next morning assisting the fami-lies and their children. Sup. David Campos and Chancel-lor Arthur Tyler were also in attendance as the fire raged into the evening.

It is still unclear as to what started the fire but an investigation is underway. Unfortunately the families affected have lost most of their personal belongings and for the time being their homes.

The following day, a GoFundMe campaign was started, raising more than $100,000 in five days.

The campaign founder, Zack Crockett, a private citi-zen, said the vast majority of the people who lost their home are low-income, latino families who had been in their apartments for more than 20 years.

All photos by Franchon Smith

Text by Calindra Revier and Bridgid Skiba

6 | THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | FEB. 4 - FEB. 17, 2015

culture

City College students Adrian Gomez, Stephen Orquiza, Dorian Rosales and instructor Nick Roth-man often act as the pit crew and machine shop of an elite stunt racer.

That is because when San Fran-cisco Giants’ mascot Lou Seal is in motion entertaining the crowd at AT&T Park something is likely to get broken.

City College’s most knowledge-able and enthusiastic mechanics stand ready at 1400 Evans Avenue to fix and improve the scooters used by the portly yet swift fan favorite.

The four, with cameos from other students in the City College Automotive Technology Depart-ment, ended up creating their own high performance vehicle used in the reigning World Series champi-ons’ playoff run.

It all started when Rothman did drop off and repair work for a com-pany that made electric scooters. The company folded and the Giants kept asking Rothman where Lou Seal could get his next ride.

“I realized they needed some-thing specific, more durable and more powerful than off-the-shelf scooters,” Rothman said.

He also had the presence of mind and confidence to involve his students at City College.

“There is a lot of wiring involved in building a scooter and all three got placed in industry jobs with specialization in auto electrical,” Rothman said. Gomez and Orquiza have full duties as fleet technicians with City Car Share and Rosales has earned a position at Pat’s Garage.

“I was looking for enthusiasm and work ethic and they were at the advanced level,” Rothman said in forming his squad of what baseball folks call five-tool players, those who have the potential to be superior among all players.

The three impactful students supplied various motivations.

The husky Gomez wanted to prove to the doubters that he could be a great mechanic, just as he had shown he could throw a baseball with authority or drum the chimbao in his native Mexico and his adopted City by the Bay.

Rosales remembered being with his father in a stalled car when he was a youngster. The two of them figured out how to get the car start-ed, and he vowed he would learn everything he could to never be in jeopardy again.

“My ultimate goal right now is to become an F-1 mechanic,” said Orquiza, 22. The Visitacion Valley resident, who grew up in the Philippines dreaming of being an international auto racer, now has some connections at Sonoma Raceway in addition to his local work commitments.

“When the Lou Seal proj-ect was announced, my eyes opened up wide,” Orquiza said.

“I joined the auto program in 2012 and it has been quite an adventure,” said Bayview district resident Rosales. Now

22 years old, Rosales picked up a baseball in 2006 upon his arrival from Guatemala, a bit earlier than the mechanic’s wrench.

Now they go hand-in-hand.“Just being able to help fix the

mascot’s scooter was an extraordi-nary experience because I am a huge fan of the Giants,” Rosales said. “And as apprentice mechanics it helps us gain experience to become master mechanics.”

“It seems amazing how when I was little and I used to love the sport, then got the chance to come over to San Francisco and see the Giants play for the first time in 2005,” Gomez said. “Now I had the chance to be part of helping my favorite team and the fans.”

The scooter support staff cele-brates Lou Seal’s antics that include wheelies, fast turns and jumps as much or more than any fan at the park.

“He’s pushing the limits of the machine,” Orquiza said. “That gets us more experience to build an even better scooter to deal with his extreme showcasing.”

During the late season, players on the Giants congratulated Lou Seal on saving one perilous between-innings ride where it seemed he lost control

going over a berm on the warning track, and encouraged a repeat per-formance at the next game.

“The scooter broke on touch-down,” Rothman said.

The student team was ready for the call to the major league fix-it game. The team put in three to four extra hours a week for over a month, all volunteer, while the Giants made due with the other vehicles.

“Coach” Rothman developed a full slate of lineup changes for Lou Seal’s mobile needs at the outset, and the job was complete by the deadline – ready for the Giants latest World Series win.

“We welded in I-beams and replaced plastic parts with metal parts – it’s steel reinforced,” Roth-man said. “We switched to heavy duty tires, upgraded wiring, motors. The finished product has four to five times the power output of an off-the-shelf scooter.”

“We’re running three 12-Volts, putting out a horse-and-a-half,” Gomez said in trade lingo.

“You can easily count the number of original parts by the time we were done, and there weren’t that many (left),” Rothman said. “The standing product can do a

standing wheel-ie and smoke the back tire.”

UCSF donated some special electron-ic components used in the upgrades and new edition to the fleet. Mate-rials that made up the bulk of

the new ride were crafted from the welding and motorcycle departments’ supply on the Evans campus.

“As for Lou

Seal, ever in character, he doesn’t talk much to reporters - or anyone for that matter. He still made time for a brief off-season interview.

When asked how he liked the

presence of college students on the scooter team, and the continued alli-ance between the Giants and City College, the mascot gave a salute and two thumbs up. Regarding the quality of work on the scooter fleet by Rothman’s crew, Lou put a number one forefinger high over his Giants’ ball cap as he repeatedly nodded.

The City College crew is willing to help the Giants, the only major professional sports team now in San Francisco. They might consider a motored two-wheeler for old Can-dlestick Park “anti-mascot” Crazy Crab - maybe a chopper instead of cioppino - but no associations with other team mascots.

“We don’t want to be spread too thin,” Rothman said. “Even the best scooters might last two to three seasons, and they get so trashed that you have to start from scratch.”

“Lou Seal gives us plenty of spe-cial volunteer projects,” Rothman said.

Tenderloin resident Gomez, 24, is looking forward to returning for instruction on hybrid and full elec-tric vehicles. Speaking of hybrids,

he’s loved the combination of his hometown team and scooter sci-ence.

“I know Hunter Pence likes scooters, too,” Gomez said, as he

and others witnessed on television when the Giants’ outfielder inadver-tently buzzed a news reporter after a playoff game. “Maybe he could come down Third Street and see if he wants us to work with him on his scooter.”

“All the Giants are welcome here,” Rosales said. He will be ready for them.

“I’m planning on taking engine performance, brakes and suspension and the hybrid class, and the ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certification,” Rosales said.

Returning students in the automotive and motorcycle tech-nology program look forward to more handy work next season on Lou Seal’s fleet.

The instructors and alumni of the program welcome new students eager to learn and make a commit-ment to the coursework and special projects, whether or not they like the Giants.

It’s hard not to like Lou Seal, though, especially at 20 to 30 miles per hour whizzing by the box seats on a high performance, City Col-lege-crafted machine.

Lou Seal’s own student pit crew at City CollegeBy Dan Harrington

@theguardsmandharrington@theguardsman.com

contributor

City College Automotive Instructor Nick Rothman and his students; Jesus Jimenez and Adrian Gomez repair wiring on Giants’ mascot scooter.

(L-R) City College Automotive Instructor Nick Rothman and his students Andy Chen, Carlos Hernandez, Stephen Orquiza, Jaime Garcia, Jesus Jimenez and Adrian Gomez pose next to the scooter ridden by San Francisco Giants’ mascot. Left is an older scooter that needed repairs on April 2014 at the Evans Center. (All photos by Morgan Henry)

San Francisco Giants’ mascot Lou Seal and older Giants scooter (08’-10’ seasons.)

culture THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | FEB. 4 - FEB. 17, 2014 | 7

Exhibit honors Mississippi Freedom Summer

In the celebration of black histo-ry month, City College’s department of African American studies opened a new exhibition entitled “Missis-sippi Freedom Summer” on Jan. 22, which will run until Feb. 27 at Conlan Hall located 50 Phelan Ave.

The exhibition pays homage to the Mississippi summer project launched in 1964, which was a cam-paign founded by the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) to attempt and register as many Afri-can American voters in Mississippi. At the time, African Americans were excluded from voting because of the intimidating voting procedure that required literacy to fill out and answer the 21 question registration form.

Although the campaign failed to register a great amount of voters, the exhibition gives a well rounded presentation of all the other proj-ects from the Mississippi Freedom Summer that also include the Free-dom Schools and Freedom Houses.

Using text and passages from the book “New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Col-orblindness” by author Michelle Alexander and archival photographs from Wallace Roberts, Donna Garde, Bill Steber, Mark Levy, Galen Gockel and Heather Booth, participants in the Mississippi Free-dom Summer.

The exhibition does an excel-

lent job at presenting viewers with the history of this event. However, the plain and small presentation in the two glass cases of Conlan Hall defeats the purpose of this exhibi-tion, which is getting this unknown history to be known since using that elementary school style of presenta-tion leaves the exhibition oblivious to our eyes.

The work consists of 41 mini

posters that are composed of both text and black and white photo-graphs, which are all arranged in a nonlinear manner. Most of these

passages briefly explain the history of the Mississippi Freedom Summer, using blocks of endless text with dif-ferent colors and fonts.

Although the history and the parallel that exists with police bru-tally we face today is interesting in itself, the random arrangement of the passages, the long dense blocks of text and the variation of the size takes away from catching our atten-

tion. The quotes are inspiring and

powerful, take in for example a cita-tion from Alexander’s book “New

Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” which states, “the most important paral-lel between mass incarceration and Jim Crow is that both have served to define the meaning and significance of race in America…Slavery defined what it meant to be black (a slave), and Jim Crow defined what it meant to be black (a second-class citizen). Today mass incarceration defines

the meaning of blackness in Amer-ica: black people, especially black men, are criminals. That’s what it means to be black.”

Curator of this exhibition, Law-rence Bush—who is also editor of Jewish Currents magazine, care-fully choose significant text to give a broad perspective of what it meant to live through this time and age. But most importantly, it also draws our attention to similar problems our community faces with police brutality today.

“Even though this was before my time, it’s still relevant because the South is still yet to change … I mean we can all relate to that I see it as in back in the ‘60s when a black man can be killed just for walking down the streets that happened in that time and is still happen-ing today. And police officers were getting off and they are getting off now, so it’s almost as nothing has changed,” said City College student Terrilyn Woodfin, whom attended the opening reception on Jan. 29.

The long trails of words end-lessly continue to stretch across these two walls, screaming words of courage, sparking inspiration, tell-ing stories of injustice, yet it leaves the viewer overwhelmed with too much information and we become lost in this ocean of past voices. It’s like being attacked by the ghost of Christmas past.

The photography used in this exhibition was in itself beautiful and captivating. Although most of these photographers were amateurs and volunteers in the program, they did an excellent job at portraying the voices of the people.

City College students gather in Conlan Hall to view the photo exhibition: “From ‘Mississippi Freedom Summer 1964’ to ‘Hands Up Don’t Shoot, Ferguson 2014’: Battling the ‘Old Jim Crow’ and the ‘New Jim Crow’” in Conlan Hall on Thursday, Jan. 29 at Ocean Campus. (Photo by Natasha Dangond)

A linear perspective of City CollegeSometimes we are too busy to look

around at our surroundings — the sky, the buildings and classrooms — and appreci-ate them with our naked eye, but not so for City College photography student Eder Melo. After taking a couple of photography classes at City College, he made a habit of walking around the campus with his camera. Since then, his perception of the campus has changed.

Melo captured the beautiful moments and subjects around Ocean Campus. The images focus on the often overlooked geo-

metric cylinder, horizontal and vertical lines found at City College. Each photo tells a tale of the peaceful times and down-times when students aren’t running to class.

Check out more photographs by Melo on his Instagram @Miglu_Miglu or on his Flickr www.flickr.com/Miglu.

Interested to submit your images? Send sub-

missions to our photo editor: Ekevara Kitpowsong at

ekitpowsong@theguardsman.com.

Text by Ekevara KitpowsongPhotos by Eder Melo

By Yesica Prado@theguardsman

yprado@theguardsman.com

the guardsman

8 | THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | FEB. 4 - FEB. 17, 2014

featureForensics team outperforms the competition Speech and debate

If public speaking makes you anxious, yet you think like lightening and are undoubtedly competitive, joining the forensics team might be an idea worth contemplating.

Out of about 30 students on City College’s speech and debate team half are brand new members, while the rest are yearly-returning students who have found forensics to strengthen the shape of their life. At the start of the spring semester, 15 students will be returning to the team to comprise some 40 mem-bers.

“We have a tremendously tal-ented squad this year,” said coach Nathaniel Steele as he merits his present members.

Joining the forensics team is not only easy with a simple enrollment in Speech 37 or Speech 38 but the team is beyond welcoming. They encourage new members each year, and only grow in success with the help of these new students, Steele said.

The speech and debate team has been around since 1976. In the past five years speech instructor Steele has served as one of the co-coaches and Robert Hawkins has assisted

Steele for the past two years. Steele said he got involved with

forensics when he was just in middle school. He said his passion for it car-ried over through high school where participated tournaments and other public speaking competitions.

Both coaches work with every student in individual sessions, giving feedback from two perspec-tives to perfect their presentations. Steele focuses on management and the debate events itself.

“I focus on tournaments and

competition, preparing students for advance public speaking and working with them to craft their presentation,” Hawkins said.

Although the speech and debate team is an elective course, the les-sons students acquire go beyond the simplicity of other curriculum also considered optional, according to Steele. He said the students on the forensics team are a dedicated bunch, spending anywhere from 50 to 200 hours on their speeches outside of class time during the semester.

“Extra curricular doesn’t sum up the value of what we do,” Steele said.

The students are exhibiting their competitive side, and that outlet to perform allows them to gain confidence along with a polished articulation in communication, Steele said.

“It’s like a drug that’s not so bad for you, but you get hooked,” he said.

Regarding competitions past and present, Steele is quick to men-tion the success of an English as a Second Language student taking second place in a pro tournament a just a few years back.

The student, Sergio Suhett, had learned to speak English just a couple years before joining the forensics team and had grown so much during the time he decided to compete. He is now pursuing a BA in communication studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Steele noted this as a favorite moment, being proud of the fact that his speaker had accomplished more than just an award for public communication and debate, but a

personal growth and achievement in himself.

“The hidden victory is the students realizing their goals of transferring. Many of these pro-grams have funding and are looking for talented junior college students to finish out their last two years of undergrad,” Hawkins said.

The forensics team has always been wildly successful. They take home first place awards at every competition and the team contin-ues to grow stronger with the help of new faces and the determination of natives, Steele said. Although the squad takes home anywhere between three and 20 awards per competition, there are just as many beautiful accomplishments in per-sonal growth.

Diego Perez, a returning member who placed first in three

categories at the Santa Rosa Junior College Invitational last semester, also earned himself the Jack Perella top speaker award.

“He’s kind of a big deal,” Matt Pating, another team member quickly said after Steele pointed out Diego’s many accomplishments.

“Honestly I’ve never won that award before, it was an overwhelm-ing feeling.” said a very humble Perez.

Perez, who won awards at almost every competition for two years now added that “if you love doing what you do, keep doing it.”

The first competition of the semester, Talk Hawk, will be at Las Positas on Jan. 31.

“We are also hosting the NCFA championship tournament,” Steele said. The tournament will be held on the Ocean Campus Feb. 20-22.

City College’s speech and debate team pose with their new awards on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014 at the Golden Gate Opener speech and debate competition at San Francisco State University. (Photo courtesy of Nathaniel Steele)

Cara Stucker@theguardsman

caranicole9@yahoo.com

contributor

“It’s like a drug that’s not so bad for you.”

Tthe Guardsman is: 4: x 4”

opinion THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | FEB. 4 - FEB. 17, 2014 | 9

Obama’s free education comes with a cost

Free stuff is awesome. Who doesn’t like free stuff? Free food, free furniture, free video games… free rent… the list goes on and on. No one wants to pay for something (of value) if they (legally) don’t have to. And apparently, President Obama thinks the same way when it comes to our education.

Now, that last line right there is a drastic oversimplification of the Commander-in-Chief ’s stance on community colleges and how education is key in improving the socioeconomic standing of us young people. He is of the mindset that a community college educa-tion is (and should be) as universal as a K-12 education, and he wants to make that idea reality, mirroring our European counterparts and the program started in Tennessee (that he modeled this program after). And to be clear: I’m all for free stuff, just like most people.

But. My first reaction to this was “no way this is happening any-time soon.” I’m not trying to say it’s impossible, because historically speaking, education in this country has slowly evolved from being the privilege of the affluent to being a basic right of the masses. So it’s not impossible. In fact, you could argue that the direction The President is trying to take this country in is just a part of the natural “evolution” of the education continuum.

But. There is no way this is hap-pening anytime soon. There is no way it should.

The program, which is titled “America’s College Promise,” is estimated to cost upwards of $60 billion by the White House. Aren’t we a nation mired in debt? A debt to the tune of around $18 trillion? Didn’t we recently, as a nation, suffer our first credit downgrade in modern times? And yet he wants to introduce a program that, by his own design, holds the federal gov-ernment accountable for 75% of the

costs? With what money? Wouldn’t a change like this be more feasible if we didn’t have so many other more pressing financial concerns? I don’t know if the President noticed, but that Republican-led Congress that sits across from him is not about to let him do this (which has been their stance on virtually everything he’s attempted to push through). Not to mention the fact there are grumblings within his own party about this.

And then you have to question the intended efficacy of this program. You’re talking about providing a free education to a demographic that overflows with youth. Youth, which at this stage of its development, has no real idea of what it wants or how to get there. Yes, I’m this close to yelling “get off my lawn.” But when you’re young, and you don’t know what you want, and you don’t have the requisite discipline to weather the various currents of life until you figure it out (as most young students don’t), you know what you don’t do? Give them (the general youth) free stuff. Certainly not a free education. Things need to be earned, and at this stage of life, that reality needs to be hammered home. You know what accomplishes that in a really effective way? When the student has to foot some of that bill. When we have to work a job to make ends meet. You can bet that if we have to produce some funds towards the betterment that an education promises, we will not be so inclined to Snapchat on our cell phones while the professor is giving a lecture.

Another thing that bothers me about this program: it applies to everyone. Including those that come from affluence. That is a complete load of junk as far as I’m concerned. Why does someone that comes from a well-off family get to use this tool? If they’re already in a position to where college tuition isn’t a problem for them because community col-leges are already cheap, why should they get a share of something that should be geared more towards people who struggle to make ends meet? In fact, the more that I think on this, why even initiate this pro-

gram in a universal form? Why not dedicate the money and resources that would be used for this program towards bigger Pell Grants? Towards more scholarships and benefits for low-income families, people that would really need the break that a program like this would provide? It seems so misdirected, it’s aggravat-ing.

Do you know what else I find aggravating about this initiative? It operates under the premise that a college education is what will propel more people in the middle-class of the socioeconomic stratosphere, a premise that is antiquated at best, naive at worst. And the President should be anything but naive (or overly idealistic). You know what having a college degree guarantees you? It guarantees that you’ll have a piece a paper that denotes the educa-tional program you completed and the difficulty level associated with it. That’s it. There are no jobs that come attached. Not a single interview is promised on that piece of paper. And it’s not like that piece of paper is unique: you can walk the streets and find any number of people with similar paperwork working jobs that are not commensurate with the degrees they’ve obtained. Having a degree does not guarantee you a place in the workforce. Employers have tightened the screws in their hiring processes so much (due to general dissatisfaction with current degree-holders) that companies like Adobe and Google recruit straight from programs like Dev Boot-camp, a 19-week workshop that focuses on the skills that companies like that really want. None of them that graduate have a Master’s degree.

Really, this comes off to me as Obama swinging for the fences during his final term. I think he genuinely believes that something like this would make us as a nation more competitive for jobs. But the economy doesn’t support that prem-ise as much as it did when he came up through the ranks, and unless there’s a smattering of open jobs hiding in locations unseen, I just don’t think this idea has any chance of becoming reality.

By Matthew Pattontheguardsman

Mpatton@theguardsman.com

the guardsman

Black History Month is now upon us. There will be posters and flyers galore. There will be special programming on any number of TV stations backdropped with a rousing image of Martin Luther King Jr peering off into that eternal blue sky, dreaming visions of the real American ideal, with a recording of his now historic “I Have A Dream” speech playing wistfully in the back-ground.

It’s going to make me puke. Seriously. Speaking as an

African-American male in this not-so-post-racial-society, I can’t help but look at Black History Month as an extremely outdated concept, one that has devolved into an end-less rehashing of landmark events and borderline “hero worship” of specific individuals. I don’t often attempt to speak for the dead, but I can’t imagine that this is what Carter G. Woodson, the African-American historian and journalist that essen-tially founded the concept of black history in this country, had in mind when he authored the celebration of “Negro History Week” back in 1926.

This week, which was expand-ed to cover the entire month of February and officially recognized by the U.S. government in 1976, was devised by Woodson as a cul-tural survival tool within the greater context of America, and society as a whole. He went on to elaborate at Negro History Week’s launch, saying: “If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated. The American Indian left no continuous record. He did not appreciate the value of tradition; and where is he today? The Hebrew keenly appreciated the value of tradition, as is attested by the Bible itself. In spite of worldwide persecution, therefore, he is a great factor in our civilization.”

While I would dare say he made some statements that were ignorant to the traditions specific to Native Americans, his stance is clear: we can’t let our accomplishments dis-appear from the consciousness of the society we live in. And that line of thought has all but disappeared from Black History Month in favor of a more streamlined overview of certain historical figures, the “hero worship” model I referred to earlier.

Why is it that the stories/lessons contained in Black History Month

invariably revolve around Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall, etc.? Why is it so rare for anyone to go deeper into the annals of this country (or the world, for that matter) when it comes to the contributions of Black people to society? For example, on a worldly note; why is it that so few people know about the Moors, a group of North Africans traveled from Morocco all the way to Spain? People should know who they were, considering that it was their advances in math, astronomy and agriculture that had a direct influ-ence in pushing Europe out of the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance.

It was the Moors that brought the concept of universal educa-tion to Spain, which then spread throughout the rest of Europe. Keep in mind, that before their arrival, 99% of the European population were illiterate, including a few kings. At that time, Europe only had two universities, one in Paris and one in Oxford. Neither of those were built until after scholars from Europe visited many of the 17 campuses in a Moorish Spain. Public libraries didn’t exist in Europe for genera-tions, while Moorish Spain had more than 70. Do you see what I’m getting at here? Can you see how such a massive shift in disseminat-ing information (and making it available) to the public could have such a large impact on a region like Europe? And that’s only a little bit. This doesn’t even address the lack of overall knowledge that’s closer to home in America in terms of the contributions of its African-Ameri-

can citizens. Why do things like this get

overlooked/left out when it comes to Black History Month? Why has the entire month of February been condensed and smashed down to repeat the same awe-inspiring sto-ries of a handful of individuals? I have my theories on that, but that’s another column altogether. The biggest point to all this is that the original purpose of Negro History Week/Black History Month has been lost for a long time, both in spirit and application. No one seems to be learning anything new. What’s worse, no one really seems to care. Black History Month, as we have known it, has become pretty use-less. I really don’t see a need for its current iteration to be here.

Black History Month: an outdated notion

By Matthew Pattontheguardsman

Mpatton@theguardsman.com

the guardsman

Carter G. Woodson (Image courtesy of Biography.com)

Photo by Pete Souza, courtesy of the White House.

America’s College Promise

10 | THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | FEB. 4 - FEB. 17, 2014

events

African American History Month

tue/10Dr. Johnetta Richards is hosting a lecture and discussion on Black Women in the West at the Mission Campus in the Bartlett Building, room 454, from 7-8 p.m.

weD/11Jarrell Phillips is hosting an AVE and Capoeira Ijexa demonstration at the Ocean Campus in the MUB, room 140, from 2-3:30 p.m.

tHu/12Aliyah Dunn-Salahuddin is hosting a lecture and discus-sion on 1968 Bayview Hunters Point Uprising Part 2 at the John Adams Campus in the auditorium from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

tue/17NoViolet Bulawayo is hosting a talk and discussion on her book We Need New Names at the Ocean Campus in the Rosenberg Library, room R304, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

weD/18Naomi Jelks is hosting a discussion on the film Dark Girls by Bill Duke and D. Channsin Berry at the Ocean Campus in the Rosenberg Library, room R304, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

untIl aPrIl 30Free Tax Return Preparation Monday through Friday.

Ocean Campus - MUB room 130A

Mission Campus - room 123

Southeast Campus - room 203

Evans Campus - room 220A

Drop by or call 415-391-7427 for more information.

weD/4Forum Launch PartyForum Magazine is holding a launch party at Bird & Becket Books located at 653 Chenery St. The event will be from 6:30-8 p.m.

tHu/5Queer Art ShowCity College art student Martin Olivares is having an opening reception for his art show Friends and Friends of Friends: Rabitt Garcia’s new works on paper. The event will be held at 1111 Post St. from 6-10 p.m.

tue/10Safer Sex and Wellness FairProject SAFE is holding its annual Valentine’s Safer Sex and Wellness Fair at the MUB, room 140, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be free candy, condoms, safer sex info, and HIV/STI testing referrals. Cupcakes will be sold for $2.

tue/17Pierre Coste RoomPierre Coste Room will have a special event at lunch from 11:15 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. in celebration of Mardi Gras.The fine dining experience includes a multiple course meal for a little over $20. Students welcomed. Call 415-239-3855 for reservations.

frI/20Fight Against CancerCCSF Athletics is participating in the Coaches vs. Cancer program to increase cancer awareness and promote healthy living. Women’s basketball will start at 5 p.m. and men’s basketball will begin at 7 p.m. Donations collected will go to the American Cancer Society. Order a “Rams Believe” t-shirt (tinyurl.com/pzx3ccx) to show support, orders must be submitted by Feb. 6.

February 10-20 WANT YOUR NEXT EVENT IN THE CALENDAR?

EMAIL THE NAME, DATE, TIME, LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION

OF YOUR EVENT TO ALAMP@THEGUARDSMAN.COM

Volunteer to Coach Noncredit ESL Students

What is Project SHINE? matches credit students with noncredit ESL

classes gives coaches community service experience to

put on college applications

What do SHINE coaches do? assist in noncredit ESL Classes Work with individual students, small groups,

or the whole class

Coach application online at ccsfprojectshine.com

THE GUARDSMAN & THEGUARDSMAN.COM | FEB. 4 - FEB. 17, 2014 | 11

sPortsWomen’s tennis team is heating up

The City College women’s tennis team is warming up for the spring season in a round of scrimmages held with competing teams. The first scrimmage was held on the City Col-lege home courts Tuesday January 27, 2015 at 1p.m. The scores are not reported from the scrimmage games, but they are conducted like official games.

Head coach Kelly Hickey said players are matched according to their strength ratings. A second scrimmage match was held in Los Altos against the team Foothill Doubles.

The teams played 3 pro sets of doubles, with the Rams coming out on top 2-1. Six single matches were played.

The roster for the scrimmage game held on January 27 2015 i ncluded: Theresa de Roberts, Vivian Dao, Shirley Zhang, Savannah Hayes, Emma Stoep, Alina Styrstova and Jesse Ikhbold.

Going forward, Coach Hickey says the women’s tennis department remains hopeful during the accredi-tation crisis because “the athletic department has been proactive and on-top of making the course out-lines in compliance with AGCCC standards.” Additionally there are no minimum or maximum student course limitations in the athletic department.`

The first official match will be held in Santa Rosa against Santa Rosa Junior College on February 3, 2015 at 1p.m.

By Dina Boyer@theguardsman

dboyer@theguardsman.com

The Guardsman

The American River tennis team and the City College Ram’s team shake hands and offer high fives before their first scrimmage game of the spring 2015 semester.

sports calendar

Basketball:Men’s

Feb. 4, 7 p.m. vs Skyline College

@HOME

BasketballWomen’s:Feb. 4, 5 p.m.

vs Skyline College @HOME

Baseball:Feb. 3, 1 p.m.

vs Gavilan@Fairmont

Tenniswomen’sFeb. 3, 1 pm

@ Santa Rosa

SwimmingFeb. 6, 12 PM

CSM/Foothill/Chabot@Home

SoftballFeb. 12, 3 pm

@ Diablo Valley

The remainder of the season looks promising for the Men’s Bas-ketball team who are currently 4-3 in the conference and hold an over-all record of 15-8.

One of the highlights of the past couple of weeks was the team ushering in a win against one of its biggest competitors, Ohlone last week (77-72) at home. Most recent-ly, the team fell just short of a win at Chabot College on Jan. 30 with the final score being 67-70.

Coach Justin Labagh has since stressed how important it is for the team to play better defense, “We have to get tougher and stay more aggressive throughout the entire 40 minutes.” He said.

When asked of one of the big-gest challenges they have been faced with so far he replied, “Getting into a rhythm with guys being sick and injured.”

Those who have gotten injured throughout the season have been Julian Harrell, Jonathon Bennet,

Carlos Mancasola, and Rams’ star player, Gabe Bealer.

However, there is no lack of confidence coming from the coach-ing office,

“We can beat any team on any day.” Said Labagh; while adding that preparation is undoubtedly essential in doing so.

Among Coach Labagh’s highly favored shooters this season have been Mancasola, Troy Thompson (guard), Jerrod Nodar, and Julian Harrell, who was the highest scorer against Ohlone, putting up 25 points and shooting 7 of 9 from the 3 point line.

The team now has five more games remaining in the regular season, and Labagh has cited the upcoming game against Ohlone on Feb.13 as being a particular chal-lenge because it will not be at home.

The Rams will also have to con-tend with Canada College who is now tied with Chabot for the high-est conference standing (5-2).

The team is preparing for a fight ahead in hopes of making it to the State Championships; while the short-term goal in everyone’s minds right now is just making it to Regional Playoffs.

Men’s basketball pushes on through bracket By Shaleisa Daniel

@theguardsmansdaniel@theguardsman.com

The Guardsman

Rams Forward Julian Harrell (11) anticipating his next play, Wednesday, January 21, 2015. (Photo by Jackson Ly)

Theresa de Robert’s and Emma Stoep, from City College women’s tennis team the Rams plays their first double pro set against American River. (Photos by Dina Boyer)

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