Volume 137, Issue 8
News
EMPTY POCKETS: College faces $1.5 million shortfall in funds
BY
DAN POWELL
Staff Writer
NATHAN WEYLAND / GUARDSMAN
An unexpected $2.3 million shortfall in City College revenue this year has the school tightening its belt by asking teachers to freeze spending on supplies for the rest of the semester in an effort to balance next year’s budget.
In a March 2 memo sent out by Peter Goldstein, vice chancellor of finance and administration at City College, also announced a moratorium on overtime for classified staff until June 30. The moratorium will have no effect on teachers or class schedules.
The college received notice on Feb. 28 that due to the state’s ongoing revenue problems, the school could expect $1.5 million less in state funds than expected.
A representative from the governor’s office was unable to be reached for comment.
“The question is: Will the final results be as bad as the number they just posted? It would be our hope and expectation that our lost revenue from the state would only be about half that much,” Goldstein said. “History shows that the problem tends to soften over time.”
Two weeks prior, in another surprise blow to the college’s bank account, the school learned that non-resident tuition was down some $800,000 compared to last year, due in part to a decline in the number of overall international students enrolled at the college.
Another factor affecting the number of international students were those who benefited from a state law that says non-U.S. citizens who attend high school in California are not required to pay non-resident rates.
The cost-cutting measures are part of a plan to save $500,000 which would be used to add 100 course sections to the upcoming summer semester. “Getting more students in those classes would help us out financially,” Goldstein said, citing eligibility for a state program that pays additional funds as enrollment increases.
The school hopes to turn the $500,000 into $3 million by next year. “This is the proverbial case of spending money on the front end in order to make it on the back end,” said Chancellor Philip R. Day, Jr. in a memo sent out March 4.
But the front-end money has to come from somewhere, and that’s where the freeze on buying supplies comes in. “Unfortunately, we’ve had to do that several years in a row. It’s a little more severe this time,” said Goldstein, referring to the fact that teachers still have a third of the year to go.
For teachers, planning for a balanced budget in the future means facing present day shortages which could impact their ability to teach effectively. However, the school will still make exceptions for emergencies.
“If there are no beakers in the chemistry lab, we can’t teach students. There are always practical exceptions that we have to allow for,” Goldstein said.
Still, not everything can be considered an emergency. In response to shortages, many teachers and staff are forced to come up with their own solutions.
Dana Galloway, a broadcast technician with the broadcast electronic media arts department, described an informal barter network that exists on campus. When a laser printer’s ink cartridge died, an e-mail asking for help was sent campuswide. The engineering department offered a spare, with the broadcasters promising a replacement at the start of the new fiscal year.
“I think that the college community has really pulled together in tough times,” Galloway said.
But when budget cuts are insurmountable, what do instructors do?
Bob McAteer, department chair of photography, has an ongoing need for repairs and replacements of the aging medium-format cameras that the school supplies to photography students.
“Were the cuts to stay in place or worsen, as equipment dies and we can no longer resuscitate it, we would have to then say, ‘Okay, you need to learn medium-format cameras,’ but we don’t have those anymore. So we’re going to show you the one that we have … you can play with it a little … but you’re going to have to go out and buy or rent one,” he said. “Which really goes contrary to our mission.”
e-mail: dpowell@theguardsman.com
BY
ELIZABETH PFEFFER
Staff Writer
After five years on the negotiating table, the employment contract between City College’s unionized instructors and its school district was ratified by a landslide, with 98.7 percent of faculty giving their support on Feb. 24.
Faculty salaries will receive a state Cost of Living Adjustment every complete academic year, ensuring a minimum 3 percent increase for both full-time and part-time instructors.
Since the contract was adopted this semester, raises will be implemented for the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 academic years.
Teachers may also get an increase in funding through the California Lottery, monies from foreign student tuition, sales tax and other sources used to set a formula for salary each year, said Ed Murray, president of the American Federation of Teachers Local 2121.
In terms of the overwhelming support faculty showed for the contract, Board of Trustees President Rodel Rodis said in a City College press release that the level of satisfaction was remarkable.
Murray said they began negotiating re-opening provisions in March. “There are some things we didn’t get to that could be added to the contract later,” he said.
In particular, the union is interested in increasing the salaries of part-time instructors, up from the current 85 percent of what full-time teachers get.
On the tails of the contract’s success comes a daunting budget crisis. “It puts the college in a difficult position as we try to finish out the year,” said Peter Goldstein, vice chancellor of finance and administration.
City College is all too familiar with the term “budget crisis,” as it prolonged contract negotiations in 2001 and 2002.
The contract will be honored despite the college’s financial turmoil, yet Murray indicated the potential for peripheral problems. The college is unable to hire new staff because of the budget, Murray said. “We have full-time positions that need filling; that’s the only place there might be a slight disagreement, but it won’t have a huge impact.”
It appears that hiring issues will not come up until fall. “Sum-mer school will be larger this year because it received state-increased funding,” said Goldstein.
The upturn in labor relations is not limited to salary adjustments. The new contract addresses privacy, academic and intellectual property rights.
“People were confused, especially in the online area, about what was theirs and as a result back-channeling their papers to the students because they didn’t want to lose control of materials on the district website,” Murray said. The new contract stipulates that any supplemental material a teacher authors for a class is their own.
Thanks to the adopted contract, faculty members are now protected from invasion of privacy when using City College’s communication facilities, including e-mail.
e-mail: epfeffer@theguardsman.com
BY ANGELA HART
Staff Writer
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City College may experience an increasing number of international students due to a substantial reduction in the average waiting time for student visas by the State Department and Homeland Security Department.
The Government Accountability Office said the long wait on visas caused complaints from higher education groups and major business leaders because the hassles were discouraging foreign students from attending American schools. This prompted the reduction from an average wait of 67 days a year ago to the current 15 days, according to The Associated Press.
A 2004 investigation by the GAO found wait times as long as 12 weeks just to begin the interview process. “My husband kept being turned down, they felt he was not coming back to Nigeria,” said City College student Chioina Otiocha. “He went to the Embassy three or four times and it took over a year to get a visa.”
Students must endure a long process to obtain a student visa, including the submission of an application, passing the Test Of English as a Foreign Language with a minimum score of 475 and providing high school transcripts.
Once these steps are completed the student must schedule an appointment with the consulate to prove financial support, and to prove he or she will return to their respective country. “The student then receives an I-20 [accepted application] and eligibility,” said Louise Louie, coordinator for the Institute for International Students and Intensive English Program.
“If there is any doubt whether they are going to return or not, the consulate will not give them a visa,” said Louie.
The AP credits the overall im-provement to better technology, co-ordination among agencies, and policy changes. According to the AP, 600,000 foreigners studied in the United States last year, al-though international student ap-plications decreased by 32 percent.
“Mine was easy,” said Otiocha. “I got my visa when I was al-ready here.”
e-mail: ahart@theguardsman.com
SOUTHEAST CAMPUS DEAN ACKNOWLEDGED: Among six chosen for Bay Area Black History Month Local Hero Awards
BY JONATHAN FARRELL
Contributing Writer
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Veronica Hunnicutt, dean of the Southeast campus, has served as an educator and community leader for 35 years. Veronica Hunnicutt of City College’s Southeast campus was one of six people selected as recipients of the 2005 Bay Area Black History Month Local Hero Awards.
Sponsored by KQED and Union Bank of California, the awards ceremony was held at the Regency Center in San Francisco on Feb. 2.
Hunnicutt has been dean of the Southeast campus for six years and had no idea she was being considered for the award. “I was shocked, delighted and very grateful,” she said.
As an educator and community leader for 35 years, she has worked to bring more educational and vocational opportunities to the Bayview-Hunters Point area where the campus is located.
“Dr. Hunnicutt is a role mo-del for young women in the community,” said Martha Lucey, dean of marketing and public information. “She was elected as co-president by her colleagues in the College’s Administrators Association and is held in the highest regard by them.”
Having dedicated most of her career to helping others become successful, she contin-ues her ongoing efforts to work with those who are committed to a better quality of life for people in various San Francisco neighborhoods.
To better serve people in three specific neighborhoods, English as a second language and the Working Adults Degree Programs have been extended to include Visitacion Valley, Potrero Hill and Mission Bay. These programs are designed to help working students earn the credits needed for their associate’s degrees in night and weekend classes.
Hunnicutt also serves on several school boards and committees that address issues on improving the quality of education in neighborhoods where motivation is low and students lack self-esteem.
She has supported the development of several programs over the years that include mentors. One such program is the Partnerships to Achieve Academic Success, which, at its zenith, reached out to over 70 students with 80 mentors.
Hunnicutt is now pleased to work with Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office in promoting the Hekima Program, a project aimed at directing troubled youth away from a life of crime. By providing mentors, tutors, counselors and on-the-job-training, students enrolled in the project will be guided toward a promising future through educational and vocational training.
Hunnicutt began her career with City College in 1972, teaching English and engineering at Ocean campus. Despite never having thought she would become an administrator, she now finds the role of dean to be a privilege.
CONSTRUCTION CLAIMS SPACES: Reservoir spaces ease parking crunch
BY ANGELA HART
Staff Writer
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Three parking lots at City College will be torn out when ground is broken for the new student health center later this semester, leaving less parking for students and faculty.
The student reservoir parking, which was completed last No-vember, provided an additional 400 spaces for students and an upper parking lot for faculty, staff and disabled students.
Students will in turn lose parking lot B due to the building of the student health center. “That is the reason about 400 spaces were added last year,” said Jim Blomquist, associate vice chancellor of facilities, planning and maintenance. “They were specifically for students.”
Additional renovations will begin later this semester, including changes to the retaining wall surrounding the lower reservoir. During the construction of the student health center, additional parking will be removed along Phelan Avenue temporarily to “cut down the retaining wall so it will become a sitting bench,” said Craig Peterson, project manager for City College.
“We are hoping to break ground sometime in May, but we aren’t sure,” said Sunny Clark, director of the student health center. “The date has been changing since October of last year.”
City College must propose financial bids with outside contractors to set a price for all of the renovations before the construction can begin. “City College couldn’t come to an agreement,” Peterson said. “We are in the bidding process right now.”
“The upper level of the student reservoir will stay designated for faculty, staff and disabled students when the construction begins,” Blomquist said.
This level will ease the loss of faculty parking lots E and F. English instructor Ron Johnson said teachers plan to park in the upper reservoir. “I have midday classes so I’ll have no choice but to park there.”
e-mail: ahart@theguardsman.com
BY ELI MILCHMAN
Staff Writer
Love, sex, intimacy … these things permeate our lives.
Dating websites sprout like weeds on the Internet. Craigslist has a section for every conceivable combo of sexual pairing. TV ads deluge viewers with ways to cure sexual inadequacies, promising that you, too, will get to snuggle with the office wench.
Those Oral-B Brush Ups ads — the ones stuck to the heat covers of coffee cups at cafes — suggest you take them along in case you need to get intimate in a hurry.
Love seems to be about filling holes: our loneliness, our mouths, the empty passenger seat, the picture frames on our desks, the cavity our hands make when they are cupped.
We want to bare ourselves yet at the same time we adorn our bodies with tattoos, lest we be completely naked in front of another human being.
If you look, you can see the campus alive with the flickering flame of intimacy.
There are probably few bet-ter examples of a place with freedom to love than the Ocean campus, a place of learning in the heart of The City of Love. Few places in this country would be as accepting of a Korean student holding the hand of her white American girlfriend.
Maybe the most important thing school can teach us is not something that’s offered in a class…how to get along with the opposite (or same) sex.
Apparently, those ravens circling above our heads mate once for life.
As this column ends, my concentration fades — looking my way with a smile and gleaming eyes is a young, attractive student with steely abs...
e-mail: emilchman@theguardsman.com
City College at Large
Call or e-mail Adam Brody with campus wide news at
(415) 239-3446 or associatenews@theguardsman.com
Downtown Campus
In conjunction with the College for Teens Program, the Downtown campus held a series of Driver’s Education classes that ran from Feb. 28 – March 5, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with an admission charge of $115. The program will also offer high school credit classes this summer for the third year. “It is self-supportive and will not use district funding. With the support of Chancellor Day and Dr. Kathleen Alioto, they raised scholarships to support all low-income students attending the program,” said Judy Teng, contract and continuing education dean.
Alemany Campus
The Alemany campus is in the process of installing a new fire alarm system with emergency lights in every classroom. To minimize any disruption of classroom activities, construction has been done mainly between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. and on weekends. Also, during a March 10 meeting student body representatives discussed a possible park outing at the end of the semester.
John Adams Campus
In celebration of Asian/Pacific Heritage Month, the John Adams campus welcomes “East Meets West” author Kim Wong Keltner, on May 4, from 11:15 a.m. to noon. Keltner will also appear at the Southeast campus on May 11, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Evans Campus
An overwhelming response to the biodiesel workshop held at the Evans campus on Feb. 25 has prompted an encore seminar to be held in either late April or early May. The seven-hour February workshop explored applications of the vegetable oil fuel, which can be used in most diesel engines with little or no modification, as well as a crash course in how to brew the stuff at home. David Dias, key organizer, is currently working on getting a grant to set up a permanent biodiesel program at City College.
Short Cuts
Study Shows Height a Factor For Earnings
A study showed that tall babies at age one foretell a greater earning factor later in life than short babies. Babies who were 31.5 inches or taller on their first birthday later earned 50 percent more than those who were 28.3 inches or less. Shorter babies were found to perform manual labor when they grew up, and typically had fewer academic achievements, which may be related to illness or slowness of mental growth. The study was conducted by Britain’s University of Southampton and Finland’s National Public Health Institute.
Bloggers’ Rights Questioned
Apple Computer sued three bloggers – known for their publication of Web logs, or blogs – in an effort to reveal anonymous sources that may be linked with the divulgence of Apple’s international trade secrets. While California’s Shield Law protects journalists from disclosing unpublished information, which in many cases includes a source’s name, the issue remains whether bloggers should receive the same First Amendment rights as all citizens.
Earth Day
City College will celebrate Earth Day on Thursday, April 21 in Ram Plaza from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Help clean up the campus and learn about possible internships and job opportunities. Prizes will also be offered. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Stephanie Lyons at (415) 239-3580.
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COLLEEN CUMMINS / GUARDSMANMarch 4, 12:55 a.m. Ocean campus
Responding to a loud explosion in the reservoir parking lot, an officer found that someone had used an explosive device to try and gain access to a parking machine. SFPD Bomb Squad and Crime Scene Investigation units were deployed to collect evidence.
March 3, 4:50 p.m. Southeast campus
A records check on a person pushing a recycling bin, turned up $10,000 in warrants for burglary, battery and theft. The subject was booked for outstanding warrants at County Jail Nine.
March 2, 10:18 a.m. Ocean campus
Four subjects were found in the bushes near 210 Havelock Street smoking a marijuana cigarette, when a Sergeant on patrol smelled it and investigated. Three of the subjects were referred to the Dean of Students for administrative action. The fourth, who was in possession of marijuana, had a $10,000 warrant and was booked at County Jail Nine.
March 2, 9:25 a.m. Ocean campus
An officer spotted a student attempting to roll a “blunt” style marijuana cigarette outside the Visual Arts building. The student was arrested, cited and then released.
March 1, 9:05 a.m. Ocean campus
After failing to yield to a pedestrian on Phelan Avenue, the driver of the vehicle turned up a suspended license. She was cited and her vehicle was impounded.