Volume 142, Issue #1
News
BY
JOSE GUITIERREZ
Staff Writer
The American Federation of Teachers, Local 2121 and the San Francisco Community College District agreed on a new contract that will give City College faculty a salary increase of 4.5 percent.
Full-time instructor's salaries were bumped up in July, and part-time instructor's salaries will increase this fall.
"I'm optimistic we're on the right track," AFT President Edward Murray said. "We are working well with the administration."
Pay for instructors increased by 3 percent in 2005, but salaries were frozen during the two prior years because of problems with the budget and the country-wide recession.
"I believe we're moving back toward normal, but I don't think that the growth we lost from our salaries being frozen is made up for," said Spanish instructor Ed Stering.
The new contract highlighted the need for more full-time instructors. City College has 1,280 part-time instructors, but only 750 full-time instructors; the new contract added 14 full-time ESL instructors.
"That doesn't seem like a lot, but that's 14 more full-time teachers that we didn't have," said AFT Executive Director Chris Hanzo. "Many part-time teachers want to be full-time, so they could be more accessible to students."
The new contract expires on Dec. 31, 2007.
e-mail: jgutierrez@theguardsman.com
$7.1 MILLION HEALTH CENTER READY TO SERVE
BY KAREN M. KINNEY
Staff Writer
KAREN M. KINNEY / GUARDSMAN |
City College unveiled a new state-of-the-art Student Health Center on Aug. 18 at the Ocean campus.
The center broke ground in July 2005 and comes with an attached price tag of $7.1 million.
Some of the center’s biggest advocates were there to commemorate the opening, including Chancellor Philip R. Day Jr., board of trustees President Natalie Berg and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, who was the driving force behind the $750,000 federal grant that will fund new equipment and training programs.
The new Student Health Center staff will consist of one full-time nurse practitioner and one full-time psychotherapist. Eight part-time health workers will make up the equivalent of two more full-time positions.
According to the center's clinic director Sunny Clark, the old building leaked, was not designed properly and didn’t allow the staff to work effectively. The new facility now meets all clinical license standards and will provide better care.
The new facility also focuses on health education — students entering the center will find the waiting room equipped with computers that enable access to educational Web sites about health.
“We want students to feed their own intellectual curiosity,” Clark said. “The students need to have resources available so they can be the holder of their own health information and be an advocate for their own good health.”
Another advantage of the new building is the increased privacy for students. The new center has more exam rooms, which will cut down student wait times. Additionally, student health information is taken in one area and the exam is performed in another, unlike in the old center where both were performed in the same area.
The Student Health Center now trains students in vocational programs including medical assisting and medical billing. The center also provides clinical internships for registered nurses and therapists.
The new center was completed at $2 million over budget due to costs of the new classrooms on the second floor, which according to Chancellor Day are a replacement for broken-down bungalows built over 35 years ago.
Day said that this is the first major project in the history of City College that provides students and staff with a modern-day health facility.
e-mail: kkinney@theguardsman.com
INDUSTRY BEGS FOR NEW AUTO TECHS
BY KATE DUNHAM
Staff Writer
ALEX HYDE / GUARDSMAN |
Instructor Ron Young demonstrates uses of the emissions scanner to students at Evans campus. The California Community College Chancellor’s Office announced on May 2 that a $450,000 Quick Start grant will be given to City College and eight other institutions to help rebuild automotive career pathways for high school and college students.
The grant, awarded by the Economic and Workforce Development Division of the Chancellor’s Office, will fund the Bay Area Automotive Education Partnership. Other grant recipients are Chabot College, College of Marin, Contra Costa College, and five Bay Area regional occupational programs (ROP).
The partnership — uniting local high schools, ROPs and community colleges — will reach out to high school and college students over a two year period to educate them about growing employment opportunities in the automotive industry and help develop skills for careers in advanced transportation technologies.
As part of the partnership, City College must establish an outreach program for local high school students. Ben Macri, City College’s automotive department chair, said that the department has already contacted San Francisco high school principals and counselors to inform students about the program.
City College’s automotive department also requires certification by the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation. Certification will provide greater employment opportunities for students completing the program.
“It’s going to be an uphill battle,” Macri said. “We have to evaluate every aspect of teaching, the curriculum and the equipment to make sure we are in compliance.”
Macri said the department is hoping for certification from the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation by the end of fall 2006 or in early spring 2007.
“We saw a need to reach out to youths,” said Suzanne Korey, the grant's administrative coordinator. “There are huge employment opportunities in the auto industry, and these are well-paying jobs. People are not going to stop buying cars.”
State estimates suggest around 3,700 annual openings for automotive service technicians and mechanics in California between 2002 and 2012; about 360 of those will be in the Bay Area.
“The industry is begging for trained auto workers,” Macri said.
e-mail: kdunham@theguardsman.com
COMMUNITY CONNECTS TO REMODEL MURAL
BY DESMOND MILLER
Staff Writer
LESLIE HICKS / GUARDSMAN |
A historic graffiti-tagged mural was restored at the John Adams campus by the local City College community this summer.
“More than 60 people from the community, students and facility in and around the John Adams Campus came together to support the arts and culture of San Francisco,” said community muralist Miranda Bergman.
According to Bergman, the faded, 390-foot was a labor of love and community spirit when it was originally conceived in 1976. It was one of the first projects of the San Francisco mural movement.
Bergman is part of the original group of artists who designed and painted the mural. She returned for its redesign and restoration, which took about two months to complete.
Maria Pinedo, assistant librarian at the John Adams Campus, said that the 30-year-old mural became an eyesore to the surrounding community due to graffiti and a lack of maintenance. On July 24, Pinedo was happy to see the revived mural given a protective finish to ward of graffiti and ultraviolet light.
“The restorations were a large undertaking and we were able to complete it all on schedule,” Pinedo said.
The title of the original mural was “Our History is No Mystery,” and in 1988 the mural was restored and changed to reflect the changing times and titled “Educate to Liberate.” The new mural combines all the elements of the first two murals and is titled “Educate to Liberate: Lessons in Community.”
The funding for the community mural revitalization came from Zellerbach Family Foundation, Precita Eyes Mural Arts and the Works of Arts Committee at City College.
e-mail: dmiller@theguardsman.com
NEWLY RENOVATED BOOKSTORE OPENS FOR FALL
BY NINO BOLES-KING
Staff Writer
ANNABELLE DAY / GUARDSMAN |
City College's Ocean campus bookstore received a facelift and some electrical upgrades over the summer.
A large portion of the Ocean Campus bookstore was closed from July 2 through 25, and it cost over $25,000 to remodel the store, according to General Manager Don Newton.
"We took down all of the old fixtures, put down carpet and did some lighting work,” Newton said.
The money paid for painting the front 20 feet of the store, replacing some cash registers and adding more electrical outlets, said Rose Twyman, the bookstore's textbook buyer.
The bookstore staff said the work significantly improved the store.
“A lot of the work was cosmetic, but the electrical was necessary," Twyman said.
Twyman said the front of the store previously relied on two electrical outlets for power and that the floor was covered with a series of plastic ramps in order to safely house the many extension cords needed to power all the registers.
Before this summer, the last major work done to the bookstore was in 1995, but left out the front of the store, which according to Newton hadn't been remodeled since 1971.
Bookstore staff said the improvements have also cut down waiting time for students.
“We’ve upgraded our system, so we are processing transactions faster,” said Floor Supervisor Edward Vallecillo.
Students agreed.
“It was a lot easier to go through the lines this semester,” student Tiffany Lin said.
e-mail: nboles-king@theguardsman.com
City College at Large
Call or e-mail Chris Albon with campus-wide news at: (415) 239-3446 or newseditor@theguardsman.com
Evans Campus
The fall fashion business workshop "Gerber pattern-making" is offered Mondays, August 21-October 2 at the Evans campus, 1400 Evans Ave. This is a short term workshop for apparel desginers who wish to enhance their skills. The cost for this workshop is $125. To enroll or for more information, call (415) 550-4428.
Fort Mason Campus
A one-day wine tasting workshop for beginners will be held Saturday, Sept. 9 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Fort Mason in Building B, room 106. Learn to taste wine the way professionals do, then apply this method to 20 wines. Also learn the five basic types of wines and how they are made. Find out what labels do and don't tell you. The $40 cost includes the wine. Register online.
Downtown Campus
Create your own blog. Come to a one-night class Tuesday, Sept. 26 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Downtown campus, room 622. The class covers the development of blogs, the availability of sites and how effective they are as marketing tools. By the end of each class, each studnt will have created their own simple blog. The cost is $40. Register online.
Castro/Valencia Campus
Develop the acting skill of storytelling through performance exercises, improvisations and the uses of the literature of folklore and myth. Work on monologue focusing on narrative and the creation of characters. This is a credit class offered Friday nights from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at 1220 Now St., room 223. See class schedule for details.
Short Cuts
Important Deadlines
The last day to officially drop or reduce full-term coursework units in order to qualify for a 100 percent tuition and enrollment fee refund is Aug. 29. The last day to add a class is Sept. 1. Sept. 9 is the last day to withdraw from a class without getting a "W" recorded on your transcript.
S3
S3 is a peer-mentoring program designed to aid students through college. The program offers mentors, advice on classes, financial aid information, instructions on how to transfer and computer and printing access. The S3 office s located in room 203 of the Student Union building. Office hours are Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. S3 can be reached at (415) 239-3660.
ESL 69
Students who want to improve their pronounciation of English should attend the accent reduction class, ESL 69, on Thursdays from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The course begins Aug. 17 and will be held in the Art building, room 314 at the Ocean campus.
Speak Out
Speak Out is a weekly one-hour long talk show on current affairs that airs on ABS-CBN's The Filipino Channel. Speak Out gives a voice to second-generation Filipinos living in the U.S., covers issues important to them, and provides a venue for the free exchange of ideas between first-generation Filipinos and second-generation Pinoys so they can better understand each other. The next show airs on Aug. 27.