IPOD-SOLATION

STAFF EDITORIAL

Cell phones, iPods, computers, these and other gadgets like them may seem harmless. The truth is some people become slaves to their technologies. Our generation is slowly deteriorating because of technology addiction.

Internet/Computer Addiction Services estimates that out of the 189 million Internet users in the U.S., 6 to 10 percent are technology addicts.

With a whole world of entertainment and information at our fingertips it can be very easy to let the internet consume our daily lives. It takes us away from productive activities and interaction with real people.

The days of doing things outdoors and having actual face to face conversations are over. Instead we are content with texting each other meaningless junk. Nowadays you see people texting everywhere, at school, at work, on the bus, on the toilet. Why do we feel the need to be constantly communicating with people in this manner?

We are isolating ourselves from the real world with these compulsive disorders. Just think about how our health is being affected sitting in front of a computer all day. How our relationships are affected by texting. We are fooling ourselves if we think texting is a real form of communication.

Try going a day without your cell phone, sidekick, computer or iPod. If you can do that without losing your mind then there still might be hope for us all.

But hey, why think about it? Just throw on your iPod and get lost in your own world. Be careful as you listen to it and text at the same time. You might trip and fall and actually wake yourself up.

e-mail: editorial@theguardsman.com

SENIORITY GETS NO PRIORITY
BY MARTHA VALLEJO
STAFF WRITER

MICHAEL MORGAN / GUARDSMAN

Summer registration started and some of us wonder if we’ll get into the classes we want or we need.

Apparently City College gives priority registration to students who are in the programs Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSPS), Extended Opportunities Programs and Services (EOPS) and Athletics, according to Mervin Ruiz from the New Student Counseling Department.

Also students who arrive fresh from high school get an earlier date for registration if they go through the Early Decision Program or the Freshman Seminar. Providing they have their transcript with completion of credits, have gone through orientation, seen a new student counselor and submit their documentation by early May, says Sharon Nunley from the Matriculation, Admissions and Records Office. 

All sounds swell except, what about the students who need to transfer to another college and only need a couple of classes to be done? Are they considered in the equation? What about those students who are close to getting their Associate of Arts or Nursing diploma?

It will be a great relief to some students to know that their needs are taken into account. Getting the classes we need during the summer helps us advance one more step towards our goal. 

The parameters guiding priority registration are unclear. In the best of worlds everybody would be taken into consideration. We would like to think the students’ needs are above financial matters.

We don’t know if priority registration is based on accepting more students in college so the City College budget can be justified by hinting the large number of students attending school. Or if the students’ wants top the financial matters.

Meanwhile current students must keep on getting or trying to get the classes they need. And if summer classes are full, remember that often times somebody will drop a class.

e-mail:mvallejo@theguardsman.com

MINIMUM WAGE DOESN'T PAY
BY ANNYSE ACEVEDO

EDITOR

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ANNABELLE DAY/ GUARDSMAN

San Francisco’s minimum wage raised to 9.14 the beginning of this year, yet the wages for lab aide and work-study jobs at City College are still at $9 per hour. Granted this measly 14 cents is chump change to some, but for those who participate in lab aide or work study, every penny counts.

Last semester, before San Francisco’s minimum wage was raised, lab aide and work study participants made 25 cents more than the city’s minimum wage earners.

We all know that living in San Francisco is expensive, that is a given fact.  But trying to go to school and live here makes it ridiculously hard to survive. And finding a job that will accommodate one’s school schedule is often hard to come by.

To participate in either lab aide or work-study jobs one must go through the financial aid process and qualify to work on campus based on the award given.  There are limitations on how many hours a student can work and how many campus jobs a student can hold, so if this is the main source of income for a student being paid less than minimum wage is unacceptable.

Lab aide and work study are here to benefit us, but give us something to actually benefit from especially if we are working, living and going to school in a city where the minimum wage is legally more than what we are being paid.

Maybe this is not a pressing issue to those who decide on how much lab aide and work- study participants make.  After all, we are getting our paychecks without any taxes taken out. But fyi, we get W-2’s at the end of the year, which mean that just because we didn’t get taxes taken out, we still have to claim that as income, so again, where is the benefit?

e-mail:editorial@theguardsman.com

ON THE RECORD

Should freshmen who just graduated from high school get priority enrollment?

Robin Portillo
“Yes, because most freshmen are trying to get their classes out of the way. And most are trying to transfer out to other schools. Let freshmen get all of the GED stuff out of the way first."

Jinny Psarras
“If given priority for the summer it would give them a head start. I'm biased because I'm a continuing student. But not for the fall, it's difficult to get in and then have to compete for English and Math courses especially. They have more time."

Jesper Klinghed
“People who are already in the system should have first pick because they have already started their program, so they aren't lingering around. It's not fun to pick last, but it makes sense."

Angela Mefferd
“No, because people that have been here longer are more committed to what they're doing."

Krystal Gerdes
“I suppose so, I'm beginning as a freshman now. But I don't think there should be seniority. First come, first serve. Cut and dry. "

Maggie Dart-Padover
“No, I don't think so because people have been here longer than them trying to get into those classes. There are many required classes offered, the smaller more specific ones are probably hard to get in to."

A TEAL-COLORED HEART

BY VANESSA SERPAS

Too many times we women put ourselves in situations we do not need. You’re living with a man you know you should no longer be with. You fight way too often. He’s hardly ever home and when he is, he treats you like a doormat. To make matters worse, he no longer likes to bring you around his friends, go figure. If you haven’t realized it yet, it’s time to pick up and go. At times it may be difficult to read the signs that it’s time for you to leave him, so here are a few tips that let you know it’s time to get up and go.

If he has a separate phone for the “homies,” otherwise known as the “homie phone,”, it’s time to kick rocks.

If you’re making love and he starts calling you “Jenna” but your name’s Carly, it’s time to let him go.

If you come across a new collection of phone numbers, it’s time to kick him to the curb.

If he’s never home because he’s “working late” or “out with the guys,” like Beyonce says, “To the left, to the left.”

If every time you call he doesn’t pick up the phone, but instead calls you back in five minutes and its extra quiet in the background, give his ass the boot.

If your sexual encounters turn into the unfortunate wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am or even worse, they are nonexistent, it’s time to drop that zero and find yourself a hero.

Now, these are just a few of the more obvious signs that it’s time to find a new man. Of course it’s always hard to let go of a boyfriend you’ve been with a long time, but what’s the sense in adding unnecessary drama to your life? Do yourselves a favor, ladies. Throw out your trash and go shopping for bigger and better things.

e-mail:editorial@theguardsman.com

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Hello, City College cyclists.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition needs your help with some good old-fashioned bike outreach.

Can you help out at one of the following events?

City College Earth Day celebration, April 19, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Come out and help staff a table for the promotion of safe and dignified city cycling with the SFBC at City College's Earth Day celebration next week.

Our table will be at Ram Plaza Thursday, April 19th from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. 

Volunteers at tables will talk to folks about their routes for pedaling to campus and campaigns for better biking in the Ocean campus area. They will also hand out information about why planning our city streets and college campuses for safe, dignified and delightful cycling is key to the future of our planet.  

Bikes belong at City College's Earth Day event, but IT CAN NOT HAPPEN WITHOUT THE HELP OF VOLUNTEERS.

Please e-mail me back and let me know if you can help.

We are also looking for volunteers to support and celebrate the joy of two wheels on the biggest day for biking in the Bay Area, BIKE TO WORK DAY, May 17.  

At City College's Energizer Station that morning, volunteers will give out tasty morning treats and canvas bags full of  “bikey” goodies to cheer cyclists on and spreading the word about campaigns for better biking in San Francisco.

To sign up as a volunteer to help, go to www.sfbike.org/btwd

I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy pedaling,

Rachel Kraai, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

995 Market St Ste 1550

San Francisco CA 94103

(415) 431-BIKE x-302 voice

(415) 431-2468 fax