By Alex Luthi
Editor

A City College student reported being abducted and sexually assaulted near Ocean campus on the night of Sept. 3, said City College and San Francisco police departments.

According to an excerpt from the crime log of the San Francisco Community College District Police Department, a female student was walking on the pedestrian overpass crossing Ocean and Geneva Avenues on her way to the Balboa BART Station at 9:30 p.m. when she was abducted by an unknown assailant and taken to Oakland, where she was raped.

Sergeant Williams at the public information office of the San Francisco Police Department confirmed that the department is investigating the incident at this time, but said that the department does not have any information on a suspect.

As of press time, no updates are available to the public regarding the incident, said Williams.

Anyone with information about the assault can contact the SFPD Sex Crimes Unit at 415-553-1361, or SFPD’s anonymous tip line at 415-575-4444.

By Roxanne Bequio
Staff Writer

The contrast between recently constructed and older buildings on Ocean campus is prompting many of City College’s students to question when the older buildings will get a turn at renovation.

“City College is following the Master Plan and it doesn’t ignore the existing buildings. The plan first addresses the anticipated growth of the system and where the greatest needs are,” said James Blomquist, associate vice chancellor of facilities planning/management.

Some of these projects, including the improvement and expansion of the recently opened Mission campus, as well as the planning and construction of the new Chinatown/North Beach campus, were funded by the 2001 and 2005 Proposition A bond measures.

Although the City College board of trustees have not officially decided when the next phase of remodeling will occur, students can anticipate the early stages of more Ocean campus renovations with the completion of the next phase of construction which includes the new Joint Use Facility, scheduled to open in summer 2010, and the arrival of the next bond, to be issued in the next few years.

Classes held in older buildings like Cloud Hall, the Creative Arts Building and the 600-series bungalows would be moved into the Joint Use Facility, presenting City College with an opportunity to “remodel spaces and create better conditions within [older] buildings,” Blomquist said.

“The oldest buildings are those that need the most work, just because of their age,” Blomquist said. “Due to the Americans with Disabilities Act improvement project, many, if not all of the buildings on campus, will recieve remodeling in some of the bathrooms and a few classrooms to accommodate accessibility needs,” said Blomquist of the work financed by the 2005 Proposition A Bond funds.

Nursing major Selma Gardner said, “The bathrooms are always in poor condition. You know, you’ve got three sinks here, and maybe one paper towel holder working, or one stall. Especially in the science building the bathrooms are pretty funky.”

Within Blomquist’s department, concerns are shared over the condition of all the bathroom facilities. Water saving fixtures, similar to those in the new buildings, will be installed to conserve energy and natural resources when the college has enough money, said Blomquist.

At this time, restrooms on City College campuses will not be restored unless they conflict with the ADA and need remodeling to “adequately provide good service for disabled students,” said Blomquist. Remodeling required by the ADA will start this October and is expected to be completed by December 2009.

Non-compliant restrooms have not yet been identified, but will be upon evaluation. “If a room is completely non-compliant, a total renovation might be required,” said Blomquist.

An issue was raised toward the recently opened Community Health and Wellness Center regarding faucets and showers, which were not in working order. Blomquist said some valves were plugged up with debris and cleaned out by a plumber shortly after.

In any new building, there is a “breaking in period” when all the working parts get tested through daily use. Due to the contractor’s warranty minor problems, like clogged water pipes, are found and corrected at no cost to the college, said Blomquist.

“We get complaints from time to time on the comfort of a classroom, whether it’s too cold, warm, or noisy, and we try to address those as they come along,” said Blomquist.

When asked about older buildings on Ocean campus, 18-year-old City College student Angela Li said “Even though they’re old, they’re still in pretty good condition. It’s not like they’re falling apart.”
In addition to the appearance of older buildings’ interiors, earthquake preparedness is considered an important issue as well.

“All of the buildings on campus have been constructed within structural codes appropriate to the time they were built. Many have been inspected and determined to still be structurally adequate for seismic activity,” Blomquist said about the state of campus buildings.

“The current code requires that whenever any significant remodeling is done to a building, if there are seismic adjustments that need to be made to bring it up to current code, that has to be done as part of that work,” said Blomquist.

In regards to covering seismic work financially, “It depends on when that need [to retrofit a building] was discovered, but if we assume it was something that was decided upon currently, it would be funded by the 2001 and 2005 Proposition A Bond,” said Blomquist.

Students traverse a new pathway leading up to Science and Cloud Halls on Ocean campus. The pathway is part of a plan to have City College comply with standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act, increasing accessibility for disabled students and faculty. KAREN M. KINNEY / GUARDSMAN

By Roxanne Bequio
Staff Writer

The reconstruction of outdated pathways on Ocean campus to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act has created a campus that is more user friendly by increasing accessibility and allowing for better navigation for disabled students said Leilani F. Battiste, City College’s ADA Compliance Director/Assistant Legal Counsel.

“The switchback paths have been created on both the north and south ends of Science and Cloud Halls. These paths link to other lower-level paths leading to Cloud Hall. Also, accessible paths leading in and out of Cloud Hall to the Science/Cloud Plaza have been created to facilitate options to access the two buildings,” said Battiste.

Installing switchback paths have reduced complications for disabled students who had to travel up steep grades to reach the Science Hall, Cloud Hall or the Science/Cloud Plaza from Cloud Circle, said Battiste. An additional path starts from the Phelan Avenue sidewalk and leads into Ocean campus’s Cloud Circle.

Pathway improvements were carefully designed by appointed architects, and reviewed for approval by the college’s outside accessibility expert, said Battiste.

“Getting to and from the Science and Cloud Halls was extremely challenging if you were in a wheelchair or on a scooter,” said Battiste of the previous campus pathways. “All of the new paths will allow wheelchair or scooter users to traverse paths, which had too steep of a grade, and access all points on campus.”

“I think they did an excellent job when they refurbished the layout for handicapped people. It makes it easier to get to class and it also looks nicer,” said City College student Virginia B. Psarras, who had a left shoulder replacement 11 years ago and also uses a crutch for an injured knee.

“It’s just that it’s a little steep, but you know, I make due with what I can,” said Randy Gee, City College student and wheelchair user, about the ramps leading to the Cloud and Science Halls. “It’s a better improvement than it was before. I don’t have any classes up there this year. I only had to go up [to Cloud Hall] for financial aid.”

According to Battiste, several curb ramps have also been installed along the sidewalks around Cloud Circle, making it much easier for wheelchair and scooter users to cross streets. The previous layout forced them to backtrack and prolonged their travel times.

“It’s been pretty good since the last time I was here. For instance, coming in from across the street there used to be a little speed bump that you couldn’t see, and I went over it a couple times and fell down. They fixed that,” Gee said.

The additional stairs on the eastern perimeter of Cloud Hall leading to Cloud Circle compensate for the potential of heavy foot traffic on switchback routes, Battiste said.

“Any further modifications to ADA improvements, though none are anticipated at this time, would be paid for with funds from the 2005 bond fund,” said Battiste.

“I have not received any complaints so far about the new Path of Travel,” Battiste said. “Anyone having any complaints should feel free to contact me.”

Advanced Transportation Technology & Energy Director Gerald Bernstein teaches both students and working professionals how to install solar panels at the Evans campus in the Bayview, at the first solar power workshop held at City College. CLIVE WALKER / GUARDSMAN

By Graham Henderson
Staff Writer

The first in a series of solar panel workshops which will provide training and a general overview of the physical and electrical installation of the panels took place at the Evans campus on Sept. 20.
The workshops will teach students to install photovoltaic solar panels on a mock-up model of a roof complete with shingles and rafters. Even on a cloudy day, students were able to power a fan with the assembled solar array.

“This is a regular full roof,” said workshop instructor Gerry Bernsteine. “These panels are live. You put enough [panels] together and they will shock you.”

The physical installation of the panels is straightforward, said Max Parsley, who instructed the electrical portion of the workshop.

The solar panels and installation hardware were donated by Noel Cotter, a former City College student and owner of Luminalt, a company that installs solar systems all over the Bay Area said Parsley. The setup students train with is very similar to a professionally installed solar panel system.

A single panel costs only around $500, but a typical setup to power an entire house requires between 30 and 50 panels and costs between $20,000-$35,000. “A system like this, no matter how much it costs, will pay off,” said Parsley.

Students of all ages, from college freshmen to senior citizens, attended the workshop. Many of them using their cell phones to snap pictures of the installation for future reference.

“I’d been looking for a class on how to install solar [panels] for a long time,” said City College student Morgan Jensen. “I have a much better understanding now. Actually physically seeing it helps so much.”
Jensen said she would like to install a solar system in her home, but would like to do it herself to save money and because she feels that she would pay more attention to detail than an installer.

Software engineer Feisal Siddiqi found the class while searching for solar workshops on Craigslist. “I’m actively preparing myself for an alternate career…just in case,” he said.

The Evans campus is planning to offer another workshop towards the end of the semester, but the date has not yet been set. A full course on photovoltaic installation is scheduled for the spring 2009 semester. Two sections of the course will be offered, but the course is so popular it already has a wait list, Parsley said.

By Stephanie Rice

Pam Michaelson, 26
Undeclared
“No. She really does not stand for women’s rights.  I’m pro-life, but there’s a point where abortion should be legal – rape or incest.  She’s also against stem-cell research.  I’ve had family members die of cancer.  She’s totally not qualified.  I’m pro-life, but there’s a limit.”

Devon Angus, 32
History Major
“She’s the complete anathema to all of my values, so whether she’s experienced or not is not as much of a concern for me.  My overriding worry is who she is as a person.  Experience is secondary to the fact that she scares the hell out of me. ”

Gabrielle Everett, 23
Creative Writing Major
“I don’t know that much about her except that she’s not qualified!  If the majority of people think that, then I agree.”

Justin Frances, 29
Philosophy Major
“I don’t know too much about her.  I think she might be qualified, but that’s not to say I would vote for her.  She might have enough political experience.  I’m more concerned about the strong religious undertones.”

Lou Li, 24
Undeclared
“I really don’t think she’s qualified.  She doesn’t have any experience in a national office.  People talk about Obama’s experience, but Obama has strong political statements.  She’s just going with McCain.”

This week, New Additions focuses on a new company who is attempting to bring the “comic’s café” industry over from Japan. Manga Cafe Mika is the first “pay to read” manga café to open in San Francisco and is located in the Japantown Center at 1737 Post Street.

In an effort to provide a service to manga readers who are tired of getting kicked around the floors of the aisles at Borders, Manga Cafe Mika offers access to a large collection of titles and charges $5 for the first hour, and $1.25 every additional fifteen minutes. Sales tax is not included in these rates.

The price might seem a little steep, but anyone who reads comics or graphic novels should know it’s considered tactless to read an entire issue without buying it.

Manga Cafe Mika is a great place to waste time while reading and to have access to more titles of collected manga than anyone besides “otaku”, who are anime super fans, could ever hope to find in one place.
One thousand of their 20,000 titles are English editions and include popular titles such as “Bleach” and “Tri-Gun”. With extensive volumes of each title, readers can catch up on any part of a story they missed, or jump around a story’s continuity to check out the different stages.

I kept it to what I like to call “anime evil” by reading a lot of “Hellsing” and “Death Note” and was introduced to the title “Monster” by Naoki Urasawa, which will hopefully have an English version film by 2009. I also jump around the Dragon Ball series to see if any of those stories actually end.

By having such a large selection to choose from, readers can inspect all genres and get a full dose of manga media. The café also has a search system, which helps readers dissect through authors and artist’s bodies of work.

I think more cafés of this nature are necessary in the shopping malls of America. It’s the perfect place for non-shoppers to take a break and sit down to look at funny books while their significant other shops.
All of the books I read had intact and un-creased spines, which makes my day. Beverages and snacks are for sale at the café, yet I didn’t see any coffee stained books.

The chairs are comfy and clean, and there is a little den area next to the window where anime is always on the screen. The café doesn’t have many items for sale yet, and children tend to bypass the café and buy their anime action figures and trading cards at Japantown Collectibles.

The staff is friendly and they know their manga. The Kikuchi family owns the store and daughter Mika Kikuchi is an accomplished actress whose voice is credited in the anime series “Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle”. The café also invites manga artists to create work in-residence.

If this industry takes off, it won’t be long before manga cafés have showers and gambling like their Japanese predecessors.

By Jennifer Nichols

Lola Chavez

Some City College student their best to keep up with the latest styles. They take their fashion cues from magazines they read or videos they watch. This is not the case for Lola Chavez.

Having just returned a month ago from living in Italy, Chavez is currently “couch surfing” and makes every effort to save money.

Chavez, who was born in Chile, said nothing really influences her style.

“Sometimes I find clothes on the street or friends give them to me,” said Chavez. “I can’t remember the last thing I bought, and I try not to go out and buy materialistic items.”

She also does all of her own piercing and some of her tattooing. She buys most of her jewelry for piercing from head shops in the Haight. “They have good jewelry and it costs eight dollars at a head shop for something that would be thirty dollars at a jewelry shop.”

Hello my lovelies, Miss Lola here and I am just so ecstatic about the positive response for my little column. A lot of letters have been coming in from students and non-students alike and I love it, so keep’em coming.
Now, I have been around the block a few times, but I am never so bold to think that I know everything. It’s easy to forget that not everyone is on the same page regarding sex and love. But if that WAS the case, then child, Miss Lola would be out of a job and with that we go into our first letter:

Dear Miss Lola,
I don’t mean to nitpick, however, in your response to Experimental in SF (Issue 2 of The Guardsman), I think you might have forgotten to stress the importance of using a condom during anal sex. You are in a position to advocate safe sex and there may be folks who do not know that anal sex is one cause of HIV. I suggest clarifying this point in your next column.
-Regards.

Hello dear,

You are definitely not nitpicking. Yes, people should always use condoms for any type of receptive anal or vaginal sex. I like to think that my oversight was due to my hope that everyone in this time and age uses proper precautions to protect themselves and others during sex because of the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
As much as I hope that is not the case, according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in San Francisco has increased from 13,649 in 2002 to 15,470 in 2007. If you are not sure, please educate yourselves about the dangers of contracting the virus, so you are not putting yourself or anyone else at risk.

City College has an array of different services for people who are living with HIV/AIDS and also for people who want to learn more about the disease itself. The HIV/STI Prevention Studies Peer Activities Room/Project SAFE Club is a fantastic resource for education, information, referrals and free condoms. For more information please call (415) 452-5070 or (415) 452-5202. The Ocean campus Student Health Center offers
STD/STI as well.

Please take care of yourselves and use condoms every time. Sex should be fun—not deadly.

Dear Miss Lola,
I’ve been sexually active for a while and have had many exciting romps with men and women of all ages (nothing illegal, of course). I get excited at the thought of a sexual conquest but my problem is this: I’ve been involved in a serious relationship for the last 18 months, and my partner is not only inexperienced, but also extremely shy. It even takes her a while for her to warm up to me when we get intimate. I don’t know if that’s because of her lack of experience or she is just not sexually adventurous. I really want to be more adventurous with her but I don’t know where to start. How can I get her to open up sexually without making her feel uncomfortable, or in the worst case, leaving me because she feels I’m too kinky?
-Kinky Kat

Hello Miss Kat,

Meow my dear, it sounds to me like you love and care a great deal for this kitten. This will help you because you might have a long road of sexual exploration ahead of you. Above all, make sure you both are up for the journey.

My first suggestion is to make sure that your partner knows the lines of communication in your relationship are always open and that she can confide in you. Work with her to build her trust. In this area of your relationship, you are the teacher with experience to share and your partner needs to know that it is OK for her to learn from you.

Ask your partner if she has ever fantasized about anything kinky—it will probably be nothing you haven’t heard before—but you have to remember that you are the pro and be open to her thoughts, even if they are more vanilla that you want.

After you have heard her fantasies it’s your job to make them come true. Pick an easy one and with your partner make that one a reality. This will help her see that it is safe to explore her fantasies and because it’s hers personally, she will feel more in control and might be willing to explore other fantasies. Let her see that it is OK to explore the different sides of sex with you.

Another idea would be to talk and practice intimacy with her and make her a part of this process because it could bring you closer together. Read books together on intimacy or use the Web to search out some resources.

An intimacy exercise that might work would be to slowly undress each other a pitch black room. When you are both naked, just reach out to each other and in black silence—no talking—find each other, touching and exploring your bodies in pitch black bliss.

Enjoy yourselves and above all have fun with this journey. Be open to trying a variety of new things. Be patient with your partner: you didn’t go from a kitten to a Kat overnight.

Well my darlings my time—and space—is about up for this week’s column so I’ll blow you all a kiss and wish you a happy Folsom Street Fair (Sept. 28). If you see Miss Lola in her leather, blow me a kiss.

November 2 will soon be upon us and the message is clear: get out and vote. It doesn’t matter who or what you vote for as long as you make your voice heard.

This is a historic election year with both political parties achieving amazing things: a black presidential candidate and a female vice-presidential candidate.

There is hope that with all the interest this election has already gained, voter turnout will be the highest in years.

Voter turn out for the 18-to-24-year-old college demographic has always been lower than the national average, but this election is the perfect time to change this. With all the exciting new ideas that can come out of this election, do not be overwhelmed by the options and research each issue and candidate to make clear and concise choices before you vote.

First, make sure you are registered to vote, and that your voter information is up-to-date. Voter registration forms are free and available online or at any post office, as well as on City College campuses.

Try to take the time to read every item in your voter guide, if just enough to get a sense of what each proposition or politician is proposing. Also, seek out voter guides from non-partisan organizations to help you make an informed choice on how you will vote.

Talk to your friends, neighbors and family members about the issues. Get fired up because both women and blacks have struggled for too long in this country for everyone not to take this election seriously.