By Greg Zeman
The Guardsman

All of the Guardsman editors had a recent meeting where we came up with this crazy idea for our editorial: What if everybody in the United States was protected by some kind of law that ensured their right to freely practice the religion of their choice, regardless of the opinion or prejudice of the majority? I know, it seems like pretty radical stuff—we all thought the same thing at first—but we discussed it endlessly and, in the end, it seemed only fair.

So imagine our surprise when we discovered there is a document called “The United States Constitution” that has been around since 1787. And guess what, it already provides the kind of religious freedom we agreed to advocate at our editor’s meeting.

Needless to say, we were as disappointed as we were shocked by the discovery of this “Constitution,” which beat us to the punch on our “religious tolerance” idea by over 200 years, but we have since decided to embrace it.

Furthermore, we have pledged to let the people who don’t know about the religious freedoms guaranteed to them know:

1. “The Constitution” does exist
2.  It does protect people of all religions
3. People of all religions include Muslims.

The Torment of Sisyphus

Those of you who have taken (or are now taking) a mythology course are familiar with the agony of Sisyphus—the ancient, Greek king doomed to roll a boulder up a towering hill in Hades again and again for all eternity as punishment for thinking he was so damned clever.

Having said that, you are hereby informed that I have returned to The Guardsman as Editor in Chief, despite my well-documented declaration that I would, “never work at that [expletive] paper ever again, even if they paid me in gold and gefilte fish.”

Which, for the record, they most definitely are not doing.

Clever Subhead

We’ve got some brand new content in the paper this semester, like “Escape From City College,” our own Op/Ed Editor Nick Palm’s record of his continuing efforts to… well, actually, the title is pretty much self-explanatory.

I appreciate Mr. Palm’s razor wit, wry humor and keen eye for absurdity, but what I really appreciate most is that he’s giving me the opportunity to run a picture of Kurt Russel as “Snake” Plissken in the 1981 film Escape From New York.

Thanks Nick, you’re A-number-one.

But we also have the return of a Guardsman classic. That’s right; after months of waking up at 2:15 a.m. to the sound of him slurring desperately into the receiver of various payphones throughout the city, and more recently, watching him burst into bitter tears in front of two young women in the newsroom, I have decided to allow banished Sports Editor Bontá Hill to resurrect the Water Cooler.

I’m sure my bookie is already salivating over all the losing sports bets I’ll be placing now that Mr. Hill is once again gracing our pages with his athletic expertise. Thankfully, I held on to my crutches from his “stone cold lock” on the Colts against the Saints in last season’s Super Bowl.

And as an extra treat to our readers, I didn’t bring back Suite/Street 415. Enjoy.

—GZ

By Estela Fuentes
The Guardsman

San Francisco firefighters douse a small blaze at the Ocean campus Lunch Box on May 6. ALEX EMSLIE / THE GUARDSMAN

City College police officers responded to reports of shots fired at the Ocean Campus Lunch Box restaurant on May 6 and discovered that the source of the noise was not a gun, but an unlicensed fireworks display on the roof which resulted in a small fire.

Firefighters quickly doused the flames, but police evacuated the area and Cloud Circle was closed off when firefighters found an pyrotechnic device on the roof of the Lunch Box. CCPD chief Andre Barns said the incident is being investigated as arson by the city police and fire departments as well as City College police.

“This was not just a normal fireworks display. It was very large,” a City College police officer who declined to state his name because he was not authorized to speak said. “Now it’s looking like it was absolutely something that was set up.”

City College officers called the San Francisco fire and police departments when they realized there was a fire.

The Bomb Squad was called in to determine whether or not the device, which started the fire and may have been a triggering mechanism for the fireworks, was still a danger. Two K-9 units were brought in to search the perimeter around the restaurant for more explosives, but found nothing.

“At first, I thought someone threw a grenade up here,” Lunch Box employee Baline Wong said. The restaurant reopened briefly before police shut it down and deemed it a crime scene.

“There was hella fireworks. It was pretty dope though,” City College student Brock Smith said. “All we heard was a loud bang and we looked up and it was fireworks.”

Several officers on scene said because of the size and complexity of the pyrotechnics, they had to have been set up in advance.

“Why would someone spend this kind of money on something like this?” CCPD officer Rachele Hakes said.

Footage from security cameras contained no evidence, Hakes said. Police officials did not release any specific description of the device arson investigators took from the scene.

“This wasn’t kids,” Hakes said. “This was professional fireworks.”

Lunch Box employees told police that they have not had any altercations or arguments with customers that would encourage retaliation.

Despite repeated attempts, representatives from the San Francisco fire and police departments refused to comment.

City Department drops Mission Science Workshop and many other nonprofits

By Alex Emslie
The Guardsman

(L-R) Landon Boren, Jasmin William, Mario Canul, Dan Bragss, Dan Sudran and Luis Gallardo (front right) experiment with fire and oxygen at the Mission Science Workshop on May 10. The City of San Francisco plans cut funding to the workshop and some other youth-service programs. ROBERT ROMANO / THE GUARDSMAN

The mayor’s scramble to close San Francisco’s $483 million projected deficit hit home for many youth-serving community organizations with the recent cuts to the Department of Youth, Children and Their Families budget.

Many nonprofits dependent on DCYF allocations to stay afloat were not awarded any grants. That’s the situation the Mission Science Workshop — a hands-on science program with City College roots — is in today.

“The Mission Science situation is critical in that, without the DCYF funding, they might shut their doors,” said Kathleen White, chair of City College’s child development and family studies department, a Mission Science Workshop partner.

Dan Sudran, the workshop’s founder, said he expected some level of cuts to public funding of his program, but he didn’t expect to lose half his budget — the yearly $120,000 the workshop receives from DCYF. The rest of the workshop’s funding comes from private donations and grants.

Beginning June 30, the end of San Francisco’s current fiscal year, many child- and youth-serving community-based organizations will see city funding drastically reduced or eliminated if the current budget is approved. These programs provide a wide range of services to San Francisco children and their families, like violence prevention, mentoring, job training and educational support.

“We’ve always really thrived in San Francisco,” Sudran said. “This is the first time we’ve ever really got a blow on the head, which is what it feels like.”

DCYF cuts

The DCYF website states that $20 million was available to award for the next fiscal year, but requests for funding totaled approximately $72 million.

“In terms of funding, we literally don’t have the money,” DCYF Director Maria Su told the city Board of Supervisors budget committee on April 28. “We’re looking at an $11 million reduction to our budget.”

Supervisors David Campos, Ross Mirkarimi, and budget committee chair John Avalos agreed the cuts to the DCYF budget were unreasonable, and that the department should be exempt from the mayor’s request that all city departments submit a 20 percent budget reduction for next year.

The mayor must submit next year’s budget to the board by June 1 and then approve a final budget by July 30.

“A lot of people in this room did not get what they requested in our Requests for Proposals process, and there are a lot of people in this room who provide high quality programs,” Su said to the committee chamber packed with community-based organization representatives waiting to testify about cuts to their program. “We just ran out of money.”

She defended the DCYF decision-making process, which uses an assessment of social and economic factors concerning San Francisco youth by neighborhood to choose the amount of money awarded to programs, stressing the need to maintain the quality of the programs that will be funded.

“It made no sense for us to give everyone $20,000 grants,” she said.
But Sudran said being completely dropped by the city would hurt his ability to acquire private funding.

“Our feeling is that even if it was a small amount, it could make a huge difference,” he said. “It’s kind of embarrassing when you go to a corporation or a private foundation and they want to know how sustainable you are and you can’t even say that the city is supporting you. In fact, if they look into it, they can see that the city actually dropped you like a ton of bricks, like you were infected or something.”

The Mission Science Workshop’s staff of three serves about 3,000 children yearly, mostly from Mission district schools belonging to San Francisco Unified School District — 2.5 times the service requirement set by the DCYF.

“They’re so into quality controls and performance standards,” Sudran said. “Then when you not only comply with them all but you actually overperform, this is what you get?”

Early activation

There is a social justice aspect to providing early activation in science learning to children, White said.

“One critical issue is that we have an achievement gap in science,” she said. “In many low-income areas in San Francisco — the Mission being one of them — our kids don’t do as well in science.”

California ranked second lowest of all states on eighth grade science achievement, only above Mississippi, according to a 2005 National Center for Education Statistics assessment.

A 2007 UC Berkeley study titled “The Status of Science Education in Bay Area Elementary Schools” described early activation in scientific curiosity as a crucial aspect to improving California’s low science performance rate.

“They’ve sort of determined that the crucial age for getting people interested in science is between 5 and 12 years old,” Sudran said. “If you haven’t done it by then, it’s a really low probability that you’re ever really going to be able to do it.”

White said the social benefit of housing a hands-on science center in a neighborhood where science achievement has been historically low is “kind of a no brainer.”

“I understand from a developmental point of view that all children should be scientists and they begin to be scientists as soon as they start talking,” she said. “They ask questions about the natural world and the order of things, and that kind of curiosity should be fostered. That’s very related to learning, and learning is very related to success.”

Facing extensive cuts within their department and a much greater need due to the recession, the DCYF is facing a “perfect storm” of economic conditions, White said.

“You have less money, more need and fewer people to get the money out,” she said. “It’s really just this process, and if the process isn’t fully supported, it’s destined to be problematic.”

Worst case scenarios

San Francisco’s budget is not yet finalized, and there is still a possibility that money could be added back into the DCYF budget. Supervisors Bevin Dufty, David Campos and Sophie Maxwell introduced a resolution requesting the city controller’s office to conduct a review of DCYF’s award decisions to present to the board in time to adjust the 2010-11 budget.

“Some of the choices that are embedded in this proposal are not only wrong, but I actually think they’re dangerous because they leave communities with high levels of need without programs that are not only good programs, but are actually vital to the health and safety of those neighborhoods,” Campos said.

While “add-backs” to the DCYF resulting in some restoration of funding would help the Mission Science Workshop and other youth-serving non-profits, the budget maneuver only covers next year. DCYF grant awards cover the next three years.  Even with some add-backs, community based organizations would have no guarantee of funding for 2011-12, when the city’s budget deficit is projected to top $750 million, or for the following year.

Meanwhile, Sudran splits his time between doing what he loves, teaching science to kids in the Mission, and advocating for funding for his program. He is also actively planning for additional community science workshops in California through a grant from the S. D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation.

The worst case scenario is if the current budget passes, he said, meaning no add-backs or restoration of funding, and the workshop would be cut off from city funding for the next three years.

“We would figure out how to continue,” Sudran said. “I don’t think I could imagine ditching the program.”

Sudran said he would be left with the option of firing the workshop’s two employees and running it himself, serving less than one third of the children he does now, or forgoing his own salary and benefits and registering for social security and medicare to support himself. Or a private donor could cover the loss.

“Crisis can be opportunity,” Sudran said. “We’ve exponentially increased our amount of outreach because of this crisis. All kinds of people are finding out about us that didn’t know, including a number of supervisors who didn’t know about this program. Now they do, or they’re going to know. The mayor is for sure going to know.”

By Angela Penny
The Guardsman

Second Life resident Caitsu Manga flies a kite in th fields outside of Zero Style Hair. Second Life is a virtual world where users can create a persona all their own while interacting with other players. JESSICA LUTHI / THE GUARDSMAN

Watching Life 2.0, a documentary about the virtual reality sensation Second Life, was an entertaining thrill, emotionally insightful and satisfyingly voyeuristic.

The juxtaposition of the real and “imaginary” lives of four heavy Second Life users was fascinating. Watching the film was like taking an imaginary vacation to some other planet, with a complete society including beaches and dance clubs, fashion and real estate, friends and strangers. The graphics were very utopian, with clean lines and computer generated images. It was basically a binge of collective imaginations.

Life is much easier in Second Life than it is in the physical world. For instance, while dating in Second Life, a woman gets upset because the private beach won’t allow them to fly.

After this couple failed to make a real-life relationship work, the man speculated that if they hadn’t ventured out of Second Life, they would “have a nice house in Second Life somewhere with lots of friends,” and would probably be still together, emotionally if not physically.

One of the subjects in the film is the fashionable avatar, Asri Falcone, who designs high-end skin, fashion, and housing products for Second Life denizens.

In stark contrast to her avatar, the camera pulls back to reveal the real-life Falcone, snoring in her unkempt bed before her alarm goes off at 6 p.m. All of the subjects in the documentary seem to spend most of their nights staring into a computer.

Living your life as an avatar is like the ultimate in plastic surgery.

In reality Asri Falcone is pretty, but she’s overweight, lives in her pajamas and chain-smokes. She also lives in her parents’ Detroit basement.

Falcone says she earns well into “six figures” by selling her products, but I wonder if that includes decimal points or is in game dollars, since about 250 Second Life dollars is equal to one US dollar. She lives with her parents because they’ve all had some health problems and her mother is an excellent cook specializing in soul food and fried chicken.

Filmmaker Jason Spingarn-Koff also follows a young man strangely obsessed with building a Second Life persona of an 11-year-old girl. At one point this avatar spends time as a suicide bomber and eventually plans her own death.

The documentary doesn’t judge whether ultimately Second Life, is healthy or non-healthy but it definitely has the power to take over people’s lives. For all of the individuals profiled, their Second Life experience was almost more important and more “real” than their physical surroundings.

One of the founders of Linden Labs, the San Francisco-based company that created Second Life, said one of the biggest differences between the virtual world and first life is that you can’t physically hurt someone or be hurt.

The film is not an encyclopedic expose of how to use the tools in Second Life. For me, the virtual experience of the movie was enough to know about what goes on in this “new reality.” And I’m satisfied that I’m not missing out on anything.

By Aaron Turner
The Guardsman

(L-R) City College sophomores Wendy Zhu and Michelle Wu face Skyline's Rachel Bernia and Nour Abudamus in their first-round doubles match during the Northern California Badminton Finals, May 8 at the Wellness Center. ROBERT ROMANO / THE GUARDSMAN

For the second season in a row, the Northern California Women’s Badminton Finals were a formality for the most dominant program at City College this year.

The undefeated Rams aim to make history in Pasadena by capturing their first ever state championship, a feat that has never been accomplished by any Northern California school.

The Rams, who were the host team for this year’s NorCal Finals, held at the Wellness Center on May 8, were able to secure #1 seeds for both doubles and singles. They will send a total of six players to Pasadena City College, the site of this year’s State Championships.

After the matches were over, Fred Glosser and Coni Staff, the teams co-head coaches, were all smiles inside the Wellness Center.

“I’m very pleased with today’s results,” Staff said. “I feel that we have put ourselves in the best possible position to win at state. I think we consider ourselves the favorite to win it all, and rightfully so.”

It would be hard to argue with Staff’s assessment, as the Rams began the season loaded with experience players. As state runner-up last season, they fell just short to host Irvine Valley College, a team that boasted four Olympic trained badminton players. This year, the playing field will be much more even, Staff said.

The Rams will compete in the State Finals which begin on May 13. The individual player competitions will then take place that weekend, May 15 – 16.

“It’s going to be between us and Pasadena this year for the team championship,” Staff said. “While we haven’t seen their number one player, a coach has told us that we match up with them very well strategically.”

Strategy aside, City College’s best weapons may be their sophomores, five of whom were at Pasadena last year.

“They’ve all been there, they know what to expect,” Glosser said of his team following the NorCal finals, adding that he persuaded sophomore Maggie Choy to return for her second season after a four year hiatus from badminton, with the hopes of winning a state title before he retired.

Choy last played for the Rams in 2006, before leaving City College until this season. Despite that much time away, she stepped in nicely as the Rams’ number one player in both singles and doubles.

“Coach Glosser wanted to form a good women’s team this year, and win a state championship,” Choy said in regards to her returning. For Choy, she couldn’t have made a better decision.

“This year was just so fun,” she said. “We have all known each other for a long time on the team, and we have such great coaches, so I am happy to be back.”

“Maggie sets a great example and a great work ethic for the rest of the team,” Staff said. She also praised the work of sophomore Wendy Zhu, who is seeded #2 for State, and was the number two singles player all season.

“Wendy is always the first to practice and the last to leave,” Staff said. “She is a huge reason why this team is so disciplined and so well conditioned this year.”

Having seen her team come up just short last year, Zhu is yet another battle-tested player the Rams have at their disposal.

“I think we have an even better chance this year,” Zhu said. “We’ve all been through tournaments before, and have been on out there on the court before, so experience definitely helps.”

By Kwame Opoku-Doku III
Contributing Writer

COURTESY OF 5 STICK FILMS INC.

When Peter and Benjamin Bratt set out to score their newest film, “La Mission,” City College Latin American studies instructor Greg Landau seemed like a natural choice to help them achieve the “Mission sound.”

Landau, a three-time Grammy nominated music producer, played guitar for numerous bands during the Latin rock movement in the 1970s. A friend of their mother Eldie Bratt, Landau has known the brothers since they were children.

Eager to express a vision of the neighborhood that was not just about Latin music, the Mission district natives sought to create a complex blend of oldies, R&B, rock and Latin.

“It was a challenge to put together a musical soundscape for the place I grew up,” Landau said. “It forced us all to look inside and see what music told our story and the stories of the different generations that inhabit this same space.”

Landau said he worked mainly on post production, although he did help record music for the graduation scene and gathered “local hip music” for possible use in the film.

“La Mission,” which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, relied heavily on its soundtrack to tell its story – blending complex styles of music with an equally complex story that mixes themes of spiritual ascension and violence.

The main vehicle of the film, Che Rivera, is played by Benjamin Bratt. Bratt was a former student of City College music instructor Helen Dilworth when she taught at Lowell High School. Caught in a battle between the socially-accepted chauvinism he was raised with, and the love he feels for his gay son, Che finds healing and inspiration from his neighbor, Lena, played by Erika Alexander, who is also a former City College student.

An activist and advocate for youth, Alexander is known for her portrayals of strong-willed women. Jehmu Greene, president of the Women’s Media Center, called Alexander “a powerful voice for youth at risk – girls and women.”

Dilworth, a former instructor of Alexander couldn’t be happier for her prior students. She was particularly pleased with Alexander’s portrayal of a strong African-American woman as a female lead and the cultural diversity and warmth of the film.

“The film deals with very important themes that need to be dealt with,” Dilworth said.

Although her role as co-producer may not have always been harmonious, for City College film instructor Debbie Brubaker, “La Mission” was really something special to be a part of.

Dubbed “the Godmother of the San Francisco independent film movement,” Brubaker’s first job was to convince Peter Bratt to cut some 30 or so pages of his script.

“It was Benjamin initially who was most upset over the idea of cuts in the script,” she said. “But when he saw the re-worked script he couldn’t find what was missing.”

She said her main duties were hiring and handling the crew — several of whom, including production manager Chris Martin, were former and current City College students. She also acted as a liaison with the union, a shepherd of sorts, staying on top of the crew and the budget of about $2.25 million, which she said should have been closer to $4 million.

As the production progressed, numerous challenges surfaced.

“Locations were tough, working in the Mission,” Brubaker said. “Having big actors going into honey wagons instead of trailers, dealing with the residents. It was hard.”

But for Brubaker, it was a labor of love. She really enjoyed working with the Bratt brothers. She even called Peter the real star of the project.

“He’s a really wonderful man,” she said. “Very sensitive. Very spiritual.”

She loved the movie, but said the producer in her would have cut an additional 10 minutes.

“What’s great about the film is that you don’t have to be gay or Latino for the film to touch you. It speaks to everyone,” Brubaker said. “That’s its biggest strength.”

“La Mission” has become a hit among Latinos, whom professor Landau says “rarely see complex portrayals of working-class people, especially Latino gays.”

“The film told an important story about tolerance and the way men try to use power and violence to get their way and lose sight of their humanity,” Landau said.

Dilworth couldn’t be happier with its success, because it’s an independent film dealing with a culture rarely portrayed in movies.

“It touched me in a way that films rarely do,” Dilworth said. “And that’s enough for me.”

Students prep for annual formal fashion show

By Estela Fuentes
The Guardsman

City College fashion students are getting ready to present their end of the year fashion show “Belle Epoque,” meaning beautiful era, on May 25 which will have a theme of 1920s underground Paris.

After deciding on a theme, the class was broken up into four different groups: production, sponsorship, fashion house and marketing.

For production, design students were assigned to one of five design categories — La Femme, The Shining, Out Of Africa, In Black and White and Tribal. Each student made a series of designs and the fashion department determined which would fit best into each category of the show.

Students in the sponsorship group have been working hard to get funding from businesses in San Francisco.

“The hardest thing I found was going up to a complete stranger, asking them for money and to take interest in your work and to sponsor you,” fashion student Brittaney McCreavy said. “With the help of our professors, we learned how to network within the city and find people.”

The fashion house group, in charge of choosing models, held an open casting session on April 20. With the help of fashion instructor Natalie Smith, students in the marketing group reached out to modeling agencies throughout the Bay Area, as well as advertised the audition to City College students.

“I have relationships with a lot of modeling agencies in the city, so I personally contacted them to let them know I was teaching this class,” Smith said. “I encouraged them to send their new faces, so their models can gain experience on the runway.”

Models were asked to submit a head shot, but were also required to present two different walks. Judged on a scale of one to four, all auditioning models were assessed based on appearance, how they walked and the energy they could bring to the runway.

The marketing group has also been spreading the word through social media, online and in print.

“This is a really passionate group of students,” Smith said. “They are really eager to get a good basic foundation on what it takes to produce a fashion show.”

Belle Epoque will be held May 25 at 8 p.m. at the Wellness Center, with a pre-show reception from 7 – 8 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for the general public. They can be purchased at the Ocean campus bookstore annex, the fashion department in Batmale Hall room 210, the Downtown campus bookstore or the Mission campus bookstore.

—

City College off-campus runway shows begin

By Jen Houghton
The Guardsman

Among glowing blue lights and a photographer’s flash, models strutted an L-shaped runway to a mix of live rock and electronic music, drawing attention from pedestrians outside the large windows at Sugar Cafe on April 19.

“From Dusk Till Dawn” was organized and executed by a team of students in the fashion coordination evening class. It was the first of many student-organized, off-campus fashion shows coming up in the following months.

“We’re one of the only schools in the state that produce our own fashion shows,” fashion department chair Diane Green said.

The teams work throughout the semester on the production. They secure a venue, clothing, models, a DJ, hair and makeup artists, as well as a videographer and photographer. All services are donated to the department.

“We were the first group, so we had the shortest amount of time,” said group leader Syeda Lee, who booked the venue and solely drafted the proposal to get materials and volunteers.

Mercedes Briancesco secured a photographer and, in cooperation with Ariana Casanovas, found volunteer models. Alexandra Cazares landed hair and makeup artists as well as a videographer to capture the event. Ibrahim Brahama was in charge of queuing, making sure the models’ timing to enter and leave the runway was perfect. Danielle Bilanko, Ashlyn Jones and Briancesco obtained clothing and accessories from friends and local stores including Dema, Sway, House of Hengst, Wasteland and Goodwill.

Many of the fashions included dark fabrics, metallic accessories, short hemlines and tall heels.

“For this show we were thinking, good girl gone bad,” Lee said.

The models, all volunteer, ranged from amateur to experienced.

Alexis Gibney was visiting from San Diego and hadn’t planned to be modeling.

“I’m not much of a fashionista,” she said. “Four girls pulled out at the last minute. I’d do it again to help a friend out.”

Others, like Leanna Chavez, have walked in City College fashion shows before.

“It’s an adrenaline thing,” she said. “When you’re on the runway, you can feel it go through you.”

The show was fast-paced behind the scenes but ran smoothly in front of the audience.

“It’s definitely intense,” model Chane Rodgers said.

To close the show, the team stepped onto the runway to accept applause. Afterward, models posed for photographs and Sugar Cafe began bustling with attendees and participants, all excited and some relieved, many already talking of future endeavors.

“This summer is when I want to make stuff happen. I really just want to gain more experience,” Lee said. “Seeing it all come together was the best part.”

Sophomore Priscilla Madilla finishes 4th in the women's 1500m race during the Maurice Compton Invitational on April 17. ROBERT ROMANO / THE GUARDSMAN

By Aaron Turner
The Guardsman

In their final invitational of the season, the City College track and field team headed into Merritt College on April 17 in preparation for this week’s Coast Conference Trials with the hopes of finishing strong.

In perhaps a preview of coming attractions for those competing, the Maurice Compton Invitational was a showcase for many of the Rams’ top competition in Northern California.

“Our main goal was to make sure everyone felt and ran well,” head coach Doug Owyang said following the meet. “We felt this was the perfect tune-up for our guys, and it allowed them to get a good look at what they will be facing in the Conference and NorCal Trials.”

Sophomores Trevor Rogers and Carlos Proctor and freshman Norman Terea led the way for the men’s sprinters, while sophomore twins Mark and Luke Frazier, along with Benny Willers and Fernando Diaz, finished among the top five in three separate distance events.

In the men’s 200-meter dash, Rogers took fifth overall, while Tarea and Proctor were right behind in sixth and ninth. Rogers and Proctor would then team up once more in the men’s 100 to finish sixth and ninth, respectively, while Chen finished 24th.

Luke Frazier and Willers also claimed the top two spots in the men’s 3,000 steeplechase, while Diaz and Mark Frazier placed second and eighth in the men’s 1,500 run.

“I think everybody has improved all year long,” Willers said. “So we all felt pretty good running out there. This is a good chance to see where we’re at at the end of the season and where we are going into conference.”

On the women’s side, sophomore Agnes Silvestro and freshman Stephanie Cano took fourth and sixth overall in the 1,500 run, while sophomore Lydia Offord took seventh in the 400 dash and eighth in the 200 dash.

“My goal was to make sure I felt good running, but also try and get my best times,” Offord said. “The coaches are still pushing me to work on my form and my running style, to get ready for Coast and NorCal.”

The Rams field side also had two top finishers. Rogers took first place in the men’s long jump for his third event of afternoon, while freshman Daniel Harris-Lucas took fifth overall in the men’s shot put.

“I went in trying to make sure I was well prepared,” Lucas said. “This also helped the team to be focused and ready to go once conference begins.”

The Coast Conference Trials are set to take place April 28 at San Jose City College, followed by the Coast Conference Finals on May 1. The team will then have six more days before heading to American River College in Sacramento on May 7 to compete in the Northern California Trials. The Northern California Finals are on May 14.

To qualify for the May 21 State Championships, runners must finish in the top six for their respective events.

“Our team is really prepared this season for both Conference and NorCal,” Owyang said. “I think depending on the runner, for some NorCal will be their last event of the season, while for some, they will be looking to go even further.”

By Fleur Bailey
The Guardsman

Rokas Armonas sells honey from Marshall's Farm at Ram Plaza on April 19. JOSEPH PHILLIPS / THE GUARDSMAN

Allergy sufferers feeling the unpleasant effects of pollen in the spring blooms may now find some relief in the form of local honey, which will be sold from a stall at Ocean campus.

Allergies have been out in full-form this month, and sufferers don’t always find relief from over-the-counter medicines for coughing, sneezing, runny nose, itchy and watery eyes.

The good news is there is a simple and effective way of keeping allergies under control — local honey. Marshall’s Farm, which produces honey from the San Francisco Bay Area will be selling their honey from a stand on the Ocean campus of City College at a local farmers’ market.

The CCSF Green Corps and the Associated Student Council, began holding a farmers’ market at Ram Plaza on April 19, featuring locally grown organic produce and organic food.

“A farmers’ market is a focal part of community life,” said Zen Trenholm, vice-president of finance for the CCSF Green Corps. “There is no other farmers’ market close by, so we want it to be as much shocking as it is educational, to buy local fresh produce.”

Rokas Armonas, a foreign exchange student from Lithuania who studies beekeeping management and works for Marshall’s Farm said consuming locally grown organic raw honey works best for helping combat allergies.

“Fresh honey that is still alive builds an immunity to the pollen outside,” Armonas said.

When the bees gather the pollens they bring them to the hive and are blended with the honey that they produce. Consuming honey produced within a 50-mile radius from where you live and work, harvested in the present season, helps the body’s immune system build up a resistance to the pollens that are causing the allergies.

There are many other benefits of honey, alongside helping to prevent allergies. According to Benefits-of-honey.com, honey also has antiseptic, antioxidant and cleansing properties. It can help with weight loss and cholesterol, sleeplessness, stress, and many skin ailments including acne, athlete’s foot and eczema.

Honey contains a wide variety of vitamins, including B6, B1, B2 and B5, and minerals such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, sodium and zinc, as well as anti-oxidants and amino acids.

“We want to provide education about local honey and how it helps,” Armonas said. “We harvest honey every week and bring it fresh. We would like to see the response and how it works.”

Trenholm said so far they have around 12 other local farmers interested in participating in the market at City College, which typically sells field-ripened fresh fruits and vegetables; freshly baked breads and pastries; flowers, gourmet appetizers and gifts; fresh fish, nuts, mushrooms and more.

The next farmers’ market will be held at the Ocean campus Ram Plaza from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on May 3.

Allergies have been out in full-form this month, and sufferers don’t always find relief from over-the-counter medicines for coughing, sneezing, runny nose, itchy and watery eyes.

The good news is there is a simple and effective way of keeping allergies under control — local honey. Marshall’s Farm, which produces honey from the San Francisco Bay Area will be selling their honey from a stand on the Ocean campus of City College at a local farmers’ market.

The CCSF Green Corps and the Associated Student Council, began holding a farmers’ market at Ram Plaza on April 19, featuring locally grown organic produce and organic food.

“A farmers’ market is a focal part of community life,” said Zen Trenholm, vice-president of finance for the CCSF Green Corps. “There is no other farmers’ market close by, so we want it to be as much shocking as it is educational, to buy local fresh produce.”

Rokas Armonas, a foreign exchange student from Lithuania who studies beekeeping management and works for Marshall’s Farm said consuming locally grown organic raw honey works best for helping combat allergies.

“Fresh honey that is still alive builds an immunity to the pollen outside,” Armonas said.

When the bees gather the pollens they bring them to the hive and are blended with the honey that they produce. Consuming honey produced within a 50-mile radius from where you live and work, harvested in the present season, helps the body’s immune system build up a resistance to the pollens that are causing the allergies.

There are many other benefits of honey, alongside helping to prevent allergies. According to Benefits-of-honey.com, honey also has antiseptic, antioxidant and cleansing properties. It can help with weight loss and cholesterol, sleeplessness, stress, and many skin ailments including acne, athlete’s foot and eczema.

Honey contains a wide variety of vitamins, including B6, B1, B2 and B5, and minerals such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, potassium, sodium and zinc, as well as anti-oxidants and amino acids.

“We want to provide education about local honey and how it helps,” Armonas said. “We harvest honey every week and bring it fresh. We would like to see the response and how it works.”

Trenholm said so far they have around 12 other local farmers interested in participating in the market at City College, which typically sells field-ripened fresh fruits and vegetables; freshly baked breads and pastries; flowers, gourmet appetizers and gifts; fresh fish, nuts, mushrooms and more.

The next farmers’ market will be held at the Ocean campus Ram Plaza from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on May 3.