Feb. 10 – Feb. 23, 2016 Campus Briefs

February 12, 2016February 25, 2020 The Guardsman

Mayor Requests Federal Investigation into SFPD

Mayor Ed Lee and Police Chief Greg Suhr have requested an exhaustive and transparent review of the SFPD by the Department of Justice according to Brian Stretch, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California.

The independent investigation, called by the the attorneys of Mario Woods’ family, continued Feb. 2 at the Phillip Burton Federal Building.

“Immediately following the shooting, our office and the district attorney’s office were in close communications and jointly determined that the district attorney’s office would pursue and lead an investigation into the shooting,” Stretch said.

The review will examine whether racial and ethnic disparities exist.

“The FBI and our office continue to communicate with the district attorney’s office, and we are monitoring the investigation,” Stretch said. “At the conclusion of the investigation, federal authors will undertake a full review. If, after that full review we have identified unvindicated federal civil rights interest, then we will pursue a separate federal investigation at that time.”

Racist St. Ignatius Party

Fourteen students from St. Ignatius College Preparatory were suspended for attending a party with a racist theme on Jan. 23.

The gathering was labeled through social media as a “wigga” party, in which white people together mimicked stereotyped elements of black culture in a mocking act of cultural appropriation.

The Guardian reported that students at the party wore tracksuits, braided their hair and took pictures doing gang signs in Stern Grove. They posted these pictures on social media, which was how school officials were alerted.

Parents felt concerned by the presence of alcohol at the party, according to The Guardian. The gathering had children from other schools in attendance, although it’s uncertain whether disciplinary action has been taken on their end.

St. Ignatius has a history of being predominantly white school, with its student body consisting of 59 percent white students and 7 percent black students.

Uber Demonstration

Uber drivers held a demonstration outside Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 7 to protest of the recent fare cuts, SFGATE reported.

WIRED reported that Uber proposed cutting San Francisco holiday fares by 10 percent and East Bay fares by 20 percent. Uber drivers are paid by the mile, and many drivers say these fare cuts are not living wages.

Uber has approximately 40,000 drivers in the Bay Area, with main headquarters in San Francisco.

“You saw the damage we caused two weeks ago when we lit up all of San Francisco with an up to 6.9 percent surge pricing,” “self-proclaimed Uber Drivers United Leader Mario in a YouTube video.

Downtown Campus Fire

A small fire broke out on the fourth floor of City College’s downtown campus on Friday, Feb. 5, around 2:30 p.m. The fire was quickly contained by the San Francisco Fire Department and no injuries occurred.

The fire prompted class cancellations the following day. Scheduled classes resumed Monday, Feb 8. and room change notices were posted in the lobby and fourth floor to redirect students, faculty and staff to temporary, substitute classrooms.

The fire damaged part of the building’s electrical system, but did not cause significant harm.

Discretion over Labor Propositions

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) 2121 and the Associated Student Council were restless but resolute as they expressed concerns for full-time and part-time workers at the Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 28.

The employee relations office announced that they added off-schedule bonuses of 2.17% and 2.9% respectively to staffs’ three year contracts. However, AFT 2121 said these bonuses were one-time only and end during contract termination. Overall AFT 2121 want a 19.17% wage increase to make up for decreased wages since 2007 and escalating costs of living.

The board also discussed the Balboa Reservoir Project, which has been under consideration since 2014. A financial advisor gave a PowerPoint presentation on using the space to provide housing for low-income and middle-income earners. Upon hearing this, a unified “we’re not middle-income anymore” erupted from seated faculty.