City College instructor Mono Simeone teaches students how to make a presentation map at a Geographic Information Systems workshop at the Downtown campus on Oct. 6. CLIVE WALKER / GUARDSMAN

By Graham Henderson
Staff Writer

City College is working to stay ahead of the technology curve by offering workshops in geographic information systems. The GIS Education Center at the Evans campus offers workshops as non-credit classes that meet once a week for two to five sessions.

The United States Geological Survey’s website describes GIS as a technology that collects and combines geographical data with other types of information, allowing the data to be studied in ways that would not be possible if it were simply viewed in a raw form.

“If you look at the information through a map you can see the phenomena,” GIS workshop instructor Mono Simeone said. “It’s problem solving, and it’s better decision making.”

The modern form of GIS technology was developed in 1962 by the Canadian Department of Forestry and Rural Development and became more mainstream in the 1980s as commercial companies introduced consumer-targeted software for GIS use. Today, some programs such as the Environmental Systems Research Institutes’s ArcGIS 9, one of the GIS programs taught in the workshops, are able to synchronize data from spreadsheets with maps, and then present a color-coded map to be studied. Web sites offer free downloads of maps and spreadsheets of data, like census reports, for GIS use.

Workshops of different levels are offered in two separate education tracts, Simeone said. One is focused on GIS use for non-profits, researchers and the general public; the other is geared to teach skills needed by technicians or professionals in the industry. The non-profit workshops focus on Google Earth, while the more advanced professional programs teach students the basics of ArcGIS 9.

Many public agencies that use GIS in their operations send their employees to City College’s GIS workshops. “We get a lot of people from [San Francisco] City and County,” Simeone said.

“Health is one of the great beneficiaries of GIS,” GIS Center Director Suzanne Korey said. “If you can look at the the Bayview district and see where the plume of diesel smoke goes, you can make data and facts to show that asthma is the direct result of putting our school bus yards in these places. It’s about evidence.”

City College student Jamon Franklin said that she was taking the GIS workshop mostly out of personal interest, but also because it would help her when searching for a job. “A lot of the environmental groups I’m looking at [working for] want you to know GIS,” she said.

In the near future, the GIS Education Center will focus on increasing student awareness of the workshops that are offered. More workshops are planned for the fall semester. A full schedule is available on the program’s website, www.ccsfgis.org. Ultimately, Korey said, she would like to see more integration of the GIS Education Center with City College’s geography department to possibly offer GIS courses for credit through the department. At this time the GIS Education Center is not planning to offer credit courses.

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.

Students will be working on solar panels, like ones above, in an upcoming workshop being offered at Evans campus on Sept. 20.

By Graham Henderson

Staff Writer

City College Evans campus is participating in the Advanced Transportation Technology and Energy initiative which will provide job training in alternative energies such as solar or wind energy and hybrid/fuel cell vehicles.

The initiative started about 15 years ago and has grown to 10 community colleges spread throughout California said David Dias, advanced transportation technology and energy coordinator at Evans campus. The initiative is such a success that some of its most popular workshops, such as hybrid vehicle training for program instructors, fill up within hours of being announced.

Currently Evans campus is offering forklift workshops through the initiative. Many students taking the workshops are part of San Francisco’s CityBuild program, which provides training and employment for low income residents.

“It’s cool,” said Noah King, a student in the CityBuild program working to get his forklift certification. “After this I could probably get a job at Home Depot while I’m finishing my training.”

City College is also moving towards having a full hybrid vehicle training program, which Dias hopes to offer by the fall 2009 semester. With hybrid cars becoming more common, the demand for technicians is growing. “When I had a hybrid, people would stare at you,” he said. “Now hybrids are totally mainstream”

“No other Bay Area community college offers hybrid courses,” said Joe Gumina, who teaches the forklift workshops as well as conventional automobile repair courses. When hybrid courses do start at City College, they will focus on repair and maintenance of hybrids from all manufacturers, not just Toyota’s ubiquitous Prius, said Gumina.

Gumina says another hurdle that must be cleared before the hybrid program can be started at City College is the donation of hybrid cars to the program, which could be difficult because hybrids are still relatively new, and car owners may not be in the position to donate them.

On September 20, the Evans campus will begin a solar power workshop. Students will work on a mock roof with a four by eight foot array of photo voltaic solar panels. “Students will disassemble it, find out how it works, and put it back together,” Dias said.