Nov. 4 – Nov. 17, 2015 Campus Briefs

November 6, 2015February 25, 2020 The Guardsman

Last Gun Store in SF Closes

The only gun dealer in San Francisco laid down its arms as of Oct. 31 in the wake of proposals for stricter gun regulations in the city. High Bridge Arms closed its doors after 63 years of service in Mission District.

Supervisor Mark Farrell introduced a law that would require the store to video record all gun sales and submit weekly ammunition sales to the police. High Bridge Arms manager Steve Alcairo said this proposed bill is a blatant breach of customer privacy, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Olympic champion pistol shooter Bob Chow opened the store in 1952. Chow sold the store to Andy Takahashi in 1988. Since then, the gun store has been a fixture of political and public debate for gun reform in the city.

Board of Ed Passes Resolution to Protect Trafficked Children

The San Francisco Board of Education has unanimously approved a resolution sponsored by board president Emily M. Murase, which requests new training and policies to detect and prevent the human trafficking of minors in San Francisco schools.

The resolution, entitled “In Support of Countering Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children” was passed on Oct. 15. San Francisco Unified School District staff will add language to the existing Child Abuse Reporting Policy in order to better handle human trafficking in addition to domestic incidents.

A new training program will be created for administrators. teachers and staff to better detect and report human trafficking, while students will receive age appropriate instruction as part of health classes and through peer leaders.

The FBI has identified San Francisco as one of 13 “high-intensity child exploitation area,” with runaways, homeless and foster home youth being at the highest risk for commercial sexual abuse.

CCSF Chancellor Addresses Campus Safety

In the aftermath of the campus incident involving a firearm in the Rosenberg Library, Interim Chancellor Susan Lamb sent an email to the City College community on Oct. 20 to adhere to problems in the College’s safety alert system and the school’s plan to improve them.

Lamb said the administration is working with campus police to install an emergency text messaging system by late November and assessing door locking mechanisms for classrooms.

In order for immediate implementation of safety precautions, Lamb said the school is to solicit outside funding and convene a Safety Task Force to ensure safety on all City College campuses.

Study Shows Students Emotionally Overwhelmed By College

The Jed Foundation, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids and the Jordan Porco Foundations have released the results of a national survey of more than 1,500 people’s first year college experience.

Their report shows that a majority of students report feeling emotionally unprepared, and that those who reported those sentiments are more likely than their peers to drop out, report poor academic experiences, transfer and abuse drugs or alcohol.

Those reporting a sense of emotional underpreparedness reported an average GPA of 3.1 (versus 3.4 for those who did not) and characterized their overall experience as “terrible/poor” at 22 percent, as opposed to 5 percent for their peers.

Airbnb Blunder

A recent Airbnb advertisement campaign against proposition F drew public scrutiny due to what many San Franciscans perceived as a condescending and belittling message.

One of the ads wrote, “Dear Public Library System, We hope you use some of the $12 million in hotel taxes to keep the library open later. Love, Airbnb.”

This advertisement was part of an 8 million dollar campaign to swade San Francisco voters against proposition F, which would impose stricter regulation on short-term private rentals.

Airbnb immediately took down the ads and issued a public apology.

In a company statement, Airbnb wrote how their intention was to show the hotel tax contribution from their hosts and guests ranged close to $1 million per month.

Martha Kenny, an assistant professor from San Francisco State University, wrote on twitter in regards to the Airbnb campaign, “Out of your $12 million of hotel tax, only 1.4 percent goes to the SF Public Libraries. However, had you donated that $8 million you spent fighting Proposition F directly to the public library you love so much that could have made a bigger difference.”