Opinions April 30, 2001
1998 Pacesetter
Award-Winning
member of
C A M P U S
Journalism Association
of Community Colleges
Q U E R Y Interviews/ Lucas Muncal Photos/Jonathan Villar
e s t a b l i s h e d
i n 1 9 3 5 There should be a hip-hop Industrial Design classes
Guardsman
history class, exploring because I like making
all types of hip-hop. things.
managing editor
Genn Chryst
news editor
Larry Deweese, 19, Andrés Larin Baranda,
Jonathan Villar Undecided 20, Undecided
opinions
Amanda Bybee
arts editor
Humarra Rashid
features editor Arabic language classes. Arabic language classes.
Sarah Walsh
We know a lot of people We know a lot of people
sports editor who would be interested who would be interested
Adrian D. Varnedoe
in taking this class. in taking this class.
copy editors
Marilen Bugarin
Elizabeth Flanagan
Gabe Ryan Ronza Taha, 19, Miriam Aldainy, 19,
photo editor Pharmacology Marketing
Yuri Miyatake
comics page editor
Ron Harrison
photographers
Susana Bates
Pierre Lesbre I would like to see some “I think that the selection
Tom McLaughlin
Doria Mueller weapon classes added like of classes here is com-
nun-chuks or other mar- plete enough for me.”
writers
Stephen Cockrell
tial art weapons.
Elizabeth Flanagan
Travis Jensen
Pierre Lesbre
Freesia Robins Ronald MG, 23, Carole Breham, 49,
Gabe Ryan Computer Science Art
Sunita Sianipar
Nicholas
von Wettenberg
cartoonists
James O’Neil
Momoyo Kuwaharo
skill that measures one’s intellectual capacity just as much
The Nielsen Report
Sunita Sianipar
Hung Van Lam as memorizing information is. It requires paying attention
production staff to verbal communication and selecting what is important
Genn Chryst enough to write down, and the real world may require you to
Travis Jensen
Mike Kushner use these skills on the job one day and not have the infor-
Freesia Robins
Adrian D. Varnedoe The Advantages of Online Courses mation all typed up and ready for you in an attached docu-
Jonathan Villar ment.
By Jay Nielsen The benefits of having contact with others also get thrown
front page design
Chris Magnani Guardsman St af f Writ er out of the Microsoft Window online. I can’t imagine how stu-
dents who experience college strictly online survive without
advertising manager
Michael Kushner Online college courses are being touted as the next wave the types of lively discussion that have fueled my passion for
in higher education — at least they are by those who marvel certain school subjects. E-mail exchanges have nothing near
advertising sales
Michael Kushner at the idea that class meetings, lectures, assignments and the same number of levels of communication as human inter-
tests can all be done over the information superhighway. action. Eye contact, nodding heads and shared laughter are
faculty adviser But there are elements to the traditional classroom whose
Juan Gonzales just some of the human exchanges that will be casualties of
loss will only be apparent long after schooling via the the “technoversity.”
Internet becomes the accepted standard. Some students of these online universities cite the
The benefits of online classes are definitely appealing. No exchange of classmate profiles as proof that, if anything,
travel time, no schedule conflicts, no uncomfy seats. And it’s they are provided with the opportunity to know their fellow
especially nice for students who prefer to blend into the classmates even better than they would in a traditional
50 phelan ave. woodwork instead of feeling obligated to voice their opinion. classroom. The profiles they provide each other detail pro-
s.f. ca 94112 These particular students may even fare better in this new fessions, hobbies, interests and goals as a means of getting to
office bngl. 209 environment of anonymity since different methods work best know each other, assuming that they wish to do so.
box v-67 for different students. And most everyone will find online But a human being is more than just a list of details that
exchanges far less painful than listening to that one bore in could double as a personal ad. You’re not going to really
t: 415.239.3446
the class who has to chime in about everything. know if you like the person or what they’re about or if they’re
f: 415.239.3241 But a college education is more than just conveyed infor-
eventlist@yahoo.com mation. Receiving the text of a lecture over the Internet may See Online P10
eliminate the tedium of taking notes, but note taking is a
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April 30, 2001 Opinions
Guest Opinions Polit ically Speaking................ by Ron
The Selling of San Francisco
By Wendy H. King nesses are being forced to throw in
Guardsman St af f Writ er the towel, go elsewhere, or shut down
for good. Who and what will be left
Evictions. Businesses closing or after the dust clears?
relocating. Loss of jobs and services. Something has gone seriously
Friends and co-workers moving. wrong with the American Dream in
These scenarios are all too familiar San Francisco. I like growth and
these days. There is not a soul in San prosperity, but not at the expense of
Francisco who hasn’t experienced others’ livelihoods and abodes. It’s
first hand or known somebody who just not morally right to make it dif-
has recently lost a job, a business, ficult if not impossible for San
and/or a place to live. The threat of Franciscans to continue living where
being evicted, laid off, forced to move they have and want in order to make
or close shop loom over we San way for wealthier renters. It’s just
Franciscans these days. not morally right to financially
The list of people, especially squeeze out one business only to
seniors and businesses being thrown make room for another one with big-
out of the city that once welcomed ger bucks. How and why did a city
one and all to the party is becoming that once fostered immigrants, cre-
endless. It’s getting to the point that ative minds, blue-collar workers, as
I am dreading to hear any more news well as the bluebloods dramatically
about another business closing or shift to accommodate only the
moving, and friends evicted or served wealthy?
rent increases I am disgusted with those land-
I’m not opposed to change—-it is lords who have hurt both the resi-
part of life, offering new opportuni- dents and businesses that have made
ties and experiences. I also like busi- San Francisco a great place to live. I
ness and making money. After all, it’s guess they slept through their uni- Pow er Opinion
the American Way. What angers and versity lectures on business ethics, or
concerns me is that the high cost of perhaps the concepts of business and
By Harry Kershner Republican, conservative or anar-
San Francisco, especially rents, is ethics have become two separate
Guardsman Staff Writer chist, we have to admit that this
driving out already existing busi- entities. Friends have told me sicken-
energy farce does not represent
nesses and pushing out long term ing stories about landlords, like vul- The most significant fact about either capitalism or socialism, but
residents. tures hovering above its next victim, the recent “power crisis” is how rather privatized profit for the rich
Not too long ago, San Francisco offering them high sums of money so mundane it is. and socialized costs for the rest of
used to be a place for everyone—-the they’d move out of their rent con- Not that the reality of it isn’t us. And we also have to admit that
rich, the middle class and the poor. It trolled apartment. As these landlords startling: the billions of dollars lost this is merely business as usual in
was a common occurrence for ordi- turn a blind eye in their shameless that could have been spent on America.
nary people such as secretaries, quest for wealth, they change lives health care, education, or infra- Ask yourself: When was the last
house painters, teachers and nurses that don’t want to be changed, structure; the well-founded fears of time you were consulted about mat-
to own homes here. The city used to squash dreams and threaten the those whose circumstances make ters of investment or of foreign pol-
welcome those kinds of folks with city’s unique way of life. them most vulnerable to energy icy?
open arms. Doors have completely These days I cherish those origi- loss; the associated economic casu- Did you vote for the transfer of
closed to any newcomer of modest nal, colorful places that were estab- alties, those workers who have been massive amounts of wealth to rich
means who has starry-eyed dreams lished well before the Age of Greed laid off like pieces of fluff without so investors in Texas or North
of coming to San Francisco. and pray that the City’s spirit much as a twitter from the media. Carolina power-generating corpora-
What has changed is that now endures all this upheaval. I will try The media. Where is the outrage tion
long-term businesses as well as hard- to remain optimistic as resiliency is that one would expect from the Did you vote for the investment
working lower and middle class resi- in the City’s blood. After all, San Fourth Estate over an attack on the in and the sale of hundreds of bil-
dents are being uprooted out of their Francisco was rebuilt after the earth- very essence of democracy? Where lions of dollars worth of weaponry
jobs and homes to make room for new quake and fire of 1906. And like sour- is the in-depth reporting not only of to countries in the Middle East,
businesses and residents of substan- dough bread that is still made from the facts, but also of the correlation Asia, Latin America and Europe,
tial means. Additionally, only those its 150-year-old original starter between the facts? often to both sides of a conflict?
earning high incomes can afford to dough, San Francisco amazingly still Because the electrical power Did you vote for international
buy houses or pay exorbitant rents. has some remnants of its unique fla- matter cannot be dissociated from trade agreements like GATT or
Those folks will also be able to sur- vor, style and panache glimmering, the generic power matters, the stuff NAFTA that clearly harm workers
vive any eviction or company down- in spite of the recent expulsion of its of democracy. all over the world while guarantee-
sizing. God help those long-term res- people and businesses, though I am Publicly-owned power is impor- ing the increasing wealth of the
idents who get evicted or have their seeing less and less of it and whatev- tant not just for itself, but also wealthiest few?
rents increased and get the pink slip. er is still here is faintly visible. because of what it represents: a col- Transfer of wealth to the richest
It will be tough if not impossible to One thing remains sure. If the lective, democratic enterprise in from the rest of us is the single
survive. people and businesses that make up which the community is consulted theme, the glue that ties together
It is a sad day in San Francisco the fabric of San Francisco continue about matters of great importance, these and other apparently dis-
when its long-term residents and to be displaced, there will no longer in this case how we invest the peo- parate issues about which none of
well-established, prosperous busi- be a San Francisco. ple’s money. us have ever been consulted.
Whether Democrat or Where is the democracy?
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