San Francisco, CA
San Francisco State lecturers facing layoffs as university deals with financial issues
San Francisco State University staff are facing layoffs as the university deals with budget issues.
Sean Connelly has made his career as an adjunct lecturer in the Humanities Department at San Francisco State University.
“I spent 17 years of my life here. And I did the best job I possibly could,” said Connelly as he was walking into the humanities building for one of the last times as an employee.
He’s one of dozens of adjunct lecturers who are losing their jobs as SF State cuts its staff amid a shrinking budget.
“It means the rupturing of a community. To lose that is angering. It’s infuriating because I know it doesn’t have to go that way. It doesn’t have to break that way. This is a choice,” he said.
Although adjunct lecturers like Connelly are experts in their field, they typically work on year-to-year contracts with less job security than tenured faculty.
The university won’t say how many lecturers are being let go.
But a statement from the president’s office says lecturer hiring is tied to student enrollment and the numbers are down.
“SF State’s enrollment has been declining as part of a local and national trend of fewer college-going students. As enrollment has declined, unfortunately, lecturer faculty are being significantly impacted as there are fewer sections to teach – especially course sections which are populated by incoming freshmen.”
The university says enrollment is below 24,000 students, down from about 30,000 in recent years.
“It’s been a part of my life for most of my life this university,” said Jolie Goorjian, who is losing her job as a literature and English lecturer after 23 years.
She first came to the university as a 17-year-old student and earned undergrad and graduate degrees from SFSU.
For her, parting ways is taking a heavy toll.
“It’s a labor of love. We’re not paid well. We work really hard during the school year, and we’re devoted to our students, and we’re devoted to this institution that is obviously not reciprocal in its treatment of us. Which also makes it very difficult,” Goorjian said.
Some students are starting to speak out about the cuts and spreading the word that amid the rising cost of education, there could be fewer courses, and more crowded classrooms at the school.
First-year student and Army Veteran Tiy Todd is sharing attention-grabbing missing person posters on campus.
They have the pictures of SF State lecturers who will be missing next semester.
“I’m going to fight for what’s right or what I believe is right and that’s for people to be able to major in what they want to. Make smaller classes, make it available. Don’t take it away. Don’t make people in this economy unemployed,” Todd said.
Goorjian is taking steps to retire and possibly find a new career.
And Sean Connelly is also looking for work.
“I’ve been thinking I could do some good things in the prison system because I know there are people there who are very hungry for some sort of education. But I want to keep teaching because it’s what I love and I think I’m pretty good at it. And everyone deserves to have a good education,” he said.
Connelly and Goorjian’s last day of teaching at SF State is Dec. 11.
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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