PCC Courier, April 01, 2005

I III [ssue 6 X actors to with lines the others oud’s stem wide for a hat makes ich harder e admires •s to think their char- respect For is the joy” ;sion, said : and light . happy.” that chal- is $10. :c m, as rets can be to the per- ■ the show le Sexson .lley south angement :t, provid- nt atmos- and audi- : followed ormances ril 2. For a call z/ Courier ter ment iS Lots Turns into Melee Student ■ More than 40 peo¬ ple rushed to help a student who was injured in an incident that campus police label a gang-related hate crime. Fight in Jennifer MacDonald and John Avery Staff Writers А РСС student was assaulted March 23, when a thrown chunk of concrete struck his face during a possibly gang-related melee in park¬ ing Lot 6. Parking According to the police report, approximately 40 people scattered from the lot as campus police officer Russell Ruetz arrived at 6:03 p.m. One witness told Ruetz that the sus¬ pected rock thrower, a former PCC student, had argued with victim Justin Derel Garrett in the men's gym an hour earlier. Garrett said that he had left the men's gym to avoid a conflict after his basketball game had ended in a heated argument. He then left cam¬ pus, only to be attacked by about seven men on his return from Burger King for an evening class. Garrett's friends raced to his aid across Bonnie Avenue, where he shares an apartment with other stu¬ dent-athletes. One of them wielded a wooden post from the nearby flowerbeds to break up the fight. Garrett said that he continued to defend himself even after the projec¬ tile hit his face. “He has a good-sized welt,” Ruetz said, noting that paramedics from the Pasadena Fire Department responded to treat the wound, which was bleeding and swollen into a two-inch bump. Garrett declined transport to an emergency room for further observation. Pasadena city police also responded to the incident and searched the Burger King for sus- Fi§ht A Page 4 Faculty Battle Over Web Filter Rages On ■ Academic Senate board says Internet blocking violates aca¬ demic freedom. Jennifer MacDonald Staff Writer The Academic Senate board continues to press the administration to lift the restric¬ tions on certain Internet sites and discontin¬ ue monitoring web sites visited on teacher and staff computers. The goal is “to eliminate any blocking and any monitoring,” said Kay Dabelow, president of the Academic Senate. Meanwhile, the administration is work¬ ing to perfect the system of website blocking to allow teachers to continue to use the Internet for academic purposes. During a College Coordinating Council meeting on March 23, the administration showed how faculty could access a blocked site. The original plan was for teachers need¬ ing to visit a blocked site for educational pur¬ poses to ask permission from the division dean. Now, when faculty members get the “website blocked” page, they will be able to request an override by entering a username and password that will give them access for one hour. If they need additional time, they can log in for another hour, said administra¬ tive assistant Cindy Smith. The Academic Senate, however, wants all restrictions and monitoring lifted because of issues of academic freedom. “The Academic Senate board, based upon the recommendation of the faculty technology committee and the academic freedom and professional ethics committee, voted unanimously to oppose, as a matter of academic freedom, website blockage,” Dabelow said. Filtering was turned on in November after monitoring revealed abuses to the acceptable-use policy including visits to pornography, gaming and gambling web¬ sites. The administration also wanted to stop personal use of the Internet. A formal memo sent to the administra¬ tion on Tuesday from the Academic Senate will again address the issue of website block¬ age, Dabelow said. Valet Parking Comes to Campus? Photo illustration by William Hallstrom/ Courier WHAT DRIVES L.A.? Despite the opening of the new 2,000-space parking structure, the college still faces major parking problems. To combat this predicament, PCC began valet parking last week in the new lot, inviting students to release their cars to campus valets “at their own risk.” Handicap Placard Misuse a Problem Students Interning at Polytech Titania Kumeh Staff Writer If swiping mom, dad's, or grand¬ ma's handicapped parking placard to get an inch closer to class has crossed your mind, beware! Borrowing a disabled person's park¬ ing placard is a misdemeanor worth $1,500. In the spring term alone, five PCC students have been hit with this staggering fine, written up at the hands of one campus police officer, David Ruetz. Ruetz is on the look¬ out for the misuse of handicapped placards. He said that handicapped people on campus have complained about the lack of parking spaces available for them. The No. 1 problem on campus is the overall lack of parking spaces, said Ruetz. PCC has 28,000 students. There are 4,000 parking spaces and only 75 to 100 of these are designated handicapped spots. Students who illegally occupy these lots make the handicapped parking shortage even worse. “Our goal is not to give tickets," said Ruetz. He prefers to inform stu¬ dents so they won't commit this crime. Authorized users of the placards are well-aware of the law and take steps to make sure they follow it. “Every morning before I leave home for PCC I double check to make sure I have my paperwork that goes with the placard,” said Aric West, film production major. “I always get freaked out when I see the cadets coming around to check the authenticity of my sign. And mine is legitimate. It is really upset¬ ting when someone who needs the special parking sees an able-bodied person jump out of their car and run to class.” Reutz has heard every excuse: “I thought it was okay,” “I'm only parking here for a minute,” and “It's my grandmother's” included. But Kenny Kimura/ Courier Intentionally misusing handicap placards can cost more than $1,500 in fines and penalties. Section 4461(c) of the vehicle code lists the pricy penalty for using another person's handicapped plac¬ ard, notes Ruetz. “And unfortunate¬ ly ignorance for the law is not an excuse,” he said. Placards > Page 6 Chantal Mullins Staff Writer Aristotle once said, “The one exclusive sign of thorough knowl¬ edge is the power of teaching.” Teachers, through time, have con¬ stantly sparked a flame of knowl¬ edge that has ignited into a wild¬ fire for those whom they have taught. For nine PCC students, the dream of spreading knowledge has begun. These students from the teaching program were selected to participate in a student-teaching internship at Pasadena’s Polytech School. Their internships began in February and will last until May. This is the third year for this part¬ nership, in which Polytech accepts eight to 10 PCC students to stu¬ dent teach at the private school. In order to be considered for one of the internships, students must be in the teacher-preparation program at PCC and fill out an application form. Polytech sets up interviews with the students who seem best for the job. Usually the interns work about four days a week, up to a maxi¬ mum of 22 hours. All agreed that Polytech is very flexible with their schedules. The students were allowed to pick which grade they would work with. They can switch grades to broaden their experience or if their first choice isn’t working out. While describing a typical day, student intern Hollie Monte laughed and said, “The [photo¬ copy] machine is a very good friend.” However, doing the tedious stuff isn’t the whole process. She also gets to create les¬ son plans and interact with stu¬ dents. Intern Mike Peters created a St. Patrick’s Day plan involving limer¬ icks. He found it fun and interest¬ ing to see what his third-graders did with the lesson. Intern Robert Cruz is learning to create his own teaching style. He said it’s a great experience “seeing [different] teaching styles and creating [one] of your own.” He enjoys the rewarding feeling at the end of every day and likes the fact that he “can be a positive [influence] in people’s lives. Monte, Peters and Cruz agreed that working at a private school is a very different experience from a public school setting. According to the three interns, the school has very high standards compared to the public schools they had attend¬ ed. They described the students as “very sophisticated, polite and having values.” Polytech also has smaller-sized classes than you would find in most public schools. Peters added that he always thinks of a private school as “some castle on a hill” and that this school is “so amazing.” He feels it has a very positive atmosphere. Monte said that this internship is a great for experience and opportunity. She added this warn¬ ing, though — not all schools are going to be like this. Interns ^ Page 6 April 1 News Briefs... The Courier has discovered a lot of interesting stories on campus that will leave people won¬ dering whether or not they are actually true. Yes, we know it is April 1, but you judge whether there is a grain or two of truth in any of these tidbits. • Apparently, former police chief Philip Mullendore sent a vice president of administra¬ tive services a message hoping that the two could patch up their differences. Whether he intended it or not, Mullendore included a photo of his bare behind on a PCC parking permit with a message asking the VP to kiss and make up. • Several staff members have been reprimanded for spending time on student computers in the D building and the Library checking out Ebay and other websites off limits to employees. • A student in an art history class at PCC offered $500 to anyone who can hand him the beard of a certain division dean on campus. • Faculty members who say they are being forced to pay what the СТА calls their “fair share” are upset that the people who are sup¬ posed to be trying to get raises for faculty have their hands in their colleagues’ pockets. They are calling on the Students for Social Justice to stage a demonstration to protest on their behalf. They feel that neither employers nor unions have a right to force them to turn over part of their salary just to work on campus. • The L.A. County Gang Rehabilitation Unit was thrilled to hear about PCC’s coaching staff changes for the football team. Officers expect PCC to revert back to its old ways of recruiting football players. The new head coach was known for taking men with criminal records in an effort to rehabilitate them on the football field. • A group of students on campus is trying to get the math department to lower the standards for passing math classes. The leader of the group, a cashier at Carl’s Jr., said we don’t need to know that math stuff because we have a computer that adds stuff up for us. Editor’s Note: If you haven’t figured it out by now, we’d better tell you that this oar April fool's day attempt at humor. Congressman Schiff Visits Campus Congressman Adam B. Schiff spoke about proposed changes in Social Security with a political science class on March 25 in room C333.