OPINION
1 EDITORIAL
I SPORTS
Rodney Kinq
Can America stop police brutality?
See Expressions , Page 2
Bleach kits
Will bleach kits stop the spread of AIDS or
will the program backfire? Page 3
IH2j
Rain out
Lady Lancer softball tournament
final delayed Page 4
Pasadena City College
Pasadena, California
Vol. 73 No. 7
COURIER
Thursday
April 4, 1991
NEWSLINE
MATH CONTEST
The Math Department will hold its
annual math contest Friday, April 5, in
R319. Approximately 1,000 students
from across the nation participate in
this contet sponsored by the Ameri¬
can Association of Two-Year colleges.
The contest consists of three writ¬
ten exams on algebra, trigonometry
and geometry. Winners will receive
cash prizes, scholarship, and graphic
and scientific calculators.
MAGIC MOUNTAIN
A private party will be held at
Magic Mountain Friday, April 19 for
Southern California college students.
Tickets can be purchased for $12.95,
which is a savings of nearly 50 percent
Students can either drive and park for
free or hop on a bus for S3. The bus
will leave PCC at 6 p.m.
Tickets must be purchased in ad¬
vance from the student bank. Sign up
in CC 203 for the bus. For additional
information, call the the Student Ac¬
tivities Office 585-7384.
“LIVE FROM PCC”
The communication department will
hold auditions for students who are
interested in being on television. For
those students with talent in the area
of dancing, magic, singing, mime, and
hosting, should attend the auditions
that are being held today beginning at
11 a.m. in C102.
CAREERS IN ART
The art department will sponsor a
workshop on Career Options in the
Arts. The guest speaker will be Annie
Reiniger, from the San Fracisco Art
Institute. She will begin the lecture at
noon today in D209.
PHARMACY LECTURE
“The Field of Pharmacy” will be
the topic of discussion at a lecture by
Rhonda Eaker, a representative from
the School of Pharmacy at University
of the Pacific. The lecture is sched¬
uled for Wednesday, April 17 at noon
in D209.
COMMUNICATION TROUBLE?
“Do you have trouble getting your
thoughts and feelings across to people
you are close to?” According to Diana
Nolin, intern in Psychological Serv¬
ices, most people are never taught the
basic skills of communication.
Students who feel they have com¬
munication difficulties can benefit from
the 1 ‘Five Keys to Unlocking the Door
of Communication” lecture offered
by the Psychology Services, April 17
at noon in C309.
COLLEGE NIGHT
PCC will hold its “College Infor¬
mation Night” April 23, beginning at
5 through 7 p.m. in the Quad.
Students can not only meet repre¬
sentatives from several , universities,
and non traditional colleges which offer
accelerated programs, but they can
also learn about majors, admissions
and financial aid.
INDEX
Opinion
2
Editorial
2
Features
3
Sports
4
Marine visits pen pal on campus
By MICHAEL ROCHA
Special Correspondent
It is a case of accidental acquaintance.
When Marine Sgt. Ken Lane was sta¬
tioned in Jubail Air Base in Saudi Arabia
during the Persian Gulf War, he received a
letter from a PCC student. He wanted to
write back, but there was one small problem :
the student did not sign her full name.
The 30-year-old Lane, a member of the
Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16, sent
the letter anyway, thinking the college would
be able to find a certain “Loi” among
22,000 students.
Since the letter was addressed to a stu¬
dent, it was sent to the Office of Admissions
and Records. When the office failed to iden¬
tify the “Loi” on the envelop, Maria Marti¬
nez, a translator for the Office of Admis¬
sions and Records, decided to write to Lane
instead. She hoped that he would write back.
He did. And what followed was the for¬
mation of a friendship via airmail.
For about three months, Martinez and
Lane wrote to each other, exchanging news
and bits of personal information. And during
that period, their only way of communica¬
tion was through the U.S. Postal system.
That changed on March 21, when Lane
called Martinez from Tustin Air Base and
told her he was home.
“That was one of the first things I wanted
to do,” said Lane. “I have 53 pen pals, and
when I was in Saudi Arabia, I promised
myself I would contact all of them when I
got back home.”
For Martinez, receiving a call from
someone she only knew through letters and
pictures was overwhelming.
“I was really excited,” said Martinez,
38, of Pasadena. “When I answered the
phone, he said I’m home. It took me a good
five to 10 seconds to realize whom I was
talking to.” Lane said he wanted to come to
PCC. Since the office was planning to have
a birthday party on March 28, Martinez told
Lane to come on that day. The birthday party
Oscar Chavez/ File Photo
Marine Sgt. Ken Lane, who was stationed in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War, came to campus on Thursday, March
28, to visit his pen pal Maria Martinez, a translator for the Office of Admissions and Records.
then became a welcome back party as well.
Lane, who arrived decked out in his
Marine uniform, said he was overwhelmed
by all the attention he received from the PCC
employees.
“lam really happy to be home, but I am
sort of embarrassed that they’re showering
me with all this attention. They’re treating
me like a king. ” He conceded , however, that
being treated like a king is much better than
being in the deserts of Saudi Arabia.
“Oh yeah, this is definitely better than
the heat, the boredom and the loneliness I
experienced there.”
He said that the only thing that really
kept him going was mail.
“It felt great to receive letters from
people back home,” said Lane. “There
were a lot of them, but I just couldn’t stop
writing back. Every time I got a letter, I was
overjoyed. Mail was more important than
money over there. We didn ’ t care i f we ever
got paid, as long as we got mail.”
Lane said that since he came back home
March 20, he has contacted almost all of his
pen pals, who live as far away as New York
and Georgia. He admitted it was hard keep¬
ing track of all of them. “There were just a
few that I kept track of.”
One of them was Martinez.
“We would not have done so well over
there if it weren’t for the support of people
like Maria, ’ ’ Lane said. “It was her words of
support that made me feel like a hero.”
But a hero he is not, Lane said. ‘ T had a
job to do, and I did it.”
Student activities adviser fired
By ROSEANN RENZULLO and
MICHAEL ROCHA
Connie Hurston, who was appointed
the Student Activities Adviser on June 6,
1986, was terminated March 21, after
being placed on a two week suspension.
“She was terminated due to personnel
and performance problems that, in the
district’s opinion, were serious enough
that we placed her on suspension, ’’said
Patricia Mollica, dean of human resources.
“Then on March 20, the board took ac¬
tion to dismiss her, effective March 21.”
The four board members present voted
unanimously. Alvar Kauti, dean of stu¬
dent activities, would not comment say¬
ing he was unable to because of federal
law.
The position has not been announced
yet, so there is no replacement at this
time, said Mollica. However, Anna Marie
Schmidt, began part-time March 18, to
assist the student activities and has taken
over some of Hurston’s responsibilities.
Oscar Chavez/ File Photo
Connie Hurston, student activities
adviser, was hired June 6, 1986 and
fired by the Board on March 20.
Vote now for Risser award
Marcelyn Kropp named as
new public relations director
By JENNIFER ANDERSON
Staff Writer
It is time to nominate the 1991 Risser
Outstanding Teacher Award. Students have
the opportunity to nominate their favorite
teacher for the, award presented annually
to the colleges outstanding teacher.
The winner will receive $1,000 cash
and an Outstanding Teacher Recognition
Plaque. The recipient will also have their
name engraved in the Outstanding Teacher
Recognition Plaque located in the C build¬
ing.
The criteria for the award includes qual¬
ity of instruction, inspiration to students,
fairness, understandable evaluation and
grading, loyalty to the college and to this
country.
The nominees must also be full-time
teachers and may not have won the award
previously.
Dr. William Goldmann, dean of educa¬
tional services, encourages students to vole
for the teacher that inspired them most.
Students interested in nominating their
favorite instructor, can pick up an applica¬
tion in CC203 or C209. Completed applica¬
tions must be turned to C209 by 4:30 p.m.
Friday, April 26.
By CHRIS LANGREHR
Staff Writer
PCC recently hired Marcelyn Kropp as
director of public relations at almost double
the salary of her predecessor.
The increase in salary parallels the in¬
crease of qualifications, such as a bachelor’s
degree and experience in the field.
The new director will be responsible for
the college’s annual report, as well as nu¬
merous other newly added duties.
Kropp has 10 years of experience in
public relations, working for Rockwell In¬
ternational and the Los Angeles Indian Cen¬
ter. She has a masters degree in communi¬
cations from USC. She will begin in her post
April 8.
Dr. Grover Goyne,
dean of institutional ad¬
vancement, hopes
Kropp can clarify the
image of the college.
“Successful busi¬
ness people in the
community who went
to PCC 20 or 30 years
ago do not know what
the school has become
overall,” said Goyne.
“They feel good about the college and
they feel it is an important asset, but they
hear only little bits and pieces of informa¬
tion about the college. We found this through
a market study we did two years ago,” said
Goyne.
‘ ‘Over the last year in raising money for
the new library, Dr. Scott and I talked to a lot
of business people in the community. We
discovered that these people had a fuzzy
image of the college,” said Goyne.
“People having a clear image of the
college is important for many reasons. For
starters, it’s important that people are aware
of the many ways the college serves the
community, so they will be interested in
making contributions to the services we
offer,’ ’ said Goyne.
“We feel anyone that is involved in
talking to the media, turning out news re¬
leases, newsletters, and annual reports should
have strong qualifications.! think we do a
goodjobatPCC.and the school deserves the
best,” said Dr. Jack Scott, superintendent-
president.
Kropp will be paid $3,900 a month as the
new director. Scott said the job responsibili¬
ties for the position have also changed. One
of the the new director’s responsibilities
will be to represent
the district at func¬
tions such as serv¬
ice clubs.
And, she will act
as a liaison between
elected city, county,
state and nationally
elected officials or
staff representatives.
-Goyne obtained
job descriptions and
salary levels of
public relations officers from several com¬
munity colleges in the area such as Cerritos,
Cypress and Fullerton.
“We found that the upgraded position
competes on the requirements and salary
levels of other schools our size,” said Goyne.
“Once a person resigns, we can look at
the position and compare it to other col¬
leges, said Goyne.
The salary level is now appropriate for
the duties the new director will be asked to
perform, said Goyne.
"We found that the
upgraded position
competes on the
requirements and
salary levels of other
schools our size,"
said Goyne.
P
