PCC Courier, April 06, 2006

Serving PCC and the Pasadena community since 1915 April 6, 2006 pcc-courieronline.com Vol. 93, Issue 7 Kris Calnon / Courier All Rain, No Shine: The ongoing rain falling on campus can be a nuisance to stu¬ dents running from class to class. Kate Murray Editor-in-Chief Tomorrow the Philosopher- Citizen Institute will hold its first annual scholar’s colloquium, titled “The Profound Challenges Facing Citizen-Thinkers: How ‘Civic Philosophy’ Can Help Them.” The colloquium will be led by Dr. John Roth, professor of philosophy, and Dr. James Nichols, professor of political science, both from Claremont McKenna College. As the topic of the discussion, Nichols will pose the following question: “What are our ethical obligations, if any, to our fellow human beings around the world?” Five additional guest speak¬ ers will make brief presentations as well. Audience members will be invit¬ ed to join the discussion by asking questions or commenting on the topic at hand. “The purpose of this is to improve the quality of citizen decision-making in America,” said Melissa Rudberg, assistant to Dr. Linda Handelman, director of the institute and PCC pro¬ fessor of philosophy. The colloquium will be held from 2-7 p.m. in the Creveling Lounge. The colloquium will be followed by a workshop on April 14 from 7-9 p.m. in the Circadian Lounge. This work¬ shop will feature Handelman and Mayor ВШ Boggard. Both events are free to the public; however, it is sug¬ gested that each attendee make a donation ranging from five to 10 dol¬ lars. For more information about this event or the institute in general, con¬ tact Handelman at (626) 585-7406, e- mail the institute at philosopher_citi- zen@hotmail.com or visit its website at www.pasadena.edu/phil-cit. Dangers of Spring Break Loom Ahead freedoms.” Bickley continued on to say that -occasional use is not the problem; it is the people that make over a 1 ,000 hits in a two-week period that would raise a red flag. “What we are really asking for is to stop monitoring altogether,” Bickley said. Senate members said they sent out a statement of support petition asking each division on campus to circulate it, gathering signatures opposing the monitoring. The petition might be used as part of the senate’s argument against monitoring. However, mem¬ bers said they have to wait until all the signatures are counted. “What is really transpiring at tonight’s board meeting is that we are putting forth an argument,” Bickley said. “By having the administration monitor Internet use, the district would think that we do not have enough trust to monitor ourselves.” Meagan Clements Staff Writer Traditionally, spring break in the United States is a time when a signif¬ icant number of college students let loose, use alcohol excessively and partake in unprotected sex. During the one-week break in the school calendar, approximately 1 mil¬ lion U.S. students participate in some form of spring break vacation. Traveling to vacation destinations such as Mexico, Florida, Canada and Hawaii, thousands of college stu¬ dents are eager and excited for a week of debauchery. Binge drinking is one of the fore¬ most problems at spring break hot spots. According to the Pub Med National Library of Medicine web¬ site, 442 women and 341 men were surveyed at Panama City Beach, Florida to assess travel motivation on alcohol consumption and binge drinking during spring break. The mean number of drinks per day was photo iUusration by Stephner White / Courier Be Prepared: Students can educate themselves about the dangers of spring break to ward off potential mishaps. 18 for men and 10 for women. Ninety-two percent of the men and 78 percent of women had participat¬ ed in a binge-drinking episode. Students were motivated to visit that specific destination because of its “party” reputation and consumed more alcohol than students who cited other reasons for going there. Binge drinking, besides being dan¬ gerous from a health standpoint, can lead to blackouts, arrests, drug use and even violations of universities’ codes of behavior, which could result in expulsion. Students have placed pictures of drinking contests onto websites such as MySpace, where college officials monitoring the web¬ sites were able to identify the students engaging in such activities. Another negative aspect of spring break is the participation in casual or unprotected sex. According to the Pub Med website, the key elements of a spring break vacation include: friends, traveling together, a perpetual party atmosphere, excessive alcohol consumption and sexually suggestive contests. Combined with the permissive environment, peer influences and heavy drinking, unprotected sex is more likely to take place. Unprotected sex (usually with a casu¬ al partner during the spring break period) can lead to a number of STDs, unplanned pregnancies and AIDS. “It’s kind of hard to think of the consequences when everyone is just raising hell and having a good time,” said student Patrick Clemon. Students can still enjoy them¬ selves during spring break, but they should remember that it is a time to relax, not to return to school with the added stress of the consequences of your actions. Latino Committee Offers Scholarship Don Martirez Opinion Editor The Latino Advisory Committee has four $1,000 scholar¬ ships available for qualified PCC students. Students applying must be U.S. citizens or eligible non-citizens and have completed at least 12 cumula¬ tive units at PCC by the end of win¬ ter 2006. They also must have taken a minimum of 12 units per semes¬ ter, have at least a 2.5 GPA, demon¬ strate financial need and have dis¬ played how their career goals will positively affect the Latino commu¬ nity. They also must have been involved in extracurricular or com¬ munity activities. To be considered for a scholar¬ ship, applicants must enclose an official copy of their transcript (aca¬ demic work completed only at PCC), write a personal statement of purpose, complete financial infor¬ mation in the application and enclose two letters of recommenda¬ tions. Incomplete or late applica¬ tions will be disqualified. These scholarships are not lim¬ ited to those with a Latino back¬ ground; anyone can apply. Completed and signed applica¬ tions are due by April 23 in the financial aid and scholarship office in LI 14. Applications will be reviewed by members of the LAC Scholarship Committee. Students selected to receive an award will be notified by the beginning of May. Applications are available in the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office. April Showers Orlando Pina / Courier Remembrance: Members of Students for Social Justice and a small group of student attendees gathered by the Mirror Pools on Thursday to share their thoughts on the war in Iraq during a memorial held for those fallen. Christina Bustamante Staff Writer Although the messages were powerful, the low student turnout at the memorial for fallen Iraq sol¬ diers put on Thursday by Students for Social Justice did not reflect campus concern over the military draft, which could come at any time. SSJ members were in atten¬ dance, as well as a few spectators, but most onlookers just passed by the demonstration. This was a chance for students and staff to come out and speak out against the war, but only a handful of people came out in support of the event. “[There are] over 28,000 stu¬ dents here on campus,” said Jane Hallinger, an English professor. “With the amount that showed up today to show their support, it doesn’t look good. Students need to know that at a snap of a finger a draft can happen at anytime.” Over 2,300 American soldiers were remembered at the event. Stakes with white ribbons were placed in the-ground alongside the Mirror Pools, each ribbon repre¬ senting an American or allied sol¬ dier that has died since the war began. This memorial would have had to be 60 times larger to repre¬ sent the Iraqi deaths as well. “The evolution of the anti-war movement has to become an anti¬ imperialism movement for this war to end,” said Jasmine Delgado, 24, a member of the SSJ. SSJ initiated this event after finding reports that Iraq had noth¬ ing to do with 9/11, had no weapons of mass destruction and had no link to the terrorists. Members of SSJ found out that U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield, Vice President Dick Cheney and others planned the invasion of Iraq long before 9/11. These officials are known as mem¬ bers of “The Project For a New American Century.’” The cost of Iraq is about $4.5 billion a month, $6 million an hour. More money is still being requested from the Pentagon, expected to reach a trillion dollars. “I really appreciate all the work that was put into this event,” said English professor Jill O’Hora. “The display itself just speaks vol¬ umes.” In addition to the stakes repre¬ senting the soldiers, posters of quotes were also displayed along the edge of the grass. One of these read, “We don’t do body counts,” spoken by General Tommy Franks in regards to the number of Iraqi deaths that have taken place since this war has started. “I hope it doesn’t take a draft for college students to wake up and realize this is real,” said SSJ mem¬ ber Rob Machulla, 21 . “ Let’s hope this war ends and - a hope for mankind is revived.” Faculty Under Watch Dean Lee News Editor After recent talks broke down between campus president Dr. James Kossler and faculty members, the aca¬ demic senate asked that the issue of Internet monitoring be placed on last night’s board of trustee meeting agen¬ da. “The issue is, how do we enforce that policy?” Kossler said. “Some would say that we should just trust that people will do the right thing.” At press time, faculty members filled all the chairs and lined the walls to show their support for stopping administrators monitoring faculty computers. Academic senate president Kay Dabelow said Kossler had verbally agreed last year to a six-month mora¬ torium while the situation was reviewed. That time is now up. “What we’re objecting to is moni¬ toring for content,” said Dan Haley, member of the faculty technology committee. “The faculty understands that monitoring our Internet connec¬ tions to make sure that everything is running correctly is necessary. We’re objecting to the president of the col¬ lege deciding what we should or should not see on the Internet.” Academic senate vice president James Bickley said the practice of rou¬ tine faculty Internet monitoring is an infringement of academic freedom. “Teachers of human sexuality might want to use pornography sites in their lectures about the porn indus¬ try,” Bickley said. “There is no ques¬ tion that this interferes with academic Philosophy Forum Offered to Students Memorial Fails to Draw Students Low student turnout at the Students For Social Justice Iraq Memorial proved disheartening.