VOL. 53, NO. 8
PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
APRIL 9, 1982
HUNTING FOR EGGS — The Easter Bunny dis¬
tributed his goodies a little early this year to the
children at the Community Skills Center. The brightly
colored eggs were hidden in the grassy field at the
— Courier photos by Tina Andris
Center. Youngsters wildly searched the field and
collected the eggs in baskets and buckets.
Pell Grant Suffers Cuts
BIG BROTHERS — Recruitment week for the Big Brother program
begins April 26 Information booths will be set up to disseminate
information on the program and encourage students 18 years and
older to be a Big Brother.
AS
В
to Generate Interest
By Gia Mancini
Associate News Editor
Higher education in this country is a
privilege, but not one reserved for the
upper-class elite. Anyone who wants to
put forth the effort to achieve a college
education may do so, even though there
are many hardships along the way.- But
the point is, it isn’t impossible, and for
the student trying to make it on his
own, financial aid has always been a
necessity.
Beginning March 1981 the Reagan
administration and Congress initiated
severe cuts in the financial aid pro¬
grams for higher education. Many stu¬
dents in the moderate to lower income
status will be directly affected by these
cutbacks, ultimately resulting in one
out of three having their financial aid
either reduced or completely taken
away.
The list of programs that will be or
already have been affected is long and
varied. Student Social Security benefits
have already been completely elim¬
inated, with present receivers gradu¬
ally phased out during the next four
years. Recent legislation, in trying to
strengthen the financial status of the
entire Social Security program, has
Big Brother Week Ahead
By Doug Brown
Staff Writer
The ASB government will host a Big
Brother recruitment week during the
week of April 26-30. ASB will work with
Evelyn De Anda, assistant public rela¬
tions director for Big Brothers.
During the Big Brother recruitment
week, ASB will have one or two booths
where they will hand out literature
about the Big Brother organization.
“What we want to do is expose the
student body ,to Big Brothers,” said
Paul Kelly, ASB vice president.
Kelly hopes to generate 250 inquiries
for Big Brothers, or roughly one per¬
cent of the student population. The
reason for this, explained De Anda, is
because one in five people who want to
become a Big Brother actually make it.
“Individual personalities play a big
part in determining who will become a
Big Brother.”
In order to publicize the recruitment
week, Kelly plans to post many posters
and handbills throughout the campus.
He also wants to pass out fliers on the
event. “The more publicity the better,”
said Kelly. “We want to generate as
much interest as possible.”
Members of the ASB will participate
in the recruitment week by manning
the booth, handing out fliers and in¬
formation, and informing students on
how they can contact Big Brothers if
they are interested.
The only qualification a person must
have to become a Big Brother is to be
over the age of- 18. - --
In order to become a Big Brother,
one first must call the Big Brother
organization. An orientation meeting
will then be scheduled for several
prospective applicants. At this meet¬
ing, the applicants will be informed
about the Big Brother program, what
being a Big Brother is all about, and an
application form will be handed out.
“Just about everybody turns in the
application form,” said De Anda. “For
those few who don’t, we follow up with
phone calls. If they don’t respond after
the third call, they are taken off our
list.”
If an applicant is accepted to the
program, the future Big Brother will be
matched with a Little Brother. In this
process, the Big Brother can choose the
qualities he wants in his Little Brother.
He can also choose the age of his Little
Brother. The ages of the Little Broth¬
ers range from six to 12 years old.
“Most of the younger Big Brothers
prefer older Little Brothers because 18-
year-olds like to have people closer to
their own age. Older Big Brothers
usually have younger Little Brothers,
because of the father-son rela¬
tionship.”
trimmed certain unearned and un¬
intended benefits that don’t correlate
with the original intent of the Social
Security program. Student Social Se¬
curity benefits were deemed as part of
the waste material in the program.
Student Social Security benefits were
first available in 1965, and they will be
completely eliminated in 1985. Until
then, students will still receive checks,
but with changes. No benefits can be
paid for May through August, and no
student will be eligible for cost of living
increases.
The Pell Grant program has suffered
severe reductions in their funding. This
could mean that millions of Americans
will be denied a college education, and
already 250,000 students face deletion
from the Pell program.
The Pell Grants started in 1972 and
go directly to students, most of whom
are from less affluent families. Ap¬
proximately 53 percent goes to families
with incomes under $9,000 and 73 per¬
cent goes to families with incomes
under $15,000. The cutbacks will almost
completely destroy institutions his¬
torically attended by Blacks because as
many as 70 to 80 percent of the students
in attendance receive some sort of
financial aid.
One-third of the students are self-
supporting, working their way through
college, even supporting families of
their own. The Pell Grants have grown
in importance because the federal gov¬
ernment has reduced various other
student aid and phased out the Social
Security benefit program. Almost
600,000 students will be affected by the
Pell cutbacks, because grants go to
men and women at almost. every col¬
lege in the nation, both public and
private.
The Guaranteed Student Loan Pro-
Trustee Polls Held
During Early May
Student Trustee elections will be
held on Wednesday and Thursday, May
5-6. The times will be from 9 a.m. to 2
p.m. in the Center Quad, and from 6:30
p.m. to 9 p.m. on the Campus Center
porch.
In order to be qualified to run, a
candidate must be a legal resident of
the Pasadena Area Community College
District, be enrolled in at least 10 units,
and have a grade point average of at
least 2.5 in all units attempted.
Campaigning for the election will be
April 26 to May 6. Candidates are
encouraged to campaign actively
providing that campaign expenses do
not exceed $50. There will be no cam¬
paigning within election areas.
Candidates may speak to the individ¬
ual clubs on campus by making ar¬
rangements and obtaining permission
from the club adviser. Candidates may
speak before classes providing they
have the prior permission of the in¬
structor.
In order to be a qualified voter, a
student must be currently enrolled at
PCC.
Ballots will be counted on May 7 at 10
a.m. under the supervision of the Stu¬
dent Activities Adviser. If a write-in
candidate receives a majority of the
popular vote, he will be subject to the
same eligibility requirements as the
running candidates.
—Doug Brown
gram is also under attack. Eligibility
requirements are tougher, the yearly
minimum repayment has been doubled,
and a five percent origination fee has
been charged to students, requiring
them to pay market interest rates
while paying back loans.
It is predicted that by 1983 the
Guaranteed Loan program will be
available only to the needy students,
weeding out moderate income students
from the program altogether. Grad¬
uate students would also be dropped
from the program completely. Alto¬
gether, a total of 500,000 to 1,000,000
students will be dropped from the
program.
Other financial aid programs, such
as the National Direct Student Loan
and the Supplemental Educational Op¬
portunity Grant have also been under
attack, forced to reduce funds drastic¬
ally and eliminate thousands of stu¬
dents. Not only is higher education
being threatened by the Reagan admin¬
istration, primary and secondary
schools are also being hurt in an effort
(Continued on Page 6)
Counseling Time
For Fall Reduced
By Debbie Gehlken
News Editor
Continuing students can now make
counseling appointments to discuss
plans for both summer and fall class
schedules. Ernestine L. Moore, dean of
counseling, urges students to avoid the
pre-registration rush and get in to see
the counselors during this “slow pe¬
riod.”
A 28 percent reduction in the counsel¬
ing staff has prompted the need for
early appointments. A total of five
counseling positions are slated for cuts
with the final determination to come in
May.
“This represents a severe cut in
counseling services to students,” said
Dr. Henry P. Kirk, vice president for
student personnel services. But, Kirk
said, “In no way does this reflect a
disciplinary action.”
“We were asked to take our share in
the cuts and counseling represents the
largest area of our budget. It was
natural to look to that unit for cuts.”
Over $140,000 worth of savings will
result from these cuts, Kirk said.
However, a resolution was unani¬
mously adopted by the Student Person¬
nel Committee that states, “Should
funds become available for 1982-83, the
committee requests that the counseling
positions being proposed for elimina¬
tion be reinstated so that counseling
services to students can be retained at
their present level.”
The counseling area was difficult to
cut, Kirk said, because “this area has
already received more than its share of
cuts since Proposition 13.” At one time
21 counselors were available to stu¬
dents. If these cuts are made, the staff
will be reduced to 13, with one full time
counselor located at the Community
Skills Center.
“We will not be able to provide
counseling services as in the past,”
said Ms. Moore. “First to change will
be our mode of delivery.”
Ms. Moore said, group sessions will
replace many of the individual sessions
and printed material will also be de¬
vised to answer many common ques¬
tions raised by students. Another
proposed change is the required coun¬
selor signature for any student taking
over six units. “Some occupational
students won’t have to be seen at all,”
said Ms. Moore. “We are moving from
the parent mode.”
“We have concerns when this is
occurring at a time when the transfer
system is becoming complex and ca¬
reer decisions are so complex,” said
Ms. Moore. Changes are occurring so
rapidly that students will need help to
decipher the information.
But, Ms. Moore stressed that with
early planning the counselors will have
the opportunity to pull records and
explore the various alternatives avail¬
able to students. Also, counselors from
many universities are on campus to
answer specific questions about their
programs.
“Think of counseling as a year
around process,” said Ms. Moore. “The
students will have to be more ag¬
gressive in their approach to schedul¬
ing.”
“It will be up to the student to try
and figure his or her way through the
maze,” said Kirk.
Counselors will continue to give
priority to students that have shown
they are having a difficult time and
also to new students, stated Ms. Moore.
“We feel a commitment to those stu¬
dents to get them started on the right
track.”
Many of these students will be placed
in the guidance classes offered at PCC.
These classes stress student develop¬
ment and survival strategies.
Kirk said, “The changing student
population is such that if counseling
was ever needed, it is needed now.”
In Search of the Ultimate Egg
Y\
