FEATURE
EARTH DAY
SPORTS
Awareness
New environmental club promotes
awareness among students Page 2
Mother Earth
Earth Day 1990: 20 years of
environmental awareness Page 2, 3
Lancers win
Men's baseball team beats El
C amino, 10-4 Page 4
Pasadena City College
Pasadena, California
Vol. 70 No. 1
тае
COURIER
Thursday
April 19, 1990
NEWSLINE
McNAUGHTON COLLECTION
After July 1 , students entering the
West Reading Room of the PCC Li¬
brary will no longer see the “Mc-
Naughton Collection” title which
currently splans two stacks of shelves
holding the latest in fiction and non¬
fiction releases. The new tentative title
for those shelves will be “Best Sell¬
ers,” said Joanne Kim, assistant dean
for Library Services.
Since 1985, the PCC Library has
contracted for the loaning of the Mc-
Naughton Collection of current books
from the Brodarl Company of Wil¬
liamsport, Pennsylvania, one of the
nation’s largest book jobbers.
Kim said the advantage in the loan
arrangement, which concludes on June
30, is the cataloguing and processing
done by the jobber which has freed the
library of that labor-intensive task,
allowing it to place books on the shelves
very quickly after a minimal task of
card-filing.
After July 1 , Kim said, some speedy
cataloguing will be done to get current
books on the shelves quickly. “You
want to read best sellers now, not two
years later,” she said.
CULTURAL WEEK
As part of Cultural Awamcss Week,
a speech and forum will be held in the
Campus lounge in the CC building
from noon till 3 p.m.. Educator and
psychotherapist. Dr. Antonia Dardcr
will deliver a speech on cultural integ¬
rity, segregation and democracy. An
open forum and reception wil follow
the speech. The musical group Jam-
balaya will open the proceedings in
the campus lounge from 1 l:30tonoon.
LIBRARY FINE AMNESTY WEEK
In observance of National Library
Week between April 22 and 28, the
PCC library will offer a fine-free book
return week for all overdue library
materials. All patrons with long over¬
due materials are encouraged to return
them using this special one-week privi¬
lege during National Library Week.
Earth through a child’s eyes
A five-year-old child answers ques¬
tions about the environment Page 3
Assistant track coach
William Johnson Jr.
dies at the age of 47
William A. Johnson Jr., assistant
track coach and former security officer
at PCC, died Monday. He was 47.
During his tenure, the track team
won the stale and Southern California
championships in 1978 and 1984.
Visitation will be from noon to 8
p.m. on Thursday at Mountain View
Mortuary, 2400 N. Fair Oaks Ave„
Altadena. Services will be at 1 pan. on
Friday at Mountain View Chapel.
INDEX
Earth Day
hi
My View
2
Sports
4
PCC wants new site for CSC
City-owned land topic of talks
between PCC, PUSD and city
By MICHAEL ROCHA
Editor-in-Chief
PCC has begun negotiations with the
Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD)
and the city of Pasadena regarding its
plan to acquire a new, and hopefully,
permanent site for the Community Skills
Center (CSC), which provides free basic
education, bilingual classes and job train¬
ing to 7,000 students, said Dr. Jack A.
Scott, superintendent-president.
In a hopeful move on April 4, the PCC
Board of Trustees unanimously voted to
empower Scott to discuss the matter with
PUSD Superintendent Philip Linscomb and
Pasadena City Manager Donald McIntyre.
Last month, after examining available
property in the area, the six-member CSC
Joint Policy Review Committee asked the
Pasadena Board of City Directors and the
PUSD and PCC boards to approve the three-
way negotiations. ThePUSDand city boards
are expected to review the matter soon,
Scott said.
In the discussions, Scott will seek to
acquire city-owned land in cast Pasadena
which would be the new site for the CSC.
The acquisition of that land would allow the
college to return its present site for the CSC,
thus providing the PUSD a site for a much-
needed fourth middle school.
“They [PUSD) have expressed an inter¬
est in using that properly for an additional
middle school. So, therefore, we feel the
necessity of relocating,” Scott said.
The six-acre strip of land runs between a
county flood control channel and Southern
California Edison power lines from Orange
Grove Boulevard to the north and Foothill
Boulevard to the south. “If the city would
transfer this land to PCC, we may in turn
have to make certain improvements in terms
of improvement of the land such as land¬
scaping,” said Scott. “We would have the
responsibility for raising the funds and build¬
ing on the land.” If the college acquires title
to the land, it would be eligible for state
funds to construct buildings for the CSC,
Scott added. The negotiations “repre¬
sents an exciting possibility for the relo¬
cation of the Community Skills Center
and possibly the Child Development
Center.”
The CSC is presently located at 325
S. Oak Knoll Ave., formerly the site of
McKinley Junior High School. The PUSD
allows PCC to use the building on a year-
to-year lease without cost. However, since
the district’s three middle schools arc
overcrowded, there is a growing need for
a fourth middle school, PUSD officials
said. PUSD recently announced that it is
considering to implement major changes
in middle school curricula. A fourth middle
school would ease those two situations,
said Michael Klcntschy, assistant super-
Please see LAND, page 6
Preparing for the ‘Big One’
Will Lester /The COURIER
Officer George Winovitch, left, and Edgar Hightower check through a pile of broken ceramic pots nearthe R Building during
the earthquake drill on April 5. Philip Mullendore, director of safety services, called the drill a “success.”
Volunteer forensics coach
hits student at speech meet
Tobacco, alcohol
focus of Drug
Awareness Faire
The second annual Drug Awareness
Faire to increase drug awareness will be
held at PCC on Tuesday, April 24, from 4 to
7 p.m. in D200 and Thursday, April 26,
from 10 a. m. to 1 p.m. in the Quad.
The faire will not only focus on illicit
drugs, but drugs that are more easily acces¬
sible, such as alcohol and tobacco, said Dr.
Kent Yamauchi, member of the Drug Faire
planning committee. Several groups, inclu-
dinG Alcoholics Anonymous, Marijuana
Anonymous, Asian American Drug Abuse
Program and Las Encinas Hospital, will
have booths set up to provide information on
drug prevention, self-help groups, hospital
programs, community counseling programs.
The faire will also include videos, posters
and literature.
“The faire is designed to heighten
awareness, offer information, and provide
solutions to one of society's greatest chal¬
lenges,” said Yamauchi.
This year the spotlight of the faire will
be on cigarette smoking. The American
Cancer Society says that 1,000 Americans
die every day from cigarette-related causes.
A person’s chances of acquiring lung
cancer will gradually decrease to that of a
non-smoker after 10 to 15 years of not
smoking, according to the American Cancer
Society.
The faire is funded by the Office of Stu¬
dent Activities, PCC Foundation and PCC
Professional Enhancement Program.
-JOE YOBACCIO
By MICHAEL ROCHA
Editor-in-Chief
A volunteer PCC forensics coach
pleaded guilty Monday to a charge of
assault on a student member of the foren¬
sics team while at a Kansas City, Mis¬
souri tournament.
Roger Weiss, a member of the foren¬
sics coaching team since September, was
arraigned in Kansas City’s municipal court
after being arrested at noon on Saturday,
April 14, following what Weiss termed as
a ‘ ‘ lover’s quarrel ' ’ between him and stu¬
dent Stephanie Rudin, 20.
Weiss, 26, was arrested two hours
after Rudin pressed charges, claiming
that she was hit intentionally in the face
with a closed fist.
According to a forensics team mem¬
ber, immediately after the tournament’s
awards ceremony, Weiss yelled at Rudin
and slapped her on the left check with an
open palm. Several PCC students and at
least one coach witnessed the incident.
Several members of the forensics team
posted a bail bond of approximately S500
to free Weiss before the team was to leave
Kansas City at 2:30 p.m.
Rudin and Weiss remained in the city
to appear at the arraignment Two other
members of the PCC delegation-coach
Rene Orton and student Vince Bohanec-
remained in the city.
According to Weiss, he was “forced’ ’
to plead guilty after plea bargaining with
the court. By pleading guilty, Weiss said,
he would not face any criminal charges,
thus receiving no fines nor any jail term.
He was pul on a one-year probation.
“1 am deeply sorry” for what hap¬
pened, said Weiss.
Four members of the team wrote let¬
ters claiming that Weiss is not a violent
man. The letters, which were notarized
and faxed to the Kansas City municipal
court, were dismissed as inadmissible in
court, giving Weiss no substantial wit¬
ness accounts to support him. “1 had no
way for the truth to come out,” said
Weiss.
“Most |membcrs| of the team feel
that the incident should never have hap¬
pened,” said a forensics team member.
“PCC gota bad reputation.” The mem¬
ber added that the entire quarrel was a
“private” matter and should have been
dealt with in private and “not in a ball¬
room with hundreds of students pres¬
ent.”
Weiss is paid by the college based on
the number of days he spends as a judge
at tournaments with the team. He also
coaches the team on a volunteer basis.
Michael Bloebaum, communication
department chairperson, declined to com¬
ment on the matter. Neither Rudin nor
Chrystal Watson, forensics team direc¬
tor and faculty senate president-elect,
could be reached for comment.
Renovation
another step
in clean-up
of asbestos
By ANISSA VICENTE
Staff Writer
The renovation of the T Building this
month will be yet another step in PCC’s
struggle to rid the college of asbestos, which
has been found to scar human lungs and
cause cancer.
Once prized as a mineral with good
insulating abilities, asbestos received its final
blow in 1984 when the Environmental Pro¬
tection Agency (EPA) began efforts to deal
with the danger of the mineral after Con¬
gress passed the Asbestos School Hazard
Abatement Act. The act authorized the EPA
to oversee a program of inspecting the na¬
tion’s schools for asbestos and allocating
$600 million in loans and grants over six
years to fund the process of removing asbes¬
tos in schools across the nation.
Removal of the mineral from commu¬
nity college campuses began in 1985, and
PCC has been involved in on-going removal
projects since then.
The money made available nationwide
and statewide is only about one-tenth of the
amount needed to attack the problem, said
Dr. James Kosslcr, assistant superintendent
of administrative services.
“We have no asbestos that is a prob¬
lem,” said Kosslcr. “In other words, there
arc not friable asbestos, which means its in
the air. Its all encapsulated or in places
where no one can get at them.”
The removal process, however, remains
an expense PCC has found not loo easy to
maintain, Kosslcr said. Even iwht adequate
funding, the problem of displacing people,
classes, computers and telephone I fines
become a major obstacle in running an
operation.
Although Kosslcr admits there is some
asbestos in most campus buildings, he
emphasized that there is no danger posed to
anyone from its presence. He also stressed
that PCC has taken extra precautions in
dealing with the mineral. “First of all, we
consider the safety of the people removing
the asbestos and also of its proper disposal ,”
he said.
Marcor of California won the contract to
remove asbestos on campus and has been
doing so since last year. Kosslcr also main¬
tains the security of PCC’s own mainte¬
nance personnel, who undergo training,
receive safely equipment and instruction,
and medical check-ups when needed in dealing
with asbestos.
“I would rather they be doubly safe,”
Kossler said. “We don’t take any chances.
It’s just not worth it.”
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