PCC Courier, April 24, 1997

OPINION — — Proposed settlement with big tobacco companies bad for consumers Multi-billion dollar fund is inadequate to meet the overwhelming health costs associated with ciga¬ rette smoking. FEATURES SPORTS "Evening of Elegance" on Saturday, April 26 to feature cultural dances and a fashion show BSA, MeCHA, AISA and other clubs are sponsor¬ ing the weekend event from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. Sophomore phenom Aidita Gibson wins big at Mt. SAC Relays The PCC track star took first place honors in both the 1500 meter and the 3000 meter events at the prestigious invitational. 6 AS backs Student Senate ELECTION '97 SCOTT BODE / THE COURIER Elections for next year’s Associated Students Executive Board were held Tuesday and Wednesday. The polls were open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The League of Women Voters managed the polls in which 365 students voted on Tuesday. Election results should be announced today. Students lobby in Sacramento By RACHEL URANGA Courier Staff Writer Fighting for equal student rep¬ resentation, two PCC students traveled to Sacramento Tuesday to urge legislative support for AB264. The Assembly bill would pro¬ vide $200,000 of Proposition 98 funds to an eviscerated Student Senate, communitv colleges’ onlv statewide student board. Currently the Academic Sen¬ ate enjoys Proposition 98 funding while the Student Senate does not. The Academic Senate repre¬ sents the interests of community college faculty. Fearing that the bill would be crushed by the California Teach¬ ers Association, Student Lobby Fee Finance Committee members Catherine Hazelton and Stephen Johnson, assistant dean of student affairs, were prompted to fund the trip. “This will provide the Student Senate with permanent funding,” said John Garacomelli, a PCC student. He attend a Higher Education subcommittee meeting to dem¬ onstrate his support. Created in 1990, the Student Senate was formed to ensure stu¬ dents’ shared governance. But ac¬ cording to a Chancellor’s office report, it lacks the resources to adequately represent community college students. “If the Student Senate is going to truly represent 1 . 4 million com¬ munity college students before the Board of Governors and the Chancellor’s office, then the present level of staffing, funding and resources must be increased,” the report stated. “This bill could help our own district,” said Vanessa Aramayo who had previously lobbied in support of the bill last week. RACHEL URANGA Capturing the attention of Sacramento ’ s powerbrokers, more than 20 PCC students exercised their politi¬ cal clout by lobbying for legislation at the State Capitol last week. As a part of the California Student Association of Community Colleges Fourth Annual Lobby Day, the delega¬ tion seized the opportunity to boost support for several bills including those that would freeze tuition, fund equality programs in public education and ban discrimination based on sexual orienta¬ tion. Over 150 students, from 10 different CALS ACC regions took part in the event. PCC was the only college represent¬ ing Region 7, said Catherine Hazelton, coordinator of external affairs. People who did all the ground work for this region were mostly PCC students, she said. “PCC has earned a reputation in the Capitol for having some of the best student advocates in the state,” Hazelton said. Hazelton, whose push to release stu¬ dent representation funds resulted in $16,000 being made available for stu¬ dent lobby trips, has led eight delega¬ tions to Sacramento this year. Leg¬ islators who seldom get to hear the concerns of students have responded positively, she said. For most of the students, last week’s trip was their first experi¬ ence lobbying. The trip broke down many of the stereotypes of politicians as just be¬ ing money-hungry said John Giacomelli, a participant in the trip. He said legislators truly seemed to care, and were interested in what they said and wanted to help. “I think it is extremely beneficial when we lobby” said Mike Gorzynski, chief justice of the su¬ preme council. “The assemblymen have so many bills in front of them and they are so understaffed so we act as their staff. We educate them about the legisla¬ tion.” The bills and the positions taken on them had been previously ap¬ proved by the Associated Student Board, upon the recommendation of the Student Lobby Committee. The decisions of the committee were based upon months of research on more than 100 bills pertinent to students. Among some of the bills sup¬ ported by the AS was AB261, a $5 million state bond to increase tech¬ nology in the state’s community col¬ lege and university systems. Currently, PCC has eight com¬ puters with Internet access in the .library. Students are limited to one hour of use per week. Over 25,000 students attendPCC. With Internet access available 12 hours a day, the limited facilities could only accommodates 480 stu¬ dents per week. The AS Board opposed a bill that would allow state university students to earn B.A. degrees without passing a proficiency exam. In a follow-up visit to Sacramento last Tuesday, Charles Rojas and Giacomelli presented the Higher Education Budget Committee with a statement that outlined the Board’s views. Rojas also attended the pre¬ vious lobby trip. The statement read, “The AS Board sees that this bill would ex¬ ploit those students and schools who are either doing very well or very poorly on the exams. Secondly, if test scores were very low, people would think twi ce about moving into certain communities. This would create low enrollment in certain dis¬ tricts and higher enrollment in oth- ers. Disabled Services relocation proposal Helping Hands club distresses By RACHEL URANGA Courier Staff Writer Physically impaired students dis¬ tressed that a move of Disabled Stu¬ dents Programs and Services could impede their mobility have formed the Helping Hands club to voice their many concerns. Among them is a move this fall of the service center to the second floor of the D Building. “As far as we know there was nobody that was handicapped that was on any committee that drew up plans,” said Mike Barrios, a member of Helping Hands. “If services are transferred to the D building all my mobility will be gone. I already know the paths to the current services,” said Joanna Murillo, a visually impaired student whose confinement to a wheel chair has hampered her mobility. She also said that a planned move in the fall could have severe consequences with¬ out support from the school . Murillo questioned whether the school had funds available to train visually im¬ paired students on new paths and routes. Maria Orozco, a member of the club said she has experienced access problems in the D Building. “The elevator closes really fast. It has closed on me and that really hurts.” Barrios also noted that the eleva¬ tor in the D Building hasbeenknown to break down frequently. Another disabled student, Olym¬ pia Santana, was outraged at the slow response this semester when she had repeatedly try to notify those in the building to fix the elevator. The elevator had been out for two weeks. Because it is the only eleva¬ tor in a building with no ramps it put those in wheelchairs at a distinct disadvantage. Facilities Services confirmed that for various reasons elevator service is disrupted two to three times a month. Ramps will be added to the D Building in the coming months. But according to Rod Fleeman, vice presi¬ dent of administrative services, there are no plans to install a new elevator. “The company that built the el¬ evator is doing an analysis, depen¬ dent on their results, we will decide what to do,” said Fleeman. Kent Y amauchi, assistant dean of student services, said that assistance will be made available to disabled students. Stressing the importance of open discussion on these issues, he said that people will probably be made available to assist visually impaired students whose routine will be dis¬ rupted by ongoing construction on campus this year. But during a meeting in which Helping Hands members hoped to resolve some of the issues, another one came up: the possibility that the Health Center will be relocated. It may be moved to the first floor of the U building. Currently health facili¬ ties are on the first floor of the C Building, close to DSPS. “The U building elevator is fre¬ quently out,” said Barrios. It is diffi¬ cult to maneuver by wheelchair on the ramps leading up to the third floor of the U building, he said. Ernestine Moore, vice president of student services, said that prelimi¬ nary talks are under way with the nursing department. Confined to a wheel chair, Orozco and other disabled students hoping members to counter these problems formed the Helping Hands Club. The club of approximately 10 stu¬ dents with varying degrees of physi¬ cal impairments hope to fill the void in student services by helping each other. They spoke to administrators on the vexing issues confronting PCC’s physically impaired students last Tuesday. “We formed the club because we don’t have the support of the staff,” said Orozco. “We don’t have sup¬ port from anyone.” Club members felt that this group would be an en¬ abling mechanism to. Yamauchi, whose position places him in charge of disabled services said, “I have not heard this before so it comes as a shock to me.” He also said that in his position, he cannot cover all bases with stu¬ dents. “Often time I have to rely on staff to keep me abreast of what’s going on.” But he did promise he would make efforts to improve the situation. He also added that the new Please see DISABLED page 8 Armenian genocide commemorated by consuls general By DANIEL ARCHULETA Courier Staff Writer A ceremony in the Sexson auditorium Tuesday commemo¬ rating the 1915 Armenian geno¬ cide at the hands of Turks in¬ cluded Consuls General from Greece, Armenia and Cyprus as well as Pasadena mayor Bill Paparian. The event not only was an opportunity to pay respect to vic¬ tims of the atrocities, but to con¬ demn the Turkish government for not claiming responsibility for the 1.5 million deaths. The PCC Armenian Student Association, in association with the PCC Hellenic Society, spon¬ sored the ceremony. Greece and Cyprus have a unique connection to the Arme¬ nian suffering in Turkey. Turk¬ ish troops currently occupy Cyprus. Greece is affected be¬ cause portions of Cyprus are home to people of Greek descent. Since the genocide took place, few nations have recognized that it occurred. Only Russia, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Argentina, and Uruguay officially acknowledge the crimes committed against the Armenian people, said Armen Baibourtian, Armenian Consul General. “Many people try to revise history to present it as a removal or relocation of people, during which time people died,” said Baibourtian. “Our task is to remember.” Last week the California As¬ sembly approved a resolution nam¬ ing today the California Day of Re¬ membrance, becoming the first state to officially recognize the atrocities committed against the Armenian people. “It’s the duty of every decent human being to ensure that an event like that never happens again,” said Assemblyman Peter Abajian. Paparian said that “the scars are not healed.” He compared the ethnic cleansing to those that afflict Bosnia, Burundi and Rwanda. “We have to convince ourselves to not rely on anyone else in our fight for justice,” Paparian said of the Armenian struggle. He also criticized the White House’s treatment of the situation. In a memo, a presidential aide re¬ ferred to the genocide as a massacre, he said. “No, Mr. President,” he re¬ torted, “it was genocide pure and simple.” “For far too long we’ve politely played the political game,” Paparian said. He warned, “We must no longer be taken for granted,” because, much like the Palestinian and Irish libera¬ tion movements, Armenians may be forced to use violent action. “We must reject all forms of rac¬ ism,” Paparian said at the end of his speech. Cyprus Consul General Andrea Kyprianides congratulated the ASA and the college for organizing the event. He went on to say that Armenians and Greeks have much in common because of both of their struggles for survival and independence. He Please see GENOCIDE page 6 i I Slmlmmmm ii't . . КЕШ MA / THE COURIER Pasadena Mayor Bill Paparian spoke at the Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day ceremony on Tuesday in Sexson Auditorium.