PCC Courier, April 26, 1985

Student Trustee Candidates Present Campaign Platforms —Pg. 2— Daring Young Prince Takes A Trip Around The World In A Day —Pg. 3— Softball Team Swings Toward Conference Championship —Pg. 5— PCC COURIER VOL. 60, N0. 10 PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA APRIL 26, 1985 Former Student Arrested; Faces 7 Felony Charges Suspect Allegedly Staged Psychology Experiment By Lisa Acosta Assistant News Editor Campus police arrested a for¬ mer PCC student last Friday on seven felony counts of false im¬ prisonment and seven misde¬ meanor charges of battery. Terry Wood, a 30-year-old white male, was accused of con¬ ducting illegitimate psychological experiments. According to campus security, Wood allegedly posed as a psy¬ chology student from California State University Northridge (CSUN) and other colleges. He reportedly asked female students if they would participate in a psy¬ chological experiment on stress and then led those who agreed into empty classrooms with windows and blinds. Wood allegedly blindfolded, gagged and tied the students to chairs whereupon he told the par¬ ticipants that he would lift the window blinds in the classroom to see if anyone would help them. He then reportedly told the woman that he would step outside and observe the progress of the experi¬ ment. However, according to campus security, Wood never left the room. Two of the women involved said they were able to see through their blindfolds and confirmed this. Ac¬ cording to Ralph Evans, campus police officer, the students claim that Wood fussed with the window blind but left it closed and opened the door as if to leave but stayed to watch them. Phillip Mullendore, director of safety, said the all of the women involved are pressing charges. The preliminary hearing is set for April 30, when Wood will be charged with the seven felony counts of false imprisonment and seven misde¬ meanor counts battery. False im¬ prisonment is the unlawful viola¬ tion of the liberty of another. The battery charges resulted from the tying up of the victims. On Tues¬ day, he pleaded innocent at his arraignment at the Pasadena Courthouse. Bail was set at $5,000. Evans added that Wood ob¬ tained the names and phone numbers of each girl involved and called two of them. He asked them if they would participate in the experiment again. One of the girls agreed. According to Evans, one of the students involved said Wood was very convincing. Wood reportedly said he was working on a project under the guidance of a psychology professor, offered to show his iden¬ tification and appeared to look quite clean cut. It was determined that Wood is not currently a stu¬ dent. “Students should really be careful, especially female stu¬ dents. Be aware that researchers must always have a witness. If they are claiming to be involved in research, they must have some sort of credentials,” said Evans. “Legitimate researchers in such a sensitive area of research, would never be alone. They would always have a partner.” Wood voluntarily gave the names and phone numbers of the girls involved to the police. The district attorney's office feels the case will make its way into the municipal court. The attorney representing Wood had no comment on the case. Security Warning Any student having information re¬ garding a man claiming to be a psy¬ chology student on campus to conduct an experiment in stress, please contact the Campus Police Investigator, Of¬ ficer Ralph Evans, at 578-7484. Finkenbinder Suggests Changes in Scheduling GROUP EFFORT — The International Club capped off its celebra¬ tion for International Week by performing "We Are the World" on the Quad yesterday. The International Club held a fashion show on Tuesday featuring styles from around the globe. — Courier photo by Mike Luna Students To Nominate Faculty for Honor Risser Award Applications Due in Two Weeks By Gabrielle Meindl Special Coorespondent Students are encouraged to nominate PCC faculty members for the Risser “Outstanding Teacher Award,” said Henry P. Kirk, vice president for educational services and assistant to the president. “This is a great opportunity for students to recognize outstanding teachers,” said Kirk. Petitions for nominating the Outstanding Teacher are available in the Campus Center, department offices and in C209. At least 20 students must endorse a petition before it is considered. Students who support the nomination are en¬ couraged to write anecdotes which provide descrip¬ tions and examples of the teacher’s outstanding qualities and excellence of teaching, according to Kirk. Completed forms are due by 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 10, in C209. The Risser Award will be presented at the Omicron Mu Delta annual ceremony May 23. The recipient will receive $1,000 and the Outstand¬ ing Teacher Recognition Plaque. Last years recipient, Virgil T. James, a professor from the department of engineering and technology, said the award made him “want to do a better job.” James invested the $1,000 into furthering his study of robotics in order “to expand the offering of cur¬ riculum at PCC.” “I attended seminars and workshops on the theory and application of robots. One has to keep up with the state of the art. Some workers and labors fear that robots may replace them by taking their jobs. Technology breads new technology and we must use this new technology to upgrade ourselves and find new job offerings.” J. Ray Risser, a nationally known educator, was the faculty adviser to student government at PCC Campus Briefs Get out and vote in the Student Trustee elections April 30 and May 1 ! The polls will be open on the Quad from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6:30 to 8:45 both days. Dr. Earl H. Phillips, chair of the History Depart¬ ment CSULA, will speak at next Thursday’s Social Science Forum in C301. He will give a slide-il¬ lustrated talk about South Africa’s apartheid policy. Correction: Last week’s front page headline “Ox¬ ford Exchange Program Approved' ’ was inaccurate. The program is still in its planning stages and will be submitted to tde Board of Trustees next month for final approval. Prism magazine and the Courier received several awards for outstanding writing, layout and photogra¬ phy at the recent JAC Conference in Fresno last Friday and Saturday. Prism magazine took third place (out of 70-80 other community colleges that competed) in over-all -layout. Prism writer Pat Francis received three awards including first in the news feature-catagory, second in light-humour and third for magazine feature. Prism also received an honorable mention for magazine photo essay. Former Courier photographer Ted Soqui placed third for best news photo and the Courier was awarded an honorable mention for best news-sports photo essay. Courier special corresspondent Mark Langil was also awarded an honorable mention for sports coverage. In the on-the-spot writing events held at the conference, Courier Editor and Chief Dan Stuart took second place for critical review for his piece on The Exterminator. The Nursing Department will be holding an open house in the U Building on May 13 in honor of National Nurshing Day. The annual Omicron Mu Delta tapping and award ceremony will take place on Thursday, May 23, at noon in Sexson Auditorium. All faculty, students and staff are invited. from 1942-1945. In 1944, the students at PCC voted Risser their most outstanding teacher. This inspired Risser in 1977 to establish an endowment to stimulate excellence in education and to recognize and reward exceptional teachers. Merit Prize Entries To Be Accepted By Mark Morel staff writer The English Department is now accepting entries for its annual Merit Awards Competition in creative writing. The annual event, a department tradition, will be judged in three categories including short story, poetry, and essay, allowing contestants the opportunity to submit two entries in each category. Students enrolled in the regular spring session and the extended day program are eligible for the competition. Each entry must be double spaced typewritten on 8У2 X 11 inch paper. According to department instructor Jane Hallinger, all entries will be considered for publication in the 1986 issue of “Inscape,” the English departments’ literary maga¬ zine. “Judges will be looking for the technique which best displays the writing style of today, ’’said Hall¬ inger, who coordinates the competition as part of her instructional load. Gift certificates as well as cash prizes will be awarded to the winners each category. In addition, winning entries will be sent to New York for the American Academy of Poets competition and campus awards as set up by instructor, Jarene Hewitt. “ This will give students a great opportunity to gain national attention in writting,” said Hallenger. Deadline for all entries is May 8. Students should submit entries in C217. The works of entrants who receive the Citation of Merit will be on display during the fourth week in May in the writers’ display case opposite C211. For further information contact the English De¬ partment Office or Jane Hallinger in C229K. By Joe Holman News Editor “PCC doesn’t have a parking problem it has a scheduling problem,” said Dr. Mike Finkenbinder, head of the Acredidation committee. Finkenbinder presented a recommendation to change the situation to the President’s Avisery Committee on April 4. Finkenbinder’s plan would call for the development of two blocks of class times, one made up of morning classes and one made up of afternoon classes in addition to the current evening courses. For example, Finkenbinder said that if 20 English 1-A courses were offered, 10 would be in the morning and 10 would be in the afternoon. He stressed too that the total program would be available in both the morning and afternoon blocks. “We aren’t going to get any more money for expanding in terms of new parking facilities,” Finkenbinder said. “As a result we have to look for alternate methods. Spreading the classes throughout the day would reduce the parking hassles. “Anytime you have an institution, it is hard to make changes. A lot of this is due to institutional inertia and the traditional way of doing things at the college,” he said. The peak hours are from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., according to Finken¬ binder. By 2 p.m., most of the parking lots and class rooms are empty. In a random survey given to students last December, results showed that 70 precent of the students felt that there was a parking problem at PCC. The survey also showed that 83 percent of the students at PCC come between 7 a.m. and noon, while 12 percent have classes from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Only 5 percent take classes between noon and 5 p.m. “Changing the program would take a total reeducation of everyone involved,” said Finkenbinder. “It would also probably take some compensations and incentives as well. We might consider faculty members full-time employees for a four day work week or offer free parking to students in the afternoon.” An advisory committee would be formed to help plan the new scheduling process. The committee would than present a report to the 12 member Western Association Acredidation Committee (WAAC) next November. Finkenbinder would like to see the advisory committe in place by next fall and the entire program, if approved, ready for fall 1986. However, Finkenbinder said that some problems may slow down the approval of the new scheduling plan. “Parking is a hassle, but it's not fundamental,” he said. “The rennovation of the Library and Mens' Gym are the most important items (to be considered by the board of trustees) and rightly so. Parking would be low on the agenda '' Finkenbinder talked of other plans for review by the Acredidation committe. “Certain classes that are spread throughout the campus should be unified under one roof. Matriculation is important too. We need to make sure of the progress of the students that go here.” SOLUTION SEEKER — Dr. Mike Finkenbinder has proposed a new plan for scheduling that would be design to improve parking. "PCC doesn't have a parking problem, we have a scheduling problem," he Said. — Courier photo by Lydia Dickerson