- Title
- PCC Courier, April 28, 1978
-
-
- Date of Creation
- 28 April 1978
-
-
- Description
- Student newspaper published and edited for the Associated Student Body of Pasadena City College weekly during the college year by the journalism students.
-
-
- Display File Format
- ["application/pdf"]
-
PCC Courier, April 28, 1978
Hits:
(0)
























Attempted KPCS Censorship?
Trustee Calls for Investigation
By Todd Axtell
News Editor
An investigation into a possible
attempt to censor coverage of the
Panama Canal debates on PCC’s radio
station KPCS is being conducted by
Dr. Stanley Gunstream, vice president
of Instructional Services.
The probe comes at the urging of
Trustee Roger Gertmenian, who based
his request on a letter he received from
State Senator H. L. “Bill” Richard¬
son’s office. Gertmenian believes
college administrators wanted to
censor the “more conservative
senators” by trying to manipulate the
scheduling and playing times of the
Panama Canal debates.
The investigation, according to
Gertmenian, will also look into the
administrative transfer of KPCS from
under the Communication Department
to the Office of Instructional
Resources.
At last week’s board meeting,
Gertmenian said he felt the issue was a
board matter.
When asked who he believed the
administrators were behind the at¬
tempted censorship, Gertmenian
commented, “That’s what I want to
find out. I just want some answers.”
He said it could work like in the
army, “The general tells the colonel,
the colonel tells the major, the major
tells the captain and on down the line.
Like in Watergate you had Haldemann
and Erlichman in jail and Nixon in San
Clemente.”
Dr. Gunstream said he is in the
process of collecting information. He
said, however, “I am not really clear
in my mind as to what the specific
charge is.”
Gunstream said he had heard that
one of the senators who was the subject
of the claimed censorship attempt was
Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona).
The schedules for the radio
station’s programming are set weeks
in advance, he said, and there were no
changes made in the schedule during
the week in question.
“I have not seen the letter (from
Senator Richardson’s office),’.’
Gunstream said. “The only thing I
know about it is what I read in the
paper.
“I can say that there was no
directive from my office to do
whatever was charged.”
Gunstream said he plans to talk to
Gertmenian to find out specifically
what he is charging.
Dr. John Gregory, KPCS general
manager and Dr. Gunstream talked
about the situation Wednesday. Before
their discussion, Gregory said, “Until I
hear more about it I can’t say much.”
Gregory said that he was unaware of
any censorship attempts. He added,
however, “It is very interesting that
this charge should follow so closely the
transfer of KPCS under the Office of
Instructional Resources.”
Gertmenian said that some ad¬
ministrator “dropped the ball in terms
of allowing freedom of speech and
expression to continue” at PCC.
“I am a strong supporter of the
First Amendment. I do carry it all the
way,” Gertmenian said.
He also said he understands the
conflict between the First Amendment
and “the fact taxpayers have a right
not to have their money spent in a way
they don’t want.”
Concerning the KPCS transfer,
Gertmenian added he can understand
why they did it, but they should have
discussed the transfer with the Board
of Trustees first.
The Board of Trustees is expected to
discuss the matter Thursday night at
its regularly scheduled 7:30 meeting in
the C Building board room.
By Glenda Cade
Assistant News Editor
Former New York Representative
Bella Abzug blasted a “small group of
highly organized ultra-rightists”
Monday night for “blockading”
ratification of the Equal Rights
Amendment.
She demanded an extension of the
ratification date “if necessary,” citing
15 states’ refusal to allow it to get on
the floor of their legislatures for
discussion.
In a speech at the Pasadena Neigh¬
borhood Church, Ms. Abzug argued for
the Equal Rights Amendment. The
program, “An Evening With Bella
Abzug,” was sponsored by numerous
women’s organizations in the area,
with proceeds going to the ERA
ratification campaign.
A “nationally organized far right
movement,” not to be confused with
regular conservatives, is behind the
anti-ERA forces, Ms. Abzug said. They
are using computerized mailing lists to
sway congressmen in key districts, she
charged.
Backed by powerful individuals
“associated with ultra-right causes
over a long period of time,” these
groups have worked closely with the
John Birch Society and in some
southern states, the Ku Klux Klan, she
said.
They are trying to scare the public
Commentary:
By Todd Axtell
News Editor
“A lot of people wouldn’t take the
time and interest to listen to me. But
they don’t know what they’re
missing . . . right?”
Bella Abzug, who somehow fits the
image of the perfect grandmother,
speaks with unreserved energy,
authority and passion. She barely says
anything without “stating it.”
A leading spokesperson for the
Equal Rights Amendment and
probably one of the country’s most
important women, showed up in
Pasadena Monday night to address a
gathering of area women’s groups.
Unfortunately, the sponsors of the
visit, which seemed to be every
women’s organization that could get a
hand in it, did not know how to package
a talk by someone of Ms. Abzug’s
stature.
For instance, the Los Angeles Times
was not there to cover one of the
strongest advocates of human rights in
the country. If the Times had the same
problem the Courier did in trying to
decipher whom to contact and then
reach the publicist for the event, it is
no wonder they were not there.
Before Abzug took center stage,
which she definitely does, the audience
was treated to more than 20 minutes of
horn-tooting Trom each of the seven-
plus groups that sponsored the event.
One gets the impression that some
women seem to treat the ERA as some
kind of social game, as they stand
smiling and waving to fellow bridge
players.
Despite the fact that the PR
speeches were unprofessional and a bit
insulting, it was interesting to see the
parade of local women’s leaders.
One thing for sure though is that
women’s leaders seem to be happy to
accept the limelight for the ERA fight
and it is only fair, so long as they do not
forget the issue they are fighting.
When Abzug finally stepped behind
the podium, there was no question
about who was in the limelight.
She gave strong defense for the
Equal Rights Amendment. However,
almost a stronger statement for the
women’s movement is Abzug herself.
A married mother of two children,
the 57-year-old Abzug seems to be the
last person in the world who would use
a coed bathroom, which, oddly enough,
is a phenomenon ERA opposers say
the amendment will institute.
She certainly represents the cause of
women better than the bra-burning
propagandists who started the move-
against ratification, she charged.
She said the anti-ERA forces are
attempting to make people believe that
women would not be able to choose to
be housewives if they wanted to. She
said women will still have freedom of
choice.
“Women will not be forced out of the
home,” Ms. Abzug assured the
audience. “The family structure is not
threatened and neither are any of the
rights to privacy. The idea that the
Equal Rights Amendment will result
in coed bathrooms is what I call an
anal approach to the problem.
“The fear of the unknown or change
is enormous,” she said, and anti-ERA
forces are capitalizing on this sen¬
timent. “It’s a terrifying feeling to be
told you’re going to have to go to work
on an assembly line. Well, that’s
against the laws of involuntary ser¬
vitude.”
Anti-ERA forces may appear to have
a large following, but in fact they are a
minority, she said. When polled, the
majority of American men and women
favor the ERA. It has public support ,
its proponents simply are not
organized well enough, she said.
“We must get nationally organized
like the ultra-right movement,”
suggested Ms. Abzug. ERA’S sup¬
porters must initiate a “grassroots
campaign” to Congress and the
President. It is their responsibility to
ment. Once someone like Abzug
focuses the public’s attention on rights,
which is the real issue, and gets them
off burning bras, something will
change.
Abzug’s goal is not new nor com¬
plicated: “A world in which men and
women do not victimize each other, but
work together for a better world for
all.” Maybe if more men were saying
the same thing, Abzug would not be
construed as the radical some people
have labeled her.
Radical or not, people who do not
take the time and interest to listen to
her do not know what they are missing.
generate mail to those legislators in a
position to extend the deadline, she
said.
The deadline for ratification of the
Equal Rights Amendment is March 22,
1979. Only three more states are
needed, but only one, Illinois, is
scheduled to vote on it before then. The
other legislatures cannot vote in their
regular sessions until after the 1979
deadline. Unless some states call
special sessions and ratify the
amendment or unless the deadline ofr
ERA’S ratification is extended, the
amendment will be defeated.
There is, however, a bill, HJ
Resolution 638, which would extend the
ratification date for another seven
years. Ms. Abzug explained that the
Constitution does not say ana mend-
ment must be ratified within seven
years.
“That’s a limitation Congress im¬
posed when it first passed the amend¬
ment,” she said. Therefore, if
Congress can put limits on something,
it can take them off, she added.
“There is nothing sacrosanct about
seven years,” she continued. “At¬
taching a time limit to amendments
did not start until the 18th. Thereby
Congress has the right to extend it.”
She further blamed the failure to win
ratification on a "complacent
majority.” Thirty-five states have
already ratified the ERA, an area
containing three-fourths of this
country’s population, she said. “The
majority of Americans do want it.
“Unfortunately, there’s a general
quietness in the country today, and
people are not dealing with the issues.
The majority tends to take rights for
granted and this tends to lose them as
well. Watergate demonstrated a
majority never can be complacent.
“The worst part is this minority of
ultra-rightists working nationally,”
she said. They have persuaded many
legislators to “turn their backs” on
campaign pledges, she charged.
In South Carolina, for instance,
certain individuals campaigned on the
grounds that they favored the Equal
Rights Amendment. “But when the
actual vote on ERA came up, they
voted against it,” she said.
Many unratified states have even
“worked against” Article Five of the
Constitution, according to Ms. Abzug.
They have used “parliamentary burial
tactics” to block the issue from ever
being discussed on the floor of their
legislatures.
PREDICTING THE FUTURE— Americas economic future was the
topic of Tuesday’s Social Science Forum. From left, Robert Auger,
economics instructor; John Snyder, assistant Social Science
Department chairman; and John Madden, dean of personnel ser¬
vices, give their views on the price of “the good life.”
Bella Speaks
MEChA Plans 3-Day Program
For Cinco de Mayo Celebration
Cinco de Mayo, Mexican In¬
dependence Day, will be celebrated on
campus by the MEChA Club during
three days of festivities, starting
Thursday.
The theater group Teatro de la
Tierra will culminate the Cinco de
“campus
news briefs
Mayo celebration by performing in the
Free Speech Area at 11 a. m. on Thurs¬
day. Following Teatro de la Tierra,
MEChA will host Daniel Castro, demo¬
cratic candidate for state assembly.
Alexandrite, a jazz-rock band, will
perform from noon to 1 p.m.
Two ballet folklorico groups, one
from PCC and the other from a junior
high school, will dance to a mariachi
band on Friday. Dr. Orozco, a PCC
instructor from the Social Sciences
Department, will address students
between performances.
4-4-4-
“Noche Folklorica,” a series of
Mexican folk dances, will be presented
by a PCC physical education class in
Sexson Auditorium at 8 Friday night.
Admission is $1 for adults and 50 cents
for children.
A combination mariachi, jazz-rock
and disco dance will be held in the
Campus Center lounge Saturday night.
The final event in the celebration is the
coronation of the Cinco de Mayo queen.
Also to be honored are the Cinco de
Mayo queen and courts from Muir,
Rosemead and Pasadena high schools.
Admission is $5 a couple, $3.50
single. All proceeds go to the scholar¬
ship transfer fund.
+ + 4-
The deadline for renting caps and
gowns for Commencement has been
extended until 4 p.m. today. They may
be ordered at the College Bank.
4-4-4-
The beginning of an African student
scholarship fund has been established
to provide visiting African students
residing in the Pasadena area a place
to stay, aid in getting a job and to
satisfy medical needs.
The Association for Afro-American
Relations Scholarship Fund has turned
over its funds to the PCC scholarship
program. The funds will be left un¬
touched and only the interest earned
will be used to aid in tuition and book
costs.
Full scholarships will someday be
awarded to visiting Africanstudents by
building up the principal through dona¬
tions, according to Alice Mothershead,
director of foreign students and
Americans abroad program.
The original American Association
for Afro-American Relations Scholar¬
ship Fund was founded by Dr. Brandon
A. T. Bowlin, who practiced in the
Pasadena area for over 30 years. It
was his hope that the financial
assistance would be used for African
students who will be attending PCC on
a student visa and intend to return to
their native land after the completion
of studies in the United States.
4- -F 4-
Doris Paulson and Gretchen
Frandsen from PCC will present a
general interest workshop on “Diverse
By Arthur Wood
Staff Writer
PCC’s Child Development Com¬
mittee has designated May “Kandid
Kiddy Month” to help establish the
need for a child care center on cam¬
pus.
In addition, a proposal for such a
center was included in an affirmative
action plan to be submitted to the
Board of Trustees at its May 4
meeting.
“Anyone with a camera should bring
it to campus,” said Anita Cosey, chair¬
person of the Child Development
Committee. Students are invited to
take photographs of children in class¬
rooms and on campus. The pictures
should be delivered to Dordo Byles on
the second floor of the Campus Center,
she added.
The pictures will be made into a
collage to illustrate the need for a child
care center, she said.
In order to discourage the possibility
of “padding,” anyone who brings their
children to school expressly to get
them into the collage will not have
their picture used, she added.
“We want this illustration to be
accurate, not sensational,” she ex¬
plained. “Accuracy will be enough.”
Philosophies With a Common Goal:
Helping Others” in D200 at noon on
Tuesday.
4-4-4-
Jo Vander Stoep, USC admissions
representative, will be in D200 from 10
a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday.
4- + +
The Asian Affairs Office is having a
health career workshop tonight in the
Campus Center lounge at 7:30 p.m.
Participants can meet people with
careers in medicine, nursing, physical
and occupational therapy, and medical
research.
4-4-4-
Darlene Risdon, from Western
Airlines, will present a workshop on
“Attendant and Pilot Careers for Both
Males andFemales” in D200 at noon on
Thursday.
Apparently, the affirmative action
proposal for a child care center is in
response to recommendations made
by a November, 1975 Accreditation
Committee report.
It suggests a facility to ac¬
commodate 32 children initially, at a
cost of $120,593 for establishment and
operation. Approximately $20,000 of
this cost would be regained as income.
The Los Angeles Community College
District presently has child
development centers at campuses
which approximate the size of PCC,
according to the report.
It further states that while data of a
student survey will not be available by
the 1978 due date for PCC’s plan, it is
anticipated that usage of such a
facility on the PCC campus would not
be significantly different from that on
other campuses of similar size.
Valerie Martin, a member of the
ASB Child Development Committee,
termed the proposal “very good
cooperation from the Board of
Trustees.”
“This (child care center) will put
PCC back on the map nationwide,” she
said. “It will open up the community to
a lot of people.”
'Kandid Kiddy Month'
Shoots for Child Center
Article Five says a legislature must
either support or at least present the
issues that are up for ratification, she
said. By preventing, or conspiring to
prevent this, those states are actually
violating a federal law, she said.
ERA proponents are sponsoring
“major fund-raising events to defeat
candidates who vote against
ratification,” something Ms. Abzug
said was necessary to “get women into
the Constitution.”
The Constitution says all men are
created equal, she said. “Its promises
are for men, not women. Our
forefathers didn’t give a hoot or a
damn about our foremothers. Women
are still on the fringes of democracy
looking in.”
Even so, the women’s movement is
an “indestructible part of American
life,” she said, and women will be
“marching into the Constitution soon.”
They may not have been at the Last
Supper, “but you can be darn sure
we’re going to be at the next one,” she
said.
The Equal Rights Amendment
reads:
Section 1. Equality of rights under
the law shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any state on
account of sex.
Section 2. The Congress shall have
the power to enforce, by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this ar¬
ticle.
Section 3. This amendment shall
take effect two years after the date of
ratification.
BELLA RAPS— Outspoken ERA proponent Bella Abzug spoke to a
numerous area of women’s groups at Pasadena’s Neighborhood Church,
Tuesday. She blasted her opposition and triedto put theproposed con¬
stitutional amendment in perspective. -Courier Photo by Vivianne-Marie Parker
Abzug Urges Ratification
Date Extension for ERA