PCC Courier, December 03, 1987

Spikers Destroy Cuesta In Straight Sets Semi-finals Next page 5 i Helpers Needed ■думу Let’s Avoid For the Play Mid-Semester Burnout X-mas Treasures’ page 6 " " ' COURIER VOL. 65, NO. 13 PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA DECEMBER 3, 1987 Board Suggests New AS Election By Mark McElrea News Editor Citing the need for student govern¬ ment to solve its own problems without outside interference, the Board of Trustees recommended a new AS presedential election as a means to solve the current dispute over who is legally the student president. The dispute centers around the suc¬ cessor for Brendan O’Brien, who won the popular vote, but was deemed ineligible to hold office three weeks after the election. He was removed from office for failure to maintain the necesary nine units before and after the race began. On Nov. 4, Lance Ob- erholtzer, the runner-up in the election was officially declared the new presi¬ dent. The Board of Trustees became in¬ volved in the situation when Jose Rodriquez, the executive vice presi¬ dent, represented by attorney Sue Sweetman, informed the Board that unless Rodriquez is installed as presi¬ dent, litigation against the the college would begin. “In 1982 a similar incident occured while I was a student here,” said Sweetman. “Student goverment cannot stand for such violations of the con¬ stitution to happen — I am here to correct a wrong against the students and the constitution.” It is Rodriquez and Sweetman’s con- Long Wait, By Paul Allen Editor-in-Chief Long waits in the counseling office maybe a thing of the past during registration time if a new program introduced works. Designed by counselor Arnold Ramirez, the program will enable stu¬ dents to congregate in Harbeson Hall Dec. 8 between 10 a.m. and noon and receive class approval for spring semester registration. A majority of the counselors will be working with the students during the time period. If it works, it means the end of long waits in the counseling office for class ap¬ proval. “It’s designed for all students who want quick approval for their classes,” said Janis Dwyer, who helped imple¬ ment the program. “It’s an open invita¬ tion to all students. All counselors will be working together to meet the stu¬ dents’ needs.” All students need is proof of enroll- tention that under constitutional guidelines, if the president is forced to leave office for any reason, the vice president should assume the vacated position. To support their contentions that O’Brien was officially declared the winner of the election, Sweetman pointed out that documents show he chaired three meetings, acted on budg¬ etary matters and received the $75 monthly stipend given to the president. In appointing Oberholtzer president, Kauti and Connie Hurston, student ac¬ tivities adviser, claim the legal concept of void antecedente was the basis for the decision. “There are situations in law that negate contracts,” said Hurston. “If something happens when you are going from point A to point B, when you get B, everything that happened before can be voided.” Following the Boards recommenda¬ tion, Kauti has proposed a new election as a means to resolve the matter. Neither Rodriquez, nor Oberholtzer want a new election, but Rodriquez and Sweetman were both agreeable to such a solution. Oberholtzer feels a new election is too time consuming, and does nothing to guarantee a solution to the problem. “I feel binding arbitration is a more equitable solution,” said Oberholtzer. “A decision must be reached that will not produce further problems. It’s time for student government at PCC to move on to more productive issues.” Long Gone ment at PCC. Students can bring a current printout of classes or a PCC transcript. Two meetings have already been held in Harbeson Hall (Nov. 24 and Dec. 2), but due to lack of publicity, student volume hasn’t been as high as anticipated. “We’ve had our dress-rehersals,” said Dwyer. “Now, were ready to roll.” With recent publicity through The Courier, Campus Crier and the counsel¬ ing offices, the number of students attending the Dec. 8 program is ex¬ pected to be dramatically higher. Additional group sessions will be held in January for new students and continuing students who failed to regis¬ ter the first time around. “We still have the desire and wish to meet with students on an individual basis to discuss their career and educa¬ tional objectives,” Dwyer said. “ We just want to make it easier for stu¬ dents. Some wait for hours in the counseling offices for approval for one class. That’s the end of that.” Forensics Shines at CSUN By Dennis Anderson Special Correspondent Fresh from an impressive showing in at the Lancer Invitational Tournament, the PCC forensics team is celebrating another tremendous showing at the Cal State Northridge tournament held Nov. 21 and 22. PCC took second in the overall sweepstakes awards. “These kids were up against some very tough competition, but they man¬ aged to hold their own,” said Anthony Georgilas, director of forensics. “Their performance is highlighted by the fact that most of the schools they were up against were four-year schools.” Fifty- eight schools were represented with the much-improved Cerritos City Col¬ lege team taking home the win. PCC fared particularly well in the duo-interpretation event. Phillip Sher- iden and Victoria Wilner took third place in the novice division and Jeff Tappeiner and Dennis Anderson tied third place in open impromptu. In sales speaking, Linda Hall took second place in the novice division, her third win in that event since the start of the tournament season. In NDT debate (National Debate Topic), forensics veteran Daniel Hurst went 6-0 in octafinals, and 4-2 in semi¬ finals. This year’s National Debate Topic is: Resolve that the United States should reduce substantially its military commitments to Nato mem¬ ber states. The forensics team is now busy preparing for the Pacific Southwest Collegiate Forensics Association championships to be held at Pierce College Dec. 4, 5, and 6. Georgilas says that team members are spending up to 25 hours each week preparing their speeches for the tournament. The Pierce event is one of the most difficult and important tournaments of the year. Also coming up in December is the Cal State Long Beach tournament and the UCLA tournament, to be held during Christmas Vacation. On Mission From God : J.B. Stoner By Mark McElrea News Editor Claiming to be on a mission from God, self-proclaimed “white suprem¬ acist” J.B. Stoner felt compelled to leave his home in Marrietta, Georgia to tell the world about the “real facts” concerning the AIDS epidemic. His lecture tour brought him to the Holiday Inn in Glendale on Nov. 22 to deliver his message. “White people are naturally more resistant to AIDS,” said Stoner. “This has already been proven by British researchers, whose findings have been suppressed by the Jew money ma¬ chine.” He also referred to the catastrophic proportions the disease has taken on in Africa, further proving, he feels, that the disease is racial in nature. Stoner feels AIDS will rid the world of all “Jews, niggers and sodomizers” within five years. According to Stoner, the disease was invented by Jewish researchers in South Africa, but due to an accident, the virus escaped from the laboratory to infect the black population in Africa. “It was truly an act of God,” Stoner said. “God bless AIDS!” Stoner was recently released from prison for the 1958 church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama which claimed the lives of four black children. He was convicted of that crime in 1982 and served three years in prison for it. In looking around the room, which contained fewer than 20 people, half of which were representatives from the various news gathering organizations, Stoner commented that the low turnout was the result of his being denied his constitutional right to free speech. He was particularly displeased with the police tactics of not allowing anyone into the area unless they possessed a press pass, hotel key or a personal invitation from Stoner. “I hear they’re keeping good, law abiding citizens from entering the area,” said Stoner. “This is another example of how the Jew money makers and Communist terrorists suppress in¬ formation from the public.” Courier/Bryant Hammer Demonstrator confronts police barricade in hopes of stopping white supremist J.B. Stoner, shown above. InCAR Takes Message to Streets By Meta McCullough Staff Writer PCC’s chapter of the International Committee Against Racism (InCAR) feels that they successfully prevented people from hearing “white-racist” J.B. Stoner by con¬ ducting a protest when he appeared at the Glendale Holiday Inn. “I went up to the front desk of the Holiday Inn the day before Stoner came to talk,” said Jerry Friedman, former president of the PCC branch of InCAR. “I told them what was going to happen when Stoner came to talk. We knew ahead of time that he planned on being there.” In full riot gear, more than 50 Glendale Police Officers and L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies kept repre¬ sentatives of InCAR, the Jewish De¬ fense League (JDL), NAACP and People Against Racial Terror (PART) and community members away from the entrance of the inn. With the threat of K-9 units and a water hose truck, the rally was remi¬ niscent of the civil rights struggles of the 1960’s. Freeway access was denied en route to the hotel via Pacific Avenue, with neighboring streets barricaded as well. The hotel itself was declared off limits except to those with proper authorization. While inside, Stoner spoke to a sparse crowd of about 20, half of whom were news media mem¬ bers. “The original intent was to stop Stoner from speaking,” said Fried¬ man, “In that respect we failed. The second goal was to keep as many people from attending the rally as possible. In that respect, we were very successful.” As the estimated 250-300 anti-racist protesters verbally clashed with the few visible supporters of Stoner, tempers and tensions quickly esca¬ lated between the two factions. This resulted in the chasing and beating of two 13-year-old skinheads who had arrived in hopes of hearing Stoner. “It’s sad that this one event took place,” said Friedman, who went on to explain that the media can twist such an action around to mis¬ represent the intentions of the parties involved. “I don’t have any sympathy for those racists,” Fried¬ man said, “just regrets that that was the main focus of the papers covering the event.” According to Roger Marheine, fac¬ ulty adviser for InCAR, the event was quite effective in making the public more aware that attitudes held by people like Stoner will not be tolerated. “Stoner’s message acts as a rally¬ ing cry for all white supremacists.” Marheine said and added that it’s good for people to think seriously about social issues. Marheine sees the current lecture tour by Stoner as just the first part of a united spring offensive being planned by the Arian Nation, a na¬ tional neo-nazi organization. “The group is currently trying to establish a radio program in Utah,” Marheine said. “They already have established such a presence in Idaho.” Teacher, Against Odds, Strives for Goals By Coleen Meyers Feature Editor Within minutes of meeting him, his commitment to education is evident. Jaime Escalante, former PCC student and algebra and calculus instructor at Garfield High School in East Los Ange¬ les, teaches in a classroom which contains posters bearing positive messages such as “I’ll be a success” and “If I could do math, I would be able to balance my own checkbook and feel confident taking chemistry.” Each Escalante class session begins with popular music to motivate the students and toys are often used for creating parallels when learning. For example a magic wand often demon¬ strates balance. He uses concrete ex¬ amples to illustrate mathematical the¬ ories. Escalante demands dedication from his students by loading them down with homework. And he makes dropping his rigorous class virtually impossible. “Sometimes students say to me, T want to drop your class,’ and I say come back at 3 o’clock. They ask me if I will sign their drop slips and I tell them just come in at 3 o’clock.” Escalante can often be found tutor¬ ing students long after the school day is over. Whatever extra time a student may need, he seems willing to give. “He is part of us,” said 17-year-old Jaime Escalante student Julio Espinoza referring to their similar hispanic backgrounds. “He gives us a good feeling about ourselves and makes us want to work harder.” “He makes learning fun,” said 16- year-old student Alejandra Ramirez. “He brings himself to our level and doesn’t treat us like a minority. He believes we can do better.” This is all part of Escalante’s per¬ sonal brand of teaching which re-in¬ forces a student’s belief in himself. It is part of the reason why Escalante has played a major role in his students’ outstanding performance on the Ad¬ vanced Placement examinations at Garfield High School. Although it has not always been that way. In 1975 Garield High School looked as though it might be the first school in Los Angeles to lose its accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. At that time, the school struggled with active gangs, littered hallways and graffiti. Teaching standards only required the students to take basic mathematics which placed the school in a 521 ranking on the national mathematic scale. However, due to the dedication and spunk of the school personnel and teachers like Escalante, Garfield High School now ranks fourth place na¬ tionally. In fact, last year 68 Garfield students took the advanced placement calculus examination that only 1 per¬ cent of American high school seniors and juniors take. Garfield’s scores were seventh highest in the nation’s public schools according to a Washing¬ ton Post survey. And more than 84 percent of those students scored high enough to qualify them for college credits. The College Board figures show Garfield is responsible for train¬ ing 17 percent of all Mexican-Ameri- cans who passed the exam with a 3 or higher (5 possible). A native of Bolivia, Escalante and his wife came to the United States in 1964. At that time, his English vocab¬ ulary consisted of “yes” and “okay.” However, he soon landed a job mopping floors at a local restuarant. But having previously taught math in his home¬ land, Escalante was not satisfied with the lack of challenges his job offered and enrolled in classes at PCC. “I took every available class in English, math, physics and elec¬ tronics,” Escalante said. He continued to work while attending school and his supervisor grew to ap¬ preciate his work. During the years working at the restaurant, Escalante not only was promoted to a busboy but also then moved up to head cook which enabled him to “wear a hat and change the menu.” In 1970 Escalante graduated from PCC with a double degree in mathematics and electronics. He later earned a B.S. in mathematics from Cal State L.A. This past Nov. 22 Escalante was honored with an Alumni of the Year award at the annual California Associa¬ tion of Community Colleges. He has been recognized by President Reagan for his teaching accomplishments among Hispanic students. A motion picture about Escalante’s life is sched¬ uled for release in Feb. 1988 and a book is in the works. Despite many other offers, Esca¬ lante plans to continue teaching His¬ panic students at Garfield High School for a long time — and said it is exactly where he wants to be. “You have to be dedicated and enjoy what you do. Teaching has always been my first love.”