PCC Courier, December 07, 1979

Meyers To Visit Taiwan Leaves Today on Tour By Brad Lehman Sports Editor Superintendent-President Dr. Rich¬ ard S. Meyers will leave for Taiwan today for a tour of several junior colleges and industries within the coun¬ try. Dr. Meyers will lead a group of five American community college of¬ ficials to reciprocate a visit by Taiwanese college presidents last spring. After the Taiwan tour, Dr. Meyers will stop in Japan to combine business with pleasure.^’ He plans to continue some personal research of Japanese junior colleges which he began six years ago. While studying these colleges, Dr. Meyers will stay with his in-laws in Japan for the “pleasure” part of his trip. He would also like to see if he can persuade people in both Taiwan and Japan to start programs to bring stu¬ dents and faculty to PCC. “I want a sister college relationship with a Taiwanese school,” said Dr. Meyers, “Right now it looks like the best chance is with a medical school, Dr. Shieh’s college.” Dr. Milton M. S. Shieh and Dr. Mong- Shang Kuo visited PCC last May. They are both college presidents in Taiwan. Dr. Shieh’s father is the vice president of the country. “I’ll definitely see both Kuo and Shieh,” said Dr. Meyers. Under the sister college relationship, schools exchange both faculty and stu¬ dents. Because of PCC’s nursing pro¬ gram, a medical school would be a good choice as a sister college, Dr. Meyers said. In Japan Dr. Meyers will talk to the Rotary Club in Mishima (near Tokyo) about possibly establishing a scholar¬ ship program for a student to come to PCC. Dr. Meyers is a member of the Pasadena Rotary Club. Dr. Meyers intends to rest once in Japan, but he may need a little more leisure than he expected after qomplet- ing his schedule in Taiwan. “We are going the entire length of the country by small plane, so we will see all of Taiwan.” The five presidents will visit approx¬ imately six schools and receive a tour of Taiwanese industry (Dr. Meyers was skeptical about all these schools fitting on the schedule.) Dr. Meyers will lead the group, the second of three scheduled to tour Taiwan this school year from the Unit¬ ed States. The government of Taiwan will pay all expenses of the trip, Dr. Meyers said. Last year 12 American community college presidents went to Taiwan, and eight came from there to the United States. As group leader, Dr. Meyers will have additional responsibilities once the five arrive in Taiwan. Dr. Meyers will return to the United States Dec. 22 and to PCC Dec. 26. Music, Belly Dancing Draw Crowd _ _ _ _ _ _ Song Girls Interrupt Alliance Rally HUG WEEK — Two students take advantage of the recently declared Hug Week. There was no evidence, however, of a hugging epidemic on campus this Week. — Courier photo by Gwen Johnson Iranian Student Faces INS Deportation Hearing By Katrin Wegelius Fine Arts Editor One of the two Iranian students who faced minor difficulties during the Im¬ migration and Naturalization Service on-campus interviews last week has been scheduled for a deportation hear¬ ing Dec. 11. He was declared “out of status” and detained for several' hours after he reported to the downtown Los Angeles INS office Nov. 28. According to Ben Rude, coordinator of the foreign student program, the studentf was found guilty of a minor technical violation which “in normal circumstances would be easily rec¬ tified. “He seems a victim of the statistical results they (INS) think they have to come up with ... he is just another statistic,” said Rude. He explained the student in question had come to the United States in 1976 with his whole family because they felt there was no place in Iran for Chris¬ tian Armenians.” Shortly after his arrival in the Unit¬ ed States he enrolled in high school and applied by mail for foreign student status. Not receiving any response, he reported to the downtown INS office on three different occasions but was never given an answer concerning his ap¬ plication. Finally, he was told on Nov. 28 that the INS had decided to refuse him his student status and declared him illegal. He was jailed for several hours before his lawyer was able to get him re¬ leased. The next day he was detained again despite an assurance by INS to his lawyer that he would not be locked up again. Released on his own recognizance, the INS scheduled him for a deporta¬ tion hearing next Tuesday. According to the National Associa¬ tion for Foreign Student Affairs, many similar cases have occurred recently. In a letter addressed to foreign student advisers, the Association suggested that students in this kind of situation go through the process of a hearing “so that he or she may have the opportuni¬ ty to prove essential validity of his or her position and his or her right to student status under the regulations.” Should the student be ordered for deportation after the hearing, he can take the decision through five levels of appeal. In case these do not reverse the decision, the student may apply for political asylum and thus obtain per¬ mission to stay. “I do pot think he (the student) has to go as far as asking for asylum,” said Rude. “He has an otherwise clean record ... he has never been arrested for anything ... he has never even received a traffic ticket.” Negotiators for the PCC California Teachers Association declared an im¬ passe with district negotiators at their Dec. 3 meeting. The declaration was made because “the district has failed (since last spring) to give a reasonable proposal on salaries,” according to СТА President Dr. Stanley Hutchinson, associate professor of business educa¬ tion. The district’s last offer called for a zero percent increase in the salaries of most faculty members and a decrease in the salaries of counselors and teach¬ ers holding Ph.Ds. Another meeting between the two negotiating teams is planned for Dec. 13 “to determine if we are still at an impasse and in anticipation of a change in the contract,” said Dr. Hutchinson. However, according to Super¬ intendent-President Dr. Richard S. Meyers, in collective bargaining “im¬ passe” is a legal term meaning that By Tricia Chryst Contributing Writer A well-organized Alliance for Sur¬ vival rally was nearly broken up last week by- angry Pep Song Girls who claimed they had reserved the Free Speech Area and were determined to take over the space for the noon hour. Exotic music and belly dancing per¬ formed by the Middle Eastern Cabaret Dance Association had drawn a crowd to the Alliance rally. However, the rally got off to a weak start when the song girls demanded that the Alliance, which had a permit to be there, vacate the Free Speech Area. The song girls did not have an official permit, according to Alvar L. Kauti, dean of student activities. Tim Brick, the first speaker, had to strain to be heard above the noise made by some Pep members. Other mem¬ bers made faces at him. At the Al¬ liance’s request, Dean Phyllis Jackson spoke twice with Pep members. It was not until a compromise was made to share the afternoon time that they finally quieted down. Kauti was disturbed by “the way Pep went about getting time. It was not very good.” negotiations are at a standstill. When one side formally declares an impasse, negotiation meetings cease and the issue must be referred to the Public Employees Relations Board, appointed by the governor to oversee labor nego¬ tiations in the state. PERB would then hold a hearing to determine whether an impasse really exists, explained Dr. Meyers. If one does exist, PERB would decide what the next step in negotiating would be. Both sides must abide by its decision. PERB would not attempt to settle specific contract issues but to identify and remove impediments to nego¬ tiations. However, if any progress in the negotiations can be demonstrated, PERB is unlikely to find that an im¬ passe exists, according to Dr. Meyers. Negotiations between СТА and the district began last June with the sub¬ mission of the CTA’s first contract proposal. According to СТА nego- Susan Alberts, Pep commissioner, said that this is the way members are. “The entire group has no discipline. They just assumed that the adviser, Candy Faulk, booked them for the time.” Alberts indicated that the song girls do not bother to follow established procedures and usually do whatever they want. Brick, who maintained his com¬ posure during the disturbance, en¬ couraged people to lead the ’80s towards alternative energy. He said no matter who is in office, the public has been and still can be effective in making changes for its survival. “We need a dynamic president, but I’ll tell you what we need more than that,” he said. “We need the activism of people like you. ” He emphasized that, “Nuclear energy is dumb, dangerous and damn expensive. The three D’s: Dumb be¬ cause we have other alternatives to create energy— sun, coal, oil and even trash instead of uranium. Dangerous because the processing of uranium to create energy is dangerous and the safety systems have proven to be in¬ adequate. Damn expensive because it is so dangerous. Not even banks are by СТА tiators, little progress has been made since. “The heart of the contract is salary,” said Associate Professor Dr. Edward Ortell, business department. “We don’t have many other issues besides salaries." The district has a different set of priorities, according to Dr. Hutchinson. “When we asked the dis¬ trict’s negotiating team to put a fair and reasonable salary proposal on the table, the answer was, ‘When we come to a substantial agreement on non¬ economic issues, then we will put a serious salary proposal on the table.’ ” Because of their dissatisfaction with the progress of negotiations, СТА members voted last week to authorize their negotiators to call for a state mediator whenever they thought one was needed. Dr. Meyers pointed out that calling in a mediator could not be a unilateral move because there is no contract requiring both sides to work with a mediator. Dr. Meyers does not share the CTA’s views on the progress of negotiations. “I definitely do feel progress has been made,” he said. “By progress, I mean that there have been changes in the original positions of both sides on some issues.” Dr. Meyers did not indicate that progress had been made on the salary issue. “I have been quoted as being totally opposed to a faculty salary increase. That is not true,” he said. He declined to discuss specific issues under nego¬ tiation. “I’m reluctant to state posi¬ tions publicly which are readily stated between the aqtive parties. Bringing in any third of fourth party, the public or whatever, I believe is contrary to the law.” СТА negotiators expressed the hope that negotiators for the district would seek a new salary proposal from the Board of Trustees at their meeting last night but admitted that the district’s chief negotiator had indicated that he did not intend to do so at that time. CHRISTMAS SHOW — Hospitality House at end, is open from 10 a. m. to 3:30 p.m. daily. Admission Descanso Gardens is the scene of the annual Christmas is $1.50, with children under 6 admitted free, decorations show. The display, which ends this week- -courier photo byjudhh Gordon Fate of Negotiations Uncertain Impasse Declared planning to finance nuclear plants for the future because the risk is too high.” Julia Mount, second speaker, is a memer of the East Los Angeles Al¬ liance Chapter and a strong activist in the Spanish-speaking community. Ms. Mount, a youthful 57-year-old woman, received enthusiastic applause from the audience several times' during her emotional speech. She warned the crowd of radiation fallout. “Radiation is constantly emitted from power plants. We don’t realize it is hurting us. Everything is penetrated. Doctors tell us that radiation is the cause of anemia, 'cancer and birth defects and we must think about this.” A person from the audience yelled, “I don’t want to learn!” Unperturbed by the heckler, Ms. Mount emphatical¬ ly replied, “We all have an obligation to the world and our future generation to learn.” Her statement received a wave of applause. — Courier photo by Judith Gordon A safe alternative source of energy? Crayton Attends White House Meeting on Nation's Libraries By Sylvia Cann Fine Arts Editor PCC Librarian James E. Crayton was among the 37 California delegates selected to attend the national White House Conference on Library and In¬ formation Services held for four days last month. The goal of the conference, which was called by President Jimmy Cartpr, was to develop recommendations for further improvement of the nation’s libraries and information centers. Besides Crayton, delegates from the 50 states, six territories, the District of Columbia and several Indian reserva¬ tions participated. Together they com¬ posed 568 delegates, 105 delegates-at- large and 428 non-voting delegates. As coordinator of the California Li¬ brarians Black Caucus, Crayton ad¬ dressed the National Commission in a speech about the need for libraries to continue reaching out to minorities. Some recommendations for improv¬ ing libraries were establishing an of¬ fice of library and information services within the new Department of Educa¬ tion. This would provide international training and exchange of library mate¬ rial through a' new federal program to train the functionally illiterate through federal, state and local governments. Also discussed at the conference was the National Library Act which will establish the National Library Agency as an independent executive agency. The act will also establish grant pro¬ grams to be used by states for library services, construction, special pro- . grams, personnel development and in¬ ter-library cooperation.