PCC Courier, December 12, 1980

English Scores Spur Discussion By Sylvia Cann Editor-in-Chief Recommendations for a placement testing program and curriculum changes to improve the English skills of some PCC students will be con¬ sidered at next Thursday's Pasadena Area Community College District Board of Trustees meeting at 7:30 p.m. in C Building’s Board Chambers. The English Department made these recommendations based on its belief that reading and writing standards at PCC have fallen to an unacceptable level. Placement Testing Program Explaining the recommendations to the Trustees at their Dec. 4 meeting. Dr. Stanley Gunstream, vice president for Instruction, said the proposed placement testing program involved using student scores on the English portion of the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills to decide placement in freshman composition courses. "High school grades are not reliable indicators of success in English," said Gunstream. "Most faculty members would agree that (English) skills have declined in recent years." However, he said there is no PCC data which con¬ firms or denies this assumption. Gunstream suggested the following percentile scores on the CTBS be used as prerequisites: English 1A— 72; Eng¬ lish 100— 50; English 132A— 11 and English 400, a remedial course— no prerequisites. Implementation of the testing pro¬ gram would cost PCC about $25,000 per year, Gunstream said. Curriculum Changes A suggestion to make the research paper segment of English 1A a sepa¬ rate one-unit course was also dis¬ cussed. English 1A itself would focus only on reading and composition. "By squeezing the research paper into 1A and going through it so rapidly, it’s difficult for some students to han¬ dle." said Dr. Rae Ballard, English Department chairwoman, after the meeting. "People drop out in droves at the point when the research paper is given." The one-unit research paper class would be recommended for transfer students and required for English IB, unles the student has taken an English Advanced Placement class and test, according to Ballard. Trustee John Martin voiced concern about students passing English courses without having to do a resealrch paper. "They (students) could go through this institution without doing a re¬ search paper," said Martin. "If a student gets an "A” here (at PCC) he should be able to get an "A" at another school with comparable work," he added. Another curriculum change Gun¬ stream suggsted was dividing English 132 (reading skills) into English 432 (basic reading) and English 132A through C (more advanced reading skills). The English Department also asked that English 401 (English Essentials) be split into English 400 (English Es¬ sentials) and English 100 (reading and writing skills). These curriculum changes would re¬ quire six new faculty positions to be added for 1981-82, according to Gun¬ stream. Furthermore, developmental reading and writing laboratories must be expanded, he said. Gunstream pointed out that current¬ ly these facilities are located on the third floor of D Building, but he said now there is "insufficient" space to handle the number of services pro¬ vided. Trustees’ Responses Although the Trustees seemed to feel the need of something to correct the English skills problem, a few opposed the expansion of labs. “I'm not the least bit convinced that labs will be used to make writing better," said Trustee Roger Gertme- nian, "I don’t think the Board should spend a nickel for a lab. "Writing is improved by good teach¬ ers spending time with students. We have outstanding faculty— we don't need new teachers, " Gertmenian said. Trustee Walter Shatford also ques¬ tioned the incorporation of additional labs. "How do you improve on that (English skills) by getting them (stu¬ dents) into a lab?" Shatford asked. "My theory is that the best method of doing it (teaching reading composi¬ tion) is having papers written and very intelligently graded." Explaining the labs' proposed purpose, Ballard said, “We (the Eng¬ lish Department) see the lab as a supplement rather than a replacement to class. The lab would allow a student to work at his own speed and to work on his own problem." Nursing Program Gets High Marks Studying the grade distribution col¬ lege summary presented to the Board by the English Department. Trustee Gary Adams said, "As I look at the grade distribution. I'm amazed that the grades are as high as they are. If English proficiency is as bad as it is. maybe the grading system should be looked at." Adams suggested. Alan Lamson, chairman of the Eng¬ lish Department's curriculum commit¬ tee. was quoted as saying after the meeting that students' reading and writing skills have dropped to such a low level that "at least half, and probably more, of the students here can't handle the English requirements of their courses." RECOMMENDING CHANGES— Dr Stanley Gun stream, vice president for Instruction (middle), presents recommendations for changes in the English curriculum at the Dec. 4 Board of Trustees meeting. These suggestions come as a result of the English Depart¬ ment's observances of a decline in the English skills of PCC students. Seated on Gunstream's left is John S. Madden, vice president of Administrative Services, and to the right, Dr. Irvin G. Lewis, vice president of Student Personnel Services. — Courier photo by Larry Goren ■ажййь. mmm • iiii I * in - — Jit ' Ji'Jk Hf ft Щк Шшж ft ^ . * if III* ' p ш мШШ §§§ жЖ - ш N тШш. ■ . Sll . g§f|§j ’ *1* • . • ■ 1 ЯШШяШШшШШш ымяШ DECEMBER 12, 1980 PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA VOL, 50, N0. 16 Warren Weber (right photo, at right) was elected new president of the Pasadena Area Community College District Board of Trustees at the Dec. 4 Board meeting. In addition. Dr. Gary Adams (right photo, at left), formerly Board clerk, was voted vice president, and (above, at right) John Martin was chosen as clerk. Selected as secretary for a second term was Dr. Richard S. Meyers, (above, at left) PCC superintendent-president. Taking David Hannah's place as president, Weber has served on the Board three and a half years and was formally vice president before filling his new office. As president, Weber hopes the Board will continue attempting to cope with the funding. "I hope we do the best job in providing services to the community end staff,” he said. Courier Photos hy Larry Goren 'International Center' Opening Planned for Jan. 7 YMCA Provides Rooms for Foreign Students Two nursing professionals were part of the eight-member team, composed of educators from California colleges, who evaluted PCC for its fifth year accreditation report last month. Catherine Koenig, nursing education consultant on the Board of Registered Nurses, had only one recommendation for the PCC nursing program in her report, which she called a "cream on top of the cream" type adjustment. Mrs. Koenig and other accreditation team members from the BRN studied the program Nov. 17, 18 and 19, during which they reviewed and validated the self-study report, studied the service area, observed one class in progress, reviewed the college budget and had meetings with Superintendent-Presi¬ dent Dr. Richard S. Meyers, faculty and students. "I believe that you have a very fine nursing program here:" said Mrs. Koenig, addressing students, faculty and administration after the three day study of the PCC nursing program. She said the program has received "na¬ tional and international recognition." The team's recommendation refered to "refinements" in the clinical eval¬ uation process. Shirley Wrasse, chair¬ woman of the Nursing Department, explained this pertains to the eval¬ uation of students' work in hosptials and said the accreditation is not "hing¬ ing" upon this recommendation. “They always have to make some kind of recommendation," said Mrs. Wrasse. T think, overall, it was a very good report." "The students speak highly of facul¬ ty confidence concerning students." said Mrs, Koenig. "Students, faculty and the community are very proud of this program. "A unique aspect of this program is the one unit per semester program in the campus lab," she said, referring to the weekly three-hour nursing practice lab where students learn hospital pro¬ cedures. It was an innovative program when it began, according to Mrs. Wrasse. It was one of the programs that led to the grant which got the two floors of the U Building for the nursing program. Mrs. Koenig will send a written copy of the report to the BRN and to PCC. It is expected that the Board will act on the accreditation report sometime in January. — Lorna Moore By Lorna Moore Contributing Writer In an effort to solve a housing short¬ age for foreign students, the Pasadena YMCA will begin refurbishing its 127 rooms, with 52 of them available to rent Jan. 1. Tony Nixon. YMCA associate ex¬ ecutive director, said a news article appealing for foreign student housing "hit a spot" so he suggested to the YMCA Board that the rooms be opened to PCC foreign students. The Board, in turn, contacted Alice B. Mothershead, director of the PCC community liaison center. Nfxon and Mrs. Mothershead have been working on the project since last August. The rooms will be available to male foreign students only, said Nixon, be¬ cause it would be difficult to have a coed situation. The YMCA was ori¬ ginally designed for men. said Nixon, and the rooms have joint bathrooms and a community kitchen. However, Mrs. Mothershead is trying to make arrangements with the YWCA to house women foreign stu¬ dents. The YWCA could house 20 wom¬ en in their 10 double rooms if funds allow, she said. The rooms are furnished, and there are laundry facilities in the building. Renters will automatically become members of the YMCA, which means they will be allowed to use all the recreational facilities free. Each room will be single occupancy and will cost between $120 and $129 a month depend¬ ing on the size of the room. There will be a refundable $25 cleaning deposit fee. Applications will also be taken from foreign and non-foreign students to be "floor proctors." Floor proctors will live in rooms rent-free in turn for acting as liaison between the students and the YMCA directors. Nixon said the details of their duties have not been spelled out vet. The rooms were officially closed Feb. 1. It is costing the YMCA $60,000 to refurbish all the rooms. Nixon said they will paint, carpet, fix furniture and bring fire code requirements up to date. The newly named "International Center" will be opened one floor at a time. The first floor's success or fail¬ ure will determine if they open the other two floors for rent. They plan to open the 54 rooms of the second floor on June 1 and the third floor with 21 rooms Sept. 1. She explained that there are many reasons for the YMCA's special atten¬ tion towards the foreign students. The foreign students have a "very dif¬ ficult” time getting work permits and many of them don't have transporta¬ tion. Although the students bring mon¬ ey into the country, many of them (depending on the country they come from) have to declare exactly the amount of money needed for study. “Sometimes their money loses value in the exchange to the American dollar." she said. Furthermore, when families send money, it is sometimes held up in their country. Mrs. Mothershead will take applica¬ tions and interview students- in her office at room C221. Student Killed Paul S. Yelich. 19-year-old PCC stu¬ dent and Arcadian, was killed in auto¬ mobile accident Dec. 6. Yelich, who was alone in the car, apparently fell asleep while driving, according to the Coronor’s report. He was a former Student Body Presi¬ dent at St. Francis High School. He is survived by his parents, Stanley and Beverly Yelich; a sister, Christine; brothers, Mark, Stephen and Andrew; grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Yelich and Mrs. Carloyn Giorgi; and a nephew, Alexander Yelich. Senior Citizens' Troubles Grow With By Sylvia Cann Editor-in-Chief This is the first in a series of articles on senior citizens in the communi- fy and at PCC. During the series we will present problems of the elderly, various programs for them 'and suggest wags in which PCC students can start preparing now for old age. As the average age at PCC gets older, and as the world is on the verge of an old-age population explosion. PCC students and the community need to be more sensitive to the problems the elderly face. • "I didn't have nowhere to live,” said 85-year-old Daisy Cummings. • Another 76-year-old woman had to work 72 hours a week to pay off her debts. • One 75-year-old widow's eyes were blackened and arms were bruised— by her own daughter-in-law. Such situations are beconing a way of life for a growing number of senior citizens. Senior Population Explosion The statistics clearly show that the elderly population is exploding. In 1950 only 32 percent of the First in a Series population over 65 was 75 or older, according to AFL-CIO American Fed¬ eration Federationist magazine. In 1970 there were 291 million people over 60 years of age in the world. The Atlas World Press Review predicts that by the year 2000 the number of people over 60 years old will total more than 600 million— a number equivalent to the whole population of India. Closer to home, in California, 10 percent of today's population is 65 or older. This percentage is predicted to increase to 25 in four decades. Included in that 10 percent of to¬ day's population are senior citizens who have housing problems, lack of money, ailing health and those who are beaten by their families and who must go back to work after retire¬ ment out of necessity. No Housing Mrs. Cummings, who remembers at one time she "didn't have nowhere to live,” was one of the many elderly persons who have trouble finding housing. The place where she used to live had burned down, and she was turned away from all the apartment buildings she visited. Then, she discovered Consumer Ac¬ tion. a part of Foothill Area Com¬ munity Services in Pasadena. The people there found an apartment for her at a more reasonable rent cost. Not all senior citizens are as lucky as Mrs. Cummings, though. Population Many elderly people often occupy older and substandard housing. Oth¬ ers cannot afford adequate shelter because of their lower, fixed in¬ comes. Low Income The people with the lowest incomes tend to be the disabled elderly, ac¬ cording to the AFL-CIO American Federationist. For example, Oregon professionals who work with the elderly estimate that 75 percent of the elderly who need long-term care are low income. A higher percent of poor old people are disabled because they have suffered a lifetime of low in¬ come. Therefore, the problems of a lifetime are compounded by old age. Apparently, these income problems for seniors are not always solved by Social Security. Social Security re¬ places on the average 58 percent of the wages of low income workers and (Continued on Page 2)