PCC Courier, December 15, 1978

шш VOL. 46, NO. 14 PASADENA CITY COLLEGE. PASADENA, CALIFORNIA DECEMBER 15, 1978 The recent early morning below-freezing weather put a smooth sheet of ice over the mirror pools "Шл ,>:• Services Shrink Handicapped Students Lose Interpreters; Fight for Rights с.>- <ас%2&г"" Z\. Л ' ' ЯП JST ‘ ИЙК —Courier photo by Robert llgenfritz Student Committee Makes Alternatives By Kathy Braidhill News Editor Constitutional confusion reigned over the December 7 ASB board meeting, when the board thought its veto had no effect on the controversial senate amendment. ‘An ASB vote is unnecessary unless were going to veto this senate amendment,” said Derek Coleman, ASB president. “And a veto is useless unless it expresses disapproval. The ASB board has no power to amend the constitution.” Board discussion about the ASB board’s role in legislation, and the effect of the board on student trustee precedence over constitutional revisions perplexed them. Board members didn’t know what kind of a motion to make, and a motion to simply disapprove the senate amendment was proposed and passed. Since then, it has come to Coleman’s attention that the ASB board does have the power to veto any senate legislation. “Hey, we didn’t look at that, we didn't see it," said Coleman, looking at the ASB Constitution He surmised what he had looked at was a clause having to do with ASB board approval of the budget. "Those things happen.” he said of the misinterpretation Coleman did mention two processes by which the senate could “legally” amend the ASB constitution. One method is through formal ASB government procedure: passing the amendment through the senate, with ASB board approval. The other process completely cir¬ cumvents the ASB board, and involves the presentation of the amendment to the Board of Trustees. The student senate, said Ms. Hut¬ chins, plans to present the two senate amendments to the Board of Trustees December 20. Regardless of the proposals student government presents to the Board of Trustees, the latter have the ultimate authority to dictate the method by which the student trustee is chosen. An outburst from the senate's Helen Roberts against the senate and board presidents involved informing the senators that ЛВ 591, the assembly bill upon which the amendments are based, would be on the Board of Trustees’ agenda. The dispute, according to Ms. Hutchins, centered around Tyrone Patrick, senate president, and Board of Trustees OK Courier Policy By Tom Trepiak Editor The Board of Trustees adopted a Courier Policy by a 4-3 vote last week. It took more than seven months to approve a policy, this one drafted by superintendent-president Dr. Dick Meyers. This new proposal, which actually combined bits of past proposals, eliminates all restrictions on political writing. Trustees Richard Greene, Walter Shatford, Warren Weber, and Board President Charles Briscoe voted for the policy while Trustees Roger Gertmenian, David Hannah, and Robert Spare voted against it. The Board’s past concern centered around allowing the Courier to support or oppose a candidate in a local election. The policy passed because Briscoe and Weber accepted the ad¬ vice of the county counsel and Dr. Meyers, even though both Briscoe and Weber were opposed to allowing the Courier to write on local politics. Spare was not willing to accept the advice, however. “Legal counsel tells us that we have a legal responsibility to adopt a policy that has been written and presented by the administration. I would say the Board should go to someone with greater expertise in the area. “I would suggest the Board hire an attorney who does not have an ax to grind," Spare said. “I find that we’re not in the position to mandate or regulate materials,” said Weber. “As long as, under free speech, we get some sort of balanced Presentation, then this policy will stay in force. And the time we don’t get it, we 11 put another policy in, just like we put this policy in." Weber also said that if the paper did not “continue to be tasteful, well- mannered, and mature,” the Board would find “some other way to regulate it." Briscoe felt that the Courier should not be partisan, supporting individuals based on their party. “I’m prepared to vote for this policy. The superin¬ tendent-president has recommended it, our county counsel has recom¬ mended it, and I’ll go along with it. If I find the paper editorializes without the opportunity for rebuttal, I’ll vote to not support the paper,” he said. Gertmenian said he thought that some persons may have an unfair advantage if the Courier could endorse political candidates. He named two PCC faculty members as possible candidates for the Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education, and said, “I don’t like to see student newspapers take advantage of those people who are not on the faculty. “If this new policy is accepted, I can think of nothing less fair,” Gertmenian added. "I think,” Shatford said, “that, at the moment, the right of free speech determines what goes into the newspaper, it is the prevailing rule. And because it is the prevailing rule, we will, it seems to me, just have to follow it. “We can try and show the way, but I think that is, under the current state of the law, as far as we can go,” Shatford said. Spare read a three-paragraph ex¬ cerpt from an essay which compared what is legal with what is morally right. Spare commented that he thought the essay’s comments pointed out “one of the serious problems we have in our society today,” which Spare referred to as legalism. Coleman, who both knew of the board agenda, she contends. Ms. Hutchins felt both Coleman and Patrick should have informed the senate that the student trustee would be discussed at the board meeting. “He announced it at the ASB board meeting, but didn't mention it when he presented the board report," she said. Coleman said the board agendas are available to all in the superintendent- president's office. “No proposals were being brought up. Dr. (Dick) Meyers was just going to give the board some information, just the status of the law, ” he said. Two student trustee amendments were unanimously approved by the senate yesterday, and will be presented to the Board of Trustees December 20. Prepared by the student affairs committee, the amendments propose two alternatives for the Board of Trustees to consider, since the method by which the trustee is selected is determined by the Board. An independent trustee, with no direct ties binding him to either the senate or the ASB board, was proposed by Charlotte Hutchins, student senator. Ms. Hutchins explained this trustee as one who would have the most direct contact with the students, although he is to keep in touch with the ASB board and student senate. The other amendment, presented to the senate by student senator Michael Tiberi, established the trustee with the same status as a senate vice-president and subject to all rules regarding student senators. Both amendments require the student trustees to be elected by the student body, and replace the single amendment that was disapproved by the ASB board last week. By Steve McManus Staff Writer A lack of qualified interpreters is causing some of PCC’s hearing im¬ paired students to miss classes. The staff of 14 interpreters which began the semester has dwindled to 10, and is in danger of becoming even smaller. One facet of the complex problem is the pay scale for interpreters. Ac¬ cording to a Cal State Northridge survey, PCC has one of the lowest interpreter pay scales of any California community college. The rates of pay have not been increased in the last five years, and because of the wage freeze imposed by Proposition 13, there can be no pay increases now. That is the state law. Yet, under federal law, students cannot be denied their right to an equal education because they are han¬ dicapped. An abridgment of these rights is occurring as Dr. Lucille Miller, in charge of the Hearing Im¬ paired program, is unable to find qualified interpreters willing to work at the present hourly rate. “Many of the people remaining in the program,” she explained, “are working more out of the goodness of their hearts than for the money they're making. They know they can make more elsewhere." Interpreters elsewhere can make anywhere from $5 to $10 an hour. The maximum ( frozen ) rate at PCC is $5.53 an hour. On Thursday, Dec. 7, the students and staff representing the han¬ dicapped students services program aired their case before the Board of Trustees. A lot of statistics were cited, but the agenda item was only a status report and the board was not com¬ pelled to take any action on the issue. Monday, Dr. Vernon Halcromb, dean of occupational education, and the handicapped services faculty held an advisery board meeting. It was a chance for some of the members of the administration (President- Superintendent Dick Meyers, Dr. Stanley Gunstream. and Mildred Wardlow, vice president of ad¬ ministration) to meet with local organizations concerned with the rights of the handicapped. While spokespersons for these groups defended the educational rights of handicapped students by pointing to several federal statutes, the ad¬ ministration seemed caught in the middle. Dr. Meyers explained that if they raised the rate of pay for in¬ terpreters, and thus violated the wage- freeze law, the entire funding for the college would be put in jeopardy. The final decision could rest with either a federal agency or with the courts. Feeling that this decision will take too much time, Bruce Curtis of the Center for Living Independently in Pasadena, a handicapped rights organization, is planning to take some legal action by the end of this week. That action could take one of two forms, a complaint or a lawsuit. What the administration is hoping for, ac¬ cording to Dr. Gunstream. vice president for instruction, is that the people and groups involved will stop pointing the finger at each other and start focusing their energies and ideas into a single plan which will benefit all concerned. In addition to the need for at least four more qualified interpreters is a collateral demand by the handicapped services faculty for a full-time In¬ terpreter Coordinator. The emotional resignation of David Bateman on December 4 has cast a feeling of depression over some students, faculty, and counselors connected with the handicapped program, according to Dr. Miller. Bateman was an interpreter. He was originally hired to replace Barbara Tyler who resigned the newly established post of Head Coordinator after serving only four months. Somewhere between her resignation in the waning days of December 1977 and Bateman's take-over commencing January 4, 1978, the position was done away with. Bateman gave many hours of his own time to keep the scheduling coordinated. Since his departure, much of the organizational work has been left undone due to lack of time and manpower. The amount of time Dr. Meyers has already spent listening to the grievances of the handicapped gives them the impression he understands their immediate concerns and wants to help. However, the problem he faces is a sort of legislative catch-22 in which the rights of the students are in direct conflict with the will of the taxpayers. Hr SPEAKING OUT — Bruce Curtis (above) speaks for the handicapped at last week's Board of Trustees meeting while an interpreter (left) relays his message to the deaf. —Courier photos by S.K. Gertmenian Speaks on Policy The main consideration for the Board of Trustees concerning the Courier Policy was whether to include restrictions on political writing. That restriction was eliminated because it in¬ terfered. according to county counsel, with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Freedom of expression was a major consideration. Trustee Roger Gertmenian was one of the Board members who voted against adopting the Courier Policy (which passed with a 4-3 vote). Before the vote, Gertmenian had this to say : "I think the board is in a rather difficult position. to say the least: telling students whai mey can write. That is the one thing that I tried very very hard as a teacher and as a board member ... to avoid. “I don't think the board should develop a policy of what is right ever. The board is . . . saying, ‘if we don't like it (the Courier), we’ll come down on you.’ That is not policy, that is exactly what the board should not get involved in. "The board makes policy. (But) they don’t tell the teachers how to teach and they don’t tell students how to learn. When the board gets con¬ fused as to what is policy and what is curriculum, we re in a lot of trouble." Gertmenian voted no on the policy because he felt the Courier should not be able to endorse candidates for local elections, like the Pasadena School District election next spring. "If this newf policy is accepted. I can think of nothing less fair." he said. Gertmenian s statements on freedom of teaching and freedom of learning coincide with the idea of freedom of expression. But his vote was louder than his words. -Y \ : it? ЯШШШ Щ -v Щ ! IS? —Courier photos by S.K.