PCC Courier, December 17, 1987

Planes, Trains And Automobiles Review Page 3 Merry Christmas From Us at The Courier There Was a Massacre in The Men's Gym Page 4 The COURIER AS Impasse in Board’s Hands By Mark McElrea News Editors The Board of Trustees may have to intervene if the impasse over the ques¬ tion of who is the AS president is not resolved by tonight’s meeting. Lance Oberholtzer, who is currently serving as student president, has re¬ fused to consent to a new election as the means to settle the dispute. Yet, Alvar L. Kauti, assistant dean of stu¬ dent activities, believes the issue is close to being settled. “The problem will hopefully be re¬ solved before the Board meeting to¬ night,” said Kauti. The option of a new election has been presented by Kauti to the AS Board. He claims six of the nine members of the board have given their written consent to the idea. “With the signatures, I don’t see the Board getting involved. We would then just have to tell the Board what has happened, and it would not have to act on the matter,” said Kauti. “Three members of the (AS) board, plus Lance (Oberholtzer) do not favor a new election,” said Margarita Cornejo, coordinator of cultural affairs. “Our signatures just mean that we have agreed to work with the decision that is reached.” The four of us favor arbitra¬ tion, she said. At the Nov. 18 meeting of the Board of Trustees, Jose Rodriguez, executive vice president, accompanied by at¬ torney Sue Sweetman, informed the board that unless Rodriguez was in¬ stated to his rightful position as presi¬ dent, litigation against PCC would be forthcoming. The issue in question stems from the disqualification of Brendan O’Brien from the AS presidency. The decision was reached after O’Brien had chaired three meetings, acted on budgetary matters, and received the $75 stipend given to each member of the AS Board. On Nov. 4 Oberholtzer, the runner up to O’Brien in the race for the presi¬ dency, was officially declared AS Pres¬ ident by Kauti. Rodriguez, after Oberholtzer’s ap¬ pointment, brought charges that the AS Constitution is explicit in declaring the vice president as the new president in the event the current president is forced to step down. Sweetman and Rodriguez later agreed that a new election would re¬ solve the matter as far as they were concerned. “My main concern is that the will of the students is followed, and the presi¬ dent is duly elected by the student body, not appointed to the position,” said Rodriguez. “The students have already spoken,” said Oberholtzer. “The problem does not stem from the election, but the actions that followed.” “The most discouraging aspect of this whole affair,” said Oberholtzer, “is the fact that Kauti, after putting me in office, has failed to back my posi¬ tion. I brought the question of the legality of the matter up to him at the time I was instated as president, and he said, ‘don’t worry Lance, everything has been done in a proper manner.’ ” Courier/Jennifer Landis Santa enjoys a wintertime float in a California pool. Although temperatures are brisk, Santa’s friends kept the north pole resident warm. AB 1725 Will Change Structure of Teacher Tenure By Mark McElrea News Editor It has been called by administrators and faculty members on campus the most sweeping reform bill of its kind. Still in the planning stages in Sacra¬ mento, AB 1725 represents an attempt to forever divorce California’s com¬ munity college, system from the K-12 system, and align its policies more closely with the California’s univer¬ sities. Currently, faculty members on the community college level in California are the only college level instuctors in the nation who must possess creden¬ tials certifying them as qualified to teach. According to Jane Hollinger, president of the faculty senate, this presents a multitude of obstacals to procuring the best possible instructor for specific areas. “The University systems have estab¬ lished their own guidelines to evaluate an instructor’s ability to teach. They use such guidelines as degrees held, or specialized qualifications to determine eligiblity. The community college sys¬ tem is hampered by credential restric¬ tions. A lot of excellent instructors, in the vocational fields in particular, have been lost because of this restriction,” said Hallinger. It is the goal of AB 1725 to allow community colleges to establish their own set of guidelines concerning who is qualified to instruct their students. Another important aspect of AB 1725 would be changes in the granting of tenure to faculty members. Under the current system, the de¬ cision of whether or not a teacher will be tenured must be addressed after the instructors fourth semester of full-time teaching. “The object of any administration is to provide the strongest possible teaching staff for its students,” said Hallenger, According to Hallinger, if a teacher begins full-time instruction in the fall, by March of his in their fourth semester, the issue of tenure must be addressed. This means that tenure is actually based on only three semesters evaluated work. Under the guidelnes established in AB 1725, the decision to tenure an instructor would not have to be made until the fourth year of full-time in¬ struction. Evaluations would be made at the two and three year marks. “The administration would probably not feel as pressured when hiring full¬ time instructors under such an ar¬ rangement,” said Jack Scott, super- intendant-president. “It could help in¬ crease the number of full-time faculty on campus, which I am all for, as long as we can afford them.” Scott explained that the situation can occur where a teacher might be denied tenure, and then released, when all he needed was more time to improve his teaching technique. Provisions in AB 1725 call for provid¬ ing community colleges with $53 mil¬ lion for the hiring of new full-time faculty, with an additional $10 million allocated for new faculty development. The need for an increase in full-time instructors in California community colleges is backed by the system’s national standing in several catagories. Currently, California ranks number one in the nation in the use of part-time instructors. Community colleges also maintain a student to teacher ratio of 30-1, which is exceeded only by North and South Carolina. The goal of AB 1725 is to lower that ratio to 25-1, which is closer to the national average of 23-1. Hallinger sees the overuse of part- time instructors, the so called freeway flyers because they race from campus- to-campus, as having an inherent disad¬ vantage to the students at PCC. “It’s not the quality of work they provide that is the problem,” said Hallinger. “At most universities stu¬ dent teachers are used in much the same mode, only they are less quali¬ fied. The problem lies in the avail¬ ability of part-time instructors to their students. They don’t even have office space to hold conferences. What are they suppose to do, hold student con¬ ferences in the halls?” According to Scott, AB 1725 contains provisions for providing community colleges with extra funds for the con¬ struction, and updating of campus buildings. Extra space will not be a problem. This is the second in a series of articles that The Courier plans to run concerning AB 1725. Fee Keeps Service Healthy Newsline . . . Newsline . . . Newsline . . . Newsline Self-Help Two seminar leaders will reveal tonight three powerful techniques to help students and staff become more dynamic and skilled in human real- tions. The program is open to all students, staff members and guests at no charge. Speaking to the public relations class at 7:30 p.m. in Bungalow B-l, Lorraine Stevens, personnel consul¬ tant, and Grace McKendrick trainer/ consultant, will show their audience how to “Make Yourself A Winner.” Both Stevens and McKendrick have been consulting and training for sev¬ eral years. The Tanner techniques they use were developed by William C. Tan¬ ner, Jr., president and founder of Tanner Thought Dynamics, a South Pasadena firm. For over two decades, Tanner has pioneered in the development of self- image psychology, the behavior sci¬ ence that helps people understand and improve the deep seated beliefs they have about themselves. AIDS If AIDS frightens you, a friend or family member, help to better under¬ stand and cope with the disease is available. Local AIDS assistance can be obtained through support groups at All Saints AIDS Service Center (818) 449-8421. Testing for AIDS can be performed at the Pasadena Health Department (818) 405-4391 and preventive education can be found at the American Red Cross (818) 799-0841 or Pasadena Planned Parenthood (818) 799-0706. Artsy Math A unique course designed to help liberal arts majors meet the mathematics/critical thinking por¬ tion of their A. A. degree will be offered next semester by the mathematics department. “Mathematics for Liberal Arts Ma¬ jors” (Math 15) explores the role of math in our society by focusing on a number of different topics, including techniques for problem solving, statistics and computer applications. According to math instructor Carol Dean, Math 15 is an option for non¬ science, non-technical majors be¬ cause it can stimulate a student’s curiosity about the use of math, but is not designed to lead to other, higher math courses. Math 15 is fully transferable to the California state university level. Pre¬ requisites include high school algebra and a satisfactory score on the place¬ ment test, or a minimum grade of C in math 125 or 126C. Tutors The Pasadena Unified School Dis¬ trict (PUSD) is seeking volunteer tutors for grades K-12. Successful volunteers will receive letters of recommendation from PUSD usable for resumes and college applications. Club members can get 7-10 hours of their required mandatory community service work. Applications are available at the desk in the Campus Center, CC203. For further information, contact Ed Shutman or Toney Santilena at 795-6981, ext. 260. By Jim Gunther Staff Writer The Board of Trustees voted to re¬ instate a $7.50 Health Service fee begin¬ ning in the Spring 1988. All semester students will be required to pay the $7.50 fee in addition to the regular registration fees. The money will be used to support the Student Health Services Program and Psychological Services. It will also provide students with an insurance policy to cover acci¬ dents on campus or at specified off campus college sponsored activities. Janice Roman, health center nurse, said that while this fee adds badly needed revenues to the program, it will not be enough to support existing pro¬ grams as they are. She feels a fee of $10 would allow the college to continue to support current programs, but would also allow the center to expand its services to better serve the needs of the students. David A. Ledbetter, assistant super¬ intendent, commented that “a $10 fee could be justified, although the request has never been officially submitted to the Board.” He continued that the current rate of $7.50 has not increased since the suspension of the fee in 1984. Funding for the health center during the period of the health fee suspension came from money generated from the drop fee. In accordance with the newly amended education code, all students must pay the fee. Exceptions will be granted to students who qualify as low income as defined by state and federal regulations if they have contacted the financial-aid office prior to registra¬ tion. Students enrolled in an approved apprenticeship program and students who depend exclusively upon prayer for healings in accordance with the teachings of a bona fide religious sect can also be granted waivers. No other exceptions will be granted. Other schools who have required this fee include Glendale, Mount San An¬ tonio College, Citrus, and Rio Hondo city colleges. Roman sees this fee as “both a vital and necessary income for the Health Center if it is to provide the same degree of quality health care it has in the past.”