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PCC BREAKS FIVE-GAME
LOSING STREAK
Guard Mihail Papadapulos leads
team as men’s basketball ^
downs ELAC 85-79 6
• PCC EMBRACES THE TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTION
College introduces new-age Internet computer courses
By ARDA HAMALIAN
Courier Staff Writer
In an age when everyone seems to
be computer literate, PCC will be
giving students an opportunity to
become familiar with the Internet in
classes.
The administration recently ap¬
proved an Internet curriculum of in¬
ternational communication to be in¬
cluded in an economic geography
course being offered this semester.
The Internet program, entitled
ICONS, will be incorporated into
Geography 5, a class which exam¬
ines the world ’ s relationship between
economic and environmental fac¬
tors and focuses on international
negotiation. The system will allow
the students to actually participate in
negotiation simulations first hand
rather than simply learning about the
processes involved.
“I’m very happy to have ICONS
as a part of the curriculum,” said Don
Paxton, division dean of the business
department. “It will open doors for
students by combining computers and
communication. It’s definitely a plus
for the course.”
As a result of the approval, PCC
will be participating in a three-year
pilot program which will test the
ICONS system.
Nine community colleges, includ¬
ing PCC, will participate in the pro¬
gram the first year. Each school will
represent a different country, such as
China, Japan, Mexico, Philippines,
Singapore, South Korea, USA and
Vietnam. PCC will be representing
Malaysia. Those schools will be
joined by six out-of-state colleges
the second year and four colleges
outside the United States in the third
year. The international schools will
be located in Russia, France, New
Zealand and Britain.
In addition, students and instruc¬
tors who take part in the program
will be allowed to evaluate it in the
final year of the trial.
The ICONS system will be used
for three weeks each semester. This
semester, students are expected to be
going on-line from Feb. 26 to about
March 15.
Although the program has been
approved, a few problems remain
unresolved.
“One thing that’s an issue right
now is that we’re in the process of
upgrading the computer link that
goes to the outside world,” said Bob
Cody, assistant dean of computing
systems. “We’ll be working on that
over the Presidents’ holiday.”
Another problem is that since the
participating students will have to
receive Internet E-mail, the hard-
Please see INTERNET, Page 5
• POLICY DESIGNED TO HELP
SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS
College leaders
debate sexual
assault policy
By SUSAN CHOU NGOV, Courier Staff Writer
PCC will be implementing a Sexual Assault Policy
in March if the Associated Students, Faculty Senate,
Classified Senate, and the Board of Trustees come to an
agreement on how the policy should be worded.
Sexual assault is not a problem on this campus; only
one sexual assault has been reported in the last 14 years.
However, the document is being drafted because the
state says it is mandatory to do so.
Dr. Richard A. Beyers, PCC counseling psychologist,
was responsible for developing the policy. It is designed
to help students, faculty, and staff who are sexually
assaulted on campus.
Section 67385 of the Education Code specifies that
there must be services available to victims and personnel
responsible for providing these services.
For example there must be a person assigned to
transport the victim to the hospital, to refer the victim to
a counseling center, and to notify the police with the
victim’s concurrence. After the incident occurs, the
victim will be kept informed about the case, including
disciplinary actions taken against the suspect. Each
victim will also receive information about criminal,
administrative, or civil action that could be taken against
the suspect.
Any form of sexual assault on anyone on campus
“will not be tolerated,” said Sherry Hassan, director of
business services.
The California Penal Code defines assault as “an
unlawful attempt coupled with a present ability to com¬
mit a violent injury on one person or another.”
Sexual assaults range from harassment, to battery to
an actual assault on a person. It does not always have
to be physical to be considered an assault. It could be
a threat that can be acted upon at that moment or in the
future. It does not always mean rape. You could be a
victim of a sexual assault and not even know it, said
Hassan.
Students who want more information about the policy
when it’s completed can get brochures from the psycho¬
logical services department located in C232 or call 585-
7273.
...CATS AND DOGS?
JOSE CORTEZ
/
THE COURIER
Students brave the torrential rain as they try to make their way from the parking structure
to their classes. Wednesday’s rain was the heaviest so far this season.
• CAMPUS SECURITY CALLED TO CONTROL
PROBLEMS IN AS GOVERNMENT
Police reports
filed, hostility
in AS heightens
By ARDA HAMALIAN, Courier Staff Writer
Several police reports have been filed this week with
campus police as a result of the escalating problems on
the Associated Students Executive Board.
Campus police were called in to maintain peace
between all the parties involved and to ensure their
safety.
The first of these reports was filed on Monday by
student activist Darrell Price who claimed that a com¬
puter in the Campus Center had been illegally broken
into and a program had been erased. Campus Police Sgt.
Vincent Palermo and a computer service technician
were called to the scene only to find that the program had
not been erased.
Later that day, another report was filed by Student
Affairs Adviser Rebecca Cobb who claimed that AS
president Roldan Herrera told her: “I am not a violent
person. I just want to let you know that things are going
to change around here.”
Cobb said that she has never had a statement like that
made to her before. Thus, she filed a police report on the
advice of Stephen Johnson, dean of student activities.
“I advised her to file the report just in case it needed
to be followed up on,” said Johnson.
Cobb said “I don’t like doing that kind of thing, but
the remark was completely uncalled for. It’s come to a
point were I feel I need to be covered.”
Another police report was filed by Herrera around
noon on Tuesday, in response to a verbal argument
between several AS Board members. The student offic¬
ers were apparently arguing over office space and visi¬
tation policies. Some gender slurs were allegedly made,
according to the police report.
The final report was made later Tuesday by a student,
Forrest Poindexter who claimed that while he was in a
meeting with Kim Smoot, AS executive vice president,
Herrera got in a verbal confrontation with him. Herrera
allegedly made sexual epithets and insults and said he
would “kick [Poindexter’s] ass.” Poindexter also made
Please see POLICE, Page 5
“The conduct
of the AS
Board has
been disrup¬
tive to say the
least. They
have been
interfering with
normal school
activities and
putting a
demand on all
those in¬
volved, be it
students, staff,
or police, ”
Vincent
Palermo,
campus
police Sgt.
• TOUGH STUDENT FACES HARD TIMES AND MEETS CHALLENGES HEAD ON
No Tears from Tess
By RAY ARMEN DARIZ
Courier Staff Writer
Everything was going well for
Tess Coleman.
She was appointed to PCC’s As¬
sociated Students Executive Board.
She was teaching Sunday school.
Her family was healthy, to top it off,
Tess, 31, was elected homecoming
queen.
All that changed on Wednesday
Nov. 1 . Tess left her math class ex¬
pecting to go home where her hus¬
band Robert would have dinner ready
and the children half way done with
their homework. Instead she spent
the night at the hospital as her hus¬
band struggled for his life. He had
been shot four times while visiting
his sister.
In just four days, all the things
that had brought her joy and happi¬
ness didn’t seem to be important
anymore.
“My daughter was crying when I
called home, so I immediately knew
something was wrong,” Tess re¬
called. “I was in disbelief, hoping
that it was a mistake.
I just couldn’t admit that this hap¬
pened. I kept telling myself, it has to
be someone else.“
While visiting his sister, Robert,
32, asked his sister’s friend to be
quiet because the children were al¬
ready asleep and he was making too
much noise. While Robert was talk¬
ing on the phone that man approached
him and shot him four times as Rob¬
ert’ s two sons watched in horror.
Tess spent the next four nights at
the hospital waiting to see if her
husband would live or die. Nothing
mattered anymore. The stress of deal¬
ing with her husband’s condition
was tremendous. There was no longer
time to think of school, work, or
friends.
She returned to her normal life as
best she could. Her husband was still
in the hospital and progressing, but
she found out he would be paralyzed
from the neck down. She knew he
would be home soon, maybe in time
for Christmas. But another setback
was just around the corner.
One Sunday afternoon while Tess
crammed for finals, she decided to
take a break and ride her bike. Feel¬
ing a pain in her side she started
walking. When somebody noticed
how much in pain she was in they
called an ambulance.
Tess spent the next nine days in
the hospital. She learned that she
needs an operation on her gall blad¬
der. With her husband ready to be
released from the hospital, the sur¬
gery had been postponed. She wants
to be with her husband. “I’ve got to
be there for him. I’ve got to make
sure he’s okay,” Tess said.
Since Robert was the only source
of income for this family with six
children ranging from 3 to 13, the
family is now suffering financially.
They recently lost their home. Be¬
cause of the ordeal, the Colemans
have lost almost everything. “I don’t
know if I’ll ever walk again, “ Robert
said. “We’ve lost our home but we
are all pulling together.”
Because of their tragedy the
Coleman family has a different out¬
look on life. What once was petty
arguments over what to watch on,
Please see TESS, Page 5
SAMUEL HERNANDEZ
/
THE COURIER
Tess and Robert Coleman
“The best
thing we
learned from
this was the
support
everybody
has shown for
us,"
Tess
Coleman,
AS officer
and
homecoming
queen
