PCC Courier, February 06, 1981

VOL. 51. NO. 1 PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA FEBRUARY 6, 1981 Paving Mirror Pool Plan Sparks Study By W. Majied-Muhammad Editor-in-Chief Trustee David S. Hannah’s plan to convert the mirror pools area into 300 parking spaces evoked mixed feelings from members of the Board of Trustees and objections from members of the audience at the Jan. 22 meeting. Hannah’s plan calls for paving over the lawn in front of C Building along Colorado Boulevard, possibly erecting a stone wall surrounding the area. The Board agreed to appoint at its Feb. 5 meeting a special committee to present some acceptable alternate plans for consideration. Though parking has continued to plague the college over the years, Hannah’s suggestion is the “first con¬ crete proposal since 1974,” according to Trustee Roger Gertmenian. Plans for a high rise parking structure didn’t materialize then because of the cost. Expressing the sentiments of several Board members, Gertmenian said he would hate to replace the mirror pools with a parking lot, but would consider the proposal since parking, according to him, is the most important single problem on campus. Trustee Dr. Gary Adams stated he was opposed to the proposal. “There’s more to education than asphalt and concrete structure,” he said. Adams expressed a desire to maintain a col¬ lege campus atmosphere at PCC by preserving the greenery and open spaces left on the campus. The audience echoed the Board’s concerns expressing anxiety that the Teamsters Get Wage Contract By Mike White Contributing Writer Salary negotiations have concluded in an agreement to amend the 1980-82 contract between the Teamsters Union Local 911 and the Pasadena Area Com¬ munity College District. A 7 percent increase for the length of the contract, and an additional one¬ time-only 2 percent raise for one year, was approved by the Teamsters on Jan. 16. The Board of Trustees approved the contract at its Jan. 21 meeting. The contract was ratified by 100 percent .of the union members who voted, said Richard G. Delepine, union steward. He said 35 of the 49 blue collar workers on campus, including custo¬ dians and skill trade workers, voted in the election. The wage hikes are retroactive to July 1, 1980. The salary increase nego¬ tiated is the same amount granted to the classified employees, which in¬ cludes the clerical staff. The non-union classified staff asked for their raise last summer and were granted it at that time. Written into the contract is the agreement that if the 2 percent one¬ time-only salary increase should be retained on or after July 1, 1981 for any classified employees the blue-collar unit will also retain the raise. The new agreement also includes new salary ranges or increases for certain trade classifications, called parity. Workers who receive parity will get wage hikes ranging from 2 Уг-ЧУг percent. However, the union had to concede the implementation of the parity in¬ creases until July 1, 1981. The negotiations stretched out over a seven month period, said Delepine. During that time the union filed an unfiar labor practice charge against the district. The charge, filed with the Public Emplyees’ Relation Board, was dropped by the Teamsters when the agreement was made. The final meetings which led up to the agreement, were held after the union declared that an impasse ex¬ isted. Bill Drohan, a state conciliator, was called in to help facilitate an agree¬ ment. The two-year contract calls for salary talks to be re-opened again on June 1-30, 1981, said Delepine. need for more parking might destroy the only esthetic area on campus. Frank Sato, a Pasadena architect and PCC alumnus, offered to help the soon-to-be-formed committee develop some viable plans as his contribution to saving the mirror pools. Hannah pointed out that the green area in front of the physical science building would not be disturbed, and that the city requires trees to be included in parking areas. Hannah cited the parking structure for Home Savings and Loan at the corner of Hudson and Colorado as a model for the proposed $162,482 plan. Illustrating the seriousness of the parking problem, Ralph Riddle, direc¬ tor of Security and Parking Services, said his office denies from 800 to 1,000 applications for parking permits and keeps a waiting list of up to 500 names each semester. Those denied parking permits, it was cited, must park on city streets sur¬ rounding the college causing com¬ plaints from neighbors who object to the number of cars parked before their homes for many hours during the day. Gertmenian suggested that students investigate parking possibilities on the “county strip” adjacent to the 210 Freeway. According to Gertmenian, streets in this area are patrolled by county authorities from Temple City and offer unlimited parking. Student Trustee Robert Carroll in¬ formed the Board that the students have initiated a car pool program as a “concrete step in the right direction” toward alleviating the problem. He emphasized that the program is open to faculty and students. NEW PARKING? — Students enjoy a refreshing shower in the mirror pools in front of C Building, despite the recent suggestion to replace the pools with parking spaces. Parking problems that continue to plague 'the college sparked the proposal. A soon-to-be formed committee will study' some viable alternatives which would save the mirror pools, and allow students and teachers to savor them. — Courier photo by Jack Larson Conference Views Problem Cultural Learning Needed By Mary Jones Staff Writer “International education must do more than just bring others here, it must teach us all about, other countries and other cultures,” said Dr. Gary B. Adams, Vice President of the Pasa¬ dena Area Community College District Board of Trustees. Adams was one of three PCC officials who attended an, international education confererice in Orlando, Florida, last month. Dr. Richard S. Meyers, PCC Super¬ intendent-President, and Karen Shap- ton, Coordinator of Research Develop- Child Care Committee Gains Insight To Programs At College Campuses By Sandra McCLure Contributing Writer The new ad hoc child care study committee, whose formation was ap¬ proved by the Board of Trustees Jan. 8 at the request of Parent Education Coordinator Pauline Crabb, apparently has acquired yet another advocate. Student Activities Adviser Jennifer McKinney, who came to PCC from Antelope Valley College last Septem¬ ber, has joined Ms. Crabb’s committee and brings to it several years of ex¬ perience as an advocate of student child care. The committee, formed to de¬ termine what would be required to start an on-campus child care center for children of PCC students, is looking into various programs at other schools and studying the feasibility of obtain¬ ing funding for such a program. The Antelope Valley College child care program, which is subsidized by their Associated Student Body, has been in existence since 1972. It began as a sort of baby-sitting program but the ASB, dissatisfied with its failure to provide educational experiences during the hours the children were in atten¬ dance, began searching for something more. In the fall of 1977, according to Ms. McKinney, the ASB contracted with a private contractor to establish such a program. “The program was very cost¬ ly,” she said. Twenty children were involved in that program, with a total program cost of $9,000 for the semester. Ms. McKinney started looking around for something less expensive and even¬ tually made contact with the Lancaster YMCA. Together they developed the program in existence today. “I’ve always been interested in qual: ity child care for students,” she said. “When I was getting my teaching credentials I to'ok all the necessary education classes. My niece was three years old when I was taking a child psychology class, so I used her for my field experiences. I became really in¬ terested in children and their education prior to kindergarten. “At AVC we had so many inquiries from parents in real need of child care so they could attend school. It was a service that was needed. “I became the director of the YMCA child care program insofar as man¬ agement was concerned; the Y direc¬ tor was in charge of the educational end.” The AVC program is funded one- third by the ASB through student body (Continued on Page 6) ment, also attended the annual con¬ ference which is sponsored by the Community Colleges for International Development, Inc. PCC is one of nine community colleges in the country that belongs to the group. According to- Adams, the organiza¬ tion’s “posture has moved to one of dealing with international education and supplying that education to Ameri¬ can students— attempting to teach them what’s going on in the world. “If we’re going to sell our products and market our wares overseas, the people who are doing that must be aware of the cultures of those people,” Adams said. PCC’s “major emphasis should be to let our own students have a look at other cultures and learn what other countries are all about.” During the conference, Robert Black from the Council on Learning pres¬ ented the results of a study conducted on college seniors, freshmen, and two- year college students. The study con¬ sisted of a seven-part exam which tested students’ abilities to understand the world they live in. Test scores were surprisingly low. The 24 most often missed questions from the exam were given to the educators present at the conference. Adams admitted that he and Meyers correctly answered only nine questions each. According to test proctors, how¬ ever, their scores were good in com¬ parison to other educators who have previously taken the test. Adams feels that it is important to better educate teachers to understand international problems so that they can more effectively help their students. Meyers is hoping to make this- exam available to people at PCC soon. “Our goal is to be sure that all elements of PCC’s curriculum takes on an international perspective,” said Ms. Shapton. This international perspective should help people around the world to understand each other and thus get along more peaceably, Adams said. At the conference, Meyers discussed how to develop understanding and sup¬ port for international education, and Ms. Shapton spoke on support services for international students. Although Adams briefly discussed the conference at the last Board of Trustees’ meeting, he and Meyers hope to present definite proposals for action soon. Construction Will Begin This Month Vocational Learning Program Slated By Heather Corrie Staff Writer Efforts have been made to begin construction of the Learning Assist¬ ance Lab at the Community Skills Center. Expected to open to students in September, 1981, the L.A.L. will be designed as a vocational learning pro¬ gram in which students can learn through videotapes, according to Ted Feille, project coordinator. It \yill be the first instructional center of this nature. “Everyone has joined the Learning Assistance bandwagon,” said Lucille Daly, an instructor who has been in¬ strumental in getting the project un¬ derway. “Now PCC has one and CSC is working on one.” The program is designed so PCC and the CSC receive a bulletin of the available jobs that need to be filled. If a student wishes to get a job in one of the fields and the course is not offered at CSC, the student may go to the Learning Assistance Lab and take the course by videotape. This works out well for everyone, Daly said. “We don’t have to open a class, hire teachers and buy books for only a few students because they learn by videotape. It works out great for them because they can work at their own pace.” The actual construction will begin sometime this month. It will take up most of the south end of the second floor of the CSC and will include a reference library and a study room. Upon entering the program, students will be given a placement test to see if they are qualified for the course. Then, they will study videotape lessons and take a midterm and a final exam. After passing exams the students will be qualified to be placed in jobs. — Courier photo by Doug Ayres Timely Repairs To Campus Clocks And Fire Alarms Ring This Week By Elly Mixsell Contributing Writer Work started Monday to repair de¬ teriorated wires in the campus elec¬ trical system which caused the clocks to stop and rendered the automatic fire alarms inoperable since Dec. 12. According to PCC standard time it is now exactly 1:22. It might actually be anytime at all, but all the clocks on the master system read the incorrect time. Although the frozen clocks cause inconvenience to students and faculty, it is the lack of automatic fire alarm system that is potentially dangdrous. A temporary alternative fire alarm signal program provides for a manual override which allows office personnel to activate the system. Under this emergency procedure the alarm switch is pushed manually for five short rings with a five second pause and then repeated. The call-back signal would be one long five second ring. Frank Re, the assistant director of Building Services said “The situation poses no real danger.” However, Director of Maintenance and Operations Leonard C. Knapp said the alarm system is completely in¬ operable in A and В buildings and in the Campus Center. In case of a fire, people would have to be notified by word of mouth. Don Tyre, the senior fire prevention inspector at the Pasadena Fire Depart¬ ment agreed, “I’m satisfied that PCC personnel have the ability to notify the students of a fire.” Tyre said if the school was totally without an alarm it would be a “haz¬ ardous situation,” but because of the manual system, he said, the students are safe. According to Re, the fire department dispatch has been notified and is on alert as a safety precaution. If a fire should break out the follow¬ ing offices should be notified so the manual alarm could be activated. Man¬ ual alarms are located at the informa¬ tion desk in C Building, in the Instruc¬ tional Resource Center office on the first floor of D Building, in the second floor office of E Building, in the library at the main desk and in R Building at the art department office. In buildings A, B, N and the Campus center the alarms are on the outside of the structures and should be manually pulled in an emergency situation. Be¬ cause of different building and safety codes in these buildings there has never been an automatic system. Re explained that the wires weren’t put in carefully when they were in¬ stalled about 20 years ago. He said the rubber coating on the wires de¬ teriorated and kinks caused the wires to be grounded and a short resulted. Between 3,500 and 4,000 feet of wire is on order to do the campus-wide repair job.