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VOL. 86 NO. 19
www. p cc-courieronline. com
February 22, 2001
A Different View
Multi-award columnist
Jon Heller has poked
through the musty
stacks of library books
looking for the owner's
manual to life. But he's
discovered that some¬
where along the way,
the road rules to life
have headed south and
the map no longer
makes sense.
>■ SEE PAGE 2
Be a lab rat
PCC in conjunction with
the federal government
is offering students the
opportunity to get paid
as researchers in some
of the nation's top sci-
ene labs. But hurry,
space is limited and the
deadline is today.
V- see page 3
Playoff Bound
The men's basketball
team finishes out the
season with a disap¬
pointing loss, but the
guys can take solace in
the fact that they're still
heading to the
Southern California
State Playoffs. The
Lancers will square off
against first-round
opponent L.A. Valley
College.
>- SEE PAGE
8»
Urith Walker’s .
one woman Wow tonight
By Tim Alves
Editor in Chief
A tall, 40-something woman gracefully
rises and opens a jet-black binder. With thin,
delicate fingers, she carefully leafs through the
laminated pages. She pauses, looks up and
locks her gaze with those intense, brown eyes.
With a cadence reminiscent of Maya Angelou,
she begins to read of loves, sorrows and a child¬
hood filled with innocence, wonder and the heady
aroma of Royal Crown hair gel.
Urith Walker’s words seem vaguely familiar,
recalling events that could have happened in any¬
one’s life. Urith Walker’s words make connections
I between herself and everyone else.
“When I first started sharing my poems with a
friend of rnine, she said that I had to do something
with that gift,” said Walker.
And she’s sharing that gift tonight in her one-
woman show “Ain’t Nothing But Something To
Do” at 6 p.m. in the CC Lounge. The 90-
minute show celebrating Black History-
Month combines Walker’s original poetry
compositions with the funky vibes of
percussionist Cesar Sanchez; and all
for the admission price of a can of
food to be donated to a local chari¬
ty-
“I want to give people just
enough and then leave them with
good memories. An hour and a
half is just long enough. I don’t
WhAI: Urith Walker’s one woman show
When: Feb. 22, 2001
WHERE: CC Lounge
HOYT MUCH: A canned food item
SEE Urith, PAGE 4
KPCC-FM
looks for
new site
By Vince D'Orazi
Entertainment Editor
In a move that may further sever the ties between
PCC and KPCC, the radio station will soon be leav¬
ing its home on campus, where it has operated since
its humble beginnings as a student-run operation
over 43 years ago. The expected move could take
place as soon as this fall.
Once the station vacates its existing space in the
Media Center, the college plans to open a National
Digital Training Academy (NDTA) in its place.
The college is hoping that the NDTA will attract
students from all over the nation. School officials
believe that it could have the potential to become a
premier training facility for those who want to learn
the latest in radio broadcast technology.
NDTA committee member Stan Coutant said that
the academy has been in the planning stages for two
years, but is in a holding pattern, while KPCC
searches for its new home
According to KPCC General Manager Cindy
Young, the station is “actively and carefully” looking
for its new off-campus site, and has set a target date
for the move to happen this fall.
“We’ve simply outgrown the space,” explained
Young.
The new facilities must be located within the
school’s district, which includes Pasadena, South
Pasadena, Altadena, La Canada, Arcadia, San
Marino, Sierra Madre, Temple City, and portions of
El Monte and Rosemead. That stipulation was part
of an agreement the station management signed with
PCC.
Last year, the college entered into a partnership
SEE KPCC, PAGE 3
Library a refuge for
scholars and the sleepy
Kevin Hawkins
Web Editor
In past years, the library was a sacred place
where people went to study and get information
that could not be found anywhere else. The tradi¬
tional image of a library used to be that of a death¬
ly quiet place where a grizzled old librarian was
always at the ready to put her finger to her lips and
make the “shush” sound to people who were being
too loud.
And then there’s PCC’s Shatford library.
Students slump down in their chairs sleeping.
Some put two chairs together and assemble a
makeshift bed to lie on. Students just hang out and
laugh and make noise with no fear of being
“shushed” by a librarian. Young couples make-out
and fondle each other in the nooks and crannies of
the library, some even doing this in plain sight of
everyone else. People type e-mails to their friends
and check on the status of their fantasy basketball
teams on the Internet computers. This is definite¬
ly not your mother’s or father’s library.
While it is still a place to study, read and find
information, PCC students have found alternative
uses for the Shatford library. Because most people
find it difficult to set up a schedule of classes that
run consecutively, students usually have down tie
in between sessions. Other than the quad or sculp¬
ture garden, the library is probably the best place
to kill time. The cushy chairs that are located
throughout the library make nice spots for stu¬
dents to relax and catch up on some required class
reading or to read for pleasure. Then the eyelids
start to get heavy and down time turns into nap
time. With all the passed-out students sprawled in
the library chairs, Shatford library sometimes
looks like the Shatford hotel.
“They’re (students) not supposed to be sleeping
in here, but we usually don’t do anything,” said
library employee Juan Gutierrez. “But if they’re
snoring and it bothers other people, we have to tell
them to stop.”
The library used to be the place on campus
where a person could get away from noise and
concentrate on their studies. In Shatford, many
students wear headphones to drown out the sound
of other people having loud conversations and the
>• see Library, page 3
Rosario Cuevas
/
The Courier
Students found sleeping in the comfortable library chairs are a familiar sight.
Computer Cafe receives $60,000
Internet offers cheap alternative
to long distance carriers
By Gali Raval
Staff Writer
Students on tight budgets or anyone interested in
saving money on long distance calls may literally
have the solution at their fingertips in the form of
their computer keyboard. Routing calls over the
computer can mean free long distance for those who
want to stay in touch with family or friends, coast to
coast.
So, move out of the way, AT&T. The Internet is
evolving right before our eyes, and companies such
as Dialpad.com are leading the way. “Telephony,”
the process of using your computer to make phone
calls via the Internet and downloaded software, is a
revolutionary way to communicate that millions of
people are now taking advantage of.
Many Internet companies can provide free long
distance telephone services within the United States
and discounted services internationally. With the
influx of so many start-up web companies compet¬
ing with one another for clients, the rates for tele¬
phoning through the computer are much lower than
what traditional corporations charge.
For example, a one-minute call to Vietnam from
California on a weekday afternoon costs $2.85 with
AT&T, $3.89 with MCI, and $6.68 using Sprint.
MCl’s affiliate, 10-10-220, charges $1.05 per minute
to Vietnam, and AT&T’s 10-10-345 charges $1.10.
However, telephony provider CommRad.com
charges only 75 cents and Dialpad.com cost 72
cents for the same call.
The provider of the college’s Lancer card,
>■ see Phone, page 4
By Jon Heller
Contributing Editor
The Computer Cafe, the student-owned comput¬
er lab located in the bottom of the CC Building, will
soon be getting a technology makeover.
Sixty thousand dollars has been allocated to
replace the outdated and slow-moving machines
with new computers and a service contract.
The existing computers “cannot keep up with
student demand and usage,” said Stephen Johnson,
assistant dean of student affairs.
Initially created by the district as a pay-per-use
lab, it was taken over by the Associated Students
(AS).
The Cafe provides free computer and Internet
time, though often with long delays due to mainte¬
nance problems and slow connections. The current
lab has stations for 27 computers, though rarely are
that many up and running.
“The resources on the campus are limited as far
as finding working computers and printers to use,”
said Andrea Snyder, student body vice president for
academic affairs. “This should alleviate a lot of the
pressure.”
The funding, $30,000 from the college and
$30,000 from the AS reserves, has already been
approved and allocated. And the plan is to use
Micron, the school’s current computer vendor, so
that maintenance will be standardized.
While an official timeline for obtaining the new
computers has not been set, students would benefit
immediately once the new computers are in place.
“Things will run faster and I will be able to get
my work done faster,” said Bobby Allen, 18, a music
major.
Damian Younger, 22 a computer science major,
said “I’ll be able to be more efficient and more peo¬
ple will be able to use the facilities.”
Awaiting final word from the administration and
Micron, Johnson says he hopes to have the entire
upgrade in place “by summer.”