OPINION
FEATURES
SPORTS
Simpson civil trial verdict deemed more
newsworthy than State of the Union
Journalistic integrity is compromised when media
place greater importance on scandal and enter¬
tainment than on nation’s future.
Valentine's day offers romantic ideas
for PCC students on a budget
Show that special someone in your life that you
care without breaking the bank.
Lancers prevail over Vikings at
Long Beach
Women’s basketball team routs opponents in
82-65 victory last Friday.
5
PCC CELEBRATES 'YEAR OF THE OX'
MICHAEL ARNOLD
/
THE COURIER
KUNGHEIFATCHOY! “CONGRATULATIONS AND MAKE WELL!’
Cef'e irate C. Line 6
в
Yjew tjear, ^JeLruary 7-21
Summer China program offered
Committee
asks for
assistance
By DANIEL ARCHULETA
Courier Staff Writer
Two weeks ago the Faculty Sen¬
ate removed Dr. Gordon Brown as
chair of the budget committee and
referred the matter to the Senate’s
Professional Rights and Responsi¬
bilities committee for further review.
Last Monday the committee asked
the Senate for assistance in dealing
with the matter. The chairman of
that committee felt his members
needed some guidance in how to best
handle the “touchy” issue.
Brown came under fire from the
Faculty Senate because of a letter he
wrote to the executive director of the
state accrediting commission. In
that letter, Brown criticized the ad¬
ministration for allegedly not involv¬
ing the faculty in the selection of the
group that assisted the visiting ac¬
creditation team . He said that the
administration should by law have
included the faculty in the process of
selection.
In the letter Brown also asked for
the accreditation process to be re¬
opened. Senate board members felt
that by using his title as chairman of
the Senate’s budget committee. It
appeared to Ligons as well as a
majority of Senate members felt that
Brown gave the impression that the
criticism represented the opinion of
the entire Faculty Senate.
Brown maintains that he only
added that information to better iden¬
tify himself to the person he sent the
letter to. Along with the mention of
his title on the Faculty Senate, he
noted that he is a 30-year faculty
member and a past Faculty Senate
president.
James Bickley, chair of the rights
and responsibilities committee said,
“The overriding issue is the process
to follow in addressing this issue.
The committee wants more informa¬
tion before deciding on how to pro¬
ceed.” He said that the committee
needs an audio tape of the Senate
Please see HELP, Page 6
By DOUGLAS WILKIE
Courier Staff Writer
Students interested in Chinese
language and culture will have the
opportunity to travel to Beijing this
summer as part of PCC’ s first “Study
Abroad in China” program. Dr. Cathy
Wei, assistant professor and Chinese
language program coordinator in the
Department of English and foreign
languages, will lead a group of 1 5 or
more students to the Chinese capital
from July 12 to Aug. 10.
Wei, who was instrumental in
developing the China study program,
said students will have the unique
opportunity to both study the Chi¬
nese language and explore the
country’s culture.
“Beijing has new and modern
buildings which are juxtaposed with
the ancient,” she said. “The city has
been the center of government for
over 1,000 years, spanning the
Mongol Yuan, Ming and Manchu
Qung dynasties to the present.”
The Beijing Institute of Chinese
Culture will serve as both campus
and residence to the group for the
duration of the program. A week¬
day schedule of Tai Chi exercises
and morning language classes will
be complemented by free time in the
afternoons and evenings. Entertain¬
ment opportunities will include a
Peking Opera performance, a mar¬
tial arts demonstration and an acro¬
batics show.
Weekend excursions will offer a
rich respite from the daily academic
rigors. Tourist sites will include
The Great Wall, TiananMen Square,
the Forbidden City and the
Wangfujing night market.
“The various activities will help
students establish and build up their
own social networks and relation¬
ships to assist them in their future
careers,” Wei said. “Those indi¬
viduals seeking to develop interna¬
tional business skills, for example,
will benefit from these cultural ex¬
periences.”
Wei indicated the program should
attract students from many different
departments at PCC, as well as from
other institutions. The program will
run concurrently with the college’s
second summer session. Credit en¬
rollment is mandatory and will in¬
clude both elementary and interme¬
diate Chinese language courses.
Wei considers the program to be
one of the most competitively priced
of its kind in the country. At $2799,
she considers it to be a bargain, al¬
though the five-unit course fee is not
included in the package. But at $ 1 3
per unit, the tuition cost is not greater
than any other on-campus summer
course.
Students interested in the program
may attend informational meetings
on Thursday, Feb. 27, in C305, or
Saturday, March 29, in C201. The
deadline to register is Tuesday, April
15.
Wei maybe reached at 585-7464,
or students may inquire at the Office
of International Education in C209.
Financial aid information may be
obtained from David Le Clair in
D205.
Architecture and technology marry
forces to benefit aspiring architects
By SCOTT BODE
Courier Staff Writer
Technology has given us new
freedoms. The freedom to write eas¬
ily, to get tedious work done with
more efficiency and speed. It has
also given us a new freedom to cre¬
ate.
Nowhere has this become more
evident than in the world of architec¬
ture. Until recently, drawing and
drafting using T-squares was the
norm. However, with the advent of
computers, things are quite differ¬
ent.
One place that the difference is
apparent is in education.
Auto*Des*Sys* created a computer
software called Form Z , that aids
architects in creating new ideas.
In their 1995-96 Joint Study
report, PCC was featured along with
other top design schools in the
United States and Canada.
Inthe report, C. Coleman Griffith,
a PCC architecture instructor,
wrote, “The software was used
as a 3D modeling tool during the
design process. The students also
used it to develop analytic dia¬
grams, perspective, and other
relevant drawings for presenta¬
tion purposes.”
Form Z supports education
by leasing the software to col¬
leges and universities, which in
turn allows future architects to
use the latest technology avail¬
able.
Griffith has the unique plea¬
sure of watching his students learn
to create with this exciting new
medium.
The architecture program,
which has been around for over
25 years, underwent a transfor¬
mation four years ago. Prior to
that, the classes were indepen¬
dent of each other.
Now with the help of the com¬
puter, they are taught in concert
with one another. This gives the
transferring student a distinct ad¬
vantage. Once they transfer, they
will have already had exposure to,
and more importantly, an under¬
standing and working knowledge of
the latest design processes.
“Their portfolios are extremely
sophisticated, more sophisticated
than other student’ s portfolios from
other schools,” Griffith added.
“Their work is more sophisticated
than their peers at the schools they
are transferring to.”
Some of these schools are Cal
Poly San Louis Obispo, Cal Poly
Pomona, University of Oregon, Ari¬
zona State University, Chicago Art
Institute, and Woodbury Univer¬
sity.
The classes that compose this
program are Arch. 10 A &B (Envi¬
ronmental Design) and Arch. 12
A&B (Architectural Graphics)
which teach the student howto com¬
municate visually.
InArch. 14 (Materials and Meth¬
ods of Construction), one learns
how structures are built and why they
are built with what they are. Arch 20
A&B (Basic Design) uses the skills
learned in the earlier classes and ap¬
plies them to practical use.
Arch. 24 (History of Architecture)
explains why it was done in the past
and how it was accomplished.
“I don't teach drawing, I teach how
to think and put together an idea,”
Griffith said.
The courses follow a simple path.
During the first year, students are
taught the fundamentals and design
process.
In the second year, they are de¬
signing buildings using architectural
principles.
If you feel that you want to turn
your ideas into reality, feel free to
speak with Griffith or Peter De Maria
in the Architecture and Engineering
department. They are located in
T203 or can be reached at (8 18) 585-
7370. Either of them can help with
any questions students may have
about the program.
Administrators'
and faculty's
standoff remains
By RACHEL URANGA
Courier Staff Writer
The entire faculty will have to
decide what actions, if any, will be
taken against two top administra¬
tive officials.
A survey to be distributed in “the
coming weeks” will contain a list of
options available for dealing with
this matter. Choices range from a
vote of no confidence to action be¬
ing taken against the administra¬
tion.
The results of the survey would
also determine whether a Faculty
Senate standing committee or the
faculty as a whole would have to
vote on a no-confidence action.
Joyce Black, vice president of
instruction, and Pat Mollica, dean
of human resources, have been the
subject of an investigation that came
in response to
СТА
and senate claim
that more than 30 grievances have
been filed by faculty members
against Mollica and Black.
The full scope of the investiga¬
tion which looked into how Black
and Mollica handled academic is¬
sues has not been revealed due to the
“sensitive nature” of the accusa¬
tions. However, a package that
outlined these claims was distrib¬
uted to all of the faculty in Decem¬
ber.
“Most of my colleagues just
didn’t understand the language in
the packet,” said Gloria Horton, the
English and Foreign languages de¬
partment representative. Horton
voiced the concerns of 32 full-time
members of her department who
signed a letter requesting an open
forum to clarify the changes.
Many of the accusations in the
packet are unclear; specifics were
not addressed and they were not
placed in the context of time, she
said. Horton called for a open forum
to clarify the issues involved, but
stressed the forum would not be used
to debate the issue.
Since the Board of Inquiry has
maintained secrecy, members at the
forum would be limited on what they
could say. “We have a problem with
the forum given the sensitivity of
these matters,” said Jean Volckmann,
faculty senate treasurer and Inquiry
Committee member.
Members of the Board of Inquiry
said they would hold the forum but
not reveal confidential information
that could adversely affect its sources.
“Faculty gave this information to the
Board of Inquiry with the under¬
standing it would not go any further
because of fear of reprisal,” said
Robert McLean, chair of the Inquiry
Board.
The vagueness of these accusa¬
tions have concerned many faculty
members reluctant to base any deci¬
sions on unsubstantiated claims. “We
can’t talk about it, yet we want to talk
about it. We have to take a look at
this and ask what we are really trying
to do. It seems to be getting worse
and worse,” said Mary Jane Cordon.
Furthermore, Cordon expressed
concern that members of the Board
of Inquiry had conflicting interest in
the matter. Two of its members have
had grievances against one or both
administrators. James Bickley, mem¬
ber of the Board, said these griev¬
ances dealt with separate issues and
were not academic matters.
• CAMPUS CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES
MICHAEL ARNOLD
/
THE COURIER
Gutting of the old library greeted students at the beginning of the
spring semester. The renovation is making way for a new Student
Services Center.
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