Registration to
Stay Priority
By Debbie Gehlken
News Editor
While students make last minute
changes to their spring class schedule,
administrators are already “exploring
a priority system for the next registra¬
tion cycle,” said Dr. Ernest F. Neu¬
mann, dean of admissions and records.
Administrators are trying to for¬
mulate a fair and equitable priority
system to be implemented next fall,
Neumann said, and have discussed
using priority systems based on units
earned, on grade point average, or a
system giving top priority to continuing
students.
Neumann said the last system of
priority that caused the long wait to
obtain a registration number “was a
short term way to prioritize the stu¬
dents. Hopefully we won’t have stu¬
dents camping out again.”
“I haven’t talked to any student that
was unhappy about the process once
they got in the registration room,”
Neumann said. Once the student was at
the computer terminal, Neumann esti¬
mates the total transcation time was
about two minutes. Students were
enrolled at the rate of 1,000 per day,
completing the process in only 21 days.
Fall registration lasted four-five
months.
Students that didn’t get a high
priority number found many classes
closed early and had to depend on an
override to get the classes they wanted.
Neumann said eight overrides can be
granted per class, but the decision is
left to the discretion of either the
department chairperson or the instruc¬
tor. An override signed by the instruc¬
tor is required for enrollment in any
closed class.
To add a class that isn’t closed, a
student must enroll by the first meet¬
ing of the second week of school The
add form may be obtained from your
counseling team and does require a
counselor’s signature. Forms for drops
may also be obtained from your coun¬
seling team but does not require a
signature.
Although classes filled up quickly,
enrollment figures this semester show
only a slight increase over last
semester’s 19,900 to 21,067. Some com¬
munity colleges in the area have been
forced to close or limit enrollment
•because of the large number of stu¬
dents wanting to take classes.
Neumann said plans to limit enroll¬
ment at PCC have been discussed, but
he doesn’t forsee that happening in the
near future.
“With the block grant type of funding
it doesn’t pay to increase the student
body, in fact it’s a detriment,” said
Neumann. PCC receives the same
amount of money no matter how many
students are enrolled, and Neumann
said increased enrollment would mean
instead of 40 students to a class there
could be as many as 60-65 students.
Financial Aid to be
Cut in Near Future
By Doug Brown
Staff Writer
President Reagan’s proposed fiscal
budget for 1983 includes many cutbacks
in federal financial aid for students. An
average decrease of 25 percent in most
financial aid programs is planned for
the 1982-1983 school year, and a 100
percent reduction of several programs
for the 1983-1984 school year.
California annually receives $370
million in federal financial aid. Presi¬
dent Reagan’s budget would cut 25
percent from this figure, reducing it
down to $278 million. By 1984, federal
financial aid would be cut back 100
percent.
One of the major financial aid pro¬
grams, the Guaranteed Student Loan
Program, is said to be one of the most
financially drained federal programs.
Reagan’s budget would require that
recipients of a Guaranteed Student
Loan pay a minimum of 10 percent
upon receiving the loan, assume full
financial responsibility for the loan
after college graduation, and pay cur¬
rent interest rates, instead of the pres¬
ent 10 percent interest rate.
Although severe financial aid cut¬
backs might be in the future, Mrs.
Miller said this “won’t affect the
number of students who apply for
(financial) aid, or the number of stu¬
dents who are qualified. It will affect
the number of dollars distributed.”
Mrs. Miller went on to say the
Financial Aid Department has not de¬
cided what course to take if Reagan’s
budget passes. The two possibilities
under consideration include increasing
the amount of money the student would
have to provide in addition to the loan,
or distributing all the money until it
runs out, and then stop all loans. Either
way, a “greater financial burden would
be placed on the student,” said Mrs.
Miller.
— Courier photos by Eddie Mundo
FACES ON CAMPUS — Over 10.000 new students enrolled at PCC for
the spring semester, bringing enrollment figures to 21.067.
History Repeats Itself
Parking Situation Poor
By Gwen Dawkins
Fine Arts Editor
The parking situation on campus has
been as crowded as it usually is at the
beginning of each new semester; with
cars lined up as far back as Allen,
w. King to get into the lots.
During the first week of school warn¬
ings, rather than citations, were given
to students who parked in the lots
without permits. Hence, there were,
and still are an over-abundance of cars
in the lots. Cars are parked not only in
the marked stalls but also along the
walls, curbs, and in one instance a
planter. Students have no choice but to'
circle the parking lots in hopes of
finding a departing student.
The reason for the week of parking
anxiety, according to Phillip Mullen-
dore, Security Director, is there has
been an overwhelming amount of vehi¬
cles backed-up on the streets trying to
get in to park ; and because they hold up
traffic it is not possible to turn them
away or have cars towed away. Also,
during the first week students are
“being given a break since parking
citations have practically gone up to
the price of the parking permits.”
As of this week the security officers
on campus have enforced the new bail
schedule for traffic ordinances adopted
by the city of Pasadena. Vehicles
parked on public grounds without park¬
ing decals will receive citations for
$15; vehicles parked in front of drive¬
ways or on sidewalks will be cited $20;
and cars parked in handicapped desig¬
nated areas will be fined a sum of $30.
Between 300 and 500 citations were
expected to be given out in the first few
weeks of the semester. Approximately
100 citations were given out on the first
-day the new ordinances were put into
effect.
With 21,000 students presently
enrolled at PCC, only 3,000 parking
spaces are available. Mullejidore has
hopes of modifying the present system
through the use of computers to better
suit the growing number of students.
He also intends for computers to even¬
tually play the major role in the dis¬
tribution of the decals.
Unlike past semesters, Tuesday-
Thursday permits were not issued. It is
still unknown whether they will be
made available, that decision depends
on the projected parking conditions.
One major problem concerning park¬
ing permits is that “they are being
stolen right and left,” said Mullendore.
“All we can do is encourage students to
plfease affix their decals to their win¬
dows and keep their cars locked.”
If a student has lost or had their
permit stolen, they should report it
immediately to the security office and
a temporary permit will be issued after
verification of a previous permit
purchase has been made. After that a
student can only purchase another per¬
mit at the full price if their permit is
not recovered.
CREATIVE PARKING — The crowded conditions in the parking lots on
campus have forced students to create their own parking" spaces. One
creative parker. unable to find an empty spot, chose the planter for a
parking space. — Courier photo by Kim Francis
Alumna Publishes Her First Book
By Debbie Gehlken
News Editor
Gerda Mathan never thought she
would become a freelance photogra¬
pher let alone publish a book of her
black and white photos entitled “Valen¬
tina’s Uncle.”
She just met a 92-year-old man still
baking his own bread, tending his own
garden, paying his own bills and taxes,
and recorded the last two years of his
life on film. Her camera preserved the
joy his grand-niece and nephew brought
to his life and followed him to the
nursing home where he spent his last
days; capturing it all in black and
white.
As Mathan began to categorize the
photos for “Valentina’s Uncle,” she
She Captures Life
realized there was something more
than just the story of an old man dying.
“The thread of the story is the children.
This story is about living and the
natural life cycle.”
Bom in Germany, Mathan still re¬
tains a thick accent. Her finely chiseled
features are complemented by her
healthy, bronze skin and the long grey
hair she tucks neatly in a bun. Her
silver blue eyes have a certain warmth
to them, yet they seem to be constantly
observing the surroindings as if looking
through the lense of her camera.
As she animatedly talks of her start
in photography, thin silver bracelets
m
In Black & White
dangle on each wrist like a delicate
wind chime. The first photos Mathan
took were mostly of family and friends.
When her first child was born, she used
her Rollex camera frequently so her
husband, away in the army, could
watch their son grow.
Mathan considered herself a self-
taught “advanced amateur” when she
enrolled in PCC’s photography pro¬
gram in 1965. She did so mostly for
access to a darkroom, but “learned
technical things, such as retouching,
that you wouldn’t pick up on your own.”
Since that time she’s studied with
noted photographers Ansel Adams, Im¬
ogen Cunningham and Ruth Bernard.
Most of her photos are black and white
to achieve a more subtle look. “Color is
never as natural and there’s not nearly
the control you have in black and
white.”
The emphasis of Mathan’s photogra¬
phy has naturally shifted over the years
to “the very ordinary transformed into
the beauty of everyday life.” Through
the stark reality of black and white
film she preserved the love the family
had for the old man and the battle he
fought against his own decaying body to
maintain his independence and pride.
When Mathan met Valentin’s uncle!
Vadim Shepkin, he was nervous and shy
about being photographed. Mathan was
taking the photos as a favor to Valen¬
tina, a close friend, who wanted to
capture the old man on film before it
was too late. After the first few visits,
Mathan knew she had found something
very special. “When a project happens,
you just know. I had not chosen this as
a project.”
The old man was also pleased with
the photos and allowed Mathan to
continue. During the two years she took
the photos, Mathan always considered
herself as just an “observer” in the old
man’s life, not a participant. “He was
not a great conversationalist,” so much
of her time was spent in the back¬
ground using her keen eye to select just
the right image.
The only photos the old man was not
satisfied with were the ones taken in
the nursing home where he died. As he
looked at a man confined to a wheel¬
chair, spending his last days restricted
to the nursing home, Shepkin said, “I
do not recognize myself in these pic¬
tures. I do not like them.”
VALENTINA'S UNCLE— Gerda Mathan (left), former PCC student,
recently published her first book of photos. "Valentina's Uncle." Vadim
Shepkin (right), the subject of Mathan's book, was 92 years old when the .
photos were taken. — Photos courtesy of Public Information Office
