Ski Season
Is
Here
Page 3
Last Day to Drop
Classes Without
Record Feb. 26
Hoopsters
Bounce Back
Against
Golden West
Page 4
COURIER
VOL. 66. NO. 1
PASADENA CITY COLLEGE. PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
FEBRUARY 18, 1988
Instructor Arraigned on Six Charges From Rally
“This is a long, involved issue, but I believe Pm
being singled out. I feel that these charges are
discriminatory.”
—Roger Marheine
By Sean DuPont
Associate News Editor
PCC instructor Roger Marheine was
arraigned last Thursday on six charges
stemming from his involvement in the
J.B. Stoner rally held in Glendale Nov.
22. The charges, filed by the Glendale
District Attorney’s office, include riot,
unlawful assembly, failure to dispurse,
obstruction of police officers, and two
charges of battery, according to deputy
district attorney Richard Stone.
Marheine’s pre-trial hearing is set for
Mar. 10.
A warrant went out for Marheine’s
arrest on Feb. 10. He turned himself in
to the Glendale Police Department and
was released on his own recognizance.
At the arraignment Marheine pleaded
not guilty.
The charges stem from a rally at the
Glendale Holiday Inn where J. B.
Stoner, a white supremist, made a
speech. There for a counter-rally were
members of InCAR, its PCC faculty
head Marheine, as well as other or¬
ganizations such as PACE (People
Against Racial Terror), the NAACP
(National Association for the Advance¬
ment of Colored People) and the JDL
(Jewish Defense League).
The Glendale police charged
Marheine and others for some of the
violence that ensued. Marheine and Irv
Rubin, head of JDL, face charges of
riot, unlawful assembly, failure to dis¬
perse and obstruction of justice for
their involvement in surrounding a
police car and attempting to free from
police custody a man who had been
arrested, according to police reports.
The PCC instructor also faces two
battery charges for allegedly chasing
and attacking two members of a pro-
Nazi youth group.
Marheine told The Courier that, on
his lawyer’s advice, he could not dis¬
cuss the details of the case or the
events of Nov. 22. He did offer his
views on the charges though. "'This is a
long, involved issue, but I believe I'm
being singled out. I feel that these
charges are discriminatory. I’ve been
outspoken against racial bigotry and
neo-Nazi elements in Glendale for
almost a year now.”
Marheine also stated that he thought
the two-and-one-half month period be¬
tween the rally and the warrant was
“odd.” But Stone said the police didn’t
file a criminal complaint against
Marheine earlier because there were
news videotapes in existence that
chronicled the event.
The PCC instructor also said that he
and InCAR want to distance them¬
selves from Rubin, Marheine’s co-de¬
fendant on four of the charges. "We
don’t approve of their (the JDL’s)
policy on Israel and the Palestinians.”
Rubin will face his pre-trial hearing
Feb. 26. The hearing involves the judge
and counsel for each side of the case.
At that time, the defense will be al¬
lowed to look at the evidence that the
police have compiled, Stone explained.
The step after that is the trial itself.
Marheine appeared before a Faculty
Senate committee last week. Jane
Hallinger, president of the senate,
could not be reached to explain the
proceedings or result of the meeting.
On Tuesday Feb. 16, Marheine met
with Dr. Jack Scott, superintendent-
president. details of this meeting are
unknown.
Marheine said that the time he would
miss due to this matter would come
under Personal Necessity Leave pro¬
vided for college employees. The plan,
which allows teachers to take time off
without pay, was used by Marheine on
Feb. 11 when he was arraigned.
Stone said that if convicted of all
charges, Marheine could spend some
time in jail. “My guess is that three
years. $3,000 in fines, plus probation
could be the maximum sentence, ” said
the deputy district attorney.
In regard to his job at PCC,
Marheine said, “I'm fortunate to work
in a field that I find fulfilling. I've
enjoyed my eight-and-a-half years here
at PCC. I’d like to retire here.”
Roger Marheine
Brave Thoughts
By Mark McElrea
Special Correspondant
r ■ ~
The reasons behind their participa¬
tion in Richard Anderson’s original
play A Thought for My People varies
among the participants. For some the
all black production offers the chance
to play a lead role, still a rarity for a
black performer. Others harbor deeper
feelings: emotions built up through
years of viewing social change.
Planned to coincide with Black His¬
tory Month '88, the production is a
collection of poems and songs dealing
with life's problems and joys from the
days of slavery through the Vietnam
War.
“I don’t know if the younger cast
members truly understand the emo¬
tions certain situations bring out,”
Lolita B. Parker Sr. said, who at 56 is
one of the older cast members.
In one of her pieces Bud Billigan's
Parade, the story revolves around the
now nationally known event put on in
Chicago by Billigan. The parade repre¬
sents one of the earliest attempts at
promoting black pride. During the 1930s-
'40s Parker Sr. attended several of the
parades.
To capture an authentic atmosphere
Anderson uses street talk. Each piece
uses a dialect distinctive to its particu¬
lar time and place. “A lot of young
people are ashamed of the roots of the
Afro-American dialect,” Anderson
said. “They fail to recognize its beauty
and color.”
The style of writing used for the play
produced a major hurdle that had to
becleared for production to continue.
Several cast members deamed the
dialect offensive and walked off.
“When I came into the project it was
my understanding that a cast had al¬
ready been selected," director James
Sheperd said. “With only a month to go,
we still had several spots to fill.” .
In an effort to continue with the
production, the play broadened from a
PCC based affair, to one that encom¬
passed the whole community.
“The thank-you list runs into the
hundreds,” Anderson said. “Bill Gold-
mann, (dean of institutional advance¬
ment), and his wife’s help was in¬
valuable.”
Sheperd feels the contributions of
Lolita B. Parker Jr. ultimately made
the difference between abandoning the
project and moving ahead. Parker Jr.,
who started out just in charge of
publicity, ended up findng half the
replacement cast, along with handling
the budget, finding costumes and ul¬
timately accepting a singing role.
The late start by the actors has made
the music and dancing sections the
strength of the show in Sheperd’s eyes.
“Bobby Bradford, music director,
has created a marvelous musical
score,” said Sheperd. Catrelia Magee,
choreographer, has done a great job
with the dancers.
Bradford feels his own background
proved instrumental in tackling such a
complex score. “I’ve been playing
since I was 14, ” said the 55-year old
Bradford. “There is no way I could
have composed this work without my
own personal experiences behind me.”
Sheperd hopes to perform the show
on a larger scale in the future. “I fell in
love with the work the first time I read
it,” Anderson said. “I can’t help but
imagine what effect it could create if
done professionally.”
Curtain time at PCC's Sexson
Auditorium for the Feb. 19 show is 6
p.m. The Feb. 20 and 21 shows start at
8 p.m. Prices are $5 for general ad¬
mission, $3 for students and $2 for
senior citizens.
Courier/Mark McElrea
In rehearsal are Meta McCullough, Debbie Moody and Francoise Parker.
Possible Relief
For the Library
By Mark Waltz and Sean DuPont
Feature Editor and
Associate News Editor
The first step on the five-year
road to replace the 39-year-old li¬
brary building with one twice the
capacity has been taken. The sub¬
mission of a budgetary plan for the
new building by Dr. Jack A. Scott,
superintendent-president was filed
with the State's Chancellor's office
on Feb. 1.
The plan, which has a $3-4 million
price tag, involves the construction
of a 55,000 square-ft building. The
current library encompasses 22,000
square feet. Plans also include re¬
locating the Instructional Resources
Center into the new building, ex¬
panding the audio-visual depart¬
ment to 8.000 square feet and remov¬
ing the A, B, F, X and Y buildings,
according to Dr. David Ledbetter,
assistant of educational services.
According to Scott, the state
would provide 90 percent of the
building’s funding, with PCC paying
the remaining 10 percent, or about
$400,000.
The plan is now up for approval
from the state Chancellor’s office. If
approved, it will move to the state
legislature for scrutiny and then
finally to the governor's office.
Scott says he expects the approval
process to take at least a year with
the finished library to be ready to
open in five years.
Ledbetter gave his views on the
library project. “I think the feeling
on this campus is that we need a new
library. We do have services that
are available to the public as well as
students, so to serve everyone bet¬
ter, a new facility is needed.”
One thing that would not be
changed is the size of the staff. Both
Ledbetter and Scott believe that the
library is sufficiently staffed.
“The problems with our present
site is that is just very crowded. It’s
very well staffed, though,” said
Scott.
“One of the major problems with
the current library is that we are at
our limit with the number of vol¬
umes that we hold,” said Ledbetter.
“Every year new books come in that
we need, and the only way to get the
new releases is to take out old
things. There are a lot of books we
have to take out that we would
rather not," he said.
Another part of the library plan
that Ledbetter reported concerned
the card catalog currently in use.
The system now includes three-by-
five inch cards that sit in the old
catalog cabinets and are augmented
by six “Online” computers
Scott feels optimistic that the
college will get the money for the
project. “If we don’t get funding the
first year, we would seek funding
the following one. We would con¬
tinue to press our case.”
Rydbeck Stars in Dickens’ Play ‘Drood ! ’
Forensics Sweeps Win
By Sean DuPont
Associate News Editor
By Coleen Meyers
Editor-in-Chief
Fhe forensics team out performed its
Tipetition last week and came home
lit 24 trophies in the governor's cup
mpetition held in Sacramento, Ac-
rding to Anthony Georgilas, director
forensics, it is the team's biggest
mpetition of the year. "I thought the
idents would do well but I was
rprised at just how well they did,”
id Georgilas.
Students Dianna Lettman, Sharon
ncer and Daniel Hurst accumulated
s majority of the trophies and points
r the team.
Forty-four community colleges and
state colleges and universities from
ilifornia participated. Some ol the
hools that were defeated by PCC
эге
UCLA, UC Berkley, Stanford Uni-
•sity and the University of LaVerne.
Membership on the team requires
dedication of the students. Every week
the students spend at least 10 to 12
hours a week preparing and rehearsing.
And prior to the tournament they are
up at 5:30 a.m. rehearsing. By the 8
a.m. start, they are wide awake and
eager to begin.
“These kids I take on the tourna¬
ments are the ones who keep plugging
awav and plugging away. They are
willing to stay up late and practice if
they need to. I don't ask them to do
this: they want to. This makes their
win even more satisfying,” he said.
Along with Georgilas, other team
coaches include Scotty Schinke, Carol
Norheime, Dr. Patrick Brown, Crystle
Watson, and Richard Salzeberg.
Forensics team's up-coming events
will be the Spring Championships at
Saddleback College, the state Cham¬
pionship in Sacramento and the na¬
tionals in Minnesota.
Although he starts his role tonight in
Drood! at the Pasadena Civic
Auditorium, mime and theater arts
teacher Whitney Rydbeck says it’s a
mystery if he’ll be singing one song or
two, which is appropiate for the musi¬
cal mystery.
“I have one song for sure,” said the
actor-teacher. “The play is a mystery
— a play within a play — and the
audience votes on the outcome. If my
character Bazard is picked as the
murderer or as the detective. I’ll get to
come back on stage and sing a second
song.”
Rydbeck, a PCC instructor for the
last 13 years, teaches mime, beginning
acting and runs a comedy acting work¬
shop on campus in the summer.
The unusual format for Drood!
sprung from the fact that it is based
upon Charles Dickens' The Mystery of
Edwin Drood. the author’s last, un¬
finished novel. Dickens died in 1870.
and since the book was unfinished, the
stage production lent itself to a variety
of endings — endings voted on by the
audience.
Drood I won a Tony, a Drama Desk
award and an Outer Critic's Circle
award as the Best Musical for 1986. The
local version can be seen at the Pasa¬
dena Civic Auditorum through March 6.
Rydbeck explained that he was
surprised to get the part in the play.
When he auditioned, both the director
and the casting director told him that
all the roles had been filled. “Three
weeks before rehearsals began I got a
message that they wanted me for the
role of Bazard. It seems that the
original actor for the role, Rupert
Holmes, took a job in New York
producing Barbara Strisand’s next
album.” Holmes also wrote the music,
the lyrics and the orchestrations for the
play.
Drood! is the latest credit for
Rydbeck. In 1979 he starred in the
children's television show “Whitney
and the Robot.” Rydbeck played
Whitney, a taxi driver who befriends a
robot from outer space. The show is
aired still, on Saturday mornings at
6:30 a.m. on KNBC, Channel 4.
Rydbeck credits the show^s nine-year
run to the fact that every two years a
new audience discovers it.
“It was a lot of fun. I even bought the
1947 Ford taxi that my character
drove.”
In addition to “Whitney,” Rydbeck
has appeared in the Steven Spielberg
film 1941 and in four episodes of
“Simon and Simon.” He also is a
member of the Colony Studio Theater
in Silverlake, whose last play Execution
of Justice, concerned the Dan White
trial in San Francisco.
But for now Rydbeck is concentrat¬
ing on his role in Drood! “It was a lot of
fun to act in and I think the audience
will have a lot of fun trying to come up
with an ending for it. I think they will
have a good time with it.”
The play is a mystery
. . . and the audience
votes on the
outcome.
Whitney Rydbeck