OPINION
FEATURES
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GUY GABRIEL' THE COURIER
Very few students bothered to show up for a recent affirmative action rally in the Quad. .
P. J. DATRl/ THE COURIER
DON BEBOUT/ THE COURIER
President James Kossler was available to meet students. There was no line what-so-ever to register for the blood drive.
‘It doesn ’t seem like people really care ’
By RAY ARMEN DARIZ and
KEN WOO
Courier Staff Writers
Hello? Anybody out there? It seems
recently that the students at PCC have not
had much interest in school-sponsored ac¬
tivities. This is a growing trend that not
only wastes the college’s time and money,
but eventually affects all the students as
well. From lectures to voter turnouts for
AS elections to information meetings with
college administrators and student offic¬
ers, the turnouts have been dismal.
At a recent affirmative action rally in
the Quad, only about 3 0 people bothered to
listen, even though the event was held at a
time when no classes were scheduled on
campus.
An AIDS Awareness Week program had
similar problems attracting an audience.
AIDS is a topic that directly affects many
college students. It is discussed in classes,
and students know the importance of learn¬
ing about this virus and how to avoid it. Yet,
despite all the publicity and discussion about
AIDS, only eight people showed up for the
program, three of whom were the guest
speaker, the coordinator of the event and a
Courier staff writer.
“When you talk about programs, why
don’t people show up for AIDS awareness,
affirmative action? It seems like some¬
body has to ask the question why. Maybe
we’re talking about things they don’t know
or care about,” said Dr. James P. Kossler,
superintendent-president of PCC. “What
are the reasons? I’dliketoknowtoo. Why
don’t they care?”
In the last election for AS president this
past fall, only 586 students voted out of a
total number of 24,142 eligible voters.
That adds up to only two percent participa¬
tion in one of the largest community col¬
leges in the nation. What do students care
about?
“Students lead very busy lives. They
Please see APATHY, Page 6
• DR. MAULANA
KARENGA SPEAKS IN
CROSS-CULTURAL
CENTER
Strength
through
history
PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL ACTIVITIES HIT AN ALL TIME LOW
STUDENT APATHY
By RACHEL URANGA
Courier Staff Writer
Calling out for a truthful dialogue
among people as well as our leaders
Dr. Maulana Karenga spoke at the
Cross-Cultural Center Wednesday
night. Karenga, professor and chair
at the department of Black Studies at
Cal State Long Beach is an interna¬
tionally re¬
spected scholar.
He sat on the ex¬
ecutive council
of the National
Organizing
Committee to the
Million Man
March
Karanga’s
presentation ex¬
amined what his¬
tory means and
why it is vital to
our understand¬
ing.
He empha¬
sized the three
periods of Afri¬
can history.
Pride is not the
reason why un¬
derstanding and
knowing our eth¬
nic history is im¬
portant. “They
say we have
Black studies,
Chicano studies,
Native Ameri¬
can even Asian
studies as more
therapy than
intellecual dis¬
course. That’s not real,” Karenga
went onto explain that self esteem is
not the reason why we study history.
“Self esteem comes in and of its self
from knowing the truth,” that is why
it is important to study history, he
said. If history is a mirror of our¬
selves and one does not know history
then we are not identifying with who
we are but with what another people
say we are.
To illustrate this point Karenga
spoke of the Ancient Egyptian Civi¬
lization which is African. European
history does not acknowledge this.
His translations, interpretations and
Please see SPEECH, Page 4
“They
say we
have
Black
studies,
Chicano
studies,
Native
Ameri¬
can even
Asian
studies
as more
therapy
* than
intellecual
dis¬
course.
That’s
not real,”
Dr.
Maulana
Karenga,
Professor
of Black
Studies
• AS PRESIDENT HERRERA VIO¬
LATES RULES, VP SMOOT
TO TAKE OVER
Shake up
in student
government
By ARDA HAMALIAN,
Courier Staff Writer
The conflicts on the Associated
Students Board (ASB) are continu¬
ing to escalate. This time President
Roldan Herrera may find himself out
of office.
Herrera allegedly violated some
rules in the AS constitution which
jeopordized his eligibility to hold
his position.
Herrera was supposed to be re¬
moved from office this week, and
executive vice president Kim Smoot,
who was targetted for recall earlier
this semester, was to take his place a
AS President.
However, Herrera said he is still
acting as AS president with his full
capacity. “This matter will not be
resolved until I am no longer sitting
at my desk, and I am no longer
heading the meetings.”
“This is a serious matter that my
attorney is looking into,” Herrera
said. “There has been a series of
events in the past year that relate to
recent incidents that have occurred. ”
Stephan Johnson, assistant dean
of student services, said, “This is a
highly confidential matter which has
been placed in the hands of the ad¬
ministration. However, Roldan is
currently conducting business as AS
president.”
Smoot said, “I am now in an
awkward position. Everything is on
hold and confidential, so I have no
idea what is going on. I didn’t go to
the meeting because I didn’t want to
deal with bad attitudes.” AS Board
meetings are held every tuesday at
noon in the Campus Center Lounge.
“As far as we are concerned, the
recall situation is over,” said Smoot.
“Now that I will be sitting in the
president’s seat, I have to watch my
words. I don’t intend to bad mouth
anybody. However, I hope that the
board will now get the recognition
and respect we deserve. Even though
it hasn’t looked like it lately, we have
worked very hard to get things ac¬
complished.”
Due to an administrative hold up,
no action was taken to officially
remove Herrera from his position. In
Please see HERRERA, Page 6
“I am still
acting as AS
president with
my full
capacity. This
matter will not
be resolved
until I am no
longer sitting
at my desk,
and I am no
longer head¬
ing the
meetings, "
Roldan
Herrera,
ASB
president
“Now that I will
be sitting in
the president's
seat, I have to
watch my
words. I don’t
intend to bad
mouth any¬
body. How¬
ever, I hope
that the board
will now get
the recognition
and respect
we deserve, ’’
Kim Smoot,
ASB
executive
vice
president
• PROJECT FOCUSES ON AT-RISK MALES
Funding uncertain for AAME program
By RACHEL URANGA
Courier Staff Writer
Although access to education is avail¬
able to all, it is not equally utilized by all.
Afro-American males have a low college
enrollment and retention rate and are at
high risk for dropping out of high school.
These individuals are just as competent as
anyone, so why does this group have such
a high drop out rate?
PCC and members of the community
decided to find out the answers to that
question and do something to change these
figures. A task force was created in 1991
to examine these issues and what resulted
was the African American Enrichment
Program, designed to focus on increasing
college enrollment and retention rates for
that group.
AAMEP is specifically aimed at Afri¬
can American males in high school. It
consists of 25 participants at each: John
Muir High School, Pasadena High School,
and Pasadena City College. Participants
are considered ‘at risk’ for dropping out of
high school, not graduating, or not con¬
tinuing onto college. They come from
various background. Some come from
low socio-economic conditions, some live
in neighborhoods with gangs, some do not
have a strong educational background,
and others are not motivated and do not
have direction. Angela Woolfolk who was
the secertary in the dean’s office at John
Muir High School and then transferred to
the counseling department, says “some of
those faces were in there all the time, but
they are not in there anymore, “ they
began their associations with AAMEP
and things changed. AAEMP stresses
college in a positive enviroment where
students can realistically examine their
direction and evaluate future possibilities
through discussion, college campus trips,
and guest speakers that the participants
can relate to. “They come in with a
number of different issues. I thind it is
critical to have some sort of support sys¬
tem in place for black males to help them
Please see PROJECT, Page 4
PJ. DATRl
/
THE COURIER
Students had the opportunity to wonder what would have happened had Malcolm
X and Dr. Martin Luther King met. “The Meeting” was part of Black History Month.
See story on page 4.
What would have happened?
x
