PCC Courier, March 02, 1996

OPINION FEATURES SPORTS IT’S THE END OF THE YEAR AS WE KNOW IT (AND WE FEEL FINE) Will the Lancer baseball team recruit 88-year- old Cal Ripken Jr. ? A look at PCC’s future - according the Courier crystal ball 2 LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! Advanced television production (Telcom 16B) students ^ create 28-minute film Ъ LANCER BASEBALL TEAM DEFEATS COMPTON 7-6 First baseman Tim Esquivel’s two-run homer helps PCC in home victory • ATTORNEY TO ADRESS GRADUATING STUDENTS IN PCC'S 71ST CEREMONY Speaker selected, commencement set for May 17 By REYNA GRANDE Courier Staff Writer Graduation. The long awaited event for many PCC students is fast approaching with all its pomp and circumstance. This year, about 500 students will be participating in the commencement ceremony, along with faculty members and adminis¬ trators. The ceremony willtake place at6p.m. Friday May 17bythe mirror pools. The commencement speaker will be attorney Mercedes M. Marquez, who was chosen by the selection committee because of her background and community involve¬ ment. The class valedictorians, chosen because of their outstanding aca¬ demic performance and 4.0 G.P. A.s, are Hamid Rezg Maleklou, Chrysti Jones, and Heather-Lark Curtin. The valedictory address will be delivered by Chrysti Jones. She will be getting her A A degree in child development and is currently work¬ ing at Montessori School in Pasa¬ dena. Jones is hoping to transfer to Pacific Oaks College to study child de¬ velopment and get her teaching credentials. Curtin lives in Los An¬ geles and is a graduate of Dos Palos High School in Goleta. She is planning to transfer to either UC Ber¬ keley or UCLA and major in Japanese. Maleklou is a resident of Glendora. She is studying politi¬ cal science and is hoping to transfer to either Harvard Univer¬ sity, Yale, or USC. One of her goals is to go to law school. During the ceremony, Campus Recognition Hon¬ ors will be awarded to indi¬ viduals who have provided service to the college over the years. Alice Corey, department chair of the Physical Sciences department will receive the Campus Special Recog¬ nition Honors. Among her many contributions to the college, Corey was responsible for the creation of many chemistry lab manuals to help students with their classes, and she has also assisted to increase funds for scholarships and other student pro¬ grams. Tom and Tim Selinski will re¬ ceive the Community Special Rec¬ ognition Honors. Being the founders of the PCC flea market, they have been active members of the market’s Board of Directors for 17 years. They also served in the Associated Stu¬ dents Goverment and Circle К Inter¬ national. In the addition, the faculty mem¬ ber winner of the Risser Award will also be introduced at the ceremony. The Risser is an annual award given each Spring to recognize outstand¬ ing faculty members. Marquez has a B.A. in political science from USC and earned her law degree from Georgetown Uni¬ versity. Her professional experience ranges from working for Congress- Please see GRADS, Page 4 Mercedes M. Marquez • LIST OF UNRESOLVED GRIEVANCES GROW District to face record 12 cases By RACHEL URANGA Courier Staff Writer Teaching for more than a decade at Pasadena City College, Eleanor Kenney, associate professor of nurs¬ ing, never had as many problems as she had these past two years. She is not the only one who has had prob¬ lems with administration. Last week, the СТА filed its third arbitration on Kenney ’s behalf, add¬ ing to the growinglists ofthe district’s unresolved grievances. This year alone a dozen unresolved grievances have been sent to arbitration. Half of these cases are still awaiting a hear¬ ing. The СТА, which files for arbitra¬ tion on behalf of faculty reports that in an average year у one or two cases are filed. “The amount of grievances sent to arbitration were an unusually high number this year,” said Ed Ortell, CTAchiefnegotiatorforPCC. Ortell attributes this fact to the lack of administrative cooperation in deal- ing with these grievances. The office of Dr. Joyce Black, instructional administration, said it is the administration’s policy not to comment on any arbitration matters the district is involved in. “Ever)1 case of arbitration cost the CTA$10,000,” explained Ortell. If the number of unresolved griev¬ ances continue at this rate, Ortell speculates the СТА will go broke. Of all the cases gone to arbitra¬ tion, Kenney was the only involved party willing to discuss the griev¬ ances. As of last week the district had not produced documents sub- Please see СТА, Page 4 FLORENCE AND NORMANDIE.. .FOUR YEARS LATER SAMUEL HERNANDEZ, / THE OOURIER Four years ago last Monday, one of the most destructive The Los Angeles riots started after four LAPD officers were urban uprising in any U.S. city was sparked at the intersection acquitted in the beating of Rodney King. The remaining signs of Florence and Normandie in South Central Los Angeles, ofthe riots are a closed market and grafitti on some walls. • INAUGURAL EVENT TO SHOW OFF ARTISTIC TALENTS Classified staff exhibit opens Monday By FELICIA BRICHOUX Courier Staff Writer “The Worker Bees of PCC” is the nick¬ name Judith Heinrichs, admissions and records evaluator, gives her fellow classi¬ fied staff members. Soon, she will have to find a new allegory: dragonflies, perhaps, or butterflies: whatever speaks of artistry', cre¬ ativity, color and beauty. And Heinrichs will need the new name right away: by Monday afternoon, when the chrysalis will open and PCC’s artisans emerge as artists. The 1 st Annual Celebra¬ tion of the Arts opens with a reception on the Shatford Library steps from 3 to 5 p.m. Visitors will enjoy music and refresh¬ ments, meet the artists and then move inside the library rotunda to view the art work on the walls and in glass cases. Heinrichs, coordinator for tire exhibit, said she is delighted to have the show in the beautiful library rotunda. Mary Ann Laun, associate dean of the library, was eager to have the exhibit there for the month of May. An exhibit to demonstrate the talents of the classified staff is an idea Heinrichs conceived and has lived and breathed for many months. “To maintain the support staff’s long-held reputation of being hard¬ working, knowledgeable and well- Please see EXHIBIT, Page 4 • AS BOARD MEMBERS SUPPORTIVE AS COMMITTEE OVERLOOKS TECHNICALITY Disqualified candidate reinstated By ARDA HAMALIAN, Courier Staff Writer A new member has joined the ranks of the 1996-97 Associated Students Executive Board. In a special meet¬ ing held last Friday, Ben Bushnell, a candidate who ran unopposed in the last election but was disqualified, was reinstated into office. Bushnell was disqualified after last week’s AS elec¬ tions for not having turned his campaign receipts in by 1 1 a.m. on Friday, April 19. The deadline was specified in the election bylaws as well as the packets that each candidate received before campaigning. Bushnell said that he did not have any campaign expenses. Therefore, he did not think that he needed to turn anything in. “Since I had to take time off of work to campaign, I had to go in the day the receipts were due to make up the work,” he said. “I knew that the election bylaws stated that all receipts must be tamed in, but it didn’t say anything about no expenses. So, it looked to me that it was acceptable to turn nothing in.” The committee that heard Bushnell’ s appeal con¬ sisted of Stephen Johnson, assistant dean of student services, Rebecca Cobb, AS adviser, PCC alumnus Tom Selinske, and student appointee John Telez. Although Bushnell was reinstated, he is going to be on three-months probation before he is certified for the rest of the term. Johnson and Cobb will supervise him during this 90 day period. “At first the committee wanted to let other board members supervise him during probation, but I had concerns because anyone can go to the board and complain if they don’t like the way he votes on some¬ thing,” said Forrest Poindexter, next year’s AS presi¬ dent. “It would be better if the advisers watch over him so he can be allowed to vote as he pleases. I am behind him 100 hundred percent. Infact, I will supportthe entire board no matter what.” Bushnell said: “The meeting was very fair and I am happy with the result.” Please see REINSTATED, Page 9 • AFL-CIO LOOKING TO RECRUIT PCC STUDENTS Union organizer urges students to take action By RACHEL URANGA Courier Staff Writer Students of Hugo Schyzer’s His¬ tory IA class listened to the com¬ manding and passionate voice of Michelle Brauer calling them to lead the union in its fight for the rights of workers. For a week, Brauer has been searching Pasadena City Col¬ lege looking for socially conscious young people. She goes from class to class trying to recruit students into a movement that few are familiar with and even fewer have experi¬ enced first hand: the union. She is one of the growing number of twenty somethings participating in a nation¬ wide effort by the AFL-CIO to revi¬ talize the movement and reshape the frayed perception many have of the union. Brauer encourages students to sign up for a summer program of¬ fered by the AFL-CIO by emphasiz¬ ing the necessity of union organiza¬ tion. The Union Summer, a three- week program sponsored by AFL- CIO, pays for a short term peek into the life of union organization. In¬ tended to boost participation and heighten awareness ofthe diminish¬ ing and often unheard voice of work¬ ers, it provides potential organizers and activist with a comprehensive understandingoftheunion. Forthree days veteran union organizers teach participants about the history of la¬ bor organization and how it works. By organizing activities and events alongside veteran organizers, par¬ ticipants will get a chance to “get their feet wet.” Union Summer gathers like minded individuals to fight for the rights of workers. It is designed to bring young workers and college stu¬ dents together so that they can effec¬ tively work on issues through union organizing and political initiatives. A similar event, Freedom Sum¬ mer, solidified and fueled the Civil Rights movement. Freedom Sum¬ mer was a national coalition of civil rights activist that recruited college students to register voters in an op¬ pressed area in the South. Union activists hope that Union Summer will fuel the worker’s rights move¬ ment like Freedom Summer suc¬ cessfully ignited the civil rights movement. New leadership has changed the face of the th AFL-CIO, an umbrella organization for unions. Aware of the need to restructure the move- Please see UNION, Page 9 TWO WINNERS ARE BETTER THAN ONE ANDREW ZIMA / THE COURIER Two professors were recognized last T uesday for their talents by winning the Risser Award for Outstanding T eacher ofthe Year. From left: Joe Risser, Dr. James Kossler, PCC superintendent president, professors Verna Wells and Michael Riherd, and Dr. William Goldmann, dean of educational services.