PCC Courier, March 03, 1994

PASADENA CITY COLLEGE Pasadena, California Vol. 78 No. 6 COURIER Serving the PCC Community for 76 years THURSDAY March 3, 1994 - Parking alternative A bird’s eye view ENRIQUE ARMENDARIZ/The COURIER The library overlooks the recently-opened parking lot at the corner of Bonnie and Colorado. Lot 6, or the dirt lot, is PCC's latest attempt at alleviating the college's parking situation. The lot adds 150 more parking spaces. Dirt lot opens for parking Diversity programs strike fear of loss of academic freedom □ Headaches ease a little as more spaces become available in lot six. By DAVID MUSHEGAIN Staff Writer Lot number six, more commonly known as the dirt lot, is PCC’s latest attempt to alleviate the school’s parking problem. The lot, located at the comer of Bonnie and Colorado, provides an extra 150 spaces, bringing the parking total to 2066 spaces. “We are doing everything we can to create more parking during construction of the parking structure.” said Philip Mullendore, chief of campus police. The dirt lot is expected to be open through the end of the semester, but will be closed at the beginning of June forpaving.Oncepaved the lot will become a staff lot, providing 1 02 spaces. According to Jack Scott, PCC president, an equal number of spaces, 1 02, will be taken from staff parking east of the U building and added to student parking. Although lot six has helped, according to Mullendore, parking still remains a problem. Due to construction of the Child Development Center, the Green and Holliston lot will be closed as of July. That will take away 92 spots and further complicate the parking situation. The Foothill shuttle lot still remains an option, but is also crowded. Mullendore said that the school is searching for fur¬ ther solutions and hoping to find another shuttle lot location, but parking will re¬ main a problem until the new structure is completed next February. □ Post secondary colleges and universities are now required to increase multicultural classes before they can be accredited. By JOSE INOSTROZ Staff Writer A storm appears to be brewing in the semi-turbulent seas of academia. On Wednesday in San Francisco, 1 5 com¬ mission members of the Western Associa¬ tion of Schoolsand Colleges (WASC) unani¬ mously approved a 20-page proposal that would require post-secondary educational institutions to increase diversity and multicultural programs including non-West- em traditional values. The proposal would require private and public universities and trade schools in Cali¬ fornia, Hawaii and Guam to review their programs on multiculturalism during ac¬ creditation. However the statement has drawn fire from the presidents of Stanford University, USC, Cal Tech, as well as smaller private and religious institutions who fear a loss of academic freedom would follow this pro¬ posal. “The college presidents contend that the statement could allow outsiders to dictate how schools should teach students about racial harmony and cultural sensitivity,” stated the L.A. Times in a Feb. 23 article. Critics also argue that the proposal is vague and also would lower accreditation stan¬ dards. According to the Times, 92 institutions voted for the proposal, while 14 opposed and five abstained after a two hour debate. The “statement of diversity plan” would affect the quality of education at 145 institu¬ tions under WASC. It would also “make clear that schools will be judged on how thoroughly they address diversity in their courses and faculty,” stated the Times. At present, nine regional associations accredit two and four year institutions throughout the United States. Accreditation is given to a school after it reviews its own curricula then, a small team of outside aca¬ demics, usually from other campuses, visits the campus and writes a separate critique. One of the important factors of accredita¬ tion is that once a school has metthe m inim un requirements of the peer review panel, it can receive loans and grants from the Federal Government. “Due to rising tuition, however, and de¬ faults on student loans as well as complaints from employers that college graduates are not being sufficiently prepared, there is mounting pressure for the federal govern¬ ment to get involved in regulating the insti¬ tutions in the same way it regulates con¬ sumer services,” stated the Times. A 1992 federal law spelled out exactly what accrediting associations were respon¬ sible for. These include tracking default rates and statistics showing how successful a school’s graduates were in finding jobs. Whether the diversity proposal will have any major impact on Cal State Universities and University of California institutions is questionable due to their already diversified programs. It could, however, force much smaller campuses to change class courses and mate¬ rials. The WASC policy does not affect PCC since the guidelines proposed have already been in place. The PCC Educational Master Plan, a pamphlet put out by PCC, states, “The pri¬ mary mission is to provide a rigorous, high- quality instruction, with a commitment to multi-cultural education, that prepares stu¬ dents for transfer to a four-year institution.” Dr. William Goldmann, dean of educa¬ tional services, said there has been no exact point where the campus has adopted multicultural guidelines since individual instructors have been implementing diver¬ sity and multiculturalism in their courses for years. Students need to get involved three people volun¬ teered. In the “rap ses¬ sion” with Scott, stu¬ dents asked questions ranging from enroll¬ ment fees to parking to multicultural edu¬ cation. Even though RAFAEL VEGA/The COURIER President Jack Scott talks with student trustee John Robinson at an “informal rap session” on Tuesday. Only eight people attended. □ Frustrated college leaders make a plea for more participation in campus activities. By ENRICO PIAZZA News Editor Lack of student participation at campus discussions and activities was particularly evident last week, much to the frustration of student leaders and school administrators. Dr. Jack Scott, superintendent president, invited students to an in¬ formal “rap session” last Tuesday at noon. Eight students showed up. Last Friday, a forum was orga¬ nized by the Associated Students (AS) to discuss parking problems, tuition increases, andethnic curricula. Much to the organizer’s disbelief, only 18 students participated. In addition, John Robinson, stu¬ dent trustee, spent the last three weeks asking for student help to organize a trip to Sacramento to lobby against tuition fee increases. So far, only only a few students attended the session, Scott said he felt good about the meeting, but he hopes to see more participation in the future. “I thought we had an exciting and helpful kind of exchange. We will arrange something like that in the future, ” Scott said. “I understand students are very busy and they have their own agen¬ das, I just think it’s helpful for me to answer questions they may have. And it’s also helpful for me to hear the concerns of the students. I think communication is always a two-way street. For me to have the opportu¬ nity to visit and talk to students is very profitable, so I ’ m positive about it. I would like to see more students come out, ” Scott added. It’s not only meeting with college administrators that have low turn¬ outs. They also stayed away from student meetings as well. Alex Ortega, AS executive vice president, said he feels sad about the low turnout at last week’s student forum. “It is sad that only so few students participated. We are trying to in¬ crease attendance through a lot of publicity,” Ortega said. The next forum will be held Friday at 1 p.m. in Harbeson Hall, located behind the old library. The lobbying trip to Sacramento is tentatively scheduled to take place toward the end of April. Robinson said it is important to let lawmakers know how students feel about a fee increase. Last year, he said, 91 PCC students went to the state capitol. The trip was organized in collabora¬ tion with CalSAAC, the California Association of Community Colleges, See“INVOLVEMENT,” Page 4 Student robbed at gunpoint By ROBERT W. ARMIJO Staff Writer A student was robbed at gun point in parking lot 1 at the comer of Hill Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, last Tuesday night. Shuo Thomas Li, 20, returned to his car to get the books he forgot for a night class. While opening the trunk of his car, he was approached from behind by a man armed with a gun. “Give me your money or I’ll kill you,” Li reported the robber said to him. Doing what the gunman said, Li turned over $ 1 20 and his beeper. The gunman then shoved Li into the front of the car and searched the glove compartment before leaving. He took nothing else. Li was unharmed. The gunman was last seen walk¬ ing northbound on Hill Avenue through the Chevron gas station on Colorado Boulevard. The Pasadena Police Department broadcast the suspect’s description and checked See “GUNPOINT,” Page 4 Going, going, gone HOWARD BURGER/THE COURIER | An old, familiar landmark finally disappears. More photos on the demolition of the boiler room's smokestack appear on page 4.