Serving PCC and the Pasadena community since 1915
Pasadena City College
See Saar
The college’s 19th annual
artist in residence, Alison
Saar, arrives next week
Pages
March 3, 2005
pcc-courieronline.com
Vol. 91, Issue 3
Internet Restricted on
Faculty Computers
■ Certain websites
are now blocked on
faculty computers.
Student machines
remain unaffected.
Jennifer MacDonald
Staff Writer
In an attempt to curb recreation¬
al use of the Internet, a filtering sys¬
tem has been installed on staff and
faculty computers to eliminate visits
to pornographic, adult gaming and
adult gambling sites.
The administration decided to
Internet use among
РСС
staff and faculty
following a discussion by the executive and
technology committees to address the issue
of the Internet for personal use, said Peter
Hardash, vice president of administrative
services.
“We’re trying to define to what extent
Internet use is permissible,” Hardash said.
“We do not wish to block their ability to do
their job.”
In September, the college began moni¬
toring staff and faculty activity online to
determine the amount of time spent visit¬
ing websites not used for institutional or
administrative purposes. Filtering was
turned on in November to block a narrow
portion of websites, said Dale Pittman,
director of management information
Illustration by William Hallstrom
/
Courier
filter
services.
Teachers who wish to gain access to a
blocked site for educational purposes will
be able to talk to a division dean, Hardash
said.
PCC’s connection to the Internet is
funded by tax dollars. Cenic, the non-prof¬
it organization that connects the college to
the Internet, has an acceptable use policy
that schools must adhere to, or create a
stricter policy.
Although an acceptable use policy
regarding the Internet is in place for facul¬
ty and staff, the college wanted to do every¬
thing it could to avoid inappropriate use of
publicly funded computers, according to
Dr. James Kossler, college president.
Once the software was installed, “we Internet
saw there were abuses,” said Kossler.
However, faculty members are con¬
cerned about restricting certain
websites, said Kay Dabelow,
president of the Academic
Senate.
“The faculty technology com¬
mittee felt that a blocking of
Internet sites on faculty comput¬
ers represented a violation of
academic freedom and recom¬
mended to the senate board that
the board take a position oppos¬
ing such blockage,” Dabelow
said. “The matter has also been
referred to the senate academic
freedom and professional ethics
committee, which will also make
its recommendation to the senate
board.”
Kossler sees things differently. “Staff
computers belong to the college and are
provided to employees to do their job,” he
said. “Using them for porn or gambling is
inappropriate.”
Not all faculty members see the filter as
a threat, including Bruce Carter, dean of
natural sciences. “I don’t see that it’s a par¬
ticular problem,” he said. “I don’t see that
during my hours I should be going into
those sites. I should be doing that on my
own time.”
Kossler said that the college does recog¬
nize that in some instances access to such
websites could have merit when teaching a
Page 6
On - Air with Lancer Radio
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Brian Dreisbach
/
Courier
A student volunteer mans the board at the student radio station at
88.9 FM. Lancer Radio is kicking off a new one-hour community
show this semester. - See story on page 4 -
Federal Grant Will
Bolster Sciences
Chantal Mullins
Staff Writer
For those of you out there with a passion
for science and a love for children, now’s the
time to get involved in the college’s teacher
preparation program.
The program recently received a $92,000
grant that will renew every year for the next
five years. The Copernicus Project evolved
from this grant. It is aimed at future science
teachers enrolled in the teacher preparation
program.
The goal of this project is to improve the
quality of teaching and learning in science in
grades K-12. It will concentrate on identifying
future science teachers, recruiting a variety of
candidates, and creating a road to teacher edu¬
cation by providing hands-on experience. The
project focuses on state science and teaching
standards, and provides assistance for transfer¬
ring to a four-year college or university. The
program will continue to assist teachers as
their journey continues.
The grant was awarded to PCC by the U.S.
Department of Education (Teacher Quality
Enhancement Grants Program). The
Copernicus Project has joined together UC
Riverside, Cal State Northridge, Cal State San
Bernardino, California Baptist University,
Stanford University, Chaffey College, PCC,
Riverside Community College and Santa
Monica College to form a partnership aimed
at improving the future quality of teaching.
The Corona-Norco, Moreno Valley, Palm
Springs and Riverside school districts have
also joined forces in the fight for stronger edu¬
cation.
The project was established to meet the
nation’s need to hire 240,000 middle and high
school science and mathematics teachers in
the next 10 years. In addition, 53 percent of
grade four students in California scored below
the basic level in science. The project is trying
to improve these grim facts and turn the future
into a brighter one.
Thanks to the Copernicus grant, 10 lucky
PCC students from the teacher preparation
program will get the opportunity to participate
in a university science laboratory internship,
in which they will be staying at one of the
Copernicus partnering universities. The
Copernicus
Page 6
Campus Helps ‘Drive L.A.’
Diane Garcia
Arts Editor
The English department
and Shatford Library are
joining forces to present a
once a month lunch time
story discussion group as part
of the college’s “What Drives
L.A.?” activities. A variety of
events have been scheduled this semester
around the theme.
The idea for a story discussion spins from a
now defunct book group that was hosted on
campus some years ago called “Brown Bag
Book Bunch.” The members would select one
book each month and discuss it over lunch in
the president’s meeting room, said Amy
Ulmer, English department dean.
Sadly, the group died down because
most members lacked the time to
read a full novel during a rather
short amount of time.
Ulmer said this time around
they chose to focus on short sto¬
ries that would be less time-con¬
suming for participants to read. And
to keep in touch with the college theme
Ulmer, Shatford librarian Krista Goguen, and
Brock Klein, “What Drives L.A.?” director,
each devoured volumes of short stories search¬
ing for the perfect stories to fit the theme.
What Drives L.A.?
Page
Special Election
Meet the
Candidates
■ Place your vote for the new
student trustee next week in
the special election to fill the
position.
Chelena Fisher
“PCC is a really big part of
me— it’s my second home.
For me student leadership
is a way of giving back to
the campus.”
John Avery
Staff Writer
Three candidates will vie for the student
trustee position in elections to be held
Thursday, March 10.
Organized by the Associated Students, the
elections will be held online, and the PCC
home page will maintain a link to the elec¬
tronic voting site, enabled from 12:01 a.m. to
11:59 p.m. The elected student will serve out
the remainder of the current term, which ends
in June. Elections for the
2005/2006
academ¬
ic year will begin on May 23.
Normally, the student trustee serves a term
of one year. This special election will decide
the successor to Chad Hunter, who left his
post at the end of the fall semester to pursue a
career opportunity.
As of noon, March 1, 2005, the eligible
candidates are Chelena Fisher, Hangyang
(Edward) Li and Ric Arguelles. Fisher and
Arguelles are third-year students expecting to
transfer out after this year. Li is beginning his
second semester and expects to return next
fall.
The student trustee serves on the PCC
board of trustees in an advisory position, rep¬
resenting the interests of the student body on
matters such as academic standards, codes of
conduct, and construction projects. Although
the student trustee does not have a binding
vote, he or she is involved in all open sessions
of the board and can cast an advisory vote
expressing the students’ interests. Associated
with the position is a $3,000 scholarship,
which will be pro-rated by service.
Edward Li
“I hear that school trustee
is a hard position and it
takes a dedicated person
to do it. I hope I can be a
good leader and friend to
the students.”
f
-Additional reporting by Meg Ryan
Ric Arguelles
“PCC’s been very good to
me. I want to articulate the
needs of the students on
campus.”
Candidate
Statements
Chelena Fisher:
I am currently in my third year at PCC
and am majoring in psychology. Even
though I will be transferring in the fall, I
still plan to stay heavily involved in the
campus until I graduate. I am currently
the president of Ujima Club, treasurer for
the Academic Athletic Club and actively
participate in Black Student Alliance. I
strongly encourage my fellow students
body members to “VOTE” on March 10.
Edward Li:
This is my second semester at PCC,
and I honestly believe that if given the
chance, that I shall make a difference. I
can proudly tell you that I am an honor
student who works three days a week and
is taking 17 units while trying to hold
down a good GPA. I am a strong and
determined person; I am still trying hard
to become better. I believe in myself and
in my abilities. I am passionate about
doing this job, and I am dedicated to help¬
ing out all of you and the school in gener¬
al. I will be a good leader and a good
friend of yours. And if I win the election,
you will be able to see exactly how hard I
will work, and I guarantee that you will
not be disappointed.
Ric Arguelles:
Greetings everyone, my name is Ric
Arguelles and I would love to undertake
the demanding challenge of becoming
your next student trustee. My first and
utmost priority as your student trustee
will be to represent your needs effectively
and assertively. I have had leadership and
public speaking experience as president of
Alpha Gamma Sigma Honors Society
and vice president of Omicron Mu Delta
Order of Distinguished Service. I have
interacted with many different types of
people and organizations here on campus,
as I am a profound supporter of clubs and
noontime activities. While in office I plan
to lobby to keep the Tuesday-Thursday,
noon to 1 p.m. period open for club meet¬
ings and activities; continue to advocate
for better student access to the board of
trustees, day meetings, radio broadcasts,
bi-weekly notices, etc.; and support the
students’ general welfare and speak on
their behalf.