PCC Courier, March 05, 1992

OPINION | FEATURES | SPORTS Health care Is federal health care proposal right for right for Americans Page 2 Franco-philia Basketball English professor Leonard Franco talks about life and literature Page 5 Lancers finish season with 73 to 59 loss at Ventura Page 6 The Pasadena City College Pasadena, California Vol. 74 No. 18 COURIER Thursday March 5, 1992 Photo by Katrina P. Ten/The COURIER KPCC’s Larry Mantle stands beside Rosa Parks, a key figure in the struggle for equal rights Rights struggle participant visits campus for interview Faculty advised about measure endangering budget allotment GREGG GUENTHARD and ANISSA VICENTE Her work done, the day over, with little thought but to go home to her family, Rosa Parks none¬ theless sat down on a Montgom¬ ery , Alabama bus one day in 1 95 5 and stood up for her rights. Park’s refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger led to the year¬ long Montgomery Bus Boycott and sparked what Martin Luther King, Jr. called a “revolution of conscience” in the United States. Parks, 79, spoke with KPCC’s Larry Mantle on his radio show “Airplay” Tuesday. Parks, who has been called the “mother of the civil rights movement” has written her auto¬ biography, “Rosa Parks: My Story.” Jim Haskins, who wrote “The Cotton Club,” is co-author. Paul Price, professor of sociol¬ ogy, was also aguest on the show. “She is, without a doubt, a legend in her own time. What she did in 1955 defied the odds,” he said. Parks was found guilty of vio¬ lating the segregation laws and fined $10, plus $4 in court costs. But a year later, the Supreme Court declared the segregation laws of Montgomery unconstitutional. In the years that followed, Parks participated in the Civil Rights March in Washington ;nd the Selma-to- Washington Montgomery March. She met with King, the Reverend Ralph Abernathy and Malcolm X. In 1978, she founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self- Development. The institute offers courses and programs in communi¬ cation and economic skills and po¬ litical awareness for youth. It is her way, she said, of passing on to the younger generation the pride she feels as an African American. “I was raised to be proud, and it worked for me to work aggressively for myself. I had wanted all my life to be free, respected and treated as a human being,” she said. “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day,” she said. “I was not old, al¬ though some people have an image of me as being old then. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” Callers to KPCC were unani¬ mous in their admiration for Parks. Most asked Parks to bring her his¬ toric stand into today’s perspective. Jared, an 8-year-old from La Puente also called. “I want to tell you I wrote a book report about you and I admire- you,” he said. Parks laughed and said she hoped he would get a good grade on his report. “It’s incredible to think that I could even meet Rosa Parks,” Ralph Walker, public relations and marketing officer of the Black and Latino Multicultural Book Center, said. Walker brought his wife and children to the studio and offered Parks a bouquet of roses at the end of the interview.. Allan Raphel of the Black and Latino Multicultural Book Cen¬ ter said Parks’ one action changed the lives of millions. He himself experienced discrimination on a bus when he was 5. “A white man stood over my mother and me. I refused to give up my seat. The man told my mother, ‘Teach that boy his place.” Rep. John Conyers said Parks moved civil rights issues from the back of the bus to the front of America’s conscience. “She has led an extraordinary life. She’s a living gem,” he said. Parks will be available to autograph her book on Tuesday, March 17 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Black and Latino Multicul¬ tural Book Center on 23 N. Men¬ tor in Pasadena . By EDWIN FOLVEN Editor-in-Chief Issues surrounding the proposed state budget and the many ways it will affect comm unity colleges were discussed and analyzed at a faculty forum in the R Building Tuesday. Patrick McCallum, executive direc¬ tor of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, briefly related how each of the dif¬ ferent funding programs affect the college and explained in depth the budget’s political importance and how faculty members are affected. Community colleges were unusu¬ ally fortunate to be spared cuts and allowed funds for growth by the proposed budget. A $268 million increase in funding was proposed as part of the budget. The increase includes a 6.95 percent enrollment growth increase and a 1.5 percent cost of living adjustment. Itincluded $50 million for program improve¬ ment and $13 million for hazardous material removal. The California community colleges serve more than 1.5 million students. McCallum be¬ lieves the proposal is reflective of thegovemor’sassumption that com¬ munity colleges are the most impor¬ tant educational provider for young adults. He anticipates a struggle to keep the proposed funding, how¬ ever. McCallum said it is crucial for faculty members to voice their opin¬ ion to the legislators in order to educate them to the needs of the community colleges. “It is impor¬ tant that we all work together in all respects to make a strong case in Sacramento.” He outlined some specific plans that faculty members can get in¬ volved with to help protect this year’s proposed budget allotment. He stressed the importance for all fac¬ ulty members to be enlightened to the political realities of the budget. A primary concern was a letter cam¬ paign that sends a consistent mes¬ sage in favor of funding community colleges at a level adequate to con¬ tinue improving the quality of edu¬ cation. He also urged faculty members to oppose the signing of petitions that would put the “Voucher Initiative” on the November ballot. The initia¬ tive is designed to use tax dollars to subsidize private and religious edu¬ cation by taking billions of dollars away from public education. The initiative could result in the loss of a minimum of $165 million in fund¬ ing for community colleges. The colleges would have to turn away 133,000 students, more than the number of students currently enrolled in the entire UC system. A sample letter was passed out for distribu¬ tion. Dr. Jack Scott, superintendent- president commented, “I strongly urge you (faculty members) to fight the voucher initiative.” Scott spoke about support for a bond measure that will pro vide $ 1 0 1 .4 million for community colleges. He said these bonds will help with the acquisition of property for a new Community Skills Center facility. If the bond measure is defeated, con¬ struction of the center could be set back for years. McCallum also stressed the im¬ portance of setting specific guide¬ lines for future growth in order to make choices about budgetary prob¬ lems. A committee will meet on Saturday, March 14 to review cur¬ rent educational goals and develop new guidelines for growth. Television course enrollment suffers during spring semester By AL SANTANA Staff Writer Enrollment in television courses at PCC is currently 14 percent lower than last semester. According to the learn ing resources department, 22 1 5 students were taking courses through television correspondence during the fall semester. Only 1936 students are currently registered in the courses. This setback is mainly due to the decision by the state government to reduce budgetary aid originally di¬ rected to support these educational projects. “Lack of resources has reflected badly in student enrollment,” said Imelda Martinez, internal television and learning resources assistant. “They’ve been turned away because we couldn’t accommodate as many as we wanted.” As the recession continues, its impact is being felt at many commu¬ nity colleges. It has resulted in the elimination of several classes, which is detrimental to all students. Last fall, PCC instructional television courses offered 17 alternative tele¬ courses including courses such as American history, political science, anthropology and business. Classes were offered at different levels of proficiency . This year, PCC dropped one course section, eliminating space for about 100 students. In a document released by the Southern California Consortium for Community College Television, Pasadena City College ranks as the second largest user of instructional television programs, behind Coast Line Community College which operates strictly through television courses. “Throughout the years this aca¬ demic program has gained a lot of support, we have even had up to 200 students per class,” said Martinez, who has been working at PCC since 1979. She commented, “The tendency for growth of television courses has been upward.” “College by television courses are designed for self-motivated stu¬ dents who don’t need special guid¬ ance.” She added, “Regular on- campus meetings are every 2-3 weeks depending upon the class.” Television courses are viewed by many students as an alternative to classes in the traditional setting. The ability to learn in the comfort of their home instead of in crowd' classrooms seems to appeal to thei AS vice president replacement installed Auto shop exposition By CHRIS CATHCART Staff Writer The Associated Student Execu¬ tive Board voted to install Karen Koch as AS vice president at its bi¬ weekly board meeting last Wednes¬ day. Koch is a former two term president of Alpha Gamma Sigma, and founder of the Circle К club. The vice president’s position has been open since last December when Jorge Cornejo resigned from the executive board. The selection process took longer than expected, according to Maggie Tracey, president of the AS. “I ap¬ pointed her (Koch) to the position in January, but the executive board voted to keep her out. They then decided to create a selection committee, com¬ prised of representatives from all of the campus clubs, to interview and recommend a candidate to the board,” said Tracey. As it turned out, the selection committee reviewed all of the candidates, and recommended Karen Koch for the position. “When we received the recommendation of the selection committee, I moved that we should vote her in to office, and the board voted her in,” said Tracey. The vote was stalled for a few minutes when some board members voiced their concern about only having one candidate recommended by the selection committee. When the board was creating the commit¬ tee, A decision was made that it would recommend only one candi¬ date. Another discussion erupted when it was pointed out that not all of the clubs were represented on the selec¬ tion committee, most notably the Korean club, and MECHA. Once again it was stated that they were notified of the committee, but de¬ clined to send representation. A vote was taken after the discussion, and Koch was elected by a vote of four to one, with one abstention. She took her seat with the other Please see Koch: Page 8 Former AS executive defends herself against group criticism By CHRIS CATHCART Staff Writer Katherine Wolf was dismissed as coordinator of campus activities in a closed session of the Associated Students executive board meeting last Wednesday. Wolf lost her posi¬ tion as a result of a vote taken by the board, in response to what they de¬ scribed as “excessive absences”. AS president Maggie Tracey said, “The by-laws of the AS state that no officer may miss more than a total of three unexcused absences per se¬ mester or four per year. Katherine had five absences.” An excused absence requires that the faculty adviser, and the president be noti¬ fied, prior to the meeting, and that the member must explain the cir¬ cumstances surrounding the absence. According to Tracey, there was no notification. The board passed the motion by a two-thirds majority. Wolf disputes the claim that she has had five absences. “There aren’t any complete minutes from those meetings,” said Wolf. She insisted Please see Wolf: Page 8 Photo by Katrina P. Ten/The COURIER Student displays brighten auto shop open house Wednesday. i