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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