PCC Courier, March 08, 2001

Pasadena City College the Since 1915 ' VOL. 86 NO. 21 www. p cc- courieronline .com March 8, 2001 ь College may cut semesters, and add winter intersession College may drop two weeks off an 1 8-week session, extending the summer term and create winter term A Different View Multi-award winning columnist, Jon Heller would like the option for a refund if proper educational services aren't rendered imme¬ diately. >• SEE PAGE 2 By Sid Saraf Staff Writer Many people have clung to the belief that schools don’t care about making its students lives easier. However, that long-held cliche has suffered a glancing blow to its seemingly unbreakable armor. In a move started by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges last year, PCC is now looking into reducing the semesters from 18 to 16 weeks. The idea, if approved and implement¬ ed, could go into effect for the 2002-2003 school year. The shortened semester plan, was pre¬ sented by Ernestine Moore, vice presi¬ dent of student and learning services, at the Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 7. According to the minutes of the meeting, Moore reported that the shared gover¬ nance Calendar DC gets an ‘A’ DC is at the top of its jss. Evaluators from e California State iard of Education's lild Development /ision said they'd en send their ildren there. SEE PAGE 3 Committee was looking into compressed 16-week semesters, with a winter inters¬ ession added between the fall and spring terms. The need for winter sessions has become important recently, since the CSU and UC systems now demand that incoming fall students complete their transfer requirements by the end of the previous spring semester. This means, students will no longer have the summer session to pick up needed courses. The Calendar Committee - which is a part of the college’s Academic Senate - has realized the effect that a possible change would have on the PCC commu¬ nity. Committee chairman Roger Marheine addressed this by sending a memo to all faculty, staff and students on Monday. In it, he states, “We hope to have a series of meetings and arrive at a mean¬ ingful and satisfying consensus.” The first meeting will be in C323, at noon today. >- see Calendar, page 4 Process for students* complaints clarified Track team loses Track team loses to Mt. SAC due to lack of man power. Although the Lancers lost, the athletes had tremendous improve¬ ments over recent per¬ formances. The outlook is good for the rest of the season. V SEE PAGE 7 Yesterday’s shooting at a Williamsport, Pennsylvania parochial school, Monday’s deadly school-shooting rampage at a Santee high school and last week’s massive magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Washington state have once again raised questions on campus about the college’s ability to respond quickly to emergency situations. The college has set in place a series of measures that range from calling in the Pasadena Police Department to training some faculty members in emergency medical procedures. Since 1996, there have been 18 high-profile shootings at schools across the country. This week’s rash of incidents has re-sparked the debate about campus safety and has many stu¬ dents worried about their wellbeing at Pasadena City College. “It can happen anywhere, but I hope it doesn’t happen here. Even though I feel completely safe on campus, it would be arrogant to ignore the possibility,” said one student. According to Sgt. Bradley Young of the campus police, if someone armed with a weapon were to come onto the cam¬ pus, city police would be notified immediately with a full description of the suspect, his weapon and his last known location. The recent gun violence in Southern California has many people on campus wonder- ing ifPCC’s emergency response system needs first aid. Cadets would keep watch from a safe distance. Campus police say evacuating students in the path of the armed suspect would be too difficult and could cause panic, confusion and a possible stampede. Young says it should take only five minutes for Pasadena police to deploy a “rapid-response team that consists of four to five officers, whose job is to seek out and eliminate the poten¬ tial threat.” Philip Mullendore, director of police and safety services, says that the recent instances of school shootings are “horrific aberrations that should not be ignored. You should never assume that it won’t happen here.” The campus police rely on members of the college commu¬ nity to report any suspicious behavior; on the other hand, they don’t want to have to locate and question people who in some way look different but are simply going about their business. But as students and community leaders in Williamsport and Santee deal with the fallout of the shootings, many people on campus are wondering just how well the college is prepared to >► SEE SAFETY, PAGE 4 Artist in residence gets warm welcome Jerry Uelsmann gives riveting lecture about his photography to a packed house at forum “ It feels good when people react like this.” Jerry Uelsmann By Mike Cervantes Staff Writer The Vosloh Forum packed in people like sardines to hear Jerry Uelsmann say he likes a negative sandwich. Of course he was talking about the process of making his photos, but then again, most of the students, fans, faculty and photographers knew that already. This week Uelsmann, who Was PCC’s 15th artist-in-residence, filled the Art Gallery with his work. He held a public lecture on Monday with people sitting in the aisles. He showed slides of his photos while he briefly talked about his work. The photos are not your run-of-the-mill point and shoot jobs. These things were fascinating pieces of art, images within images and things that don’t necessarily make sense. Linda Malm, the dean of the art division, was happy to get Uelsmann to visit PCC. “It’s been almost a two-year process to get him. He’s showing students his creative process. We told him what he would do and how he would work with the students. It makes you realize PCC is an important place. It’s what the program is all about,” Malm said. Working with students was the emphasis of this week. Uelsmann’s presence meant that there was an artist-in-residence not just to speak and show his work, but to teach students with a hands-on approach developing photos in the lab and digitally. “I’ve always loved teaching. If you believe in something, you should share it. I’ve never been secretive in anything I do,” Uelsmann said. “In art there are many right answers. Art cannot afford to compromise. You can make images if you can’t explain it in words,” he said. Uelsmann, who was born in Detroit, received his B.EA. at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1957 and his M.S. and M.EA. at Indiana University in 1960. That same year he landed a teaching job at the University of Florida in Gainesville where he has been a graduate research professor of art since 1974. His photographs can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Chicago Art Institute, the Biblioteque National in Paris, the National Gallery of Australia and numer¬ ous other places across the world. Although Uelsmann’s work is in the per¬ manent collection of various museums and art centers, this was a different experience >- see Uelsmann, page 4 By Vincent D'Orazi Staff Writer After student complaints against an instructor grabbed last week’s headlines, many students have been asking what their rights are. Any student wanting to file a complaint would begin by finding the procedure in the school cata¬ log. In section III of the catalog, titled “Admissions, Enrollment, and Academic Records”, the fol¬ lowing information is found under “Student Due Process.” >► SEE RIGHTS, PAGE 4 Graduation relocates to stadium By Kristen Glover Managing Editor On May 25, the grass at Robinson Stadium will feel dress shoes instead of cleats, when the 2001 graduating class takes the field during commencement cere¬ monies. Stephen Johnson, assistant dean of student services, proposed relocating the commencement ceremonies from the mirror pools to the stadium. The four main governing bodies on campus: the associated students executive >► SEE STADIUM, PAGE 4 Matt Robinson / The Courier Jerry Uelsmann speaks to a packed crowd at the Forum.