PASADENA CITY COLLEGE
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
VOL. 80 No. 21
THE
COURIER
Serving the Pasadena Community since 1915
THURSDAY
March 9, 1995
President Jack Scott retires
Dr. Jack Scott announced Tues¬
day that he is stepping down from his
post as PCC superintendent presi¬
dent to accept a new challenge as a
professor at Pepperdine University.
Scott accepted an offer from
Pepperdine to direct its community
college program as a Distinguished
Professor of Higher Education. He
will be teaching doctoral-level to
community college teachers and ad¬
ministrators in the university’s
School of Education.
“My decision to leave Pasadena
City College was made with great
difficulty,” wrote Scott in a memo¬
randum addressed to all faculty and
staff. “I weighed Pepperdine’s gen¬
erous offer for some time before
saying ‘yes.’ The years (1987-1995)
that I have spent at PCC have been
the most rewarding professional ex¬
perience of my life.”
He said, however, that at this
stage of his career the offer from
Pepperdine University is an “out¬
standing opportunity. I will be able
to share my educational philosophy
and administrative experiences with
many graduate students. . .This teach¬
ing plus speaking and consulting op¬
portunities should permit me to re¬
main active in California commu¬
nity colleges for many years.
“Yet I will deeply miss Pasadena
City College; I love this college and
the people who work here.”
Scott’s love affair with PCC
started on Aug. 1, 1987. He envi¬
sioned a bigger future for PCC: a
college ready to meet the educa¬
tional needs of the 21st century. He
recognized the role PCC would play
in the community as an important
source for higher education and em¬
ployee training.
And so the master plan was built.
Tagged at $100 million, Scott’s plan
called for new buildings, landscap¬
ing, and refurbishment of present
facilities. “At the heart of this facil¬
ity planning has been the intent to
enhance the educational program of
the college - that dynamic interac¬
tion of teacher and student to impart
new knowledge and skills.”
Eight years later, PCC, the eighth
largest community college in the
nation, has moved closer to the vi¬
sion Scott had in his mind when he
first initiated the plan. Two build¬
ings have been completed, the Shat-
ford Library and the multi-level park¬
ing structure. The new Community
Education Center, that will serve up
to 5,000 students, is under construc¬
tion. The new $ 3.8 million Child
Development Center is due to be
completed this year.
Scott has pushed for computer
access for students and managed to
secure funds for instructional spend¬
ing in times when state funding for
community colleges was declining.
Dr. Jeanette Mann, president of
the PCC Board of Trustees, said,
“We all think Jack has done a superb
job and we are sorry to see him leave.
PCC has always been a great college
with strong leadership, a heritage of
greatpresidents like Armand Sarafian
and Catherine Robbins, and innova¬
tive faculty. Because of Jack’s lead¬
ership we will continue to be one of
the very best community colleges in
the country.”
Scott is going full circle with his
return to Pepperdine, where in 1 962,
he started his career in education as
a member of the faculty and later
became an administrator at the col¬
lege. He served as a member of the
Board of Regents of Pepperdine for
20 years.
“After 17 years as a highly effec¬
tive community college president,
Dr. Scott is well prepared to build
Pepperdine’s doctoral program in
higher education,” said Dr. Nancy
Fagan, dean of the graduate school.
“Our students will benefit from his
experience, knowledge, and reputa¬
tion.”
He then moved to Orange Coast
College in Costa Mesa as dean of
instruction. Five years later, he served
as president of Cypress College in
Orange County. He worked there
nine years before transferring to PCC .
His dedication to community ser-
Please see SCOTT, Page 2
Jack Scott retires after eight years as college president.
SAM HERNANDEZ/THE COURIER
Professor Anthony Georgilas won his re-election bid by 10 votes.
Georgilas re-elected
amid controversy
Survey to ask for student views
about 17-week calendar change
By ENRICO PIAZZA
COURIER STAFF WRITER
With a 10-vote margin, incumbent Fac¬
ulty Senate President Anthony Georgilas
won his re-election bid last Tuesday. How¬
ever, challenger Ellen Ligons, citing various
discrepancies in the election results and in
the way her opponent behaved during the
campaign, asked for a recount. Because the
Faculty Senate Constitution does not men¬
tion which policy to follow in case of a
recount request, the final decision will be
made by Dr. Phil Ricards, election commit¬
tee chair.
According to Ligons, it was Ricards who
recomended that she ask for a recount if she
had any concern regarding the results. In a
written statement released yesterday, Ligons
indeed had various questions she felt must
be answered. Ricards was not available for
comment.
Ligons said Georgilas Violated senate
bylaws by not following proper election
procedures. “Our Senate Constitution clearly
says that the Senate Board shall establish
election procedures, including the distribu¬
tion of campaign statements, and this did not
happen.”
The business professor claims Georgilas
controlled the election by distributing nomi¬
nation forms at the Senate Board meeting
and instructing the senators about what to
do. “When I brought up the fact that he was
a candidate and shouldn’t be involved with
the election procedure, Georgilas quickly
named Ricards to chair the election
comittee,” Ligons said. She added that the
names of those serving on that committee
were not known until the results were posted
on the Senate door Tuesday.
Ligons also complained about various
discrepancies in the final results.
One discrepancy has to do with the total
number of votes cast versus the total number
of ballots received. “Ricards told me that
everyone did not vote for the office of
president. Therefore, the total votes for that
office would not be equal to the number of
ballots counted.”
According to the official results, 283
ballots were submitted, of which 277 were
valid and six were invalidated. Ligons said
Ricards told her not all ballots included the
vote for president.
“How can the total number of votes for
the presidency be 277 when some people did
not vote for that office?” she asked. She also
questioned why the election committee sig¬
natures on the copy posted on the Faculty
Senate office were different from those on
the copy she was given of the results. She
added that the only vote received as a write-
in candidate did not appear in one of the two
documents.
Another discrepancy, Ligons said, has to
do with the fact that Georgilas telephoned
the faculty during the campaign when votes
were being cast. “He was saying that some
votes were coming in ‘unsealed’ and some
Please see ELECTIONS, Page 4
By GILBERT RIVERA
COURIER STAFF WRITER
• The Faculty Senate Calendar Committee
will conduct a survey asking PCC students
for their opinions on the controversial 17-
week semester calendar, which faces strong
opposition from classified staff representa¬
tives as well as student government leaders.
Philip Ricards, chairman of the Faculty
Senate Calendar Committee and author of
the student poll, said that faculty members
will circulate the surveys to students in day
and night classes at the end of the month or
in the first part of April. Ricards constructed
the survey with the help of polling expert
Richard Palermo.
“We’re going to poll about 1000 to 1500
students,” said Ricards, who believes that
students will like the faculty proposed calen¬
dar changes. “We, have a way of constructing
an adequate sample representing all compo¬
nents of the student population by ethnicity,
when they come to school, age, and a lot of
other factors.” Ricards also added that re¬
sults from the surveys will probably be ready
by the end of April.
By JOSE INOSTROZ
COURIER STAFF WRITER
The Associated Student (AS) executive
board voted to adopt an amended version of
the student Constitution which will create a
15 -member student senate body. By unani¬
mous vote, the board agreed last week to
send the new Constitution to a general stu¬
dent body vote to be held March 20 and 21.
If approved, the amended constitution will
go into effect in time for student government
elections in April.
Students entering or exiting the C, D and
R buildings may have already read a copy of
the amended Associated Student Constitu¬
tion which was placed on racks in the front
of the buildings along with the old docu¬
ment.
The AS Board believes the 18 -page con¬
stitution will improve the old version which
was last updated in 1991. Aside from the
creation of the 15 -member Senate, the
amended constitution will replace a current
six-member commissioner body which is
Originally, a student poll was supposed
to be conducted by the Associated Students
(AS) at the beginning of the spring semester.
Devena Johnson, AS vice-president of aca¬
demic affairs, told the Faculty Senate at a
meeting last fall that the AS would conduct
a student poll to avoid the possibility of the
influence of instructors.
“They had promised to poll students but
the AS dropped the ball on this and faculty
has to pick it up,” said Ricards. “I would
have preferred that the AS do the poll, but if
they’re not going to do it, then someone has
to.”
But AS President Robert Bowman, who
does not support the proposal, believes that
the faculty should be conducting the poll
anyway. “The faculty wants the compressed
calendar so they should be polling the stu¬
dents,” said Bowman. “If they conduct a
poll, I don’t think students are going to vote
for it objectively. They’re going to look at it
and be happy because they’re going to get an
extra week off. I don’t think they’ll look at
the long term issue, whether or not the
changes will be academically sound for
PCC.”
The survey will ask questions such as,
appointed by the AS president and approved
by the board. The AS executive board will
also be cut from nine to six members. The
student trustee will also be given voting
power at AS meetings. Currently, the trustee
does not have a vote.
The seven-member Supreme Council led
by Kevin Fullen hammered out the new
Constitution last December when the Board
decided it needed to be amended. The need
to update the document became apparent
after an attempt to impeach current AS
president Robert Bowman. Although the
impeachment attempt failed, it was the cata¬
lyst needed to update the constitution.
“We decided the constitution needed to
be rewritten because the current one had so
many loopholes and we didn’t want to get set
up with a lawsuit. We wanted to make it
direct and to the point and to create a better
environment here on campus,” said Fullen,
political science major and Supreme Coun¬
cil chief justice.
In updating the constitution, Fullen used
the E-mail to request ideas from other col¬
leges. After several drafts of the document,
“Do you favor the later start for fall semes¬
ter?” and “Do you favor the class patterning
proposed?” Students will be able to respond
to the questions in a strongly favor, favor,
neutral, disfavor, or strongly disfavor for¬
mat.
One of the many reasons Ricards cited for
implementing the compressed calendar is
that a 17-week semester “more nearly ap¬
proaches semester patterns at Cal State and
UC, thus lessening transfer shock to students
and providing a more collegiate psychologi¬
cal atmosphere in tune with the true nature of
education at PCC.”
Another reason is that the shortened se¬
mester will offer a “four or five-week winter
break that will give students a substantial
break between semesters and after the holi¬
days as well as substantial time for winter
employment.”
The compressed 17-week semester pro¬
posal, which the Faculty Senate Calendar
Committee hopes to implement by the fall
1996 semester, has been debated by both
faculty and the classified staff members
since last year. A calendar committee, com¬
posed of various unions, was formed last
the AS took an initial vote on Wednesday,
Feb. 22. It was then reviewed by PCC
attorneys. “We told them what to look for,
any contradictory statements and wording
that might be misleading,” said Fullen.
“We will put it out for review five days
before the vote as required by the old consti¬
tution,” said Fullen. After students have
reviewed the document, they will vote on it.
While the new document will require the
AS executive board and the senate to be
voted in, the Supreme Council will still be
appointed. However, unlike in the past
where the AS president could appoint the
justices, the new document will require that
justices be approved by a
2/3
majority vote
of both the executive board and the senate.
Some students who have glanced at the
amended constitution have expressed mixed
feelings about the document. Among the
concerns they expressed is that only those
students interested in running for an office
will take the time to read and compare the
new document with the old one. Another
student said that students are more inter-
Please see AS BOARD, Page 3
Please see CALENDAR, Page 3
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Revised constitution ready for voting