PCC Courier, March 10, 1994

OPINION FEATURES SPORTS AS should keep its doors open to the public. Page 2 Newly-formed gospel choir offers students a chance to express themselves. Page 5 Hockey club forms on campus. Page 6 PASADENA CITY COLLEGE Pasadena, California Vol. 78 No. 8 COURIER Serving the PCC Community for 76 years THURSDAY March 10, 1994 Background СТА hearing begins □СТА/ administration testify in union lawsuit against college. By ALFREDO SANTANA Special Correspondent СТА members and college ad¬ ministrators testified at a hearing last week, attempting to settle a bargain¬ ing action the union filed against the college last year. СТА members al¬ leged the college arbitrarily lowered the wages of instructors teaching non-credit courses. On Wednesday, March 2, Dr. Jack Scott, PCC president, Edward Ortell, СТА chief negotiator, and other СТА members and administrators testified before Judge Charles Gustafson of the Public Employ- mentRelations Board and presented their evidence in the case. The contractual fight stemmed from the district allegedly slashing wages in half without the approval of professors and instructors who were involved in the teaching of non-credit courses. The instructors were teaching courses to employees of local busi¬ nesses. College officials have previously stated that they have never broken any agreement with the СТА related to the teaching of non-creditcourses. In this case, a non-credit course is defined as a special class provided by college professors and instructors to students who work in businesses located in the Pasadena area. The college, through the office of eco¬ nomic development, reaches out and offers companies academic plans that aim to fulfill the needs of work¬ ers. The non-credit courses cover a wide spectrum, ranging from oral communications and reading to stress managementand computerprogram¬ ming. Once the businesses and PCC reach an agreement about an appropriate plan, the college charges them fees calculated on the number and kinds of courses to be taught and the num¬ ber of professors or instructors needed. At that point, the office of eco¬ nomic development, which was founded in 1990, selects the faculty to teach the courses. Gary W oods, PCC/CT A president, said the legal battle began to take The California Teach¬ ers Association (СТА) filed a suit against the district on Feb. 2 , 1 992, accus ing the college of slashing noncredit professor’s : wages without approval . shape in 1991 when the college de¬ creased the wages of the instructors chosen to teach non-credit courses. Before the latest salary plan went into effect, those who have more experience as college professors as well as those with higher academic degrees earned nearly twice as much as those with only a bachelor’s de¬ gree and less college teaching expe¬ rience, Woods added. “By hiring instructors with little Please see “СТА,” Page 3 - j Going nuts 1 - Students capture top awards □ Architecture majors win contest with their non- biodegradable, peanut-like shelter at Woodbury University. By JACKIE LEE Staff Writer W ith the peanut as an inspiration, PCC architecture students won first prize out of all community college entrants, at Chautauqua ’94, a design competition sponsored by the ASEA (American Society of Engineers and Architects). The contest required students to build a shelter to sleep in overnight, using only non-biodegradable mate¬ rials. It also had to be weatherproof. First prize went to the giant pea- nut-shaped shelter, 22 feet long and seven feet tall, constructed of bent pipes, chicken wire, bubble tape, and plastic shopping bags. Packing peanuts helped provide insulation on the floor. According to Paul Nichols, who helped construct the shelter, the stu¬ dents were inspired by the packing peanut, which became the idea be¬ hind the organic peanut for the contest’s “Green Theme.” The theme required entrants to pick an environ - Please see “PEANUT,” Page 4 Cosmetology , theater arts, Page 4 CELIA COSTARELLO/For The COURIER Students go nuts as they lift the award-winning peanut-looking shelter. □ Forensics team talk their way into six medals at the state competition. By JOSE INOSTROZ Staff Writer The PCC Speech and Debate team competed against more than 40 California schools in Modesto last weekend. The team, composed of ten participants, won an impressive total of six medals at the S tate Cham¬ pionships. The ten students represen tingPCC were: Ken Boswell, Bonnie Chuen, Ed Edge, Julie Grainger, Zareh Jaltorossian, Dominique Orozco, Michelle Sovereign, Brian Snitzer, Eddie Wantland, and Michelle Pozo. Sovereign won a gold medal in impromptu. “It was a really nice experience. I felt like I did a reallygood job,” said Sovereign, a first-time competitor. Edge won a gold medal in nego¬ tiations, and a silver medal in im¬ promptu speaking. Wantland re¬ ceived a bronze medal in prose inter¬ pretation. Grainger and Jaltorossian tied for a bronze medal in negotia¬ tions. The team ’ s coaches are Joe Probst, Steve Seagle, and Carol Norheim, communications professors. Steve Seagle, also acoach, attrib¬ uted the win to a year of hard work and the student’s dedication to the activity of speech and debate. Applications open for AS elections □ Elections for student government to be held on Apr. 12 to Apr. 13. BY CHRISTINE RAMIREZ Staff Writer The race is on. In yet another call for more student involvement on campus, the Student Activities of¬ fice is now accepting applications for Apri Г s A ssoci ated S tuden ts ( AS ) election. The election will deter¬ mine who will fill the nine soon to be vacated seats on the executive board of AS, and the office of student trustee. Any student who is eligible can run for the AS Board. Eligibility is based on a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or better, and continuous enrollment in at least 9 units at PCC. Candidates can not be on any form of academic or disciplinary probation. The office of president or executive vice president has the ad¬ ditional requirement of having to have completed at least 18 units of college credit. The election is an open forum for all students at PCC to participate in, however student involvement on campus is not as great as it could be. Out of the more than 20,000 students enrolled last semester, only a little more than 1,000 actually partici¬ pated in the voting process. How¬ ever, this was a dramatic increase from the previous year when only slightly more than 400 students voted. According to Rebecca Cobb, the Student Activities Adviser, “Student involvement is high in certain areas, but it is not as high as I would like it to be.” Cobb feels that if more students get involved with the election it will make for an exciting and interesting race. “Students like to have choices. When they hear and see the candi¬ dates and feel like they have a choice, it creates momentum for them,” stated Cobb. Part of this momentum will come from the students campaigning and the candidates forum. The forum will be held in the CC lounge on March 3 1 . It will be an opportunity for students to hear the candidates platforms and get to know a little about them. Applications to run for office are available in CC203 and will be ac¬ cepted until 4 p.m. on Friday, March 25. For further information contact the S tudent Activities Office at (8 1 8) 585-7483. Tax deficit shortchanges college system □ PCC could lose up to $1.46 million from its budget with the state's unanticipated property tax shortfall. By PATRIA G. ABELGAS Editor in Chief In the never-ending tale of California’s budget problems, the final chapter on community colleges has not yet been written. PCC and other California com¬ munity colleges are now facing even more funding cuts as the state is expected to lose three percent of its 1993-1994 budget due to an unan¬ ticipated property tax shortfall. PCC alone has to absorb a 1.5 percent budget reduction due to the shortfall, amounting to at least $ 1 .46 million. This is the second lime that the college has had to cover a shortage in property tax. Last year, PCC lost 2.38 percent, or $1.1 million, of its budget. “For the current year, we were informed by Chancellor Mertes that, again, the estimate for property tax income had been overly optimistic,” Dr. Jack Scott, superintendent/presi¬ dent, wrote in a letter to Sen . Newton Russell appealing for support for community colleges. “It must be recognized that this situation is being applied to a sys¬ tem, the California Community Col¬ leges, that is grossly underfunded by everyone’s estimates,” Scott contin¬ ued. The letter further explained that for the K-12 system, the shortfall in property tax is backfilled by the Leg¬ islature with General Fund money. This assures the K-12 system that they will receive the full amount of the budget allocated for them. “Though a similar action would be appropriate for the community colleges, I am aware that it probably is a political impossibility for this year,” Scott wrote. Scott explained that the shortfall should not be absorbed primarily by the community colleges. “The prop¬ erty tax shortfall should be viewed as an overall reduction in state rev¬ enue and all funded state agencies should be effected,” he wrote. Dr. James Kossler, assistant su¬ perintendent of administrative ser¬ vices, said that the three percent loss will be covered by the college’s re¬ serve fund. The college still has ap¬ proximately $60 million in reserve. Aside from using reserve money, the college is also looking at cutting down on personnel as a “belt-tight¬ ening” measure., according to Kossler. He assures staff members, however, that there will be no lay¬ offs. Posts that were left vacant be¬ cause of retirement will not be filled unless absolutely necessary. Faculty, staff, and administrators who are close to retirement will be encour¬ aged to retire early. Two undisclosed administratiVe positions will not be filled next year. The college wifi also cut back on equipment purchases and refurbish¬ ing of buildings. Even with the measures the col¬ lege is planning to use to avert seri¬ ous damage from the property tax shortfall , the problem of funding still remains. “All other assues involving com¬ munity colleges are secondary when one considers the fact that funding is the very fuel that makes educational operation possible,” said Scott. Selling cheap ANITA NARDINE/The COURIER Selling cheap is the name of the game at PCC’s Flea Market .