PCC Courier, March 11, 1999

THURSDAY MARCH 11, 1999 - VOL . 84#22 ■■■Bl Sports m SMS: Photo essay of memorable 1998-99 women's bosketball season Page 9 Insight abbi What are students wearing? Checkout our observations Page 5 iwww.pcc-< . com i STUDENT AFFAIRS Smart Card Solved? BY AUDREY ALLEN Staff Writer A “Lancer Card Privacy Concerns Task Force” has been formed to look into the privacy issues raised by stu¬ dents and faculty over the new identifi¬ cation card containing a computer chip. The Lancer Card steering committee held an unannounced meeting Monday without student representatives present. The “task force” will have represen¬ tatives from the student body, faculty, staff and management to decide what steps need to be taken regarding smart cards, according to Steven Johnson, assistant dean of student affairs. “The presidents of each of the four groups have been asked to name two people,” said Johnson. And they have until March 26 to decide whom the members will be. After spring break, the “task force” will start meeting regu¬ larly. “Some people have raised concerns and we have analyzed and thought about privacy concerns. We don’t think we missed any information, but we could be wrong. I feel that the [Lancer] card gives students more privacy, since their social security number is not on the new ID,” said Bill Farmer, associate dean of instruction. Most everyone was included in the CARD, page 5 DANIEL ARCHULETA / THE COURIER Located at 1 00 N. Garfield, Pasadena City Hall awaits its new leader. PASADENA ELECTIONS Tight Race Forces Runoff Bogaard leads field of three; while PCC’s Eleta Fellows loses The race for Pasadena mayor was guaranteed to be tight. Apparently it does not appear to be over. There were those who hoped to have a clear-cut winner in Tuesday’s elections, however it did not come to pass. Three candidates garnered enough votes to force a runoff on April 20. Former mayor Bill Bogaard leads the pack with 42.8 percent (7,928 votes) of the total field. Chris - Holden, the current head of the city, came in second with 25.3 percent. Kimo City council member Anne-Marie Villicana is third on the list, with 24.4 percent. “It will now be a comparison between two people, instead of a field of 10,” said Holden, who had 4,694 voters on his side, just a scrape above Villicana’s 4,515. Although the race will continue for the three candidates above, Tuesday marked the end for the other seven mayoral hopefuls. Among them was PCC student Eleta Fellows, who finished in ninth place. She had made education the major con¬ cern in her campaign. In addition to helping to rectify problems that face the Pasadena Unified School District, Fellows had hoped to bring greater exposure for PCC. Also among her plans was to rethink city policy DANIEL ARCHULETA THE COURIER Blount, 23, casts his ballot on Tuesday and to evaluate programs using faculty mem¬ bers from Pasadena. “Instead of importing brain power that we pay exorbitant consulting fees for, why not use our in-house think tank?” she said earlier this semester. All said, Fellows received 90 votes, which wound up being .4 percent of the total field. One factor that Fellows points to is the low voter turnout throughout the city. That led to relatively low numbers for every candidate involved. Another obvious factor was a lack of money. While candidates such as Holden were able to raise over $ 1 00,000, Fellows ran a grassroots campaign that relied on her ELECTION, page 7 BY SID SARAF Staff Writer DANIEL ARCHULETA / THE COURIER The computers on campus are not always clear-cut for students. TECH NEWS E-mail, Internet Access Available Here is a definitive and easy way to get on the BY SUSAN DIMOS Staff Writer The campus computer network offers e-mail and Internet services to all students enrolled at the college. From the computer lab in D107, located in the basement of the D building, students can send e-mail anywhere they choose, both on campus and off. However, it seems not all students know how to gain access to the system. The computer lab, which is open to all students, has staff members available to answer questions. However, the lab staff is not there to teach a student computer skills. “I could punch all the keys, but then the student would not be learn¬ ing anything,” said Hollis Stewart, computer center technician. campus network with as little pain as possible . It is a relatively easy process to access the network from the com¬ puter labs on campus. To sign up for a block of time, the student checks the card pockets located across from the information desk. Any pock¬ et with two cards means a computer is available for use. A student then prints his last name on both cards, stamps the time on the card at the clock that is available, leaves one card in the pocket and takes the other to the computer. The student has one hour of time, but can work longer if no one is waiting for the computer. “We do provide help so that the student can get going, but the stu¬ dent should use the help lines available on the computer and read the materials,” Stewart said. To access a student account, a 3.5 floppy disk must be used. The stu- MAIL, page 7 FACULTY SENATE ROGER CHENG Staff Writer College president Dr. James Kossler and the faculty senate agreed upon a joint plan to investigate alternate possibilities to ease the task of obtaining an associate degree while still managing to transfer to a four-year institution in a timely fashion. Kossler attended the meeting last Monday to introduce the idea because he was concerned about transfer students leaving the school without an Associate in Arts or Science degree. MATT ROBINSON / THE COURIER Senate president Ellen Ligons leads discussions. “Our students are leaving here and there is no record of PCC in their history. They only have their diploma from the four-year school,” said Kossler. Although vague, his plan involved the curriculum and instruction committee (C & I) to perform a thorough inquiry on several different “tracks” students can take. “We want to put the PCC brand on them,” Kossler jokingly said. “The committee will explore the feasi¬ bility of this idea,” said Ellen Ligons, fac¬ ulty senate president. “We want to make Sure transfer students leave with a degree.” SENATE, pag£ 7 Senate Discusses Degree Changes ADMINISTRATION BEAT Tuition is Deductible Parents, students get income tax relief with Hope Scholarship BY GAU RAVAL Staff Writer After years of taking your hard-earned money, Uncle Sam is finally giving people try¬ ing to get an education a little break. The Taxpayers Relief Act, which passed in 1997, includes two laws which allow student tuition fees to be deducted from federal income taxes. The Hope Scholarship Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit let taxpayers claim up to $1,500 of nonrefundable credit against their imposed federal income taxes. Kim Miles, assistant dean of scholarship aid, said, “Not everybody gets (credits) just because they attend college. It is subject to what they have paid. If a student took one unit in Spring of 1998, then they arc only entitled to a $12 credit.” The Hope Scholarship Credit is designed for students who are dependents who have not attended college before, mainly freshmen and sophomores. These students also have to be enrolled in classes that will lead to a degree or certificate. Taxpayers must have a modified adjusted gross income from $40,000 to $50,000 to receive credits. The credit amount is 100 per¬ cent of the first $ 1 ,000 spent and 50 percent of HOPE, pags 7 WhaTs on me Web? www.pcc-courieronlme.com MEW COMIC STM JR- \ MEWS EXTMiS: THE DEBUT OF THE NEU C0P1IC STRIP "SUPEROSITy ВУ CHRIS CROSBB • KEEPING IN TOUCH UITH PCC'S 1STH IS NOU ON THE SITE. RND UILL BE UPDRTED EIDERS COUPLE OF DABS ! ANNIVERSARY). UE HAVE FOUND RNOTH- , ER TIDBIT FROH OUR SCHOOL'S PAST ТЛЕХ TO THE STUFF: UE UANT TO HEAR HOUR OPINIONS. SO LET US KNOU ACCESS THE STAFF PAGE AND FIND OUT OUR E-HAIL ADDRESSES. Г f