PCC Courier, March 12, 1992

OPINION FEATURES SPORTS Elections Are candidates judged on political views? Page 2 Trials of theater Nerves aren’t reserved for opening night. Auditions are a necessary evil. Page 5 Softball Lady Lancers win 5 to 3 over Long Beach. Page 6 Pasadena City College Pasadena, California Vol. 74 No. 19 COURIER Thursday March 12, 1992 College awarded grant to improve faculty and student relationships ...HATS OFF Photo by Sue Hall/The COURIER Vendors at the PCC Flea Market sell a variety of items. The Flea Market is held on campus the first Sunday of each month. Local businesses seek college’s help for training programs of employees By EDWIN FOLVEN Editor-in-Chief A federal Title III grant was awarded recently to PCC to help improve and strengthen its academic and fiscal capabilities. The grant will distribute $2.5 million over the next five years and is the largest program grant the college has ever received. According to Susan Clifford, Title III coordinator, the grant will provide funding for programs that help students and faculty members interact. It is divided into two applications called activities. The largest application is activity one. This group of programs will help improve student success by integrating student serv¬ ices and instruction to create better student retention, according to Clifford. The activity will focus on enhancing the college faculty’s ability to deal with people of varied skill levels. Several development committees will be formed to determine what actions are nec- cessary. “The funds will be spent on aca¬ demic retention, assessment and placement,” said Clifford. They will be used to provide more personal coordination between faculty and students. A program that pairs faculty members and students during registration is part of the activity one application. Instructors review students’ English and math placement test scores in order to help guide them into courses suited to their abilities. Another program initiated by activity one will provide faculty members with training in high tech teaching innovations. A faculty workshop featuring new technologies will be held Friday at 1 p.m. in R207 as part of the Title III application. By ANISSA VICENTE Features Editor The nooks and crannies of the writing profession will be investigated and explained by professional writers from different fields at the 38th annual Pasadena Writer’s Forum. The day-long event will be held in the Forum on Saturday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Anthony Georgilas, telecommunications professor, will outline the steps toward writing a saleable feature film or TV-movie script. Georgilas is also head of his own TV production company. Conference coordina¬ tor Meredith Brucker will answer questions that are frequently asked by beginning writ¬ ers. Brucker is a former television news pro¬ ducer. Three separate sessions will be held throughout the day. Workshops include dis¬ cussions on print journalism, poetry, chil- The second activity will improve the college’s fiscal capabilities. Irene Aguilera and Phyllis Mael coordinate efforts in re¬ source development assistance. They cur¬ rently operate a workshop that teaches fac¬ ulty members about the solicitation of grants. Activity two will work to strengthen the Alumni Association. It will help in deter¬ mining the level of interest for college sup¬ ported services such as a career placement service. Aguilera believes that Alumni might be interested in special interest programs such as theater or forensics. The program will encourage alumni to stay in touch with the college by involving them in events on campus. The program will also help bring extra funding to the college through “grant train¬ ing.” Beginning later this year, more faculty members will have the opportunity to train in grant researching, writing and reporting requirements. “Four year institutions have been involved extensively in grant training for many years, and community colleges are just beginning to make a strong effort to seek alternative resources,” said Aguilera. “The stronger our efforts are to reach the private sector, the better we’ll be able to assure the continuance of each facet of the college in the long term.” Clifford said the programs are still in the developmental stage. She is presently or¬ ganizing people for different programs. “We are trying to find out what programs are already happening so we don’t duplicate them.” She said the funds will help create programs like grant training that will be self-sufficient after the grant is expended. She added, “Every one is working very hard to improve success, coordination and com¬ munication among all of the programs.” dren’s literature, novel structure, freelancing, tele-journalism and non-fiction. A special workshop for seniors will deal with writing for pleasure. The conference will conclude with a panel discussion explaining representation for book-length projects. Literary agents Pat Teal, Bart Andrews, Sue Lasbury and Gloria Stem are included in the panel. Writers can meet with several guest publishers, including an editor from the Los Angeles Times, and poet Jack Grapes, publisher of “Onthebus,” a Los Angeles literary magazine. Vroman’s Book¬ store of Pasadena will be selling books in the Forum lobby between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Students who present verification of current enrollment at the office of commu¬ nity education by Friday will receive a 30 percent discount. Each session of the con¬ ference is $15 for students, or $48 for the entire day, including lunch. By AL SANTANA Staff Writer The college has expanded its partnership with the Pasadena Unified School District and local businesses by creating a program designed to guide high school students into a vocational career as well as to provide necessary skills to workers lacking profi¬ ciency in their present jobs. The joint project targets three areas with three distinct programs: academics, advi¬ sory committees and economic develop¬ ment. The programs have been created par¬ ticularly to serve high school students at early stages by providing courses that will give them the opportunity to obtain special¬ ized career-training at the college level. Betty Kisbey, dean of economic devel¬ opment and vocational education, said that students must be focused in taking voca¬ tional classes, in order to explore future career opportunities. “They are mainstreamed into courses with adults from the college, which makes them mature mentally. They learn to take initiative and overcome any fears or intimidation about the college envi¬ ronment, realizing quickly that they are no longer in a high school.” Currently seven programs are operating. They include instruction with computers, high-tech business, high-tech engineering, health, finance, space technology and graphic arts. Five hundred students are currently en¬ rolled, including 130 attending PCC. “I’ve heard that one student had to give up soccer because he considered this more important. That is encouraging,” Kisbey said. Many students use their own vocational training as a springboard to other employ¬ ment options or to transfer to a four year university. The advisory committee’s aim is to pre¬ serve vocational education in the work place by staying up to date with the programs. These committees are also used for making suggestions for improvements. “My advisory committee meets three to five times a year,” said Nino Valmassoi, associate dean of community education. “We assess the community education courses that are proposed on how appropriate they are and how successful they might be in fulfill¬ ing educational needs.” More than 60 committees currently exist, offering advice and assistance from busi¬ nesses and community members. Profes¬ sionals in real estate and banking, retired citizens and representatives from the college are all supervising that aim to fulfill labor- force needs. The same process is followed by instruc¬ tors in the college’s vocational programs. “Teachers and students love it,” Kisbey said. “They are really appreciating this program.” The Economic Development program was created in 1990. Once in service, it com¬ bined with the Office for Vocational Educa¬ tion in 1991. In addition, “California Community Col¬ leges are moving academic training classes into business,” said Mary Jane Cordon, asso¬ ciate dean of economic development. “Since this type of education was developed, it has achieved considerable success.” Under Cordon’s direction, the program offers businesses a variety of courses to the businesses, ranging from computer training to accent reduction. The program also offers an associate in arts degree program. Cur¬ rently there are 83 staff members involved, instructing workers from several compa¬ nies. According to Economic Development officials, five areas are covered in the train¬ ing program. They include personal devel¬ opment, manager development, technical training, communication skills and support services. “We’ll teach nearly anything they (busi¬ nesses) ask for,” Cordon said. “Our mission is to be flexible to fit their needs.” The success of this educational program has gone beyond Pasadena’s boundaries. Businesses in Los Angeles and Irwindale have become involved. Businesses and organizations involved in the program include Caltech, the Jet Propul¬ sion Laboratory, Abbott Laboratories, A1 Tate Beauty College, the Santa Anita Fash¬ ion Mall, Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Datatape Inc., Pacific Bell and the city of Pasadena. Pacific Bell is the largest user of PCC’s preparatory courses, holding classes at three sites, two in Pasadena and one in Alhambra. Datatape Inc. requested training sessions on several computer software programs. More than 45 people signed up for the courses. “Our company is very happy with the training our employees are receiving through PCC,” said Datatape president Gordon A. Smith. “Our long-term commitment is to train our employees in new technologies.” Educational and skill oriented programs have many benefits. They are cost effective, enhance skills by providing job training, reduce cost inconveniences, accommodate employee’s schedules and help recruitment and retention of employees. Forum hosts professional workshops about writing New course enlightens students about Norwegian literature □ A new English course, offered for the first time this semester, highlights Norwegian culture literature and mythology. By AZADOUHIE KALAYDJIAN Staff writer Among the few new classes added to the curriculum this semester, Norwegian litera¬ ture, English 24, was adopted to improve and diversify the English department. The course, taught by Patricia Savoie, English professor, focuses on Norwegian literature as well as the country’s culture, society and geogra¬ phy. Literature from popular contemporary Norwegian authors will be analyzed. They will include works from novelist Henrik Ibsen, Sigrid Undset and Knut Hamsun. The class will read a women’s fiction story titled “An Everyday Story,” that re¬ cently was translated into English for the first time. Some Norse mythology will also be taught as part of course. Savoie said poetry will not be discussed because it would be very difficult to translate the different meanings from Norwegian to English. The three unit course meets the general educa¬ tion requirement and is transferable to the Cal State and the UC systems. Savoie, who has taught drama and Eng¬ lish courses at PCC for 13 years, personally initiated the idea of teaching Norwegian literature on campus. Bom and raised in Ohio, she obtained a bachelor’s degree from Luther College and later earned a master’s degree in English and American literature from the University of Alabama. Surprisingly, Savoie doesn’t speak Norwe¬ gian. However, she does have an extensive knowledge of the Norwegian culture and history. She has never lived or taught in Norway but her willingness to learn and educate her students gives her inspiration. She explained that the course needed approval from the college curriculum com¬ mittee before it could be instituted. Any newly added course must be taught else¬ where. “One of the most unusual things about Norway is that it has tremendous contrasts. One is that the sun does not come out during the winter,” said Savoie. Since Norway is geographically located at the top of the Earth, the sun also shines continually in the sum¬ mer. She recalled about a visit to Norway. A celebration was held because the sun had finally appeared. Savoie also said that English is taught as a second language in Norwegian schools. She added, “Norwegian literature has a tre¬ mendous concern for human rights and a concern for quality of life, not quantity. It has a sense of humor and a sense of fairness.” Photo by Lupe Montalvo/The COURIER Patricia Savoie, English professor