PCC Courier, March 17, 1988

Sprint Race Highlights Track Victory Page 3 Happy St. Patrick’s Day ‘Frantic’ Flounders Page 4 COURIER VOL. 66, NO. 5 PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA MARCH 17, 1988 Traffic Survey To Impact PCC By Sally Blake News Editor The Security Department will be circulating^ traffic and travel survey Monday, March 21 and Tuesday, March 22. According to Philip Mullendore, director of security, it is an extremely important survey and should be treated this way. “The survey will affect parking and traffic patterns for many years to come,” he said. “We will base future planning on the results.” The questionaire will be handed out when students enter the parking lots and turned in when they leave. They also will be handed out in 60 randomly picked classes. It consists of many questions regard¬ ing time that students arrive on cam¬ pus and when they depart. It also contains a road map of the surrounding area, and students are asked to draw the route that they expect to take when coming to school and when leaving. The survey is part of a master plan to up-grade the whole campus. “This is the first thing we have tried in regards to the traffic problem in a long time,” Mullendore explained. “It is being overseen by Kurt Meyer Partners, and we are working with the city on it.” If students see people standing on the corners of the campus taking . down information, they should be aware that this is part of the plan. These people are city workers who are recording how many left and right turns are being made. “The purpose of the survey is to collect data on which to base a com¬ prehensive plan designed to address the parking problem,” he said. “Hopefully this is a step in the right direction toward solving the problem.” The security department needs stu¬ dent help with the survey. According to Mullendore, “If students do not realize the importance of it, it will not work. Since it will benefit them, we hope they will participate. This survey may be quoted 20 years from now. The students may be decid¬ ing what the parking problem will be like when their children come here, and if there will still be one.” By Sean DuPont Associate News Editor With a new cast, a new venue and a new play, the spring musical has been rescheduled. The Fantsticks, the coun¬ try’s longest running musical, will open March 24 in the Little Theater under the direction of Duke Stroud. The play will replace the previously announced Man of La Mancha, which was scheduled to run in the much larger Sexson Auditorium. Due to prob¬ lems with casting and the installation of a Wurlitzer theater organ in the auditorium, The Fantasticks will now run as the spring musical. The musical features five male parts and three female parts; nine fewer than in Man of La Mancha. Three days into rehearsals five male parts still needed to be filled that coupled with rehearsal conflicts because of the or¬ gan installation was enough to cause the change. After three weeks of rehearsals of The Fanstasticks, a complete cast is inplace. The actors are preparing for their opening next Friday in the 100 seat Little Theater. Stroud thinks that for the young actors, the Little Theater offers a better environment. “It’s more intimate, and I think that it presents a more realistic setting for these stu¬ dents. This stage is what their first professional jobs will be like, as op¬ posed to a Broadway-type theater like Sexson.” The leads, Luisa and Matt, will be played by Lori Marie Rios and Matt Oberholtzer. Rios performs with the singing group “Continental Singers” and Oberholtzer has previously worked with the Eastman Opera Theater. For The Fantasticks, Stroud per¬ formed sex changes on some the char¬ acters. “We’ve updated it for the eight¬ ies by changing the fathers to mothers, and it works just as well as the original. It’s an interesting variation.” Debbie Mulligan and Rose Marston will play the mothers. Also included in the case are Dion Michael Ramos as El Gallo, the nar¬ rator; Chris Tyler as Mortimer; and Mike Manos as Henry, the old actor. All performers are PCC students. Although Stroud has more than 40 (continued on page 6) Courier/Alice Ong Directly beneath the R Building Francine Acuna receives a blow. Courier/Kristin Anderson Chris Maugon and trumpet, Silhouetted, will play in the jazz concert. Big Band Classics By Sally Blake News Editor The Music Department will host a jazz concert entitled Big Band Clas¬ sics on March 21 at 8 p.m. in the forum. The concert will feature songs by such artists as Duke Ell¬ ington and Count Basie. Two groups, The Studio Jazz En¬ semble and The Jazz Rock Big Band will be performing. The idea for the concert was conceived by the two directors, Gary Foster, music instructor, and Paul Kilian, music department chairman. “We do several concerts a year as part of the Music 57 class,” explained Foster. “We picked this particular title so that it would be familiar to the audience and peak their interest.” The concert will feature different students performing solos. Nancy Isaaco will sing a solo. The main goal behind the concert is to give students a chance to develop a “stage presence.” “Our primary goal is to have students present their music to a real live audience,” said Foster. “We want them to have the contact with the audience.” Nathaniel Schleimer, one of the students performing in the concert, says that he still feels nervous in front of an audience, but that the more concerts he performs, the more comfortable he feels. “The nervousness turns into an energy,” he explained. “The more often I play, the more confident I feel.” Paul Castro, pianist, agreed. “It is more exciting everytime I per¬ form. It is the musician’s high. I feel great in front of an audience.” Tickets for the concert are $2 for general admission, and $1 for stu¬ dents and senior citizens. Plan Nears End By Coleen Meyers Editor-in-Chief Numerous plans for the five year renovation project at PCC are expected to be completed by this August, accord¬ ing to Dr. Jack Scott, presi¬ dent/ superintendent. “These plans include building a new library, renovating the Men’s Gym, removing the temporary buildings and possibly building a parking structure. These things are of high priority. Al¬ though this doesn’t mean they are our only needs.” Among the list of outdated facilities is the library, which renovation costs hold a $10 million price tag. If the plans are approved, the state will pay up to 90 percent. This money would fund the building of a new structure. “We have turned our plans and re¬ quest in to the state, but many other colleges are competing for the funds.” The approval process will include clearing the chancellor’s office, Board of Governors, the legislature and finally the govenor. A decision is ex¬ pected by January 1989. Long range project goals include the long-time parking problem. “PCC oc¬ cupies 53 acres of land. With more than 20,000 students, we’re hemmed in." According to Scott, buying nearby property seems out of the question since land above Colorado Blvd. is expensive and land south of the campus is residential. A parking structure seems to be the answer; however, Scott added, that this route must be explored further since it also would be costly. “A parking consultant will have to take a look at all the possibilities available to provide more parking, since the state doesn't fund any parking and the legislature has a ceiling on parking fees.” The task of renovating the Men’s Gym will be undertaken next, followed by the removal of the temporary build¬ ings located south of the R building. These are other long-range projects. Lunch and Learn By Sean DuPont Associate News Editor A new program featuring a series of mini-workshops exploring techniques for improving well being and address¬ ing contemporary psychological issues of concern to students will be offered by PCC Psychlogical Services depart¬ ment. The seminars, entitled Lunch and Learn, are the first such seminars to be held at PCC. They are scheduled once a week through the end of the semester. Dr. Kent Yamauchi, PCC counseling psychologist, said that this program has been planned to take advantage of the one time most students have free time: lunch. Students are allowed to eat their lunches while attending the seminars. There is no pre-registration necessary and students may attend any one or all of the sessions. “This is our first attempt with some¬ thing like this here, but other univer¬ sities have had them,” said Yamauchi. “They have been successful there, so we hope they will be successful here.” He hopes that these seminars make information on contemporary psy¬ chological issues important to the stu¬ dents. Yamauchi said that the program is the second wave of a plan to make psychology more accessible to stu¬ dents. “The first wave was the publish¬ ing of the pamphlets on various topics. Some of those topics included stress management and procrastination.” The seminars will be led by Yamauchi as well as three interns who are advanced graduate students in clinical psychology. They will be con¬ ducting the majority of the seminars. Kristin Behrle and Thomas Foley, hold masters degrees and Dr. Robert Moffie holds a Ph.D. According to Yamauchi, the topics for the remainder of March will be “Achieving Intimacy: Getting Close", to be held Wednesday, March 23 in U215, and “Making Yourself Heard: Introduction to Assertiveness Train¬ ing,” on Wednesday, March 30 also in U215. Yamauchi said future topics will include seminars on communications skills, directing students’ future, self esteem, the demand for beauty and becoming independent while living at home. “When we see students in our office, these topics come up over and over,” said Yamauchi. “We decided to try and reach a large amount of people at once. We generated a long list of topics and then surveyed students and asked them to list their preferences in Order.” Some topics, such as time management and assertiveness training, may be presented more than once. Most of the seminars will be held on Wednesdays from noon to 12:50 p.m. Locations and topics for the April and May seminars will be announced later. “I hope students will come away with useful ideas from these,” said Yamauchi. “I hope these will help students take advantage of their lives.” Asian Immigration Has Risen 700 Percent ; Lecture To Ease People's Fears of Change By Sean DuPont and Jim Gunther Associate News Editor and Staff Writer In the last 20 years the amount of Asian immigration to the United States has risen almost 700 percent. This dramatic increase has changed the fabric of communities, states and the country. With any change, people and their perceptions change and evolve, according to Dr. Lucie Cheng, UCLA sociology professor who addressed is¬ sues raised by the newest wave of Asian immigration last Thursday. Sponsored by the social science de¬ partment, Cheng explored the history of the Asian immigration, its effect on the U.S. and the often misleading mis¬ conceptions associated with Asian im¬ migration and the Asian population at large. Cheng sees some recent trends in this area that she finds disturbing. She told of rejection Asians have received in the east and the mid-west, forcing them west and of enrollment ceilings established for Asians in many Ameri¬ can universities. In the early 80’s, a Detroit man of of Vietnamese origin was beaten and killed by two white auto workers be¬ cause they thought he was Japanese and was responsible for the loss of their jobs. Cheng continued by saying that these actions are not new, that this behavior towards Asians has historically been the norm. The first Asians came to America during the middle part of the 19th century, when Chinese were al¬ lowed to build western railroads but not allowed to pan for gold. The waves of Asian immigration continued to ebb and flow, all during a time when Asians weren’t allowed to become naturalized. Only after 100 years did the United States establish naturalization rights for Asians, in 1950. Fifteen years later an open immigration policy became law. Cheng showed the dramatic in¬ crease in immigrants since 1965. Of the total world population immigrating to the U.S. in a 20 year period, the Asian population has shown a 700 percent increase since the appeal. Cheng felt that another important change in immigration law was the Family Reunification Provision, which allowed easier immigration if family members were currently in the U.S. Cheng said that this provision con¬ tributed to a greater number of Asian immigrants, especially Vietnamese, who had seen war destroy their coun¬ try. The U.S. need for professionals after 1965 also contributed to the increase. This provision was added because the country desperately needed skilled la¬ bor that Asians could offer. This, in turn, attributed to a “boomlet” of Japanese immigrants. Of all the Asian countries, the Philip¬ pines, Korea, China and Vietnam had the most significant population in¬ creases and had more people that could choose to emigrate. Not all Asian population increases in the U.S. have come from immigration, however. Native born Asians-Ameri- cans comprise a large percentage of some nationalities. The Chinese have a large percentage of people over 65, which according to Cheng, means that their population doesn’t have a chance to reproduce itself in the U.S. This makes assimilation much harder. Elderly Vietnamese comprise only one percent of the immigrants, making them a rooted group in this country. She explained how groups differ by presenting statistics which show the percentage of the children of immi¬ grants. The children born to Japanese immigrants comprise 28 percent of the total Japanese population in this coun¬ try, while the Vietnamese account for a whopping 90 percent. Of the many complexities being dealt with, one of the most troubling is establishing just what an Asian-Ameri- can is. She pointed out that Philipinos and Vietnamese are Chinese in ethnic ori¬ gin, and this creates problems for them in identifying their home country and ethnic background. Also the Chinese- Vietnamese come from Vietnam as a minority, whereas a Chinese born in (continued on page 6)