- Title
- PCC Courier, March 19, 1992
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- Date of Creation
- 19 March 1992
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- Description
- Student newspaper published and edited for the Associated Student Body of Pasadena City College weekly during the college year by the journalism students.
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PCC Courier, March 19, 1992
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OPINION
FEATURES
SPORTS
Hate crimes
Are hate crimes becoming more
common? Page 2
View from onstage
Theater arts students talk about the
actor’s life. Page5
Softball
Lancers split weekend tournament
with two wins, two losses. Page 8
Pasadena City College
Pasadena, California
Vol. 74 No. 20
^ COURIER
Thursday
March 19, 1992
Committee defines educational goals for 21st century
By EDWIN FOLVEN
Editor-in-Chief
Students, faculty, administrators and
community representatives gathered in the
Circadian Saturday to define a new mission
statement that will serve as an objective
guide for the college into the 21st century.
More than 80 people assembled as an educa¬
tional planning committee to resolve cam¬
pus issues and establish goals that will meet
the needs of all facets of the college commu¬
nity.
The six-hour event gave committee mem¬
bers from diverse backgrounds a chance to
equally voice their concerns to help create a
more productive and responsive learning
environment. Administrators, trustees and
faculty members sat side by side with stu¬
dents, parents and community members in
an effort to gain a better general understand¬
ing of each other’s needs.
“I was extremely pleased with the contri¬
butions of the committee members,” said
Dr. William Goldmann, dean of educational
services. He attributed much of the commit¬
tee’s success to the fact that each member’s
background was not an issue. “All could
participate equally without concerns about
status or positions of others at the table. The
fact that they felt comfortable with express¬
ing their views about the mission statement
is important.”
The charrette was coordinated and chaired
by Dr. Susan Clifford, head of the commit¬
tee, and facilitated by Dr. Ervin L. Har-
lacher, professor of higher education in the
Graduate School of Education at Pepper-
dine University. The keynote address fo¬
cused how future trends will impact educa¬
tional plans. Harlacher said, “We live in
society where our neighborhoods are ever-
changing like a kaleidoscope. The stress on
learning will change by the year 2000, as
America changes from an industrial society
to knowledge dependent society.”
The workshop split committee members
into groups at 1 0 individual tables in order to
discuss different issues. A report of back¬
ground information was distributed to each
member prior to the meeting. Half of the
committee, designated as Taskforce I, be¬
gan by outlining what challenges and oppor¬
tunities will be created by future trends. The
other half, taskforce II, determined what
problems may arise as a result of these
trends. After the groups jotted down sugges¬
tions, they developed a set of goals from
their conclusions. A designated facilitator
from each table submitted information to
two juries who helped synthesize the infor¬
mation into specific goals. The facilitators
also helped with keeping their group on
track with the specific challenges and prob¬
lems assigned to them.
No official breaks were taken while the
committee planned out the specific goals
that will affect the college for many years to
come. The groups worked straight through a
lunch service in order to completely focus
on ideas and problems that will directly
affect the entire campus community.
Members of taskforce I considered issues
of where PCC fits into the “mosaic” of
society. Among the issues discussed were
total family learning, the college’s partner¬
ship with K-12 schools and the role of the
Community Skills Center. Another issue of
concern was how the college is affected by
an information based economy. They ana¬
lyzed the impact of telecommunications,
other higher education facilities and the
partnership with city government.
A second group explored the merit of
programs involving non-traditional teach¬
ing methods. These include the use of televi¬
sion and video instruction as well as foreign
language and group teaching environments.
Another group outlined the importance
of a common focus for divergent ethnic and
gender groups. They especially focused on
the need for adequate programs to facilitate
the growing number of women in profes¬
sional occupations.
Other groups from taskforce I brainstormed
about issues such as creating a better rela¬
tionship with community businesses and
defining a more humanitarian approach to
teaching and academic procedure.
See Mission Statement: Page 6
Workshop provides
professional advice
for novice writers
Photo by Katrina P. Ten/The COURIER
Cheryl Crooks, free-lance writer, gave participants tips about submitting articles to publishers.
Forum provides writers with tips
By AMOR PADILLA
Special Correspondent
A plethora of novice writers,
poets, andpublished writers gath¬
ered to exchange knowledge,
creativity and publication tips with
experts in the literary field last
Saturday, at the 38th Annual
Writer’s Forum.
The forum, coordinated by the
PCC community education of¬
fice drew more than 200 partici¬
pants, which was a good turnout
according to Meredith Babeaux
Brucker, PCC’s liaison with pan¬
elists and speakers. She was sur¬
prised to see that this year more
PCC students attended the Fo¬
rum.
“This time we had more PCC
students taking advantage of this
opportunity to hear professional
writers speak on how they made
it in the literary business,” Babeaux
said.
According to Babeaux, the driv¬
ing force behind the forum has been
the insatiable need to not only help
aspiring writers unleash their crea¬
tivity, but also to open a door into the
harsh world of marketing, selling
and publishing a literary piece. “Our
main goal is to energize writers,”
Babeaux said.
For these “energizers” to be trans¬
ferred to aspiring writers, Babeaux
tries to contact and bring in the best
of speakers. Her policy is not to
necessarily contact famous writers,
but energetic and optimistic ones
who would make great teachers. So
is the case of Nancy Robison, author
of various children’s books, who took
a PCC writing class 20 years ago and
now has published 50 books.
“The most important thing is never
to lose the love for writing. You
begin with loving to write, hold on to
that forever because it is easy to lose
it when it comes to competition and
marketing,” Robison said. Robison
spoke on the birth of a children’s
Please see Forum: Page 6
By ANISSA VICENTE
Features Editor
Talent is the writer’s worst en¬
emy, Jack Grapes, editor and pub¬
lisher of the literary magazine
“Onthebus,” told poets in the first
session of the Pasadena Writer’s
Forum last weekend. Grapes, an
award- winning poet, playwright, actor
and teacher, spoke on the strategies
of writing and publishing poetry.
“Poetry is discovery, going into
the black forest of creativity,” he
said. “You have to lose yourself in
the unknown and only then find
meaning out of the chaos.”
Grapes encouraged the class to
guide the creative process and not
impose ideas on their work. He be¬
lieves in a free style of writing. At
the beginning of the workshop, Grapes
told the participants to write uncon¬
nected images and moments. By the
end of the session, participants dis¬
covered their differing lines actually
had some commonalties threaded
within them. Grapes brushed aside
protests over this unorthodox method,
saying some of his deepest work
comes unbeckoned in random
moments.
“Sounds or snippets of conversa¬
tions can find its way into your
poems,” he said. “Be efficient in all
experiences.”
That includes the business of
getting one’s work published. Writ¬
ers are easily taken advantage of,
Grapes said, because their tempera¬
ments are not geared toward the hard-
as-nails world of publishing. Grapes
outlined two steps for poets to fol¬
low: networking and reading.
“Go to poetry readings, classes,
study with good poets,” Grapes said.
That is the way he has traveled
himself. One’s material should not
be scattershot to all editors. “Pick
six magazines and mine them,”
Grapes said. “Focus and research
the magazines, and don’t give up
until they have rejected you four
times.”
The avenue of self-publishing
can also give a poet needed expo¬
sure. Networking in the commu¬
nity makes a poet stand out in the
minds of publishers and editors.
Most of all, Grapes said, “Be a
person. Don’t be six poems stuffed
in an envelope.”
Reading up on the genre is an¬
other foolproof way of improv¬
ing one’s poetry. Grapes listed
certain anthologies, such as the
“Vintage Book of Contemporary
Poetry” and the “Norton Anthol¬
ogy of Modem Poetry” as worth¬
while supplemental reading.
Cultivate the three “P’s”: per¬
sistence, patience and passion,
Grapes concluded, promising
another “P” at the end of the
tunnel: publication.
Artist Bayla Winters gave the
same message to a roomful of
senior citizens attending her
“Writing for Pleasure” session.
She urged the senior writers to
Please see Writers: Page 6
Photo by Katrina
ТепЯИе
COURIER
Poet Jack Grapes, left, gave tips about writing last Saturday.
C Building
burglary
investigated
By EDWIN FOLVEN
Editor-in-Chief
The offices of the English and
foreign language department were
broken into during the weekend and
computer equipment and a slide
projection machine were stolen.
According to officer Nick
Hoekstra, the equipment was stolen
after a perpetrator gained entry by
prying a lock open on one of the
doors. He said the crime took place
sometime between Friday afternoon
and Monday morning, when the
offices were closed. A secretary re¬
ported finding the equipment miss¬
ing and cabinets open upon return¬
ing for work Monday morning.
Although the offices, that are
located on the second floor of the C
Building, are closed during the
weekend, the C Building remains
open during daylight hours to ac¬
commodate Saturday classes and
events in Sexson auditorium. Hoekstra
believes the thefts may have oc¬
curred during this time because the
building is patrolled by campus po¬
lice cadets at night.
Hoekstra was successful in ob¬
taining a fingerprint that may have
been left by a thief. “I dusted for
prints around the areas where I thought
some were left. We did obtain one
possible print.” The fingerprint has
been sent to the Los Angeles County
Sheriff’s main fingerprint facility
for processing. Investigator Steven
Lester said the fingerprint will be
run through a computer that will
match it with others in a file com¬
mon to all law enforcement agen¬
cies. If a positive match is made, a
warrant may be issued for the per¬
sons arrest.
A Hyundai color monitor and
Please see thefts: Page 7
Board of Trustees accepts new campus environmental policy
By CHRIS CATHC ART
Staff Writer
In an effort to reduce and recycle
waste, conserve energy and water
and minimize health hazards related
to air, ground, and water pollution,
the Board of Trustees officially
announced its approval of a new
environmental policy at a recent
meeting.
During the meeting, the board
voted to accept the policy, and voiced
its commitment to work towards an
environmentally sound campus. This
comes after months of work by the
environmental task force, a group
appointed by Dr. Jack Scott, super¬
intendent-president, to address en¬
vironmental concerns on campus.
Co-chaired by Dr. Judith Greenlee,
life sciences instructor, and Dr. David
Douglass, professor of physical sci¬
ences, the task force has already
made improvements on campus.
“It’s a prettier place to work,”
said Charles Havard, guidance fa¬
cilitator of special services, and
member of the task force. “Over the
last for five or six years, there has
been more of a focus on cleaning
things up,” he said.
Havard points to a few of the
programs already under way that
will improve the campus. “Paper
recycling is very important. There
arealotofmemos and notes that can
be eliminated by using the phone.
We have installed a trash compactor
to reduce the amount of waste we
throw away. We also have asked
that the chemistry labs order only
the amounts of chemicals they can
use, and then use them all. This will
help the problem of hazardous waste
on campus,” said Havard.
Many other programs have, or
will help in the effort to make PCC
more ecologically sound. The cafe¬
teria is changing over to more paper
products. As old toilets break, new
“low-flow” toilets are installed,
greatly decreasing the amount of
water used. Lights in some buildings
are set to motion detectors, that will
turn out lights automatically if no
one is in the room. All new PCC
stationery is made from recycled pa¬
per. Cardboard can be recycled by
calling facilities to pick up bundles.
All departments are being encour¬
aged to publish brochures on re¬
cycled paper, instead of new, glossy
stock.
Havard believes that the board’s
approval of the policy sends a strong
message to the community. “The
school wanted to be on record that
they are trying to improve the envi¬
ronment.” Havard explained, “Basi¬
cally it says that the school has the
support from the top to be actively
involved in improving the campus
environment.”
The environmental task force will
continue to examine more ways to
make PCC a more environmentally
sound campus. “Our biggest role is
to publicize happenings on campus
in relation to the environment.”
Havard added, “We want to put out
a newsletter to educate the rest of the
students to what the campus is doing.”
But, Havard believes that clean¬
ing up the campus and helping the
environment is an individual effort.
“We have hurt the environment piece
by piece, and that’s how we need to
improve it.”
Havard says everyone needs to
get involved with the little things,
like picking up trash. Students can
also attend meetings of the task force,
held on Thursdays from noon to 1
p.m. “We’re always open to fresh
ideas,” said Havard.