PCC Courier, March 20, 1981

SPRING REIGN BEGINS — Today marks the first day of spring, the weather bureau predicts heavy rain throughout the weekend. Flowering peach trees fill the quad providing a colorful touch to a gray day. — Courier photo by Florence Heimberger Student Represents PCC At Washington Conference By Mary E. Jones Staff Writer John McTeague was selected Tues¬ day to represent PCC at the 12th Annual Student Symposium in Wash¬ ington, D.C., March 20-22. McTeague was chosen from a large number of applicants by a committee of two faculty members and three students. “This is incredible. I can’t believe I won,” said McTeague, who is a politi¬ cal science major planning a career in politics. Last year McTeague worked for John Anderson’s presidential cam¬ paign. Through the convention he hopes to get a better “feel of what politics is all about.” The Student Activities office is han¬ dling arrangements for the trip, which includes hotel accommodations, air travel and convention fees. The Student Services Fund is paying up to $600 in expenses for the trip, which will pay for just about everything except food, according to A1 Kauti, dean of Student Activities. The symposium is sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Presidency, headquartered in New York. The Cen¬ ter is composed of educators from across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. This year’s con¬ ference theme is “Independence and Interdependence in the 1980s.” Presidential Address The conference will provide students around the country with an “opportuni¬ ty to examine international interdepen¬ dence for each nation to secure full independence in this critical decade,” according to Ft. Gordon Hoxie, presi¬ dent of the Center for the Study of the Presidency. President Reagan has been asked to deliver the keynote address on Friday night. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser will speak to the group Saturday evening. Other speakers include William J. Casey, CIA director,; Jeane D. J. Kirkpatrick, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations; and Donald T. Regan, secretary of the Treasury. Throughout the weekend, business leaders, media members and educators will take part in round table discussions on the convention’s theme. Panel members will include such well known figures as NBC News White House Correspondent Judy Woodruff and Jerry McAfee, chairman of Gulf Oil Corporation. Social science professor Kennon G. Miedema will also be attending the conference. He was selected by a com¬ mittee of fellow teachers in the social sciences department. “I wanted to go because I feel this is a wonderful opportunity to study the feelings of the new administration,” Miedema said. His expenses will also be picked up by the Student Services Fund in the same manner as McTeague’s. Any student with 30 units completed at PCC, a GPA of 3.5 and 12 units this semester were qualified to apply for the trip. Both Miedema and McTeague will leave for Washington Wednesday eve¬ ning and arrive at the conference a day early. Kauti said that this is the only way they can get them to Washington in time for the special Friday morning tour of the White House and the Capitol which has been arranged as part of the trip. House Reviews Financial Aid Budget; Method of Implementation Under Fire By Monique Meind) News Editor Testimony on President Reagan’s Budget Reform Plan, as it affects student financial aid programs, was presented to the House of Represent¬ atives Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education March 11, by Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell. Bell outlined principle problems faced in the student aid programs as: “an expansion of benefits that reach By Mike Mendez Contributing Writer The PCC chapter of the California Teachers Association has issued its proposals for improvements in the con¬ tract agreements with the Pasadena Area Community College district, which is scheduled for renewal in June. Among the most important changes proposed by the PCC/CTA, which represents instructors and other certificed personnel, are salary in¬ creases, improved fringe benefits, workload issues, and binding arbi¬ tration, according to Dr. Gary L. Woods, PCC/CTA president. Roueche To Speak; Staff Development By Betty Kossick Staff Writer Nationally known Dr. John E. Roueche, a leading authority in holistic developmental education, will be speaking here March 24. Three meetings have been scheduled for Dr. Roueche’s day on campus: “Overcoming Helpessness in Com¬ munity College Students” will be dis¬ cussed with PCC’s counseling staff at 10 a.m. At noon the faculty will join in the discussion entitled “College Educa¬ tion in the Future.” A workshop for the faculty titled “Strategies for Helping the High Risk Student,” takes place at 2 p.m. in the Circadian room. Dr. Roueche, professor and director of the community education program at the University of Texas, at Austin, advocates that learning must relate to the whole person, and teachers must look beyond course content and ex¬ amine their students, their past ex¬ periences, their present needs and their future goals. Two of Dr. Roueche’s books, “Over¬ coming Learning Problems” and “A Modest Proposal: Students Can Learn” are considered landmark publications in the field of developmental educa¬ tion. “Holistic Literacy in College Teaching” is Dr. Roueche’s most re¬ cent book, written with Oscar G. Mink. beyond the truly needy, an erosion of the traditional role of the student and the family in financing postsecondary education, a loss of budgetary control, and an increase in opportunities for program abuse at the expense of the American taxpayer.” “Our major concerns are not with the cuts, but in the method of im¬ plementation of student aid,” said Joan Holland, assistant director of the Na¬ tional Association of Student Financial One salary revision listed is the addition of pay increases for the steps 13-20 on the salary scale. These in¬ creases would provide those instruc¬ tors below step 13 with more frequent wage adjustments than are now pos¬ sible. Economic Issues Dr. Bonnie R. James, vice president of business services, said the key topics in the negotiations would be the eco¬ nomic issues. “I would guess the cost of living is running about 10 percent. But the state decides what funds we get,” he said. Proposed are fringe benefit improve¬ ments which range from upgraded health and dental insurance to optional tax deferred annuities, an investment yielding fixed payments for a stated number of years, in place of insurance coverage. Another proposal would allow em¬ ployees the option of. signing with a By Mary E. Jones Staff Writer Frederick “Dutch” Holland, so¬ cial science professor, was elected Faculty Senate president by fellow teachers last week. He Will begin his one-year term this fall. Holland, who has taught at PCC full-time since 1966, said that as Faculty Senate president he will emphasize a positive approach to working out faculty problems. “Fighting with other groups such as the board of trustees and the administration will only be used as a last resort, however, I’m not afraid of a good fight,” Holland said. Holland is the chapter president of the American Association of Uni¬ versity Professors. His term ends in April. A run off will soon be scheduled between Anthony Georgilas, com¬ munications professor, and Alice Aid Administrators. “We realize that we have to take cuts, but the method used to distribute financial aid makes a significant difference. Alternate Methods “There has not been fair considera¬ tion for other options,” Ms. Holland said, however, alternative methods (like Bell’s) are being proposed. “Community colleges will be severe¬ ly hurt by the cuts,” according to Ms. СТА offered life insurance policy that, according to Woods, offers better bene¬ fits than the policy now offered by the Improvements in the workload are geared toward “increasing student-in¬ structor contact time,” said Woods. He cited high closing counts for classes and administration pressure to take adds above and beyond the closing number as a problem that affects not only the teaching staff but students as well. Binding arbitration, which is a pro¬ vision that would allow for third party judgments in grievances that cannot be resolved by СТА and district per¬ sonnel, will also be an important con¬ sideration in the negotiations, accord¬ ing to Woods. According to James, binding arbi¬ tration is out of the question. “When the board gives arbitration rights to a third party, as far as I’m concerned, the board is giving away the authority Corey, physical sciences professor for the vice presidential position. None of the candidates received a majority of the votes that is re¬ quired, but Georgilas was only one and a half votes away in the first election. “I’m an active, outspoken, dedi¬ cated faculty member,” said Georgilas, who has been teaching at PCC for 12 years. Georgilas is chair¬ man of the Academic Policies Com¬ mittee and a member of the Student Concerns Committee. Mrs. Corey, a faculty member for 21 years, helped write the Faculty Senate constitution. She’s been on the Senate board five times during the past 15 years and is a past chairman of the Academic Policies Committee. Virginia McCready, a foreign lan¬ guage associate professor, was elected secretary, while Harold White, life sciences associate pro¬ fessor, was chosen as treasurer. Holland, because the cost is lower, therefore significantly less aid will be given. At PCC, between 2,500 and 3,000 students are receiving some type of financial aid this year, according to Gene S. Miller, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators president. “If cuts are implemented, 80 percent of the students will receive less money,” Mrs. Miller said. Information from the Senate and the invested in it by the electorate.” “We’re still waiting for the district to submit their proposals, Woods said, “we’ve been waiting for them for about two months.” Woods also hopes for a rapid and successful series of bargain¬ ing sessions with as few obstacles as possible. By Lorna Moore Associate Opinion Editor The ASB has formed a financial aid committee in an attempt to aid PCC students facing President Reagan’s proposed cuts in federal aid to college students. Headed by Edward Razor, Frederick "Dutch" Holland i House indicate that lower figures may be proposed for financial aid cuts, according to Ms. Holland, however, final decisions will not be made until the June 5 deadline. The heaviest cuts are proposed for the Basic Grant (PELL) program which loses $350-400 million, eliminat¬ ing 20 percent of PCC recipients, the National Direct Student Loan’s cut of one million dollars, which would mean 20-50 percent fewer available loans, to 350 PCC students, and in the Guaran¬ teed Student Loan program’s cut of $800 million, according to Mrs. Miller. PELL Grant Legal provisions for the PELL grant and the Guaranteed Student Loans would make funds inaccessible, ac¬ cording to Mrs. Miller. The new formula for the PELL Grant would not reflect the actual cost of attendance, and expects the student to provide more money for himself, Mrs. Miller said. Interest will no longer be subsidized for the Guaranteed Student Loans while the student is in college. Students would either begin repaying or have the lender accrue and compound in¬ sophomore class president, the com¬ mittee will investigate the possibility of obtaining grants and loans for stu¬ dents from businesses and other sources in the community. The com¬ mittee intends to investigate similar programs in other schools, particularly Stanford University, which, according to Razor, has an “outstanding” pro¬ gram concerning this. The committee must also study the feasibility of oper¬ ating the program via the financial aids office on campus and distributing money through the PCC student bank. The committee also plans to send a letter to our area congressmen ex¬ pressing the ASB’s concern over the effects of Reagan’s proposed cuts. Information Provided A main objective of the committee is to inform students of the cuts in federal aid and provide them information as to how they may have their opinions voiced in Washington, D.C. Still under discussion by the ASB, is the commit¬ tee’s proposal to send out a newsletter to all students containing information on the cuts. It would also have a list of all California representatives to Wash¬ ington residing on federal appropria¬ tions and budget committees to which students could write. Razor will also propose to attach a ready-to-use letter form to each news¬ letter, however, this remains to be brought to the attention of the other ASB board members. The form would allow students to fill in and drop it in a box that would be placed on campus. All letters would be packaged and sent to representatives in Washington. Razor feels many personalized letters would have more impact on Washing¬ ton’s policymakers than one letter with terest and the aid to the principal amount of the loan when it is due, according to Mrs. Miller. “There has to be grass roots support for student aid programs,” said Ms. Holland. “Students, parents and in¬ stitutions must write congress and call local offices, and encourage others to do so to combat the administration’s cuts,” she added. National Lobby Day According to Ms. Holland, April 13 is a national lobby day in Washington, D.C. where a number of students are expected to voice their concerns. “The information has to get out,” she said. The situation is in a dangerous state, according to Mrs. Miller. One study projected that if the student aid cuts are implemented, 280 independent col¬ leges would close their doors, because the significant drop in enrollment would cause a drop in the tuition these colleges depend on. In Bell’s testimony, proposals were given that “are designed to deal with these problems in a manner that pre¬ serves Federal benefits for the truly needy and treats all parties involved as equitably as possible.” many student signatures. If approved by the ASB, and if students indeed participate, Razor would like to see the letters “hand delivered” to represent¬ atives in Washington by an ASB officer chosen to participate in the upcoming United States Student Association con¬ ference in Washington held in April. Razor emphasizes that the letter -form proposal is tentative and that the ASB may not be given approval to send an officer to Washington because of the cost involved. Also a result of Reagan’s economic plan is the possible elimination of the student liaison from the USSA to the Department of Education due to the federal employee hiring freeze. Dana Hobart, ASB president, has sent a letter to President Reagan urging him to reconsider the importance of student representation in the Department of Education. Mail-in Registration Among other items of business, the ASB recently formed a committee to study the possibility of mail-in regis¬ tration. Hobart and Joe Krovoza, freshman class president, met with Dr. Irvin Lewis, vice president for student personnel services, and Ernest Neu¬ mann, dean of admissions and records, to discuss the history of registration at PCC and to obtain advice for a plan of action to guide them through the study. According to Lewis and Neumann, a trial mail-in registration was im¬ plemented four years ago involving approximately 1,000 students. Of the 1,000 who were sent mail-in regis¬ tration forms, only 70 students partici¬ pated and consequently, mail-in regis¬ tration was dropped. Negotiations Scheduled To Begin СТА Submits Contract Proposals New Faculty Senate President is Elected; Run-offs To Be Held For Vice Presidency ASB Organizes Committee Which Will Investigate Grants and Loans