PASADENA CITY COLLEGE
Pasadena, California
Vol. 78 No. 9
COURIER
Serving the PCC Community for 76 years
THURSDAY
March 24, 1994
Just visiting...
ANITA NARDINE/The COURIER
Students from Osaka, Japan recently visited PCC’s dental lab to
share experiences and learn more about the program offered by
the college.
Asian clubs band
under one group
By GILBERT RIVERA
Staff Writer
The Asian Student Interclub Alli¬
ance, ASIA, PCC’s first ever um-
brellaclub, was formed lastmonth to
increase unity among Asian stu¬
dents as well as Asian clubs on cam¬
pus.
With membership of seven clubs
including the Chinese Student Asso¬
ciation, the Pasadena Korean Bible
Study , and the Filipino Student Coa¬
lition, ASIA’S goals are to build
bridges with other races, break ste¬
reotypes of Asians, and to increase
Asian student involvement on cam¬
pus.
“Since Asians are a major part of
the student population, we have a
responsibility to participate fully in
campus activities,” said Paul Kim,
president of ASIA which is a non-
political club.
“One of the stereotypes of Asians
is that we are known for our high
academic performance, but are pas¬
sive on issues that affect us. That
needs to change.
“I also think that cooperation be¬
tween different ethnic groups is lack¬
ing in society today. ASIA’S ulti¬
mate goal is to build bridges with
other groups so we can understand
our differences and our commonali¬
ties,” he added.
Not unlike the continent, the club
encompasses a broad diversity of
Asian groups. Issues concerning
Asian students are discussed during
Please see “ASIA,” Page 4
Act assures open meetings
□ Revised Brown Act
rules that all
meetings of the
Board of Trustees, AS
and all publicly-
elected bodies must
be open to the
public.
By ANDREW McDIARMID
News/Feature Editor
For the Board of Trustee mem¬
bers, Associated Student Board mem¬
bers, and any other public elected
bodies in the state making decisions
for the public at large, the signifi¬
cance of April, 1 1994, April Fool’s
Day, is not a laughing matter at all.
Legislation will go into effect
next week that will change the way
public meetings can be held. The
legislation, called the new Ralph M.
Brown Act, has been doubled in
length and tripled in its effect. It
forms the new ground rules for
public meetings.
The effects on PCC will be seen
in the future weeks as the AS and the
Board of Trustees meetings take on
new changes to adhere to the new
guidelines. Rebecca Cobb, adviser
to the ASB, says most of the changes
are already being followed.
“There has been extensive talk
about the new Brown Act. Things
have to be tightened for the ASB and
they are working to tighten the meet¬
ings they hold,” Cobb said.
The parts of the newly revised
Brown Act that will affect the stu¬
dent organization are:
“Legislative Body” has been
added to the act to include any stu¬
dent government meetings. Any¬
thing from AS including club board
meetings, all must be open and pub¬
lic meetings.
Out of town meetings are no
longer legal. “Regular and special
meetings of the bodies shall be held
within the boundaries of the territory
over which the local agency has ju¬
risdiction.”
While there are exceptions, the
AS retreat that was held this past
month, would no longer be accept¬
able.
Discrimination in any form is also
addressed, indicating that meetings
cannot be held in any facility that
discriminates. “No body shall cor.-
ductany meetings in any facility that
prohibits the admittance of any per¬
son, on the basis of race, religious
creed, color, national origin, ances¬
try, or sex.”
This also includes facilities inac¬
cessible to those with disabilities, or
where a fee must be paid to attend the
meeting.
Criticism is also something that
many bodies do not appreciate.
“Bodies of a local agency shall not
prohibit public criticism of the poli¬
cies, procedures, programs, or ser¬
vices of the agency or of the acts or
omissions of the body.”
Bodies can no longer prevent the
press from recording proceedings.
Also, posting of details to be dis¬
cussed in closed meetings must be
included in the agenda.
“Any person attending an open
and public meeting of a legislative
body shall have the right to record
the proceedings.” It also states that
bodies cannot “prohibit or otherwise
restrict the broadcast of its proceed¬
ings.”
Another rather unique aspect of
the new act is the fact that when a
person goes before a legislative body
with informationthat material must
be made available to the audience.
“Writings which are made public
during a meeting, and which are
distributed during a public meeting
How the revised
Brown Act will affect
the college:
▼ All meetings must be
open and public.
▼ Out of town meetings
are no longer legal.
▼ Discrimination is not
allowed.
▼ Criticism shall not be
prohibited.
▼Meetings can be
recorded
shall be made available for public
inspection at the meetings.”
Until now, it was difficult to sue
bodies for infringements of the
Brown Act. “The district attorney or
any interested person may commence
an action by injunction for the pur¬
pose of obtaining a judicial determi¬
nation,” the act states.
Organizations all over the state,
including those at PCC, have been
preparing for the new act to take
effect. All of the agencies know, that
with the legal ramifications of the
newly revised act, there will be many
watching to make sure they comply.
Georgilas wins Faculty Senate seat
□ Communications
professor beats
counselor Harry
Kawahara for
president.
By JACKIE LEg
Staff Writer
PCC ’ s Faculty Senate Board now
has four newly elected members.
Anthony Georgilas, communica¬
tions professor, was elected Faculty
Senate president by 25 votes.
He was opposed by counselor
Harry Kawahara. Georgilas won
124-99.
Other new members of the Fac¬
ulty Senate Board include Ellen
Reynolds, assistantprofessorof busi¬
ness, who was elected vice presi¬
dent; Philip Ricards, assistant pro¬
fessor of social sciences who was
elected secretary; and Keith
Oberlander, mathematics and com¬
puter sciences instructor who was
elected treasurer.
“Percentage of voters was 66 per¬
cent,” said Georgilas. “That shows
the faculty iS interested in getting
involved, and that they aren’t apa¬
thetic.”
According to Georgilas, informa¬
tion was furnished to all faculty
members, and every member re¬
ceived at least five pieces of infor¬
mation urging them to vote, to get
out there and show that the faculty
supported the Faculty Senate.
Georgilas’ campaign encouraged
faculty members to show support, to
get involved and show an interest in
voting.
He also promised expanded shared
governance, which was a most ap¬
pealing aspect to the voters, accord¬
ing to Georgilas.
“Our goal is to be more involved
with the community ,” said Georgilas.
“PCC is asking for involvement,
and we’ve got to get into helping the
community. We must adapt also to
the changing demographics of the
college.”
The senate will be working on
developing faculty seminars which
reflect the demographics of the stu¬
dent enrollment.
Other goals, according to
Georgilas, include fighting to keep
the tuition down against the $20
tuition hike that the governor wants.
“We will be working with the ad¬
ministrators to further the better¬
ment of the college.
“We also need to work with other
groups besides the Board of Trutees,”
said Georgilas.
“We must have
closer ties with the
Community Skills
Center, and reach
out to the high
schools in thecom-
munity.”
There is also
the CSEA, the
California State
Employees Asso¬
ciation, and ISSU,
the Instructional
Support Services
Union, that the
senate plans to get
involved with.
OSCAR CHAVEZ/IRC
Georgilas, communications professor, assumes
his post next semester.
Having served
at PCC for 26
years, Georgilas
believes he has
worked for his po¬
sition.
His experience
includes being
Faculty Senate vice-president for four
terms, and Faculty Senate represen¬
tative for eight.
He has also been active on com¬
mittees such as the Academic Poli¬
cies Committee and the Curriculum
and Instruction Committee.
“I am most pleased with the sup¬
port, with people calling and con¬
gratulating me,” said Georgilas.
Reynolds, a faculty member for
17 years, also feels honored, “I’m
very excited,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to partici¬
pating in shared governance. I plan
to support the president in perform¬
ing work for the Faculty Senate. I
will recognize the wishes of the fac¬
ulty and see that their concerns are
properly addressed.”
La Raza affair stresses importance of higher education
□ Chicano students
relate experiences in
universities.
By JOSE INOSTROZ
Staff Writer
The Cross Cultural Center and
Muvimiento Estudiantii Chicano de
Azltan (MEChA) sponsored a Raza
College Fair Tuesday which offered
Chicanos information on prospec¬
tive universities.
Students from the University of
Southern California, Cal State
Dominguez Hills, and Cal State Los
Angeles were on hand to provide a
first hand account of the Chicano
experience at the university level.
Speaking to an audience of about
30 students made up of mostly
Chicano’s, USC students Valerie
Cuevas and Tomas Duran, who are
also in USC’s MEChA chapter
explained the benefits of the univer¬
sity experience.
“If the opportunity presents itself,
you shouldn’t say no,” said Cuevas,
a political science major. “It is easy
to get in, but hard to get out,” she
added. Although USC doesn’t have
a Chicano Studies department, there
are resources to help students.
Both mentioned that about 60
percent of USC Chicano students
drop out because they don’t take
advantage of the resources and be¬
cause they aren’t clear about what
they want to do.
“Don’t let PCC be the only place
you are going to strive for. Start
working so you can have a place you
can go after PCC,” Duran advised.
“Allow PCC to be a stepping stone,”
the sophomore civil engineering
major added. He also said if students
aren’t prepared to go out and find the
resources, they are not going to get
anywhere.
Richard Reynoso, a PCC gradu¬
ate who went on to UCLA is cur¬
rently a graduate student at Cal State
LA.
“Don’t expect anybody to moti¬
vate you, motivation should come
from yourself,” he said.
“You don’t fail until you stop
trying, you fail and you quit,” he
added. Reynoso’ s parents were bom
in a small town in Mexico. He is the
first to reach the graduate level in his
family.
“I could have transferred to
Harvard, but I didn’t want to go
there. It’s not important what school
you go to, you’ll get the same edu¬
cation anywhere,” said Reynoso,
who is running for the Rosemead
City Council.
Saul Figueroa, representing Cal
State Dominguez Hills and its
MEChA, offered an energetic and
powerful speech which became the
apex of the two hour event.
Jennifer Delcampo, a business
major who plans to attend UC Berke¬
ley was particularly inspired by
Figueroa’s speech.
“Resources are out there and stu¬
dents should take advantage of it.”
said Delcampo.
History major and MEChA coor¬
dinator of external programs worked
with Cross Cultural Center director
Carrie Afuso in getting the speakers.
“It was really good despite the short
notice. We’re pleased with the turn¬
out.”