PCC Courier, March 30, 1984

Faculty Weighs AS Degree Plan By Lisa Lowery Assistant News Editor The Faculty Senate is evaluating a proposal for an Associate of Science degree to meet the needs of students enrolled in certificated programs. Dur¬ ing Monday’s Faculty Senate meeting, Phillis Berzozowski, professor of busi¬ ness, introduced the proposal and asked for the senate’s support. Since the proposed degree would reduce the core requirements and offer some alternate courses, senate members decided to delay the vote until each department submits an evaluation report. “The AS degree would meet the general education requirements and give what they (students in vocational- technical programs) need on the job,” said Berzozowski, who chairs the AS degree subcommittee. She said it was her understanding that the Board of Trustees has expressed a renewed in¬ terest in offering the degree. She cited the fact that 32 other colleges already offer the degree, and to reduce the number of units is not a method of “watering down” the existing AA degree. Berzozowski said the subcom¬ mittee is open to suggestions for refine¬ ment inasmuch as the proposal is still in preliminary form. The development of an AS degree would not change the requirements for an AA, Berzozowski said. However, it would apply to students majoring in occupational programs, and the degree would represent formal education to the industries which students hope to enter. Presently, businesses place emphasis on a degree rather than the certificate of acheivement, Berzozowski added. Berzozowski and other certificate program instructors point out that in order for students to graduate with both an AA and a certificate of achieve¬ ment they must attend a two year college for more than three years. The instructors say most students choose to obtain the certificate and not the degree due to necessity of immediate employment and lack of time. The AS degree would classify some necessary occupational classes as graduation re¬ quirements instead of courses which do not necessarily apply to the vocational programs. Last year the curricular and instuc- tional committee (C and I committee) recommended establishing new AA re¬ quirements. The changes were ap¬ proved by the board, and steps have been taken to phase in the new require¬ ments by July 1, 1985. These new requirements do not affect the continu¬ ing students who enrolled prior to the changes if they have not dropped out or skipped a semester. The recent AA requirement changes will exclude English 100 and Business 11A as meeting graduation require¬ ments in English composition. Also, Math 125, 126ABC, 135 and 139 will not fulfill the mathmatics/critical thinking requirements mandated by 'the state. English 1A and intermediate algebra will be the base courses needed to graduate with an AA. The California community college chancellor’s office expects the individ¬ ual colleges to determine which of its courses will meet the state educational code requirements listed under Title V, according to Berzozowski, also a C and I committee member. She said the Title V descriptions are stated very generally and do not list particular courses. For instance, the writing courses must cover expository and argumentative writing. Berzozowski added that this does not exclude Busi¬ ness 11A or Journalism 6, which have been suggested as core courses by the C and I committee. Other AS degree subcommittee members are Vernon C. Halcromb, administrative dean of occupational education; Ernestine L. Moore, dean of counseling; Nino Valmassoi, assistant dean of occupational education; Chrystal Watson, department chair¬ person of communications and Doug Haines, assistant professor of engi¬ neering and technology. Poetry Day Includes Student Participation Eloise Klein Healy, a local Los Ange¬ les poet known for being "normal,” will hold readings for students and staff on Poetry Day Tuesday. Healy will hold a poetry reading session in the Forum from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. A poetry workshop will be held in C311 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. following the morning session. English instructors are encouraged to bring their students. The first program will offer an op¬ portunity to meet the contemporary poet. Healy, who has been publishing poetry for some time, helps people Olympic Drivers Needed By E’Lisa Kennedy Assistant Feature Editor ABC television network needs an estimated 300 drivers to transport some 3000 personnel during the upcom¬ ing Olympics, according to Laurie Hoffman, an ABC representative who visted PCC Friday. PCC was the first of seven state college and university campuses to be visited by six ABC recruiters. College career and placement officers are working in conjunction with the re¬ cruiters to enlist qualified students for the paid positions. “If there are students interested in driving who did not see the recruiters on Friday, they may apply in the placement office as long as there are availablepositions,” said Mary Ann Montanez, placement officer. “This experience will be something students will be proud of and it will certainly look good on a resume.” Drivers will be working around the clock on eight-hour shifts. “Virtually all our personnel (announcers and of¬ ficials) will be on 24-hour call during the Olympics. Because of distances, possible traffic problems and emergen¬ cies, they will be staying in centralized hotels. We can’t afford to let them get dispersed,” said Hoffman. “We (ABC employees) have grown into a close-knit team since the under¬ taking of the Olympics. It hasn’t been easy, but now with the excitement of the Games in sight, we feel like ath¬ letes ourselves— going for the gold. We want someone who wants to be a part of the Olympic spirit to be a part of our team.” The recruiters met with students Friday in the registration office. “This has been our busiest time since spring registration. I was tempted in all the excitement to go sign up as a driver myself,” said Pearlean Pittman, in¬ termediate clerk for the applied arts counseling team. “It’s a shame for meto li've this close to the Olympics and not have some involvement." women there. Hopefully, I will estab¬ lish some contacts, get my foot in the door and maybe go on to another position.” An impromptu survey of applicants revealed the most common answer given for wanting to drive for ABC during the Olympics was that it would be a way to “get a foot in the door.” According to Grace Moran, ABC interviewer, the majority of the 86 applicants are currently involved in telecommunication courses. Jeff Wagner, a telecommunication student, said his employer has agreed to give him the month of the Games off so he can drive. He said he has the right temperament for traffic since he’s “We want someone who wants to be a part of the Olympic spirit to be part of our team.” —Laurie Hoffman, ABC Representative “Applicants were almost evenly divided between women and men,” said Lisa Sugimoto, counselor special¬ ist of the career and placement office. Communications student Kellee Warner said, “I think the field of communication is very open to women, and there’s lots of money to be made by been a pizza delivery man for three years. “I can relax in the middle of a jam.” Besides hoping to get his foot in the door, Wagner said he enjoys sports and would jump at the chance to meet sports announcers like Jim McKay. Instructor of telecommunications and former NBC technical director Michael Horn wanted to be involved as a driver to get some “feedback from the people who actually work in my field on the network level. It’ll give me some additional experience that I can use in the classroom.” Qualifications include possession of a drivers license; a good, general knowl¬ edge of the Los Angeles area; previous driving experience ( i.e. . delivery serv¬ ice) along with a flexible, pleasant personality and neat appearance. The procedures for an initial in¬ terview require the student to apply at the college placement office, take the Olympic transportation driver's test, which is composed of a map test of the Los Angeles area and 20 questions. The student must then register for press accreditation. This requirement includes having an on-the-spot black and white photograph taken for secur¬ ity purposes. Accreditation photo¬ graphs are kept on file with the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Commit¬ tee whether or not the. applicant is hired. Weight, height and clothing sizes are submitted for uniforms. ABC staff rep¬ resentative Martine L. Helwig said. “Drivers will be supplied uniforms which may be kept after the Games as a memento." PCC COURIER VOL. 57, NO. 7 PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA MARCH 30, 1984 KIDS College Serves Community experience the joy of listening to her readings. She calls the language of her poetry ordinary, and says that it is filled with common sense ideas with a few imaginative surprises. She will share and suggest ideas on how to write poetry in the afternoon session. Poetry Day is sponsored by the English department. Other writers will be invited in the future to share their literary talents. Additional information may be ob¬ tained from Ron Koertge or Jane Hall- inger in C-217. —Sister Mary Scully By Christine del Villar Staff Writer Math and Computer Concepts, Begin¬ ning Spanish and Beginning French all sound like courses one could find in the schedule of classes at any college in the state. But you'll also find them at KIDS College, run by PCC’s Community Services Department. In addition to computer math and foreign language study, the KIDS colleges offers Reading Improvement, Preparing for the SAT, Touch Typing, Personal Development for Teens, and Beginning Sign Lan¬ guage among others. Children between the ages of 8 and 16 take courses at the KIDS College. Classes are held on campus and at other selected sites. Ralph Leighton developed the math and computer concepts course for the KIDS College. Leighton teaches the class at Marshall High School. "The course is designed so that the kids can move along at their own rate,” Leighton said. Leighton also teaches math and com¬ puter concepts during the day at Marshall but said he has a lot more fun teaching KIDS College classes because the students really want to be in class. “I’ve never had a serious behavior problem. Kids who come here are not coming because they have to but be¬ cause they want to work on computers. I don’t have to work hard motivating them. This makes it easier for me,” Leighton said. Carl Piowaty, who attends the'sixth grade at Paradise Canyon Elementary School in La Canada, took a Spanish class through the KIDS College last semester. Since the passage of Proposi¬ tion 13 in 1979 his grammar school stopped offering courses such as Spanish because of lack of interest, according to Rosalie Piowaty, Carl's mother. “Carl took Spanish at Paradise Ca¬ nyon to become acquainted with the language, but until the KIDS College there was no place for him to go to learn. Friends told me about the KIDS College and I enrolled him right away,” Piowaty said. “This semester Carl couldn’t decide between Spanish and Math and Corn- good supplement to what Carl is learn¬ ing in school." Community Services started the KIDS College three years ago because “we felt there was a need for such classes for enrichment and remedial purposes," said Marianne Loniello, as¬ sociate dean of Community Services and Continuing Education. Since its opening in the fall of 1981, KIDS College enrollment has consistently grown, proving that community support for the college was indeed there. KIDS College began with an enrollment of 67 that first semester. By fall of 1983 enroll¬ ment had increased to 253 students. “We are really serving the needs of the community," Loniello said. Com¬ “We expect the KIDS College will continue to grow as a service to the community and we welcome input from the community in regard to what they would like to have offered.” —Marianne Loniello puter Concepts, but he finally decided on the computer course,” she said. “He’ll continue studying Spanish in junior high school,” Piowaty said. “My son likes to be busy, and he is curious about a lot of things that the public schools cannot afford or don't have the time to teach. I think this is a munity Services solicits ideas from teachers as well as parents and stu¬ dents who are interested, Loniello added. “Pauline Crabb (continuning educa¬ tion supervisor for instruction) and I are very active in the community," Loniello said. “When the KIDS College was started I asked my 7-vear-old son what he would like to take. I also spoke to my son's friends and their parents to get ideas." “We expect the KIDS College will continue to grow as a service to the community and we welcome input from the community in regard to what they would like to have offered. Loniello said. “But demand is greatest for com¬ puter courses,” she said. "Un¬ fortunately, we don't have the equip¬ ment or facilities we would like to have to offer more computer courses" In order to purchase computers, the col¬ lege would have to charge much higher fees. The courses are funded by modest fees charged to the parents for each course and range between $11 for the rollerskating course to $40 for math classes for the four to eight week semester. “We want anyone who has an in¬ terest to be able to afford to come. We want to keep the fees modest,” said Loniello. In the meantime classes requiring special equipment can be taught off campus where access to equipment such as computers is possible. "Ac¬ tually, holding classes at other schools is a good service to the community. We can reach a larger group of people this way. It's more convenient for some parents," Loniello said. Handicapped Patrons Will Benefit RTD To Exhibit Wheelchair Lift By Pat Francis Feature Editor Southern California Rapid Transit District representatives and city officials join today for a noon demonstration of bus wheelchair lifts at the curbside area east of the campus U Building. Pasadena City Directors John Crowley, Jess Hughston and William Thomson will participate along with RTD officials who will show the progress RTD is making toward maximizing bus accessibility for persons with limited mobility. They will also show the proper function of lift equipment and securing devices within the buses. The presentation comes to PCC in part be¬ cause of efforts by Chuck Havard, guidance facilitator in the special services office. Havard said his office serves at least 100 students who have mobility limitations. He said “there are many who would already be using RTD had the system truly provided reliable transportation.” Half of the people I’ve talked to tell me about taking bus rides and being unable to get off when lift equipment did not work properly, added Havard. He also spoke of ineffective securing devices inside the bus, and drivers who won’t stop for an obviously handicapped person. □ Accessibility for the Handicapped In the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, companies providing public transportation were given a mandate to provide accessibility for the handi¬ capped. At that time, RTD equipped its bus fleet appropriately. But according to RTD representative Wanda Flagg, “the products we purchased were quite inadequate for our task. We thought these lifts and other equipment were the best on the market. Instead, we have ended up spending thousands of dollars keeping buses in and out of maintenance.” Flagg said the multitude of inconveniences that handicap riders have ex¬ perienced are not at all intentional. A renewed effort is now underway to properly supply the RTD fleet with wheelchair lifts and related items. Havard hopes that the new commitment will significantly ease the burden many handicapped persons have faced. “Re¬ liable transportation is a crucial element that makes living with more independence possible. Even those of us with our own vehicles would still like to know that RTD is dependable,” said Havard. □ Otherwise Unable to Attend PCC offers free, round-trip transportation for 12 students with mobility handicaps from seven cities in the college district. According to Havard, these students would otherwise be unable to attend college. Providing this service costs approximately $1000 per student per semester. Havard said he hopes these monies can eventually be used to provide additional instructional aids, in¬ terpreters, notetakers and tutors to aid the growing number of handicapped students. He is now contacting the seven cities represented by the 12 students, recommending that each local government commit funds to support PCC’s program. Havard noted that Pasadena has been espe¬ cially receptive to the idea. A half-cent sales tax that was initiated in California with the 1980 passage of Proposition A provides localities with funds that may be spent for transit improve¬ ment. WARM DAYS— John Maddox, left took time for a snooze while Paula Gale Laugeson, below, soaked up the sun's rays. — Courier photo by Ted Soqui ' ’ - :v ' 5 x. ' - к x ‘f. «г?! -.г . ' ‘ • ’ ■ ". * ,.:'Y Ч :<шШя§щм