Seismologist Shakes Faraday Lecture
Vol. 22, No. 8
Pasadena City College, Pasadena, California
March 31, 1965
Tryouts to Begin
for 'Country Girl'
Tryouts for the Theater Arts
Association’s latest production,
“The Country Girl” by Clifford
Odets, will begin at 3 p.m. Fri¬
day in the Little Theater.
“The Country Girl” was made
into a motion picture starring
Grace Kelly and William Holden
and is considered by many to
be one of Odets’ finest works.
The plot concerns an actor’s
wife who spends her years bol¬
stering her drunken husband. The
wife is blamed for her husband’s
acting failures but to one of the
cast of characters she is revealed
as a self-sacrificing girl whose
goodness has never been truly ap¬
preciated.
“The Country Girl” has been de¬
scribed by the Theater Arts Asso¬
ciation as “an unforgettable look
behind the scenes of theater it¬
self.”
Tryouts for the play will be
conducted all next week. Stu¬
dents wishing to participate
should report to the Little Thea¬
ter.
The play will be presented in
the college’s Little Theater May
18 through 22. It will be seen at
8:15 p.m. each day with an addi¬
tional showing on May 20 at 2:30
— Courier Photo by Stan Carstensen
TEACHING MACHINES? — Dr. Gerard, dean of the Graduate Divi¬
sion of the University of California at Irvine, speaks to Lancers
on the future of teaching machines. He spoke at the final program
Frank Press to Speak
in Sexson Tomorrow
Th,e 38th annual Faraday Lec¬
ture will be held tomorrow at
7 p.m. in Sexson Auditorium.
The speaker will be Dr. Frank
Press, distinguished director of
the Seismological Laboratory of
the California Institute of Tech¬
nology, who will discuss “The
Mantle of the Earth.”
The Caltech Seismological De¬
partment and Laboratory, which
Dr. Press heads, is known
throughout the world and is rec¬
ognized as the authority on any
and all seismological activities,
most of which are earthquakes.
Facilities at the Caltech lab are
the finest available, and can de¬
tect any disturbances, including
atomic explosions, anywhere in
the world.
For all the information that has
been compiled on earth and its in¬
terior, however, very little is ac¬
tually known in detail about it.
THE MANTLE, which is to be
the subject of Dr. Press’ lecture,
is an area that receives much
thought and discussion. Although
there are many ideas and theo¬
ries about its composition, the fact
remains that no one really knows
what it is.
This controversial area, which
lies just below the crust of the
earth, is thought by some to be a
liquid ; others maintain it is a
semi-liquid plastic, while still oth¬
ers claim it to be a solid. Since
it lies too deep for any ordinary
drilling operation to reach it, it
remains a mystery.
For some time now, however,
scientists have been working on
a project to drill through the
crust and into the area directly
underneath it, called the “MOHO,”
short for mohorovegic discontinu¬
ity. While this is not the actual
mantle, it is thought to be very
similar to it, and reaching it
would answer many geologic
questions.
This project is expected to be
covered in the lecture.
DURING his relatively short
career, Dr. Press has made a num¬
ber of contributions to the field
of science. At the nuclear test
ban conferences in Geneva in 1959
and 1960, he served as a member
of the US delegation.
He contributed to the US pro¬
gram for the International Geo¬
physical Year, and has recently
served on the President’s Science
Advisory Committee. At the pres¬
ent time, he is serving as a con¬
sultant to the Office of Science
and Technology. His awards in¬
clude the Columbia University
Medal for Excellence, California
Scientist of the Year, and mem¬
bership in the National Academy
of Science.
Held each spring semester at
PCC, the Faraday Lecture is open
to all. It also serves as a note¬
taking contest for junior and sen¬
ior high school students, to en¬
courage them to take more sci¬
ence courses. The notes are grad¬
ed by the Physical Science Depart¬
ment, and the winners are an¬
nounced at the annual Open
House of the Physical Science De¬
partment on April 23.
Albert Burke to Lecture
on Man's Differing Values
p.m.
of the second annual Convocation.
Gerard Predicts Increased Use
of Technology to Aid Education
The final phase of PCC’s seo
ond annual Convocation, on auto¬
mation, featured Dr. Ralph Ge¬
rard, dean of the Graduate Divi¬
sion at the University of Califor¬
nia at Irvine.
Dr. Gerard, one of the world’s
foremost physiologists, spoke on
College Initiates
New Grade Point
Next Fall
Policy
Academic standards at PCC
have risen. Beginning in the fall,
students whose grade point ratio
falls below 2.0, or C, will be plac¬
ed on academic probation, accord¬
ing to Assistant Dean of Admis¬
sions and Records Glen E. Cline.
“Because it takes a minimum
grade point average of C to gradu¬
ate or transfer to a four-year col¬
lege or university, a student
should be warned that he isn’t
making progress toward these
goals,” explained Dean Cline.
PRESENTLY students are plac¬
ed on academic probation if their
grade point ratio falls below 1.5
in units attempted in any semes¬
ter. If a student achieves a 1.5 or
better grade point ratio now with
no E’s or F’s in 12 units or more,
he is taken off probation.
As a result of the new policy a
student will have to achieve a C
average in order to be taken off
probation.
UNDER the current 1.5 policy
an average of 25 per cent or ap¬
proximately 3000 PCC stu¬
dents are on academic probation
each semester, Cline said. This
percentage has varied only slight¬
ly over a number of years and is
similar to figures at other two-
year colleges.
Of those on probation about 750
are dismissel from college while
1800 raise their grades and remain
in school.
“Automation and the Learning
Process” at the general session
last Thursday. Applying modern
technology (especially computers)
to education and the process of
learning was his main task.
DR. GERARD pointed out to
Lancers and other guests that
technology in education is not
something new.
“We depend on technology in
all our education,” he said, “from
ink ... to other modern tools.
We live by it as we have benefit¬
ed by it. I cannot for a moment
worry about the advent of tech¬
nology in this area of education.
We have nothing to lose and ev¬
erything to gain.”
The famed physiologist went on
to relate that the need of teachers
would not be hampered by teach¬
ing machines as many people be¬
lieve, but that instead the teacher
would devote his time and effort
"to doing what the machine can¬
not do in the way of human rela¬
tionships.” Machines to aid teach¬
ers “would relieve them of the
load of routine chores which in¬
terfere with these relationships.”
GERARD also pointed out that
contrary to what many people
think about machines replacing
workers it costs as much for
the personnel to run these ma¬
chines as it does for the machines
themselves.
“Human Values in Conflict” will be the topic discussed by
Dr. Albert Burke, well-known economist, at the Tuesday Eve¬
ning Forum April 6 at 8 p.m. in Sexson Auditorium. Dr. Burke,
who is also an expert on world affairs and a TV personality,
became nationally known through _ .
‘Write the Theme’ Contest
A cash prize of $25 is being of¬
fered to any Lancer who writes
the best fight song to be used
officially at all football games
next year. The text should have
reference to Pasadena and be
accompanied by a melody. En¬
tries should be submitted to the
commissioner of music’s office
in the Campus Center by April
16.
The educator mentioned
that teaching machines are prov¬
ing their worth, especially in the
field of reading and writing. They
are particularly good in that they
not only instruct but also record
the student’s progress and admin¬
ister examinations when the in¬
dividual student is prepared for
them.
“Potentially,” Dr. Gerard said,
“machines will be better tutors in
certain things than a human tutor
because they possess infinite pa¬
tience and they don’t threaten the
student.”
his TV series, “A Way of Think¬
ing” and “Probe.”
He speaks French, German,
Russian, Spanish, Italian, and
Bulgarian fluently and is studying
Hebrew and Arabic. He has lived
in Russia, China, Germany,
Czechoslovakia, in Latin America,
and among the American Indians.
Dr. Burke was formerly the di¬
rector of Graduate Studies in Con¬
servation at Yale University. He
received his BA at UCLA and his
PhD in international relations
from the University of Pennsyl¬
vania.
On his program, Dr. Burke will
cover a wide variety of interna¬
tional and domestic issues includ¬
ing conservation, the importance
of natural resources, air pollution,
racial discrimination, and Cuba.
However, his main objective will
be to alert the audience to the
dangers of communism and to en¬
courage them to think.
The public is invited without
charge and ample seating is avail¬
able.
ASB Officers Prepare
for Government Meet
PCC student government leaders are planning their strategy for
next month’s California Junior College Student Government Confer¬
ence in Palm Springs.
Delegates from California’s 74 junior colleges are expected to
discuss homogeneous problems and judge the merits of resolutions
passed at several recent district conferences.
THE PROGRAM will include general sessions, workshops, and
caucus meetings covering many aspects of ASB government.
Among the proposals to be settled at the conference is a JC enter¬
tainment plan originally introduced by PCC at the Area 4 district
meeting in Barstow. The resolution provides for cooperation between
California’s junior colleges to supply professional entertainment at
lowest possible cost to each school. The proposal would help to alle¬
viate the huge cost of entertainers which often exceeds the resources
of the junior college campus.
A SIMILAR plan is now being executed by the California state
colleges. An organized agency on the state college level provides
speakers and entertainers to the various campuses at lower prices.
Other systems have been operating successfully at colleges in the San
Mateo and San Diego areas.
The Barstow meeting produced several other resolutions, includ¬
ing a plan to eliminate the term “junior college.” The delegates
decided that the general apathy towards JC activities stems from
inferiority associated with the “junior college” label. The leaders
agreed that this apathy causes students to lose valuable educational
and social opportunities available in the college program.
The group, therefore, suggested that the “idea of a two-year
college consisting of the freshman-sophomore years be presented to
students in place of the degrading ‘junior college’ ideology.”
DR. ALBERT BURKE
. . . economist speaks
Rose Tournament Queen
Directs 1965 Handbook
Rose Queen Dawn Baker was
recently named editor of the 1965-
66 PCC Handbook.
As editor she will direct the
revision, organization, and publi¬
cation of the Lancer Handbook
which must be completed by this
May.
Plans are now underway to re¬
organize the clubs and organiza¬
tion section as well as the sec¬
tions on traditions and activities.
Expansion of the student govern¬
ment section, revamping of art
display and cartooning are also
planned.
Assistant editor of the publica¬
tion will be Walt Rydzewski.
Other members on Miss Baker’s
staff are Verna Folsom, art di¬
rector; Bonnie Mittler; and Steve
Scott, sports editor.
• Continued on Page Four
