PCC Courier, May 05, 2005

Let’s Go Clubbing Students get involved with campus activities Page 8 May 5, 2005 pcc-courieronline.com Vol. 91, Issue 10 Going to College Just Got Tougher ■ New writing portion makes SAT more competitive. Mario Aguirre Asst. Sports Editor As high school students some of us had to worry about taking the SAT. A grueling three hours would test our skills, patience, and ability to stay focused. Now, the College Entrance Examination Board has extended the torture to a four-hour- long test with the addition of a writ¬ ing section in the new SAT. Throughout its history, the SAT consisted of two parts, each worth 800 points. Students were required to show their ability in critical read¬ ing analogies and high school mathematics. As of March, the College Board has implemented a third section that will test students’ ability to write. The writing portion of the SAT extends the already long and grueling exam to four hours. Some universities have waived the old SAT and require high school students to take the new SAT. The new SAT might cause stu¬ dents not to take the exam, or not have a high-enough score to qualify for a four-year university. It is possi¬ ble that the new exam will cause students to overflow community colleges, making it more competi¬ tive to transfer to a four-year uni¬ versity. The new SAT has other modifi¬ cations made in the math and ver¬ bal portion. Critical reading analo- SAT / Page 6 / WHAT 4 к DRIVES 1 A r “What Drives L.A.” May Events “English and Language Divisions Colloquial Series” -Today, noon - 1 p.m., K300. • “Literally Speaking: What drives L.A.?” - May 10, 1 p.m. - 3 p.m., CC Lounge. |ipj|jj • “L.A. Minute By Minute” - Early submission deadline for films is May 12 at 5 p.m. Submission fee is $5. Late deadline is May 26 at 5 p.m. Submission fee is S10. Festival is on June 9 in Forum. • “Borders of Diversity” - May 12, CC Lounge. • “Cross Out: What Drives L.A.'s Seal?” -May 12, noon-1 p.m. in K300. • “L.A. Short Story and Discussion Club” - May 19, noon-1 p.m. at Terrace Room in Library. • ‘The Sword Through the Centuries” - May 24, noon-1 p.m. in Quad. Cinco de Mayo Jesus Gomez/ Courier The Ballet Folklorico Anahuac group presented a lively Cinco de Mayo performance at the Armory Center for the Arts on Feb. 2. Similar celebrations continue around the city as part of this holiday. - Learn the history of Cinco de Mayo on page 3 - From Bad to Worse: Plans Call for Smaller Auto Shop ■Faculty upset because plans for new building will cause cramped quarters to get even smaller. Kate Murray Staff Writer PCC’s automotive technology department is boom¬ ing. With more students enrolled in the program than there have been in 10 years, the auto shop is full to the brim, and more space is needed - a lot more. Then why isn’t this program, at the peak of its success, get¬ ting more attention in PCC’s Master Plan 2010? Projects in this plan include the expansion of the music and art buildings, a new CC building, and the newly completed student parking structure. Although the agenda does contain plans for a new Industrial Technology building (dubbed “ITB”) to be completed in 2010, the auto tech department says the space in this building dedicated to their division will not be nearly large enough. “We’re getting a new building, which is great,” said Brent Thompson, a member of the ITB planning com¬ mittee who is also a part-time instructor and full-time lab technician in the auto tech program. “But we’re busy morning, noon, and night, often with two or three classes occurring at once in the same space. We want to give these students a fair shake in our pro¬ gram, and we need more space to do that.” At present, the auto tech department has one large room for auto work, and one adjoining classroom, totaling 12,729 sq. feet. The new shop, which will con¬ tain one large room and two adjoining classrooms, will be 12,773 sq. feet, just barely bigger than the cur¬ rent space. It is likely, however, that one of these new classrooms will be shared with other programs, such as the welding department, which will have a con¬ necting door to the room. So the total space dedicat¬ ed solely to the auto shop totals only 11,973 sq. feet, 756 sq. feet less than the current space. In addition, the shop will have only 11 car lifts, when 15 was the very least asked for by the auto tech staff. “It’s small,” Craig Gillingham, an instructor in the auto tech department, said of the planned area. “It’s a space, but it isn’t big enough to support even the basic program we teach at present. If we’re to expand our basic program we need at least a third more space than what they’re giving us.” Many errors were made when the original ITB plan was drawn up, including essential information like the amount of students using the automotive facility at once. In response, the automotive depart¬ ment submitted a document pointing out these mis¬ takes. “The [advisory] committee has promised its support and voice during any of the stages of plan¬ ning and construction,” the document read. “Since these are mainly local people with a stake in this com- Automotive # Page 6 PCC Students Honor Victims of the Iraq War Memorial installation raises awareness, poses questions Cristina Pena Profile Editor The misty drizzle didn’t halt the Iraq war memorial and teach-in held April 28 at noon next to PCC’s mir¬ ror pools. The peaceful display, sponsored by Students for Social Justice, challenged observers’ minds and opened their eyes through pow¬ erful voice and visuals. Planted in the grass by the still water were 1,735 stakes, each adorned with a white ribbon. These simple sentries stood silently, each one representing an American or coalition soldier who has sacrificed his or her life in Iraq. Nearby, the photos and names of the fallen gazed out from a 12-foot paper wall. Bordering the memorial, spectators could read the current facts, includ¬ ing the losses and wounded numbers from the war. Two PCC students reflecting on the faces and names believed that this was a very powerful message that hit home. Both knew friends currently serving in the military in Iraq and felt a mix of compassion and concern as reality seeped in. “We are all jaded by numbers and because of that we don’t have a true feel for the war,” said activist and participant Eowyn Williamson. “Each one of these soldiers had their own hopes, dreams, fears and family they belonged to.” Everyone was invited to take a flower and place it through the rib¬ bons or on one of the stakes if they felt moved or knew someone. PCC English instructor Robert Oventile said the rally was an effort to get out the truth, a responsibility he believes we owe our dead. The concept was inspired by Arlington West, a group of veterans who have committed their time to setting up crosses in the sand at the beach in Santa Monica each week to commemorate soldiers who have died in battle. Last year, these Veterans for Peace worked with stu¬ dents from Cal State Northridge to organize a similar visual reproduc¬ tion on campus. “I raised [the idea] with the group informally, but it’s the students’ initiative that’s most impressive,” said club adviser Roger Marheine. “Students sometimes get criticism for lack of awareness, but this is a testimony that they are con¬ cise, sincere, passionate and com¬ mitted.” Arlington West was unable to participate with PCC due to time constraints. It was then that the stu¬ dents realized they had the potential to efficiently replicate the model themselves. This event helped Williamson realize just how power¬ ful a person can be when working in a collective group. The PCC event had been under development for a year and had morphed from a protest to an educa¬ tional-inspiring theme, SSJ member Kristhy Morales said. In an effort to combine a broad range of voices and perspectives, the club sent out letters to faculty inviting them to partici¬ pate in the open microphone. Williamson said this type of partici¬ pation can be considered very per¬ sonal and risky for teachers because Memorial , Page 4 Jesus Gomez/ Courier Student Ignacio Alcala writes the name of a friend on a ribbon and attaches it to a commemorative stick to honor the memory of a friend who was lost in the Iraq war. Campus Discovers ‘What Drives L.A.’ With Array of Events Caroline Ikeji Opinion Editor From movies to traffic, sunny skies and pol¬ itics, there are many things that help fuel life in Los Angeles. All these things are being explored at PCC with various “What Drives L.A.” events as part of the campus-wide theme for the spring 2005 semester. The campus theme is a way for students, fac¬ ulty, staff and members of the community to come together and focus on various things that drive Los Angeles. Campus-wide themes have been used as other schools, and can be anything a school wants it to be. PCC followed a model popular at four-year schools. Brock Klein, “What Drives L.A.?” marketing chair, said that PCC chose the theme because it was easy to start with, but also because Los Angeles is the area we all live in and because the question “What Drives L.A.?” can be answered in so many ways. The theme gives an opportunity for instruc¬ tors to tying in the theme while teaching in their various disciplines. For example, a geolo¬ gy instructor may choose to focus on the L.A. River, a history instructor might focus on the missions and an English instructor may choose to use short stories or other works from authors in the L.A. area. The theme also offers the opportunity to see the connection of material learned in vari¬ ous disciplines, and how the material learned is related to the outside world. “It’s an opportunity to connect learning to the world off-campus,” said Klein. “It makes teaching and learning more relevant to people.” There are also various events that have been scheduled for the semester that explored on the elements driving Los Angeles. Events that have already taken place have concentrat¬ ed on women activists, murals and jazz music of the L.A. Area. Some events also invited guest speakers, such as Laila Ali, daughter of boxer Mohammed Ali. Various discussions have also been organized as part of the theme. There is still time to jump in and take part in the “What Drive L.A.” events. Plenty of events are scheduled for the month of May. Scheduled events include “L.A. Minute By Minute,” a film festival, “Borders of Diversity,” a student-led conference, and “A Sword Through the Centuries,” a fencing demonstration. Hein hopes that students will have a better understanding of Los Angeles by the end of the semester and be able to connect their learn¬ ing to the outside world. “[I hope] it will make teaching and learning more relevant to people,” he said. For more information, check out the “What Drives L.A.” website at www.pasadena.edu/wdla.