PCC Courier, May 10, 2001

City VOL. 86 NO. 29 A Different View This marks the final installment of A Different View. It's been a strange journey for our multi-award win¬ ning columnist and he has a lot of people to thank. However, good¬ bye don't mean he's gone. He's naming names and calling shots and by god, you'd bet¬ ter look out if you hap¬ pen to be sleeping with a dean. see page 2 Mother’s Day That special day for your momma's coming up. Check this out for a quick, history lesson. It's the least you could do for mommy, after all she did give you life. SEE page 4 Cool Cars It's like "Gone in 60 Seconds," but better written. Acuras, Horidas and other cars with a bunch of crazy contrap¬ tions tear up the pages of this week's issue of the 'Courier.' Gentleman, start your engines. see page 7 ! P A S A D E N A С О 1. L l; G E the Since 1915 www.pcc-courieronline.com May 10, 2001 Smart cards: a dumb idea The college junks the two-year-old Lancer Card system saying it was too costly and too difficult to use By Kevin Awakuni Courier Correspondent The PCC smart card experiment has failed. Two years and $380,000 later, the college has abandoned the Lancer Card project in favor of a simpler, pared down system. The new card will include some of the same features as the older, now defunct, model but with a few notable differences, the main one being the elimination of excessive memory capabil¬ ities. The new system will now feature magnetic strips, instead of the previously enmployed smart chip, and its five-purse memory system, which was the highlight of the former prototype. In addition to these changes, administrators also staled that they will no longer be employing CyberMark, the com¬ pany responsible for installing and maintaining the smart chip database, but rather a locally based com¬ pany called Card Integrators. Phil Mullendore, the chief of campus police, believes that these new cards will be easier to use for both students and officials. Mullendore said that with CyberMark the technology was much more complicated to use, that the downloading and prim¬ ing process was very unwieldy, as well as costly. It cost the school $6.50 for every card that was used from CyberMark, as opposed to a mere .40 cents for cards from Card Integrators. “It’s the same concept,” Mullendore said, “just considerably less complicat¬ ed and cheaper.” The previous microchip, or “smart card,” con¬ tained several different money accounts or “purses” that students were supposed to have used to pur¬ chase books, food, and parking, has now been replaced by two magnetic strips which will have only one purse. Furthermore the machines that interact with these new cards will not identify the user, but merely record the transaction. Steven Johnson, assistant dean of student affairs, said that the magnetic strips will hold money, and compared the new card system to the Bay Area Rapid Transit system (BART) installed in San Francisco, where users have a magnetic card that can record financial transactions. Students can put in a predetermined amount of money, and whatever purchases the students make will be deducted from the card. “The [magnetic] strip will work in the same way,” he said. Two years earlier, when the school announced that it would soon be switching to the card chip technology, both students and faculty roared with protests over what they considered to be a breach of see ID Cards, PAGE 5 Stressed out and only yourself to blame M all Robinson / The Courier It’s 3 a.m. and you have a final at 10 a.m. and the ticking of the clock is reminds you that you're not really getting anything done. Don’t freak out for finals Sports Coach Sandi Iverson and the Lancer softball team closed the season with gritty playoff per¬ formances. Iverson was also named Southern California Regional and SCC coach of the year. SEE PAGE 10”! By Marcela Toledo-Villegas Staff Writer After many deadlines, term papers and long nights reading textbooks, the semester is coming an end. This means that many will begin to feel the stress and anxiety of final examina¬ tions. Starling next week, a lot of stu¬ dents will be giving up watching TV, going to parties, and having fun because it is time to complete those projects that were assigned during this semester. It is also the time when students start cramming so they can pass those final exams. Similar to the stress that many experienced during mid-term exami¬ nations, many students are going to start going through it all again. Kent T. Yamauchi, assistant dean of special and psychological services at PCC, said, “Students need to realize that exams and tests are not a reflection of their intelligence or their abilities. The purpose is to determine how well they have mastered certain material.” Just in time to help students cope with exam stress, psychological serv¬ ices, student services and the health center staff will be handing out a quiz today from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. in the quad to let students know their stress level. They also will be providing information about how to deal with that stress. The AS will also be providing 10- minute massages for students who want to “De-stress,” during the “Relaxation Week” May 22-24. Massages will be offered in CC217 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. It is free to all students with an ID. They must sign-up beginning at 9 a.m. each day at the front desk .in CC203. >- see Stress, PAGE 5 Student sculpture installed at Boone Garden Aspiring artist Missa Nguyens “Foliage of the Possible” becomes the first addition to the plaza By Lisa Rodriguez Staff Writer PCC student Missa Nguyen is the first artist selected to have her work displayed in the Boone Sculpture Garden. After two years of waiting, PCC will finally place a sculpture in the garden. Nguyen won a competition spon¬ sored by the Art Division and the Pasadena Art Alliance. She was chosen from a large group of competitors from community col¬ leges throughout Southern California. Nguyen was selected by a panel of three judges to receive a S 1,500 grant and the honor of having her work dis¬ played in the Boone Sculpture Garden. The three judges were Annabelle Aylmer, gallery coordinate at Glendale College, Jay Belloli, director of the Armory center for the Arts in Pasadena, and Lea Whittington, MTA public arts coordinator. Nguyen, 33, an immigrant from Vietnam came to this country six years ago, thirsty for knowledge. She enrolled her first art I’ve known it since I was a little girl, but in my country, the concept of art is viewed very differently from this country.” Nguyen’s sculpture is called “Foliage of the sun shines beyond all boundaries, we reach out to each other to find the bet¬ ter nature in us all,” said Nguyen. Diversity and culture are the main components behind her artwork. As she explains it, “Many people helped me create these pieces. ..... _ 0.. _ Each hand is as unique as a flower, The hands of the flowers repre- js instaiiing the powerful and life giving.” sent the power of humanity. Like work now, its Part of the competition’s rules was the sun shines beyond all bound- official debut that each student has to work under aries, we reach out to each other will be Thursday, an instructor’s supervision. to find the better nature in us all.” Missa Nguyen, art student in class at PCC. Now she is in her 4th year at PCC and contin¬ ues to explore and expand her hori¬ zons in the art world. “When 1 finished high school in my country, 1 knew that I loved art. Possible." Although she is installing the work now, its official debut will be Thursday, May 24 at 2 p.m. in the Sculpture Garden. She cre¬ ated 100 flowers, - each petal made of five hands that were created from molds cast from PCC students who served as models. “The hands of the flowers repre¬ sent the power of humanity. Like the THE LOW DOWN ■ 1998: College consid¬ ers switching to Smart Cards. Я 1999: Cards issued in the spring. Я 2001: Smart cards discontin¬ ued after disap¬ pointing per¬ formance СТА, teachers squaring off Union leadership challenged as faculty mounts coup for seats By Bethany Johnson Staff Writer Anger and distrust dominated the meeting called by the group of full-and part-time faculty members challenging the ruling СТА board for control of the local chapter. At this “Pro-Faculty” meeting, teachers voiced their concerns about the communication gap between the California Teacher’s Association (СТА) and the faculty. The group of about 50 instructors was especial¬ ly worried about corruption of the election. They questioned the security of their votes and whether or not the counting would be carried out fairly. The teach¬ ers wanted to ensure that the votes would be placed in a locked ballot box. “Who has the key?" one teacher asked skeptically. The teachers decided that they should not mail in their ballots, but personally turn them in. To assure the teach¬ ers that their ballots would be fairly counted, John Jacobs, “We’re trying to represent everybody on campus, but morale and money go hand in hand.” Dr. Gary Woods, СТА president an art professor and presiden¬ tial candidate on the chal¬ lenger’s slate, offered to keep track of the number of votes turned in. Gary Woods, current СТА president and professor of business education, countered that he has repre¬ sented teachers all his life and that he took it as an affront that after all of his efforts there is still this controversy. Another major issue teachers are upset about is their salaries. “There are some internal and exter¬ nal issues,” said a female instructor. “We are terri¬ bly underpaid and underprivileged. Pay, health care, you name it. We have been left behind.” Lou Rosenburg, associate professor of English, suggested following the example of other commu¬ nity colleges that were fighting for pay increases. “Other colleges got the same response, but they >■ SEE СТА, PAGE 11 “Missa has been working very hard on it and so has every art instructor here, especially instructors Alex Kritselif and Dina Cappareli. Cappareli has been working directly with her since day one,” said Dr. Linda Malm, dean of the art division. Everyone, including the expert that was specifically brought in to ► SEE Sculpture, PAGE 11 Matt Robinson / The Courier Nguuyen instsalls the first of 100 flower molds.