PCC Courier, May 14, 1992

4 OPINION [ FEATURES | SPORTS Government Are civic leaders looking out for the population’s interests? Page 2 Green thumb Vegetarian connoisseur shares expertise through home business. Page 5 Softball Lancer’s season ends with 1-0 loss to Long Beach . Page 6 Pasadena City College Pasadena, California Vol.74 No. 27 The COURIER Thursday May 14, 1992 Committees dictate change for the college’s future By AL SANTANA Staff Writer Long before construction of the new library began, the PCC Foun¬ dation created a special committee to secure funding from business and private corporations. The group has done an exceptional job, rais¬ ing more than $1 million for the project. The approval of a new semester calendar by the Faculty Senate Board, likely to be implemented next year, is a product of the Early Semester Committee. Committees get things done on campus. “That’s the reason for forming a committee. It chooses people ca¬ pable of doing a particular, very important job, to benefit our com¬ munity,” said Louis Creveling, PCC Foundation member who, along with 24 other members, looks for ways to ensure the growth and develop¬ ment of this college. More than 60 committees and subcommittees have been estab¬ lished on campus to carry out a variety of tasks. PCC is arranged in seven major areas, which carry out operations through their own com¬ mittee structure. Once established, the committees address their needs and attempt to find solutions for departmental problems. The President’s Advisory Com¬ mittee and the Executive Commit¬ tee report to the superintendent- president. They were created to provide educational and professional leadership to faculty, staff and students. Both committees, com¬ posed of individuals from all seg¬ ments of the campus, meet once a month. Those groups have helped determine the philosophical and educational goals of the college, according to Dr. Jack Scott, super¬ intendent-president. Another group which works to ensure quality education is the Fac¬ ulty Senate. It offers recommenda¬ tions and makes modifications in college policies. The senate’s eight permanent committees gives the faculty a voice in college decision making. To supervise and provide sup¬ port for non-credit programs at PCC , the Education S ervices depart¬ ment has created five standing committees. These committees over¬ see the radio station as well as the Community Skills Center. The most active group, the Cul¬ tural Diversity Committee, meets once a week. True to its name, this committee is composed of 20 ethni¬ cally diverse representatives. The Student Services division has crafted five committees to coor¬ dinate programs and services that offer students educational support and opportunities for personal growth. Students Services include 15 different areas. Veteran’s office, foreign student office and financial aid are just a few of the main serv¬ ices provided. One of Student Services’ most important committees deals with student’s petitions. It carries the T Long lines winding out of the D Building will be a thing of the past after the library is converted into a student services center. Plans underway for library building By EDWIN FOLVEN Editor-in-Chief Plans to remodel the old li¬ brary building to accommodate student services and administra¬ tion offices after the new library is completed have been created and are awaiting approval for state funding. Conceptual drawings have been made for the area to house many departments that are currently in the А, В, C, and D Buildings. According to Dr. James Kossler, assistant superintendent, the building will house counsel¬ ing services, registration, health and psychological services and financial aid. Business services, administration and records, stu¬ dent personnel administration and the career/transfer center will also be located there. He said the move will open space in the C and D buildings to accommodate more classrooms and offices for depart¬ ments located in the A and В Build¬ ings, which will be moved as part of the college’s master plan. “The Master Plan Committee decided what would be the best use of that facility to help the whole campus. It will provide a one stop center for students to take care of student services activities,” said Kossler. He said the move will be beneficial to students because the building is next to the Campus Cen¬ ter and closer to student activities and a large parking lot. “We put as many student services as we could get in there. It makes sense because student activities is already in the Campus Center,” said Kossler. After renovations are complete, students will do most of the proc¬ esses involved with registration at that location. Harbeson Hall, located in the north end of the library, will remain the same and may be used to accommodate students who are wait¬ ing in line. A new door will also be made on each side of Harbeson Hall to allow better access to the build¬ ing. Kossler said the $7 million reno¬ vation is currently number 159 on a list of 224 projects awaiting adop¬ tion by the state. The project was not adopted this year but Kossler ex¬ pects it will be chosen in 1993. “I’m fairly certain it will be chosen next year. It is right after the new Com¬ munity Skills Center (on the state’s list of projects).” Kossler said construction and remodeling would probably not begin until 1994. Completion of the new library is scheduled for spring of next year, but it will take several months to transfer offices and equip¬ ment from building to building. “It will take us a while to move all of the resources, they may sit there for a while.” After completion of the new li¬ brary building, many offices will be moved to that location. Plans to create a media center in the new library that will house KPCC and the Instructional Resources Cen¬ ter have already been made. If plans for the old library go ac¬ cording to schedule, the books and equipment will be moved to the new location, making room to accommodate new offices. According to Kossler, the ar¬ eas in the various buildings have been redesigned to better accom¬ modate faculty, staff and students. In the C Building, they are plan¬ ning to create a mail and repro- graghics room in the area cur¬ rently occupied by KPCC. The communications department will be moved across the hall from the present location on the ground floor of the C Building, and a costume and make-up room for the Little Theater is also planned. Several departments will be Please see Library: Page 4 New committee to review AS constitution By CHRIS CATHCART Staff Writer The Associated Students execu¬ tive board has established a commit¬ tee to review and recommend new constitutional reforms, amid pres¬ sure from active student voices who have written an alternative constitution, and hope to see it passed in a general election before the end of the semester. The AS board voted for two AS members, three students at large, and four representatives from the four largest clubs to sit on the Constitution Reform Committee. David Uranga, professor of political science, will advise the committee. The move was prompted by a united group of students who com¬ prise the Students For Constitutional Reform (SFCR). The group submit¬ ted a new, proposed constitution to the board on April 1 8, and asked for approval of a special election on the constitution by April 22. The SFCR also stated that if the election was not approved by the board, they would petition the student activities office to hold the election. (Under current constitutional law, five percent of the students, or almost 1 ,400, have to sign a petition to call for a special election.) Karen Koch, AS president, be¬ lieves that a new constitution is not a step to be taken without a lot of input. “I think it is necessary to look burden of aiding students who are transferring to a four-year institu¬ tion. That committee also prepares class schedules and admission forms. Committees made up of people who do the hiring in the commu¬ nity advise the various vocational departments about keeping the col¬ lege’s curricula up-to-date. These advisory committees meet once a year to help faculty and administra¬ tion stay on top of the changing needs in industry. They ensure stu¬ dents get the training they need to gem them hired when they leave school. Community members are also involved with other committees on campus. They are represented on PCC’s seven Foundation commit¬ tees. Grover Goyne, dean of insti¬ tutional advancement, said the standing committees are currently working on issues relating to new college facilities. “The people on those committees are concerned with the progress of the college,” he said. “Responsible Pasadena citizens who care about the college work on the foundation committees.” Another area working to benefit the college is the Administrative Services depart¬ ment, which lends support to large committees: The Master Plan Administration Committee and the Campus Computer Committee. Those groups are responsible for overseeing the current and future business and financial activities of Please see College, Page 4 Cultural leader awards honors BY ENRICO PIAZZA Staff Writer Antonia Hernandez, renown Latino leader, spoke about cultural diversity, the struggle of the Latino community and the causes of the recent riots in Los Angeles to stu¬ dents and guests during the La Raza and MEChA scholarships awards presentation last Thursday. The event, held in the Campus Center, honored the achievements of Latino students. Master of Cere¬ monies, Daniel Castro hosts KPCC’s SANCHO Show, on the air every Saturday evening. The winners of the MEChA schol¬ arships were announced. They were Alejandra Cortez, Sandra Castro, Susan Villa, and David Mota. La Raza scholarships went to Danny Garza, Jose David Lopez, Isabel M. Perez, TelmaG. Polanco, and Nestor E. Ramirez. Hernandez is the President and General Counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Edu¬ cational Fund (MALDEF). The or¬ ganization is a national advocacy group that uses the law, community education and research to protect the civil rights of the nation’s 20 million Latinos. During her keynote address, Hernandez said despite the fact that common stereotypes portray Lati¬ nos as being macho and sexist, her organization is run and governed by women. “We had a woman presi¬ dent for 17 of the 24 years of MAL- DEF’s existence. There are a lot of challenges in working at MALDEF, but sexism is not one of them.” Hernandez admitted she had de¬ luded herself into thinking that Los Angeles was a multi-cultural place. “I thought that we valued diversity, but the truth is that Los Angeles is the most segregated place in Amer¬ ica.” She stressed the fact that segre¬ gation needs to be eradicated at the roots. “I’ve been told that PCC is a ‘real community of different people,’ and I think it’s wonderful, but let me ask you: do Latinos go in with the Latinos? Do African-Americans go with African-Americans? Do An¬ glos stay by themselves? That’s not diversity. Until we learn to live, respect, and understand one another we are not going to make it.” at the constitution we have, and see where we need changes,” Koch said. SFCR member Maggie Tracey sees the new committee as a way of slowing down the process. “In my opinion, I believe it will be a stall tactic,” Tracey said. The committee held its first meeting last Monday. The commit¬ tee hopes to look at many different forms of constitutions, including the SFCR document, and make recom¬ mendations to the AS board. Cine o de Mayo nL Photo by Katrina P. Ten/The COURIER A child swings at a pinata in the Quad on Cinco de Mayo. *