PCC Courier, May 18, 1989

COURIER PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA Theater Review: ‘Shadow Box’ ‘Oklahoma!’ see page three MAY 18, 1989 Employees Can IMow Park on Campus for Credit 162 More Rideshare Vehicles Needed To Comply With State Regulations , Achieve Ridership Goal By Margie Goodhart Editor-in-Chief Three rows of spaces have been reserved in back of C Building for faculty, staff and administrators who arrive on campus between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. with more than one person in the car. The college is attempting to increase carpooling in order to comply with the Southern California Air Quality Management District ruling which states that all institutions with 100 or more employees arriving during certain morning hours must achieve a ridership goal of 1 .5 people per car. PCC has an average vehicle ridership of 1.04. In order to achieve the ridership goal, the 32 rideshare vehicles now ar¬ riving in the morning hours must be increased by another 162 rideshare vehicles. Implementation began last Monday with two rows blocked off for ride- sharers. By Tuesday word was spread¬ ing and another reserved carpool row was added. “I understand it’s picking up,” said Parking Officer Marjorie Harris, who guards the reserved spaces. “We’ll keep expanding the spaces as the need picks up.” Harris explained that each time staff members carpool between May 15 and Sept. 9, they receive a slip of paper which states, “ Congratulations ! By carpooling today you have earned one credit toward a free parking permit for next semester." Ten credits earn the driver a free parking permit in the fall. Another incentive being offered to ridesharers is a free spring 1990 park¬ ing permit to those who carpool 35 times during the fall semester, or twice a week. Ridesharers who have a “legitimate emergency” during the day will be transported to their destinations by a free taxi service, said Dr. James Kossler, assistant superintendent for administrative services. In addition, incentives being offered include subsidized monthly staff bus passes at $20 a month and free parking passes for employees who can show they used a another method of transpor¬ tation for the same number of days re¬ quired of the ridesharers. Other alternatives being explored by the administration are the use of after¬ noons to offer a full instructional progam. The college may purchase vans for employee vanpooling. And finally at the recommendation of the SCAQMD, parking fees may be raised for those who continue to ride alone, according to a memo to all staff from Kossler dated May 4. Kossler pointed out that the rideshare program was initiated at the end of the semester when parking is not as much of a problem. In the fall, park¬ ing spaces will be at more of a pre¬ mium. While the timeline is not clear, PCC has approximately 12 months to com¬ ply with the SCAQMD before a $25,000-a-day fine could be enforced. “We’re pleased that there has been a positive reaction to the new carpool lot,” said Kossler. “I have heard that a number of people are trying to arrange partners.” Credit Union Available to Students Variety of Banking Services Offered Today in Quad By Tim Frank Associate News Editor For the first time ever, full-time PCC students can now become members of the Pasadena School Employees Federal Credit Union. Members of the credit union staff will be at a table in the quad from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. today to answer ques¬ tions and help students become mem¬ bers. The credit union is a co-op bank. It offers the same services as a regular bank, checking and savings accounts, loans, ATM cards and travellers checks. What distinguishes the credit union from a regular bank is that its customers are its owners. They elect the credit union’s governing board and ms* щ , i m _ _ ; , gillgi } OMD Applications Omicron Mu Delta (OMD) is currently accepting applications for students interested in being inducted as an OMD member this June. OMD honor students have distinguished themselves by sharing their time and talents with persons or programs where there is a need. Applications are available at the Information Center in C Building. AGS Sink-a-Scholar Alpha Gamma Sigma (AGS) will hold its annual fundraiser Sink-a-Scholar today in the PCC swimming pool from 1 1 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students, college employees and members of the PCC community who agreed to jump into the pool well-dressed if a specified amount of money is raised in their name will take the plunge. To sink a student requires $15. To sink a college employee requires $20, and $50 is required to sink a community person. AGS uses the funds to finance scholarships. This year the organization wishes to raise $2,000 to top last year’s $1.200. Skills Center 5k The Community Skills Center is having their Sixth Annual 5k Run. The run will be in the area surrounding the Rose Bowl. It will start at 8a.m. near the Rose Bowl’s gate “B”. All runners and walkers will be timed. There will be trophies awarded to the first male and female that finish the race. Medals will also be given to the first three finishers in each division. Other prizes will also be available. The race fee is $12. Arts Council Awards At the recent Gold Crown Awards Banquet sponsored by the Pasadena Arts Council, PCC was well represented. Professor Suzanne Bravender received the Arts in Education Award. Two students received scholarships for Achievement of Excellence in the Arts, they are, Kireilyn Barber (visual arts) and Amy L. Kim (literary arts). Shine Up the Brass The music department will be offering a free evening of brass music tonight in Harbeson Hall. The Brass Quintet, Brass Ensemble and the Tuba Ense¬ mble will all perform. The music begins at 8. Rumba Tocaba The Afro-Cuban Drum and Dance troupe Rumba Tocaba will be performing as part of the Black Culture Week activities on campus. They will perform Saturday night, May 20 from 7:30-9:30. The group will be in the U Building Forum. This event is being sponsored by the EOPS office, the Association of Black Employees, the Black Students’ Union and Cameroon Arts. Summer in Oxford Those interested in going to England this summer with the study abroad program can still sign up for the second session. English 5A and 5B are still open until June 1. the second session is from July 20 through Aug. 10. For more information or to make a deposit, go to C209, or call 578-7203. share the benefits of the business, high rates of return on deposits, low interest rates on loans and inexpensive banking services, said Lowell Stevens, an ac¬ countant for the credit union. Once a year, the members vote to elect 50 percent of the board members to two year terms. Every account gets one vote regardless of how much money is in it. Student members will have the same rights as all current members. Students will get to vote and will be eligible for all of the same services as other mem¬ bers except automatic payroll deduc¬ tion, automatic deposit and other ser¬ vices which must be arranged with the member’s employer. The Credit Union has not agreed to make any arrange¬ ments with any employer besides the school system. Among the services the credit union offers its members is a free checking account with no minimum balance, an interest- bearing checking account with a minimum balance of $200, and a pass book savings account with rates among the highest available, said Lowell Stevens, an accountant with the credit union. The credit union offers certificates of deposit (CD) with a minimum deposit of $500. Their CD with a three month minimum period pays 8.42 percent. By comparison Bank of America requires a minimum deposit of $2,500 and only pays 7.75 percent on a CD with a three month period. The credit union is as good a place to borrow money as to deposit it, said Stevens. Interest on car loans is as low as 8.4 percent. Credit union home loans too are cheap. Though most students are not in a position to buy a house yet, if they join the credit union, they can remain members for life if they maintain an account. The low rates are possible primarilly because the credit union does not have to make a profit and to a lesser extent because the credit union members are more responsible then the average per¬ son, said Stevens. One teacher, worried that students would take out loans they could not repay, wondered whether the credit union would be able to maintain its favorable rates if the students are allowed to join. Stevens said that he doesn't expect a significant change in the default rate, the ratio of bad loans to good loans. “Remember that the average age of Pasadena City College students is around 25 years old. This is a more responsible population than you would find at most colleges,” he said. To be eligible to join the credit union, students must be taking 1 2 units. To join the credit union, students fill out an application, take that application to admissions and records to get official verification that they are in deed full time students, then take that application to the credit union. For more information students may call (818) 351-9651. Will Lester / The Courier This parking lot east of C Building, reserved for carpoolers, had 16 cars Monday morning. As of yesterday morning, 36 cars were parked in the reserved lot. This means 18 more spaces were available on campus. One-day Workshop to Deal with Intercultural Teaching Techniques By Michael Rocha Staff Writer In response to the growing number of Asians in the Pasadena Unified School District, the California Humanities Project Regional Center (CHPRC) is sponsoring a workshop en¬ titled “Intercultural Teaching: The New Asian Student” in the Circadian May 20 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. PCC is one of four colleges that houses CHPRC. The other three are UCLA, Cal State Los Angeles and Cal State Dominguez Hills. “The workshop acquaints the teachers with the culture and background of the various Asian groups,” said Kathryn Dabelow, professor of social sciences and direc¬ tor of the PCC branch of the CHPRC. “As you know, Los Angeles is a melting pot for Asians,” said Susie Ling, temporary instructor of social sciences and one of the teachers con¬ ducting the workshop. Asians include many cultural groups. “There are Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos and many others. There is a great diversity in the Asian culture. Through this workshop, we in¬ tend to teach teachers how to be sensi¬ tive to the needs of each group.” New immigrants in each cultural group re¬ quire different teaching methods. Through this class, the workshop participants will learn the historic background of each of the Asian Pacific groups. Ling and Karen Holger- son, associate professor of English, will provide vital information teachers need to improve their teaching methods. They will provide informa¬ tion such as population, demographics and traditions of certain groups. “Our goal is to teach them why Asians are here and who they are,” said Ling. Some people say that being sensi¬ tive is being stereotypic, she said. “But that isn’t so. One can be sensitive and not stereotypic. “We hope that through the workshop, the teachers will learn the right ways to deal with various Asian problems,” said Ling. Asian problems vary from language disabilities to racial tension. For example, the problems of the Vietnamese are different from those of the Chinese. “How do you expect a group of people who grew up in the presence of war to immediately adapt to a new culture. The Vietnamese have different needs,” said Ling. By defining the Asian culture. Dabelow said, teachers will learn ways of teaching a new immigrant and a sixth generation Asian American. “There are myths of similarities bet¬ ween these two groups. Asians are stereotyped as very studious students. Therefore, teachers expect more from them,” but it shouldn’t be that way, she said. “The way a student functions in the class is affected by the teacher's expec¬ tations,” Dabelow added. Historic and contemporary demographic patterns will also be taught to help teachers understand the direction of the Asian culture. “Teachers should know the challenges of adaptation and language problems that an Asian Pacific student may en¬ counter. The student is usually being torn between two different cultures,” said Dabelow. Harry Kawahara, counselor and associate professor of counseling ser¬ vices, will facilitate the problem solv¬ ing area of the workshop. “We will try to share different strategies” and use role playing to show the participants “how to approach the teaching of Asians.” Tickets are $35, lunch included. More information can be obtained at (818) 578-7009. Team Finishes Third New Mathematics Team Is More Than The Sum of Its Many Winning Parts When most people think about PCC competition in the academic arena, they would think of the debate team, but that could soon change. PCC also now has a crack mathema¬ tics team. That’s right, mathematics team. The results are just recently in on a nationwide competition that the team took place in. The five- person team finished third in the nation. They also placed two members in the top 10 in¬ dividuals in the nation. There were 60 Community Colleges in the competition, that amounts to about 700 students, says Mathematics Associate Professor Richard Cham¬ berlain. This is also the first year that PCC has entered this contest. Chamberlain says he is, “quite proud of the results,” he adds, “we have some very sharp people.” Chamberlain however, doesn’t take full credit for the teams’ winning ways. He says that he merely got the team together and got things rolling. “We hope next year to work with them a little bit more to get them prepared for the type of questions they’ll see.” said Chamberlain. In this competition, the students are given a set of problems to complete. The problems are sent into a central place to be tabulated. There are three parts of this contest, one was held in November, another in December and the last part in February. Several students did compete in all three parts, but the top five comprise the team. This years team was Tuan Ngyuen, Hon-Man Law, Hui Tan, William Chen, Randolph Cooper and Trinh Ngyuen. The two mathematicians that finished in the top 10 wereTuan Ngyuen (sixth) and Hon-Man Law (tenth). Chamberlain says there will definately be a team next year and, he hopes, in years to come. He adds, “It’s a good experience.” — Keith Foster Leis, Former PCC Counselor, Dies at 88 By Tim Frank Staff Writer Former PCC teacher and counselor Dr. Ward W. Leis died recently at 88. Leis was born on a farm in Ohio in 1900. Twenty-three years later he gra¬ duated Phi Beta Kappa from Ohio State University. He then went to USC where he earned a master’s degree and doctorate in education. He moved to Pasadena in 1930 and lived here until his death. Leis taught and counseled at PCC from 1947 to 1956 when he became Supervisor of Guidance and Counsel¬ ing for the Pasadena Unified School District. During Lies tenure at PCC, each of his three children, Donald , Dorvin, and William attended and graduated from PCC. Donald remembers taking a class that his father taught, “he did not give anything away. I had to work for what I got.” The class Donald took from his father, vocational guidance, is one his father was instrumental in developing. Julie Lies, Donald’s daughter, is now enrolled in the same class. She is a sophmore at PCC with no declared ma¬ jor. Leis and his wife, Susan, also tra¬ veled throughout the world, visiting 58 countries. “Whatever country he visited, when he returned he would say that nothing could compare with America,” Donald said. Dr. Ward W. Leis