PCC Courier, November 01, 2001

Don’t Drink and Drive see page 5 Vw Board of Trustee Hopefuls see page 4 Lancers on Winning Streak see page 8 > A S A D E N A C E G E COURIER Since I915 VOL. 87 N0.10 www.pcc-courieronline.com NOVEMBER 1, 2001 On Campus Fireman Relates NY Tale By Bethany Johnson Managing Editor For Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Kwame Cooper, the events of Sept. 1 1 live on. He still thinks about the things he saw and the people he met while he was in New York helping with the res¬ cue effort. He remembers their faces and the stories they told him. “This incident is not over,” he said. “In my mind, there is no clo¬ sure.” Cooper, who spoke to Gay Parker’s speech class on Oct. 25, is a native New Yorker. He flew home as part of a stress manage¬ ment team to help firefighters in the Big Apple cope with the traumatic situation of searching through the debris of the World Trade Center. “For me to go back to New York City and not recognize anything, have nothing look familiar-it took time for me to get oriented,” he said. The stress management team, which was comprised of 23 LAFD firefighters, worked 12- to 18-hour shifts listening to the New York firefighters who were working at the site of the World Trade Center disaster express their feelings. The site later became known as Ground Zero. “Our job was to have informal conversations with people,” Cooper said. “For me to talk to an individual meant so much to them. They would think, ‘Wow, that per¬ son gave me an extra lift. Now I can get back out there and dig.’” Much of the digging the rescue workers did while Cooper was in New York was by hand. For the entire two weeks, only one com¬ plete body was found. “I never thought I’d be gratified when we found a full body,” he said. “But that meant something. It still means something.” The rest of the time the rescue workers only found body parts that they tagged and sent for DNA test¬ ing. If a body part was found near fire equipment or in the stairwells firefighters use, then the rescue teams assumed the part was from a firefighter. If the teams were able to identify a firefighter when they found a body, that firefighter’s squad was called to dig their fellow crew member out. “Never before have I seen New York come together the way they have,” said Cooper. “Usually, peo¬ ple don’t speak. They say hi, but there is no real dialogue. It blew me away because everyone you met was friendly. The gratitude of the people there is tremendous.” On many occasions restaurants and shops would not accept money from the firefighters. “If we went to a restaurant they fed us for free, even if we had the intention of pay¬ ing,” Cooper said. One night a team of firefighters went out to a fancy restaurant and ran up an $800 tab. When they asked the waitress for the bill, she said there was none: a couple sit¬ ting at a nearby table had already paid for it. According to Cooper, when they asked to see the bill so that they could leave the waitress a tip, she said, “Young man, there’s Ф see LAFD, page 6 CTA's Ortell Unexpectedly Leaves PCC t Terry Ulmer/Courier © ■ © By Erin Ashby Staff Writer Pre-school kids from the Child Development Center (CDC) got their treats On Halloween along with a few tricks. They hiked around the campus in costume from building to building, attracting the atten.tion of students, faculty and staff. The CDC and Danielle Marquez, AS vice president for student services, organized the event. Instead of candy, staff and faculty this year pro¬ moted health and passed out small toys and healthy snacks. For lunch, kids enjoyed Happy Meals donated by McDonalds. Raggedy Ann, otherwise known as 4 year-old Isabella Echeverria, loaded down with pencils, crayons, plastic skeleton rings and granola bars started to get restless. She scrunched up her nose, rubbing off carefully applied face paint. “They gave me popcorn and juices and stuff!” she said excitedly. The usual suspects were represented including fairies, princesses, fairy-princesses, a few power rangers, skeletons, Piglet, Snow White and a vari¬ ety of dinosaurs. A small punk with a carefully prepared Mohawk sprayed green and pink attracted many admirers. A miniature Wolverine pointed a plastic protracted claw in his direction and shouted, “Hey! How’d you get your hair like that?” The kids weren’t the only ones enjoying the fes¬ tivities. At the Media Center, a staff member with feathery antennae and a cackling witch clutching her broom passed out boxes of stickers to the excit¬ ed children. Bonnie Shimasaki of the Learning Resources Center, sported horns and fake blood appeared to drip from her fangs, “We decorate the whole place! It’s fun! We love it and everybody responds.” She pointed to a platter bearing a large red Jcll-0 brain and a couple of lone eyeballs. The group made their way through the corridors of the C building where festivities seemed to have ended. “Hey, the C Building has no treats for us!” shouted one CDC staffer. Just then, a ehostlv bride followed bv a Cat in the Hat rushed into the hallway to help distribute small grab bags to the children. Nicki Harmon, director of the CDC, said, “The kids love dressing up and they love getting good¬ ies. Halloween will always be Halloween. They love it!” By Andrew Campa Staff Writer Ed Ortell, chief negotiator and grievance officer for the California Teachers Association’s local chap¬ ter for more than 30 years retired from his delegate and teaching positions on Oct. 18. Ortell, who taught at PCC since 1959, handed in his resignation to the board of trustees on Oct. 17. One of the few survivors of the “pro-faculty” takeover of the union last May, Ortell took everyone by surprise by leaving in the middle of the semester. John Jacobs, president of the local chapter of the СТА, said that he was out of town when Ortell handed in his resignation. “When I got back on Tuesday,” Jacobs said, “I saw the board report in my office with his retirement on the agenda. It was effective the next day. That was surprising.” Jacobs, who had heard Ortell say he might retire, was stunned with the timing. “The week before [his resignation] we were at а СТА fall workshop conference, and he said he was planning to retire,” said Jacobs. “I assumed he meant at the end of the school year.” Jacobs also said that he did not expect Ortell to just up and quit. “When somebody says they are going to retire, you just expect it at the end of year, not the next week,” Another faculty member affect¬ ed by Ortell’s absence is David Uranga, a full-time instructor of political science, who was asked to take over the treasurer duties under an interim title. “I’m a political sci¬ entist,” said Uranga. “But 1 have some friends who are accountants, and we’ll figure this out.” Uranga and his team of accountants will try to tackle the CTA’s finances, which he said were a mess. “A lot of us are learn¬ ing what has been going on,” said Uranga. “Many of us are still learning. We’re just trying to get our feet wet and get a solid foun¬ dation,” Not only will Uranga have to learn his position, but the treasurer is also responsible for submitting a budget to the president of the col¬ lege. Uranga said he would have appreciated the opportunity to pre¬ pare a budget during the summer after the elections. “Had we been able to do this in the summer after the elections last spring, we would have been able to make a smooth transition. It would have been awful nice to have been able to present a budget for the campus to Dr. Kossler.” Uranga said he was not sur¬ prised with Ortell’s resignation. “Change is good,” he stated. “Out with the old and in with the new.” Uranga said one-of his goals was to be more open about finances than was Ortell. “I want to make sure the faculty are much more aware of what their dues are used for.” Uranga also criticized what he called, “the new regime,” for wait¬ ing until the last minute to imple- Ф see ORTELL, page 4 CDC Advises the Public to Get Boosters for Flu Not for Anthrax By Andrew Campa Staff Writer Amidst concern over an anthrax outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have advised that the public should not obtain flu vaccinations to combat anthrax. The CDC’s comments are con¬ trary to television and radio stories that have advised the public to obtain a booster so they will be able to recognize anthrax from the flu. The CDC recommends flu shots to anyone at risk of catching the flu but not for those who are confused by the similarities between anthrax and the flu. Dr. Jeff Koplan, director of the CDC, has admitted that misdiag¬ noses of anthrax in Washington, D.C., have caused a panic. The misdiagnoses have led to specula¬ tion over the use of flu vaccina¬ tions to distinguish the flu from anthrax. “Are we going to miss [misdi¬ agnosis] some?” said Koplan. I’m afraid... that’s the nature of these things in general. We would like to have none missed and will do everything we can to see that none are missed, but probably some will be.” However, Koplan and the CDC have reported that flu boosters do not guarantee immunity against the flu or its symptoms. “The flu shot can prevent 70-90 percent, but not all influenza infections. The vaccine does not prevent flu¬ like illness caused by agents other than influenza.” Koplan and the CDC have also reported, “CDC does not recom¬ mend that influenza vaccination be considered as a way to avoid con¬ fusing influenza disease with sus¬ pected anthrax illness. Influenza vaccine is the primary means to prevent influenza and its compli¬ cations.” Inoculation services, which typically begin in mid-October, are offered to anyone to combat epidemics during the cold season. The CDC also reported, “influenza (flu) usually occurs from about November until April, with activi¬ ty peaking between late December and early March.” Jo Buczko, the college health nurse, recommended that students with chronic illnesses should plan time for a flu shot at the student health center. “We encourage stu¬ dents with chronic illnesses such as heart or lung disease to stop by,” said Buczko. “It’s only $8.” Kaiser Permanente, in their fall 2001 newsletter, categorized which people were at high risk for infection. Kaiser suggested that anyone with chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart or lung disease, liver or kidney disease, sickle cell anemia, cancer and alcoholism arc at risk. Also at high risk are the elderly, health care workers, adults in a chronic care facility, and women in their second or third trimester of pregnancy. The influenza vaccine, which Buczko said, “contains a dead flu virus” will not guarantee non¬ infection, but it will protect against symptoms. A student flu waiver form must be signed and read before a shot is given. The waiver states that common symptoms include “fever, chills, headache, dry cough, and muscle aches” that last from several days to a week. Buczko said that students should not allow any misconcep¬ tions or fears about needles deter them from obtaining a booster. “Students will not get the flu by taking a shot,” said Buczko. “They may get a soreness around the location of the injection, but that’s generally the only side effect.” With the fiu season fast approaching, preventative boost¬ ers like the fiu vaccination arc best administered now. “Vaccinations start at the end of October and usu¬ ally go to as late as January,” said Buczko. “ Students can stop by the health center.” However, the vac¬ cine is in limited supply. Dr. Julie Gerberding, acting deputy director of the Center for Infectious Diseases, has recom¬ mend that Americans just relax and not worry about anthrax. “I think we have to step back from this and take a deep breath,” said Gerberding. “This is4 frightening. It’s a biological attack, and we have no experience with this.” Gerberding also said, “for peo¬ ple in their homes... I don’t think they have anything to be worried about. If they want to wash their hands after they handle their mail, that’s not a bad idea for other pub¬ lic health reasons. But the impor¬ tant message is that if you see something suspicious in the mail, set it down and leave the area immediately. Contact law enforce¬ ment, or if at work, a supervisor, and get out of the exposure zone as quickly as you can.”