PCC Courier, November 02, 1984

Queen Wins Crown on Second Try By Kim Baldridge Staff Writer Rose Queen Kristina K. Smith pictured herself sleeping out overnight on the Rose Parade route this year to get a good spot for the parade. That was before she was announced as one of the seven finalists three weeks ago. At that point she acknowledged the reality that she would actually ride in the parade, perhaps even as queen. Smith is 20 years old and a graduate of John Muir High School. After a year at Berkeley, she enrolled at PCC. She will complete her general education requirements here and then transfer to UCLA where she will major in broadcast journalism. This year was not the first that Smith tried out for the Rose Court. ‘T tried out when I was a senior in high school,” Smith said. “ It was one of those things when you come in with friends and giggle a lot and then leave.” Family and friends encouraged Smith to try again and she did. The selection process went quickly for Smith. ‘‘For the first round all I did was walk in and make a turn and say my number,” she said. “It was over so quickly.” Smith had no idea that she would be one of the lucky few chosen to return a second and third time. The interview questions did not seem to get more intensive. “I was just myself,” the Rose Queen said. “We tried to make the questions more difficult, but Kristina handled them so well she didn’t notice,” said Bob Johnson, chairman of the Queen and Court Committee. The seven-member court spent the weekend in Balboa with the Queen and Court Committee members and their wives. “We played vol¬ leyball and football,” Smith said. “We had dinner and watched movies of past Rose Queens. We relaxed and got acquainted.” The judges were looking for leadership quali¬ ties among the girls. “It was a tough decision, but Kristina stood out in a skit” which the court performed for the judges, said Johnson. She played the head judge. “They were looking for the girl next door with poise, charm, academic and speaking ability,” said Smith. “The judges weren’t look¬ ing at color, they were looking for specific qualities.” The Rose Queen, therefore, feels no added pressure because she is the first black woman to reign over the Pasadena parade. Smith doesn’t feel any added academic pres¬ sure either. “My classes are on Tuesdays and Thursdays and on Monday nights,” she said. “I have time to do my school work and my teachers are understanding if I have problems completing assignments because of official engagements.” She will attend approximately 80 events before January first. Smith didn't want to talk about the news that she had been charged with petty theft last month after an incident at Bullock's depart¬ ment store involving $21.29. Charges will be dropped after Smith participates in a day long diversion program ordered by the Pasadena court. “It has been a learning experience,” said Smith. The Tournament of Roses Association has staunchly supported Smith throughout her ordeal. When the story broke the day before the Coronation Luncheon, Association members and Smith got together and discussed the issue, according Johnson. “We discussed all aspects and possibilities. Kristina is a very honest lady,” said Johnson. “She laid the facts on. the line.” Smith had thought about relinquishing her position, but decided against it. Perhaps the most difficult job Smith had was to sit down with the members of her Court and tell them her story. According to Smith, they have been very supportive. VOL. 59, NO."j8 PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA NOVEMBER 2, 1984 All-around Course Offers Guidance Class Supportive of Re-entry Students Guidance 17 will begin its nine-week course on Tuesday evenings beginning Nov. 13. The„ course focuses on re¬ entering adults who are preparing for college transfer after a long break from education. It also addresses the problems of those who want to re-enter the job market. The students are usually in a some sort of transition. They may feel they have to develop self image and skill indentification or they may be reaching mid-life crises and need techniques to deal with stress and to develop self assertativeness said Kaylene Halberg, class instructor. The course connects students with others facing the same type problems and involves them all in an environ¬ ment of networking. Adults share per¬ sonal experiences and job market strategies. Past students are brought in to share their experiences and suc¬ cesses. Guidance 17 provides a service and is a support base for students. It offers career testing, job market information, resume writing plus locating and keep¬ ing a job. Academic advisement is also available. Halberg. who coordinates programs and counseling relating to the re-entry adult, wants students to leave the class with an awareness and appreciation of their own self worth and skills. She also wants the course to be a resource for students in terms of obtaining what, they wish to pursue. In addition to Guidance 17. there are a variety of nine-week programs avail¬ able from the English, foreign lan¬ guage and soeial science departments. These courses are offered at extended class hours, early in the morning, or latqr in the afternoon. Each of these condensed material classes averages 20 to 30 students with one instructor. Registration begins Nov. 5 and classes start Nov. 13. There is no additional registration charge for full time students who would like to pick up another class. However, stu¬ dents taking fewer than six units must pay $5 per unit. Midterms and final exams are given in the programs. Further information is available at the counseling office, (818) 578-7251, or the registration office D204, 578-7295. —Diane Braudes and Suzanne Bogosian PAST QUEEN, PRESENT HOPEFUL— Rena Smith left 1983 Homecoming Queen, waits with Mary Bizal, one of this year's seven queen hopefuls, for the traditional Homecoming Court luncheon. The new queen will be announced at torfiorrow night's Homecoming game during halftime. —Courier photo by Lorene Rosen Accreditation Team 'Gears Up' To Do Self Evaluation By Gabrielle Meindl Staff Writer Nine committees are “gearing up" to begin research for the ten-year accreditation self-study report, and student input is needed, according to Dr. Michael A. Finkenbinder, ac¬ creditation officer. The committees will gather data about the college in various areas over a period of one year. The results of each committee's find¬ ings will be compiled into an overall report and sent to the Western Associa¬ tion of Schools and Colleges (WASC) the first day of the 1985 fall semester. “The real problem at this time is getting students to serve on the com¬ mittees,” Finkenbinder said. “In order for students to volunteer, they must serve for one year. Students interested in serving on one of the accreditation self-study committees should contact Finkenbinder for further imformation. The WASC is an independent body that accredits western U.S. two-year colleges which perform at a certain level. “Accreditation guarantees stu¬ dents and taxpayers that each com¬ munity college" is doing a good job. providing students with a college level education, ” Finkenbinder said. “Without accreditation, a college could not get money from any govern¬ ment agency.” PCC has never been denied accreditation. In order for the WASC to deny accreditation to a col¬ lege " dificiencies must be so severe that it makes it impossible for the institution to deliver the educational services claimed.” Finkenbinder said. The WASC- coordinates teams that are comprised of presidents, faculty, administrators, and managers from other community colleges. The teams review the respective colleges' self- study reports and visit the campuses to verify and ask questions about these reports. PCCs team visit will take place in the first week of November. 1985. The teams make a series of recomendations about the college to the WASC, which then decides whether to renew accreditation or not. Finkenbinder said he doesn't think there will be a problem in renewing PCC's accreditation. However, there may be some serious questions directed at past recomendations. “Many past recomendations have not been followed through as much as was necessary, due to various rea¬ sons," such as insufficent finances and the changes of leadership since 1975. The library, men’s gym, and parking were mentioned in the 1975 recom¬ mendations, and “not much has been done to rectify those problems. The men’s gym. for example, is one of the oldest buildings on campus and is phys¬ ically in a horrible state. Ideally we would need a totally new facility,” Finkenbinder said. Due to the financial situation, PCC’s policy has been “as things go wrong, we repair them." he said. Regarding parking and the men's gym. Dr. John Casey, superintendent- president, said “these two areas are at the bottom of the scale” of state landing priority. “We have been work¬ ing with the city" to help alleviate the parking problem. Parking is an eternal problem with urban community col¬ leges. I don’t know if it will ever be resolved. The only thing we can do is just keep chipping away at it,” Casey said. As far as upgrading the campus library, Casey said "I'm convinced that we really should not remodel, but go for a new building. The library is the central core of the whole learning process. I would like to see the library brought from the 1950 s to the 1990's." Finkenbinder said he doubts thefe will be questions over PCC's educa¬ tional program. The creation of the PCC Foundation and the completion of the Carvel study are two significant changes which have been made since the 1975 report, ac¬ cording to Finkenbinder. The Founda¬ tion has provided a way of getting financial support for projects and pro¬ grams which can t be funded out of the regular budjet. The Carvel study pro¬ vided an extensive analysis of PCC's educational program. “I think we can point to those with some pride,” Finkenbinder said. Although PCC's deficiencies are “mainly old problems,” Finkenbinder s.aid, the deterioration in up-keep and maintanance may surface as a concern of the 1985 accreditation team. Casey said, however, he hopes to have the maintanance problem solved by then. Another weak area at PCC, accord¬ ing to Finkenbinder. is instructional research. “We don't have data on what happens to students once they leave,” he said. Because the state is now asking for more accountability of stu¬ dents at the community college level, he said he feels strenghth in this area is needed. According to Finkenbinder, there will be pluses and minuses in the self- study. but none serious enough to deny accreditation. “The purpose of the self-study is to help us identify our weeknesses. We have taken the position not to cover up any of our weaknesses, but rather, lay them out so that we can deal with them,” Casey said. News Briefs College Information Day will be held Wednesday, Nov. 7 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the Quad. Fifty colleges will be represented including state colleges, universities and independent colleges. Students may talk with repre¬ sentatives from the transfer colleges of their choice and obtain brochures and booklets on specific programs. The event occurs only once a year. An Honors at Entrance scholarship has been established to aid freshmen who are enrolled in their first semester at PCC and who had a 3.5 GPA at graduation from high school. Every student who meets this criteria and is enrolled in 12 or more units may apply and receive $150 to spend at their discrection. Applications must be filled out in the records office by Monday, Nov. 5. The Original Dapper Dan Ski Club will meet on Tuesday in R122 at which time $50 deposits are due for the Utah ski trip during Thanksgiving. Media Room , MDX 6 Computer Aid Students, Instructors; Color Video Cameras on Order; Drafting Class Underway New Drafting System Bv Jesse Santillan Staff Writer The engineering and technology de¬ partment recently acquired an MDX 6 Computer Aided Drafting System. The system is the basis for the new Computer Aided Drafting and Design Course (C.A.D.D. ) offered as a fourth semester class. “A student should know the principles of drafting and how to use the traditional drafting machine and hand tools such as trian¬ gles and T-squares before learning the computer which is just another tool,” said James Bowers, C.A.D.D. instructor. In addition, an evening class of competent professional draftsmen from outside the college uses this opportunity to change from drafting by hand to computer drafting meth¬ ods. The professional draftsman must understand drafting communication and format to be eligible. The $60,000 system was purchased with funds from the Vocational Education Act (V.E.A.). The V.E.A. fund was established bv the federal government for vocational education. With the aid of the computer sys¬ tem, students can closely check their work by zooming in or out to make needed corrections. Students may edit work with the computer’s ability to delete entities and symbols individ¬ ually or by region. The system also rotates, scales, moves, or mirrors the project for viewing at any angle. Thus, the time completion factor can be cut by one tenth to one half depending on the operator’s skill. “As of now, we are the only com¬ munity college in the area with a computer system of this size and power. Most colleges are using the more popular desk-topcomputers such as Apple, which is very slow by comparison,” Bower said. Another capability of the system includes an advanced design plotter with the ability to draw finished lines at 16 inches per second with accuracy to one one-thousandth of an inch. It can also quickly overlay a line draw¬ ing with the maximum possibility of 100 layers into two or three- dimensional figures. . . Room Important Tool By Lorene Rosen News Editor Two remote controlled color video cameras are on order to replace worn-oul cameras in D104. “With age and use. our old cameras developed lag. color drifting and video noise in the picture,” said Robert B. Miller, assistant dean of instruction-learning resources. Since its inception eight years ago as an evaluation facility for teaching COMPUTER EASE — The new $60,000 computer drafting system for the engineering and technology department can cut students' production time by half. —Courier photo by Don Plummer UNDER CONTROL— John Gilbreath, supervisor, controls the audio board in the mediated classroom. — Courier photo by Mike Luna performance, the mediated room functions expanded steadily. As one example, “Our classroom became an integral part of the communication department” and an important tool in many other areas, said John P. Gilbreath, instructional resource cen¬ ter supervisor. “As the quality of our equipment decreased, so did the use of the classroom," 'Miller said. The admin¬ istration agreed that the value of the mediated facility to students and staff warranted the expenditure, he said. “Many instructors have learned how easy it is to schedule and bring a class in for taping. No set-up time is required and one person can handle lighting, audio and video from a sepa¬ rate control room,” Gilbreath said. Since the cameras hang from the ceiling, they can pan, tilt, focus and zoom to record classroom events without disturbing the instructor or students. One essential function of the medi¬ ated center involves self-evaluations, Gilbreath said. For instance, busi¬ ness, nursing, dental, and sign-lan¬ guage classes come to tape mock interviews including dialogue with patients or signing lessons. Students discover how they appear to others and instructors can use the tapes, at their convenience, to assess student progress and performance. Producing in-house instructional media is another valuable function of this room, said Gilbreath. “Taping cuts down man-hours for demonstra¬ tion purposes and is very cost effec¬ tive. By adding tapes to our library of expert lecturers who speak here, we avoid purchasing a $400 film on each subject.” The new cameras should be in use by spring so we can continue expand¬ ing our services. KPCC and telecom¬ munications will also be able to share our facilities to ease the strain on their own equipment, Gilbreath said. VIDEO WATCHER — Oscar Chavez, instructional material tech¬ nician, operates video cameras without classroom interference. — Courier photo by Mike Luna