PCC Courier, November 14, 1991

OPINION FEATURES SPORTS Freedom Life becomes harsh for the growing lower class Page 2 Shades of Art Student photographer captures the moments that matter Page 5 Magic Man Magic will now be great off the court Page 6 Pasadena City College Pasadena, California Vol. 74 No. 9 тае COURIER Thursday November 14, 1991 Scott seeks support of local politicians A different view Photo by Howard Burger/ The COURIER A lot of students who visit the arcade across the street on Colorado Boulevard see this view of PCC’s mirror pools, C and E buildings. Budget cuts stir AS concerns By CHRIS LANGREHR Opinion Editor In an effort to make legislators feel good about PCC and to con¬ vince them to fund growth at the cillege, Dr. Jack Scott, superinten¬ dent president has invited all the assemblymen and senators whose districts touch PCC’s to come to the campus. These lawmakers include Pat Nolan, Richard Polanco, Rich¬ ard Mountjoy, Sally Tanner, New¬ ton Russell, Art Torres and Don Ro¬ gers. This invitation comes at a period when PCC is faced with very tough times. Last year, PCC educated 1597 students for which the college did not receive any funding from the state. In addition, PCC has been unable to match the demand for college classes by people looking to upgrade their skills during the reces¬ sion and by those turned away by the CSU/UC systems. Scott, however, is very proud of PCC and feels that he can gain legis¬ lator support for the college by making law-makers familiar with what the college offers the community. “The more familiar legislators become with what we are doing at PCC, the more likely they are to fund us appropri¬ ately,” he said. Scott feels that the quality of education and the vibrancy at PCC make the college worthy of increased funding. “The new library, record enrollment, a national winning math team, our fine publications, our art programs and athletic teams demon- By EDWIN FOLVEN News Features Editor A bomb threat forced approxi¬ mately 2,000 people to be evacuated from the C Building early Tuesday morning after campus police were notified about a call that was re¬ ceived by the campus information operator. Campus police and main¬ tenance workers searched the prem¬ ises and people were allowed to re¬ turn after no incendiary device was discovered. According to campus police, an unidentified female caller phoned the operator at 8:58 a.m. and said a bomb was going to explode at 9:45 a.m. in the C Building. The operator immediately contacted campus po¬ lice and Philip Mullendore, director of campus police and safety, de¬ cided it was necessary to clear the building. After the search came up empty, people were allowed to re¬ turn at approximately 9:57 a.m. “Nothing remotely resembling a bomb was found after a 60 minute strate what a fine institution PCC is,” he said. Scott will need to gain support for PCC since the college received only $120 per student for the extra 1597 PCC students enrolled. This meant that the college had to pay the remaining cost of educating these student which is more than $2900 per student each year. In addition, PCC did not receive sufficient fund¬ ing to offset inflation. Scott will stress in his meetings with legislators that the college cannot provide all the classes that students want because of lack of funding. “The community college emphasizes teaching. The community college is the least expensive education choice for the student and the taxpayer. It is is the best bargain in higher educa¬ tion,” said Scott. All community colleges combined in California are seeking $226 mil¬ lion in additional funding for the 1992-93 fiscal year. Experts predict that Gov. Pete Wilson will again recommend that Prop. 98 be sus¬ pended. These predictions are based on California’s financial situation, which is very dire. Scott feels that cutting the educa¬ tion budget to reduce financial woes in California would be a very short¬ sighted solution to serious problems. “I think we are serving the needs of students. I think we are serving the needs of California. For every student we educate, we are making that person more likely to be a tax paying citizen. In other words, we are improving that person’s future for the state of California,” said Scott search involving many people,” said Sgt. Vince Palermo. He said staff members from facilities services were summoned to help in the search because of their knowledge of the building’s layout. The unidentified female caller announced the time the bomb was supposed to explode but hung up after she was asked where it was located. Campus police said the caller spoke in what sounded like a Middle Eastern accent. Palermo remarked on the seri¬ ousness of the incident. He said whenever a bomb threat is received, a special FBI Bomb Data Card is filled out with information about the caller and details of the call. The card is submitted directly to the FBI. Palermo said in the event an explo¬ sive device is found, the Los Ange¬ les county bomb disposal squad would be notified. Palermo said the inci¬ dents are infrequent due to the se¬ vere consequences that result. “It’s the first in almost a year.” Only two bomb threats were reported in 1990. By Chris Langrehr Opinion Editor PCC students are developing a petition which will be hand deliv¬ ered to local legislators and Gov. Pete Wilson this December. The petition is an effort to convince state legislators and the governor not to cut the education budget this Janu¬ ary. PCC is faced with more budget cuts because California has a $5 to $6 million deficit. In the past, defi¬ cits have always meant cut-offs in funding for schools. Last year, California was very close to sus¬ pending Prop. 98 which guarantees grades К through 14, 40 percent of the state budget . “PCC is faced with a budget cri¬ sis because students don’t scream loud enough for their own interests. Lawmakers figure they can take money from the education pot be¬ cause we are the last ones to make any noise. Many students are not even registered to vote. There is an apathetic environment on campus,” said John McHugh, chair of the stu¬ dent trustee committee created to tackle this issue. When the governor tried to sus¬ pend Prop. 98 last year, the school did not react strongly until the propo¬ sition was seriously threatened. “This year we are planning ahead before they even discuss education budget cuts. If legislators know students will act against them, they will not cut our funding,” said McHugh. To gather the signatures needed to endorse the committee’s letter a table will be set up in the quad dur¬ ing the last two weeks of November. $tudents will be able to sign this letter and be active participants in this campaign. This letter tells legislators how PCC is being hurt by lack of fund¬ ing. The value of community col¬ leges, which 25 percent of Califor¬ nia workers have attended at some time, is stressed. The letter also asks for more state funding. And it ex¬ plains why this additional funding is needed. Because unemployment in Cali¬ fornia is high, many people need to upgrade their skills. People who have been turned away from the CSU and UC systems are flocking to community colleges. This has greatly increased the demand for classes at PCC “It is essential for people to sign the petition,” said Barbara Wang student trustee and head of this committee. “The com¬ munity colleges desperately need more funding. If students are inter¬ ested in their education and don’t want classes eliminated, they should sign the petition,” she said. Wang is not optimistic, however, about convincing state legislators and the governor that a cut would be detrimental. “The state is going to cut the education budget. How much they cut is the question. We hope to reduce cutbacks through this move¬ ment. I don’t want to just sit back and watch them cut the budget with¬ out even frying to stop it,” said Wang. McHugh is very frustrated by po¬ tential budget cuts. “Education is a worthy cause. We are not just edu¬ cating people at PCC in math, Eng¬ lish and the sciences. If the educa¬ tion budget is cut, where are people going to go to train for jobs,” McHugh stated. He feels that those people who are locked out of job training courses at PCC because of cutbacks will go on welfare. “If a person can’t get a job, he will get welfare money from the state. The state could give him this money to get an education which would allow him to be a viable per¬ son in society.” Besides organizing a petition drive, Wang, second vice president of the California $outhem Section com¬ mission for staff and trustee devel¬ opment, has contacted about 50 stu¬ dent trustees at other community colleges to coordinate a movement beyond PCC. Wang began contacting people after receiving literature from Sac¬ ramento dated Oct. 30 on strategies for protecting the education budget. Many trustees she called had not yet received this literature which meant that they were not well prepared to discuss tactics. Wang went before the Board of Trustees Nov. 6 to present her ideas on protecting PCC funding and has consulted with Dr. Jack Scott, super¬ intent president, about budget sav¬ ing strategies. A mass mailing of protest letters to legislators is also being worked out. Wang hopes the mailing will make a difference when the budget is ratified in July. According to Wang, mass mailing is more irritat¬ ing to legislators. She is also seek¬ ing volunteers to support the peti¬ tion effort. Interested people can contact her at 585-7904 or in CC2 10. Bomb threat forces C Building evacuation ‘The state is going to cut the education budget. I don’t want to just sit back and watch them cut the budget without even trying to stop it.’ Barbara Wang Student Trustee ‘Puente:’ New English program designed to help Latinos By AMOR PADILLA Editor in Chief Two faculty members have com¬ bined their efforts to bring to PCC a new English program designed to address the needs of many Latino students. The program called ‘Puente” will be offered for the first time this Spring semester. Puente is a writing, counseling, mentoring program that has been fitted into English 100 and English 1A classes. It not only offers the support of a professor but it also offers guidance, counseling and it pairs the students with mentors. The program was created in 1981 atChabot college and is funded by the Univer¬ sity of California, the community colleges and the chancellor’s office. Kathleen Hernandez, PCC coun¬ selor, and Joseph Sierra, associate professor of English, are the driving forces behind “Puente” at PCC. Both Sierra and Hernandez will be present in the classroom working as a team. They will be instructing the same students as they progress from English 100 to English 1 A. “‘Puente’ is opened to students who would be ready for English 100 but need extra support,” Hernandez said. Both Hernandez and S ierra will select the students that really need this extra attention out of all the applicants. Emphasis is put on the student’s transfer plans. The ulti¬ mate goal of the “Puente” project is to create a “bridge” for students to transfer to four year institutions. According to statistics gathered from “Puente” students, 40 percent, who completed the program through 1986, have transferred to four year colleges. Twenty-five percent have transferred to the UC system. Sierra has observed in his English classes that many Latino students give up too soon, with “Puente,” he wants to give them back the confi¬ dence that they lost. “Students who have taken the “Puente” program felt that writing was something they couldn’t do. The class gave them confidence in their skills,” he said. According to Sierra, the men¬ toring part of the program is essen¬ tial to the rebuilding of this confi¬ dence. He is proud of the fact that the assistant city manager has volun¬ teered to be a mentor. Lawyers, filmmakers, architects and others have also volunteered to be mentors for the PCC “Puente.” Mentors are re¬ quired to volunteer from eight to 16 hours of work with the student. Ac¬ cording to Sierra, the mentor-stu¬ dent relationship will be the topic of writing exercises. Because of the extensive training process necessary to develop the course only 24 colleges have this program. Student’s interested in applying and registering in the class should contact Sierra at 585-7428 or Her¬ nandez at 585-7894 D216.