PCC Courier, November 14, 1996

NEWS/ FEATURES SPORTS/ FEATURES SPORTS English professor Ron Koertge shares his insights about the art of writing ‘CONFESS-O-RAMA’ is his latest novel and the eighth he has published for young adults. 2 Both men's and women's basketball teams begin season with high hopes Donna Gordon and Jared Frey will lead teams this season following their succesful freshman year. 3 Lancers beat San Diego Mesa 54-26 last Saturday Playing in their last home game of the season and their last game at Horrell Field. The football team wins No. 2. THURSDAY November 14, 1996 http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1560/ Farewell Horrell: Field will be replaced BY ALEX VALLADARES Courier Staff Writer Jeriy Todd has been attending football games at Horrell Field for more than 45 years. As “The Voice of the Lancers,” he has been the public address announcer for PCC football games for 35 years. He also serves as the time keeper for the local high schools that played their foot¬ ball games at Horrell Field. Last Saturday, Todd, along with more than 150 fans, watched the PCC football team defeat San Diego Mesa, 56-26, in the last ever home game to be played at Horrell Field. “It’s sort of bitter sweet,” said Todd, who coached football at Pasa¬ dena Junior College from 1954-1959. “We love to have the new facility, but at the same time, you hate to see the tradition and all the great things that happened on the field in the past go by the boards.” Horrell Field will by torn at the end of the semester in order to start construction of a new field which is part of the college’s $100 million master plan. The master plan was unveiled by former PCC president Dr. Jack Scott in 1987. That same year the Board of Trustees approved the plan. State funding for the com¬ plex was approved with the passage of bond measure 1C last year. The master plan not only calls for a new football field, but also a new Physi¬ cal Education facility with a new gymnasium. The field was named in honor of the five Horrell brothers, who starred on Pasadena High School athletic teams at the old Pasadena Junior College campus from 1905-1924. The most famous of the five brothers SAMUEL HERNANDEZ / THE COURIER Horrell Field, which hosted 71 years of football, will be torn down to make way for new athletic complex. was Edwin C. “Babe” Horrell, who was considered one of the greatest prep football players in California high school history. He was selected to the All-State team four straight years. In 1 924, while at the Univer¬ sity of California, Edwin was se¬ lected by Walter Camp to the All- America team. He was the second Pacific coast man to make the All- American first team. Many great players have played at Horrell Field over the years. From the great Jackie Robinson in 1 93 8 to Hollywood film star Nick Nolte in 1961 to the Denver Broncos An¬ thony Miller in 1 985 and the Buffalo Bills running backDarickHolmes in 1991. “There’s a lot of tradition on this field,” said former head football coach and current men’ s tennis coach Myron Tarkanian, who coached the Lancers last undefeated team, 10-0- 1, in 1974. “I remember riding my bike down from the hills in northern Pasadena every Saturday morning in the 50s to watch the PCC football team practice.” Athletic Director Skip Robinson also knows Horrell Field very well. He played football at Horrell at the junior high, high school, and junior college levels “A lot of great memo¬ ries have been generated from this field,” said Robinson, who was an All-American defensive back on the 1966 team that won the Western State Conference title. The last bowl win for PCC was the Rose City Classic which was held at Horrell Field in 1992. The Lancers defeated College of the Desert, 28-27, and game MVP hon¬ ors went to quarterback Ed Hervey, who was a member of the 1996 Super Bowl Champions Dallas Cow- Please see HORRELL , page 4. . - - ■ Cafe/ Supreme takes over food service BY JULIE DRAKE Courier Staff Writer The next time you grab that quick bite to eat before class, it might take longer than expected to make your choice. As of Tues¬ day, Cafe’ Supreme has taken control of food services on cam¬ pus for the remainder of the aca¬ demic year. The new company brought with them a variety of novelty foods and beverages and more selections to boot. The Naked Foods coolers are stocked withfreshfruitjuices such as carrot, apple banana coconut, tropical smoothies, soy drinks and orange juice. Students, faculty and staff were able to sample the drinks for free on Tuesday and can look forward to free samples of new foods as they are introduced. Cafe’ Supreme will increase the number of foods offered on a gradual basis as they determine what students want and eliminate the un¬ popular items. For those who seek the exotic, sushi will return some time in the future. Professional Food-Service Man¬ agement, Inc., the former company in charge of all food services, de¬ cided to end its contract with the college prematurely, with about two years remaining. PFM cited finan¬ cial reasons as to why they left, but there had been criticism of their han¬ dling of catered affairs, something they were not equipped to do prop¬ erly. “There will be some changes. We’re going to add fresh salads and we’re thinking that we may expand the oriental line. There won’t be a noticable change at all. The person¬ nel is pretty much the same, the food is the same and prices are the same. Students will just see additional prod¬ ucts,” Kieth Edelen said, former director of food services for PFM who remained to work for Cafe’ Su¬ preme under the same title. Cafe’ Supreme is a unit of Su¬ preme Catering Corporation, which is better equipped to handle catering demands. Owner Irv Haimowitz, who said the transition has been going well, confirmed that Taco Bell will re¬ main. At first it was unclear if Taco Bell would remain but Haimowitz said problems with switching ac¬ counts were worked out and it opened yesterday. “I and others have been really happy. The presentations have been beautiful to look at but even more than that the food has been really good,” said Stephen B. Johnson, as¬ sistant dean of student affairs. Cafe’ Supreme will host an offi¬ cial grand opening the first day of the spring semester to introduce them¬ selves to students, faculty and staff. Don Williams, a former cor¬ porate chef with 20 years experi¬ ence oversees the catering aspect of the food operation. He created an ice sculpture of the London Bridge for a faculty mixer and has a wide range of ethnic cui¬ sines he is able to prepare. “We are experimenting with different foods and options and look foward to offering a better selection for breakfast and hot foods in the annex,” said Williams. Williams stressed that any changes Cafe’ Supreme is look¬ ing to make will not happen right away. For instance, longer hours in the Checkers Lounge are on the agenda but most likely will not happen until next semester. “We do need time to assess the situation to make sure it is the right decision. These changes will not happen overnight,” Williams said. Revolutionary scholar speaks on Afrikan history and its world influence BY RACHEL URANGA Courier Staff Writer “Black history begins with the slave trade.” At least that is Hollywood’s portrayal of history, Runoko Rashidi, an author and revo¬ lutionary scholar said in a presenta¬ tion at the cross cultural center at noon Nov. 5. Titled Ancient Afrikan Explora¬ tion of the World, his talk was spon¬ sored by the Black Student Alliance. Flashing images from antiquity to the present of Black men and women all over the world, Rashidi jour¬ neyed through the history of Blacks. Highlighting the vast achieve¬ ments and contributions Rashidi ex¬ amined Black history spanning form the ancient Egyptian dynasties to the present. Pictures of sculptures and pyramids from ancient Egypt set the backdrop as he delved into African history. Egypt lies in Africa, in what many call the Middle East said Rashidi, emphasizing that the Middle East is a geo-political term. Egypt is a part of Africa, a motherland to Blacks, a point Rashidi views as all too often forgotten. Despite the achievements so ap¬ parent in Ancient Egypt, there is a failure to credit Blacks for their vast contributions. “ Nobody argues if Romans are European,” said Rashidi. Yet somehow there is a need to prove and justify that the Egyptians are Africans. This gives the effect of putting Blacks on the defensive, he said. “ This is nothing but White supremacy in academia.” Africa, for many, conjuresup false notions of a primitive, violent land. Ignorance and delusions of Black history foster the misconceptions of Africa as somehow a barbaric land, when in actuality, its civilization predated European civilization, he said. “ There are many lessons we can derive form Ancient Egypt, But history is not taught that way,” he said. Today, there is little awareness of the social and cultural influence of Africans. Distorted views of Africa come from consciously skewed his¬ tory lessons, asserts Rashidi. “Slaves did not come from Africa, Africans come from Africa, taken against their will.” An atrocity Rashidi said, “that parallels or surpasses the Ho¬ locaust.” Rashidi chronicled anEgypt more advanced than the civilizations that followed. Equality among the sexes allowed Queens to rule next to or over Kings. Females were not sub¬ ject to male domination. The first system of writing, hieroglyphic, emerged out of Africa, he added. “This is not a land of savages, but a high tech society,” a place where methods to deal with stress and health evolved. An international lecturer, Rashidi has spoken in nine countries on African history. His book, Af¬ ricans Presence in Early Asia, along with the ideas he spreads shatter any myth of a tribal Africa. Proposition 209 should not dissuade transfer students By DOUGLAS WILKIE Courier Staff Writer In this post-Proposition 20 9 envi¬ ronment at PCC, college staff like Ana Ogaz are concerned that stu¬ dents might be getting the wrong message regarding their transfer op¬ portunities to four-year colleges and universities. Ogaz, counselor to both transfer students as well as students partici¬ pating in the Puente Project, wants to get the word out to eligible transfer students that they should not be dis¬ couraged by a continual media bar¬ rage, much of which seems to sug¬ gest that minority students will fare less well without affirmative action. “Our message to PCC students has always been proactive by en¬ couraging students to apply,” Ogaz said. “November is an important month because that’s the time for eligible students to meet with both PCC counseling staff and represen¬ tatives from the University of Cali¬ fornia, as well as private institutions. We don’t want the post-209 hype to discourage them.” Ogaz pointed out that, as a result of a Board of Regents action last year, race and gender would no longer be factors for admission to the UC beginning in the spring of 1998. “Proposition 209 simply moves up that date up to the fall of 1997,” she observed. Transfer applications for Califor¬ nia State University and the Univer¬ sity of Southern California, as well as UC, are available at the Transfer Center in D200. Application work¬ shops, including step-by-step instruc¬ tion on completing transfer applica¬ tions for those institutions and others are already underway. Interested students are encouraged to contact the center at 585-7287. “PCC counselors simply want to get the message out for students to take advantage of these services in spite of Proposition 209,” Ogaz added. In her capacity as the PCC couselor forthe Puente Project, Ogaz wanted to clarify what she said had been a misstatement of fact con¬ tained in a letter to the editor which appeared in the Oct. 3 1 issue of The Courier. That letter, signed by Ogaz along with a number of faculty, staff and students, suggested that Puente, along with other programs designed to prepare students from specific ethnic groups for transfer to four- year institutions, were in danger of extinction under Proposition 209. “Because of a court case filed last year in which a female Caucasian student alleged reverse discrimina¬ tion at San Bernardino Valley Col¬ lege, the Puente Project amended its charter to conform to new criteria approved by the Chancellor’s'office last August,” she stated. “Although Puente has historically provided out¬ reach and support to Latino students at some 38 different community col¬ leges, the program does not exclude anyone based upon race or gender.” Ogaz suggested that some dire predictions, suggesting up to a 70 percent reduction in the number of “underrepresented” students at UCLA and Berkeley, might be ex¬ aggerated. “The media should educate the public on how these changes will actually affect the UC admissions process,” she emphasized. “Hope¬ fully, the system will not experience a significant decrease in applica¬ tions from transfer students I still consider to be numerically underrepresented: African-Ameri¬ cans, Latinos and Native Ameri¬ cans.” Richard Atkinson, president of the University of California, di¬ rected the UC campus chancellors that admissions decisions would no Please see PROP. 209, page 2. •WHAT A REFRESHING EXPERIENCE Donald Brinegar, music professor, got soaked to raise funds for AGS. The event will take place at noon today in the Quad. t