«
lb
л
• S,
P a s a d e n a
City
College
Since 1915
VOL. 86 NO. 14
www.pcc-courieronline.com
November 30, 2000
. ■ j
1
Briefly
ш
AS member quits
Lina Chai, vice president of
public relations is stepping
down. Chai announced her
resignation, effective Dec.
19 at 4 p.m. in a formal let¬
ter addressed to colleagues
and the student body. A
member of the honor socie¬
ty Alpha Gamma Sigma,
Chai said she is leaving to
attend Art Center College
of Design in Pasadena in
the spring.
ш
New play debuts
this Friday
The theater department is
getting ready to raise the
curtain on its second pro¬
duction this semester.
“Daddy’s Dyin’ (Who’s Got
the Will?)” is directed by
Whitney Rydbeck and
opens tomorrow at 8 p.m.
and again on Dec. 2 at 2
and 8 p.m. It will also run
Dec. 7-9. Written by Del
Shores, “Daddy’s Dyin’
(Who’s Got The Will?)” will
be held in the Little Theater
in C106. For more informa¬
tion, contact the box office
for times and reservations
at (626) 585-7485.
ш
Flea market is
this weekend
Bargain hunters are getting
ready to descend on PCC
for this weekend’s Flea
Market. From 8 a.m. to 3
p.m. thousands of people
will scour the monthly
event looking for that per¬
fect Christmas gift, birthday
present or personal treat.
m Web Extra
The student body at PCC
reflects the changing demo¬
graphics in the state. For a
look at the changing face of
the college, log onto
www. pcc-courieronline.com
for the exclusive story.
Inside
■ Jon Heller tackles
pregnant chads,
Dubya and the
never-ending presi-
dential ballot
recount.
page 2
• Ever wonder what
makes good pom?
The “Courier”
knows and well tell
you.
page 6
■ The mens basket¬
ball team is embar¬
rassed and treated
like a red-headed
stepchild by Snow
College in Utah.
- page 8
Controversial lantern festival
gets scrapped at last minute
By Kristen Glover
Entertainment Editor
The Asian Lantern Festival,
which was supposed to occur
tomorrow, has been cancelled.
The festival was not approved to
be an on-campus activity and
won’t be approved any time
soon. Although Stephen
Johnson, assistant dean of stu¬
dent affairs, said the event could
be approved for a future date.
At press time, organizers of
the event said they would be on
campus Friday night telling any¬
one planning to attend the festi¬
val that it was cancelled.
Performers who have already
agreed to attend the festival on
Friday will be informed of the
cancellation.
Loh refused any further com¬
ment regarding the festival.
Raymond Puchot, speech
instructor and adviser to the
Asian Student Coalition (ASC),
expressed to the AS yesterday
that he feels that Loh is being
unfairly and unnecessarily criti¬
cized for his work on the proj¬
ect.
The associated students (AS)
executive board meeting on Nov.
22 was one of the most well
attended and controversial meet¬
ings of the semester. Daniel Loh,
AS president, once again put
Asian Lantern Festival budget on
the agenda to seek board
approval. After much discussion,
the measure died by a lack of a
motion.
The budget asked for $3,000
from the AS. Bruce Mayhill,
associate chief justice, said the
budget couldn’t have been
approved during that meeting
because there was not a specific
line item for each amounts
requested.
The drama at the meeting
started as soon as the item came
up for discussion. When Loh
informed the board that Clifford
Law, Asian Student Coalition
president, would be making all
proposals and answering all
questions, George Magdaleno,
vice president for internal affairs,
walked out of the meeting. “1
was appalled that Daniel was
using Cliff as a human shield
and deflecting questions to Cliff.
If your name is on a flyer, you
need to take responsibility. And
that means answering ques¬
tions,” Magdaleno said.
Bujin Dorj, vice president for
cultural affairs, was concerned
that the festival did not accurate¬
ly represent the Asian culture by
only promoting the Asian band
“Devotion” on the flier, leaving
out the other traditional Asian
performances planned. She and
other board members felt the
festival looked more like a party
than a cultural awareness festi¬
val.
One audience member
accused the board of being racist
if they did not approve the budg-
LANTERN, page 5
Matt Robinson
/
The Courier
Faculty and staff marched through the campus hoping to put pressure on the administration to up its pay-raise offer.
College employees hit the
pavement for a pay raise
By Afni Adnan
News Editor
Loud chants were heard around campus on
Thursday, Nov. 16 as approximately 125 staff and
faculty members rallied together to voice their dis¬
satisfaction with the administration for not granti¬
ng them a substantial pay increase.
Holding up banners and chanting “Show Us the
Money” and “Raise not Rocks,” the protesters
marched together around the campus and in front
of the school. Some were even hiding behind
masks of Dr. James Kossler, PCC’s president.
Sue Talbot, publications editor in the public
relation’s office, led the protest while banging on a
drum.
The latest offering from the Pasadena Area
Community College District is a 6 percent raise,
which is a one percent increase from the 5 percent
that was previously offered.
However, the faculty and staff members are
going to continue to demand something better
because they believe that the district can afford to
allocate more for salary increases.
The district negotiators, however, feel that the
current offer is all the college can afford. The
unions and the district have been at a stalemate for
the last several weeks.
The unions are asking for a 12 percent raise,
which representatives believe is within the district’s
financial means. They believe that through creative
budgeting, the district will be able to provide them
with that raise.
Talbot argues that the unions are not as focused
on the monetary aspect of it anymore.
“It’s now gone far beyond the money,” Talbot
said.
Part-time faculty members say that many of
their colleagues are going to other institutions
because they offer better salaries.
This means that PCC will lose valuable instruc¬
tors and will be faced with a problem of finding
qualified employees to fill those vacant spots. The
unions believe that this will cost the college a lot of
money.
One of the unions, the 1SSU (Instructional
Support Services Unit), recently called in a neutral
state mediator for a meeting with the administra¬
tion. 1SSU represents the clerical/technical/para-
MARCH, page 3
Genital herpes
on the increase
among students
Unprotected sex blamed for increase in
human papiloma virus among co-eds
New data
Committee looks to
rekindle smoking ban
By Gia Scafidi
Staff Writer
Unsafe sex and multiple partners have
recently put human papilloma virus (HPV) on
the rise among college women, and students
on this campus are at risk, according to PCC’s
health center.
The virus, transmitted via direct contact,
causes genital warts and external genital pre-
cancerous changes, affecting both men and
women.
“I would caution people that just because
their partner doesn’t have any visible lesions,
this doesn't mean they are not at risk for get¬
ting infected,” said Jo Buczko, PCC’s college
nurse. She noted that, like other sexually
transmitted infections, such as hepatitis B, HIV
and herpes, HPV can be transmitted in the
absence of obvious sores or symptoms.
A family of over 80 different viruses, HPV
can result in painful, itching and bleeding gen¬
ital warts, depending on the size and location.
In addition, these sores can also occur in the
eyes, mouth, nose and throat, said Buczko.
According to the health center, visible geni¬
tal warts, caused by HPV types six and 11,
appear fleshy and cauliflower-like, and can
show up on the genital areas, anus and urethra
of both men and women. Intra-anal warts can
also occur with individuals who are engaging
in receptive anal intercourse.
Types 16, 18, 31, 33, and 35 are occasional¬
ly found in visible genital warts and have been
linked to external genital pre-cancerous
changes, which show up on womens PAP
smears. Very often, individuals infected with
these types do not show symptoms and the
virus cannot be seen with the naked eye.
The Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology at the University of Iowa Hospitals
and Clinics noted the importance of identify¬
ing HPV “because abnormal tissue caused by
some types of the virus can lead to cancer of
HERPES, page 4
finds that
STDs are
more likely to
be contracted
by women
■ This year,
women will
account for 30
percent of all
new HIV infec¬
tions.
■ African
American and
Hispanic
women account
for less than
one-fourth of
the U.S. popu¬
lation, yet
make up 77
percent of all
AIDS cases in
the country.
■ Compared to
other adults,
adolescents
(ages 10 to 19)
and young
adults (ages 20
to 24) are at
higher risks for
acquring sexu¬
ally transmitted
diseases
because of mul¬
tiple partners,
unprotected sex
and multiple
high-risk part¬
ners.
Ф
By Robert Glassey
Staff Writer
After learning that their previous attempt to limit
smoking had failed, health and safety committee
members took another stab at it with a proposal to
ban outdoor smoking within 20 feet of any doorway
or on any ramp, balcony or stairs.
The proposal, which passed 9-4, is meant to keep
smokers far enough away that their smoke does not
drift into offices and classrooms.
“What we’re asking for is an ethical approach to
it,” said Keith Oberlander, math professor. “Nobody
should have to breathe second-hand smoke. It’s an
irritant and it’s toxic.”
Richard Moreno, assistant dean for extended
instruction and chairman of the committee, oppos-
*
es efforts to further restrict smoking. He sees the
current proposal as one more step toward a smoke-
free campus.
“Professor Oberlander just wants to push the
limits more and more, push the smokers off cam¬
pus, eventually,” Moreno said. “I don’t want a
smoke-free campus. 1 don’t want to go off campus
to smoke.”
A previous, more restrictive proposal, approved
by the committee in September, would have estab¬
lished a 20-foot no-smoking perimeter around each
campus structure.
However, this proposal failed to gain approval of
the college coordinating council and was sent back
to the committee.
In an attempt to sidestep questions about imple-
SMOKING, page 3
Questions arise from PCC
student’s fall off balcony
By Gia Scafidi
Staff Writer
While Rocky Paneno has been
taken off of life support and
flown home to
his temporary
residence at
County USC
Medical Center,
conflicting infor¬
mation has sur¬
faced regarding
the sixth-story
balcony from
on Oct. 21 in
Rocky Paneno
which he fell
Florence, Italy.
According to the Centers for
Academic Programs Abroad
(CAPA), the company that
inspects housing for PCC’s study
abroad programs, the balcony
was • off-limits to the Florence
program students. (In its Nov. 9
issue, the Courier reported that
Rocky fell from his own apart¬
ment balcony.)
“We do not have many details
as to what occurred the night of
this incident,” noted CAPA repre¬
sentative Jason Grange in a writ¬
ten statement.
“However, the balcony that
Rocky was on when he fell was
not leased to the students. This
area was locked to prevent stu¬
dent access. The students
climbed out a nearby window
onto the balcony to obtain
access.”
Hugo Schwyzer, one of the
two PCC faculty members in the
Florence program, uncovered dif¬
ferent information, however.
“There are two separate issues
at work here - the safety of the
balcony is utterly unrelated to
the student’s access to it,”
Schwyzer wrote from Italy. “It
was my understanding that
ROCKY, page 4