ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT PCCCOURIER.COM
William Thom
James Osterling
Tom Selinske
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Eric Haynes/Courier
(Clockwise) Hoyt Hilsman, Bill Thomson, Martin Enriques, Tom Selinske, James Osterling and Marshall Lewis during the forum in
the Westerbeck Recital Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 7. The candidates are running for two open positions on the PCC District board.
Candidates battle at the forum
John Orona
News Editor
Candidates for the second and fourth seats on
the Pasadena Area Community College District
board gathered inside Westerbeck Recital Hall
Wednesday night for an open forum moderated by
the Pasadena Area League of Women Voters and
co-sponsored by the Faculty Association.
The candidates, three from each district, were
allowed opening statements before fielding ques¬
tions from the audience on everything from labor
relations to their governing philosophies.
The current trustee representing district two,
Jeanette Mann, is retiring at the end of the current
term after 30 years on the board. Social scientist
Martin Enriques, businessman Tom Selinske, and
professor James Osterling are all hoping to win
the seat encompassing parts of Sierra Madre and
Pasadena.
District four, which covers most of Pasadena,
including PCC, is served by seven-year incumbent
William Thomson. Thomson is running for his
second re-election and third term on the board. He
is opposed by former student trustee Marshall Lewis
and author Hoyt Hilsman.
The tone of the forum was set from the opening
remarks when Hilsman explained why he is running,
and echoed the sentiments of many students and
faculty in the process.
“[PCC is] a source of pride for the community,
but in the past few years there has been real failed
leadership here,” he said.
Despite world-class programs and consistendy
high rankings for degrees awarded, the school was
placed on academic probation by the Accrediting
Commission for Community and Junior Colleges,
which cited nine recommendations that the college
must improve on by this time next year.
One of those recommendations — transparent,
collegial, and participatory leadership — became the
theme for the night.
“The very first thing you have to do is obey the
law,” Hilsman said, responding to a question about
how he would change the school. “You can’t meet in
secret in violation of the Brown Act and expect to
get away with it. You can’t cut down winter interses¬
sion in violation of labor contract and think you are
going to get away with it.”
All the candidates agreed that an open atmo¬
sphere was needed, and each explained why they
could provide a change of direction.
“It’s not enough just to say transparency,” Lewis
said. “I was there along with some of the faculty
and staff in the audience getting dragged out of
meetings.”
Lewis, who does not have the polished resume of
some his opponents, emphasized his active role in
the numerous shared governance councils during his
time at PCC.
“If you’re going to ask faculty, students, and staff
to put in the work for shared governance you then
have to accept [their decisions],” he said.
As the candidates outlined the way they would
change the board for the better it was incumbent on
Thomson to highlight what PCC has done well.
“It’s easy to talk about these things but it’s
difficult to do them,” Thomson explained. “I have a
track record of listening.”
Thomson cited his availability to meet with
anyone to discuss concerns and the recent decision
to allow women’s basketball coach Peron to be
reinstated after several groups lobbied the board as
examples.
Thomson also explained some of the board’s
FORUM PAGE 2
Hope and help for homeless
Erica Hong
Staff Writer
Two PCC professors are spearhead¬
ing an effort to address the school’s
homeless student population by col¬
laborating with the city of Pasadena.
Social Sciences professors Cheryl
Beard and Lynora Rogacs are in the
very early stages of trying to form a
committee along with their office-
mates in social sciences to address
the homeless student population
long-term, while going into crisis-in¬
tervention mode in hopes to get these
students supplies, services and shelter.
Beard said she stumbled onto the
situation only about a week ago and
Rogacs made a public comment at last
week’s Academic Senate meeting to
bring it to the school’s attention. They
quickly put together care packages for
the estimated six homeless students
and delivered them to Rebecca Cobb,
the dean of Student Life.
“[We’re] really at the beginning.
Very, very beginning,” said Beard.
They have reached out to the City of
Pasadena to assist PCC with training
and resources. According to Rogacs,
the city has had success in reducing
the homeless population locally and
is on board to help PCC get these
students the services they need.
Rogacs and Beard hope to imple¬
ment a formal process to assist all
faculty in identifying signs that a stu¬
dent may be homeless and establish a
list of resources to better understand
the social and psychological issues
that are unique to homeless students.
They also hope to have a permanent
place for food and hygiene supply
distribution.
They are working with the Food
Recovery Network Club at PCC to get
perishable foods but need a physical
space with a refrigerator for stu¬
dents to access the food and hygiene
supplies. Together they are discussing
plans to raise funds to have a store
of sorts with supplies available in
non descript recyclable bags.
“Everybody wants to help, we’ve
students
just got to march in the same direc¬
tion,” said Beard.
Rogacs and Beard also realize
they are dealing with a very sensitive
situation and understand that these
students want their privacy and often
to remain anonymous. Some of the
students may be athletes, or young
women concerned for their safety. It’s
likely they are dealing with the stigma
associated with being homeless.
“It’s heartbreaking. In this wealthy
community, we can do better,” said
Beard.
According to USA Today, the Free
Application for Federal Student Aid
HOMELESS PAGE 2
Online student
education
planning tools
to get facelift
Keely Damara
Managing Editor
Student Services is preparing to roll
out new online tools this spring to aid
students in their education planning
by implementing new virtual counsel¬
ing software.
Both programs, Degree Works and
Intelliresponse, are geared toward
getting more vital information to
students’ fingertips. Degree Works,
which was purchased with the Banner
software that students know as
LancerPoint, “is a comprehensive ac¬
ademic advising, transfer articulation
and degree audit solution,” according
to the company’s website. Students
can use it to create their own educa¬
tion plans, see plans that counselors
have made for them in one-on-one
sessions and see completed course-
work and what courses they need to
reach their educational goals.
This is a huge improvement on the
program that counselors are work¬
ing with now, said Myriam Altounji,
one of six counselors on the Degree
Works support team. The current
program doesn’t include the ability
for students to incorporate their
education plans into their LancerPoint
account.
“The way that it’s set up now, the
system that we have currently — al¬
though great — isn’t accessible to
students,” said Altounji. “It’s only for
counselors and all we can do is email
students their plans.”
Students can even create “what
if” scenarios with the tool, accessed
through LancerPoint, in which they
can choose different areas of interest
and see how their current coursework
PROGRAMS PAGE 2
South Pasadena
Chinese-American Club's
annual festival brings
together locals of all ages
Pasadena Educational
Foundation's Rock 4 PEF
Benefit Concert with Art
Alexakis from Everclear
