7 Want To Get To Know Everybody'
Meyers New President
Journalists Still
Without a Vote
Can journalism students be ap¬
pointed to the ASB Board? That
question hasn’t been answered by the
Board or Derek Coleman, ASB
president.
“Last Thursday there was no
decision to be made since she (Laura
Carlos) withdrew,” Coleman said. Ms.
Carlos had applied for recording
secretary of the ASB Board. She was
informed that her application would be
accepted, but the chances of her ac¬
ceptance were low. She withdrew her
application when she found it con¬
flicted with her class schedule.
Coleman referred to a “definite
conflict of interest, explaining the
probable opposition to Ms. Carlos’
appointment to the position. But he
added that his personal feelings would
not interfere with the Board’s decision.
The conflict of interest, according to
Coleman, would be whether a jour¬
nalist could attend the executive
session, which is reserved for per¬
sonnel matters. The substance of the
meeting is supposed to stay secret and
a journalist could turn over the in¬
formation for publication.
“I talked to the Board about whether
a journalism student could have a vote
on the board,” Coleman said. “I ex¬
plained it to them and told them it
would have been their decision to
make, whether it was a conflict of
interest.”
Coleman took action which consisted
of allowing a Courier reporter to sit on
the executive session of the Board
meeting last week.
Coleman doesn’t know whether it
will be a regular practice. “We’ll
consider each time, but I think it’s
possible to have a Courier represen¬
tative on the executive session,”
Coleman said.
No action was taken last week on
whether a journalist can be a member
of the Board, however. “It seemed
kind of pointless at the time,” Coleman
said.
The situation could have been
remedied by Coleman.
—An amendment could be made to
the ASB Constitution, specifically
allowing a journalism student to
become a member of the Board.
—Coleman, or the Board, could have
set the precedent.
—Either of the above would have
made it clear that journalism students
could not be barred from holding ASB
office.
“I think it’s best the way it stands,”
Coleman said, “(with) appointed of¬
fices left up to the discretion of the
president.”
A move may be made by the Board
allowing a Courier representative to
permanently observe at executive
sessions.
“I think,” Coleman said, “that it’s
controversial enough for the Board to
be brought into it. Chances are, the
motion would go on the floor. I think it
might pass.”
college, physically carrying the
woman to class. Mrs. Neumann
blames the reason for the elevators
record of service on an inadequate
contract PCC has with the elevator
company.
"What it boils down to," said Dr.
Halcromb, “is money. We are in a
.Continued on I'age Six
Catch Pumpkins by the Dozens
Handicap Center Scraping
Bottom of Financial Barrel
new president. He has confidence in
his ability and background and doesn’t
look at the transition from there to
here as being difficult.
“I grew up in Chicago in a multi¬
racial neighborhood, and did graduate
work in Los Angeles. Prior to coming
here 1 was working with a rather large
community college of 13,000 in San
Diego. They had some urban
problems. When I was living in the
Orient, I was the minority. My wife is
Japanese, and my kids are of mixed
races.
“I know the situations and problems
that come up in a multi-racial
background. If you deal with people as
people, if you don't tend to classify
them, you can get over anything.”
The newly named president
recognizes the wave of apathy that
plagues community college campuses,
but hasn't figured out a way to combat
it. “If I did. I'd be a rich man,” he
chuckled. Dr. Meyers is experienced
with the “creeping apathy” disease,
and stresses involvement. “People
figure, "They don’t care what I think.
Why bother, they’re not listening
anyway’.”
What he did for Cerro Coso was
"involve classified, staff, faculty,
students, and the community into all
levels of decision making. We tried to
make a more representative govern¬
ment. We have involved people. Part
of the classified employees had not
been involved in a lot of campus ac¬
tivities. and we got them together.
Morale and the feeling of pride in the
campus has improved.”
Although he knows about the natural
two-year turnover of a community
college, he met with student leaders
and worked with existing problems.
“If you can create the mood of a
team— together we can make this
place better.”
Even on his application, Dr. Meyers
wrote, “I am a very energetic and
enthusiastic person. Further, I love
people and the opportunity to work
with them towards a common goal.”
One goal Dr. Meyers has worked
toward is attracting the younger high
school graduate to Cerro Coso. The
average age there two years ago was
30. Now it’s 28.
He waged an all-out campaign to
involve the community, making them
aware of what Cerro Coso had to offer.
"We let the community college play a
more active role in the city, and it
became more of a social center.”
In addition to his Ph.D. in in¬
structional technology at USC, Dr.
Meyers has more than a casual in¬
terest in music. He has a B.M. and an
M S. in music education. He has taught
music in Japan, Palos Verdes, and
Inglewood.
He described himself as a self-
employed photographer on his ap¬
plication, and mentions professional
photographic exhibits in the United
States and abroad.
Dr. Meyers on PCC: “I’m going to
love it there.”
—Courier photos by Mariska Leyssius
Chamber Singers Watch Patch;
Four thousand pounds of pumpkins
will invade PCC’s Hill-Colorado
parking lot when the Chamber Singers
hold their third annual Benefit
Pumpkin Sale. The sale is a fund¬
raising event for the Chamber Singers.
They hope to tour Hawaii during the
spring break. The pumpkins, which
were picked by the singers themselves
last Saturday, will be on sale October
21-22 and 27-29. Specific times have not
been set.
A Great Pumpkin will be selected
and good guessers can estimate the
seed content for 25 cents. The Great
Pumpkin will be opened on Halloween,
and the seeds counted. The winner will
receive dinner for two at a local
restaurant.
The singers went to the Thousand
Oaks-Camarillo area to harvest
pumpkins. They found the assembly-
iine method useful in loading the
squash on the truck.
DR. RICHARD A. MEYERS
. . . new president
By Kathy Braidhill
News Editor
In a couple of weeks, Dr. E. Howard
Floyd will place this institution in the
hands of a man younger than the years
Floyd has served the public schools.
Dr. Richard Meyers has been named
by the Board of Trustees as Floyd’s
successor. The superintendent search
committee, characterized by secrecy,
got their man. But who is Richard
Meyers?
Right now, he’s president of Cerro
Coso Community College in
Ridgecrest, near Bakersfield. He’s
just turned 40.
He’s also worked in Japan for three
years, and has a wife, Yasuko, and two
children. Dr. Meyers says he is excited
to start at PCC, and has a large staff-
faculty meeting planned for next
Thursday. “I want to get to know
everybody: faculty, classified,
students.”
At Cerro Coso he attended student
body meetings, “just to go, not par¬
ticipate, but to see what the students
are doing.” One of Dr. Meyer’s
favorite words is involvement. “I want
to involve students, faculty, everyone.
If people feel they are part of the in¬
stitution, they can make it better.”
One would think the move from a
small community college in a rural
area to a large city college in a multi¬
racial environment would worry the
By Mark Blocker
Staff Writer
Handicapped Student Services will
run out of money by January, ac¬
cording to Fran Neumann, technical
coordinator for that program, who said
she can no longer “pour oil on the
waters.”
This year’s budget for the program
is $153,000, 66 percent of last year, said
Dr. Vernon C. Halcromb, Dean of
Occupational Education. The rate of
handicapped enrollment has climbed
ten percent in the last two years.
“Instead of the funds increasing to
match our needs, they have been
drastically curtailed by the state,” he
said.
Last year the community colleges
applied for $23 million in state aid for
handicapped services, only to receive
$9 million. “We’re not hurting as bad
as some colleges,” said Dr. Halcromb.
However, Mrs. Neumann sees the
problem as being more local. The fund
cuts and deterioration of the program
“has been going on for years,” she
said. “But each time I complain, I’m
called into the vice-president’s office
and told to quiet down. Once I was told
to. ‘pour oil on the waters’.”
The cuts so far this year have been,
"putting us back, to where we started
from eight years ago,” said Mrs.
Neumann.
The number of interpreters for deaf
has been cut from 25 to 15. The in¬
terpreters are second semester
students in a course which teaches
Fran Neumann was told to
“pour oil on the waters”
them to be interpreters, but Mrs.
Neumann and Lucille Miller, coor¬
dinator of services for the deaf, em¬
phasized these are not “professional
interpreters.”
Last August, the driver of the
handicapped van received his 30 days
notice from the college. The van allows
students with mobility handicaps
campus access they normally would
not have. So far this year a security
guard has been driving the van . With
$400 budgeted for the van, Mrs.
Neumann estimates it will be in moth¬
balls by December, as gasoline and
other maintenance costs deplete the
sum each day it’s on the road.
The college ranks as the “second or
third” lowest paying for Handicap
Service personnel in the nation, ac-
The deterioration “has been
going on for years.”
cording to Mrs. Neumann, “which is a
shame for this fine college.”
The Rehabilitation Department is
picking up the tab for the readers used
by blind students this year. Handicap
Services can no longer do this.
According the Dr. Halcromb, only 25
percent of PCC’s handicapped can use
the rehabilitation funds reserved for
“clients” of the program. To qualify
they must pass tests and prove they
are employable. The state will then
pay for the student's books and other
supplies, along with counseling.
Handicapped services are financed
through AB77, state money which only
amounted to $9 million for all com¬
munity colleges. There were requests
for $23 million. Also the federal
Vocation Education Act allocates 10
percent of federal money given to the
colleges to be used for services to the
disabled. If the budget exceeds what is
provided by these funding outlets the
college usually picks up the tab. Last
year PCC covered the difference.
“They had no choice," said Dr.
Halcromb, “we had already spent the
money.”
“This year a ‘block grant' was
initiated by the state because of the
passage of Proposition 13. Also, it
would be illegal for the district to have
any substantial surplus funds. So the
district would be hard pressed to pick
up the $150,000 we need for the second
semester."
Another result of Prop. 13 is the
delay in removing architectural
barriers for students in wheelchairs.
Building ramps and other mobility
aids has been halted. The most
bothersome to wheelchair students is
R122, where art history is taught.
Stairs and steep drop offs make it a
nightmare for the students, says Mrs.
Neumann.
In 1973 California passed a law that
requires equal access be given
everyone in public places, including
schools. This means door and walk¬
ways should not hinder those with
mobility problems on state funded
property. But a paraphrase of the law
states that recipients of state funds are
not required to make modifications to
their property if the facility can be
made accessable by other methods.
"This means." said Dr. Halcromb,
"that if we hired people to carry the
handicapped into R122, it conceivably
would be perfectly legal. Very unsafe,
but legal."
Mrs. Neumann and Dr. Halcromb
said earlier this year that both
elevators in C building were out of
order. The elevators have a history of
continually being on the blink: One was
“If we’re cut back any more,
the Handicap Services will be
just a sham.”
inoperative for three weeks, said Mrs.
Neumann.
When both elevators were out, Mrs.
Neumann found a student with heart
troubles leaning against the wall half
way up the stairs gasping for air. The
result was several people, including
Dr. E. Howard Floyd, president of the
