OPINION
FEATURES
SPORTS
If Proposition 170 is approved,
PCC could receive more funds.
Page 2
James Du Toit, CBS intern, credits the
college and its professors for his
success.
Page 5
Freshman quarteback leads
football team to first victory.
Page 6
PASADENA CITY COLLEGE
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
VOL. 77 No. 8
™ COURIER
Serving the PCC Community for 75 years
THURSDAY
OCTOBER 14, 1993
Board agrees to install more
lights in campus parking lots
Carried away
KATRINA P. TEN
/
THE COURIER
Student Christopher Garcia is being taken away to Huntington Memorial Hospital by paramedics after he slipped in water
spilled on the second floor of the CC building. His right knee was injured, but doctors released him yesterday afternoon.
□ At a board of trustees
meeting, several students
asked the panel to beef up
security. Officials say not
enough cadets are
available.
By JANETH PADILLA
Staff Writer
The Board of Trustees responded to a
request for more security lighting in the
parking lot by agreeing to install additional
floodlights.
At a board of trustees meeting last week,
a group of women made up of instructors
and students concerned about campus safety
questioned members of the board and ad¬
ministrators about what they should do to
prevent assaults and robberies.
Kelly Fulton, a student who was one of
the first to bring up the need for more
security on campus, obtained more than
1,000 signatures demanding immediate of¬
ficial action. During the board meeting,
Fulton, and another student Elizabeth
Contreras presented concerns they asked the
Board to solve. They asked for visible
security from sunset until 10:30 p.m. The
group also felt more cadets were needed to
escort students to their cars. Members ex¬
pressed concerns about the type of security
planned for the upcoming parking structure.
Dr. James Kossler, superintendent of
administrative services, said the campus
police lack enough people to patrol the cam¬
pus more efficiently.
“It’s not the question of dollars, we are
committed to security. It’s a the matter of
manpower.”
Phillip Mullendore, director of campus
police, stressed the use of the escort service.
In fact, Mullendore emphasized that the
victim of the recent rape did not call a cadet
to escort her to her car before the incident
happened. Mullendore also stated that,
“Campuses generally are the safest places.”
When the students asked if it was possible
for more cadets to be involved in the escort
service, Mullendore stated that before the
rape there were “zero to three” cadets a
night. Since the rape, the number of cadets
patrolling campus increased to between eight
and 10. Mullendore said there are no other
cadets available and suggested that some
students volunteer as cadets.
Kossler also informed the students that
the new parking structure, which will begin
construction next January, was designed for
student safety. Someof the features that will
be included in the upcoming parking struc¬
ture includes double lighting, emergency
phones that have immediate push-button
connection with campus police, and glass
backed elevators.
Fulton and Contreras said all parking lots,
especially lot one needs to be lit. Without
hesitation, the board granted the demand.
Kossler responded that floods lights will be
installed in the parking lots in need of better
lighting. Fulton also said that most students
were not aware of the escort service and that
it needs to be advertised more. The trustees
acknowledged that matter too.
To emphasize the issues that the group
was addressing, a member shared her expe¬
rience as a rape victim with the board and
expressed how important it was for all their
demands to be met.
One day before the meeting with the
trustee members, the group discussed the
rape incident in the campus lounge. Several
of them, including some men who attended,
Please see REQUEST, Page 5
Transfer rates
low for Blacks
and Latinos
□ PCC ranks fourth in
transfer rates out of 65
colleges studied in
research project.
By RODNEY MITCHELL
Associate Editor
A study done by a Berkeley-based re¬
search firm to assess the transfer rates of
community colleges students revealed that
PCC ranked fourth in transfer rates
among65communitycolleges. However,
the study also showed that Latino and
African American students fell far below
the transfer rate of Asian and white stu¬
dents at PCC.
PCC’s Asian students had the highest
transferrates. They averaged three to 15
percentage points above rates reported for
African American students.
Asian students were also six to 10
points above those reported for Latino
students and three to eight percentage
points above those reported for “other”
students.
The transfer rate for Asians were also
one to seven percentage points above those
reported for white students.
The study does not indicate the rates of
ethnic groups at other colleges, so no compari¬
son could be made.
Dr. Jack Scott, superintendent-president said
the college was “deeply” concerned about the
problem. He added that the low transfer rates
among Latinos and African Americans was a
statewide problem and not exclusive to PCC.
He also said last year a
task force had been
formed at PCC to ad¬
dress the low transfer
rates among “under rep¬
resented” students. Scott
also pointed out that
mentor programs had
been implemented to
increase the transfer rale
among students in those
two groups. Jackie Dr. Jack Scott
Jacobs, who is African PCC president
American and chair of the physical sciences
department, headed the task force last year and
reported her findings. Jacobs said many of
these students do not come to college with
transfer as a goal, but they come to gain train¬
ing in a vocation. However she pointed out that
the main problem is that many Latino and
African American students come to college
Please see TRANSFERS, Page 6
LAC to open new class
By GUADALUPE BERGIN
Staff Writer
A new computerized English class to
help students improve their reading, writ¬
ing, vocabulary and spelling skills will be
offered in the Spring ’94 semester.
The project, called OASIS (Open
Access Support for Individualized Skills)
is a one unit English 403 course that can
be taken for credit orno-credit. Itwillbe
taught in the Learning Assistance Center.
“We have created a comprehensive for¬
mat to help students to improve their
English skills. In this course, they can
advance at their own pace and on their
own time” said John Woods, director of
the Learning Assistance Center. It is set
up so students can attend the class any
time six days a week, between 7:30 a.m.
and 9 p.m.
There are no requirements other than
students are expected to spend an average
of three hours a week in the class, Woods
said.
Students take a diagnostic test to deter¬
mine what lessons need to be covered.
The class is the realization of a pilot
project that Woods, memebrs of the En¬
glish department and computer staff
worked on for two years. They kept look¬
ing and evaluating software until they
found “Skills Bank II.” That software
keeps a profile learning report on stu¬
dents, including the time they spend in
the class. “The accuracy of records that
the software provides, allows us to take in
as many as 200 students in the course,”
Woods said.
There will be two tutors working 10
different hours. The staff at the Learning
Assistance Center will also be available
to assist students.
The class was funded by Title III, a
grant from the U .S Department of Educa¬
tion to improve student retention.
Homecoming Schedule
Saturday Oct 16
Homecoming activities
Carnival-Mardi Gras from
11 a.m. to noon in lots 1
and 2.
Monday Oct. 18:
Three point shot and slam
dunk contest at noon in the
Men’s Gym.
Tuesday Oct. 19:
Homecoming court
presentation at noon in the
Quad. Talent show contest
from 7 to 10 p.m. in the
Harbeson Hall.
Thursday Oct 21:
Mardi Grass Parade to be
held at noon in the
Quad.
Saturday Oct23:
Homecoming game on
Horrell Field at 1:30 p.m.
The Queen’s coronation
will take place during the
game’s half time.
Homecoming dance from
9 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. at Vasa
Temple, 2031 E. Villa St.
in Pasadena.
By ENRICO PIAZZA
Associate Editor
PCC is getting ready for its biggest party
yet.
Presenting the biggest and most varied set
of homecoming celebrations ever, AS presi¬
dent Sharifa Johka made it clear that this
year, no PCC students could possibly miss
hearing about the homecoming celebrations.
“Nobody knew about last year’s home¬
coming, there wasn’t any enthusiasm about
it,” Johka said. “ People didn’t even know
there was a homecoming game or any type of
celebration, because there wasn’t any.”
To assure visibility and student participa¬
tion, the AS board chose Mardi Gras as this
year’s celebration theme, and planned six
events around the homecoming game. The
Student Service Fund is sponsoring the
week-long celebration which will cost
$15,000.
“We want to make sure we get some
kind of student morale going,” Johka said,
and added that on all other campuses,
homecoming festivities are very impor¬
tant.
Set to start Saturday, Oct. 16, the cel¬
ebrations will include a volleyball tourna¬
ment, a three point/slam dunk contest, a
talent/lip sync contest, a dance, and a
whole day Mardi Gras carnival, complete
with 20 game booths, food and craft shops.
The Beat (92.3 FM) and the PCC Jazz
Ensemble will also be at the carnival.
Activities will be held in parking lots one
and two at Hill and Colorado. All carnival
game booths will be run by campus clubs.
They will not pay anything for the booth
scheduled
and will be allowed to keep all profits.
“I think it’s a very good idea,” said Angela
Ng, Circle
К
president, about the free
fundraising. “Beside being agood fund-raising
opportunity for all clubs, I think it will bring the
campus together,” she added.
Of the same opinion is Roxanna Wong,
president of the newly formed Cantonese Chris¬
tian Fellowship. She said that although herclub
will not participate in the carnival because it
didn’t have enough time to prepare for it, but
her club is behind the AS handling of the
homecoming celebrations.
“We support and like the idea. We think [the
homecoming] will be fun and that it will facili¬
tate interaction between all students, whether
they are in a club or not.”
Dr. James Kossler, assistant superintendent
and amemberof the committee sponsoring the
Please see HOMECOMING, Page 5
