PCC Courier, October 14, 1999

Pasadena City College Thursday, October 14, 1999 Volume 85, Number 7 Latinos are still campus majority Latest figures show them and Asians as campus’ Can’t We All Just Get Along? The latest enrollment figures released by the college show Latinos and Asion/Pacific Islanders comprising the two largest ethnic groups on campus. Statistics include credit and non-credit students as of Fall, 1 999. Hispanic Asian/ Pacific Islander White African American Filipino Native American , MMMMj 36-4% 31.1% 20.0% ft) 7.3% 4.4% 0.8% Legend k _ 1,000 Students Today: Partly Cloudy. High: 90° Low: 57° Tomorrow: Partly Cloudy. High: 85° Low: 56° Saturday: Sunny. High: 86° Low: 55° Sunday Sunny. High: 87° Low: 56° News WIRE Accounting Clerk Dies Cheryl Davies, senior account clerk with the Registration department, died last Sept. 29. She is survived by her daugh¬ ter Shannon, her parents and a brother. Davies had been a college employee since 1988 when she began work with the Fiscal Services department. There will be no funeral ser¬ vices, and donations can to the college bank to provide education funds for Davies' daughter. Comedy Performance to be Held at Sexson "Making Faces," a comedic performance directed by Duke Stroud, is being billed as a "look at relationships from a comic, twisted point of view." Free shows are set for Sunday, Oct. 10 at 4 p.m. and Oct. 1 1 and 1 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Sexson Auditorium. Please use the rear entrance. Courieronline.com Gets New Look Check out our revamped website at www.pcc- courieronline.com. Updated every Thursday, Courieronline has all the information from our print edition plus exclusive articles and photos. We also have an extensive archive of back issues which is currently being updated. Log on and join us in cyberspace today. By Fred Ortega Staff Writer The college’s enrollment has reached 28,000 students this year, according to a census report issued by the office of admissions and records. Latinos continue to make up the majority of the student body, with 8,599 students enrolled in both credit and non-credit courses. These figures are consistent with a steady rise in Latino and Asian student populations over the past two decades. In the fall 1982 census, Latinos and Asians together comprised only 20 percent of the entire stu- By Gali Raval Staff Writer Gov. Grey Davis, on Tuesday, signed AB 420, a bill that will bene¬ fit over 29,000 part-time communi¬ ty college faculty by providing them with health insurance. It may also add pay for office hours. The new law will require the California Postsecondary Education Commission to conduct a year-long, comprehensive study of part-time faculty, employment, salary, and compensation patterns. It would require salaries to be paid based on a uniform allowance for years of training and years of experience. The previous law made it very dent body, with Whites making up over half (55.2 percent) of the total. By 1993, 31 percent of the college’s population was Asian, with Latinos following closely at 29 percent. The following year Latinos displaced Asians as the majority ethnic group taking credit courses, though both groups had been the majority for a number of years prior when taking into account both credit and non-credit students. “What we’ve seen is that the White and African-American pop¬ ulations in the area have declined, while the Asian and Latino groups have grown,” said Mark Wallace, public relations director for the difficult for part-time faculty mem¬ bers to obtain health insurance because the law stated a faculty member had to have a teaching assignment in two or more commu¬ nity college districts equaling or exceeding the cumulative equiva¬ lent of a minimum full-time teach¬ ing assignment.. Also, colleges were only encouraged to give bene¬ fits, but it was not a state mandated program. But now, part-time facul¬ ty members will become eligible for health insurance because any facul¬ ty member whose assignment equals or exceeds 40 percent of the cumulative equivalent of a mini¬ mum full-time teacher is eligible. Among the other items of inter¬ est to the faculty: largest ethnic groups college. While African-American and White student enrollment has remained steady in recent years at 7 and 20 percent, respectively, these percentages could drop fur¬ ther due to the booming Asian and Latino populations. Wallace also said that “Many African-Americans have been moving out of the Pasadena area to suburbs in San Bernardino and Riverside counties in recent years, and they are being replaced by Hispanics.” While Asians and Latinos have been in a dead heat for comprising the campus’ majority, the gap between the two groups has been widening as of late. “This follows ■ Dr. Ed Ortell, СТА liaison, updated the faculty senate about the grievance filed by Douglas Staley, an accounting instructor who has taught at the college for 11 years. He filed against vice president of instruction, Joyce Black, over the issue of faculty evaluations and stu¬ dent retention rates. Eugene Pinchuk, instructor of accounting, was Staley’s peer evaluator, and he gave Staley a positive review. The grievance, which was filed last year, is very unusual because, according to Ortell, this is the first time that the vice president has overturned a positive faculty evaluation to a “needs improvement” rating with- Faculty, Pg. 3 a trend that has been occurring in recent years,” said Stuart Wilcox, associate dean of admissions and records. “Both have been growing, but Hispanics have been growing at a faster rate.” The student body census is con¬ ducted on Monday of the fourth week of every semester, excluding summer sessions. Mandated by the state, these surveys are meant to By Tim Alves Staff Writer With little warning and within a week of each other, two Associated Students (AS) board members have either quit or stopped functioning in any administrative capacity and now the AS board is looking to fill the vacancies. The resignation of Michael Petersen, vice president for business affairs and the derelict status of Adi Gelmont, vice president for internal affairs and caught the remaining AS members by surprise. “I was shocked. I had no indica¬ tion that something like this would happen,” said Robert DeOcampo, AS president. Other members declined to be interviewed. “We just voted on it (accepting Petersen’s resignation), and I would rather hold back com¬ ment until a later date,” said Vina Asayas, vice president for student services. Petersen turned in his letter of res¬ ignation on Oct. 7 and it was accept¬ ed at the AS board meeting on yes¬ terday. Gelmont’s status is not as clear. “Adi has moved out of her office and as far as I, is not performing her duties. She is non-compliant with the rules regarding her position,” said DeOcampo during the board meet¬ ing. DeOcampo said if Gelmont does not get in touch with him by Friday, he will have no choice but to take administrative action and remove her from the job. “We have a responsibility to our constituents to make sure the AS board runs seamlessly,” said DeOcampo. At his request, the board approved to suspend normal procedures for replacing members and granted him the power to nominate candidates for board approval. “This will be more Photo Illustration by Fred Ortega / Courier evaluate college populations in order to determine state funding. The demographic breakdown is not mandatory, but is conducted by the college for information purposes only. The college as a whole has shown above average growth since Majority, Pg. 3 expedient for me, since I am picking up the slack and will have to train the new members,” DeOcampo said. The AS is concerned the vacan¬ cies will adversely affect student rep¬ resentation on shared governance councils, but hopes the new members will be as effective as Gelmont and Petersen. Gelmont was second in rank to the president, chaired the Inter Club Council (ICC), and sat on various committees. “Adi put in long hours, she was resourceful, needed little ттшттшшшв “I was shocked. I had no indication that something like this would happen.” -Robert DeOcampo direction and even less supervision. She was a great help to me many times,” said DeOcampo. Gelmont worked on the 75th Anniversary Diamond Celebration committee and helped organize 125 student volun¬ teers to work the festival. DeOcampo mused that Gelmont may have been suffering a burnout from too many duties. Petersen’s duties included budget¬ ing AS expenditures, overseeing fis¬ cal allocations to AS approved pro¬ jects, and chairing the AS Finance Committee. In a questionnaire Petersen filled out for the “Courier,” he described his relationship with other AS members as “good in most cases, as always, there are times when the relationships could be bet¬ ter.” Resign, Pg. 5 Norton Simon Gets A Facelift Ш 7^4 it", ■ I- V. w - ■ ' t ■ ■ ..,D •v : - л v - 4 A. ; ffff'lf i. b *"- "ч .* 1 ri* v .•* ■ — 4^7 v, 'Л-Щ A i -ТкК 4 Sr J# Ester Gonzalez / Courier After closing for extensive restoration and landscaping work, the famous Norton Simon museum once again opened its doors to the public this month. Pictured above are the newly landscaped gardens. Governor signs bill to benefit part-time facult AB 420 would provide medical benefits for community college emp] " ' l-‘"'§’lv4VieA'£,D”:r! And suddenly there were eight One AS seat is left vacant, the other in limbo Inside ms Issue Earthquake! Faculty, students mobilize to aid disaster victims.' Insight, Pg. 4 imp iissftjiy m lancer Football With last Saturday's win against Fullerton Maher's team brings their record tpo 4-1 . Sports, Pg. 8 ♦ i